malcoml

_{Hello Bikers,}

_{Just to let you know I have both the Lifan 250-B and the 200 dirt bike.}

_{I would have had them longer than six months now and have had no problems. I think I will change tyres on the cruiser when I eventually wear these ones down as I picked up a nail quite easily. I also ahd a tube split near the valve on the 200.}

_{I ahve no problems and do regular runs on the cruiser to Baan Chang from Pattaya. I guess the only problem Ihave is that I find both bikes a bit underpowered but then I also find my 250 CBR to be underpowered.}

_{For the record I left both bikes sit for 6 weeks when I was away working and have come back and although slow to start both started no problems at all.}

_{One thing I will say about the cruiser is that when the petrol guage on the cruiser flashes that your are on empty you really are on empty. I have ran out of petrol twice. I have also dropped the cruiser three times so it is in the shop now but all is running well.}

I have met the this guy aswell.

He seems very honest and if I was going to buy I would buy from him.

Starting to get on top of it.

I was away for a month but as expected was off my face within hours of arriving back. Sucking down about 12 beers on th eplane ride home then a six pack of Chang in the taxi from BKK to Pattaya. Woke up in a cheap hotel room near Walking Street.

Since then I seem to be hitting it extremely hard once or twice a week but funny enough I have managed to curb my nights down a bit and even have been coming home to my wife and child.

I'm finding four things are helping:

1) I look at the money in my wallet before I go out to spend it. Then buy something I like with it as the reward for not spending it on booze. The other day I felt like a drink but rather bought myself a Black Berry phone

2) I spend a lot more time with my son. I wont drink full stop when I'm with him so this has helped me.

3) I avoid people who I know are drinkers or make a point of visiting them in the morning rather than late in the afternoon as I have only even been a afternoo/night drinker.

4) I try to be in bed by 8:30 pm. This ensures that I wake up full of energy and keeps me away from bars when the most drinking is going on.

The body does feel a lot better when you wake up wothout booze in your system

I am currently studying a Thai cours with Pro Language and I am verysatisfied with the school. I tried a couple of other schools before deciding on which one and choosing Pro Language was a very good decision. She will be able to choose a private one to one class, or to work in a small group. Many of the other schools only offer classes in large groups, which I did not find productive for me.

Its very important that she choose a good school that is able to get her the Student Visa easily. Pro Language has been established for years now and I have always found the Visa application to run very smoothly. The staff are really friendly and helpful, and the teachers are very professional.

Another note about Pro Language, is that the teaching materials are very 'user friendly'. The way its organised means that they can take time to explain in detail anything that she might not be grasping well. Also they are very open to gearing the classes around the individual students needs.

On a final note, i found them very good for scheduling the classes around times to suit me, and also they are very good at putting you into a class at the right level for you.

Please recommend Pro Language to her. I am sure she will not be disappointed.

NB The teachers are all highly qualified and have good teaching experience at Pro Language. Some of the other school I went to had very poor teachers, who were nervous and did not know what they were doing!

Hope this helps you.

Thank you for your experience. Glad to know it works for you.

Walen School

I wonder if anyone who can speak ,read and write Thai exceptionally well has ever provided an INDEPENDANT

critique of the methodology adopted by these two schools? it would be nice to read about the

advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of an observer of both methods ( as opposed to the

proprietor of the business ).

So someone would have to study at both schools at the same time. The best way is to judge the Walen system by yourself. It is free to try and it definitely works. Again, try, it is free. Don't worry about other students opinions, the most important thing is whether the Walen system works for you, that is all that really matters. Some students like transliteration systems, others like learning directly in Thai as it is much faster. There are many schools so you have a lot of choices. I believe that Walen teachers at our Chiangmai branch are some of the finest in the city.

Hubba Hubba those pictures have sold me where do I sign up!!

Just kiding. Does Welen by chance teach Japanese in Pattaya.

I'm looking to study Japanese with my wife in Pattay before we eventually move back to Australia

I can say with that coming to Pattaya would be like throwing petrol onto a fire.

In my home country I can go months without even touching a drink. Go forward a few years and here I am in Pattaya and being drunk is as regular as having lunch each day. Dinner is of course often missed due to being intoxicated or at best is a doner or a few kebab sticks on Walking Street.

The problem here is that everything revolves around alcohol and sex.

For those that think there is plenty to do here that is right but unfortunately everythign revolves around alcohol and sex.

I pretty sure they will clean the cars out, replace a whole load of stuff and then sell them as new.

I worked int he auto glass industrya nd there were some real idiots working in this industry.

Often I went to panel shops to remove glass from cars that had been damaged in transit. Panels would be repainted, I would put the glass abck in and the car would be sold new.

The problem was if fittig the glass was not done properly and certain primas were not used then the car would rust under the glass.

I went to the Australian visa processing centre some time ago and as I have been married to my Thai wife for a period of over two years and as we have a two year old son I was informed that I dont ahve to apply for a spouse visa but she applies straight for permenent residency.

Has anyone else heard this?

Also can someone tell me the cost of her applying for permenent residency.

Eventually I will relocate back to Australia with my wife and to help her employment options I would us both to learn Japanese.

Can anyone recommend a school in Pattaya that teaches Japanese.

Well I have been living in Thailand for a few years now and initially I didn't even touch a drink.

Back in my home country it was easy. I would occasionally go out for a big one on a Saturday with friends so it never really affected me.

Moved to Pattaya and progressively things have gotten worse.

I still want to drink but I need to be able to do it in moderation. Even to have ten beers at the local two times a week would be ok for me. I would be happy to spend 10,000 a month on booze.

Instead what is happening now is that I would be spending 120,000 plus in bars each month. Being drunk like this also leads me to doing other antisocial behaviour such as spending nights with bar girls, unprotected sex, crashing the motorcycle, and on the odd occasion fighting.

My only saving grace is that I work away so for instance now I'm away for a month and will not touch a drop. But sure as anything on my first night back I will be off may face with a girl under my arm helping me spend my money.

It is realistic to say I ahve spent 1,000,000 million baht on booze and other antisocial activities this year.

It would be nice to bring that figure down to 100,000.

Any ideas?

Well I'm part of the Yamaha Nourvo 'Hello Kitty Pattaya club'

If we see any of you KK Mio or UT Fino guys down here... Well Well .... there is going to be trouble.

I think I saw someone selling biker jackets on Beach Road, just kidding.

In all seriousness there is not much illegal activity for them to get up to here. No one has anything to steal, there is no market for after hour bars, the Thai's seem to well and truly have cards happening, my wife showed me the other day where we could buy a gun with no questions asked, and prostitution seems to already be well sorted.

They may wish to try and extract money from successful businesses but the Thai police seem to be doing a very effective job at that already.

Whether it be any outlaw group they are only really effective in an environment where their are laws to be broken and where law enforcement officers are restricted by rules. We all know that in Thailand there are limited rules and law enforcement officers make things up as they go.

I dont think the average police man is going to be to concerned if a group of Honda Waves or a group of Harley Davidsons come floating down the street. He will glady pull them over and do the usual check, if all is not in order he will collect his usual 200 baht.

On a different topic there was a falang getting round wearing a motorcycle club shirt and after he had one to many Heinikens he would sprout off that he had the connections in getting people knocked off. Anyway he made a habit of threatening young Thai guys, you know the motorcycle taxi crowd.

Last I heard he had made a run for it. Rumor has it the motorcycle taxi guys and the Thai police were both very interested in catching up with him.

Price is not the biggest issue but a consideration.

The Kawa is 280,000 and the Ducati is 399,000 which I assume is wothout taxes, insurance etc. So assume real price might be 420,000 or so.

Like another reader throwing 420,000 is a big swing for a bike I will realistically use 4-5 months a year.

Paying 40% and then a monthly payment would be ok if interest rate was 5-6% or the like.

Has anyone had any dealings with Ducati finance or another company that finances bikes.

My situation is I'm married to a Thai but she does not work, I work offshore so therefore dont have a Thai work permit but can prove employment thorugh bank accounts etc...

Had no problem getting finance for a car but belive that bikes are a different game.

So is the 795 a fair price or would I be better off with the Kawasaki

Any word on the Lifan 400 cc cruiser or the 250 cc dirt bike.

That concept bike looks ok and at 80,000 would sell a heap.

I paid 115,000 for my Honda 250 cc CBR. The Honda is a quality bike so it will be interesting to see what they can put out for 80,000. I'd be disappointed if it was not quality.