thedi

Try http://www.khonkaen.com They have a forum too and feature some good links.

There are also many signs along the main roads 'for sale', but usually in Thai.

Land in and around Khon Kaen is very high priced. Even if every body wants to sell, nobody wants to come down to a reasonable price. If you are a farang, or if the seller suspects that the money comes from a farang, the price will be very hard to negotiate. There are just too many stories circulating like '10 millions / rai paid by an old farang' - true or not, tis influences the prices.

Regards and good luck

Thedi

Hello bikers,

I live 50 km SW of Khon Kaen. My bike is a Yamaha Royal Star (1300cc, V4). Right now I am in Switzerland, but I will return to Thailand on the 13. August and will then stay until end of January 2008

I would enjoy a ride with some other farangs from time to time. I am a rather slow rider (90-100 kmh) and enjoy good secondary roads with little traffic most. An old dream of mine is to visit this famous 'prasat hin' near Buriram. Maybe next autumn I will make it...

Regards

Thedi

I had the same problem in April. Bugs were eating all new leaves of several of my trees (Dtin Pet, not Mango). They do not eat the whole leaves, but eat part of it, until it falls off. In the morning the ground is covered with half eaten leaves and shit from this bugs. They came at night and were gone in the morning.

They came only one or two nights. So if you see the damage and spray chemicals then, it may be too late.

In my case, the trees recovered without problem.

The bug is similar to the attached picture. The picture is from wikipedia and shows a bug which lives in Europe. My wife and our daughter like the Thai version of this bug (fried). Also birds and chicken like them very much. They are hardly seen at day time - probably because they are so tasty

Regards

Thedi

You may get much better responses in the Farming section.

A view pictures and a bit more descriptions would help too. Are the leaves dry, when they fall off? Is there insect shit under the tree? Are the leaves whole or is are there marks of insect eatings? How long ago did you plant thsi tree (if recently). Are there other Mango trees nearby who have the same problem - or not. Any such informations may help. But pictures would be best.

Regards

Thedi

The 70K/term is just for the school. Boarding is possible at 32K/term; the dormitory is not in the school itself, but near Sri Nakarind hospital (on the other side of town). This price includes food and transport to the school. There is a teacher there who helps the kids with their homework (if necessary). Our daughter stays in the dormitory Mon-Fry and comes home only on weekends (we live about 50 km from KKC).

There are school busses that pick up kids in Khon Kaen (also expensive: 6K/term). But there are no public busses to the school. It is located about 6km west of Khon Kaen city, in a big area were an expensive 'Moo Ban' was planed but never finished. Only the school is there in the middle of nowhere - 2km from the public road.

The price is really the only thing, that may speak against this school.

Regards

Thedi

I was myself looking for a good school for my daughter and was interested in Holly Redeemers School (Maha Tai school) in KKC.

I didn't like the big classes (50 and more kids). I didn't like the rather anonymous atmosphere. I liked the price (it is cheep) and that it is easily accessible with public transport.

I was talking with parents who took their kids from this school and two points were mentioned often:

• The school has a good name, but it is living on this name. They do not live up to expectations. They tend to promise more than they can do.
  
• Many complained, that kids have to take extra tuition. Those who don't, will be second class.
  

I finally decided for my daughter for Khon Kaen Vithes Sueksa (http://www.kkvs.ac.th/), a bilingual school. There I liked the friendly atmosphere and the small classes (my daughters class has just 17 students). I also liked that about 40% of the teachers are Kiwis, and 60% are Thais. The farang teachers speak only basic Thai, so the kids really learn English. On the other hand the price is rather high. 70K per term and this and that: it will come to more than 200K/year. I think the price is justified.

Regards

Thedi

PS: please feel free to contact me for more informations

Have to go to DMK and was thinking of taking the bus can someone give me directions of where to find the bus at BKK.

Thanks.

Bus from BKK to DMK

There is no shuttle bus from Suvanabhumi to Don Muang, you have to take the public bus 555 or 554.

Bus 555 and 554 leave from the 'Public Transport Center' at the BKK airport (Savanabhumi). This is a bit outside, but there is a shuttle bus from the airport to the 'Public Transport Center'.

The shuttle bus leaves at the arrival floor level. When you arrive from an international flight, just leave the airport at the same level and look for a sign 'shuttle bus'. It is in front of door 'entrance 8'; the shuttle bus is white and needs about 10 minutes to the Public Transport Center.

In the Public Transport Center are several busses waiting. Some go to town, two will pass Don Muang (555 and 544). All signs are in English and very easy to read. Bus 555 and 554 need about 50 minutes to Don Muang - as long as there are no major traffic congestions.

Someone recommended taxis rather than this bus, because the bus does not enter the Don Muang airport.

Regards

Thedi

When 30'000 is the first offer you may negotiate and come to a fair price. 30K/rai is not far off for land with a dirt road access. You may also consider, that the land will stay in the family, which is important to Thais (your wife).

But I would strongly suggest to not get fixed on the idea of using this land to build a house. For a house you should have neighbors, i.e. it should be in a village. Water, electricity, shops nearby, is the road good in rain season? etc should be considered. But most important are neighbors. Is it near a wilderness with snakes and other people dumping their garbage, is there a pig farm nearby (or plans to build one) ... There are many points to consider.

The land will be just a view thousend baht, and if it is a bad investment, your loss would be small. Anyway, 30K/rai is not bad.

But if you build a house for some 100 to 300K baht and then find out, that you do not like to live alone in the nowhere (or rather your wife may find out), then your loss is regrettable.

All I want to say: choose the land to build a house not because you get a good offer, but on your needs.

Regards

Thedi

I guess VPN is not the right thing for you.

VPN is mostly used to connect to an intranet from outside. There are some VPN versions which do an encypted transfer, but for sensitive data transfer the encryption should be between applications, not just part of the transfer: i.e. https.

VPN may provide a little more privacy while surfing via a WLAN, but I never heard of any provider in Thailand. You better look at your home. I myself use VPN in Thailand to access servers of my university in Switzerland which are accessible only from the intranet.

If security is a concern, do not use any public computers (like internet cafes or airports) because of possible spy ware.

Regards

Thedi

Tourist visas are for tourist; visa waver 30-day entries are for short time tourists; Non-imm B is for people who intend to work and Non-imm O for people who do not intend to work but have family in TH.

If you apply for the right visa for your purpose of stay, and then check the condition that the Thai authorities defined for you, you do the right thing and should have no problems.

But if you think it is like with 'Windows-XP home edition': I can use it at home or in school, then you may run into problems. Visa names are not defined by PR specialists to lure you to take the one that gives the seller the most profit. Visa names guide you to apply for the right visa and then conform to the rules defined by your visa.

If you can not do what you want to do with your visa, this means, that the authorities do not want you to do that. A very common misconception is, that in this situtation, you just take a visa from an other category - and every thing will be fine.

In fact it may work for a while, but there is no guarantie that it will continue to work. The longer you stay, the more you will get involved. At first you may think: 'lets try it this way - if it works: fine - if not: never mind'. But you will strike roots in Thailand, and after some years a change of the rules will be a disaster for you.

As foreigners, we must accept, that the Thai authorities define the rules. And this rules may not match our desires. I may be hard, but there may be a NO from immigration. Many westeners have a problem to acept a NO from any authority.

I repeat my recommendation: Start by applying for the right visa. 'Right' meaning the visa, that matches your intention of stay, not just the easiest one to apply for.

Regards

Thedi

I myself have a 8 year old Boss (175) and a Yamaha Royal Star (1300cc). The Boss is great to go to the market and the fields, but on the road for longer journeys, I prefer the Royal Star. In this respect, I think the Boss and the Phantom are about the same: too small for any fun on the road, but easy to handle in town.

Comparing the Kawasaki Boss with the Honda Phantom:

• The Boss has a too small chain, the Phontoms one looks much better. I have the third chain in my Boss now (at 45'000km) and it will have to be changed again soon.
  
• But the Boss just looks better. It is more a 'Chopper', the Phantom is rather a 'Rider'.
  
• The Phantom looks like made of plastic, the Boss more like a real bike. I personally dislike the Phantoms plastic cover that looks like chrome, but when you look closer you see, that there is nothing behind it.
  
• There are more Phantoms here in Isarn than Boss. The resale price of a Phantom is probaly better.
  
• Honda has more Service Centers than Kawasaki here in Isarn. You may find Phantom spare parts in any bigger Amphor, but for the Kawasaki Boss the only source I know of is in Khon Kaen. On the other hand, apart from new tires, brake linings, a new battery and the above mentioned chains, all my Boss needs is gas and oil.
  

BTW: I used Gasohol on my Boss: no problem.

Regards

Thedi

Taxis DMK to BKK and BKK to DMK

I’ve always used the taxi ranks on ground level so can’t offer experience on catching 4th floor taxis. I’ve found it just as easy to catch a taxi at the ground floor ranks with no waiting and don’t mind paying the 50b airport surcharge.

I made the BKK to DMK trip by taxi using the toll way at 2300 midweek a couple of weeks ago. The journey took 70 minutes and cost just over 300B including the 2 tolls which worked out at 65B. The travel time would have been less but areas near DMK were flooded after a heavy rain storm.

A couple of days later I took a taxi at 0900 Sunday from DMK to BKK. The driver didn’t use the tollway and the weather was fine. The journey took 50 minutes and cost 260B including the airport surcharge.

From Farma in http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123501

An additional note for DMK. A month ago the wife had to wait over an hour to catch a taxi from DMK at 0930 mid week. There had been plenty of flight arrivals with just a few taxis trickling in to pick up fares. I’ve been through there twice since then without problems. It may have been a bad day.

Also from Farma in http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123501

Bus 555 and 554 from Don Muang to Suvarnbhumi Airport

Saturday 05/05 landed Dong Muang at 14.50, was at taxi stand at 15.05.

50 meters North of taxi stand was bus booth for 555 heading to Suvarnabumi.

Since I had plenty of time gave it a try.

Very heplfull personnel helping loading luggage.

Bus left 15.30, followed Vipawadi Rangsit, stopped often to pick up passengers.

Took Cheang Wattana, went over Rachada Pisek and took Chonbiri tolway to drop passengers at Suvarnabumi terminal 5( luckily not via Transportation Center) Total traveltime 45 minutes, no traffic jams, but saturday afternoon

Price 34 baht.

From tartempion in http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=119516 Other posts in this threed mention bus 554, which takes an other route but needs about the same time to the other airport. Together they operate 24 hours a day in ~ 30 minute intervals.

Taxi in Suvarnabhumi Airport

Ignore all the touts, go down one level from arrivals (have travellators for luggage carts) give your destination at one of the two taxi desks, take the card with drivers name and license number, pay for tollway to the driver and add 50 baht to meter for airport service, small tip welcome. Only licensed and fairly new taxis are allowed to pick up passengers at Savanaboom.

From tartempion in http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=123538 (post #4)

I would hate to sink 800k into a time deposit 3 months prior to applying for the retirement visa, only to find out I was out of luck on the big day.

Easy solution: make it a bit more than 800K, a bit more than 3 month before on a normal saving account of one of the big banks (Bangkok Bank LTD, Kasikorn etc) in a big branch where there are a lot of farangs going in and out.

This will work for sure.

If you try borderline, you may be lucky - or not

Regards

Thedi

You need a workpermit when you do any work in Thailand, independent on who is paying you, or if you work without pay or whether you are dealing with a Thai company or not. That's the law. Even people who helped to clean up after the tsunami where remembered, that they need a work permit - after the first turmoil was over.

The chances, that Thai officals will catch you doing some work on your laptop are nearly zero. For this reason, immigration will want to know where your money comes from, when you want to extend your permission of stay. And if its source is such, that you would need a work permit, they will ask for it.

At the moment, immigration is only interested in your income when you apply for an extension of a non-immigrant visa on a yearly basis. Up to now, I never heard that immigration asked questions about income when extending a tourist visa by 30 days.

If you want to stay in Thailand in the long way, it pays if you are 100% legal. Without legality, you are open to extortion from corrupt officials, ex girlfriends, neighbors or you may run into back luck like an accident.

In my experience, the ex-pats who live in Thailand on the principle that they will not be caught or by bending rules or just be following rules to the letter, but not in their sense, will be frustrated sooner or later. You can find hundreds of their posts in this forum.

You may consider to contact a lawyer (sunbelt) for your options to get a work permit. With a work permit, your chances at immigration are better and if you pay enough taxes you may get permanent residence after 3 years. But for this kind of advice I would only rely on a experienced lawyer.

Regards

Thedi

Last year I looked for a Matayom school in Khon Kaen area. I was trying many forums and got nearly no responses.

Here is a forum for teachers in Thailand: ajarn.com. Your best hope is a contact to an ex teacher of this school.

I also visted the schools myself and found this helpful. Talk with teachers and parents who get and bring their children to school. A good time is in the evening before school finishes. Many parents wait for their kids. In my experience I got much more informations out of Farang then of Thai parents. Thais tend to be too polite to voice criticism.

An other good time is when they eat lunch. How is the athmosphere, relaxed, friendly or over organized?

I always hoped to find contact to parents who took their kids from a particular school, but never found one.

Wishing you good luck

Thedi

All I need in Zurich to get a Non-Immigrant-O multiple entry visa is my Thai marriage certificate (original preferred) and a return ticket originating from Switzerland to Thailand. I have to supply my home address in Switzerland including my phone number. I would not be surprised, if they checked that with the phone book.

Together with CHF 190.- and one or two passport photos. 2 or 3 days waiting time. No problem.

Regards

Thedi

As the name suggests, Tourist Visas are for tourists. Tourists are people, who come to holidays, visit tempels and beaches, but have their centre of life in their home country: they live there, have a home there and just come to holiday to Thailand.

Obviousely you are not a tourist in this sence. So using Tourist Visas is kind of bending a rule. It is not against the law, but it is not in the sense of the law.

You can not expect to get a garantie to go on INDEFINITELY bending a rule.

Your options are:

• be flexible, travel between your home country an Thailand and maybe its neighboring countries and use tourist visas. Now it seems that you can get single entry Tourist visas in the neighboring countries of Thailand and multiple entry Tourist visas in your home country (you will have to specify a home address there). This rules may change without prior notice.
  
• You may get married and have a common income in Thailand (pay tax for) at least 40K/month. You can extend your permission of stay on a yearly basis (not too easy) and if you succeed that for 3 years may apply for permanent residence (where a important question wil be: how many taxes did you pay in Thailand in this 3 years).
  
• You may get married and get an multiple entry nonimmigrant-O visa in your home country. This gives you unlimitted number of entries to Thailand for a year, each stay up to 90 days. You will get this visa only in your home country and you will have to give a home address there and naturally show your marriage certificate from Thailand.
  
• You may get older than 50 years and have an income of at least 65K from aboard (prove required) or at least 800K (originating from aboard) for more than 3 month in a Thai bank. This way you can extend your permission to stay in Thailand on a yearly basis (but no way to permanent residence).
  
• You may go down the route of 30-day-visa-waver entries (wich are restricted to 90 days per 6 month only in Thailand) and fill the threeds of this forum with your complains when your 90 days are up and you get caught when trying to reenter.
  

In short: welcome are tourists, farangs married to a Thai and living with their family in Thailand or living aboard and comming to visit the family anytime and finally retired farangs which bring their pensions to Thailand.

Like any country, Thailand defines its rules for visiting foreigners to suit its own interests only.

In my experience, the more you try to bend rules, the more you will be frustrated in the long way.

Hope this answers your questions

Regards

Thedi

The only info I found here was bus 554 and 555, both operate 24 hours a day, about every 30 minuts. Details see http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=119516

Is there more information?

I guess this information would be very much appreciated by many travellers.

Thanks

Thedi

It seems to me like the discussion 'Open source vs Microsoft'.

You either like it or hate it, depending on your believes.

Thedi

20k.. My feeling is this bikes papers may be no good..

I agree, any imported bike with OK papers would cost more. The papers alone would be at least that.

But for only 20k you may take the risk. As long as you know what you do.

BTW: the prices for imported bikes are the same in Phuket and Khon Kaen.

Regards

Thedi

The normal procedure is, that the dealer will change the registration for you. But many dealers never did that for a farang and will ask you if they can register it in the name of your wife. Do that if you have a wife.

If you do not have a wife, you need a letter from immigration (in Nong Kai, Udon or Korat) stating your permanent address in Thailand. I tried this in Nong Kai some years ago and was turned down, because I do not extend my visa on an yearly basis, but go to Switzerland to work every 3 month. This letter is given to you only, if you are on a non-immigrant visa and extend your permission to stay every year. At least Nong Kai does it like that (Udon is a branch on the Nong Kai immigration); I don't know about Korat - the interpretation of the rules may differ from one immigration office to another.

If they give you this letter, it does not cost anything and you do not need anything special, just passport, maybe one or two photos etc. It is more a question if they give it to you at all.

With the letter from the immigration it should be possible to register the bike in your name. Some registration office never did that before and will try to avoid it. If it does not work in Khon Kaen, you may try Ban Phai, 40 km south of Khon Kaen. I asked about this at the registration office in Ban Phai and they said then: 'no problem, just bring us the letter of permanent address certification from immigration'.

Regards

Thedi

http://www.khonkaen.com/english/attractions/ubolrat_dam1.asp

http://www.khonkaen.com/english/recreation.asp

Regards

Thedi

Problem: I load a website. 50% chance it doesn't work. When it doesn't work, I get "connecting to..." forever. I then hit reload until I see "connected to.." and "transferring data.. " in the Firefox status bar and from that point on the page loads normal.

Some people have suggested that it's a DNS problem and can be fixed by using OpenDNS DNS servers. Haven't tested it myself. Give it a try www.opendns.com....

I have the same problems. It depends on the time of day. Early mornings work fine for me.

Firefox states 'Looking up ...' when it makes a DNS access. Then 'Conneting to ...' after it got the IP-address from the DNS and tries to connect to the web server. I have the impression, that this requests get lost often. Once it passes this stage, it usually works (status 'waiting for...' or 'transfering data from ...', 'reading ...' etc).

From my understanding of networks, this looks like a problem in a filter or firewall. May be an overload problem.

I tried an other DNS once when the TOT DNS was down. This does not solve the above problem at all.

Regards

Thedi

PS: I use Mac OSX.