Its Time to Pack It

[katoeylover]

(dummy_plug @ Jul. 03 2006,07:56)

(katoeylover @ Jul. 03 2006,02:57)

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 02 2006,20:37) my case normally ways 30kg plus so i think i shud take a few tips from this lol

so does mine but thats because its usually fully of jaffa cakes and heinz beans!!!

Bring me a box of these Jaffa cakes in August will ya KL? I want to fucking try a box.  

You want to be Pom Pui too!!!!



no probs - will bring you a box or two!

[Snick]

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 03 2006,16:28)

(Snick @ Jul. 03 2006,21:53)

(SamplerDoc @ Jul. 03 2006,14:54) Hey anyone have ideas on finding flavored condoms?

They are sold here, both Durex and local brands have some flavors (but no durian )

Can Thai condoms be trusted? flavored or not?

Ok
I'd use Durex or a western condom

[Guest]

(katoeylover @ Jun. 30 2006,16:07) And try not to use credit cards, use a debit card to withdraw cash in smaller amounts.

There have been lots of cases of cloning cards.

Credit cards are fine to use in Thailand, just use them at reputable merchants and not bars. If you use an ATM card, try to use on Bangkok Bank, Siam Commercial and Thai Military, keep ALL transaction slips even the ones from cancelled or failed transactions.

Cloning of cards is, as the say, tired, not wired!

[Snick]

I disagree, the people I know who had their credit cards cloned all say it was done at a hotel.

Add to that, most merchants charge +3% for using a credit card and I strongly suggest only using cash except at 4/5 star hotels and for big ticket items.

Even if incidences are rare, you don't want it happening to you. You will waste a day on the phone to your bank, and having to go to the local police station and file a report.

[mardhi]

(Bit Beefy @ Jul. 03 2006,16:28)

(Snick @ Jul. 03 2006,21:53)

(SamplerDoc @ Jul. 03 2006,14:54) Hey anyone have ideas on finding flavored condoms?

They are sold here, both Durex and local brands have some flavors (but no durian    )

Can  Thai condoms be trusted? flavored or not?    

There is a brand of condoms called 'bodyguard' sold and made in Thailand which are very good - I ended up with about 3,000 of the things as I met the American guy who owns the company and he gave me loads of boxes of the things. I have to say, they are really good - never had one break yet and they are size 54mm which is larger than most Thai condoms at 51mm.

Also come in Strawberry flavour - the LB's love them.

Durex Excita are also size 54mm but as I say most Durex condoms sold in Thailand are 51mm - it says on the packet the size of the condom.

You can buy bodyguard in many local pharmacies and even in many gogo bars in vending machines in the loo's. However their distribution is a bit patchy and they dont seem to have cracked the 7-11 market.

Infact if anybody wants to trade condoms for Jaffa cakes they have a deal - one jaffa cake for one condom - LOL.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Snick]

(mardhi @ Jul. 04 2006,11:37) Infact if anybody wants to trade condoms for Jaffa cakes they have a deal - one jaffa cake for one condom - LOL.

Mardhi is an unscrupulous guy, make sure he is trading you one unused condom for a Jaffa cakes

[Guest]

Hey pentire. What sort of goods did you buy to take home to sell?

[SamplerDoc]

Glad this thread stuck to the topic of what to pack
We went from that to trading cakes for condoms  

[Guest]

I disagree...for the following reasons

-if you own a credit and never use it, you're still at risk for fraud
-I never take the word of friend(s) on what happed to them within their private affairs, there is ALWAYS something left out
-statistically, cloning is a small problem, more to made in having numbers and a computer to run them
-and the big one, it's where you use it (I€™ll agree with you here). I'm on several boards that cater to mongering in Thailand and the common thread is:

cheap, cheaper, cheapest!

If you stay at cheap dives run by folks who see you as a monied foreigner, and they have the means and the will, most likely they will try to scam you

Bottom line, most of the credit card fraud is done long distance and by people who €œhuman engineered€ your data away from it€™s safe storage place.

Like so many things on the Internet, one has to separate fact from fiction (urban legend and so on€¦) of which none of this is made any easier by the media, "helpful" friends, and card service centers that try to up sell credit protection you neither need or are legally required to obtain to protect yourself.

[Snick]

Except I was there when it happend, friend and I both checked in. I paid cash, he used card.
I think it was two days later he got contacted from credit card company. They asked about his expenses in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan. He never went to Taiwan. For 2 days someone with a cloned card of his and was buying up Taiwan. He had to cancel card, file a police report, get the hotel to fax some shit, etc... he lost at least a day taking care of this crap.

I later heard from another person that they had the same thing happen to them and they had been staying at the same hotel.

Obviously cloing is not the only threat, years ago I had my card used fraudently and that was from someone hacking into a site and getting the card info (I later learned).

Its all a question of probabilities, and using your card in low/mid range hotels in Thailand increases the odds. I'm just saying the risk is there, its not zero, so why play the odds when its easier to use cash anyhow. Nothing worse than having to lose a day of vacation taking care of banking problems.

[dummy_plug]

I've used my card in Bangkok and Pattaya several times, mostly for hotel and restaurant purchases. So far, I haven't had a problem with cloning. That's not to say it doesn't or won't happen. However, there's no real reason to use a card if you can pay cash instead.

[Guest]

(Snick @ Jul. 05 2006,08:05) Except I was there when it happend, friend and I both checked in. I paid cash, he used card.
I think it was two days later he got contacted from credit card company. They asked about his expenses in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan. He never went to Taiwan. For 2 days someone with a cloned card of his and was buying up Taiwan. He had to cancel card, file a police report, get the hotel to fax some shit, etc... he lost at least a day taking care of this crap.

I later heard from another person that they had the same thing happen to them and they had been staying at the same hotel.

Obviously cloing is not the only threat, years ago I had my card used fraudently and that was from someone hacking into a site and getting the card info (I later learned).

Its all a question of probabilities, and using your card in low/mid range hotels in Thailand increases the odds. I'm just saying the risk is there, its not zero, so why play the odds when its easier to use cash anyhow. Nothing worse than having to lose a day of vacation taking care of banking problems.

There is no way to tell just how they are using the credit data, like I said, cloning is tired, there are just so many ways to get and use your data. The point I'm making (if you read my entire post), you can only minimize your exposure. I had a card that I never used but it still had fruadulent charges on it in Finland. It was one of the 14.5 million card numbers boosted out of one of the card service centers in Florida. Another card, a check card, was reissued with days of the boost. BTW, some of the card issuers out there are REALLY lax on security. I will not name the bad ones but I will name the good ones that I have, Bank of America and American Express, both are very watchful of activity. What good does a police report do? Here in Reno, the only you can file one is if it was local merchant and then with only large amounts of money involved. If your friend was asked by his card issuer to file a police report, I'd think about finding a new card issuer.