and they cut out wire transfer to a number of countries whose currencies they don't support anymore.. such as canada and norway to name a few.

yeah from what i understand now, they issue a cheque in one of the currencies they support.
So if you have a bank account in either USD, Pounds Sterling or Euro they can do a bank transfer otherwise you get a cheque in the currency you choose of those three

1. less picky than shutterstock as long as they are the correct file size and format
2. that is right
3. they don't require keywording.  You can do that on the website later on if you want, or not do it at all, but then they won't show up in any searches.
4. yes the first 10 images will go online.... but only if you click them to 'go on online'

Thanks Leaf! And Epixx for giving me the idea.
I might do this. But it is really timeconsuming. And I guess I would only send them 20 of my best images.. So I do not know if it is really worth the effort..

well once you actually get around to burning a cd i think it is actually quicker.  When i have 200 images to upload it takes quite a while to ftp them.  Sending an cd in the mail only takes about 10 minutes... I don't find it that cumbersome really.

You are right of course, but it's something about the psychology: when I upload, it's done and over with as soon as I've done the categories or whatever is required for that particular agency. With Alamy, when I have burned the CD, I have to find suitable packaging (probably making it myself, since the local stores don't have anything that will withstand whatever it has to withstand on its journey), then going to the post office, which has most probably just reduced their working hours, starting this week, so it's closed, and I have to return tomorrow. Then when I come back the next day, I have to pay a small fortune in postage, hoping that that's the trick that will make the CD's arrive safe, somewhere in The United Kingdom, a place on the other side of the globe, famous for its tea, its Royal Family and Manchester United, a place where they will inspect my photos, and hopefully approve them.

And after all this, a couple of weeks later, I have to log into their website, to check that everything is ok, and again relate to photos that I really stopped thinking about the moment I left them at the post office, like an abandoned child, re-appearing on my computer monitor.

Oh well.... if they can sell some of my photos, I think it's ok. Ok, like in one of the very few full-price agencies that will probably survive.  Actually, I like them   

But they must have a terribly big dump of used CD's behind their building, don't you think?

mailing.. just stick 2x the local postage and stuff it in the closest mail box.  It should get there

I know that will work in Norway, but this is Thailand, and one of the following will happen:

1. Somebody will steal the stamps, put new glue on, and sell them. The person in question obviously has to work at the post office.

2. Somebody will notice that it's a CD, open the package, discover that it's not the latest hit, and throw the CD away.

3. The postman gets a call from his aunt upcountry, who tells him that their buffalo is ill and that he has to come at once. So he throws the post in the canal, takes the bus upcountry, just to discover that it wasn't their buffalo that was ill, but the neighbour's. But since he's there anyway, he'll share a few bottles of local whisky with the neighbour, and return to his work at the post office the next week, just to find that the post boxes are fuller than ever. Then he will... 

So I send it registered