Bicko

I live in the north east and installed a satellite dish at my house sometime ago. I have been using CSLoxinfo but their prices are way over the top and I need to change.

I work in Aceh and get home every 3 months for a couple of weeks R & R and this time came home to a bill for Bt9,600 for the 3 months-b****s. They normally disconnect for me when i am out of the country but refused this time.

Can any one recommend a better satellite provider.

I would also like to find a better satellite TV provider. The company that I have gives me about 3 English speaking channels and the rest in Chinese and no movie channels.

Any help would be much appreciated.

I plan to drive from Buri Ram to Chiang Rai in the next few days. Does anyone have any word on the the road conditions. Have the floods affected the roads?

I live in a small village near Lam Plai Mat, about 35 kms from Buri Ram. About 9 months ago I installed a satellite dish and internet service from CSLoxinfo in Buri Ram. The service is pretty good and reasonably fast and I am quite happy with that aspect of my purchase.

The cost appears to be very high-Bt3,200 per month.

I am an Humanitarian Aid worker in Aceh and only get home for a couple of weeks every 3 months so I normally ask them to disconnect when i go away and reconnect when i come home. This time they did not do that and i have a bill for Bt9,600 to pay for the time that I was away and the service was not used.

Can anyone recommend a reliable and cheaper alternative please.

Also who is the best company to deal with for satellite TV. I have spent a lot of money installing a system that does not give me any movie channels and the sport is in Chinese so I am restricted to watching BBC and ABC Asia Pacific- both good channels but want to watch some sport etc.

Thanks,

Bicko

3 year multiple entry visas to be introduced

He said the new visa is part of a goverment attempt to attract foreign investors to

operate businesses or work in Thailand. The current multiple- entry business visa is valid for one year and cost the equivalent of 5,000 baht.

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how come i got 23 months non-immigrant business visa when i applied for the first time??....

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Someone made a mistake.

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Definately a typo!!! its a mistake that rarely happens... usually its always a mistake against, and never in favour...

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gr8 news...i feel like the elite few then(coming from a country where demand for ppl coming to thailand is much higher than the alloted quota)

anyways the 23 months r finished now and have got a new visa for a year(one year + 15 days) now...

the point was taken up at a business forum some time ago that the maximum for business visa be increased to 5 yrs from a year....that time i thought the guy speaking didnt know his $h!7.....

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Hey folks count your blessings. My Thai wife and I work In Aceh and we have to leave indonesia every 30 days. Costs a return air ticket Meulaboh to Medan then to Singapore, KL or BKK then US$25 for a visa on arrival. Her visa is free but single entry max 30 days.

By the way Mattnick I thought that the AO visa needs 800k in the kitty. Do you know something that I don't.

Cheers

The local temple has a home made lawn mower consisting of i think,a mototcycle engine balanced on a large pair of wheels with what looks like an old boat propeller underneath.

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Thanks for your comments fellow Farangs. I work in Aceh so do not get much time to look at this site but I appreciate your comment and recommednations. My (Thai) wife is with me in Aceh so I guess she is also a farang in Indonesia.

Cheers,

Bicko

Bicko, I dont think youre crazy, but Im sure some of your neighbors will. I bought one of those Briggs and Stratten mowers that you get in the US for $99. It cost $250 in Khon Kaen!

The first time I used it, I started around the house, on the second trip around, I noticed the old man next door woke up to see what I was doing. Then on each trip around, it seemed another person was standing there to see the crazy farang pushing the machine in the 100 degree heat!

I mow almost 3 rai! It really looks nice and now all of my neighbors have lawns. They noticed how nice it looks and its not muddy in the rain or dusty in the dry season. Once some people were visiting our neighbors and asked if our house was a goverment building because of the lawn and the landscaping.

Now if I could just get them to pick up the trash along the road like I do...

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Yep interesting point tatom. I get plenty of advice about gardening from across the fence but it's a different story when it comes to doing anything. Fortunately my wife is a hard worker and she loves the garden as much as I do so we keep things in shape.

The lawn mower exercise will create some interest in our street I'm sure.

Thanks guys-good info. Yes Jai dee I enjoy my garden . I have about 60m2 of good quality lawn, a good vegetable patch which supplies our needs and some good palms, trees, border plants etc. i have my own bore and pump so no water problems during the dry.

Cheers and thanks. Heading back to work in Aceh this week but will keep you both posted.

No, I do not think you are crazy.  Mind you others may think that we are.  I too have what I consider to be a 'nice' lawn and I bought a lawn mower in Surin but a couple of months ago. It's a 40 cm rotary mower with a Briggs and Stratton 4-stroke engine.  It also has it's own grass collection box which fits to the rear.  I am very pleased with the machine and the cost - 12,000 Baht.  The propulsion is hand-powered.

The shop is located on the second street that runs parallel to the railway line, on the left-hand side, about halfway along the soi, as you come from the Railway Station to the Bus Station.  Hope this helps or send me a private message for more details.

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Well you'll probably all think I am crazy-tell me to go buy a buffalo or get the missus on the job etc but seriously i have a nice lawn at my house and want to know where I can buy a decent motorised lawn mower in Buri ram or in the area. Since the rain started i can not keep up with it.

Any one got some info for me?

Cheers mate. Yes I think we should start a new topic. Any suggestions seeing as you are an old hand at this forum business.

Thanks for the welcome. I have been watching forum for a long time but only registered recently when I installed my Vsat dish and established reliable fast email comms at my house.

Yes i am an Aussie-how did you guess!!!

The Chinese guy is not trying to sell me anything but seems quite happy to give me advice.

I was in bangkok last week renewing my Indonesian visa and my wife spoke with him and will meet him this week to discuss land costs, establishment costs, maintenance, harvesting etc. If this works and there is the possibility of making enough to support her after I've gone, we will build a small house on the place and her son and his wife will manage the place. But it's early days and I guess there are other opportunites to investigate also. As I said earlier maybe this Chinese bloke is dreaming.

I am working in Meulaboh in Northerm Sumatra and the tsunami has destroyed much of the rubber plantations here. The trees are very old and up to 50 cms in diameter and they have been torn out of the ground. They will have to be removed and replanting done. I will look at making this one of my projects for this region so will be doing a lot of research. Of course the major difference here is that the rainfall is much higher and over a longer peiod than Buri Ram.

Is there an expat club in Buri Ram and where is this fabled shop that sells pies, imported beer and other goodies. When I am home we go a couple of times a week to the shopping centre on the left going into town on the way in from Lam Plai Mat.

Cheers,

Bicko

My wife and I live near Lam Plai Mat in Buri ram. We have built a very nice house on about an acre of land which we (she) is currently landscaping. I am a Humanitarian aid worker and have just been transferred from Afghanistan to the tsunami affected areas in Aceh building new clinics, schools, houses etc. I get home for a few days every 6 weeks but plan to call it quits probably at the end of this year. I want to get stuck into some sort of project when I finish and rubber appeared to be one idea to follow up

There are lots of new rubber plantations around our village and land costs have escalated a good deal in the past 12 months, for this reason. I recently met a Chinese guy who has extensive rubber plantings and a processing factory just north of Buri Ram.

He tells me that a well managed rubber plantation will clear 7 to 10,000 Bt per rai per month after taxes and labour etc.

Based on what a lot of you have written here that could well be so much BS but next time I am home i will meet with this bloke and really check it out. We do have good water at about 16 metres and a small electric pump provides all that we need for the house and the gardn. A trickle irrigation system would work Ok for rubber and would certainly improve the yield.

I am an Engineer but also have a diploma in Horticulture so will check it out and keep you all informed through this forum. Good luck with your decisions

See mickmac's recommendation above.

I bought a new Vigo from Andy at Expat motors in January. His service is excellent and it's worth talking to him. I ordered mine from Afghanistan and took delivery in bangkok. Not a single problem and received the car with all extras, registered, insurance , the works. He tells me that he specialises in exporting new cars to UK.

Yes Dr. John mine is the 4wd -we should remember that these are designed as a working truck and have heavy springs. My wife has a rice farm and I recently carried several bags of rice in the car and it made a world of difference. Farmers in Australia always keep some weight in their pickups to keep the back end from bouncing around too much.

I am a humanitarian aid engineer-have just completed 2 years in Afghanistan and have been posted to Meulaboh on west coast of Sumatra to rebuild houses, roads, hospitals, schools etc etc. We use 6 or 8 cylinder Toyota land cruisers in this work. It will be interesting to make the comparison with this new Vigo.

Driving to BKK today and off tomorrow.

Cheers,

Bicko

I have a new 4 door Vigo which was delivered with tyres at 40 psi. I nearly lost it when back end skipped out when i hit a bump on the highway near Buri Ram at about 100k's.

From that experience it is obviously very dangerous to drive with pressure too high-fortunately I am very experienced 4wd driver and was able to get it back onto the road but frightened the daylights out of me.

The tyres have an inscription stating that maximum pressure is 44 psi but the recommendation on the door pillar is 29 psi or 2.2 bar.

Enjoy your Vigo. They are a great car.

Cheers,

Bicko

We bought a new 4 door Vigo (Turbo and Intercooler) with Carryboy canopy last month. I have always driven 6 or 8 cylinder cars so was a bit apprehensive about a small motor but the thing is brilliant and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Cheap to run, plenty of power, fast and comfortable.

I live in Buri Ram but bought mine through an English bloke in Bangkok. Andy was absolutely brilliant and did everything. i work in Afghanistan and am only home for 2 weeks every 8 weeks so ordered it by email.

The bloke is a genius-did everything including insurance, registration, fitting of extras and so on. Called me when it was ready and picked it up same day. Andy's address is [email protected] Get him to send his website address. It's worth looking at.

I thoroughly recommend Vigo to anyone even my outback mates in Australia who won't consider anything less than a Landcruiser.

Cheers,

Bicko

Good comments. I guess i put my comments in the wrong place but see the end of page 2 under the Construction photos topic from Bicko. This may be of help to someone.

My wife owns quite a lot of land left by her Father in our village so had no land costs.

I agree with the comment-where else in the world could you build a decent house for a month or two salary. We don't have any family hassles-Mama and Papa both dead and family know that they are welcome to visit but apart from the living room the house is out of bounds.

I am quite happy for my wife to have our house and all that's in it when I go so not at all worried about ownership.

I have only recently had the time to join forum, although i have been living in Thailand, between work overseas, for many years but think it's a great opportunity to share with others.

Get a bit p***** off with some of the negative types and their cynical comments about life and living in Thailand but guess that's their choice. Life is what you make of it.

I am a very experienced humanitarian aid engineer and have been posted to Meulaboh in Aceh. Leaving to morrow but hope I can pick up this website there.

I have my own satellite internet here and it works well. Fast, reliable and not too expensive .

Cheers,

Bicko

Nice going Leith. I am a humitarian aid worker and have been working in Afghanistan the last couple of years. R & R for 2 weeks every 8 weeks so my wife contracted out and supervised construction of our place, herself. I was not here to help her other than on the design of the place.

She's a pretty smart chick-asked for a complete price with labour component separate then let the contract for labour only. She purchased everything at our local building supply warehouse and had it delivered as work progressed.

So we have a very beautiful new house-3 bedrooms-main with ensuite bathroom, huge living area, kitchen, laundry, second bathroom, storeroom and verandah on 3 sides which includes carport. Tiled throughout.

Complete price including built in furniture, curtains, beds, bedding, cooking stuff, electrical goods, sat TV and sat internet, water bore and pump, driveway and fences all round for less than Bt1,000,000.

Excellent tradesmen and only 4 months to build. The labour only build idea is a great incentive for them to move as they only had 2 payments-1/3 to start and the rest at completion. This was my wife's idea and it certainly worked.

We live in Lam Plai Mat in Buri Ram.

Hope this info may be of assistance to someone,

Cheers,

Bicko