welo

I have a group of 10 friends (from Western Europe) who are currently staying in Thailand on a Tourist Visa. Their return flight requires them to stay 15 days longer than their 60 day stay permit allows.

Originally they planned to go for a border run to Cambodia, but I advised them they should rather get a 30 day extension at the immigration office. During the last two weeks of their initial 60 days they will stay in Pattaya. Before that they will be in Chiang Rai.

I am quite familiar with the process of applying for an extension from personal experience (mostly in Bangkok), but I have never done it in Pattaya.

I am also not sure if all ten of them will have to go to apply for the extension themselves or if the process could be streamlined.


So does anybody know...

• whether the immigration office in Pattaya handles tourist visa extensions similarly efficient as in Bangkok? In Bangkok it took me between 1hr and 1,5hrs (travel time excluded) to obtain an extension. How long does it take in Pattaya (approx.)
  
• should they rather try to extend at the Chiang Rai immigration office (viewer tourists?, less busy?, more friendly?)
  
• whether it is possible to apply 15 days before the end of the 60 day stay in Chiang Rai
  
• in Pattaya or Chiang Rai, is it possible to streamline the process for a travel group of 10 persons.

Thanks to everybody for sharing their experience

Is there any way that I run these aircon units (pics) at night and keep a sane electricity bill?

I am thinking about moving into a town house that has those installed. Plan to use them at night (3 bed-rooms).

My goal is to strike a deal with the landlord to share costs on having new ones installed. But if the deal is bad I wonder if I could replace the old units and take them with me if I leave (and the landlord doesn't want to buy them). I plan to stay 3 years but who knows for sure.

I only did a quick check, and the air was still cold, the noise level was moderate (no rattling, etc), and they didn't have a bad smell.

Two of them don't even have a thermostat, but the newer one does. I just spotted the power ratings label on the photo, but forgot to look at it when I was there.

I know those things are bad energy wise, but how bad is 'bad'? I remember seeing (and running them) in a Thai hostel - and now I wonder why they didn't have them replaced because it would probably pay off for them very quickly.

Is it worth to keep the newer one?


I've read several other threads but I would still appreciate opinions and feedback on my specific situation.


thanks!

I need to upgrade a friend's router due to stability problems with the WLAN/router part, and I wonder if I should get him a router with ADSL2+ modem built-in, or keep the router provided by the ISP as a modem (bridge mode).

The ISP is TRUE, the router/modem is a Billion Wireless-N - it's not the typical home user router that I've seen so far, but looks like a tit more powerful device (he has a small office for maybe 5-10 PCs). Still, it doesn't seem to be very stable.

I've heard that sometimes ISPs will customize the firmware in order to work better with their equipment (on ADSL level).

Does anybody know more?

I want to upgrade the RAM on my old HP Compaq Tablet PC so I don't have to ditch it (yet).

Can anybody recommend a place where they sell old stuff like this at reasonable prices? At Pantip I've been quoted 900B for 512MB!? Looking for 1GB though.

EDIT: I really do mean DDR PC2700 (166Mhz) laptop RAM (that is DDR 'one')

Hi guys,

While dismounting a loosened old door know I made the foolish mistake to open the inside cylinder (see drawing) - instead of removing the knob only via the appropriate release mechanism.

I am trying to figure out where the spring belongs and how to fit the parts together again, but it seems I am not smart enough

Tried to google but only found zillions of mounting and dismounting tutorials for the door knob (where the cylinder is left complete and unopened).


Maybe somebody with more know how in this field is able to find me a tutorial or technical drawing of the inside of a cylinder, or has some other (visual) resources that might help.


I am talking about the cylinder in the lower part of the drawing, not the one where you put in the key.




Appreciate your help!

welo