flackjacket

Seems as if it is the season to recruit more government officials and where better to put them than the alcholic detection unit. Drinkers of the world unite!!

I had a complete kitchen installed by Modernform, dont know if there is one near you but there are many branches in Thailand. It was not low end of the market, dishwasher, hob, oven, cooker hood and washing machine(that not from Modernform). Installation was quick by Thai standards, a very good quality job and nothing has fallen off the wall in 2 years. They have a free planning system done in a laptop so can show you different choices and layouts. Around August/September look out for their "end of season" sale when they discount to make way for new lines. Haggle as discounts are there to be had. Best of luck.

If you are looking for a good price plus a FF programme that dosent need twice round the world to get a 100km free ticket, then Gulf Air to Uk is not too bad.

New Western management has stopped all the skimming and freebies to our Middle East "friends" FF system gets silver card very quickly, bonus: 38kg baggage allowance, check in at ANY desk, yes even first class desk, use of buisness/first lounge and priority booking which I know works. The only downside is an aircraft change at Bahrain/ usually 2 to 3 hours but they have good new Duty Free shop and a bar. No reconfirmation required.

Emirates is good , also flies to Manchester, still aircraft change at Dubai (best DF shop around) A little more expensive but do have offers.

Hope this is of use to somebody.

We are currently on our third Isuzu, this time a Rodeo 4x4 4 door. Plenty of room for passengers and still space to carry freight in the back. Powerful enough to get one out of trouble but flexable for long distance driving. Have to pay more tax as it is a 4 door but well worth it.

I agree with almost everything onthis subject, however the occasional little party with local food works wonders in many cases. When my house was being built (with 3 sit down crappers) I had a party at the end for the boss and his workers. Now I get workers whenever I need them (except when rice planting). My wife sometimes gives the lady workers old clothes for them or their children-again appreciated and not seen as Rich Farang handouts.

Martin has hit the subject on the head.

Yes one needs to get to know the headman, local police chief and amphur staff, makes life much easier. Also wife,s family have good standing and respect.

BKK, no not for me.

Hi all,

Have finally settled in the Khon Kaen area, can anyone tell me the exact location that the KK expat club meets and when. Perhaps a contact telephone so I can make contact.

Many thanks, JIM

Am trying to contact the expat club in Khon Kaen, tried both E mail addresses , rejected both. Have no telephone number and cannot find the bar in KK. Help please as I am living in the Nongbua Lamphu area.

Well what a welcome back to Thailand after 8 months medical treatment in the real world. I personally feel that the Government has shaken the wrong branch of the tree, the majority of people with very limited funds are backpackers and the likes, not forgetting the drop outs. Of course Mr. T does not have to worry about social security for the abandoned wives, unlike other more advanced countries. Still never mind, as long as those in power are still getting their kickbacks then all is OK. Some foreigners have invested all their cash in building a good home for themselves and their wives to retire in. Funny the PM does not comment about all that cash that has flowed in to Thailand over the years. Well I suppose that we will just have to sit back and wait for the next extortionate bombshell.

Hi there,

I hope, subject to medical clearance to be back in the Nongbua Lamphu area by mid April, wife returning next week. Actually will be in Non Sang. Hope to make contact with Khon Kaen expats then. All the best , Flackjacket.

Ko Samui airport was constructed and paid for by Bangkok Airways, this has to be re couped in the cost of the ticket. They are not heavily subsadised as is Thai Inter.

Interesting to note that Bangkok Airways in 2002, was among the top 5% of WORLD airlines to acheive at least 95% slot times( to say they got 95% of their flights away within 5 minutes of advertised times. Some failures were due to delaying to allow late passengers to make the flighte ( Easy Jet take note) I do not represent the airline although I have been involved with aviation for 45 years, they have always given me first class service. Will Thai Inter give you the same service!! Where are they giong to build the new airport and who will get the kick backs. Maybe a Telecom exec.

Well, Well, Well, It looks as if the year 2004 is to be the year of more extortion !!

Has it not yet sunk into their thick skulls that the golden goose can only have its neck wrung so many times. If this were to get coverage in the World Media, Thailand would be the biggest laughing stock. As to LOS being a 1st world country soon , not in this milennium.

Stuck in "The Real World" having medical treatment, it is not comforting to have the nagging thought in the back of ones mind that one might not be allowed to retire to the house built in LOS (all money to Thailand) unless one can cough up X million baht.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

Hi Steve,

I have a house in Non Sang, about 40km from Nongbua Lamphu and on the edge of the Ubol Ratana dam. Am currently in Uk undergoing medical treatment but hope to be ok to travel to LOS in March /April. Am taking early retirement to watch the sun go down over the dam looking through the bottom of Carlsberg bottles.

Fraid not a bike owner just a 4x4.

Keep intouch all you Esarn expats. Jim S.

Having left the desert sands(not before time) and in UK for a temporary medical visit, I am amazed re the spiraling visa costs (I should not be) and all the poorly disguised efforts to extort money from farangs. No where is it more evident that the Thai Govetrnment only cares about rich visitors and to ###### with the peasants. Will they never learn that more often than not the "rich" visitors are the most crooked, how else did they become rich. Legally rich people do not holiday in Thailand, they have islands in the Carribian, villas in the South of France or other exotic resorts.

Yes the folk who have supported Thailand over many years with no criminal record are yet again the whipping boys. Had I not spent a considerable part of my savings on an up market house in Isaarn , then I would be seriously looking at other retirement areas. Can no one knock some sense into the government or are they still trying to overfill their bank accounts.

I have been off the web for a while due to a move from the land of hook nosed gentlemen wearing skirts to a cooler much more expensive land.

I have read the threads here and feel it has all got out of hand, yes, some contributors feel that because  a Farang with moderate income wishes to live with his Thai family then he must be a failure.

In that case I will be one of those "beggers" due to the fact that I have spent a big chunk of my capital building a worthwhile house in Thailand for my family to live in, paid for my step sons education and now to cap it all, the Thai Government wants to make my OFFICIAL contribution to living in Thailand astronomical. Dont take into consideration that I provided a Thai work force of builders etc with 8 months employment, bought all the materials in Thailand and will be spending all my pension in Thailand.

Of courser the Govennment does not worry about abandoned Thai familys, why should they as long as they can run their BMW's.

Lets get back to the original point, the constant upward trend of all visas and associated documentation can only point to the fact that now Thailand has cleared their IMF loan they do not want us. But of course the IMW will step in again if needed, they have short memories and it does not affect them.

Even Tony Blair and his team of clowns are more astute than their Thai counterparts, but dont make the mistake of thinking the they or the British Embassy will help or support you, no way.

They have their own problems except the immigrants to Uk have no cash and a minimum of 20 "dependants" Try stepping off the aircraft at DM airport and saying I want political asylum and see the reaction. Political correctness does not exist in Thailand.

Lets wair until the BIG conference is over and see what transpires.

Having read the comments on this thread it would appear that some people are getting away from basic facts. Yes some Muslim clerics do teach hatered of non Muslims and not only to children either. In Saudi Arabia 200  clerics have been banned for preaching just this from the mosques. In many Islamic publications that are readily available, there is mention of World domination by Muslims and that it is the duty of a muslim in a non muslim land to overthrow the legal government and install a muslim government. These booklets may not be the "official" muslim line but they are readily available printed in English for all to read.

These terrorists are not just after Americans to do with Iraq or Afghanistan, if so why Bali, Jakarta etc. Remember what was said 6 months ago when a terrorist plot was exposed in Singapore, these fanatics wanted to make Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia all part of a Muslim connerbation under Shariah law. Try living in one of the less tolerant Muslim

countries in the Middle East under Shariah law and then tell us all about how great the "faith' is.

Old people bring plenty money!

Saxaphone bar , Sky Train Victory Monument can have some good nights, changes from night to night, Thai Western rock even some Japanese folk. OK to take g/f, I take my wife and no problems. Have a beer for me I am in a DRY country!!

I do not suggest that things are left the way they are, far from it I agree that it needs cleaning up but how about starting with the big fish, those who run the vast massage parlours that are 95% supported by Thais, this is where the AIDS are spread not the girlie bars, most sensible tourists wear condoms, they are not influnced by the "Its not macho to use a condom" image. It always seems that the Thai Government try to hit or clean up the Foreign trade first, the bulk of the problem is like an iceburg, under the surface.

To be deadly serious (if I can) , it could work, it did in Singapore at the end of the 60s. I was there and saw it all. It was not popular, bars of shady nature closed, no juke boxes, no long hair. DEATH for any drug offences no matter how small.

Tourism is still big in Singapore today, industry is strong especially in aviation, the island is really CLEAN and it is safe to walk the streets at night. A far cry from the 60s, but it did take draconian measures. Just a side thought, Singapore was an ex British colony, it does not seem to have held them back!! Mind you Lee Kwan Yew was a very special person.

Even managed to wipe out most of the corruption. Sadly I will not live to see that day in Thailand.

In reply to Buasaard, peoplle are not saying that Thailand cannot survive without the tourist sex trade, if you can read between the lines you will see that the tourist sex trade( even apart from the "sex shows" does bring in a sizeable income, like it or not. Even if prostitution was brought in by nthe Chinese for the Chinese, it certainly is not the sole perogative of the Chinese. Hard line prostitution ie. that massivly flourishing in massage parlours, is almost totally supported by Thai men. It has BECOME a Thai way of life.

Please do not tell me that "Second Wives" are not flourishing still, because they are and have been flourishing from the very top for a very long time.

An adage some members if the Government should pay heed to is "Those in glass houses should not throw stones".

I too am a foreigner with a Thai wife of long standing but I am not so nieve as to believe that the so called "Low Life" tourists do not contribute a large amount of capital for Thailand. As for the statistics on Thai hotels, look outside Bangkok to the seaside resorts alone and see just how many Thais earn a living  in the hotel industry, if you take maybe an hour or so you will see a considerable number of Thais in the big hotels alone. Re prostitution, please do not preach about a profession that has been alive and thriving for well over 300 years in the LOS. Corruption means turning a blind eye to all the Thai men both High and Low life who frequent "massage parlours", Ah that is different as it is Thai culture. Now Farangs, well that is real LOW LIFE and must be stamped out. I seem to remember that it was not very many weeks ago that the Thai Government were on their knees for foreigners to come and stay in their overpriced hotels (many priced in US$). Many in the Government have ther heads in the sand, or "other places" remember, We do not have a terrorist threat problem> now we have a quickly cobbled together anti terrorist bill on the books, probably to appease Willy Bush who is due at the APEC conference  or even KGB Putin!!

While one may dispise and berate bar girls, many of them use the cash to support elderly parents, not to buy mobile phones. Remember Thailand has NO social security benifits to fall back on in hard times. Before you criticise Thailand, try looking at the Philappines, Angles City to name one area, see the sleezy strip joints and bars there. Sorry to go on but I do get fed up with people on the web who pontifcate on matters beyond their control, which will remain so as long as corruption rules Thailand.

Yet another late attempt to improve the Thai image(300 years too late) They are only fooling themselves, prostitution was rife in Thailand long before Farangs came. New world order, we only want RICH tourists who are too old to enjoy carnal delights, maybe they will have to put wheelchair ramps to the bars for the oldies. They certainly cannot do it for the Thai disabled.;

Sorry but all the flights I have had with Thai Inter have been good experiences but then i am a white foreigner!!

In the past, flying Muscat-Karachi-BKK many times, I had great sympathy for the Thai staff dealing with the rude unwashed hordes that got on in Pakistan, who object to taking instructions from a mere female.

My trips to UK have always been good and my wife (light brown Thai) has to my knowledge always been treated well.

If you are not happy, DONT fly Thai, try BA, Contintntal, Kuwait, Air India, P.A.F, its horses for courses.

Well that is what we expected. The IMF loan is "paid off" so the foreign help is no longer needed. Thailand's economy is capable of sustaining itself now along with all the corruption,

(at least until the next time)!!! Rest in peace the Golden Goose. Lets wait and see what the TRUE tourist figures are for the rest of 2003, that is if we can ever get the truth.

On a sad note, todays tragic terrorist attack in Jakarta should wake the Thai Government from its complacent sleep so that they see that tourists may well still avoid Thailand. In many peoples view Thailand is not far from INDONESIA.

Excellent infomation Scouser, it should not need repeating but go to the British Embassy dressed at least "smart casual" as they are still of the Old School. Tank tops, hairy armpits,shorts and a smell of stale beer are a dead killer. In a similar vein, the lady would be best in a dress, skirt and top or smart trousers and top. First appearances do count.

Back in 1997 I put in a co sponsors letter from my old company M.D. and a reference from my then girlfriends ex employer only to be told they were false. When challenged, especially re the Thai reference whose office was only 3 km away, we were told "We do not have the resources to follow these up" (so why supply them in the first place) My ex M.D. made a complaint to the F & C Office in London and after a face to face discussion with the Head of Dept it was grudgingly said "We will look on this more favourably next time"

To be fair, since then the application and granting of a visa has been quick and smooth, especially once we were married(UK marriage certificate). It seems to depend on who does the interview and a polite posative approach does help. Remember calling them all the shits under the sun will not help your next application!!!

Just what I said in another thread, RICH farangs wanted, when money gone, bye bye. After all these years I still cannot understand the stupidity of the successive governments, perhaps it is a death wish.