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It depends on the bank. They all have their own system. Many now have an OPT, which stands for One Time Password. When you make the transfer, they send you an OTP. You have to enter the OTP to complete the transfer. Some banks don't use OPTs. The ones that do usually give you a choice of receiving the OTP either by mobile phone text message or by Email. Siam Commercial, for whatever reason, has suspended the Email OTP and will only send by text message, which doesn't do much good if you are making the transfer from somewhere outside of Thailand. I think the easiest bank to work with for online transfers is Bank of Ayudhya. TMB is easy too. Bangkok Bank is fairly simple. With all three banks you can set up the transfers online. No paperwork is involved. You can do the same with Siam Commercial, but it's a problem if you need to do the OTP by mobile phone. I don't have an account with Kasikorn, so I don't know what's involved with their system. Based on what Billyhouston said, it sounds like you'll have to make a trip to your bank branch office to set it up. But try online anyway. Billyhouston didn't say how long ago he set things up with his account. Until recently, several banks required paperwork to set it up, but only recently have changed their system so that the whole thing can easily be done online. You might as well try setting it up online first. If you can't, that's when to go to your branch office. If you do have to go to your branch office, try to go to the same branch where you first opened your account. Some banks won't do that sort of thing unless you are in your primary branch office.

Are you talking about transferring money from one Thai bank account to another Thai bank account or are you talking about an international transfer? If it's an international transfer I don't know of any way to avoid fees. If you are transferring from one account to another account with a Thai bank, depending on the bank there are either no fees at all or a fee of about 20 baht or so, depending on the bank. That applies if it's the same bank. In other words from one Bank of Ayudhya account to another Bank of Ayudhya account. If you wish to find a bank that does this kind of transfer with no fees at all, then don't walk into a bank to ask. They really wouldn't know. What you want to do is call their service number and talk to an online banking agent. That's where you'll get a reliable answer. I could be wrong, but I think you can do this kind of transfer with no fee with both Bank of Ayudhya and Siam Commercial. I'm not certain. There may be other banks that will do intra-bank transfers without charging any fees, but you'll need to call their service numbers to find out. If you are transferring from one Thai bank account to an account at a different Thai bank, you can do that online too with most banks, but depending on the amount of the transfer, most banks charge a fee of 25 to 35 baht. In other words, from a Bank of Ayudhya account to a Kasikorn bank account. One possible solution, if you're talking about international transfers, can work if you have your own Thai bank account. International transfers usually cost a set fee, and the fee is the same per transfer, regardless of whether you are transferring a small amount or a large amount of money. What you could do would be to transfer as much money as you can to your own Thai bank account and pay the fee. After the money is in your account, you can then transfer smaller amounts to your friend's account online without additional international fees until the funds in your own account are depleted. You won't avoid fees that way, but you can at least save a lot of money because you will be reducing the number of times you have to pay the international fees. It's been a long time, but before Thai banks offered online banking I used to wire funds to a Thai bank account from the USA. At the time, the fee was $40 per transaction, regardless of the amount of money I was sending.

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Prasong Tells Foreign Ministry to Revoke Thaksin's Passport Former foreign minister Prasong Soonsiri Tuesday demanded the Foreign Ministry permanent secretary to revoke all types of passports of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Prasong submitted the written demand to the permanent secretary and threatened to file nonfeasance charges against him if he refused to revoke Thaksin's diplomatic and ordinary passports. He reasoned that the Foreign Ministry's directives prohibited issuance passports to anyone who face criminal charges and Thaksin has already been sentenced to two-year imprisonment.

It seems strange to me too. Most of the time, when a public holiday is declared, the banks and government offices close. I didn't see anything about that, one way or the other, in the article, so that remains to be seen. Just how that is supposed to boost tourism, other than perhaps for Thais themselves who are on a holiday within the country, goes beyond me.

The following appears in the PATTAYA DAILY NEWS: _____ GOVERNMENT PREDICTS GLOOMY ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR THAILAND IN 2009 Acting Finance Minister, Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech, on December 8, admitted to being seriously concerned that the country‘s economic problems will intensify in Q1,2009. "The economy has begun to signal its worsening because policies drawn up to address the problem cannot function properly and state agencies need to wait for a new policy from the next government," Mr. Suchart is reported to have said. The fact that the mid-year budget of Bt100 billion must be suspended pending consideration and approval by the next government, hardly helps matters. However, Mr. Suchart did express satisfaction over the Bank of Thailand (BoT) Monetary Policy Committee's decision to reduce the policy interest rate sharply because it would encourage financial institutions to reallocate their assets in more promising avenues of investment; however, he said that a further cut in interest rate would be encouraging. Further predictions · The economy is likely to weaken more in 2009, in line with a further slowdown in the global economy, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast to fall to 3.9%. "We have to revise the growth projection down because the global economic slowdown is affecting our economy," said the National Economic and Social Development Board's Secretary General, Ampon Kittiampol. · "Net exports are falling and local political turmoil is seriously deterring investment and tourism," Ampon Kittiampo said. · The pace of export revenue growth will slow in 2008-09, while import demand is likely to improve. Exports suffered during the recent PAD blockade of Suvarnabhumi Airport, which was a huge blow to Thailand's tourist industry that brings in the equivalent of about 7 % of GDP. Losses were estimated to cost 1 billion baht ($28m) a day to the tourist industry. · "The world economic recession will have a strong effect on the Thai export sector in first half of the next year and private investment will continue to slow down," Ampon predicted. · Despite the best efforts of the central bank, Thailand will almost certainly fall into recession in 2009 and although the Bank of Thailand recently cut its policy rate cut to 2.75%, this is deemed by most economic pundits as insufficient to prevent the economy weakening further · Thai industry expanded at 6.1 percent, down from 7.7 percent in the second quarter and 9.5 percent in the first quarter, and Ampon warned that the global financial crisis would continue taking its toll in Thailand. · The National Economic and Social Development Board projected that the Thai economy would grow at 3-4% in 2009, while inflation is expected to drop to between 2.5 and 3.5 percent. · Thailand's unemployment rate is expected to rise to at least 2.0-2.5% in 2009, up from the 1.5-2.5% projected in November and the 1.4% estimated for 2008, the state planning agency said on December 8. · Unemployed Thais would average 900,000 in 2009 out of a national labour force of 37.6 million, up from 530,000 in the first nine months of 2008, an official at the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) recently stated. 'This is the impact of the growing global economic and financial crisis that affects Thailand,' according to NESDB Deputy Secretary General Suwanee Kamman. She continued by saying that the unemployment rate next year could be even higher than her new forecast as it did not take into account the effect on the tourist industry of the week-long blockade of Bangkok's airports by PAD protesters.

Maybe not dedication. It's more like I'm simply not tired yet, so I get the daily count out of the way. I appreciate what you said. We've had our little tiffs. I don't hold any of it against you. I'm glad you don't hold any of it against me. In any case, I'm flattered that you think I deserve an award. If people are benefiting from this message board and the work I put into it, that's award enough for me.

I wouldn't complain about it . . . Most likely it has to do with the time of day when you withdraw money. I post the opening rates, which usually appear about 8:00am, and the closing rates, which usually appear around 5:00pm. During the day the rates constantly fluctuate. Also, since you're withdrawing from a foreign bank, maybe you're getting an offshore rate. I have no idea why or how it works, but offshore rates seem to be better than the rates within Thailand.

Tuesday, December 9 OPENING RATES: US Dollar: 35.15 Euro: 45.30 British Pound: 52.205 Australian Dollar: 23.11 Canadian Dollar: 27.95 _____ CLOSING RATES: US Dollar: 35.21 Euro: 45.26 British Pound: 51.99 Australian Dollar: 22.885 Canadian Dollar: 27.9325

Apparently, those jockeying for political power are not interested in becoming, or continuing to be, puppets for Thaksin. The following appears in the BANGKOK POST: _____ Thaksin Told It's All Over AEKARACH SATTABURUTH After his ex-wife Khunying Potjaman Damapong failed to get Newin Chidchob on the phone, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had to make the call himself. A source at the Puea Thai party said Thaksin decided to call Mr Newin after his once close aide refused to take calls from his wife and other key party members. But Thaksin did not get the reply he was hoping for. Mr Newin made it clear he would not let his faction join Puea Thai and help form a new government. According to faction member Supachai Phosu, a Nakhon Phanom MP, Mr Newin told his former boss: "Sir, everything is over." After not answering Khunying Potjaman's calls on Saturday, Mr Newin had told some members of his faction "it's too late", Mr Supachai said. His faction leader was now very selective about taking calls from members of the Puea Thai party, he added.

Ok, my next question is how many megapixels is a good number for point-and-shoot?

Huh? What?

Even though total numbers of posts have nothing to do with winning this contest, I thought some of you might be interested in some of the numbers. So far, 28 posters have their names in the hat at least once. Some, a great many times more than once. The posters who have exceeded 100 posts since the contest began are, as of December 8: MonkeySee: 301 posts Laurence: 124 posts Lvdkeyes: 124 posts Pattayamale: 101 posts There were some posts that were deleted for various reasons, but those posts were still counted toward the daily minimum of 3 in order to get your name in the hat that day.

That's one of the reasons why I dislike modern so-called music. I can't understand the words. It seems almost as if the more a singer slurs the words to the point of incomprehensibility, the more of a "superstar" they become. Sometimes it's difficult to explain to a Thai boy, when he asks what the words are, that I don't have any idea. Sorry, but if I have to struggle to make out the words, and still can't make them out, that's music I'm not interested in listening to. The great Elvis Presley? Not interested. You know what he sounds like to me? "You ain nuthin buh a han dog, crockin alla time." Then, "ain wenna wenna ain no frenna mine." Wonderful! An Elvis impersonator? Yeah? Impersonate this! Somehow I really don't want to have to have a translator sitting next to me just to listen to music. I think the last time I understood all the words in a song was when Cole Porter songs were still at the top of the charts. My favorite singer was always Ethel Merman. No matter what she sung, I was always able to understand every single word.

Probably both.

I thought you were doing this with a motorcycle. I didn't realize until now that you're going to do this on a bicycle. You know what I say? Go for it! It could turn out to be a big mistake, but it could also turn out to be the greatest adventure of your life. If you back out of it now, without at least trying for a few days, then for the rest of your life you'll have to wonder if you should have done it. I've done my share of crazy things in my life. There have been times when I was right in the middle of whatever it was and wondered what the hell I was doing. But I did them. I'm happy I did. I wouldn't do some of them again, but I'll always be glad I did.

I don't know why, but with me usually it's exactly the opposite. The instant I walk in to a mom-and-pop store or the instant I express interest in a relatively expensive item in a large store, a staff member is hovering over me constantly, to the point that it can become very annoying. Maybe there's no happy medium. You're either totally ignored or a staff member practically glues himself to you while you're trying to shop. I don't find too many Goldilocks clerks where everything is just right.

Even if that happens, I doubt much would end up settled. There always seems to be another corrupt politician who manages to get himself into office.

If you ever get a chance to see the film, "Reversal of Fortune," you'll know the story. I think it's an excellent film and they leave it up to you as to whether Claus von Bulow was actually guilty or not. Maybe you can rent it. I think it's worth seeing.

Monday, December 8 OPENING RATES: US Dollar: 35.38 Euro: 45.095 British Pound: 52.02 Australian Dollar: 22.875 Canadian Dollar: 28.7735 _____ CLOSING RATES: US Dollar: 35.31 Euro: 45.445 British Pound: 52.90 Australian Dollar: 23.4125 Canadian Dollar: 28.04

The following appears in THE NATION: _____ Pheu Thai in Desperate Bid for Power Published on December 8, 2008 The Thaksin Shinawatra camp is not giving up in its race with the Democrat Party to form a new government even as the former PM's ex-wife Pojaman Damapong pours her resources into winning over supporters. Discussions were conducted in the war room in the Shinawatra Thai Silk building of the Pheu Thai Party yesterday. The party's strategies, the political situation and making contacts for MPs to join the party were all discussed. Pojaman quietly returned from Hong Kong on Friday in a bid to mobilise supporters for the new government after the dissolution of the Somchai Wongsawat's cabinet following a court ruling. "Those who have any close associates, please bring them back to the Pheu Thai Party," a source quoted Pojaman as saying. However, another source said the MPs in the camp agreed that the chance for them to form a government had become slim. But they have not given up entirely. They tried hard with the help of veteran politicians like Prawat Uttamote of the Group of 16 to use personal relationships to urge former coalition MPs to return to the fold. However, the former coalition MPs said they wanted to protect the country and the monarchy so Pheu Thai needed to improve its strategy. Former Pheu Thai spokesman Sakda Noppasit said the party had only a slim chance as the military had lobbied the others to join the Democrat Party. Pheu Thai has vowed revenge and said it would challenge the Democrat-led government's legitimacy in every way. "It would be tit-for-tat and could be more severe," he said. A party source said plans to destroy the credibility of many institutions such as the justice system had been laid out. Protests like those staged by the People's Alliance for Democracy would be planned. Demonstrators would work closely with the red-shirted pro-PPP government group. Pheu Thai's key member Yongyuth Tiyapairat, a former PPP deputy leader, would be in charge. However, Newin Chidchob's red-shirted supporters would not join, the source said. On the other hand, Pheu Thai MP Somchai Petprasert from Nakhon Ratchasima said the Democrat boast about having the numbers to stitch together a government was just the first step. The former coalition party had just said they would consider the Democrat bid. "Pheu Thai is full of unity. If you cut the heart of the former People Power MPs you will see 10-20 more MPs wanting to join the Pheu Thai. I believe Pheu Thai can form a government and the people have shown which party they want to form the government," Somchai said. Caretaker prime minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul rejected the idea of dissolving the House to prevent the Democrats from forming a government. Chaovarat said there was no necessity for House dissolution at the moment. He said the former ruling party and the opposition were trying to gather support for a coalition. It would be unreasonable to dissolve the House. He denied that his decision not to dissolve the House was a result of his son Anutin being a close associate of former Thai Rak Thai executive Newin Chidchob. Pheu Thai MP Surapong Towijakchaikul from Chiang Mai said it was impossible for the Democrats to gather 260 MPs on their side. Out of the total of 438 MPs at the moment, Pheu Thai could count on 220. "I believe we won't lose any support. Many northeastern MPs in the Friends of Newin group have joined us. We have to make this clear to the people," he said. "Democrat chief adviser Chuan Leekpai has always said his party will let the party with the most seats in the House to be the first to form a government. If it fails, the second one then will form the government. The Democrats are going back on their word," he said. However, Deputy House Speaker Apiwan Wiriyachai, a Pheu Thai MP from Nonthaburi, said his party had fallen behind the Democrats after Chart Thai Pattana refused to back it. But Pheu Thai was ready to form a government if the Democrats could not.

Don't forget, a great many Thai businesses are run by people with little education beyond the ability to read, write, and handle basic arithmetic. I would guess the average motorcycle taxi driver is someone who was able to afford the monthly payments on a motorcycle and was able to come up with whatever fees he has to pay to be a motorcycle taxi driver. I doubt they would have ever even had an opportunity to learn to think in terms of what we would consider to be business sense. One of my favorite examples is the story I heard about why Bruno's restaurant moved from their former location to their current Jomtien location. The way I heard it, the restaurant had been in the same North Pattaya location for years. Then, when it came time to renew the lease, the building owner demanded somewhere on the order of three times the price they had been paying. It was explained to the building owner that it would be less expensive for them to move out and build their own restaurant unless he was willing to reduce the rent increase to a reasonable rate. The owner refused to budge. Bruno's moved out and as far as I know the building has been vacant ever since. Assuming that story is the way it really happened, then business sense obviously had nothing to do with the building owner's decision.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- After spending nearly 28 years in an irreversible coma, heiress and socialite Martha "Sunny" von Bulow died Saturday in a New York nursing home, according to a family statement. She was 76. Von Bulow was subject of one of the nation's most sensational criminal cases during the 1980s. Her husband, Claus, was accused of trying to kill her with an overdose of insulin, which prosecutors alleged sent her into the coma. He was convicted of making two attempts on her life, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He was acquitted in a second trial. His retrial in 1985 received national attention. "We were blessed to have an extraordinarily loving and caring mother," said the statement from Von Bulow's three children -- Annie Laurie "Ala" Isham, Alexander von Auersperg and Cosima Pavoncelli -- released by a spokeswoman. "She was especially devoted to her many friends and family members." Martha von Bulow was born Martha Sharp Crawford into a wealthy family. She inherited a fortune conservatively estimated at $75 million, according to an article on the von Bulow case posted on truTV.com's Crime Library Web site. In her early years, she drew comparisons to actress Grace Kelly. She became known as Princess von Auersperg with her first marriage, to Prince Alfred von Auersperg of Austria. That marriage produced two children: Alexander and Annie Laurie. The von Bulows married in 1966 and had a daughter, Cosima. On the morning of December 22, 1980, family members found Martha von Bulow unconscious in the bathroom of the family's posh Newport, Rhode Island, home. She never regained consciousness. She had been hospitalized a year earlier after lapsing into a coma but recovered, according to the Crime Library site. Doctors had diagnosed her with hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. Prosecutors accused Claus von Bulow of twice attempting to kill his wife by injecting her with insulin. The case also led to a major motion picture, "Reversal of Fortune." Actor Jeremy Irons won an Oscar for his portrayal of Claus von Bulow. Famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who won Claus von Bulow a new trial on appeal after his conviction, said in a statement Saturday that Martha von Bulow's death is "a sad ending to a sad tragedy that some members of her family tried to turn into a crime. We proved overwhelming[ly] that there was no crime and that the coma was self-induced. We saved his life, but could not save hers." Claus von Bulow's defense team maintained that Martha von Bulow's alcohol use, among other factors, caused her coma. Dershowitz said he had spoken with Claus von Bulow, who now lives in London, England. Claus von Bulow was saddened by his former wife's passing, Dershowitz said. The family statement said Martha von Bulow is survived by her children, their spouses and nine grandchildren. Alexander von Auersperg and Ala von Auersperg Isham, who had sided with prosecutors against Claus von Bulow, filed a civil suit against their stepfather after his acquittal. The case was settled out of court in 1987, according to a 2007 article in the Providence Journal newspaper in Rhode Island. Claus von Bulow had agreed to waive his claim to his wife's money and to a divorce in exchange for the suit being dropped. The von Bulows' daughter, Cosima, sided with her father. Vanity Fair writer Dominick Dunne, who covered the von Bulow case, told the New York Daily News in 2007 that Sunny von Bulow was moved from Columbia Presbyterian hospital to a private nursing home in 1998. Ala von Auersperg Isham served for a time as president of the Sunny von Bulow Coma and Head Trauma Research Foundation, according to the Providence Journal. An offshoot of that organization, the Brain Trauma Foundation, still operates in New York, the newspaper said. advertisement The family statement notes that Martha von Bulow actively supported the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Opera and the J.P. Morgan Library in New York and the Preservation Society of Newport, Rhode Island. A private memorial service will be held for family and friends in New York in the coming days, the family statement said Saturday, along with a private burial.

Maybe I should have phrased it differently. The bars will be open. Only the banks and government offices will be closed.

Amsterdam to Close Many Brothels, Marijuana Cafes By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major effort to drive organized crime out of the tourist haven. The city is targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including gambling parlors, and the so-called "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly. Also targeted are peep shows, massage parlors and souvenir shops used by drug dealers for money-laundering. "I think that the new reality will be more in line with our image as a tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals" said Lodewijk Asscher, a city council member and one of the main proponents of the plan. The news comes just one day after Amsterdam's mayor said he would search for loopholes in new rules laid down by the national government that would close marijuana cafes near schools citywide. The measures announced Saturday would affect about 36 coffee shops in the center itself — a little less than 20 percent of the city total. Asscher underlined that the city center will remain true to its freewheeling reputation. "It'll be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world — very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," he said. "And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came." Under the plan announced Saturday, Amsterdam will spend euro30 million to euro40 million ($38 million to $51 million) to bring hotels, restaurants, art galleries and boutiques to the center. It will also build new underground parking areas. Amsterdam already had plans to close many brothels and some coffee shops, but plans announced Saturday go further. Asscher said the city would reshape the area, using zoning rules, buying out businesses and offering assistance to upgrade stores. The city has shut brothels and sex clubs in the past by relying on a law allowing the closure of businesses with bookkeeping irregularities. Prostitution will be allowed only in two areas in the district — notably De Wallen ("The Walls"), a web of streets and alleys around the city's medieval retaining dam walls. The area has been a center of prostitution since before the city's golden shipping age in the 1600s. Prostitution was legalized in the Netherlands in 2000, formalizing a long-standing tolerance policy. Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but prosecutors won't press charges for possession of small amounts. Coffee shops are able to sell it openly.

It would probably come out "Taiwan." "I have always loved California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." - Dan Quayle