oldthaihand

Yes I enjoyed many "quiet drinks" while in LOS.

And it's far from true that every bar in Thailand has prostitutes. But it is certainly true that most of the bars that are popular with the average western male has prostitutes. And obviously, this is also why many, if not most, western males come to those bars and a major reason for them coming to Thailand.

I had a Taxi driver at Don Muang tell me he was hoping that I would want to go straight to Pattaya instead of somewhere in the city. He said it was something like 1 in 2 does just that. So don't tell me it's not true. And even if his numbers are off. Come on.

Go your own way a little to see the good stuff. Have fun!

I didn't enjoy Hurt Locker. I feel the academy gave that film the win over liberal guilt for the class of Americans who are getting killed in foreign wars. Hollywood people generally don't go to such wars. I like Hollywood people but there really were better films this year.

Yeah. And giving it to Avatar would've sent out a slightly different message.

Avatar got Zilch??

No it got:

Art Direction, Cinematography, Visual Effects

Haven't seen Hurt Locker. Probably won't

I would've liked to have seen Avatar get it. oh well...

Basically it's like two houses having the same address or two people having the same phone number. You can see how this might cause problems with communication.

I guess that would mean that you have the same IP address as another device on your network.

Is your machine connected to a router?

Not trying to ruffle any feathers. But I wouldn't recommend going to Pattaya to anyone.

Was in Vientiane for a couple a days a few years back. It was alright. In 2003 I remember there only being one place where I could get a cash advance using my Visa. Got USD. Can't recall there being any ATMs. (Imagine that's changed)

Paying for anything in kip was no small feat. Like a 3 in (8 cm) stack for dinner one night. If you knew what you were doing, you somehow folded one bill around like twenty other bills or so to facilitate counting/organization. I was kind of intrigued by it. Someone's gotta know what I'm talking about.

I'm not sure about the OP's logic.

Well organic milk tastes better IMO.

As for organic vegetables, I think Gary's wife said it best.

14.) You love Thailand and learning the language is one way you show respect.

Yes. I'd get it tested.

Boiling obviously won't make all unsafe water safe for human consumption. Probably kill all/most dangerous microbes if done for long enough.

Perhaps, would allow volatile organic compounds(VOCs) to evaporate. (Not sure about this at all.)

Doubt very highly it'd do anything about heavy metals or other dangerous substances

My 3฿.

oth

It could have been anything. If she lacked any malice, then the danger is still there. In this case it would just stem from her ignorance and inconsideration.

Guess you could gamble. Keep in mind it sounds like you're putting your life on the table.

Who knows she might be the greatest woman in the world and bring untold amounts of happiness and well-being to your life.

I'm not much of a gambler myself. And what's that saying about meeting soul mates in bars???

My 3฿.

oth

Congratulations. It's a really beautiful story. Chok dee.

The real Thailand.

It seems like transformers explode a lot in Thailand. I've never heard of one exploding elsewhere.

Didn't one of those knock the MRT out of service for awhile? (around 2004) Had to call in some engineers from Germany, if my memory serves me, to get things sorted and relieve public's potential anxiety.

Wonder if it's just bad engineering. Perhaps the heat. Or maybe it happens everywhere and there's just a lot of them in Krung Thep.

The court can do whatever it wants, chai mai krup.

In the decisions to date, rulings have been made pretty much to the letter of the law.

I would expect this decision to be the same.

My point was that the Judicial Branch has the last say in these matters because they interpret the law.(i.e. Perhaps, the title could be better worded.) Not implying that they have or have not done so accurately in the past, nor am I making future predictions.

oth

The court can do whatever it wants, chai mai krup.

there is way more higher level scum in south america, I think people over-estimate how much scum is in Thailand compared to other places around the world.

That's a good point. In general, it's far too easy for people to say negative things about Thailand. Usually non-thinking, closed minded and ignorant people who believe everything the newtainment shows pump into them seem to toe this line. IMO.

No offense meant towards anyone here but those who think Thailand is nothing more than cheap thrills, mai pen rai.

oth

His visa is still valid in the old passport. It will not be transferred to the new passport,

He will have to travel with both passports to the US and back

I second that. I knew I had recently come across something to the same tune. Just now was able to find the following on the State Department's site:

My old passport has already expired. My visa to travel to the United States is still valid but in my expired passport. Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport?

No. If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel. (Example: tourist visa, when your principal purpose of travel is tourism). Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country and type (Example: both Uruguayan regular passports, both official passports, etc.). When you arrive at the United States port of entry (POE) the Customs and Border Protection Immigration Officer will check your visa in the old passport and if s/he decides to admit you into the United States they will stamp your new passport with an admission stamp along with the annotation "VIOPP" (visa in other passport). Do not try to remove the visa from your old passport and stick it into the new valid passport. If you do so, your visa will no longer be valid.

travel.state.gov/visa/questions/questions_1253.html#7

oth

Thanks for the advice and support. This site is such a gem. It is well designed, but like so many things it's really the people that make it.

I'm gonna work on the invitation letter. When I have some more information I'll put it up.

Robberies were a problem too. Easy to set up an ambush on that road and no one around to help.

Yeah. I'm not surprised. I've spent a few months in Chiang Mai on several occasions. Done a fair amount of hiking on Doi Suthep. Probably want to be pretty cautious, especially at night.

A wise Thai woman once told me Chiang Mai is not like Bangkok.

I guess it was about a year ago I bought one of these. It was actually highly recommended by a Professor from Johns Hopkins. He told me all about it when I asked him to please explain the phone connected to his laptop. It was odd picture with this small older gentleman with the Hopkins ID hanging from his neck, lounging in a big chair at Starbucks with a laptop tethered corded telephone phone atop the chair arm. I should have known...

So I get the thing. The service was usually very lousy. I remember it being very difficult if not impossible to uninstall the software. (Any decent software should always include clear instructions on how to remove it) But the most shocking discovery was that it uses NO ENCRYPTION. So it is very easy for someone to eavesdrop on your conversations. I was able to very simply record my conversations from the ethernet packets using a program called wireshark.

No Encryption, Mostly Lousy Service and no software removal tools

IMO Magicjack is a lot of hype and little substance.

Here it is:

Just looking over the application (DS-156). One of the questions is about having a fiance in the US. I am the fiance currently living in the US.

Though she has significant reasons to return to Thailand and has traveled around the Asia Pacific a little, I'm wondering if the answer to this question alone may tilt the scales too far in the direction of immigration. Evidently, the same side that was heavily weighted from the start.

"The presumption in the law is that every visitor visa applicant is an intending immigrant."

www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html

Any thoughts or suggestions? Basically, I guess I'd like to know if even trying for a tourist visa will be completely in vain.

Thanks,

Oth