pab

I have been looking into business ventures to keep my wife Noi's family self sufficent. I currently send the family 40,000 baht a month but they often ask for more. My wife has suggested that we buy some land with lots of small lakes and breed fish to be sold. I think this is a great idea as it will teach my new family financial responcibility and give my wife a new outlook on life as she has only ever worked in Pattaya as a cashier. Does anyone have any experience with farming or small business ventures? Has anyone opened a business to help support their wifes extended family and give their loved one a more stable future?

Bruce please listen to the other guys ideas and feedback. This might be difficult as you are obviously well intentioned but I also live in the Si Sa Ket province and can assure you that:

1. Starting a fish farm in the village would be a complete waste of money - too many free fish available.

2. 40K baht/month is actually way to generous- maybe the family is genuine or maybe they are using some of your funds to remove debts, provide loans to others in the village that will never be repaid but gives your wife's family great "face" in the village, purchasing capital items they and/or their friends have never had before - eg. motor bikes or pickups that are usually done on a monthly repayment arrangement.

3. Be clear in your mind after discussions with your wife just who you are expected to support, why and how much - this is a very important issue that hopefully you may have already had.

I am not trying to be negative Bruce, just practical and perhaps a little pragmatic based on experiences.

Everyone's family is different ....but try to temper your financial support whims. Good luck mate

Tell Her to go Or Bor Jor Building behind the City Hall, and then (If facing City Hall) pass it from right hand side and go end of the road)

1st floor left hand side.

GPS coordinates

N 15.22958

E 104.85309

Despite my technical limitations, I just used your cordinates on Google Earth and what do you know......I can now actually SEE where to go. Thanks MarcoH....its always good to learn something new everyday.

Hi I just come accross this page which has many Isaan/Lao words I used a few on my girlfriend and she was most impressed, I thought I would post the link it even has audio files.

I hope this is cool, its a really great site.

http://www.geocities.com/siamsmile365/isaan/isaan.htm

Thanks rick75. I have already put to use the "Speak like a Thai" Volume 5 re Isaan language phrases but everything little bit helps and this site is not only simple to use but it's expanding all the time and its bloody free !!

Well done mate

Thanks for all the good info people have posted here, so far not many headaches, the columns are up and in another 12-14 days they will start with the roof framework. I am in the process of choosing lighting (downlights) and other bits and peices, the prices seem a bit cheaper up cpuntry but not a massive difference from Bangkok for what we need. The water guy has turned up to do the well and we now have our own water supply. I might have time to go up and have a look in a few days so might be able to get some pictures done.

Reading all the above sounds like you have had some really good advise TR. My small addition is re your well water supply. Our well is 35 meters down and from a supply aspect we have never had any problems (apart from a problem or 2 with pumps). However, our well water is highly calcified and this can cause some headaches over time with certain appliances, especially washing machines and a hot water service if you have one. We have installed a range of filters to significantly reduce this problem but we have not completely solved it. So at least have your water tested by a reputable dealer if you can...the contents might surprise you!!!

Good luck mate...sounds like you are pretty much on top of things and we all wish you well.

I think that bangkokpos (bangkopost.com ) website looks like International news website ,

but The Nation ( nationmultimedia.com ) looks more local.

bangkokpost , in my opinion ,is easier to find in search engine than The Nation .

But I like to watch Travel video in The nation website, that's so cool for foreigners that may not know about Thailand much.

Actually I don't like either paper's website that much but I do use the Bangkok Post "Newspaperdirect" service and have their full paper version delivered online every morning along with guru magazine etc. when published. Being located in Si Sa Ket, with little access to either the Nation or BP, this system suits me fine. Enjoy the editorials, postbag and much better sports coverage of the BP.

Many thanks Berger, Ubonjoe and MarcoH for your input.

My technology and resource capacity do not extend to the use of GPS cordinates but I'm sure we will find the place if we follow advice given....otherwise we will just call them on the numbers provided by Ubonjoe. Again many thanks

My wife needs a new passport and was hoping we could do this in Ubon, rather than go back down to Bangkok where her initial passport was issued.

Any members know the location of such an office or at least the closest one to Si Sa Ket.

Appreciate your input.

I do not know where to sit on this one, I am leaning towards old old Tacky as quite simply Thailand is going to prosper under him more than it would under the PAD.

I feel greatly for the north and north east but I do not think they are the butt of all jokes but merely thought of as simple people. They now have seemed to have educated their childeren and thus now are not simple people anymore and as any educated person would want they want a say in things.

So true.

As a university professor in Isaan, for the last six years I've watched large segments of this society make the huge jump from agrarian to professional in one generation. It's happening to the tune of 100,000+ students (Isaan-wide) every year.

Of course, we all know it behooves PAD and their co-horts to continue to characterize the population of Isaan, the Thaksin supporters, as country bumpkins. Maybe it comes from constant contact with Isaan taxi drivers and food vendors in Bangkok.

However, they need more contact with the Isaan graphic artists, exporters, Honda quality control managers, Bangkok Post writers, IT experts, and medical personnel who now staff prestigious Bangkok institutions and organizations. These positions and places are where my former students now work. For the second year in a row, Isaan students have swept the top prizes in Thailand's National English Speech Competition in Bangkok, trumping schools like Mahidol, Thammasart, and Kasetsart.

Not quite the country backwater PAD continues to make them out to be.

Every election, these professionals go back to their Isaan hometowns to cast their ballots, with the adult members of their families usually following their more-informed political advice. And yes, they are livid over PAD's continual portrayal of this society as the butt-end of Thailand. I am too.

Very well said Toptuan. but there none so blind as those who cannot see...or accept !!!

So this left the question of my OP

What Are The Effects Of A Strong Baht On Foreign Retirees in daily life spending unanswered.

I was hoping to have some information on that, if it is not to personal.

Being a retiree from Australia, although we live debt free and quite comfortably, we have decided to keep our old car and defer purchase of a new one, be more aware of our budget expenditure whereas previously, no purchase of luxury and/or non essential items was too much trouble and most of all I made sure that my wife (Thai national) fully understood and appeciated our financial situation - including my super fund unit price values and the impact of exchange rate variations on our disposable income. In fact we have a standing agreement now that when (or if) my super fund units again reach a given level that we will immediately purchase a new Honda Accord (her dream car). I actually have found it very reassuring to be able share all this with my wife and know that she now truly appreciated our financial situation. Previously, she was aware of our superannuation pension monthly income but that was all. Maybe some would not agree with me to share all like this but we have been married for quite some time now and have a very trusting relationship

No big problems but best to be prepared - good luck mate

When you get married in January, you will need to do it at any Amphur, in order to get the paperwork done.

One of the questions that you will be asked is if you wife wishes to take your surname.

If so they will do all of the paperwork and and your Marriage papers will show that.

You can then get your wifes ID card re issued at that Amphur at the same time.

You then take your wifes passport to the passport office with the marriage paperwork and new ID card, and they will organise a new passport for her.

Good luck with it all.

Agree with all above from Aussietraveller but changing her surname will not require a new passport. They just make a notation in her current passport that her surname name has changed.

Hi Texas Ranger,

We have Samsung A/C units and no problems. however, I have a friend who has Panasonic units installed and he also has had no problems apart from being a little noisy.

Good luck with the build but always remember to "inspect what you expect" and "never assume anything" re a builder's understanding.

Go for it mate !!!

Hi All:

Not sure where to post this but I thought I would try here first and maybe the Mods can move it as they see fit.

Moving into a house in a few weeks and am looking to get a top load washing machine that is durable enough to stay outside (covered).

Anyone have any recommendations on brands / models to look out for either good and bad?

Thanks and advance.

James

Hi James,

We bought a Samsung Silver Nano...13 kg wash capacity about 3 years ago. Used everyday and xometimes twice a day. We have never had a problem....hope I am not putting a hex on it saying this. However, it was top of the line model at the time but available from most reputable dealers.

Each person in the "share" contributes X Bahts each month for Y months. The number of months is equal to the number of participants. Let's take an example of 12 people, each contributing 1000 Bahts (can be much more than that) per month for 12 months. That's 12000 Bahts available the first month.

Each month, the participants bid to indicate how badly they need the cash. The highest bidder takes the money, then until the end of the "share" he cannot bid anymore, but must contributes the 1000 Bahts, plus the amount of his bid every month. For example someone who won the cash on the first month with a bid of 100 Bahts gets 12000 Bahts immediately, but has to pay 1100 Bahts every month for the 11 remaining months. So the second month, the amount available is 12100 Bahts, and increases every month as each winning bidder starts to pay the nominal 1000 Bahts plus the amount of his own bid. At the end of the "share", only one person without winning bid remains (normally someone who doesn't need cash but wants to "invest"), and collects the cash, something like 13000+ Bahts depending on the bids of all the other participants in the preceding months.

In total, the winning bidder of the first month gets 12000 Bahts early, but pays 1000 + 11x1100 = 13100 Bahts, equivalent to (1100/12000)x100 = 9.2% interest. On the other hand the person without winning bid on month 12 has invested 1000x12 = 12000 Bahts, but receives 13000+ Bahts, equivalent to a (1000/12000)x100 = 8.3+% profit. All the other participants are in between these two.

The system is based only on trust between the participants with no enforceable penalties apart from social stigma, so there is always the risk that one of the participant will disappear with the cash at some point.

Pete

Thanks much, will print this out.

Mac

Thanks Pete. You have clearly explained what has been a complete mystery. Will also print out and keep as a reference.

My wife uses Dtac and I use AIS. There are places where she has no signal with Dtac but I have a signal with AIS. Based on that, I have to say that AIS has a little better coverage than Dtac.

Not so sure about your comments re AIS. We live in a small village about 20 kms from Si Sa Ket. Both my wife and I have AIS mobiles and whilst hers works everywhere around our home, mine only works in certain areas such as upstairs on our front deck. Bloody confusing as they are identical phones as well.

I suppose your mobile was manufactured on monday morning or friday afternoon.

Solution, swap the bloody things.

If you still have the same problem I am afraid you are the problem.

How do you think he ended up with it in the first place???

Its no big deal but thanks...you're all heart !!!

Hi All

I used to have CAT CDMA before TOT installed new phone lines into our village which is 8k outside of Surin. That was reliable with T.V. speedtests reading around the 460/130 mark for a shade under 1000b per month. I have now got TOT 2 meg with no reliability problems (touch wood) and speeds increased to 1500/450 on the same test. Monthly cost has decreased to 790b.

Well Happy

Dave

Hi Dave,

You have good value for money. We use the TOT 1 meg satellite service with speedtest results around 750 upload/ 130 download (higher at night time with test last night being 893/339) but the cost is 2,600 baht/month !!!

Regards

pab

[

Hi Ranger,

I currently have the TOT 1MB service in Suphan Buri, at about 20Km from the nearest TOT depot. Service is reasonable when it works. I have had periods of up to a month with neither telephone or internet, the reason was the line had been stolen.

That brings my to my point re-Isaan. We are moving soon to Sisaket, between the city and KhuKan. So I went to TOT to ask what they could provide out in the sticks. No problem can do either 1 or 2MB at the same rental fee, but you have to pay for the cable from the nearest substation or closest existing site at 15 baht per metre. In my case 2.6KM, or 39,000baht. The real stopper is the risk of the cable being stolen is yours.

So even if money grew on trees and I could afford new cable every once in a while, it has to be ordered from Bangkok and there is always a backlog of orders.

Have not checked GPRS and EDGE options (new ones available I believe). 3G projects on hold for all providers.

Isaanaussie

Hi Isaanaussie,

Like you I am an aussie and also located midway between Si Sa Ket and Khu Kan - in amphur Wang Hin just off highway 220. Unforturtunately we cannot access the TOT asdl system in my small village as there are no bloody phone lines and I did not want to fork out for the cable expenses...so lucky you mate. We use the TOT satellite system that has been well and truly covered on this forum. At least it works most of the time but is a little expensive for the quality you get and beggars can't be choosers !!! Goodluck mate and maybe we can catch up one day.

On this one, I guess I beat the record.

I use only one aircon in the bedroom during the night and sometimes during the day in the hot season.

But I have a lot of lights in the garden.

My electricity bill is in between 2,500 and 3,500 Baht per month.

3 months ago, it went up to 6,500.

After complaining, I was told that maybe there was some mistake and that there would be some adjustment the month after.

I received the bill the month after, a bit more than 10,000 Baht.

Electricians came to the house and during the checking, the whole "system" exploded, including the phone line,...

Now, it seems it is getting better.

No conclusion yet,...

We thought our electricity bill was fairly normal until we saw your post Bluecat. We live in our own home in Si Sa Ket area and have 6 aircon units (3 used every night except around this time of the year), 2 refrig, 3 TV's, washing machine that is used everyday, 2 water pumps that are used everyday, an all electric kitchen plus garden lights and our bill is usually 3,000 - 3,300 per month. For the amount of power we use we think our bill is pretty fair.

My wife uses Dtac and I use AIS. There are places where she has no signal with Dtac but I have a signal with AIS. Based on that, I have to say that AIS has a little better coverage than Dtac.

Not so sure about your comments re AIS. We live in a small village about 20 kms from Si Sa Ket. Both my wife and I have AIS mobiles and whilst hers works everywhere around our home, mine only works in certain areas such as upstairs on our front deck. Bloody confusing as they are identical phones as well.

What you heard is wrong. When the time comes for your next application for retirement extension you can without a problem change back to the basis of income or a comination of income and money in the bank.

--

Maestro

Thanks for the clarification Maestro. I sure did not want the significant loss associated with a lump sum using the current exchange rates.

Initially I used the 65K baht/month minimum requirement but over recent years have reverted to the 3 month seasoned 800K baht as the basis for an extension to my retirement visa.

I have heard some talk that now you cannot chop and change the method of your financial qualification each year? Is this correct?

With the 30+% depreciation of the A$ recently, I am loath to transfer a lump sum re my retirement visa extension, hence my seeking clarification that I can (or cannot) revert back to the 65K/month method for my next application. Will appreciate some clarification as I have heard nothing re this posible change.

I don't think anyone really knows. My income is in Oz dollars so hurting right now

Me too Zorro. However, at least make sure that any money transfer you do make from Oz to your Thai bank is in A$ and not Thai baht as you will get a better exchange rate here than in Oz. For example, 2 days ago the Commonwealth Bank was offerring 21.5 baht to the dollar for an IMT but at least my Thai bank gave me 23.6 baht. With some luck the currently high Thai currency rate will soon soften but I also know that the A$/Thai baht rate was around 25 for a long time a few years back. So good luck mate and spend wisely.

Really good to hear your story Shrek. Like you I married an Isaan lady a few years ago and we now have 2 beautiful daughters and a great life together.

So many times we hear horror stories that are probably true so for you to post a positive approach was refreshing indeed.

In any relationship there will be ups and downs and this is often complicated with our cross cultural differences and our relatively isolated location....but in the end its the person you marry not the country or the culture and as a team you just work it out together.

Good luck Shrek and I wish you and your family all the very best mate...

Who can beat this?Download Speed: 23 kbps (2.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 63 kbps (7.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 1629 ms

Thursday, September 18, 2008 11:06:14 PM

I was not uploading or downloading anything

Download speed: 693 kbps

Upload speed: 62 kbps

Again not uploading or downloading anything. Similiar upload speed to yours Peaceblond but neither of us are anywhere near the speeds of all the others joining this post. Maybe this speedtest was an abberation for you - have you retested?

I must add however that these are pretty normal results for me as I live near Si Sa Ket and rely on the use the TOT satellite service

Macb may we thank you sincerely for all your input.

We are getting our 2 new puppies at the end of next month and your training expertise is greatly appreciated.

Once we have our puppies (german shepherd/rottie cross) we will do our best to follow your helpful instructions and training trips.

TRAINING THE DOWN

Now we have our dog walking to heel we can incorperate the down as part of his walking to heel routine:

It is easier initially to put your dog in the down from the sit posistion, so we are walking to heel we stop give the command SIT. Now from this position combine the Command DOWN as you take the lead to the ground underneath his head and with your left hand on his shoulders pushing him gently down once then when down dont forget the praise keep him there when you stand, now bring the lead up and command sit, then you can move on walking to heel.

In time you will have walking to heel, sit, and down.

DOWN is considered the safe position never recall him from the down, if you dog is down place him in the sit first then recall him.

You will find as you progress that you dog will sit on his own when you stop and will go down when you say.

The thing to rember is not try to do to much and bore the dog. always remeber praise and play at the end of a session

More soon

Highway 304 has been vastly improved in the past few months so it's not a bad way to go. I have heard people complain about highway 24 and recommend taking highway 226 instead. If it were me, I'd try 24 and if it is that bad, you can always turn north to 226.

Thanks for the advice, I certainly couldn't see any real way to avoid the 304 but as you say there are quite a few opportunities to bail out onto the 226 if the 24 gets too bad.

Travelled 24 last week on way back to our home in Si Sa Ket - great trip, lot of the road improvements completed already especially re 4 lane highway conditions that last until you are about 100 kms north of Korat. 226 is fine but if my memory serves me right the majority is nearly all just 2 lane ...I just like to avoid the kamakazi drivers as long as possible !!!