beppi

> Do you think it will get better before the end of the year?

> I am planing on retuning in November but now I'm seriously thinking about staying put now. It's depressing

What's depressing about that?

I am visiting Europe also in November and prefer to pay less for what I spend there.

Same when I transfer my savings there. The Euro should sink to THB30 or less!

Like all companies, insurances exist to make a profit.

Obviously, the more they pay out, the less profit they make.

Therefore they avoid paying.

If you don't like this, don't subscribe to an insurance.

If you don't understand this, you shouldn't subscribe either.

I never take insurance unless I have to.

There is an ad on this site's classified section:

TO SELL YOUR USED OR NEW CARS CONTACT US. ANY BRAND, ANY MAKE, ANY MODEL. WE WILL HELP IN SELLING YOUR CAR. OUR OFFICE IS IN NEAR NANA, BANGKOK. OUR FEE IS 15,000 BATH PER MONTH FOR MARKETING OF ONE CAR.

I contacted them to ask about the approximate value of my car and also why their fee is noted "per month" as it should be per sale.Their reply:

First pay our payment than contact us. Tell us how you want to pay 15000? We do not like to give our marketing services free. We will help to sell your car if you pay otherwise no. Do you get burger free?

American company at BangPa-In (North of Bangkok)

Must speak Thai & English

Please PM me if interested.

Thanks for the replies!

ACMIKE's post seems to refer to full health insurance plans that include dental treatment.

I am looking for dental only, as everything else is already satisfactorily covered by my company.

Any hints?

My company provides health insurance that is otherwise acceptable to me, but excludes any dental treatment.

I asked if there's an additional plan for dental cover that I can take (and pay for privately) and they said "No, not for foreigners", apparently after asking their insurance broker.

I have problems believing this. Does anybody have experience or can give any suggestions?

Thanks,

Frank

A local fresh university graduate (engineering) earns about THB18k/month, with a few years experience this goes up to THB30-40k. Don't ask me how they manage to have >THB1million car, a THB5million house and still feed a family! The official minimum wage in Bangkok is THB6k, but many people (especially manual labour) get less than that.

It's good to keep this in mind when foreigners here complain about finances.

Hi,

I am planning a trip with wife and baby. Due to the amount of gear and difficulty of travelling with an infant, we need to get all the way to our accomodation by car. Unfortunately I couldn't find information on available car ferries online. Could you enlighten me?

My search includes Koh Si Chang, the islands around Pattaya and maybe all the way to Koh Samet, but Koh Chang is too far (we'll drive from Bangkok).

Thanks for any hints!

Greetings,

Frank

Old pedi-cabs of the late 1950s

Those are still in use around BangPa-In (Ayutthaya province).

I always find it amazing what weird kinds of public transport I see on the roads of Thailand - and every town seems to have a different (and differently outdated) mode of transport, but then there seems to be some kind of monopoly and you don't see any others there. For example, Ayutthaya has the ancient Tuk Tuks (copies of Daihatsu MP4s from the 50ies) and there aren't even regular taxis anywhere in town!

ALL spiders have poison, which they use to paralyse their prey.

However, they don't use that as a defence weapon (unlike bees or snakes), so unless you look and behave like their prey you're safe.

Many of them also don't have the tools (sting, teeth, etc.) to bite through a human skin, even if they wanted to.

Most of the stories of harmful spider bites are urban legends. People like to hear that kind of stories, it seems.

There are so many misconceptions about drinkable water in this thread, as well as in the general population.

There are two distinct types of harmful contaminants occuring in water: microbes (which cause stomach problems instantly) and heavy metals (which accumulate in your liver and cause problems after a longer time of regular use - you don't see or feel anything after short-term use, but it's still harmful!).

Microbes are killed by boiling, adding silver nitrate, UV irradiation or ceramic filtering, but this does nothing at all to heavy metals. Both of them are removed by reverse osmosis or distilling (but distilled water per se is not drinkable - some minerals must be added!) . Other methods of filtering only remove dust, none of the really harmful stuff.

Tap water can have both, but in Thailand usually only the heavy metals (the source is bad piping, not bad water supply).

Rain water can have microbes (and additional chemicals it picks up from polluted air), but no heavy metals. It also takes with it any dust and soot in encounters (some of that is cancerogenic). Acid rain is harmless to humans (any fruit juice is more acidic!), it only kills trees.

Water from a tank, if untreated, almost certainly has microbes. It might also have other contaminants.

Bottled water, or water from those street vending machines, is safe in all respects if the filtering mechanism is functional and the filter exchanged regularly. Are you sure it is?

The only safe bet is buying and maintaining your own filter.

I recently bought a 16-year-old Corolla at 230 000 km. I was a bit worried about the mileage, but the Thai friend who helped showed me one of his taxis (he owns a taxi leasing company): Also a Corolla, although slightly newer, with almost 900 000 km and still running well. So I said to myself this one can easily outlast my stay in Thailand, and bought it.

Other than health coverage, there are retirement and unemployment benefits.

Unfortunately foreigners are ineligible for both in most cases - and anyway the payments are too low to be of any real help (up to BHT250/day in case of unemployment - and only if you remain in Thailand, which a foreigner with cancelled WP will not).

You are required to pay for all, even if your will not be able to benefit from them. But the BHT750/month are a good deal (in my opinion), even if it's only for health coverage alone.

This information is from my company's HR.

Yes, that is a good idea.

Good luck in your search!

If you have any further questions, please feel free to post them here.

Sorry, I cannot answer your poll, as I am paying under 6% of my income as rent - and there's no option given for that!

I am B-, but saw the threat too late. Will call and get on the list of potential donors for the future.

This blood group is virtually non-existent here (and rare in the West, too).

Asians are so predominantly Rhesus positive that most of them don't even know what they are and that a +/- exists ...

There is also clearly a shortage of cheese in this country, as shown by the very high prices for even the low-grade processed variety at Tesco and other supermarkets. It is time the government steps in here, too!!!

But seriously, government intervention will never work better than a free market and only give some officials the chance to line their own pockets. What's wrong if a sugar shortage increases prices and steers people away from eating too much of this unhealthy stuff?

(Of course a cheese shortage is a completely different matter altogether ...!)

Cheese

(Who needs anything else?!?)

There's an excellent wholesaler for hotel-quality sheets and other textiles in , of all places, Chatuchak market.

A king fitted sheet is Bht1000, pillows stuffed before your eyes to the exact thickness you want (I wanted almost flat) for Bht150.

While I was there, a guy came with a huge suitcase and wanted 200 table cloths and an even bigger number of napkins.

It's between the main entrance and Chatuchak mall - ask around!

Should have no problem, she's a UK tourist.

Even UK citizens visiting UK can claim back UK VAT if they've been out of the country for more than 2 years.

In almost all countries in the world, citizens HAVE TO enter with that countries passport, even if they own others as well.

I don't know the specific rule in Thailand, but would be surprised if it's different here.

In any case, the UK embassy isn't allowed to help Thai nationals (no matter if they also have UK passport) and for the Thai authorities you are a foreigner if you entered with a foreign passport, so they can e.g. deport you.

In Germany real estate sales contracts are always with public notaries and, once the contract is signed and the money flown (as it has in your case), the house belongs to the buyer. There is nothing you can do about it!

The other debt is a legally separate matter. You may or may not be able to recover it, but you cannot link the two in any way, especially you cannot re-declare the purpose of a payment he gave you for the house purchase.

You were probably stupid for agreeing to sell your house to somebody who owes you lots, but at least you sold the house and got the money for it, just as it would have been with any other buyer.

I am using my (German issued) Visa card to withdraw cash at Ayudhya ATMs with no fee.

My colleague tried the same with his (USA issued) Visa and there was the THB150 fee.

Same ATM, minutes apart. So I guess it depends on the card, not only the bank or ATM.

The mysteries of Thailand ...

I can only advise you to do the official marriage (ROM) in Singapore, as it is fairly straightforward, easy, cheap, rules are clear, no corruption and the certificate (in English) is recognized anywhere in the world (as far as I know). Things will not be that easy in Thailand!

The ceremony, on the other hand, is a private affair between you, her and both your families. You should discuss with all what they expect or wish for and come up with your own way of meeting all or most of these (or do it completely differently if you wish).

Altogether I congratulate you for taking not the easiest but certainly one of the more interesting ways in life - and this comes from somebody who is himself in a happy multi-national marriage!

When I saw the word "Western Union", I already knew there will be problems.

Are they ever used for anything legit (I am not talking only about Thailand and/or Nigeria ...)?