dotx

So sorry about the dog and glad he's resting in peace now.

I live in Hua Hin and my vet has told me she'll agree to euthanize a pet if nothing can be done to help it and the animal is suffering. I'm not sure she advertises this, but I've been taking my pets to her for over three years and she knows how well I care for them and how much I love them. If I ever ask, she knows it's because there's truly nothing else that can be done.

I think if you develop a good relationship with a vet you trust, you're more likely to get a positive response if the time comes to ask for this.

I actually sent an email to the MFA yesterday and woke up to this email from them this morning: "Due to political situation, our office in Cheang Watthana Road is unfortunately closed. We have a temporary office at Central Bangna, 5th floor. Office hour :8:30-14:00 hrs."

They are closed because of the protests.

Ah, sorry, I thought he was referring to the one in Chiang Mai.

Mate went there yesterday to get his cert of freedom to marry stamped. They were closed

Do you know why? I hope it's not a "out of solidarity" thing, since the one in Bangkok is also closed.

Some Chiang Mai translation bureaus and language schools will probably also do it for you if you send the document to them, for a fee of course.

Even though the paper doesn't need to be translated?

Any idea of a service that might do this? I'm in Hua Hin, so the idea of traveling all the way to Chiang Mai to get this done makes me want to scream. I'd rather pay somebody to get this done for me.

Or, even better, any idea if this can be done by a person other than the one on the certificate? If yes, I could ask a friend who lives in Chiang Mai.

Employee at the 1111 number says "might be closed." When I asked her to confirm, she told me to call the other number -- you know, the one where nobody speaks English.

Sigh.

Call 1111, they have English speaking assistance. Not sure they offer the service at the two other passport locations. Otherwise you can go to Chiang Mai where there is also a legalization office.

I hope I don't have to go all the way to Chiang Mai to get this done! I'll try the 1111 number to see what they say, thanks.

I was issued a criminal records clearance certificate and now I need to have it stamped at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is to apply for a long-term visa at a foreign embassy. However, I'm not sure the MFA is working because of everything going on in Bangkok.

I tried calling them but can't find anybody who speaks English to explain what to do.

I live in Hua Hin, so I don't want to make the trip unless I can be sure they can do this.

Every month,I pay ~12,500THB... without AC (I don't have AC at home) but this month, as I use heater for my 3 3months-old dogs, I should pay more...

How do you have a 12,000 baht electric bill without AC?

I usually pay around 5,000 every month. Just over 3,000 this month. I still turn the AC on in the afternoons and sleep with it on at night. During hotter months it's on 24 hours.

Can you stretch your budget at all? I've seen houses for 12,000 and 13,000. If you go to huahinthaiproperty dot com and choose the "under 15,000" option, you'll find some houses for that price.

Also, Cha Am might be cheaper.

Doing this in Hua Hin at the moment. 15,000 per dog. The vet told me I could do it myself if I wanted to arrange with the UK lab on my own, but I didn't want to deal with it.

By the way, you don't have to do this a month after the machine. Must be AT LEAST one month after the vaccine, but it could technically be six months later. They recommend you do it closer to the vaccine so the numbers you get are higher (results must show your pet has antibodies of at least 0.5 ml/something in their blood to pass the test).

10,000 is going to be very hard. You might be able to get a small townhouse (which means no garden) for that price.

Just had my dogs microchipped. It was 600 baht per dog.

I only did it because I'm taking my dogs to Europe and it's one of the requirements. I don't know how useful the chip would be here. If my dog ever got lost, I don't think a Thai would take him to the vet and have him scanned. I'm going to guess most Thais don't even know about microchips in dogs, so it's not something that would cross their minds.

My dogs all have tags on their collars and I think that's a better option for Thailand. Tag is laser engraved and has the dog's name on one side. On the other side, it has the word "call" written in Thai and my phone number.

Singapore is REALLY high in the list. I thought it was really expensive when I was there, but wow.

lol - I loved how most people just moved out of the way without even looking back.

Only mammals can carry rabies.

Though I have to say, a snake bite would freak me out enough to run to the hospital anyway...

I have three dogs (14kg, 22kg, 37kg). They all live inside. I have never had a problem renting a house. I've been in Thailand for almost four years and lived in four different houses. Sure, some people don't want dogs, but I was very clear from the beginning: "I have three dogs and they live inside" - The realtor found me a house with no problem (and my budget wasn't very large either)

Seriously? Getting rabies shots for a bite from your own vaccinated dog? Seems a little excessive, unless you let your dog roam freely and get into fights with other dogs. Now, if it was somebody else's dog, I'd understand it. I would agree with the tetanus shot and maybe a course of antibiotics, just to be safe.

Wow! Thanks to all who are taking the time to respond to me! Getting great feedback. A special thanks for the link to the cars for sale. I was getting so much conflicting info that really helped to clear it up for me. I wish there was similar for the renting to get a better idea. Holy cow on the flooding! So many differences of opinion on the cost of living!!! Would I be correct in understanding Thailand is definetly cheaper than Cambodia? I have difficulty understanding how such a poor and underdeveloped country is so expensive. This is quite the learning experience for me. Please keep the valued info coming and thanks!!!!!

Both Cambodia and Vietnam are more expensive than Thailand. I lived in both places and you have to deal with electricity cuts, lack of western food, ridiculous prices, etc. Thailand feels much, much more civilized in comparison and it's cheaper.

Plus, I have pets and I never again want to live in either Cambodia or Vietnam. The vets in Thailand actually have medicine to treat your animals (yes, I have the same ones, so they survived their stay in those countries). You have no idea what a nightmare veterinary treatment is in both Cambodia and Vietnam. The vets in both those places had to actually import medicine from Thailand, so it was not only much more expensive, but they only had basic stuff.

Cars are expensive in both Thailand and Cambodia. Very, very expensive in both places.

ETA: I'm a woman too, in case that makes a difference.

I'm also in my 30s, no husband (yes, I'm a woman) and no kids. Never wanted kids, so that's not something that's going to happen in the future either. Have lived all over the world and my life's never been boring (that's not always a good thing, though).

I do believe there's a point to life, though. You just have to find it. If I thought there was no point to anything, I would just jump off a building. So yeah, it's up to you. You have to figure out what makes your heart/soul tick and then follow that. Whatever it is.

Me? When I feel there's no point to life, I go hug my dogs (they've lived with me all over the world). Or go outside and help a soi dog. I've lived here for about two years and in that time have paid to sterilize over 50 soi dogs. It's a tiny thing and maybe it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but you know what? It means something to me. And it means fewer puppies being born on the streets. I can live with that. It helps me keep going when things seem pointless.

Find something you care about. It doesn't have to be animals or people you share your daily life with. Just something.

I'm leaving Thailand within the next year for many of the reasons mentioned by other posters. I'm done with it and ready to head back to the West. However, I'm also aware that you take with you who you are. Until you find who you are and what you want out of life, you might discover you're not happy anywhere.

I'd like to buy a bottle of liquor to say thank you to somebody. It's a long/complicated story, but basically this person went out of his way to fix a major problem I had. It was his job to fix this, but I think he went beyond what was expected, so I'd like to say thank you.

Somebody mentioned that buying a nice bottle of .... something ... would be a good way to say thanks. Any recommendations? I don't want to spend a fortune but I don't want to buy something really cheap either.

If Pepper spay is against the law what about Stun Guns

I'm wondering the same thing.

I have an honest question about this. If you have a new passport that doesn't show you lived in Thailand and you don't say anything, how would they know?

It depends on your relationship with the landlord. I left a house four months before the contract was due to expire and the landlady gave me back half of my deposit anyway. She kept the other half to fix some damage my dogs had done to the inside of the house and to pay some bills (my last electric and internet). I was really nice about the whole thing and explained I had to move and she was ok with it.

I was prepared to lose my security deposit, though, and I'd think that's reasonable.