Dakhar

Oh I did go to the land office, I just sat way in the back out of the way...

Not sure if this is a huge offense, but our marriage is not registered in Thailand. Thailand figures she is a single woman. So I figured if I can't own the land in the first place, why get involved.

We do plan on "Incoporating" in the new future, thus giving me more stability in the matter. Currently we do not live in Thailand. But she goes home at least twice a year, and visits family and keeps on top of things...

I asked her this morning how big that piece of land was and she said 1/2 a rai.

Don't worry, I have had some input on all of this. I did see the land before we/she bought it, and I did see the blue prints of the building before it was approved etc.

I would like to build at least 3 more of thes town house buildings before we go over there on a permanent basis.

Truth is, I feel once I go there, I shall be handicapped. I don't speak Thai, and no offense to anyone.... But I do not want to teach English... Some people have that "calling" and love to do it... But it is not for me.

So I hope that these building projects can support our life in Thailand.

I figured it was a reasonable price to pay, becuase when my wife went to go pay for the tax on the land when we she/we purchased it, the city told her that although we bought it at x price, the city tax felt that the land value was greater than x so then we had to pay tax on the higher value...

I was not a participant, another reason why I don't think I gat the farang price...

The town house building cost came up to be around 50K which not knowing anything, I figured is a fair price... there are 7 units in the building 2 bedrooms each..

So if you consider the building as a "house" I got a 14 bdr 7 bath, 7 living room house for a total of 70K.... Figure, that is not bad. I know I couldn't do that in america.

Amarka,

Thank you for your encouragement, my wife tells me she can get to the airport with no traffic in 15 minutes from that area.

She tells me the land is in "Rangsit." As you can tell there is a lot of trust in this relationship, or I am a total idiot... (please no replies on that)

They aren't seven houses, they are 7 town houses 2 floors high. So.... as you can tell it really is a speck of land.

But we hope this is one step towards the semi-retired life in Thailand.

I thank you all for your input, but I still contend that land is high when you compare it to other purchases in Thailand.

You all had very valid points though....

Now, how big was the speck of land that I got....

To be honest I can't even remember, I would have to ask my wife. But I can tell you I would guess it to be 1/4 an acre, and I can also tell you we are having 7 town houses built on the land. I hear tell the progress has been very fast. My mother in law lives in the neighbor hood and has been keeping her eye on things.

The location... you will laugh, but this is about all I can tell you... the locating is about 20-30 min. away from the BKK airport, and it is nestled down along "Clong" 6 near a college. I hear tell there shall be a Lotus put there. Overall, it is not in an upper end neigbor hood. But what I have seen in Thailand, you can have a Million USD dollar home with a shack next door...

Any how, in the neighbor hood, there is a hopital, college, court house, elementry school, and the lotus soon to come... So we are betting it is an area that is growing. I also like the fact there is a building supply co. in the neighborhood, so easier access to building supplies.

Just a simple question I have.

Ok, I recently paid for (not bought, because I cant "purchase/own" land) some land. It in my opinion was just a speck of dirt, cost around 14,000USD and currently some town houses are being built on the land....

Now here is the question... Why on earth is land so expensive in Thailand?

I just don't get it.... A poor country with high land value? Seems to me, if farangs can't own land in Thailand.... who else is left? What I mean is the prices are so high, how could a native even own the land to begin with?!

Before you jump to the conclusion that I got the "farang" price I didn't... So lets try to be civil here.. and get some honest answers...

I feel it is expensive here, because Thais have figured out you can throw a seed in the ground and it will grow... thus land is a money making tool and all tools that make money are

expesive.... just my opinion

""""Yes - like a standing wave, except, of course,m in a 3-d environment.

Of course I was making an analogy, too... the DAF seems to cancel out the (speaking) action ... - that is creates a sort of standing wave in your brain that cancels out the action in progress. ...at least thats what I learned in class.

It is interesting that it would affect stutters differently than non-stutters, but I can think of ways in which it makes sense, too... stuttering itself may have exacly that kind of effect."""

Truth is, we really do not know why DAF stops stuttering... We just know it does.

I think what you are trying to describe above is how DAF affects normal speakers. When normal speakers hear their own voice in a DAF fasion, they actually begin to stutter themselves.... (Rather freakish really)

Sometimes people will fake a hearing loss, for liability purposes. One of the tests that are done in order to find out is a person is fakeing a hearing loss is we play their voice in DAF mode.... If they begin to stutter, and the presentation level is lower than their claimed hearing loss.... There it is, proof that they are not being truthful.

FYI.... there was a research study done on stuttering, I think back in the 60's. A college used some orphan children for the study. As someone already pointed out, stuttering may be caused by parents trying to prevent the children from stuttering, while the child in going through their natural stuttering phase, that we all go through.

Anyhow, what the colllege did, was every time the children stuttered, during their normal phase of stuttering, an instructor would comment on their stuttering. In other words make the child aware that he/she was doing something wrong...

Long story short, every one of those children in the study stuttered for the rest of their lives..... and the colldege was sued around 30 years after that study by the participants of the study.

Another interesting thing about that is that if you use it all the time, you won't be able to do anything. It seems to have an effect like sitting and the exact wrong spot in between 2 speakers where you can't hear anything because the sound waves cancel each other out. Does this affect stutterers differently than non-stutterers? I would guess not, but I could see it working either way... Does the Speech Easy work all the time, or does it detect stuttering behavior and kick in?

Sounds to me like you are trying to describe a "standing wave."

If you are asking if a person that stutters can still hear a standing wave, the answer is no.

""Does the Speech Easy work all the time, or does it detect stuttering behavior and kick in?""

The speech easy is on all the time that the person wears it. Only the stutterers voice is heard in a delayed auditory manner, and not other sounds. In other words the SpeechEasy will not affect the sound of music, other's voices etc...

The speech easy does not activate only when the person begins to stutter... it is on all the time.

Too difficult to answer.

I must say 36C is a beautiful thing... which is rare in Thailand.

But overall, I feel that Thailand has more beautiful women, than in America. What I mean is, the ratio of good looking women is higher in Thailand. In America, you would need to cull out of a 1000 women, just to maybe get 50 slap your momma fine women...

In thailand, you would maybe in a group of 75 women, 55 or more would be slap your momma fine....

Yes, Thais do stutter. Stuttering can and does affect all races, colors, creeds etc. Whether or not a persons stutters or not is not predicated upon language.

Oddly enough most people as they are learning a second language will stutter for a short period in that second language.

Someone mentioned that their father did not stutter while singing. This is common also. Something else that has been well documented, is that stutterers stop stutering when placed in a "choral" speech environment. In other words if a stutterer is asked to read a passage from a book, and an individual reads the same passage out loud along with the stuterer... the stuterer will stop stutering.

This finding has brought forth a form of speech therapy for stuterers called "delayed auditory feedback."

There is now a delayed auditory feedback device that is extremely small, that is worn inside the ear. Much like the tiny hearing aids that can not be easily seen. The device is called the "SpeechEasy."

go to http://www.speecheasy.com/ there you will find more information about this device.

So far, one SpeechEasy has been fit on an MD in Thailand. He was pleased with the results. He was fit with the device about 3 months ago.

If you or anyone you know in Thailand stutters and you think you would like more information, or even try out the device,

PM me, and I can help you out.

P.S. Who am I? I am an audiologist, and in our training, we do learn a substantial amount of information in regards to Speech Language Pathology. I also have stong connections with the company that dispenses the SpeechEasy in Thailand. I do plan a trip to Thailand sometime soon, so if you want to meet, this could be arranged.

If she were to take the H/S exam and pass, then the next step you may want to consider is on line studies. I am not sure about cost issues in regards to this.

But I can tell you that in America, on line degrees from accredited Universities, are becomming very common. My wife (thai) got a BS in Eng. from Thailand, came to the US to go to school for her MS.

We met, blah blah blah, got married, she moved out to where I was located away from her college campus. She signed up with Univ. of Tex. a fairly well known school here in the US and got her degree on line.... Her degree does not even state she got it on line...

As for me, I just finished my doctorate degree from an accredited univ on line.

I had an MS through traditional means of campus attendance... Started working and decided to go on for the Doctorate..... Took me 2 years, but it is now done... On line allowed me to work while in school.

Look into it, and she will love you all the more.

Oh this is funny.

  First of all, to other religions, mormons are not considered christians.

  So why all the mormon jokes on this thread?

    I was one of those mormons on the bikes, and trust me, those guys are very fit. You would be lucky to have your teeth to eat a lunch after knoking one down. Oh sure, they technically should not re-arange your face, but technically you should not be knocking them down either....  Especially over an imature emotion like religious prejudism.

  These young guys are under a lot of stress. Imagine getting uprooted from all you know, and stuck in some country you know nothing about, away from friends and family. The physcological trauma trully is quite large. You knock the wrong guy off at the wrong time, you may see a docile morman misionary turn into a angry bull.

  Now for me, my life has changed since those days of me being on a bike. I now see how a person could feel that christians and other missionaries are out to kill a culture or to force their beliefs on others. I don't agree upon it. My wife is budhist, I wouldn't have it any other way... Love her just the way she is. 

  But I can tell you, that killing a culture is far from a 19 yrs old mormon missionaries intent.  Just getting by day by day is hard enough. They do not live a life of luxury. 

  When you think they are a target for you impulsive rude behavior, ask yourself what you were doing at age 19.  Were you giving yourself up to a cause, a belief? Did you give up 2 years of your life and 10,000$ when you were 19? Would you have, will you ever? 

I respect monks, and preachers etc.  To give up so much based on faith, for a god they have never seen....  Wow, I can't even imagine the amount of faith they must to have.  Logical or illogical as it is... I still respect them.

  Please excuse me for the preaching

The missionaries are admirable in the way a suicide bomber is admirable. They are extremely passionate about their beliefs, no matter how misguided they may be.

Stroll, I agree with you. I feel that their tactics are too agressive.

My theory is, if a person is not hungry, no matter what I offer from a juicy stake to the best watermellon, the person is still not hungry. I should not try to force the person to eat....

I also should not form an opinion, that the person that refused my food, goods or message, is a bad person.... They just aint hungry... No big deal

take care

Of course there are people from all walks of life and different religious background doing charitable work that deserves praise. But we are talking about those who made it their purpose to convert others in Thailand and like to see their beliefs and morals implemented.

A free meal for 2 from me also for posting a foto of one of these suit-and-tie, military haircut guys walking the streets with the bible under the arm and with a raw egg in their face!

So stroll, you promote violence and humiliation against those that have different religious beliefs of yours...

Ok, just as long as I got the point.

I hope those that read my post understand that I promote respect, regardless of peoples beliefs are.

Ok, I don't promote violence, my gest was exagerated, I considered deleting it, actually,

but let it stand because I have no respect for this particular kind of missionaries.

has this particular kind ever harmed you in any way.

Other than dressing strange and making themselves an easy target for ridicule, what harm have they actually done to you.

Oh they may seem like zealots, or maybe something worse. But in their way of thinking they are only trying to do what is right.

But then again so did the guys that did 911.

One of the things I fear about religion... It sure does take away logic, and allows for weird thinking... and then justifies it all by throwing out terms like, good, evil, faith obey... etc...

Well, as for me, I try not to allow anyones beliefs effect how I feel about my self or others...

Life is way too short.

You could take them to dinner as another post suggested.... Yep scare the mess out of them... maybe. But you may be surprised, those guys from all walks of life.

I know I sure did....

I enjoyed every day I was a missionary, I figure I'd enjoy your company as well.

I agree to disagree, and I respect your beliefs, thoughts, and back ground.

No there are currently no license requirements...I sometimes just get in my jeep and just ride and whereever I see good looking water I stop and sometimes camp overnight fishing.

Have never had any problems here fishing where I want.

Sounds like fun, and the right life.

WHat about off shore fishing, need a license for that?

My mother in-law has about a 6 acre stocked pond about 30 min from the BK airport... if you are interested.

The problem is, it is stocked... heavily, not much sport there.

Of course there are people from all walks of life and different religious background doing charitable work that deserves praise. But we are talking about those who made it their purpose to convert others in Thailand and like to see their beliefs and morals implemented.

A free meal for 2 from me also for posting a foto of one of these suit-and-tie, military haircut guys walking the streets with the bible under the arm and with a raw egg in their face!

So stroll, you promote violence and humiliation against those that have different religious beliefs of yours...

Ok, just as long as I got the point.

I hope those that read my post understand that I promote respect, regardless of peoples beliefs are.

Oh this is funny.

First of all, to other religions, mormons are not considered christians.

So why all the mormon jokes on this thread?

I was one of those mormons on the bikes, and trust me, those guys are very fit. You would be lucky to have your teeth to eat a lunch after knoking one down. Oh sure, they technically should not re-arange your face, but technically you should not be knocking them down either.... Especially over an imature emotion like religious prejudism.

These young guys are under a lot of stress. Imagine getting uprooted from all you know, and stuck in some country you know nothing about, away from friends and family. The physcological trauma trully is quite large. You knock the wrong guy off at the wrong time, you may see a docile morman misionary turn into a angry bull.

Now for me, my life has changed since those days of me being on a bike. I now see how a person could feel that christians and other missionaries are out to kill a culture or to force their beliefs on others. I don't agree upon it. My wife is budhist, I wouldn't have it any other way... Love her just the way she is.

But I can tell you, that killing a culture is far from a 19 yrs old mormon missionaries intent. Just getting by day by day is hard enough. They do not live a life of luxury.

When you think they are a target for you impulsive rude behavior, ask yourself what you were doing at age 19. Were you giving yourself up to a cause, a belief? Did you give up 2 years of your life and 10,000$ when you were 19? Would you have, will you ever?

I respect monks, and preachers etc. To give up so much based on faith, for a god they have never seen.... Wow, I can't even imagine the amount of faith they must to have. Logical or illogical as it is... I still respect them.

Please excuse me for the preaching

The agenda will be how the company will pay a Bt149-million debt to Cable News Network (CNN)

I bet that was a *nice* little earner, kickback-wise

The market has voted: This is a crap deal (financial problems aside). If they gave you no-hassles residency and the right to *own* a single residential property as part of the deal (ie. a bit of security and peace of mind) they just might be able to sell some of the bloody things.

And if the letter of the law is a problem, maybe they should have amended it before launching such a hair-brained and blatant grab for cash.

You got that right. I am plan on moving to Thailand, in a couple of years. I have been watching this "elite card" joke from afar. If land, smooth immigration was part of the deal, and a garauntee of no wiggle room from the deal....I would have paid the 25K, get it behind me and move on.

But without those key items forget it. The WORLD market has spoken... but is Thaksin listening?

A new water pump for the m3 E36 would run you around 70$ on the cheap here in America. The water pump was a common problem for the e36 for any pre 1996 cars. BMW used a plastic propeller (sp) on the water pump. The plastic would give up, and in many cases destroy your engine. They say you need to have it changed out and upgraded to a metal alloy at around 60K miles. I have yet to change mine I am currently at 40K miles, I have the pump sitting on the shelf ready for a change out. I just have a difficult time, putting my car in the shop, and being without my beloved BMW.

So if your car is of this vintage, and your pump went out, you needed to have it changed out anyways.

If you want to know any information regarding BMWs there are a lot of BMW forums on the net that can help you out.

I use M3forum.com myself. Good luck to you.

I am not in thailand yet, but I wish I was there fishing!

My favorite thing to do. Do you need a fishing license? Or do you just fish without any worries about that type of thing?

Personally, I think blowing up huge ancient statues of the Buddha in my opinion is a wee bit little more serious than someone being shown simply sitting on his head, don't you think?

When I found out about the blowing up of the Budhists statues I was a angered about this too. What bothered me, was not the "religous" statement about the act, but the historical destruction of the act.

My wife (thai) got all bent up about this Budha head situation, I told her to calm down. She was acting as if I had something to do with it!

Really I think we should just try to get along. Kwiz, or whaterver your name is... Most Americans do not even know where Thailand is or that Thai is even the language spoken there. Americans in genearal are very ignorant about other countries, cultures and religeons... Sorry Kwiz, but I do not carry the shame for this French guy that angered you. Never met the guy, I doubt I would even see the movie!

As far as America being the most powerful country in the world.... No not really, we are only as powerful as the oil countries allow us to be. As soon as that faucet is turned off..... We will then be wearing flip flops and off goes the air conditioneers.

Peace, I wish we could just have that...

"""... I suspect you're not quite who you say you are."""

Oh, I am what I same I am... I only wish the IRS felt the same as you...

The wife is now back, things are doing fine. The town houses are being built, and in 4 more weeks... I shall have my doctorate... Luckily, I am not getting my doctorate in spelling... nor English for that matter.

Trust me, I don't get my jollies by going to some obscure forum, writting to strangers....

Why are there so many Haters?

Jean, I admire your since of adventure.

The posters here, would have told Bill Gates he was a stupid dreamer.

How many of the posters have MBA's? OK how about a Bachelors in Business????

OK OK lets even try an associates in Business????

None???? But they are autimatically able to make prophetic statements about Jean's possible business venture???!!! Seems a little odd to me.

So here is my prophetic statments to the Haters... First, you do not have a business degree, secondly you never will, third you couldn't turn a profit if you life depended on it

How can I say all of this, without knowing the haters? Truth is, I can't.... just as the Haters can not predict the future of Jeans plan....

The best of luck to you jean

MBKUDO

I totally agree with u. I am sure your bro. is very proud of his degree, and I am sure his VITA/Resume always floats to the top of every application stack it has been in.

The rariety of a B. degree from Thailand from and Anglo.... WOW that would be something. I aslo hear tell that Thailand B. schools are extremely good.

I tell people all the time, the world can be yours, with sacrifice....

Monkey see Monkey do....

This has been going on in America for a looooong time. We fortunate people of America cater to the "Latino's" of America....

Even our current president tries to speak Spanish to win their praises....

Well, we stole America from the native indians, I guess it is time to have it stolen again....

You need to stop saying "If only I had of...." and start saying, "I will do..."

You may want to consider an "On-line" degree from an acredited (sp) university. You may shy away from this approach because it is "on-line" but let me tell you, it is estimated that 80% of all U.S. colleges will offer on-line programs.

My wife got her masters on line from Texas A&M, and I am currenrtly working on my doctorate, and drawing a 6 figure income at the same time. Gone are the days of 100% devotion to education. You can now work and go to school.

You say you have natural business skills.... Well you say it, but a degree provides the proof. You say you are smart, but the degree is the proof. There are a lot of ineternational business schools in Thailand. Go there, pay little, and get a B-degree, and learn to speak Thai on a fluent level.....

After that, the world is yours....

Sure it takes sacrifice, but that sacrifice is what gets you the money. The pay off and the self esteem boost of an education is well worth it.

My experience:

I married a Thai woman, that has lived on both sides of the tracks. She grew up extremely poor, even homeless at times.... mother in debtors prison etc.

One day mother gets a job, finds her niche, now she makes a mill. thb a year. They have land, homes, farms etc

My wife was the first in her family line to ever get a college degree, an M.S. from America, no less.

Me, I am also educated, earn a 6 figure income in the US, and was raised in a practical lifestyle... It was kind of strange, kind of like "voluntarily" poor... We are from the country, maybe that is why.

My wife, she meets Thais here in America, and laughs at the ones that carry on like they are hi-so, and treat her like she is lowly. My wife migrates to the poorer down to earth Thais here in America....

Truth, a lot of her "poor" friends are actually rich here in America, but they are so connected to their roots, they do not carry on like a bunch of snobs. What else I find ironic, is the one's that carry on like they are so rich and powerful, don't understand that their vast summs of Bahts in Thailand, aint worth squat here in America, makeing them poor, like the rest of us....