masuk

@Bangmai: Not just the sidewalks.. All surroundings show like it's in paradise itself, not the mishmash of dilapidated shophouse buildings.

..broken footpaths, motorbikes blocking them, and kilometres of ugly black cables hanging down from every pole.

Where ere the trees?

do you mean this one?

Excuse the haze. not such a clear day.

Deport.

Immigration Department could bulk-buy one-way tickets back to the Arab country of the protester's choice, in exchange for their Aussie passports.

As the mayor of a Canadian city recently stated, there are many Islamic countries they could choose to go to, if they didn't like the system they were living in.

Another alternative is to enlarge the Migration Centre at Manus Island. (Papua New Guinea).

Regarding producing an alcoholic drink from apples, I used to do the same in Australia, brewing up 40 litres of apple juice each Autumn. However, we called this APPLE CIDER.

I decanted it and added sugar and it had a kick like a mule! SCRUMPY CIDER.

However, can anyone tell me what Thai wines cost? I've never seen them on sale in the larger wine shops here.

There must be some reasoning to justify a 300% price difference between wines sold in Australia, and what we're being charged here.

Don't tell me that's it's to control alcohol consumption, as it's obvious that the "Whisky" they sell here is not imported and had Duty and Tax added.

I'm in a cheaper condo; all concrete, acoustics like a locker room, and due to its age, constant repairs, modifications, on every weekday.

It has the advantage of proximity to shops, nice little restaurants, transport. I miss not having a small garden to sit and relax in. Sunshine is available at a hotel nearby if you join their fitness club/pool.

Sadly, this is not a city known for its parks and green spaces and the condos reflect this.

However, the perfect condo would not be in the financial arena of most of us retirees.

People who chose to run the risks associated with the trafficking of drugs in countries that openly advise of the associated penalties will just have to accept the consequences when they caught.

There's little or no mention made of the 50 - 70 young Indonesians who die each WEEK from illegal drugs. That's up to 3500 in a year.

Hopefully, the message will get through to drug traffickers.

Europeans have been teaching English to Thais in schools for a long time , if the teaching methods were up to standard , why are there no Thai nationals teaching English instead of the Europeans ?

This is not a dig , just a question.

Maybe Thailand's Education experts need a trip over the border to Burma, and find out why so many Burmese speak English.

There are a good few here, working in restaurants, and it's a pleasure speaking to them.

I know that Burma is an Ex-British colony, but it's obvious that many years on, and they're continuing to learn English. They're doing something that Thailand isn't.

Best get a red van and go direct to the station. You'll need to take your passport. I booked a return ticket a week ahead recently.

Remember to take a lunch box with you, as the lunch served on the train is rather ghastly.

Try not to get a set right up the front of the train; carriage 2 is better. Very noisy in the front, esp if you want a nap!

I have read of warnings to go easy on the use of water, but I noticed sprinklers watering lawns just a day after the heavy rain we had last week.

Maybe soon we might experience what the average Aussie city has to put up with in the warmer months; no sprinklers, watering by hand only; hosing of driveways and paths not permitted, temperatures over 40C. Washing of cars with a bucket only.

Anyway, if we believe the journalists, a change of seasons and an increase in summer temperatures and record levels of CO2 is only fiction and what do scientists and meteorologists know?

Australia+ is showing on ThaiExpatTV. It's good to see it back, but unlike the other channels, the quality of the signal and sound is far from good.

3BB works well for me. I pay ฿ุุ660 a month, installed next day, and I supplied a modem for wi-fi.

If this is your first account, you will be asked to pay 6 months up front and monthly after that.

I watch UK TV via the wi-fi, and it is excellent.

I thought his worship was going to solve this every day problem?

What happened to the crackdown and the school closures? All talk and no action as always

The government mentioned something a few months back about all schools having the same uniform.

This might help, but I can't see what's eating those guys, always fighting.

"They were tired" is often an excuse for bad behavior. They are punks is more to the point.

Yes, agree with you.......

They are punks because they are trying to prevent other people from drowning.

They are punks because they risk their lives to save other peoples lives.

I hope when you are in danger, one of those punks is near you to save your life.

Totally agree. maybe they need to put yet more signs in Russian and explain that the life guards have the right to move people if the situation is dangerous.

I take another option. When Rimping has it in stock, I buy a tinned steak and kidney pie made in the UK.

they are extremely tasty.

Trouble is some greedy farangs clear the shelves as soon as they arrive!!!

What those Fray Bentos things, they're awful!

The Pound Shop in England were doing them for 99p.

You're meant to cook them first!!!

I take another option. When Rimping has it in stock, I buy a tinned steak and kidney pie made in the UK.

they are extremely tasty.

Trouble is some greedy farangs clear the shelves as soon as they arrive!!!

Yes have to agree with you. Ubonjoe is doing a great job.. It is also very common that people in general just refuse to use the proper terms and words for what is what... Retirement-VISA is VERY common, there is no retirement-VISA but they just never stop.. it is being called extenstion of stay... and so on.....

Glegolo

Immigration staff at Chiang Mai certainly refer to an extension as "retirement visa".

I had external tanks fitted and the ink seems as good as the originals. Saves a lot of money as the external ink tanks are cheap to refill and last a year or more on ordinary household printing. Price for a conversion is around ฿ุ600.

Canon printers have served me well for a number of years. It's vital to get one with a scanner as I like to keep copies of documents and Immigration dept renewals etc.

If you go in for printing a number of pages at a time, get a printer which will do 2-sided printing (forgotten the name)

"A fools lies here who tried to hustle the East." ....

Kipling

Why is he not pointing?

How can we tell he is the guilty party if he isn't pointing?

Now I am confused, is the guy in front the policeman meating out justice or the culprit.

Come on people get it right!

The 'meat' appears to be on the guy in the pink shirt.

Um not really to warn us to slow down . They are there to tell us not to park here as it reduces visibility around crossing áreas .

Same in Australia. but I'll bet the song teaws still continue to park on the zebra crossing itself.

Those who move here full-time but don't get stuck here (by building a house, etc) usually end up going back home eventually. That's why you see so many TV members disappearing from the forum on an ongoing basis. That and Mr Toad annoys them.

Then there are those who stay. They are stuck here, or they have nothing to go home to. Then there are the few who fit in with Thais, like it here, and stay here until they die.

By the way, pay no attention to MrToad. He's a meany.

That says it very well.

I would have used a MUCH worse comment about Mr. Toad. (Joking.)

I'm going to take offence, joking.

In proper answer to the OPs question, Brits and English seem to travel a lot more than other nations. Probably an historical thing.

Certain places though there seems to be lots of Aussies as well.

There does seem to be a lot of Australians from Australia lining there.

Why is dis?

Yeah, we line the walls.

I'd guesstimate that the farang population is around 75% US, and there seem to be an equal number of UK and Oz folk here, and in this condo at least, a good few Korean and Japanese.

Chiang Mai population tell us that the farang population has doubled in the past year or so, but we still have to put up with the cow shed for an Immigration office, while the income goes south.

Costs in Oz are such that rent of a small unit/apartment/flat for one week is about what we pay here in a month.

No doubt it's the same for Brits, and much cheaper to live here than in our own countries, and in spite of the drivers, there are many nice people here.

Shit....I'm left-handed!! I guess my days in SEA are numbered?

Takes a lot of retraining, believe me. Change the wallet from the right hand to the left., extract money with the right hand, give it to the cashier.

Learning to change hands using chopsticks took some practice, but I got there! Can't manage more than a cross when it comes to signature.

It is even more essential in Indonesia and possibly Malaysia, as they have NOT moved forward.

As you stay in Pinnacle, you wouldn't need to drive too far:

- Nong Nooch is probably a must. Probably the best maintained tourist attraction and with a nice cultural show, for first-timers a nice elephant show and so on. Even at tourist entrance prices still very good value for money. You will find plenty of stuff to do there to fill a whole day. Just let a taxi drop you off there if you ain't got your own transport.

- Floating Market and Mimosa both very nearby. Both probably good enough for half a day each. Can easily be done with baht buses alone Sukhumvit.

- Wat Jan, Chinese Temple, Bhudda Mountain, Silverlake and Wonderfarm (all 5 in each others' proximity) not far from Pinnacle. Very easy to have a full day on that. Best to either rent a taxi with driver for all day, rent a car and drive yourself or (if granny dares to) 2 motorcycles (you only need to get safely across Sukhumvit, the rest is nice and fairly safe road on the east side).

- If you want additionally some cultural show in the evening, Alangkarn ain't too far but you'll need to check from other posters / review sites if this is / is not value for money as I haven't been there since many years now.

You will not even need to enter the city center of Pattaya / Jomtien to have a great time there.

Restaurants nearby: there's Pan Pan, an Italian restaurant / the Glass House on the beach / Coco Club a little further in the back (east side) / good restaurants near Silverlake / on the beach in Ban Amphur ... too many for 5 days / 4 nights.

You will not be disappointed with you stay there.

As a side note I think that also Pinnacle is probably good value for money.

Agree with all these suggestions: How about the all-timber temple. or is that the wat you've mentioned? It's an amazing building.

Also the Chinese/Thai museum a bit out of town. Some amazing works of art and life-size statues etc. Anyone know the name?

Certainly nothing much to see in the town centre, unless one enjoys walking around shopping malls.

I'm waiting for some members to explain why the UK government will assist it's industrial powers to try to get a piece of the cake and deal with what some like to describe as a 'pariah state'.

How nice to be principled

Maybe they will ask North Korea, as it seems they are the flavour of the week!!