keestha

What type of roof is it? If it is a flat roof, I can share my highly unpleasant leakage saga, and the expertise acquired in the process. Did you already kick in a post in the Do it yourself housing forum? Even if you are not planning on DIY, it could bring some useful hints about methods to solve the problem.

Shouldn't be so difficult to find somebody with a pick-up who can do it for a bit less. But add up yourself: gasoline, food, hotel 1 night, 2 days work, use of a vehicle, 15k isn't that far off the mark.

Interesting to know the Thai Post could do it, you learn something new every day.

Quoting the OP: I have ben told, that the town about 50km from Phuket has a Muslim bombing a few months ago and it is getting dodgy for road bloc robberies in the national parks. Should I go the more Eastern route ?

And I have been told the moon is made of cheese. Sounds like I am living in this town or quite close to it, and it is 100% nonsense, should not be on a web forum. Rumours are born so easily.

Often genuine tourists who came in on a 30 day visa free entry stamp, decide to extend their holiday and do a visa run for an additional 15/30 days stamp. I hope it remains possible for them to do this, just once or even twice. These people should not be affected by this measure which is directed against people who reside in Thailand permanently without a proper visa. But maybe only practice will show how this pans out, unless authorities clarify further.

Often looking for information about some specific subject, threads in this forum pop up in Google, so pretty sure Thai people are also reading it.

Ask her for more detailed information. She probably needs a confirmation from the landlady (your wife) that she is staying there. If you give her the ID card and tabbian ban (house registration book) copies, on those copies should be written that they are given for this purpose only. It sounds a bit like this lady doesn't know herself exactly what documentation she needs.

What irks me is the inconsistencies that seem to apply from one immigration office / border checkpoint / embassy / consulate / official to the next.

Point taken and you are right, but mostly the same could be said of most countries in the world.

I am sure almost all rural Thai people if you ask permission to pitch a tent on their land for a night or two, will be highly amused and will not object!

Just hiking up the hill it might be difficult to find a place to pitch a tent.

The ED loophole is bound to be closed off some day. How long can it realistically take to learn a language, maybe 2 years? Everybody depending on this type of visa should plan ahead expecting the screws to tighten, and try to find a more durable solution.

I think that you might find somewhere in the small print under the terms of service of many photo sharing sites, that once the picture has been uploaded to the site, it becomes public domain.

Willing to believe that, but suppose your picture, taken from such a site, appears on the cover of a book titled 21th century crooks, wouldn't it in most countries be possible to successfully undertake legal action?

Probebly the case of not enough people to cheat in Surin, plus, you don't crap where you eat,

Thai people cannot do right eh?

Has been written enough about it: Often expats seem to go through kind of a honeymoon period their first about one and a half years in Thailand, thinking they found paradise, a country full of sweetly smiling people, where everything seems to go super easy. Later though the novelty wears off and certain things start bothering them, and alas in more then a few cases they even end up being embittered, possibly also grabbing for the bottle too often, whining with like minded expats.

Wouldn't it be nice to share some stories from our honeymoon period? I'll start with one of mine.

1992. I was staying at a guesthouse in Bangkok, looking for a job as an English teacher. There was a classified ad in the Bangkok post from a language school at Pinklao Road, I called them, and was invited to drop by straight away. So out I went in the sweltering heat, and waited for the packed red city bus. Went into a cafe a few doors from the language school to prepare mentally and tidy up my appearance a little bit.

I went into the office of the language school, and it was full of absolute stunners, female staff working there. They all looked up when I walked in, smiling at me like I was kind of a teenage heartthrob.

I asked about Mr. Chalermchai who was to interview me, and was quickly directed to his table. Chalermchai seemed like quite a nice guy, and the interview went very smoothly. He assured me he would call me the following day or at the latest the day after that, and I shouldn't forget to let him know if i would change rooms in the guesthouse, so that he would be able to get hold of me for sure (no mobile phones yet back then).

I left the office being sure I had the job. Out on the street, I pinched myself to make sure I was alive and not in paradise already. I felt high without any chemicals involved! What a terrific country, your first job application you walk into an office full of dazzlingly beautiful girls who smile at you like they are ready to hit it off with you straight away, and you are given the job right away after just one interview.

The next day and the two days after that I stayed in the guesthouse, waiting for the guy to call. Only the third day it slowly started getting through to me that the guy had just been polite to me Asian style, not telling me there were other candidates and me certainly not being the best one, not being a native English speaker to start with.

Same story in Phangnga, was in and out in 3 minutes.

Nice looking girl, but assuming she is not part of the deal, does her presence make any sense marketing-wise? She only distracts, and might even negatively influence the prospective buyer's wife if her husband calls her over to have a look at this terrific opportunity.

OP, consider renting a car, if you can afford it. Travelling long distance will be a breeze, just a bit of stress in cities finding a hotel with a parking lot.

Money talks in every country, not just Thailand. They are just more open about it. Happened every day in the US,mut on a much much larger scale........

Interesting...so then, you have examples of illegal encroachment 'on a much much larger scale' onto park lands in the USA?

He is a newbie.. still in the honeymoon period of Thailand.. his pink spectacles are still not off. Guys like that need to say stuff like this happens in the west to feel better.

Not any reason for you to question amerasians credibility, just explain why he is wrong in your opinion. Writing me also off as a pink spectacles wearing newbie won't cut it.

She looks like the mom and pop store lady around the corner......oh well, turn it around, if you look like a crook you have no other choice than remaining honest.

In the nineties there was a bar in Pattaya, run by a ex-légionnaire, which was a bit of a meeting spot. Not sure if it still exists.

The beachfront in that area is visually very pleasing......but one of the reasons for that is that in many places the water gets deep right off the beach and often there is a bit of a current, so not so suitable for swimming, hence not too much tourism development yet.

Difficult to arrange something like that from a distance. If you ask around a bit in Khokkloy about houses for rent, you'll soon get lots of proposals. In case you don't speak much Thai, it would be good if somebody comes along who can. Almost surely the house will be unfurnished, but you can buy cheap furniture locally. If you don't know anybody in the area, somebody like a noodle shop lady could be a good starting point. You could also drive/ride around looking for signs saying for rent or rather ให้เช่า (for rent in general) or ห้องพัก (more like a room for rent, could also be a bungalow though), most signs in Thai because it is not a tourist area.

RIP Roberto, and my condolences to anybody who was close to him.

But I cannot see that an individual case of suicide, which is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, should be a news item.

Every day a gray unmarked van drives through the streets of Stockholm. The men sitting in the vehicle have the grim task of collecting bodies of people who killed themselves.

But only very few of these cases make it into the news, also if it concerns people who were not Swedish.

I saw quite a few instances of mob justice in Africa, and I am displeased getting the impression that it is becoming more of a usual thing in Thailand nowadays.

From Khao Lak: I get Indian guests at my hotel occasionally, usually families who want to stay with many people in one bungalow. As a rule they come from the Mumbai area or from Chennai/Bangalore. I am happy with them, they also eat in the restaurant and book tours.

Russians + people from former Soviet Union countries are also not unusual. They are a different type of people than the say Russians who come with a tour group, they are travelling independently. I noticed with Russian and so on couples, often the husband doesn't speak English, but the wife does. When Ivan is drinking vodka with his friends, Natasha is doing something which makes more sense: She is learning English!

Practically no mainland Chinese till now. But often buses with Chinese tour groups stop in front of the 7/11 in Khao Lak, giving the staff there a headache. (hehe maybe it makes them more farang friendly). Last low season I went to eat at a nicely laid out lakeside restaurant in Khao Lak, but I will never go back there because the scene there is now completely dominated by Chinese tour groups, I think on their way back from Khao Sok to Phuket.

As stated above, go there by yourself, at the pier you will be met by local men who offer the tour by long tail boat. As far as the price is concerned, aim for 1200-1400 Baht. (Also depends a bit on how many people are going). See that you get there in the afternoon, then you don't have to walk over the Chinese heads at the James Bond Island. In the morning it is very crowded with tour groups.

I am glad to come from a country where patriotism/national pride only pops up during international soccer competitions.