Estrada

The room should be at 24/25C as recommended for PCs. I had a large Vaio Laptop a few year ago and the power transformer could not take the heat in the tropics and the Sahara, It burnt out. I bought a replacement and found that Sony had already increased the power output to solve the problem with hot climates. There is also an internal chip which slows the computer down if it gets too hot. If you are using a 3-pin to two pin power adaptor and it is getting hot, check the connections to make sure that the electrical parts are making good contact otherwise they will generate heat.

Fantastic.

Cats are just killing machines and slaughter, the native fauna such as skinks, lizards, frogs, harmless snakes, toads and any unwary birds. When a cat moves in, the animals I see in my garden declines.

Good to see native fauna win one, for a change.

it unfortunate that they cant kill dogs

What's really unfortunate is that they can't kill fatdogs.

One ate my friend's fat dog.

just wondered why a tourist would contact a newspaper, ? duh !! i hope this person reported it to the BIB. probably gone into hiding now. or camped out in a cornfield. just waiting for the " not guilty until proven " brigade to show up.. yeah right !!

i went into the jomtien police station to report 2 of my staff who stole over 80 000thb in stock from my shop. i even had photo copies of their thai ID cards phone numbers and parents addresses. cops wrote 2 sentences in their log book and told me to go away. doubt they would care about some suspected foreign criminal who committed a crime on the other side of the world.

In the UK I lost GBP80,000 due to theft from my computer games console shop and the police were not interested. Even when we arrested one of the gang ourselves when they came back for a second break in, the police did not want to investigate or try to recover my stock, nor did they want to take the gang member we caught to court. Never had a problem with the Thai police, they recovered a stolen gold necklace for me. I admit that I did have to pay the policeman's expenses up front(B500). You must realize that they often have to buy their own motorcycles, guns, pay for fuel and other expenses out of their own pockets.

SET is a little on the small side.

Only a few thousand pounds for a bit of fun?

What does that even mean? Fun losing money in a country with negative growth and losing any gains in transaction fees and / or exchange rates?

Who's losing money? I made B1million in the last few weeks and fees are only 0.17% for online trading with Maybank Kim Eng. I have been investing in the SET since 1999. People who lose money investing are investing in the wrong shares.

The best job I was offered by the Florida mob (B1Million/month) and never got to do, was to head up a company to rebuild the infrastructure in Iraq after the planned invasion by Bush and Cheney. They told me that it would take 6-7 days to bring down Saddam Hussein then after that we would go in and make a fortune. After 6 months of waiting, I went to work for Colonel Gadhafi in Libya as senior Engineer on the Great Man Made River Project from 2004 until 2010. Starting salary was B440,000 per month, but it was hard work and the temperatures in the Sahara can reach 54C. It was a satisfying job bringing water from the desert to the coastal areas for drinking and for farmers.

I was MD of a company in the UK for 20years where I built up a water recycling systems company which still saves billions of litres of water per year for their customers. This was also one of my best jobs due to the achievements we made for the environment. I also worked for the EU as a Consultant in Romania fro the Ministry of Development which was also a well paid job and our achievement was to bring Romania up to a standard where she was admitted into the EU as a member.

For me it is about bringing benefit to the people and not about the money.

I have seen rats in the kitchen by the swimming pool, at the British Club Silom. Also rats in Tesco Lotus Seacon Square. Staff were not concerned as the rats ran over their feet.

In the UK in 1974 - 1976, we had a drought which led to water rationing. The water companies introduced water metering so that each company had to pay for their water according to usage. Prior to that they paid a flat fee based on rateable value. Car, lorry and bus washes were closed down unless they had 95% water recycling. I was managing director of a water and waste treatment company so we installed 1,000s of water recycling systems all over the world. Most of these systems offered a payback of 2 years due to savings on water and sewerage treatment charges. In 1994 my Thai agent suggested I join him and moved here. The problem here is that industrialists do not pay enough for their water so they have no incentive to recycle water.

In contrast, the Singapore Government installed many of my systems to recycle water, as Singapore is an Island with little water resources and was dependent on Malaysia to supply water. My agent was behind the Company NEWater referred to in the article, which uses membranes to reclaim waste water to produce drinking water.

I have installed a number of water recycling systems here but mainly on industrial estates where water charges are higher and there is strict control on discharge water quality. From my experience there is a lot of water wasted by Companies through not controlling their manufacturing processes. Unless the water charges are increased there is little incentive to recycle water.

The opposition to the construction of the Yom River Dam has led first of all to the devasting previous floods and secondly it would have provided more water for irrigation and to control the down stream salinity. Having said that the MWA maximum salinity standard of 0.25gm/l is ok when there is not a drought situation and they could have kept a lot more water in the upstream dams and maintain a standard of a maximum 0.60gml, which is still considered good drinking water.

According to True & AIS, they want a lower reserve and only then will they take part in the auction. What ever the new successful bid amounts to they want True's price for the first auction reduced to match the new price.

I also have inside information that they will be accommodating flying boats for the next airport floods.

No problem, it is Thonglor where the son of Red Bull hit a policeman on his motorbike with his Ferrari and got away with it. Even if the case gets to court they will find that the Policeman reversed his motorbike into the Ferrari. Similarly, with the right lubrication to the wheels of justice, they will conclude that the BTS stairs jumped out in front of the Korean's Mercedes.

@sunnyjim5

Was that absolutely necessary?

You expect everybody posting here to be an Immigration guru? People are posting here because they want advice, not because they want to hear a patronizing explanation about the difference between a visa and an extension.

I will explain it in a nicer way for bustit997, which is what you should have done from the beginning.

@bustit997 What you have is an extension of stay, your original visa was the one issued at an Embassy or a Consulate outside of Thailand. Immigration Offices in Thailand do not issue visas, they only issue extensions of stay for the original visas. In your case, you got a 1 year extension.

Now that sounds better doesn't it, sunnyjim5?

Wrong information, Thai immigration can issue one type of Visa in country. Retirement VISAs, type "Non - O" (stamped Non - O "For life(cheewit)" in Thai language are issued in Country by Thai immigration, as was mine. I came in on a tourist visa exempt entry on a 30 day permission to stay. I had B800,000 in a Thai Bank, Time deposit account and then went to Thai Immigration at Chaengwattana and applied for a retirement visa. They gave me a 90 day extension and told me to come back in 60 days, which I did. I got a statement from Bangkok Bank downstairs and gave this to the immigration officer. I then went to a senior officers desk and she issued me with the Non-O Visa based on Retirement. I then joined the queue at another desk where it was stamped "USED" and they gave me a 1 year extension back dated to my original application.

I live in Jomtien and went to Bkk a few months ago to renew my retirement visa. I lived in Bkk and moved to Jomtien. They said i can only renew it at Jomtien immigration since that is now where I live. I did my 90 day reporting at Jomtien, so the address of course reflected that. So I now have to drive from Jomtien to Bkk to get my income statement notorized at the US Embassy then drive back to Pattaya immigrration for the visa. Big pain. Terrible system .

You do not have a retirement "VISA" because visas cannot be renewed !

You get nothing "notorised" but you might swear an affidavit!

Sorry for the BIG PAIN but it was your choice to move to terrible Pattaya.

If he left the country and came back on a tourist 30 day permission to stay, he would be then be applying for a new retirement VISA in Country. Therefore, to him he regards it as a renewal.

You are completely wrong as regards swearing an Affidavit, an Affidavit should be notarized. You are confused with a sworn declaration which does not require notarization. Let us try to give factual and helpful information in this forum.

Friend of mine emailed me a few days ago, got caught walking on a pedestrian crossing against the red light. Fine was over $100. I drove through a pedestrian crossing (no pedestrians on it) in Adelaide, got fined over $300 and that was 7 years ago.

You lost me - why would you have to stop if no one crossing the road ? Or is it the law to stop for them all ?

Did you pass your test? If any traffic light is on red you cannot proceed.

Also I have a reason to think that's it's harassment in my case. Because I've been to the immigration office here in Bangkok since 1993 and I never even had a "conversation" with an official if you know what I mean, same at the passport control. I never had a problem with the police in 23 years... not even a conversation. By these security guards are just a major nuisance because first of all it's definitely just a show, and they DO single out foreigners all the time... That's why I think they just do it for their personal amusement to inflate their petty egos... nothing more, it has nothing to do with security of any kind....

Are you off your meds?

Lol, there's certainly a wide-spread harassment of whites in Bangkok, I was not even affected by it the most by far - for some reason the cops really like me, never been searched or stopped by cops. As for the security - I reported what I reported because it's true.

They do check foreigners only - and they never search the Thais... so they provide ZERO security and are just a huge pain in the ass for visitors...

And some of you can continue your worthless blah blah blah, but it's not going to solve this problem for anybody...

I have been here over 30 years. I regularly travel on the BTS and all over Thailand. I see no wide spread harassment of whites. I see more Thais with bags searched than foreigners. Please do not continue your worthless blah blah blah.

And on 01.04.2016 we will be able to do our 90 day report at 7-Eleven Stores also using the bar code.

Having watched the video it is obvious that the motorcyclist was at fault. The British Embassy car stopped and waited for an opportunity to turn right which it did, but a white car refuses to stop overtaking on the car on the wrong side of the road. Moments later the motorcyclist playing follow my leader also over takes on the wrong side of the road clipping the front of the car which was stationary. The car did not suddenly pull out into the road and hit her. This is just another example of the local drivers refusing to give way especially motorcyclists, just try crossing the road on a pedestrian crossing. I hope she was insured but not likely if she was living hand to mouth as stated.

The way to exploit the water shortages is not clear since most water suppliers are not private businesses. The best play may be to invest in companies that make desalination plants and other peripheral equipment that is sold to governments.

TTW and EASTW

However, from past experiences with water problems, these companies don't get any benefits. And the price of water doesn't just surge as it's a basic utility.

The government is not going to buy desalination plants, it is already going ahead with the drilling of 6,000 artesian wells, of which 4,600 are still to be completed. TTW and EASTW will not benefit, quite the opposite, income will drop due to water usage bans, restrictions and water conservation measures. So you should sell these shares.

Personally I like Inter Far East Energy(IFEC), a solar and wind power energy company which has a projected 212% upside. A dividend of 1.1% is envisaged for this year ending Dec 2016 and 3.5% for 2017. Three brokers have published their analyses on the SET Trade Web site (go to analysts consensus and click on download). One can envisage that there will be an increased demand for wind turbines and solar panels to power the proposed 4,600 submersible well pumps for the artesian wells that are going to be drilled as a matter of urgency to mitigate the drought. This company has recurring and rapidly increasing revenues from its power and hotel businesses. The price has already increased this month from B6.00 to B7.25 and likely to reach at least B12-13/share by the end of the year.

Major thai banks have London branches at least Bangkokbank and SCM do.........

You and your wife with passbook and passport could visit.....

The Bangkok bank in London does not offer a retail banking service. Never heard of the SCM bank .............

This is not the point, This point is that like myself, she can open and account at Bangkok Bank London. I have my pensions paid to my account at Bangkok Bank in London and they transfer this to my Bangkok Bank account in Bangkok. SCM obviously means Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). You can also just walk into Bangkok Bank London office and handover cash to transfer to any account in Thailand. I used to do this on a weekly basis for two years.

"My question is why purple line last station Tao Poon doesn't connect with BTS Mochit or MRT Bang Sue?"

From my internal sources: The reason is that someone wanted to make sure that one operator cannot operate both lines (as this allows for potentially more incentives to be paid during the bidding process). However, the owner of CH. Karnchang, the main contractor, recognized the problem and he is constructing the extension to meet with the MRT at Bang Sue at his own expense. He hopes to eventually get paid for this.

I think what they are calling artesian wells is really just ground water collection areas that have dried up and are now being dredged deeper.

No it is not. The trouble is that the Government spokesman and the reporter incorrectly stated that they would dredge the artesian wells. In fact Suphot Tovichakchaikul, secretary of the National Water Board stated at the meeting with the PM that they will be drilling 6,000 artesian wells, 1,250 have already been completed, 4,300 are in the process of being drilled.

I have hundreds of Muslim friends and have worked in many Muslim Countries. Here in Thailand, I live near Seacon Square Bangkok which historically was a Muslim area and therefore I have many Muslim friends, some of whom I have known since they were born. The local Imam, who runs a junior school here, is a friend. I know Surin Pitsawan, who is a Muslim and was the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and his son was a rotaractor in our rotaract club formed at ABAC. I worked in East Malaysia for two years and I also have hundreds of Muslim friends there.

Does that answer your question?

If you are retired by law you must have a Thai driver’s license. The driving licenses are separate so you need to apply for them separately. The exam is much harder now. The driving test is hard as well. I drove 25,000 miles a year for 30 years and I struggled. It is much different sitting on the opposite side. I recently applied with 200 applicants and only 20 of us passed the exam and the driving test. My American licensed expired so I had to start all over. I trained with Like English driving school and to be honest there is no way I would have passed the first time without their training help and translation assistance. The written test is in English now. I passed the separate exam for the motorcycle license, but failed the bike driving test twice and gave up. You can rent bikes there, but not cars. I'm 68 years old and my balance must be bad. You have to drive down a raised 4" wide rail a long distance and I keep running off to the right. Good Luck.

If you have a UK driving licence they do not usually ask you to do the written test, However, Americans and Aussie often have to do the written tests. An Aussie mate failed the written test twice before he passed the Thai Driving Test and that was the easy one.

I am just hijacking this topic don't want to open another one

my Thai nephew just obtained a Thai international licences

can he use this to drive in Australia ? I know he can not use

his normal Thai license which is prohibited in Australia

This information is incorrect. As a visitor you can drive on a Thai driving licence in all parts of Australia for 3 months. If your nephew intends to stay there for an extended stay then he has to obtain an Australian Driving Licence from the State that he resides in. Information regarding the specific requirements for each state are published on the Australian Government Web site.