mrjohn

Here is a picture of one the squirrels around our place.

They are wonderfully athletic but certainly can't "fly"

They are great to watch but not so much fun when they steal our mangoes!

"but the big deep purple ones are more appropriately aubergine"

Nonsense…………. eggplant is merely American English for aubergine (which is actually French anyway)

As has been said, the large purple ones are usually available in most Makros (but beware the quality)

As with most things in life “Size isn’t everything” and I find the long green aubergines (makuea yao in Thai) fulfil most of my needs.

Occasionally you can find small purple ones, about the length of your finger, which are an Indian variety, these are excellent.

I've only lived here 10 years, so I suppose I am rather a newbie.......but what the ferk is CNX????????????

Haldi is usually available in most markets in Thailand, jeera seeds definitely are.

The day market in Songkhla was always good and there is covered market in Hat yai which i am sure would stock such stuff.

I buy black mustard seeds (when available) from Makro.

But, you are little more than spitting distance from the Malaysian border where all these things are easily available and cheaper too.

When I lived down there (about 10 years ago now) I used to do regular shopping trips across the border.

Do nothing.

Meter belongs to landlord, same as roof, walls and land.

Let landlord and Electric company fight it out.

Not the tenants responsibility.

Thanks

That sounds logical (perhaps a bit too logical) and more or less how I saw the situation.

Can anybody endorse this?

Has anybody any experience of this?

We live in a rented house and have lived in the same house for 3 years.

The electricity company came today to change the meter. I was out at the time so the wife had to deal with it.

They concluded that they could not change it to because somebody had tampered with it.

As far as I can understand it, somebody (at some time in the past) had fitted a device to slow down the meter.

The wife called the house owner (who has always seemed like a perfectly decent woman) and we have always got on very well with her.

The electricity people (apparently) accepted the fact that we had not tampered it ourselves, nor did the house owner know anything about it, but suggested that the house owner would need to pay 5,000 Bht and they would also be giving us a bill sometime in the future.

Our monthly bill averages about 1,200 Bht, which seems pretty normal for a house with 2 fridges one freezer, electric oven, two computers and no air conditioning.

In any normal country there would be some arbitration procedure, you would go to court and argue your case.

But this is Thailand and people just roll over and do as they’re told.

To my simple mind, the electricity company is at fault, after all, somebody reads the meter every month, but apparently they don’t bother to check to see if anybody has tampered with it!

What should I do????

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best "High Tea" in Hua Hin is a bit like asking; where is the best massage in Bognor?

Whisky, Scotch whisky (note Scottish spelling) with plenty of ice and soda is by far the best accompaniment to the myriad flavours present in Thai food.

Much better than the headache inducing, chemically laden "beer."

Wine in Thailand is mostly poor quailty and always grossly over-priced due to the punitive taxes.

They were quite common in Korat when I was stationed there in 1971-72. I haven't seen one anywhere in Thailand in recent years. What happened?

Too many dogs????

The Tha Li area is very beautiful and well worth a visit.

I drove through there on the way back from the Dan Sai Festival a few years ago and earmarked it for future trip.

The road down from the mountains to the river is quite stunning, especially in the rice planting season.

I agree with Lopburi that you are unlikely to find many “proper” hotels outside Phu Ruea.

But I always find that there are plenty of cheap and cheerful places to stay all over Thailand, especially if you have your own transport.

You are unlikely to encounter any Bangkoknees now that the holiday is over

'Mrjohn' what foods are you in need of?

Nothing in particular actually, but the last time I was there they were out of whole-wheat bread flour and Chinese soy sauce, neither of which are available in conventional Thai supermarkets.

As a “guest” of the government I am forced to go to Khorat city every 90 days, so I do try and make the trip count by doing some shopping for the sort of things I cannot buy in my own the sleepy little town.

I also do a trip down to Pattaya around twice a year, during which time I make use of the facilities and stock up on the specialist goodies which are only available there…….

So I am pretty well organised, but just wanted to know that, if I find myself on my 3 monthly trip to Khorat and The Mall cannot fulfil my needs, are there any other shops that sell farang ingredients?

Does anyone know of any other shops in Khorat city that sell international food?

The last time I was in The Mall Food Market, there were 2 or 3 items I needed that were out of stock.


Incidentally, I know about Tesco and Big C and we always go to Makro anyway. But they just sell the usual stuff.


I was just wondering if there might be any other shops to go for less common ingredients.

Thanks for any advice.

"Presently teaching - I can teach any subject except Kindergarten."

Really??? Well, I have news for you, kindergarten is not a subject.

Sorry to be pedantic, it's just my nature.

"Meiji, Dutch Mill and others don't sell actual fresh milk"

Utter nonsense..............Meiji is fresh milk, pasteurised fresh milk. End of story.

F & N is also a good product but I have only ever seen it in Makro.

As I understand it Microsoft Security Essentials is no longer supported.

I ditched it about 9 months ago after a virus. I have a corrupt registry which is irreparable. The only solution is a complete reinstall which I shall do this weekend.

Since MSE I have been using Bit defender free version with which I have been very pleased. It's unobtrusive, effective and, best of all can be customized to accept files that I know to be fine but other antivirus programmes delete without so much as a by your leave.

The Chinese like it.

They dip fried foods in it...................Amongst other things.

Make your own. Not difficult.

Try Mr Google

and the tea comes from MHS or you are living in MHS??..... Iam doing a bike trip up there next week.

Yes the tea comes from MHS, I live in Isaan

But the point of this post was just to make contact with someone living in Mae Hong son who had a bit of spare time and could shoot down the market and mail the tea to me.

Well, many thanks to your reply.

No, there is no brand name. It is, as I said just the normal stuff in the main (covered dry goods) market.

At least 2 stalls were selling it in plain plastic bags with just the price of 60 Bht written on it.

Here's a picture:

Hope that helps.

"Well it is christmas"

As I often say to my wife (who only speaks Thai)

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Even though the latest rule is 6 months, it really depends on the current rules in place at the immigration office that you use. My office required that it be issued within 30 days of application so it's best to check with the office that you use in advance."

That was also my understanding in previous years, hence my question.

Many Thanks