Riley'sLife

Perhaps the best Thai wedding is the village ceremony, as it enables the couple to be "married" in the eyes of society without the encumberances that are attached to a legal marriage. Thai men certainly know how to organise the country to their advantage!

Maybe the two Thai badminton players were impressed with the way Canadians play Ice Hockey.

Use a tracked Bobcat with a backhoe and dozer blade attached. http://www.bobcat.eu/bobcat/products/Excavator/E25.page? Good fun too, but don't let Immigration see you!

what it is is less important than what it does or doesnt do to you if u find one crawling in your blanket...

Ha ha .... That is so true, bina, as anyone having been bitten by one of the little beggars would certainly confirm.

Best idea, if any unidentified millipede/centipede is encountered, is to slide it onto some paper and eject from the home to avoid a very painful bite!! They don't all bite, by any means, but it's not worth the risk.

I think chinnotes' post is more accurate than my initial identification. I just remember cyanide millipedes from the States, when camping.

Looks like a cyanide millipede (Harpaphe haydeniana).

Thanks for the links ETatBKK. Good of you to post them.

This sounds like a scam. Be extremely careful with your personal information.

I guarantee it's a scam.

does your wife know you are using her Skype account ?

I know exactly what your point is!

I set up the account for my wife and I to talk to her, and my, family overseas. No point in us having separate accounts. Thanks anyway

I use my wife’s Skype account and, maybe because of her Thai name, in the last few weeks I have had a number of contact requests (perhaps 8 or 9) from people purporting to be Generals, or other high ranking soldiers, doctors, etc., all in the U.S. Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan.

They are all quite obviously imposters. They always start with "Hi, how are you?" and then state, "I want to be your friend". Any response will evoke a lengthy delay followed by very simple, one word replies from people clearly having limited English Language skills!!

I have an image in my mind of teams of Nigerians attempting contact with Thai sounding names on Skype.

Have scammers recently been having success with gullible Thais?

Anyone else had the same experience? - or heard of any scams effecting Thais using Skype?

Pointless painting the tiles etc.....

best advice is to insulate immediately above the ceiling using StayCool or similar proprietary insulation rolls. Vent the roof void too, either by design or mechanically.

Create as much shade for the exterior walls as possible by foliage etc., or extending the eaves overhang. A 3m overhang would give almost permanent shade on a 3m high wall, for example. The East wall and the west walls are particularly important to shade -obviously, as the sun is lower in the sky. Wall insulation could be effective. Cross-flow ventilation and an open-plan design is conducive to cool breezes within the rooms

After that, ventilate the house at night using fan/s to pull in the cool air and also to expel the warmer air, and try to keep the cool air inside for as long as possible in the mornings. If you use aircon, try to use it in a small, extremely well insulated room with a low ceiling to keep costs down.

Without knowing the exact mode of construction, room layout, building orientation etc., it's difficult to advise you further.

Hope that helps!

It's a bugger when foreigners investing in a country can't buy land isn't it.

Are you talking about Burma or Thailand? I only ask because I do not know whether a foreigner can buy land in Myanmar. If they can you may very well see a lot of farangs moving across the border to get ready for the tourist boom.

......and I thought Ozzies understood irony !!

Join a Club, or several clubs with plenty of Thais, perhaps linked to your profession, or an interest you may have. You will be inundated with friends and relatives of suitable females suggesting you should meet their daughter, cousin, niece etc..

I met my wife through a 4x4 off-road club. Try to pick a club that already attracts Thais from a compatible social background to yourself. There is really no need to get involved with females involved in prostitution. Don't give everyone the impression that you are there to find a wife....although you could do so jokingly!

Anyway, good luck. There are plenty of lovely genuine, sincere, very attractive women available.

Credit cards, debt, interest creates slaves, and is the bane of modern life.

If you really must borrow money, at least use it to acquire an appreciating asset and make the money work for you, otherwise you end up going backwards.

edit to add:- The fact that people have been brainwashed to accept all this borrowing as the norm just illustrates how perfectly society has been manipulated to serve the 1%. The "little people" always pay, always work, meanwhile the 1% make the real money. Always have.

Many Thai Nationals don't bother to get married on paper, but prefer to have a ceremony whereby society accepts them as a "married" couple.

Why not just do the same.

I really cannot understand why gays make such a fuss about wanting marriage, I think they are better off without it. Maybe just a case of "the grass is greener". I wonder how many people that are married wish they weren't?

A marriage with a frog will, statistically, have more chance of lasting, and that's incontrovertible!

Financing a depreciating asset is the epitome of bad money management.

Paying off Thai Finance early is utterly pointless as you will still have to pay the full amount of the interest.

It is for this reason that most vehicles on finance are offered for sale with the finance still in place. The seller needs to find another mug to take over the repayments.

Actually it depends on the finance company. Some do discount the interest but you have to ask.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

Trying not to be argumentative here...but I doubt any Thai Finance Co would discount any interest under any circumstances. Maybe a Bank would, but even then only if one is a long-standing good customer that they didn't want to lose.

If you have first-hand experience of a Finance Co having discounted the interest for early settlement I would be very keen to know the name of the company...... I never borrow, neither do I lend... but my Thai in-laws have borrowing as a hobby! so it could save them money.

Why don't you lend them? How about they ask the question before going through with the loan from the finance company its always something that I ask no matter where I loan from or what its for.

I am more than happy to lend them. If you let me have your address I will arrange their delivery later this week. It could even be a permanent loan arrangement if you wish.

If you mean lend to them...... why would anyone lend money to someone that doesn't have it? Surely that is evidence that they can't manage their lives. My advice to them is always the same..."if you really need a new shiny motorbike, save up for it! ..and when you have enough, buy it!" Or, if they offer me collateral, a Chanote for example, I say, "sell the land and then buy whatever you want!"

Thais don't understand the concept of checking anything before. Buddha deals with what will happen. They just deal with "the now".

Financing a depreciating asset is the epitome of bad money management.

Paying off Thai Finance early is utterly pointless as you will still have to pay the full amount of the interest.

It is for this reason that most vehicles on finance are offered for sale with the finance still in place. The seller needs to find another mug to take over the repayments.

Actually it depends on the finance company. Some do discount the interest but you have to ask.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

I will confirm that as I have paid off all my cars early and everytime get a discount.

Which Thai Finance Company/ies ?

Financing a depreciating asset is the epitome of bad money management.

Paying off Thai Finance early is utterly pointless as you will still have to pay the full amount of the interest.

It is for this reason that most vehicles on finance are offered for sale with the finance still in place. The seller needs to find another mug to take over the repayments.

Actually it depends on the finance company. Some do discount the interest but you have to ask.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

Trying not to be argumentative here...but I doubt any Thai Finance Co would discount any interest under any circumstances. Maybe a Bank would, but even then only if one is a long-standing good customer that they didn't want to lose.

If you have first-hand experience of a Finance Co having discounted the interest for early settlement I would be very keen to know the name of the company...... I never borrow, neither do I lend... but my Thai in-laws have borrowing as a hobby! so it could save them money.

Financing a depreciating asset is the epitome of bad money management.

Paying off Thai Finance early is utterly pointless as you will still have to pay the full amount of the interest.

It is for this reason that most vehicles on finance are offered for sale with the finance still in place. The seller needs to find another mug to take over the repayments.

Your plan is feasible. Taxi cost from HY to Donsak will be very high however, probably far more than your two flight tickets. I do know someone able to do this but they usually take people with loads of luggage and travel is by pick-up truck. Route is coastal HY -via Nakkon si Thammarat-, to Sichon, then inland to Donsak Terminal. They usually dep well before 8am. Maybe they do other times too.

If you can be flexible about travel - including maybe having to overnight somewhere, alternatives could be HY to Surat by train or bus, then mini-van or bus to Donsak Terminal. But doing that way could involve loads of waiting around and no guarantees about arrival time. Costs could mount up too, just the trip into town from the airport at HY is 300baht +.

Good advice already about re-hydrating and time of day to start. I get out about 5.30am as it's cooler. One thing I would not be without and that is a rear-view mirror, especially for when riding alone. I also carry a large chain with very heavy padlock which I wrap around the cross-bar and the seat stalk. Useful for security and any dogs if necessary!

I am always amused to see Thais dressed for the Tour-de-France when they cycle, with gloves, helmets, cycling vests and shorts and shoes, but they never wear a helmet on their motorcycles!

In my experience Big C has the worst management concerning this issue. I rarely buy fresh fruit and veg there as I can find better quality and value at local fresh markets. I recently purchased some oats -three different brands to try them out- at Big C. Later at home I noticed that one had a small hole in the top. (obviously a rat had tried to eat its way in!). I also bought a packet of Dr.Lange Fix fur Gulasch which was on offer at 50% which I had examined meticulously before purchase as I don't trust "offers". The package was intact and the product within manufacturer's "use by" date. When I returned home I saw that the Gulasch pack was punctured and some contents had spilled out onto a white rug when I unpacked the bags badly staining the rug.

Two days later armed with the receipt I returned with the goods. I expected an argument with "Customer non-Service" as the 50% discounted pack of Gulasch had been damaged when the cashier had tried to remove the red discount label (stupid bloody system!) and failed. In her attempt she had pierced the pack with her fingernail exactly where the red label still remained. Even Dr. Watson could have deduced the cause of the damage.

I was not in the mood for a stupid "Thai-moment", but I still received one. The money was refunded without a whimper, then the 16 yr old female Head of Customer non-Service said, through her metal clad teeth, that it was MY fault because I should look at every item carefully before buying it. Not their fault of course for failing to implement a sensible sticker system for reduced goods and failing to train staff to inform the customer that they had just pierced a package with their fingernail, and certainly not their fault for failing to eradicate vermin in their store. I agree it definitely was my fault... for going there!!

Jt to answer your question, most supermarkets will sell the spoiled goods at their cost price rather than throw stuff out, but some badly managed places, like Big C, ......who knows ...they only employ Graduates - with Honors in Incompetence. Most fresh produce departments are operated as a separate entity within the store to enable management to monitor and correct daily variables in demand/supply. In this way any losses can be correctly attributed and consequently addressed. The losses should not be spread across the other departmental accounts. If they are then failings in the system will never be identified. But what a French Company with Thai management actually does is anyone's guess!

Caveat Emptor

"A Higher Caste" ???? This is Thailand, not India.

If, as you say, you "have found, in Thailand, that some girls enjoy wearing ball gowns to the office or workplace", you must surely be working within an environment that pre-dates dinosaurs if you don't have the technology at your fingertips to capture an image of one of the girls to which you refer!!