Get yourself a Kasikornbank account, wire a large sum to it from your Chase account and voila no more fees after that. Getting a Kasikorn account has been described a number of times in this thread. Just be sure to pick the branch closest to your home, because they will want you to go back to it for a number of things.

is there a book store in kata/karon?

there is a used book store on beach road in kata but the selection pretty much blows.

ill be in singapore from sunday to monday. any must see/do things there?
also good nightclubs? gogo's? :---DDD

hey guys.. can u help me out pls?

me and 4friends wanna rent a nice House for holiday.. ~30days
that will be one part holiday and one poker bootcamp

i have no idea what places in thailand to look for.. i always hear koh samui and phuket but what do u think is the best location to stay there.. we need a good nightlife/clubs/beach.. price doesnt really matter.

Also what rental site can u recommend?

Thax in advance for any helpful advice

http://houseinphuket.com/
http://www.siamrealestate.com/

If you want nightlife and beaches its pretty much Phuket. Find yourself a nice place in Kata or Karon. You will be right in the center of things and only a small drive away from Patong degeneracy.

You could also just stay in a good hotel for 30 days, might be easier to find a great room/suite for that period than a house.

read the thread

So its about time to order internet connection for my new condo, the isp is TRUE and im wondering if any of you guys have tried any of the packages and can recommend a certain one?

They have speeds ranging from 4mb for like 800bht to 16mb for 2400bht, it would be easiest just to take the most expensive one and assume its the best, but ive heard someone say that the higher speeds are less stable...

It should be the same connection just that the cheaper ones are capped at certain speeds which should mean they are all as stable/unstable, but then again what do I know?

yeah 4 sure that must be said lol.. of course i just could read 500pages myself but i also could ask friendly for cliffnotes. There are always nice people that give u information.

thx nhourmess

i bought a new screen and back cover for my iphone off ebay because mine has got scratched up. Do you think one of the phone shops in MBK would be able to change the housing for me?

get a schwab online checking account. no foreign ATM fees, no foreign exchange fees, and they even refund other banks ATM fees (including the one required by law in thailand to charge you 150 baht for using a foreign debit card) well, to a limit.

i got a K bank account as well, so i can deposit baht in there, and not walk around with too much money in my pocket.

fyi - bolded part isn't true.

still among the best checking accounts out there though, a good recommendation. no foreign atm fees is the nuts.

Used book store next to 7/11 across from Cub Med (the road that leads to night bazzaar)

thanks lessu, but what about if we would like to do some tubing in Vang Vieng? any ideas about whether this is a gonna cost a bomb or not? it looks like we'd need to fly into luang prabang but this seems to cost around $500 return from either phuket or samui, changing in bangkok. Anyone have any experience of the train alternatives all the way to vang vieng from udon thani? cheers

minibus to vang vieng from vientienne (or the border if you're not stopping first to get visas)

i forget the exact amount, but i think we rented a private van for about $100 from the border to vang vieng.

Scratch Dog, you work for Scratch Dog?

You can fly into Vientiane on Thai Air but I'm pretty sure you have to lay over in BKK. For a good bit cheaper you can fly directly from Phuket to Udon Thani on AirAsia. We paid 800 baht for a private taxi from airport to Laos border. I think it's 50 kilometers but it is a nice paved highway so only took about 30 minutes. Then once you cross the bridge and go through immigration it is about a 15 minute ride to Vientiane city center which cost us 300 baht for a private taxi. Once in Vientiane you can book a private minibus from pretty much any hotel, guesthouse or travel agency. We paid either 3500 or 3700 baht from Vientiane to Vang Vieng which was a little over 150 kilometers and took about three hours since time is split between a crappy road and going through the mountains.

+1 to this, just opened a Schwab account and it's great - also you'll be getting a good exchange rate and it's one of the few banks that won't charge you a fee on the exchange

to what rate are you guys comparing the rate you get?

ugh 6 night minimum stay if booked during full moon... pretty sure i dont want to stay there for that long. anyone have any other hotel recommendations?

i withdrew 20k from schwab two days ago. xe.com has the rate at 32.24 currently. schwab charged me $624.64 for 20150 baht (they refund the 150 at end of period) that's 32.25.

Bank of america tacks on a foreign exchange fee that schwab does not. I don't know what Double Oh is talking about, but from the info i have, i'm cut a break of $5 (Foreign ATM fee) 150 baht (thai foreign ATM card fee) and 2.x% foreign exchange fee that BoA would charge me. my friends with wachovia tell me they catch similar charges.

idk but let me know. What did you pay for the housing? 3G or 3GS?
my iphone looks like **** aswell. its only about 9 months old but ive been treating it like ****. I imagine the resell value will go way up with a new shiny housing.

I use WF and don't get charged any of the extra fees you are talking about.

i thought WF bought waich, but could be something they've maintained after the merger i guess

So I need to get a visa entension tomorrow I hear phuket town is the place to go anyone got any map or directions for me and is it a long thing or will it just take 5 mins?

can anyone tell me if there's an equivalent to pantip plaza in phuket?
cheers