market trader

I have a cheap Thai GPS in my car and it gives me a warning when approaching a camera. The first time I heard the loud screeching noise I didn't know what it was. The my wife looked at the GPS and in flashing red lights ..camera..Since then I am sure it has saved me a few bahts.

"The men were first brought back home by a younger son in 2004, Dan Tri online newspaper reported Friday quoting local authorities, but they could not adapt to living in the village and returned to their forest home."

So this story is 9 years late then. Who knows how long the younger son had been visiting the two men before he brought them back? Perhaps their whereabouts was known for many years before 2004.

The 40km trek for firewood sounds a bit dubious to me.

perhaps it was there only way to get media attention for them,thus helping the old fella,...maybe....i feel a hollywood film in the offing.mmmm maybe not hollywood,....

How about Bollywood then. They could incorporate a lot of jungle dancing into it.

OP forgot to tell us how many masters degrees she has. And her possition in one of the top companies in the land.

We know she is in the top 1% of the best looking women. Not same has mine bottom 1%. No masters still never mind she is a good cook

He also neglected to tell us how much the dowry was to her rich parents. If the Op is not rich and successful like his wife's parents he will never be truly accepted by them.

Interesting to see the sky diver walked (or more likely wheeled) out of hospital. Luckiest guy alive. He now needs to do everything he can to pay his bills!

And wallabies will grow wings.

Some hope.

In NZ everybody from anywhere is covered ny 'no fault' accident insurance.

Would falling from the 9th floor of a building be considered an accident?

Mulching lawn mowers should be arriving in Thailand in about 10 years. The country is about 25 years behind the modern world and mulching mowers have been available there for at least 15 years.

The OP should know the old but true saying. The way to make a small fortune in farming is to start with a large one.

I would suggest you look at the farming forum. I was just reading a topic about chickens on that forum today. Maybe the mods could move this thread to the farming forum.

I think she's a bit low actually. Do you have any idea of the costs involved if you get into a major traffic accident? Or, what if you have a heart attack or a stroke? Any idea? I have an idea based on personal experience (accident) and my friend's experience who had a heart attack on an airplane at Suvarnibhumi while waiting to take off on the runway.

If you are not prepared or if you don't have insurance, you could be in for a surprise.

Yes, I understand NancyL. I was talking more about people in their 30's-50's. I realize it is a different situation for people who are older.

If you have personal experience of yourself and a friend, why not give us a rough idea of how much it cost for each incident.

When I got married several years ago, the Thai embassy in my home country suggested that the marriage take place in Bangkok. Because if any unusual requests are made by the Thai government it is much quicker to handle in Bangkok. The embassy was right there were a couple of things that I was not expecting. As on the Dark side says a formerly married person needs to bring divorce papers and take them to their embassy and have them notarized. Then of course all documents must be officially translated into Thai. Then everything must be certified by the Thai government before the marriage can take place.

The next craze in Thailand for health tourism. Crude oil massages.

12 months ago we bought a 12kg Samsung top load machine at Tesco. Cost a few bahts under 10,000. Machine was delivered within 5 minutes of our arrival back home.

My wife and I both use Naproxen, lots of it, for years. It is available here at almost any pharmacy. However, it's not cheap. Naproxen is the same as ALEVE. We get it from the states as we stock up when we visit or friends come to visit us. Look up Naproxen Sodium at the Walmart website. You can buy a 200 or 220 count (possibly 300 count) for around $12-$14. The brand name ALEVE cost a bit more, but exactly the same ingredients.

I buy Naproxen 500mg tablets in CM, I dont haggle about the listed price which is 50 baht for 10 tablets, 150 baht for a month supply. This is cheaper than a subsidised "age pension script" in Oz. I am happy.

I would be very interested to know where you buy Naproxen 500 mg. for 50 bahts for 10 tablets. All the pharmacies I go to sell me 275 mg and charge 150 bahts for 10 tablets.

I would recommend that you Google real estate agents, Chiang Mai Thailand. You will find that most if not all of the agents shown have a section on the web site for rentals as well as sales. You will be able to see pictures of the properties, rental rates and approximate locations.

Welcome to Thailand...The hub of safe retirement in this part of the world.

U are right,this doesnt happens anywhere but Thailand,or we could actualy say Pattaya.

You forgot to add Phuket

I renewed mine a year ago.

Passport (with a current visa), expired licence, proof of address (I used my yellow house book).

Watch the video, take the reaction and colour tests.

I renewed my one year to a 5 year 3 weeks ago. Did NOT have to watch video or take reaction and colour blindness tests. Was told to just go and pay. Yet my wife renewed hers 2 weeks earlier than me. She had to do the brake reaction and colour blindness test. Plus they made her do the driving test. So either different day different requirement. Or different strokes for different folks.

OK a plate size pizza I could probably eat 3 or 4, but that's it. Darn! Well maybe I'll go enjoy a normal pizza for the sake of eating when I'm back in CM how is the pizza here? Italian, American style or UK style?

Don't know what style it is but the best by far to date is Dukes.

^ "Someone over 70 years old is going to...'have to think about medical insurance long before they turn 70; the latest is all confirmation medicals and insurance issued before someone actually turns 65.

This topic has been gone over time and time again and those over 65 w/o coverage were probably trying to outwit the odds; thus, little to no empathy. So sad

As far as i know you have to sign up with BUPA before age 60 to be able to have health care insurance after 65.

Correct. Once you are in before 60 you are in for life if you keep the payments unbroken.

It appears if most posters have not had serious dealings with insurance companies. As Tywais says get in before age 60 and you are in for life. But once you come down with a serious illness like cancer or heart failure watch your insurance company do a 360 on your annual fees. In my case back in 2008 the insurance company I used in Canada for health insurance while out of the country for 6 months a year charged me $270 annual premium with a $500 deductible. Canada has free health care for residents. So if I became sick while out of the country the insurance company would be able to make a claim on the government and receive a portion of what they had to pay back. In 2009 I was diagnosed and treated for cancer in Canada so did not leave the country that year. In 2010 I was well enough to travel again so I called the insurance company for a quote on 6 months a year out of the country. On the questionnaire I was honest and told them about the cancer diagnosis in 2009. (Never lie to the insurance company about previous health problems because if you do they will not pay for even the most simple problem) Now the premium instead of being $270 annual became $7,831.

Now you have to weigh the odds. The most expensive part of health care in Thailand is being diagnosed with cancer and having to pay for the chemotherapy drugs. But 99% of the time a cancer diagnosis would give me enough time to book a flight and return to Canada for treatment.

Heart attack in Thailand with say 7 - 10 days in hospital and in a private room not really that expensive.

2 months ago while at Chiang Mai Ram my wife and I met a nice lady from Mae Tang who owned an elephant camp. She had very serious heart problems and had been an in patient at the Ram for 1 year and during that time had a heart operation with the surgeon being flown up from Bangkok to do the operation. She said that her total bill to date was a little over 2 million bahts. For one year in hospital I consider that cheap. In the USA 2 million bahts would give you no more than 2 or 3 days.

So back in 2010 my wife and I had to sit down and seriously consider if we should pay the $7831 or self insure.

The first question we had to answer was how much could we self insure for.

After taking everything into consideration and bearing in mind that if I became ill in Thailand and made a claim on the insurance company that next years annual premium could very well be $20,000 or more. We decided to self insure.

If you don't know what grits are you probably have been around the largest free world server of grits. It has been proven by the American Indian FDA that grits make you smart and increase your libido. If you need to increase your sexaul drive and intelligence you need to eat grits every day. No need to wait. Now is the time to get on board. Have you ever seen more stronger looking people than American Indians. Euroids and the people from those small british islands are slow about catching on to great traditional American Indian foods. If you can eat haggis you have a good stomach and grits would go down good.

Sorry but today American and Canadian Indians are just like the rest of the population. Fat 300 pounders. Pretty difficult to have any sexual drive when you weigh that much. As a Canadian I find that grits are just like cream of wheat. The only difference being that we put milk on cream of wheat and not butter and pepper.

Recently a friend introduced me to Macro Hang Dong. I found the selection of imported foods and prices better than Rim Ping. There was also good service. Rim Ping is not the only game in town.

Totally agree with you Don on Hang Dong Makro being [almost] on par with Rimping and at a fraction of RP's prices. Expanding import food section, fresh vegetables, seafood, meat and larger frozen food selection. My main worry is that now that CP has taken over majority ownership that they will only supply CP corporate meats.

10+ years ago we used to give Rimping 90% of our shopping and now it's the HD Makro that gets it.

Come on get real here. We shop weekly at both Makro and Rimping. There is no way that the selection of imported goods is greater at Makro. 0ne year ago my wife wanted to know how much more we would save by shopping at Makro as compared to Rimping. Everything she wanted to buy was entered into her tablet. We bought most of the things she wanted at Makro. Then we went to Rimping for the balance. she entered all the prices of both stores for what she bought. At the end we had spent a total of 2937 bahts at both stores. Makro came out cheaper by a whopping 71 bahts.

In my opinion the quality of fresh produce and meat is much better at Rimping. I challenge all of you to do price comparisons. You will be shocked by how little the difference is in the total bill.

yes but just consider how much the poor buggers in America have to pay

Compared to Europe, crowns made of metal are offered much less frequently in the U.S. When metals are employed, more expensive materials such as titanium are usually used. Consequently, metal crowns made in the United States are only slightly cheaper than ceramic or metal-ceramic solutions. Cheap metal crowns are rare and start at US$600; most cost between US$800 US$1,000.

Ceramic crowns are the most recommended crown material in the United States and are used more than any other option. They cost slightly more than metal crowns, ranging on average between US$900 US$1,300 USD. In special cases, a crown may cost up to 1,700 USD.

And I just want to add i reckon it represents value for money because I consider the dentists in Thailand have a much better appreciation regarding aesthetics and colour than the average dentist in the West.

Thats why Americans go to Mexico for dental work. So much cheaper than the USA and have a vacation at the same time.

The article goes on to say:

'Mr. Anurak claimed he did not notice the bridge in front of him, which was only 2.8 metres high above ground, as he was focusing with the leading car. Moments later, his tour bus, height 3.3 metres, crashed squarely into the bridge.'[/size]

'

I'm sure we all at one time or another found ourselves following another car through an unfamiliar darkness. The driver's story does make sense as one tends to become completely focused on following the leading vehicle. Add to this an old/faded/covered/non-existent sign indicating the height of the bridge and the disaster is complete. Of course, the driver lost major points when he ran away.

But based on the facts from the article i will speak up in defence of the driver as there clearly were other factors beyond the driver's control that made significant contributions to this unfortunate outcome.

Sorry but in my opinion you are completely wrong. For 8 years in Canada and the USA I owned and drove a motor home that was 45' long and 8 1/2' high. Believe me I made a point of knowing my route wherever I went. There was never a question on if I would meet an overpass below my height. The important thing in Thailand is Bahts for the owner and lots of them. Other than that who cares.

In all honestly this country bewilders me more often than not. Train accidents. In the last 2 or 3 years Bangkok to Chiang Mai 3 derailments that I know of. Plus how many killed at railway crossings. Bus accidents a common occurrence. I ask myself why. Is It because the railway and bus companies overpay the employees and cannot make a profit. So they have to operate with inferior equipment. Obviously the answer to that is no. Maybe the equipment is inferior. But its not because they lack paying clients. Greed on the part of employers and complete lack of respect for the client. I will always remember back in 2006 when taking the train from Phitsanulok to Chaing Mai. At that time I was a smoker and had to go between cars to smoke. On this particular day between cars was the engine and a railway car. The engine was party central for the train employees. Hang Thong and Johnny walker red galore. I am sure that by the time we reached Chiang Mai every employee was 3 sheets to the wind.

Never invest more in Thailand that your not willing to walk away from!

I can't understand why you post only a emoticon and say nothing.

To build your post totals ? Waste of broadband maybe.

Good point.

And for us Lucky Canadian the visa fee is 42 USD.

I Wonder what Canada did to Laos in the past to get the higher visa price ?

Surely you know that it is always more expensive for Canadians everywhere. Even in Canada. If Walmart for example sells a product for $10.00 in the U.S. it becomes $15.00 in Canada. Its not duty either that increases the price as its basically free trade between the two countries. Not foreign exchange either as the two currencies trade very close to each other these days. Its just the pleasure of being from the frozen north.

a school bus

A converted lorry?

No. A high class school bus for Thailand.