rene123

Good luck, David, there have been many good replies, and most of them are valid depending on the circumstances. However, what actually transpires could be anything from A to Z. It could be a marvelous experience or a disaster of monumental proportions. It depends on what you want to risk, and it really depends on your lady.

Earlier this year I drove from Songkhla to Nakhon Phanom - I have a GPS but didn't use it - I find them distracting - and didn't listen to my wife's directions at all because by the time she would have got to the info I needed , we would have passed the road I wanted. This is not because she is stupid or superficial , it is just the way Thai people explain things.

The answer to road navigation in Thailand is planning - I printed out the entire route from Google maps , memorised the road numbers and we got there and back with only one wrong turn in Bangkok on the return journey.

Moral - if you want it done right , do it yourself as there is no help out there that is of any usewhen it comes down to getting from A to B - even the road numbers seem to disappear and change at will on some routes......

I do exactly the same thing before I go anywhere, even in Canada where multiple, unmarked roads can make turns confusing. However, I really value my GPS, and especially in Thailand when I want to find accommodation in some village or city where it's not obvious. I've ALREADY learned not to ask a local Thai and expect to get to where I want to go.

I've learned to love riding my motorbike all over Thailand for the very reasons mentioned in this topic. It is a personal challenge that gives me great satisfaction. On a 900 km ride from Chiang Mai to Kanchanaburi last December I did a lot of prior planning and didn't have any difficulties until passing through Suphan Buri where there was no obvious route, and no signs to highway numbers on my map or GPS. I didn't get too lost, but I had to back track a few kilometers before getting on the right route. My GPS was not much help in that section.

Like MrToad, I expect nothing of Thailand. Most certainly I can see things that would improve the country and simplify life for everyone. But, there is nothing that any farang can do about it, so why bother? Very often the things that would make life better are also the very things that makes Thailand so fascinating. When you can rise to a challenge and overcome it then that alone gives a good portion of satisfaction. It is one of the very reasons why I prefer riding a motorbike in crazy Thai traffic than at home in the nanny state of Canada where everyone has to follow laws just for laws sake. Learning enough Thai to order a simple meal in a small Thai village where nobody speaks English was fun. So was getting fuel or a flat fixed when in Nakhon Nowhere when there was not a station in sight. Even paying a traffic fine for a questionable offence was an interesting adventure.

It all depends on how you view everyday life and what it has in store for you. I take everything as an adventure. If I ever get to a point where I get bored with Thailand then maybe I'll move on to somewhere else, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

At the same place I practised shooting butterflies. It's very, very difficult.

Angiud surely has some special skills .

X2 That is certainly true. I'm always amazed at his photos.

Tidal pools in the rocks are always fascinating... Sea anemones.

I'm going to get that darn bubble!

THERE, I got it!

I'm sorry I was not around for the closing. I'm wishing Pedr and his family all the best in the future.

My only complaint about the camera is where the choice circle button is placed. When you hold the camera with your right hand it is right over the choice button. It is too easy to press the timer button with the palm of your hand.

For me the answer is simple. I am an editor in real life and need to take a break once in a while, but not too far from my computer.

I would not change anything because I already live what is ideal for my lifestyle. I will share my time equally between Canada and Thailand. I love both countries equally, but for different reasons. I believe what I've been advised to never spend more in Thailand than I'm prepared to lose. I've also learned I can happily survive on far less than I was used to. Material possessions are no longer that important to me.

Yup, they can't read a simple map but they can get on a series of the cheapest busses, and travel 20 hours or more, to go from one end of Thailand to another... and get where they wanted to go.

From what I understand, the rainy season hasn't even started yet. But, from what I've see all over the globe is whatever weather you get it seems to happen in extremes. Here in Canada our province of Alberta has suffered from their worst floods in recent history. Meanwhile in south west USA they are having a record heat wave.

I have a Canadian friend who has helped a Thai family for about 10 years and he told me that whatever he gives it is never enough. But he tells me he loves the children that were babies when he first met them, so he puts up with it. However, he also said he sets a limit on the money he gives and seldom goes over that amount. He just calls it charity and doesn't care how much the woman moans for more. Fortunately, he is not personally involved other than loving the children and he tells me the love is reciprocated. I think he is crazy but he just laughs and says he can afford it.

I can certainly see how men could get involved with young, attractive woman with children, and getting themselves into trouble by getting married.

This topic amuses me because it is so true. It really surprised me when I showed a tuk-tuk driver a map written in Thai, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go, but didn't want to walk. The driver didn't have a clue how to read a simple map, even when written in Thai. Eventually I just had to tell him somewhere that I knew was close to where I wanted to go and I just walked from there.

I've drawn a simple map to show Thai friends where I live and they didn't understand. Obviously, rural Thais are not taught about maps in school and when they move to the city they still don't understand. That does not mean they are dumb. They just haven't learned the concept. It is like a farang raised in a city being put in the wilderness and expecting them to survive.

Occasionally working construction (not on our condo or home developments... but on things like putting up fences, building walls around property, tiling, etc.) with my 300 Baht a day workers, which I try to do several times a year.... those periodic 'keeping up with the Lamsams' type feelings disappear pretty quickly with the dirt and sweat.

Working side beside people does tend to break down barriers doesn't it.

Not if one wants to maintain a reasonable personal space. I don't intrude on my staffs' personal lives, and I don't expect them to intrude on mine.

SC

I wasn't including mixing managers and staff in every day office work, in my simple comment, but more in the lines of everyone working together to solve a common problem that affects everyone. I can't abide people who get their hands dirty to help everyone with a common problem.

Danger danger, warning warning.

Don't blunder into one of these in the dark or any time

danger.JPG

Saw a tree on Kao Chang, the Ranong one, with a trunk about 2 feet across covered in spikes about 6 inches long.

bad for the health aint in it.

There are lots of plants in Thailand with nasty big thorns. I'm still in the process of sorting out my Thai photos and resizing them so I can share them.

One of my favourite valleys is the one between Mae Sariang and Mae Hong Son. There are many side roads, small villages and streams to explore.

External Hard drives and thumb drives are cheap storage. The secret is putting your photos in files so you can find them later.

We stayed at a small Thai hotel right on the main street going through the small city. I think it cost 500 baht a night. Rooms were adequate but very simple. There were some big fancy hotels that were closed. There were others that charged 1500 baht a night. There are some quest houses off the main road but they were hard to find without a GPS. The roads seemed to go off in all directions and it was a little confusing even with a GPS.

Don't get me started on Irish history

I'm the same.

OK, looks like I 'm about to be banned...................

Just like all those small Thai villages like Ban Mae Su, Ban Huai Yap and Ban Sop Mai?

After watching Thai youth doing the bamboo dance those Scottish dances would be simple for them.