jay-uk

Keep searching through past posts on the subject as it has been covered many times over and you will find plenty of info on this forum. The sunrise post is close to the mark on prices out in a village but much depends on locality to a road side, dirt track, concrete or tarmac road type next to the land, utilities if available, land level, soil quality etc..etc.. By contrast we paid much higher prices in the city when situated next to main road but as a rule of thumb 30k-50k sounds about right out in the sticks. We paid an average of 300k per rai over 5 years ago in the city to give an example on how wide ranging prices can be even in Rural Isaan areas.

Some years ago in Ubon we passed tesco/lotus and I asked my wife if it was open.

She replied: yes open .................but not yet

Went to a shop after seeing a copy of The Australian newspaper on a stand...darn, was yesterdays....

"Do you have todays copy?"

"You Want?"....."yes please."

"OK, come back tomorrow"

That is funny I just told my wife as this is typical thai attitude everything is tomorrow. Ha Ha

Gold card scheme should be renamed "tin card scheme" as it is worth little more than this. It is the poorest of health care cover and cannot be rellied on by Thais for anything major which may occur. My wife's uncle had a brain tumor which was operable by all accounts and unfortunately as he only had the so called gold card doctors kept moving him from gov: hospital to hospital several times over without any surgeons or consultants taking time to see him. Excuse after excuse that no surgeons were available to operate led to him returning home eventually for a few months and dying in his village with only family to care for him until his passing. No one had the money to pay for private treatment and it was a sad loss which shows the need for cover if at all possible through someone like BUPA for us farangs but rarely afforded by rural Thais. Even if you get BUPA cover there is a cut-off when I last checked over 70 years of age with escalating premiums so beyond 70+ most could not afford cover even if they are foreigners or Thai. Its a sorry existance for anyone who gets seriously ill if you have no money.

I noticed someone has recently put a video on youtube showing a tohsang hotel room inside. If anyone is interested the link is below:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3zB9da00HiA

Jay

My mother-in-law is fine and I would trust her like my own mother. Not everyone has a bad story to tell about their in-laws. It is easy to listen to the masses as there are unfortunately more bad stories flying around than good positive ones about Thai famillies. Make your own mind up and make sure you give yourself enough time to establish trust and weigh up the family you have married into but don't listen too much to others as you will assume everyone is bad which certainly is not the case. As for buying a house for yourself and/or your in-laws well many will advise against this but probably have done it themselves. If it is a sensible some of money as mentioned by other posters of 300-500k baht then this is little more than the price of a caravan back in the western world and not much money to lose if anything goes wrong. Most of us can't forsee misfortune in ourselves only can see it in others. As the saying goes love is blind and most will give to a partner or wife irrespective of any advice just don't blow anything financially that you can't afford to lose and you will be fine. Done right you will have a place to stay in the village and enjoy rural simple life when on holiday with your thai family. So far it has worked out well for my wife and I and our in-laws for 8 years but can I see the future... no. I can't forsee if I will be with my wife till the end of this year or 50 years. I hope it is 50 years but most who end up divorced rarely see it coming whether in Thailand or when married to a western wife, its no different.

If your friend truly belives in that kind of stuff' then the first port of call (so my wife tells me) would be his local temple to stay there for seven days or have the elders help out in some way by offering advice. That is on the assumption that the bad spirits he refers to are not the ones he's drinking down the local bar in pattaya. It could be just a woman's veilled threats there is no way for him to know for sure if she has actually visited a black witch to do harm and he might be thinking about it that much that he's sending himself paranoid.

Emirates has the lowest surcharges - check their website. Also some deals with Etihad / Qatar / Turkish all around the 40k mark.

Etihad and Emirates fly into Manchester I believe which would be easier for Birmingham.

Check this out. They update every Friday: http://www.pattayamail.com/massictravel/index.shtml

Major deal on Etihad fly by 10/09 - 10/10 for 20,600 plus about 11k taxes. Best deal I think you'll find.

Also try email to NPK in Pattaya.

Just checked Etihad's website and they have the same ticket price/taxes as follows for September 20th to Manchester:

FareTotal price for 1 Adult .

Fare Tax Total

1 Adult 33180.00 11375.00 44555.00 THB

Flight cost: 44555.00 THB

Just booked with qatar bk/manchester for 21st oct and return to bk on 7th nov,and that was 37,500 baht.good times too and only a couple of hours at doha.

Is that price excluding taxes as i noticed on the qatar website they offered a similar price for Sept' but it included an extra 11,000 baht on top. These taxes on the flights are really expensive now.

Thanks for all the help and input. There seems little in the price difference between each airline at the moment and the taxes on top of 11,000 baht are a real sting. Anyone got any more news then keep posting please as I'm going to be booking hopefully in the next 10-14 days. Thanks again.

i made a great spagetti for the kids in Ubon with mince pork and a pasta sauce from BigC. my son loved it.....

Spaghetti Bolognese the pinnacle of western food. You must be Thai and have never left the country, other than this it is inexplicable how you can have such a narrow horizon. At least your son will know that leaving Isaan will be just wrong, if this is the best food he can get outside...

My son was 12 months old at the time so I was hardly going to let him eat Som-Tam while we were on holiday just to say we had the real Isaan experience with our kids. Get real please I eat often and love thai food in UK when my wife cooks it and when we're over in Thailand. However, my two young sons will not eat Thai food and my wfe has tried several times since but they only seem to like western food. If they were born in a village up in the sticks then maybe they would be eating sticky rice every day but not here in UK.

Ha Ha Plachon seems like he's a little like my Father-in-law. My Wife always in the nicest of ways calls him laos as he will often embaress the kids. On my sister-in-laws last trip over to UK he insisted in seeing her off at BKK airport and running up and down the window up stairs pointing at all the planes and explaining in a loud excited voice about what he was seeing. My wife's sister had to walk away as he was making a fool of himself unknown to him. I laugh out loud at some of his antics....

My father-in-law is the one who always makes everyone laugh unknowingly most the time. On our last trip he had run out of shampoo and after having a shower came out yakking his wife about someone's shampoo he was using to make do as his own bottle had run out. He complained about no lather and why was he massaging his head with no bubbles for over five minutes with no luck at all. He was really serious at this point and went to get the bottle to show my mother-in-law. Out he comes from the bathroom waving a bottle around in a loud voice only to find all my family drop to the floor in histerics when they see what he had been using to wash his hair. Now I may be naive but I did not know that in Thailand they sell a womens product for washings their private parts and for some reason he had been using this wondering why he could not get any bubbles after rubbing his head vigurously. It was one of those moments where you see someone really embarrassed including my wife's older sister who had left her private shampoo in the cubicle earlier. Some very funny things do and can happen in Isaan to lighten the day.

I'm bringing over my wife's sister to help out with the kids in September. We have noticed all the prices are much higher than usual (no suprise really with all the fuel surcharges) but wanted to know if anyone has managed to secure any good deals on flights from Thailand to UK with and without connections. Prices from saveflights.com all seem to be around the 50,000+ baht for connections and direct flights with Eva and Emirates. Has anyone found cheaper prices or is this about right considering prices have increased recently. Thanks for any help.

RY12

finding a builder will not be your main issue to address as most people in Isaan have someone in the family who has an understanding of the trade. However, that is not what I see as your problem as I think it is more a matter of how your money will be spent when you are not around to manage it yourself. Even asking for family to keep receipts doesn't always work here as there are bulders merchants around that still issue hand written bills for any purchases. I don't have any building experince what so ever myself but I know I can spend my money better than someone else when my back's turned. You may trust your GF but by the time others get involved they will help her misspend your money with or without her knowledge and if you're not there to account for purchases then there's nothing you can do afterwards once the money's gone. It's happened to me and probably alot of other TV members so my advise again would be to take your time and wait until you get there. If having a property for family is an issue right now then rent them a place for while until you have chance to be part of the project building your own place your own way. I promise if you do it when you are there you will be much happier with the outcome and see a much bigger property for your money spent. Renting is cheap as chips and for a few thousand baht or less you will get a place for while that the folks are more than comfortable in until you come back to ubon.

Jay

Tohsang Khongjiam Resort and Spa

68 Mu 7 Baan Huay-Mak-Tay

Khongjiam District, Ubon Ratchathani

34220 THAILAND

Mobile. +66 1 860 5905

Tel. +66 45 351 174-6

Fax. +66 45 351 162

For Information, please email: [email protected]

Please don't take this the wrong way as I really wish you well on your project but do not expect too much for the budget you have put together. You could do a reasonable job yourself at cost but to employ the services of others to oversee and/or find a contractor within your budget would be difficult to say the least. Our 4 bed bungalow cost 800k baht 5 years ago and since then the guy next door built a 3 bed bungalow last year for 500k which was much smaller than ours due to the escalating material and labour price. You are also now within the farm season and would be jobbing builders are now back on their way home usually to help out with the rice farm for family. There will be very little in terms of a guarantees offered by anyone and if you wanted them to honour it afterwards...well you would either have to find them first and if you did they would never sort any problems out for you. If you want guarantees then you would have to come to terms with builders/contractors having a better reputation and experience locally and they most likely would be looking to charge in excess of 1 to 1.5 million baht to build the whole bungalow for you. My garage/sala two years ago cost 200k+ and last year we build a shower block and toilet for 100,000 baht. The best way to make the most of your money is to hold fire until you are there and oversee it yourself if possible. Make sure you buy all matterials yourself and that way you cannot be ripped off when your back's turned. The only guarntee you will probably get is from me guaranteeing that if you do this when you are not around the price will end up double what you originally planned or you end up an unfinished bungalow. If you are not in a rush then wait till you are there is my advise and then 400k may be enough to complete your project if you spend wisely.

i made a great spagetti for the kids in Ubon with mince pork and a pasta sauce from BigC. my son loved it.....

http://wikitravel.org/en/Ubon_Ratchathani_(province)

some more information listed at this link:

I only get to visit Ubon every couple of years but on our last trip I found most food products needed to cook a decent farang meal for my two sons and myself. Tesco and BigC both had very good fresh baked french sticks/bread which was great, most campbels condensed soups, pasta sauces and even custard. I always bring bisto gravy in my suitcase but apart from that we had a few nice roast chicken dinners with all the veg and potatoes we needed. Obviously you can't get everything you would like all of the time but I personally think things are improving and will continue to improve as more of us visit or live there. For the long timers maybe it can get frustrating at times as I appreciate but at the end of the day it is not our country so we should not expect to get evrything we see in the western world.

there are a few cheap childrens fishing rods for sale in BigC and TescoLotus toy shelves. i'm not sure if you can rent down by the river but i would guess you can.

There is or was a zoo in Ubon but I am unsure of the exact location. Also I have two sons myself and found that the Nevada hotel or Ubon International as its now renamed close to Tesco has a roof top swimming pool and its very clean and open for use by famillies and children for a small fee. Its never busy and a large sized pool so it should be visited if you have time. Some of the waterfalls are good for a swim also. Fishing can be done out at Sirinthon Dam or closer to Ubon city centre next to mun river where they also have floating restaurants. You can order food and sit and fish at the same time. Take your own fishing rod if you have one. There is also a temple we visited out close to sisaket on our last trip which is quite child friendly and has alot of animal statues and amuzing activities outdoors its called Prathat Ruang Rong. Failling all this you can take a look at the following web link for any other information:

www.weloveubon.com

Here is the best I could come up with. A tour map and suggested itineraries for Ubon and surrounding areas. Hope this helps. I scanned it into a .pdf acrobat file. If you have any problems opening or downloading the file then send me a PM and I'll send a different way.

Ubon_Tourist_Information.pdf

MEKONG RIVER

Flood warnings for provinces in Isan

POST REPORTERS

Rising water levels in the Mekong river continue to cause havoc in some northeastern provinces with flood warnings issued for Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen yesterday.

Floods, said to be the worst in 100 years, have ravaged farms and townships along the Mekong river since Aug 9.

The weather office attributes the flooding to above-average rainfall in the region. The Mekong has overflowed its banks in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Environmentalists say the construction of dams on the river in China and the clearing of reefs to allow navigation by large cargo vessels have also contributed to the flooding.

With the Mekong running so high, water has backed up in the river's tributaries, adding to the problem.

The Irrigation Department yesterday warned people living near the Mekong and its tributaries in Ubon Ratchathani and Amnat Charoen that run-off combined with the flood surge moving down the river could cause additional problems.

The warning was issued after the Mekong River Commission reported the water level along the Mekong in Chiang Rai, Loei and Nong Khai was receding but was still rising in Ubon Ratchathani, where it was only 2.5 metres short of overflowing the banks.

In Nakhon Phanom, overflow from the Mekong submerged houses, restaurants and offices close to the river. Farm land along the Songkhram river, a major tributary of the Mekong, was also under water.

In Mukdahan, the river bank was being eroded, much to the alarm of farmers.

''My backyard has been lost to erosion over the last few years. My house is now only metres away from the river,'' said Napassorn Charoensukmaliwan, who runs a restaurant on the Mekong river bank.

Mukdahan governor Praneet Boonmee said the province was losing at least 35 rai of land along the Mekong river each year due to soil erosion.

The province would seek government funds to build a levee along 72 kilometres of the river bank to prevent further loss of land.

CRIME TRACK

Who'd ever steal my old banger?

You'd be surprised, says Wassayos Ngamkham, as police bust a ring which did just that

If you think your car is too old to be targeted by thieves, think again.

Car thieves in Thailand are increasingly turning their attentions to older vehicles as newer models tend to come equipped with advanced security measures.

On top of this, owners of older vehicles are often more complacent about security, mistakenly believing their vehicles are of little value to criminals.

But the thieves steal old cars for their parts, which are in high demand.

Songthaew owner Yuwadee Chuapan was among the ranks of the complacent, until her 20-year-old vehicle was stolen.

It was found when a Prachuap Khiri Khan "chop shop" - a garage where stolen vehicles are taken to be disassembled - was busted by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on July 30.

"I can't believe they [the car thieves] stole such an old vehicle. I would never have imagined it would be stolen," said Ms Yuwadee, 48, from Ayutthaya, when police returned it to her.

Pick-up truck owner Prayut Plaisaengkaeo had his 15-year-old vehicle returned from the same source.

The theft of his truck had been a blow to his family, half of whose income comes from the vehicle, which transports commuters around Bangkok.

These two were not the only victims.

When the CSD raided the chop shop, on Phetkasem road in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Pran Buri district, they found 10 stolen vehicles, all of which were thought to be at least 15 years old.

The bust came about following the theft of a coconut vendor's pick-up truck in Bangkok.

Jirapong Tanthawirul, 34, from Nakhon Sawan, reported his 20-year-old Mitsubishi pick-up truck stolen on July 21, but local police were baffled.

His brother Sanguanpong had been driving the vehicle, which was carrying more than 1,000 coconuts. He parked on Suan Phak road in Taling Chan district when he stopped to visit a friend. When he returned, the truck had gone.

But the crime - and the theft ring - was cracked thanks to one small detail: Mr Jirapong's business card.

A copy of his card was attached to the console of his truck, and the thieves had neglected to remove it.

When a Pran Buri resident spotted the card when visiting the garage, he grew suspicious of the true nature of the business.

He took a photograph of the card with his mobile phone and sent it to Mr Jirapong's number, along with details of the garage.

Mr Jirapong then sent the picture and information to CSD detective Jom Singnoi on July 30 and police arrested the garage owner that day.

CSD investigators found hundreds of coconuts had been donated to three Buddhist temples in Pran Buri. Monks identified the donor who had been driving the truck in question.

A search of the chop shop found 10 vehicles and a number of auto parts.

Garage owner Sunthorn Lompoonsuk, 43, from Pran Buri, and his 23-year-old mechanic Chalermpol Wamakan, from Ubon Ratchathani, were arrested.

Based on the interrogation, investigators learned that the garage had bought stolen vehicles from a man known as Ngok, or Ja Chai.

Ja Chai used a tow truck to steal vehicles in Bang Kruai, Bang Yai and Bang Bua Thong districts of Nonthaburi and Taling Chan in Bangkok.

He would remove air-conditioners, audio equipment and decorative accessories for sale in Bangkok and then sell the vehicles to the Pran Buri garage at 30,000 to 40,000 baht each.

Mr Sunthorn and his employees would then dismantle the vehicles to get parts to sell in Pathumwan district in Bangkok.

The gang would cut up the licence plates and sell the scrap or drop them in a pond. Papers from the vehicles would be burnt.

"Judging from the parts found in the garage, it looks as though the garage handled at least 100 vehicles over the past three years," Pol Lt-Col Jom said.

"The theft of old vehicles is a real problem because most owners depend on them to make a living day by day," he added.

I hope this pair rot in jail for ever and never see the light of day again.