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Regular Member
Posts: 1342
They Are Just Doing Their Job But It Fucking Sucks Like A Thai Beach Road Girl
Originally Posted by
devils 1
alright so let me play "devils advocate" here. if what you all are saying is correct. it is illegal for some reason for me to have naked pictures/videos on my laptop or in my camera/camcorder? or have we gotten a bit ahead of ourselves here and made some kind of an assumption that these women are ****?
no it is not illegal to have porn or naked “adult” women. as in my case when they spotted the photos on my laptop from lbfm.net that just made them look harder ("he's been to thailand, philippines he has images" )so it’s best not to have none of that shit in the first place.
i mean if you don’t have anything “illegal” you have nothing to worry about but who wants to be held up, questioned and embarrassed as assholes go through your porn stash and personal photos?
Originally Posted by
devils 1
because from the tone of these postings you are giving the impression that either customs makes the assumption that every naked person recorded is either **** or that they were paid to have sex. in either case how could they prove either of these things without tracking all of the "naked people" down and verifying this info?
they don’t care if you paid for sex. they do care if you paid for sex with children. they will look long and hard at those photos and if they look like kids to them then you are fucked. your shit will be seized and you will possibly be jailed on the spot or have a court date given to you.
Originally Posted by
devils 1
also, how do they know these images were made in there country on this voyage rather than some other country or in fact made in the "western" world and taken along on the vacation for our viewing pleasure.
again. they are looking for naked or deviant acts by or with children and osama-bin ladenesque activities. they don’t care when, where or how the images were taken.
Originally Posted by
devils 1
i am just trying to get some clarification here rather than a climate of fear which seems to be starting from this topic.
hope this helped.
my only problem was with the questioning. they made an issue of the iraq beheading videos from orgish.com ("why do you have this on your pc?") they found my answer unsatisfactory.
i was repeatedly asked “how did you get your job?” “do you have a college degree?” these questions had nothing to do with me being a **** or terrorist. they were simply jealous and just wanted to give me a hard time but i must admit i was being a bit arrogant. but just a year before that i was broke as hell financially so…..new money.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...term=new+money
Originally Posted by
x man
good points devil.
other questions for those that were stopped and let go -- did they require you to delete your pictures?
no i did not have to delete my photos as they came from a well known site.
Originally Posted by
x man
did they explain what the problem was?
yep. they asked why i didn’t put a us address down on my immigration card since i am a citizen. my job requires me to travel frequently so i had no permanent address at that time in the states but i was using a p.o. box. the p.o. is what caused the red flag.
now i just use dear old mom’s address even though i have not lived in that city since 05’ but since then everything is kosher.
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Senior Member
Posts: 1856
Perry Mason?
Originally Posted by
devils 1
alright so let me play "devils advocate" here...
i am just trying to get some clarification here rather than a climate of fear which seems to be starting from this topic.
commercial pornography is certainly not legal in some places, asian women often look young for their age & could be mistaken for **** etc etc..
as one travels from country to country it becomes problematic remembering what is legal from one place to another.
the point of the warnings about not to carry naughty pics on your device is to avoid potential problems with officials. at the end of a long tiring flight standing in front of some bloody customs/immigration goon with sweeping powers you're not gonna be in a position to play perry mason old son.
i've read reports in the past from us mongers getting a pretty hard time of it about such things returning to their own country.
research the posts on isg. you may be surprised. ymmv.
take care.
av
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Senior Member
Posts: 4567
good points devil.
other questions for those that were stopped and let go -- did they require you to delete your pictures? did they explain what the problem was?
x
Originally Posted by
devils 1
alright so let me play "devils advocate" here. if what you all are saying is correct. it is illegal for some reason for me to have naked pictures/videos on my laptop or in my camera/camcorder? or have we gotten a bit ahead of ourselves here and made some kind of an assumption that these women are ****?
because from the tone of these postings you are giving the impression that either customs makes the assumption that every naked person recorded is either **** or that they were paid to have sex. in either case how could they prove either of these things without tracking all of the "naked people" down and verifying this info?
also, how do they know these images were made in there country on this voyage rather than some other country or in fact made in the "western" world and taken along on the vacation for our viewing pleasure.
i am just trying to get some clarification here rather than a climate of fear which seems to be starting from this topic.
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Senior Member
Posts: 253
Security and naked pics
Originally Posted by
surfer
bb: homeland security already knows where you are coming from before you answer. you are very lucky that answering hk (your transit point) did not get you flagged for secondary. if you failed to list the philippines on your customs form you have committed a federal felony. in sum, you didgeed a bullet but i would not make a habit of it.
on the form where you list countries visited you could list hk first but omitting a country you visited (and they can tell without looking at your passport stamps) is a dangerous game indeed. out of almost 40 trips to the pi i have gotten flagged upon return a total of twice (and once because i listed the generic viagra i was bringing back as you are required to do).
if you have racy pictures better to send them home electronically then delete from memory stick or at least hide the memory stick (and have another stick with touristy pics in the camera).
also be aware that pornograpy is illegal in the pi (and they are more prudish that cbp here at home) so you don't want to get caught there either.
alright so let me play "devils advocate" here. if what you all are saying is correct. it is illegal for some reason for me to have naked pictures/videos on my laptop or in my camera/camcorder? or have we gotten a bit ahead of ourselves here and made some kind of an assumption that these women are ****?
because from the tone of these postings you are giving the impression that either customs makes the assumption that every naked person recorded is either **** or that they were paid to have sex. in either case how could they prove either of these things without tracking all of the "naked people" down and verifying this info?
also, how do they know these images were made in there country on this voyage rather than some other country or in fact made in the "western" world and taken along on the vacation for our viewing pleasure.
i am just trying to get some clarification here rather than a climate of fear which seems to be starting from this topic.
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Senior Member
Posts: 253
Small bills needed in the PI
Originally Posted by
Robbaf
What do you get for a exchange rate?
It is always moving with the current exchange rates. They will give you the rate when you request it. If memory serves it is close to the going rate, but it is only roughly $200 you are exchanging. But the amount lost in the exchange rate is made up 10XX in the amount of headaches saved.
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Senior Member
Posts: 170
PI Bank account
Originally Posted by
piet riet
can anyone tell me how difficult it actually is to open a bank account in pi?
are they familiar with internet banking there at all?
grateful for all tips.
i have an hsbc account in a couple of countries, so when i went to open one in pi i had no problem. their internet transfer system between banks works fairly well. at the time i did not have a permanent resident visa, only a tourist stamp. i now do, and there are some restrictions on moving money between accounts unless you have a permanent residence visa, but that just meant writing my rep in the manila branch and she made all the moves. around the same time, i also opened an account in a pi bank, one of the biggest. had no problem opening the account, but managing it became very difficult, standing in line, transfers "lost" etc. might mention, if you are a u. s. citizen, you are required by law to file an annual disclosure with the irs on holding a foreign bank account with more than $10k u. s. nothing to do with reporting interest income on your return, separate filing with the treasury department, failure to do so is big in fines and confirep001ions.
matius
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Senior Member
Posts: 1008
Originally Posted by
Devils 1
The way to beat this is always get foreign currency from your own bank before you leave. I usually request 200 US dollars worth of pesos but i request it all in small bills. This way you have plenty of 20 - 200 peso notes for things like taxis and tipping.
What do you get for a exchange rate?
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Senior Member
Posts: 114
Originally Posted by
Amavida
Hey OEM, one of my business's is in the security industry. Our travel movements are logged trust me. In my home country (Australia) the government is phasing in Passports with a chip in them. Its all stored & available to officials. Airlines log your details. Airports log your details. etc etc. These day's there is no horseing around when dealing with officials in airports. Answer all questions truthfully & don't carry anything you should'nt be carrying because its all deadly serious now.
Im recent years, on return to Australian airports, I have been pulled aside many times & put through the 'third degree' with questions, thorough x-ray & bag search down to the last detail. My crime? Im flagged because Im a frequent traveller to Asia (I live in PI) thats all... Some of the bitches who work in Australian customs are real sneering ball breaking smart arses. I dont let them get to me, when they are doing their little act i just tune out & think of the last wonderful session I had with a chick before getting on the plane. :)
These day's, before travel, I 'sterilise' my electronic devices of any pics/info that could give these goons in customs something to annoy me with.
AV
Well AV at least in our arrival card you only need to put down where you spent the longest amount of time in so in my case its always HK or China which is 100% accurate.
I agree with your view that the airport security has changed for the worse especialy the USA ports of entry, not as bad in Australia yet but that may change as well..
So my advice is the same as AV be nice smile a lot and dont leave any electronic evidence of what you have been doing, I am not a photo guy in the bedroom type so my memory cards are always wholesome and so is my lptop etc....
Enjoy
Wizard
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Senior Member
Posts: 1856
Originally Posted by
One Eyed Man
... how to you know this? How does Homeland Security know what countries you've been to?
Hey OEM, one of my business's is in the security industry. Our travel movements are logged trust me. In my home country (Australia) the government is phasing in Passports with a chip in them. Its all stored & available to officials. Airlines log your details. Airports log your details. etc etc. These day's there is no horseing around when dealing with officials in airports. Answer all questions truthfully & don't carry anything you should'nt be carrying because its all deadly serious now.
Im recent years, on return to Australian airports, I have been pulled aside many times & put through the 'third degree' with questions, thorough x-ray & bag search down to the last detail. My crime? Im flagged because Im a frequent traveller to Asia (I live in PI) thats all... Some of the bitches who work in Australian customs are real sneering ball breaking smart arses. I dont let them get to me, when they are doing their little act i just tune out & think of the last wonderful session I had with a chick before getting on the plane. :)
These day's, before travel, I 'sterilise' my electronic devices of any pics/info that could give these goons in customs something to annoy me with.
AV
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Senior Member
Posts: 268
How do you know this?
Originally Posted by
Surfer
Homeland security already KNOWS where you are coming from before you answer.... If you failed to list the Philippines on your customs form you have committed a Federal Felony. In sum, you didgeed a bullet but i would NOT make a habit of it ... but omitting a country you visited (and they can tell without looking at your passport stamps) is a dangerous game indeed.
Surfer, thanks for sharing this info, but how to you know this? How does Homeland Security know what countries you've been to? (Because they get copies of flight logs?) Omitting a country you visited is a felony? What if you forget one?
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Regular Member
Posts: 23
Originally Posted by
Rubberyman
Sometimes ATM cards don't work.
I have had cards rejected in AC for example and had to hunt out other ATMs. This is often because of ATM malfunction. I always bring enough cash to enable me to get by for a week or so and never had a problem.
If you have not had any problems in the Phils then you are lucky basically.
However with your $500 you are covered anyhow.
I would have agreed with bringing little cash until a few years back when the earthquake destroyed the cable carrying communications from Asia to the western nations. There was a huge line at checkout at my hotel. People getting their credit/debit cards refused for no reason. Even calls to Visa, Mastercard etc were of no help. I was able to get away with cash. And get to my plane. Left about 60 people to miss their flights. And probably had to stay another day or late departure. A few hours later it was discovered what happened. And I was thankful I had that cash. Remember Asia is not the safest as far as earthquakes. Floods. Etc. And other things that could make your life hell for a short time.
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Senior Member
Posts: 253
changing big bills
Originally Posted by
X Man
This is sooooo true! If you get off the beaten track you would be surprised at how hard it is to use big bills!
X
Yes very true and you notice the ATM's will only give you 1000 or 500 peso notes.
The way to beat this is always get foreign currency from your own bank before you leave. I usually request 200 US dollars worth of pesos but i request it all in small bills. This way you have plenty of 20 - 200 peso notes for things like taxis and tipping.
If you have ever had the frustration of trying to pay a 60 peso taxi fare with a 500 or 1000 peso bill this will save you a huge headache.
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Regular Member
Posts: 21
Banaue - help needed please
Hi ,
I am planning to visit Banaue in the first week of June. Is autobus the only bus service to gat up there. Do they have assigned seating or free seating . Could anyone suggest a good clean hotel to stay there. Any recoomendations on Bataad
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Senior Member
Posts: 57
Bank a/c in PI
Many tks to all for the info.
I'll give it a go.
Happy Hunting!
PR
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Senior Member
Posts: 1194
BB: Homeland security already KNOWS where you are coming from before you answer. You are VERY lucky that answering HK (your transit point) did not get you flagged for secondary. If you failed to list the Philippines on your customs form you have committed a Federal Felony. In sum, you didgeed a bullet but i would NOT make a habit of it.
On the form where you list countries visited you could list HK first but omitting a country you visited (and they can tell without looking at your passport stamps) is a dangerous game indeed. Out of almost 40 trips to the PI I have gotten flagged upon return a total of twice (and once because I listed the generic viagra I was bringing back as you are REQUIRED TO DO).
If you have racy pictures better to send them home electronically then delete from memory stick or at least hide the memory stick (and have another stick with touristy pics in the camera).
Also be aware that pornograpy is illegal in the PI (and they are more prudish that CBP here at home) so you don't want to get caught there either.