keestha

I can confirm it is not so easy to be consequent in speaking English with your child when you are conversing in Thai with your wife all the time.

Our daughter is 2 years 3 months now, and though I do speak English to her, I don't think she realizes yet that there is more than one language: I keep pointing at somebody's hair in a picture, saying hair, hair, but all she says then is phom, phom (Thai word for hair). Unavoidably when I want her to understand something quickly, like in a situation that could be dangerous, sometimes I speak to her in Thai.

I hope though that when she becomes better in verbal communication in general, her understanding and speaking ability of English will also improve.

Maitree Jongkraijak, a Ban Nam Khem community co-ordinator, said he received an SMS warning from the National Disaster Monitoring Center (NDMC) at about two minutes after midnight following a report of a 4.8 Richter quake.

When another SMS warning arrived at 5am, he and the volunteers woke up residents of the community and led about 400 of them to the upper floors of the three-story Ban Nam Khem School

Don't think there are many people fortunate enough to receive the NDMC warnings. Somebody who heard about the earthquake called us at 5AM, so uphill we drove to Khao Lak village center, where we met just 4 people who were aware of what had happened. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary here.

Must admit though that I also refrained from calling people to alert them, there have been so many false alarms.

Mostly for me and my family driving down to Phuket is a matter of getting business done (usually shopping mile/hospital), and then heading straight back to Khao Lak.

But last friday we decided to make kind of an outing of it, so things being done we drove down to Rawai, and then all the way up the coast: Kata, Karon, Patong, Kamala.

For the first time in Rawai/Nai Harn since a few years, it looked nice enough for me: string of low key looking bars along the beach, could imagine this is a nice area for expats to live.

As usual whilst driving around in Southern Phuket, continuously I had the feeling of being at the outskirts of a big city. Shopping malls, gasstations, building sites, large restaurants geared for tour groups, and so on.

But what really surprised me, was the number of signs in Russian language that weren't there a few years ago: mainly lawyers offices, real estate firms and restaurants. Nothing new for you Phuket expats, but not having driven around the island extensively for a number of years, it really surprised me.

I am operating a small resort which is geared for foreign tourists. This low season there are far less tourists around in Khao Lak than during the previous low season.

But since about a week or so all of a sudden there are a lot of people turning up asking about rooms. Too early to speak about a turnaround, but possibly people are becoming more confident the economical recession is bottoming out. I could also imagine that the fear for the H1N1 flu is receding a bit: after all the same story (till now) as the chicken flu a few years ago: a lot of speculation that the virus might mutate and become more dangerous, but nothing really happening.

Closest border crossing is in Ranong 200 KM north of Khao Lak. You can cross over by longtailboat to Burma/Myanmar, or you can go to the pier of the Andaman Club, a hotel/casino on an island just inside Burma opposite Ranong. The latter option is more comfortable, but takes a bit more time and costs a bit more.

You can take the public bus to Ranong, or alternatively go on an organized border run, enquire at a Khao Lak travel agency or check ads in the Phuket Gazette.

My infant daughter (2 years 2 months old) loves to play online games. The first game I played with her is called peekaboo: the infant hits any key, and a friendly animal appears which says "peekaboo". Every day, several times she drags me into the office, saying "papa, peekaboo".

But she got bored pretty soon of this type of game, which requires the infant to hit any key, after which something meaningless happens. The only games she likes to play for an extended period are a few learning games, such as the zoo animals ABC game on the Fisher-Price website, which is meant for teaching infants the alphabet. Another hit is a game geared for teaching infants about shapes and colors.

Mostly games in the toddler category are still too difficult for her: they require the use of the mouse, a technique she doesn't master yet.

What would for example be useful, would be a game which requires the infant to hit any key, after which a familiar object like a door or a car appears. It should be accompanied by a voice saying door or car, and the door being opened or closed, or the car driving off, of course with the sound this makes.

Did anybody come across any useful websites?

Hope I am not off topic here, I am certainly not interested in body building...........but the other day I was a bit disappointed not being able to find a website that describes simple excercises that can be done at home/at work without using equipment, preferably with illustrations to make clear how exactly to carry out those excercises.

Yesterday an acquaintance who lives in Chalong told me that a lot of the foreigners living in his area have left because of visa problems / job loss / failing businesses.

Do you Phuket expats have the same experience?

Interesting subject. An online forum is like a bar: the crowd of regulars is changing all the time. Some keep going there for a long time, others only briefly. Some disappear overnight, whilst others slowly fade away.

I just successfully applied for a one year visa extension (non imm B.). My last entry into the Kingdom was March 12, stamped admitted until June 9,2009, based on a 1 year multiple entry non imm B.

I expected the extension to be until March 12, 2010, but to my surprise I was stamped in until June 9, 2010. When questioned about it, the immigration officer stated this was just how he was instructed by the regional head office in Hadyai.

Is anybody aware that a rule or the accepted interpretation of a rule might have changed?

Koh Phangan has seen an exponential rise in the number of expats moving there in the past few years and it makes me wonder if its just Koh Phangan or do people in other parts of Thailand see the same increase in expats moving to their areas?

What type of expats are they, sbk?

There is roughly 3 categories I think:

1) people who start businesses or have the ambition to do so

2) guys married to or together with a Thai lady, who are here only part of the year

3) retirees

Khao Lak might be comparable to Koh Phangan, both are up and coming tourist destinations

There are more and more expats coming here who are opening businesses, about the other categories of expats I am less sure.

Hi, I am looking to fund a business for my inlaws who live in the petchabun province

Ideas I have come up with as follows: 7/11, family mart, privately owned newsagents, internet/game shop, breed fish for eating, hydrophonics, cosmetics shop

any ideas TV?

Some parts of Petchabun are quite beautiful, maybe you could consider a homestay program for tourists. Homestay programs by the way are also advertised for Thai tourists.

I left Thailand about 4 years ago and kept my Thai Farmers bank account active with a few hundred baht in it.

I will soon be returning. Will I find my account has been closed? I guess my ATM card will have expired but I forgot the pin number anyways.

I still have the passbook /account number etc.

Should I try to reactivate the account? I won't have a wp for a while so I wont qualify for a new account.

Any thoughts?

Once I tried to reactivate a long dormant K-Bank (ex Thai Farmers Bank) account that had just 300 baht in it. K-Bank told me the account was closed, and they gave me the money that had been in it.

Dormant accounts with very little funds in it only cost the bank money, adds a lot to the administration costs.

OP, in case K-Bank would tell you the account is closed, I would try to open a new account right away, the wp rule is not so rigidly enforced everywhere.

From a Bavarian friend I learned the German expression "fruehshoppen". It means meeting up with a lot of people in a pub in the morning, with the intention of having certainly more than 1-2 drinks. It might be a specifically Bavarian thing, and one can assume the vast majority of the people occasionally partaking in such a session in the weekend are not alcoholics.

I remember also having had a bit of a dip after living for one and a half years in Thailand. In the beginning you go through kind of a honeymoon period: everything is new and interesting, and you learn a lot, especially about yourself, adapting to a completely different culture. But after one and a half years this feeling wears off.

Oh well, tourism inevitably causes minor cultural frictions. The guy going shirtless, not taking off his shoes where he is supposed to, using a handkerchief to blow his nose, and so on....

But what about the Thai tourist in a bar in Australia who accidently knocks over someones beer, and then smiles whilst apologizing?

Driving into Phuket Town from the north (Thepkasatri Road), right before or right after the Phuket Town Inn Hotel, at the right hand side. Had no problems buying my New Years Eve fireworks there last year.

If someone in a bar in the west ordering a tequila would be given lao kao instead, would he notice the difference?

An all inclusive (flight, hotel, food, drinks) holiday package to the Dominican Republic will be cheaper than a holiday in Thailand. But you will spend the whole day in the hotel compound, staff discourage people from going outside, they say it's dangerous.

There are similar packages for Isla da Marguarita (Venuzuela), don't know about the price level.

For individual travellers, some of these islands are VERY expensive (Aruba), but there are also less touristy islands with a more acceptable price level.

Would like to hear from people with first hand experience.

There are no reliable hotel occupancy rate statistics. Only the large upmarket hotels contribute to the statistics.

In Phangnga (Khao Lak) and Krabi, last high season the 500-1000 Baht guesthouses were packed, but the larger more expensive hotels were struggling. I concede though that the total number of tourists has declined, my impression is that mainly the package tourists are staying away.

Sure there are good deals to be had now, what about 4 weeks flight+room, breakfast included, in a Khao Lak 3/4 star hotel for 1100 Euro?

In my resort I have a lot of plastic chairs and tables, they are outside on the porches of the bungalows, where they don't always stay dry of course.

Now after 4 years they are looking quite shabby: lots of dark spots on them, that seem impossible to remove. It might also have to do with the fact that I am close to the beach. I guess you cant paint plastic furniture, but would there be some other way to touch it up a bit?

No doubt other posters will point out that also for online work which has nothing to do with Thailand, but which is done in Thailand, technically you do need a work permit. There have been many threads about this subject.

Probably many people would like to know which bank you are dealing with.

If I were doing this, I would pick a small town that does not yet have a 7-11. No competition.........money, money, money.

But it is not like the sky is the limit. If a 7/11 is doing really good business, soon CPALL or a franchisee will open a second 7/11.

The tambon where I live has five 7/11 stores now, because it is a tourist area there is a lot of money rolling around.

As a comparision, the middle sized town of Sateuk in Buriram province, where I have been going frequently the last 4 years, has just one 7/11, at a very good location. The shop has good traffic, but is not excessively busy, you never have to queue.

It is just that the spending power of the local people is low I guess.

I also saw 7/11s disappear, for instance in Hua Hin where at one point there were two 7/11s less than 50 meters apart.

By the way I have been wondering about 7/11s at obscure gas stations, would they make enough turnover?

Rentokill sprayed against termites several times, plus I regularly replace damaged woodwork. A termite problem you cannot 100% solve I believe, you can only keep it in check. Wouldn't know what poison they sprayed though.

I am running a small resort close to the beach, which mainly consists of freestanding bungalows.

One bungalow seems to have a problem that I cant figure out. The problem seems to be there only for a small minority of the people though. Many people have stayed in this bungalow, also for extended periods, without having any complaints.

But I guess about 10% of the guests who are shown this bungalow or stay in it for just one night, say that there is something in the air which makes them feel unwell, they cant breath properly and so on. They always blame the problem on mould, though the bungalow doesn't look mouldy at all. I am trying to maintain my property well. True this bungalow has a problem with termites, but so have many of my other bungalows.

It happened quite a few times that I showed a guest this bungalow, and right away they seemed to smell something most people cannot smell, and they asked to be shown a different bungalow, or they discovered they had a problem after being in the room for half an hour or so, or during the first night sleeping there. Again, the vast majority of the guests doesn't have any problem with this bungalow, the last high season at least 4 people stayed in there for over 2 weeks.

Now I am thinking about putting laquer on all the woodwork and furniture in the bungalow, but is there maybe something else I could do?

Last of all maybe I should mention the only thing that makes this bungalow different from its neighbours, is that the ceiling is less high, and thus slopes down at a lower angle, which might make it a bit more humid.