Farang Paul

Taiwan - Beautiful, mostly unspoiled countryside, friendly people.

Taipei - Ugliest city in Asia, an architectural desert with the odd oasis of style here and there. Expensive place to live as an ex-pat, go local and it's much cheaper but still not as cheap as Thailand

The OP's post concerned his reflections on a weeks visit and I felt much the same on mine. Later I went to work there; of the 6 countries in Asia that I have lived and worked in Asia, this was the only one I didn't enjoy my time.

80 baht each way, leaving from Ao Nam Mao, Ao Nang (both ends of the beach) and Nopparathara.(Wang Sai)

Boat leaves when 8 people on board.

Be prepared for changes since you were last here, lately there has been standing room only on the beaches at Railay - though the season is beginning to tail off now. Ao Nang also has been crowded and is developing faster than the infrastructure should allow.

I strongly agree with Ticketmaster, it's not a difficult job and all the information you need is on the internet.

Unfortunately no Thai mechanic will have read anything to do with this on the internet and will treat your bike the same as a Honda Click, cut, splice and tape.

Do it yourself, then you know it has been done with the right materials and done correctly

You might just squeeze into that budget, off season, for a room with kitchen facilities ( a gas burner in the corner)

In the "green season" Phi Phi is like Ibiza on Mogadon - Partying in the rain every day doesn't bring in the party crowd.

High season - no chance.

Anyway, why Phi Phi? Just as the party scene left Ibiza when it got too commercial, so it has now left Phi Phi, leaving behind high prices and a load of party wannabe's.

It just is no longer the place to be for serious partying.

Before you ask me where is the place? - If you aren't aware where to be, then your a wannabe

Softails are fine for posing on. If you just want to potter around town and don't mind the weight and lack of suspension, then fine.

If you want to do any serious touring then be aware:

1. Your cruising speed is limited by the aerodynamics of a brick, turbulence is a way of life with one of these.

2. You will fry your love eggs - the motor puts out a serious amount of heat.

3. The noise and vibration gets very wearing.

4. The design and engineering are 20th century.

5. Build quality is variable, some parts wear badly in this climate.

6. It just doesn't cope well with bad roads, particularly at speed.

I have a Heritage Softail 2006 and previously owned a Sportster. I love it for all its faults but use my water-cooled GS for all longer journeys.

Buy a Softail (particularly an old one) knowing what to expect and you will have a happy relationship. Buy one because you fancy the image and fail to do your research and it will end in tears.

P.S. Don't even think about buying it without checking its provenance, green book etc. Many older ones are grey imports without proper paperwork etc. and that will end in more than tears if you try to sell it.

Only my honest opinion as a HOG member.

Flame on brothers!

Try selling the bike through a dealer - I sold mine through a well known big bike dealer on the by-pass who deals in mostly Harleys (but does sell others).

They sell the bike on your behalf and charge you a commission on the sale - 3%.

They have better access to serious buyers - you will find that you get a large number of tire-kicking time wasters advertising through the normal channels.

They keep the bike, clean it, and can make sure it is in good order.

For a fee, which you can include in the asking price, they will do all the transfers for you when you do have a buyer - they will have a lot less trouble than you as they are in the transport office on a regular basis and know all the people.

P.M. me if you want further information, I have sold two Harleys through them, got good prices and each time sold within the month - they do however have bikes that have been there for years as the owners are expecting an unreasonable price. I did not buy my latest bike from them, I bought it new from BMW, so you don't have to buy from them to use their services.

p.s. for some reason I have not yet worked out as soon as you advertise on this and other sites a desirable big bike you get request after request for more and more pictures of the bike from Thai nationals - it does get tedious as they aren't even good at pretending they wish to buy the bike.

It may be dry now, but it was a very wet rainy season. Yields are low, hence the price is now over 5 Baht.

Normally it is not worth irrigating oil palms, the cost exceeds the increase in yield.

Use a gasoline powered pump 2,500- 5,000 baht - a powerful enough electric pump will cost you a fortune and eat electricity.

Dripping systems are a real pain as you have to clean them so regularly, and the pump has to be on for a long time.

I use the polythene piping with holes in it, which I buy from my local farm supply shop and spray at full volume for an hour or so.

There is no company I know of in Krabi that specialises in this - I hate to think what they would charge.

I covered about 20 rai and my costs came in about 18,000 Baht excluding the labour.

Personally I wouldn't bother to do it again.

600 Baht to Ao Nang.

No need to book, pick one up from the taxi desk at the airport.

Parking is available at terminal 1 and terminal 2. Parking is free.

There is a modicum of security. I have left my car there for over a week on more than one occasion with no problem.

There are two on Maharat road. The first is a fancy grooming place on your left hand side as you approach town on Maharat from the traffic lights on the dual carriageway. The building is orange, you can't miss it. Haven't used them myself.

The second is 300 m further on the same side of the road, before the second-hand shop on your left as you travel toward town.

I have used this one many times and they have always returned my dog in a good state of mind and condition.

Go for it! But please don't paint it to look like a Honda Phantom like the one in your attachment!

There is an over supply of wood because:

1. In the South many farmers have chopped down their rubber and replaced it with oil palm - labour to tap has become more difficult to find, especially round Phuket and tourist areas; therefore there is more wood on the market.

2. Rubber wood has only limited use for furniture as it is almost impossible to stain or paint, except with specialist (expensive) materials. It therefore is restricted in use mostly to framing of furniture covered with fabric or leather and the demand for this is finite.

3. Thaiguzzi may think the price is low but the market is the market and that is the current price - suggest he sells it for you on commission if he can get a better price!

The price is dependent on many factors:

Ease of access and removal of trees.

Size and condition of trees.

Distance wood has to be transported.

Prevailing timber price.

The price you quoted is in the right ball park, however it is lower than it was some time back as there is over-supply and the labour costs to cut the wood have increased.

Make sure that the contractor used is quoting for lifting and clearing the roots, some better priced deals only involve cutting and removing the timber, not making good the land afterwards.

Good luck

Hellodolly,

Krabi is on the sea at the mouth of a river, not 11 miles inland. It is the Provincial capital and not much of a holiday town (has no beaches) Ao Nang is 14km away and is a holiday town with beaches, bars etc.

Use Agoda, Trip Advisor, Expedia etc. to find where you want to stay then contact the hotel direct (in Thai if you can). The season is slow getting started this year, whatever TAT says, you can often get a cheaper rate than the booking companies as the hotel saves the 20% + fee. Don't shout about it as their contract with these booking companies precludes them doing this.

It would be interesting to see how a Thai court deals with a Farang vs Farang case. Sadly it would take forever and cost a lot to find out.

I won a case in Krabi court against a Thai builder. It took months and cost me 20k in lawyers fees. When the judge gave his final summing -up

he awarded me the sum in dispute, refused my costs, then deducted the costs of the builder who was at fault. I was told by my advisor to shut up

and just be happy I had won; the incorrect allocation of costs was so that Thailand saved face ( you work that one out!).

Personally I would try a different tactic. A Farang subcontractor working here in Thailand almost certainly has some weakness in his set-up.

(work permit for him, work permits for his labour, company set-up, taxes paid - the list of potential pitfalls is endless)

I would suggest a quiet aside to the contractor about how inconvenient for him it would be should someone inform the local government that he was operating illegally.

If he has something to hide, this should make him more amenable, if he doesn't, it will be most inconvenient for him to be investigated.

Don't, however, consider this course of action unless everything on your side is in perfect order. If it is not then walk away.

Good luck - let us know how you get on

I have parked my bike (big motorbike not scooter) and my car at Krabi airport for up to 2 weeks at a time, without any problem.

Access to terminal 2 parking is more difficult after the road collapse and you now have to pass a policeman guiding? the traffic there - so may be safer at 2.

As you may know, there is no covered parking and no fee at Krabi airport

Just back from a 4 day trip by motorbike - Krabi - Yala - Betong and back.

Beautiful scenery, very friendly people who are very surprised and happy to see a farang tourist.

Many road blocks but all were drive-through.

Far, far more likely to be killed on the road than by a bomb.

Enjoyed it so much I am going back later this week.

Good hotels are hard to find as they aren't getting much in the way of visitors these days.

My gosh. This must mean that thai people are super rich.

/sarcasm off.

Silly government.

btw a kawasaki vulcan you dont have to import they are available locally for "reasonable" prices. Its 497500 BHT.

Thanks man. It is still a bit on the overpriced side, but at least it is better than 700k BHT. Where did you get these numbers btw?

it is all about supporting the local production of motorcycles and forcing manufacturers to invest in thailand than importing bikes from somewhere else, discouraging buyers to get an import and trying to find ways to sponsor the debts from rice scheme.

lets say, they take it from rich and give it to the poorer people but in a twisted way.

yes, we suffer at the end!

Really then why are locally produced triumphs so expensive?

Triumph assemble/manufacture certain models in the Duty Free zone.

In order to sell those models in Thailand a complex process of documentation is required (otherwise many domestic manufacturers would move to duty free zones to take advantage of cheaper imports).

Triumph have determined that the cost of applying for and maintaining local sales certification is higher than the profit from the limited sales they could expect to make here. So sadly and ironically Triumphs made/assembled here in Thailand are transported to the docks, then re-imported with 123% duty + costs before being available to purchase.

Honda, Kawasaki and Ducati all manufacture/assemble here and sell their product here which is why CB 500's and ER6N / Versys are half the price of an imported NC 700X.

In the end it is a luxury tax - an effective one judging by increasing sales. As the market develops so will the number of bikes available - not long ago your only option was Kawasaki for a bike free of import duty, now there is Ducati and Honda with others following.

All you need to worry about is the way these clever tilapia jump out of the pond and onto the dining tables of all your neighborhood.

The Tilapia, as the previous poster said, will look after themselves.

How can you tell the sex of a baby tilapia? I just throw them in and watch them grow.

In Krabi - CAT, which I use for my business, has proved to be much better than TOT which I use at home.

Better service, better consistency, faster response time. Plus they put an optical cable in with no charge.

Just depends on where you are and how good your local office is.

When they closed HSBC personal banking here in Thailand they transferred my account to Krung Sri. I was automatically given a premier account.

Since I seem to be the only Farang banking at the branch in Krabi and one of very few Premier holders I am treated to an embarrassing level of servitude whenever I walk in. Since they are not used to premier accounts I have to remind them that I don't pay for cheque books and other services - but since I can't be bothered to read all the blurb I am never sure what exactly I am entitled to.

Either way, they are much more efficient than HSBC and local. They constantly remind me that I am paying too much tax, deducted at source, on my savings account and open a new account for me every month to keep the tax paid on my interest to a minimum.

Very efficient at documentation for my visa renewal - altogether wonder why I didn't change years ago.

Above is just my personal experience and I'm sure varies from branch to branch. Also note that no-one at my branch speaks much English and all my over the counter business is conducted in Thai.

I have one - surprisingly well made and great value for money.

4,500 trouble free kms. so far

All the reviews from UK, USA etc. are good and those bikes are also assembled in Thailand.

In the end it is a Honda and Honda won't let their hard won reputation be spoiled by poor assembly or sub-standard parts.

This bike is great on the road,(mine is the F version) and I find I take it in preference to my softail as it is much more fun to ride.

Palm oil.

Produced locally, high temp breakdown without harmful by-products, used by most of the major chains with deep fat fryers.

Makro sell it in bulk.