DGS1244

Worry about how they dress ?? not worry they are raping and robbing people for months after being reported for such, and have HIV.

They should make the drivers go through the same "vetting" that they have in other countries and not let people do the job who's only requirement appears to be that they are breathing.

http://www.thaivisa....ing-passengers/

OR pose as a Military Officer to rob people :

http://www.thaivisa....ign-passengers/

so it seems you can do this, but dont dress scruffy or park inconsiderately whilst doing it !

Stupid and ridiculous post. What's your problem?

Most likely people like you, previous post got to the point.

"BANGKOK: -- About 164,500 employees of flood-affected enterprises are at risk of losing their jobs this year as 284 firms have not yet reopened after last year's inundation, while the upcoming increase in the daily minimum wage could aggravate the situation, according to a report by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

Industries where there is a high possibility of downsizing are automobile manufacturing, office machinery, electronics, electronic appliances, textiles and garments, machinery, television and radio appliances, rubber, chemical products, plastics, household equipment and petrochemical goods."

Where does this guy get his info from, must dream it or guess, try driving around the big seven industrial estates that were flooded and he will see less than 10% are just starting to recover let alone production at 100%. Thailand is two years away from even beginning to recover and it will never reach 100% as many companies are 'relocating' to other countries. Wake up Thailand the glory days are over.

The weather, food and the ladies, what else does one need? especially us oldies.

Beer?

True, a good drop never urt anuone

The weather, food and the ladies, what else does one need? especially us oldies.

Beer?

True, a good drop never urt anuone

The weather, food and the ladies, what else does one need? especially us oldies.

I can understand his view

He is supporting the family for 12k a month, which is quite a lot. But rather than you paying a seperate amount in addition to the 12k he's paying, he wanted you to ease his financial burden. As you're in the UK (And I assume working there), it's likely a significantly smaller portion of your salary than what it is his. So he'd be thinking that you're a stingey prick, even though the main thing which you objected to was giving the money to him, not to your MIL directly.

You paid about right for Sin Sod, e.g. not much, just a token gesture (The gold should have gone to your wife not the parents tho right?). As being divorced with 2 kids, the Sin Sod has already been paid.

But even though you're right, you should try to mend the fence if you can, best to not have problems within the family as it makes problems similar to what you have now.

The only fence I would repair is the one I broke over this gits head. Family problems my arse; it's time to stand up and be counted as a British Bulldog instead of whinging about some 'Holier than thou' <deleted> who needs a lesson or two. Put up or shut up !

Exactly, although you do not mention the "Aussie's" age he sounds like a spoilt 25 year who thinks he owns everything just because he gave them a house. You are best off out of it, stay somewhere else and enjoy yourself, you have paid more than enough already. Get a life and stop complaining.

When I lived in Kamphang Phet I met some foreigners who lived on less than $300 some months, they had a miserable existance and without 'friends' buying them drinks etc. their life was doing nothing but sit in their cheap rotten rooms. Don't try it, just not worth the hassle.

This is sad news. I have to admit, if these figures are accurate, I truly didn't think this many companies and workers would be effected for this long. I really thought they had more time to prepare for the floods and it would just be a month of intense clean-up for many companies. I wonder if part of the issue is lack of availability of the right workers that are needed for clean-up, maintenance, electrical and all that.

Having been heavily involved in Loss Control activities in many of the flooded industrial estates I can assure you these figures are ony the tip of the iceburg. Many of the facortoies will never return, they have had enough and are planning to relocate to other countries, as for the others some machinery will take two years to replace and by then the trained emplyees will be long gone. people seem to forget that many of these facotories supplied others down the line, now they cannot produce, the knock on effect will be tremendous. One facory alone supplies the majoritory of the world's camera bodies, try buying a new digital camera shortly and see what happens.

Further some of the loss is being replaced by imports, all that will do is increase costs, reduce profits and create an even worse situation, cost of living set to rise guaranteed.

I found that by arriving around 1240 hrs and waiting for the ticket machine to open at 1300 hrs I normally complete what ever I went there for by 1400 hrs. Obviously does not work for retirement visas etc. as they are filled early morning for the rest of the day.

A Thai Owned and run Re-insurer cannot afford to pay the claims now, do they really think this will change anything. They still do not have a clue as to how large the final financial loss to Thailand will be. Watch the figures in the years to come. Total loss will be one of the largest in history.

Having lived in Bangkok for some 14+ years and suffering all the traffic, pollution etc. I moved to Chiang Mai early last year and have not regretted it for one minute, even after I became flooded last August. It has everything Bangkok has to offer without the problems, choose carefully where to live but somewhere like San Sai is as good as you will get or maybe Doi Siket . The cooler 'winter' makes for a very pleasant change and even in the hot season it becomes bearable. Good schools, good supermarkets, good cultural activities what else can you ask for. Enjoy

I hired a songtheaw from outside the Central store, cost 300 TBaht for as long as I wanted, took us up, waited and we returned four hours later. No Problem

I think someone is living in the Cuckoo land! I am involved in some of the flood restoration/conservation of major companies and there is no way most of these factories will even start to produce to full capacity until the end of 2012, some we are even predicting end 2013. I don't think anyone in the government has a clue as to how they will dispose of thousands of Tonnes of contaminated hazardous chemicals and then where do you start to put the rest of the debris. This will go on for years to come. Wake up out there.

A bit like our comment, Amazing saying nothing.

Your A/C's must be one of your main problems, had the same last year then turned them off and saw the bill dropped to 10% of what it had been. Think you may be under a misconception that when your turn a A/C to lower temperature it comes out colder, wrong, the temperature of the cooled air remains constant, the room temperature is governed by the A/C turning it self off and on. If faulty then it never turns off and you pay the consequences.

Guess we Brits must have it easy compared with the Yanks and Aussies. I quick trip to the consulate for letter, backed up with tax statements etc. agreed, expensive yes but only once per year. The to IMG CM 15 minutes with the officer and out, no problem.

If you take the Chiang Rai road turn left at the large crossing after the Doi Saket turnoff towards the reservoir, go for about a kilometer keep to the main road and on the left hand side you will see the Pang Faen Resort, address 116 M. 5 Pameang. You can drive in and park and then walk dogs through the grounds and into the forest area beyond. Although there are a couple of Soi type dogs in the grounds they are no problem and the owner always gives you a good welcome. The restaurant is quite good and you can have a cold beer after your long walk or even take a swim in the very large pool.

In Chiang Mai it is no problem in getting it, have you tried your local 'Mackro'? they seem to have stocks of most things.

Try Mee Mee's in the market behind Mea Chock Plaza, all the staff as well as the owner are Burmese.

Bleach is far the best to kill mould, well diluted, also get your A/C working as soon as possible and turn it onto the de-humidification cycle, not cold one, seal the room and keep it running. The room will dry out quicker than relying on warm weather and if you can add air movers (fans) even better. This from experience of drying houses, factories and other properties for some 30 plus years, all to do with Air Psychrometrics.

I expect you will have to do it at Chiang Mai. Here's a real world example of how another office will refuse to accept a 90 day report. Right now I've evacuated my Bangkok home due to flooding; staying in Nakorn Pathom right now with my 90 day report due 11 days from today. Last Friday I bumped into another expat who lives in Nakhon Pathom and he said he had just went to do his 90 day report at the Nakhon Pathom office but couldn't because it was closed/two feet of water around it. He said he was going to Kanchanaburi Immigration instead to do the report. So, I decided to tag along and off we go to the Kanchanaburi office on Friday.

Thanks for info, should have guessed nothing would be that straightforward.

On Friday 11 th. November for Loy Kratong I took the family to a restaurant on Charoenrat Road, surprisingly parking was no problem but the service was. We eventually got a waitress to take our order, the drinks took about 15 minutes and starter 16 minutes, one main course arrived then a second some 10 minutes later, warm fish but cold chips. We were then informed that another main course we had ordered was not now available so we changed it to a Carbonara/Spaghetti, by the time that arrived, another 10 minutes, the first serving was finished and the fish less cold chips was almost consumed. The Carbonara turned out to be a tasteless lump of overcooked spaghetti and after a couple of mouthfuls was left for the rats to eat. Asking for the Check Bin and telling the waitress that the food was inedible became a daunting task, after agreat deal of discussion we were offered another 'meal' but by then everyone else had long finished anyway. I managed eventually to find the 'manager' to discuss the problem, by this time my partner. being Thai, just wanted to pay up and leave but after a lot of haggling I managed to get the bill discounted reasonably. I appreciate that it was a very busy night, but having run major restaurants in the past I know from experience that is no excuse for poor food and service. If they have complaints then they should be able to deal with them promptly. Guess where I will not be going again. Maybe there should be a forum where complaints regarding restaurants can be aired for all to read.

Can any one help?, can you do the 90 day reporting at any immigration office or does it have to be the one where you are resident. I ask as I live in Chiang Mai and will have to do my 90 just before New Year, last time it took forever. I will be traveling back from Bangkok week before New Year and could do it at Nakon Sawan where I used to do it when living there. It only takes a few minutes there even with a queue. Advice appreciated.

"Insurance claims to exceed Bt600 billion

Achara Pongvutitham

The Nation

A few comments known from long experience in the insurance market

"Damage claims from Thailand's flood crisis will exceed Bt600 billion, including actual damages and losses due to suspended business, greater than the impact of the tsunami in Japan, according to an initial assessment by the Office of the Insurance Commission (IOC).

The greatest damage is in seven industrial estates: Saha Rattana Nakorn Industrial Estate, Rojana Industrial Park, Hi-Tech Industrial Estate, Factory Land, Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate, Nava Nakorn Industrial Estate, and Bangkadi Industrial Park. Combined damage was assessed by the IOC recently at more than Bt600 billion, on a total insured amount of Bt456.79 billion. Insurance companies will have to pay Bt200 billion for claims, accounting for about 30 per cent of the total loss.

This figure is way too low, the consequential loss claims will be far higher and can easily treble each claim.

The Federation of Thai Industries said the losses from those seven industrial estates would be Bt300 billion to Bt400 billion, covering 891 factories and 460,000 workers.

About 90 per cent of the total flood losses are reinsured, with the remaining sum also reinsured for another time. As a result, Thai insurers will not be hit too badly. Anon Vangvasu, senior vice president of the non-motor claims department of Bangkok Insurance, said BKI would take on only 5 per cent of the total losses. Affected companies are mainly Japanese manufacturers, and they had purchased risk coverage from Japanese insurers in Bangkok.

Fine for Japanese insurers but most Thai Companies do not bother to re-insure on the international market and it is very doubtful if any of them have sufficient funds to meet their obligations.

Japanese insurance companies operating in Thailand include Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Tokio Marine Srimuang Insurance.

Anon said claims would cost Thai insurance companies Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion.

He said the losses of companies in the seven flood-affected industrial estates would be classified into three groups: buildings and construction, stockpiles, and machinery. The initial assessment by insurers indicates that buildings will account for 10-15 per cent of the losses, stockpiles 40-50 per cent and machinery about 50 per cent.

Again no mention of consequential loss which is the highest figure.

After the flood has receded, insurance companies will send assessors to the factories to determine the damage to machinery, then technicians will be allowed entry for maintenance before repairs, for instance applying moisture protection. The final process will be handled by technicians who restore the machines.

Insurance companies will apoint independent LOSS ADJUSTERS not Assessors, there is a major difference between the two. Loss Assessors are private companies who offer the insured help in preparing their claim, often inflating figures.

The biggest problem facing insurance companies is low numbers of staff and assessors. The OIC is considering easing some regulations to allow technicians to enter factories and make some repairs before insurance assessment starts in order to minimise losses.

The insurance policy conditions require the occupier to minimise the claim as soon as practical, you don't have to wait for the 'assessment'.

"Those technicians will help reduce damage to heavy machinery and prepare plans for maintenance and repairs in advance. Moreover, they can report to parts suppliers whether any parts have to be imported," Anon said.

They are not Technicians they are Chartered LOSS ADJUSTERS

Nobody knows yet how many machines have been damaged by the floods but at least 100 engineers will be needed to manage the assessment. Insurers will compensate policyholders only after their damage claims have been validated."

Try a thousand plus engineers, 100 won't go far.

Many micro organisms will survive brief boiling, you should boil for 5 minutes. If you use the type of kettle with auto shut off, leave the top open, then it will keep boiling. Boiling will not remove inorganic pollutants. For pure water collect the output from your aircon and melt the ice buildup in your fridge.

Be very careful if you start to drink ultra pure water such as distilled or dionised it does not contain any bacteria, which you need to digest, and technically you can 'drown' with it. There are many documented cases of people dying from drinking pure water for too long.