speleo

I would like to contact anyone who knew British expat Tony Blick when he lived in Ayutthaya from c.2000 until 2010 when he moved to Si Sa Ket. 

Thanks,

Martin

I would like to contact anyone who knew British expat Tony Blick who lived in Si Sa Ket from 2010 until he passed away earlier this month.

Thanks,

Martin

Where abouts?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1413087393.413602.jpg

Right around there. The Chef goes by Jackie. It usually does a good dinner business and they recently remodeled and completely redid the menu (which is when they added pizza). They also have decent fish & chips, mashed potatoes, and steak.

I donot know about everyone else in this forum but I cannot for the life of me read Thai maps. Could you give us or me a description of where this place is like in directions. Thai maps are just plain frustration to me I get nothing from them. And I am interested in trying this place. Cup Mellow in Lomsak I know is excellent but has moved and is now on the road to Ban Tiu They have the best tasting pizza I have had in thailand.

Please give more discriptive info on how to find this place you are talking about or perhaps a name.

Type 16.4188°N 101.1556°E into Google Maps or Google Earth

I've driven through Nam Nao, Phu Hin Rong Kla, Tat Mok, and Thung Salaeng Luang wihtout ever seeing an elephant. I think it'd be pretty cool assuming you stay safe.

Seen elephants crossing the H12 near the Nam No NP headquarters a couple of times over the years. Last time was February this year.

There are a lot of elephants in Nam Nao - you can usually find evidence of them every time you go for a walk up there.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-02/tour-de-france-organizer-may-hold-1-day-race-in-thailand.html

Now that is a bit more realistic.

How could TAT confuse a one day race with holding stages of the TdF?

Cardiff Consulate - yesterday (27 August)

Multi entry Non-imm O on grounds of marriage to Thai national. Age under 50.

Form, one photo, copy of wife's passport and marriage certificate (with translation) and 125 quid.

Left with visa 15 minutes after arriving.

The Mouth Club building has new owners and is being converted to a motorbike shop and a 'pork restaurant', which I assume means yet another Korean barbeque place.

Hi

As already suggested Tham Chiang Dao, Tham Muang On and Tham Tab Tao (take your own light).

For more sporting caves try Tham Pha Daeng (near Ban Tham Klaeb on the road to Fang) and Tham Tukatan (in the hills above the H1269 to Samoeng).

All are in Chiang Mai and within a couple of hours drive of the city.

Guidebook to Chiang Mai caves

Maps of Chiang Mai caves

I think you can get a visa-on-arrival on the Laos side (I've only gone he other way) but you should check with the Lao govt website or the GT-Rider forum to confirm.

This thread says that Lao visa-on-arrival was available at the Huai Kon border crossing in October 2010.

It is a 2½ to 3 hr drive from Nan town to the border crossing. It was a very, very quiet border crossing when I visited the Thai side in August 2010. No sign of any secure car parking.

Hull's previously very quick service seems to have slowed down.

My recent experience for a Non-imm O Multi was:-

Thu 15 Sept - post application

Fri 16 Sept - visa fee debited from card

Wed 21 Sept - date of visa

Thu 22 Sept - e-mailed asking where my passport was as it was taking a lot longer than previous years and I was concerned the Post Office had lost the passport. No reply to the e-mail.

Fri 23 Sept - passport and visa received.

Date of travel was 11 October so still received passport in plenty of time, but was concerned as in previous years I've had the passport back in 3 working days.

...in the 1970,thais gatherd at khoa kor against corrupt government. acivil war lasted for awhile. a lot of thais died and to this day thais like to go there to remember. when the war finished the king built a palace and overseen the area to restore peace and harmony back to the area. he gave people a house plot and 12 rai to farm to people mainly from petchabun to move to this area. this was thailands only civil war and many farangs who live in thailand have no idea this happened.

A summary: The government forces were fighting against the People's Liberation Army of Thailand, the armed wing of the Communist Party of Thailand, who were supported by the Chinese and Lao Communist Parties. Many mountainous and forested areas through Thailand were controlled by the Communists. After the 1976 Thammasat massacre the Communists were joined by many students. By the early 1980s the Chinese had withdrawn their support so the government forces were gaining a military advantage. Also, the students had had enough of living in the jungle. However, it required an amnesty programme, not a military victory, to stop the insurgency.

The land plots were given by the government to some of the soldiers who had helped defeat the communist forces on Khao Khor and Phu Hin Rong Kla. Many of the soldiers involved in the fighting were technically mercenaries as they were KMT Chinese without Thai citizenship. The soldiers who received the gifts of land weren't locals from Phetchabun.

These land plots do NOT have chanote and were only to be used for farming by the soldier and his heirs. Thus the sale of this land and building of resorts is ILLEGAL.

Sabai Dee Bor

That's Isaan. I can't say that I have heard that greeting used in Phetchabun so it may not be part of their Laos dialect though they would understand it.

Its frequently used in Lom sak which is what 48 kilometers from Phetchabun,same i hear bor pen yang as opposed to mai pen rai,we dont get the nam horn here as opposed to nam ron though.just a few minor observations on the language front,i believe your previous post has already expressed some valid points about the dialect/tradition here in Lom Sak the Laos/Isan connection.

Trying to learn Thai in Lom Sak is like trying to learn English in Aberdeen.

A Lao speaker I know puts Lom Sak at about 50% Lao and the accent seems to be instantly recognised throughout Thailand.

Other Lao words and phrases I have picked up on are 'mur' instead of 'wun' for 'day' and 'sao wao' for 'shut up'

Down in the valley in Lom Sak they don't consider it part of Isaan, but up in the hills at Nam Nao they see themselves as Isaan.

PS dancing shrimps were available at the restaurants beside the reservoir to the west of Phetchabun.

Above 80 Meter Height Zone

The National Ministry regulations state that nothing can be built on land more than 80 meters above sea-level. This law is currently only being applied in certain areas. Most provinces have decided to opt out of this specific regulation, but there is the possibility that it might be applied in the future.

Is that an accurate translation? If it is then it isn't surprising that most provinces have opted out as you wouldn't be able to build in most of central Thailand or anywhere in northern Thailand and Isaan as these areas are all over 80 m above sea level.

Thousands of Loas Hmongs are stranded at Huai Nam Kao in Khao Kor, Petchabun with their cousin Thai Hmongs, after leaving en mass from Tham Krabok, Saraburi and Thai treats them well enough.

These refugees crossed the border into Loei from Laos about 3 years ago - they didn't come from Tham Krabok. The Thai authorities banned the local Hmong from looking after the Lao Hmong, so the refugees ended up in temporary shelters beside the road before moving into a camp. As for the Thai treating them well enough - Medicine Sans Frontiers withdrew from working in the camp citing interference from the Thai authorities, apart from UNHCR no other NGOs are allowed in the camp and the Thai and Lao military are alledged to have forceably repatriated many, including unacccompanied children.

Typically sh*t piece of reporting/translating by a Nation reporter who hasn't a clue what they are writing about.

To get Bt900 billion at today's prices you need 700 tonnes of pure gold, not ore.

The existence of gold ore deposits in Thailand is hardly breaking news!!

As far as I'm aware only a limited number of the 1:50,000 RTSD L7017 maps are available to the public. The areas not covered include the borders, Kanchanaburi & Tak, southern Isaan and just about everywhere south of Chumphon (including Khao Sok NP). Omni Maps have a key map that shows which sheets are available.

Omni Maps don't keep them in stock and sometimes fail to complete an order. East-West Cartographic are very expensive compared to the Thai price.

DK Bookshop in Chiang Mai sell the maps that are available for the northern provinces.

Can't say that I have this all corrrect but this is what I have been told. Two bodies were found in the Sak river. One, a Thai, was found at Lom Sak and the other a farang, out the back of Thaphon (mid way between Lom Sak and Phetchabun). The farang at least had head wounds thought to have been inflicted with a sharp instrument. No identification was found.

Heard last night the westerner lived in Ban Tio, near Lom Sak. Name and nationality was not known.

Hi

I returned Friday evening and went through the "CIP Fast Track" channel (thanks for the upgrade Qatar Airways, the queues at Immigration were horrendous/normal).

The immigration officer stamped me in for the 90 days (Non-Imm O multi visa), but as well as the hand written flight number, visa class and his initial he added "CD" under the stamp.

Any ideas what this is about? I'm neither a diplomat or travelling on a diplomatic passport.

Another quick question: I recently renewed my Non-Imm O with the efficient honorary consulate in the east of England. This time they did not add the "Employment Prohibited" stamp to the visa. I assume this was a mistake by them and I'm still banning from seeking work.

Is there anything I should bring with me I can't get over there?

I've never seen Marmite for sale in Thailand.

Happy to be corrected if anyone knows where it is obtainable outside Bangkok.

Achaan Thongchai explores this, amongst several other themes, in his book Siam Mapped, a must read.

Agreed. Professor Thonchai Winichakul presents another truthful and objective search regarding contemorary Thai historiography. Well received throughout Thai Studies circles and predictablly banned here.......

Siam Mapped banned where? It was reprinted by Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai in 2004 and I got a copy in Asia Books, BKK in 2008.

It isn't often the Missus takes an interest current affairs, but these new regulations, which were reported on the front page of today's Thai Rath, caught her attention. She summed up the regulations in two words: 'mai dai'.

The regulation bans all waitresses from sitting down with the customers which would affect karaoke, naklong and bar beer businesses. She runs a small, unprofitable, karaoke shop in a provincial town; the first reaction was to close the business which would put 10 people out of work. If the regulations are enforced nationally (unlikely I know) tens of thousands of women would be out of work. The government may thus manage to unite the Yellow, Red and Blue Shirts.

Nah - it will just change the business model slightly. Instead of charging for one of the staff to sit and drink and sing with you, the customer will tip one of the female customers (freelancer) who is hanging around for doing the same or a kickback given to the girl for drinks consumed. Girls are no longer staff, so might need encouragement to stay at that particular bar so under table payments instead of a base wage. The only real changes the customer will see is the girls no longer wearing uniforms and maybe having to negotiate rates rather than have flat fees for the bar. It seems worse for the girls though.

Thanks for the hint on a new business model. There are already a couple of freelancers who only get commission from the drinks bought by the customer they are chatting to, just need to put all the other girls on a commission only basis.

The others were men who worked in another asian country. As explained to me, the laws prevented foreign workers from working more than 2 years in that country.

If their employer was satisfied with their work they would be invited back. They would come back to Thailand, change their name, get a new passport then return to their old jobs.

The brother-in-law works in Libya. He once had to come home a few months before the end of his one year visa/contract which meant the Libyians wouldn't issue a new visa. The solution was simple: change name, get new passport, apply for visa and go back to work.

Whilst driving, pointing at a farm animal and saying "kwoi" instead of "kwai". It took 10 minutes for my passengers to recover sufficiently to explain my mistake.

Good thread - I now know what it means when, as usual, I mispronounce 'beautiful'.

Of course, the proper, British, way to cook these prime salmon fillets would have been to dip them in batter and deep fry for 15 mins. However, your shopping list didn't mention the packet of batter mix so had to suggest a much more poncey way of cooking them.

Did you choose the Kiwi shushi method, Brit fry till it's dead technique or the Thai cook until crunchy style? Aloi mai.