Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

It's always a pleasure to pass along the story of one of those times when things go "better than expected" here in Luscious Lanna

We have a mobile phone: purchased in Vientiane, Laos in April this year. A strange thing: said mobile looks a lot like an iPhone, and it has a touch/gesture driven interface which looks a lot like an iPhone. Said mobile supports two sim cards which is quite handy. Of course we know it's not an iPhone since we bought it with an extra battery, a soft translucent blue plastic protective cover, a reflective face-plate protective cover for the screen which becomes transparent when the phone is "lit up," a battery charger, and a 4gig memory card for a fraction of the cost of "the real McCoy."

Well, we had a minor fall from our bicycle as we were run off the road by a motorist cutting a corner sharply: fortunately you will rejoice with us that our human container (nearing eight-hundred-and-four moons of age) was not injured other than a slight bruise on one arm. But our weight fell against our rucksack (thanks for cushioning our fall, rucksack), and the mobile screen was fractured. The phone still "lit-up" but no response to touch which meant: unusable.

We assumed said mobile was now techno-trash, since everything we've heard about the wizards of Shenzen in China, where such mobiles are hatched, suggests that migration of these phones is always one-way: out from Shenzen, never to return.

Out of curiousity we went to a small mobile shop run by a friendly Thai man named Khun Yutichai (speaks Thai only) which is called the "Sonic" shop (yes, after the hedgehog, in the video game): it is in the plaza opposite the Rimping Nawarat store off the old Chiang Mai - Lamphun Road. If you stand directly in front of the Rimping store with your back turned to the store, and walk directly across the street and then take a left after crossing the street, it's the second or third shop in from the street. To our knowledge it's the only mobile shop in that little plaza, but we could be wrong.

We usually go to Sonic to top-up our Happy DTAC sim, and/or to top-up our sim for cheap international calls.

Out of curiousity, we showed Khun Yutichai the broken mobile, and, to our great surprise, he said he could repair it for 450 baht !

Then we double-triple checked that should he NOT be able to repair we would not pay a satang.

Then we went to shop in Rimping; came back fifteen minutes later: he had fabricated a new face plate, and the phone worked !

Your mileage may vary.

best, ~o:37;

Positive experiences with goods and services are especially notable in a land of many disappointments. Your colorful description of the events makes it even more interesting. And with so many moons, to find those good experiences, and to shake off getting banged up, is a credit to human and inhabitant .

Just goes to show that you were not seriously injured.

The phone was able to repaired cheaply.

You were not ripped off, some people are more honest than others.

Another helpful post Orang.

Thank you both