KevWaters

Hi all,

I used to live in Udon and Sakon Nakhon and will be returning to Isaan this July to stay over at a few other Cities in the area. I was thinking of Roi Et and either Nakhon Phanom or Kelasin.

Which is the best for live music venues, traditional Thai party vibes and general goodtimes from those two?

Research on this forum says Kelasin has Tawang Daeng and Scotts Bar. Not sure about Nakhon Phanom.

Hotels, bars and alternative suggestions welcome.

Hi,

I have read that Prakanong is the closest place to go to do the driving tests for car and bike. However, the website is not very useful.

Does anyone know if I need to pre-book or just turn up on the day? If the latter, what time should I arrive?

I believe I need my work permit as proof of address, my passport (and photocopies - incl. visa), and a medical certificate.

Where can I get the appropriate medical certificate in the area for a good price? Srinakrin Hospital charge around 500 for it.

Also, where can I renew the tax for my bike in the area?

Lastly, will my physical UK drivers licence card suffice or will they require a translated and stamped copy?

Thanks

Thanks, I'll be sure to rent a bicycle.

I am rather glad I didn't book direct to Sakon. It should be a refreshing new experience.

Thanks all for your contributions.

Thanks Sunset, I have now done just that and booked the last room at 777 hometel for that night. There was also a room at NP Residence available. Best to stick with 777 for lively student bar scene?

Thanks a lot for asking the price. I guess it would defeat the point of saving on the plane ticket just to spend the same on the taxi. Definately wont be any vans or other modes of travel at that time to Sakon, right?

Ill take a shuttle into town and try some of the bars if not. Maybe try the SP hotel. Are there many central hotels in case it is fully booked? I'd rather keep my options open rather book ahead if possible. In case some kind soul offers me a ride from the airport for a decent price. Stranger things have happened.

Might I ask why you are not flying directly to Sakon Nakhon. Nok Air has a flight from Bangkok to there that arrives at 8:50 pm. Air Asia has a morning flight.

Sure. I only finish work in BKK at 4pm. The Nok Air evening flight would be fine, but it was twice the price. Figured I would save the 1,000 baht and make the additional one hour journey by bus. I try to cut costs where I can, unless it means getting a long distance bus, which is a NO NO. I am still unsure whether the journey to Sakon is actually possible at that time. I'll look out for taxis and try the number given above. No biggie if not. It sounds like Nakhon Phanom is a fun place to check out too. A new life experience perhaps meeting new locals. Maybe just what I need after being in the big smoke for a year.

I would much rather get to Sakon asap as I am only there for the weekend before making my way back to Bangkok.

Are there no taxis at the airport then? I have never been to Nakhon Phanom before but I did used to live in Sakon, which had no transport links after 6pm.

Is there many bars (that atteact the younger fun loving crowd) near SP Hotel should I need to stay for the night? I guess it would be nice to meet the locals.

Again, would def rather get to Sakon asap though to meet up with old friends.

Thanks.

I just called and got a young man, unfortunately he couldn't speak English. My Thai is ok, as in I can get by and they can understand me in more complex conversations if they think cryptically Although he understood that I needed to travel from the airport to central Sakon Nakhon, I couldn't quite get through to him that I didn't want to rent but was looking for advice regarding buses etc. FYI it is 495 to rent the Nissan Almera for one day

I will just hope that there is a van at the airport waiting for arrivals. If not I will find a hotel for the night.

Thanks again.

Hello knowledgeable members!

I will arrive at Nakhon Phanom Airport at 9pm on a Friday in March and need to get to Sakon Nakhon.

Does anyone know if there are any vans waiting at the airport that can help me with this journey? Is it unlikely that I will be able to make the journey until morning?

Thanks

Few months ago somebody I know (Thai) was pulled into a checkpoint. Made to piss test and the cop said 'positive for ganja' 20,000 bt or go into the system. He paid, maybe this guy didn't have the means. Problem is he could killed all aboard, these drivers should be vetted/tested on regular basis if they want the job of keeping people safe as they travel.

Friend of mine ( Farang ) was pulled at a checkpoint in Pattaya, so drunk he could hardly stand up, it cost him more than 20,000 though.

Did he pay on the spot or go through the court?

So, was he drunk?

It is hard to make sense of what happened, but it sounds like they thought he was under the influence of alcohol but it turns out he was not, but had smoked a joint. They decided to take him in anyway to save face after tailing him for 50km, right?

There is no mention of alcohol reading levels etc.

Thai kale is among the leaf vegetables most heavily contaminated with fertilisers & pesticides.

HIGHLY recommend you thoroughly wash your kale! Soak with a couple of tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda. A little vinegar can be added, too.

THREE rinses, scrubbing the leaves with your hands each time.

This should be your standard veg protocol in Asia where far too many of the fruit & veg come from China. (Gotta love than humanure!)

Cheers for the heads up.

I buy "kale" and "tipped kale" very often from Tops Daily and have only been rinsing it under the tap so far. I have no first hand experience of seeing Thai people use chemicals for farming. Better take precautions.

Has anyone here ever conducted water tests on different bottled waters? I'm interested to know which has the safest amount of heavy metals. At the moment I'm drinking Singha. I would never buy Nestle because of their ethics, and I dont trust Coca Cola Nampthip because of them selling bottled river water from the Thames over on the UK. Anyone got any figures on presence of Aliminium etc?

It doesn't comment on the heavy metal content of the water. Metals are removed by reverse osmosis. Thesw metals are a much bigger concern than dirty machines as they can lead to early onset alzeimers.

I ordered a large 6litre bottle every week that was delivered from a supplier to homes, shops etc. After 2 weeks one time I noticed it was green and smelly inside. I have also seen worms in water machine water bottles. I think the results would be frightening if they publhshed heavy metal analysis tests. Also, I dont drink Nampthip water from Coca Cola as it probably isnt much better. Google Danone water Thames and you will see how Coca Cola just bottled river water in England and sold it on the shelves

I have never heard of Instant Beer...

...but it must be life threatening to warrant such close attention.

(let's be honest... he was snapped by papz buying it at the counter).

Property still available

I've been quoted 33k premium for my son and 13k for my Mrs. Each policy provides 4k per day for room fee at private hospital etc.

I thought I might get it cheaper because I'm with BUPA myself through work, but it seems there isn't really a benefit for that. Maybe there's a family policy but it seems my work would rather just set me up and then gave me pay separately for them both for ease.

Might go with that policy for my son. Haven't seen cheaper stand alone policy with that level of cover anyway.

You should ask your work if they cover your child also.

I was pleasantly surprised last week when i gave them my new born daughters birth certificate for tax purposes and they gave me her private medical card with the same cover as mine.

They use BUPA who will provide cover if I pay an additional amount towards the premium.The agent who is the connection with BUPA to our school hasn't emailed me details of the insurance for my wife and son, despite me chasing it up so it's all up in the air at the moment. she must not care for the commission too much.

Interesting, last Christmas day me and a few friends were having a picnic at the park behind Paradise mall on Sinarkarin Rd when we were approached by a Pakistani man claiming the same thing. Slight difference he was there with his wife and 3 young kids.

To be fair he did not ask for anything but did go on to tell us about having to flee Pakistan due to them facing persecution as they were Christians and had claimed political asylum in Bangkok , i kid you not, i thought that was what the UK was for.

Anyway we ended up giving them a load of food and my rather generous Aussie friend gave each kid some Baht..... Scam or not ???

Interesting indeed.

This happened next door to Paradise Mall at the Tesco in Seacon Square. It may well be the same family. They also did not ask for any money but were quite pushy about us going with them. It sounded like they wanted us to follow them but changed to organising dinner for another time when my wife said we were busy.

The woman was quite chubby. This is the man in the photo, minus the mustache. Same guy?

Hard to tell if it's the same guy but his story matched what realfunster posted. As others have said no harm in giving a little if you want to, but if they were pushy as you suggested I would have left and given nothing.

She was very forward about us going with them, they didn't ask for many. In fact, they only mentioned about being persecuted Christians by LINE later that evening. They haven't messaged since. Maybe it was genuine. It should all felt a bit intense and made me feel uncomfortable. They said that they haven't met many people who can speak English in Bangkok, and don't have many friends. They should go to Nana, it is full of indians there.

I don't think we'll be going to their home for Curry (as she said), but good luck to them if they are indeed genuine asylum seekers.

Ignore the white meanie spud.

[One-more-and-I-ignore].

Welcome to the football forum.

Me - living Isaan (8 years after career in London) but have condo in On Nut so visit BKK once a month at least. My mother's side is from Pudsey (Dad - Doncaster) and started my career in Leeds 1974 for 4 years (living Chapeltown then Roundhay). Watched most home games in the immediate post-Revie era but never quite got hooked on the Lillywhites who were a shadow of their former selves by then. So I stopped following them when I went to the US in 1982 and got into NFL. Back to London 2 years later and finished my working life in 2006 and met Thai wife shortly therefafter and moved out here. Shifted my UK base from city-boy flat in London to a senile Aunt's house in Pudsey in 2009 until 2 years ago when she died, but not before I had spent some time surprising myself how nice it was to return to Yorkshire even if only part-time. But was hooked on EPL by then (and Arsenal) so I preferred to shop around for EPL games in places like Wigan, rather than get the bus down to Elland Road on the occasions I went back to the UK.

Still have an affection for things Leeds though - a much finer City than those who don't know it give credit. I'l try to look you guys up one match day

Sure, you are welcome to come join us at the Sportsman on Soi 13 any match game. I lived in Wigan for many years before I came here so we may well know the same places.

*televised match game.

Interesting, last Christmas day me and a few friends were having a picnic at the park behind Paradise mall on Sinarkarin Rd when we were approached by a Pakistani man claiming the same thing. Slight difference he was there with his wife and 3 young kids.

To be fair he did not ask for anything but did go on to tell us about having to flee Pakistan due to them facing persecution as they were Christians and had claimed political asylum in Bangkok , i kid you not, i thought that was what the UK was for.

Anyway we ended up giving them a load of food and my rather generous Aussie friend gave each kid some Baht..... Scam or not ???

Interesting indeed.

This happened next door to Paradise Mall at the Tesco in Seacon Square. It may well be the same family. They also did not ask for any money but were quite pushy about us going with them. It sounded like they wanted us to follow them but changed to organising dinner for another time when my wife said we were busy.

The woman was quite chubby. This is the man in the photo, minus the mustache. Same guy?

Maybe they found you guys attractive.

Funny you sat that as that was my first thought. His Mrs was giving me some really funny looks. Maybe she wanted me to do a demonstration in front of her fella.

I'm very trusting, thankfully my wife gave me the wake up call and we didn't stick around them for too long.

Come to think of it, I think you might be right. When they were talking to us I didn't see them actually buying anything. Also, she followed us to get our number near to the door but he was still near the tills and she had to call him over to confirm their number as correct. I don't know why they weren't together, maybe he was pulling the trick on other people. They did have a little kid aged 1 with them who was wearing eye liner, which made me feel a little suspicious at first but then dismiss it as me being too judgmental. The fact that they were Pakistani's dressed like westerners (superman shirt etc) who are persecuted by their own people, but still adopt exclusive parts of that culture just didn't seem "real" to me. It didn't add up. I think they were staying illegally, low on cash and probably used the persecution idea to suggest otherwise. I will block them on LINE. Thanks for the heads up as I didn't know it was a "common" scam.

Hello football fans,

We have now started up a Leeds United Supporters Club in Bangkok, primarily for us all to get together on a match day to watch the game together. We are currently 4 games old. We would like as many Leeds United fan's to join us for the game against Boro on the 27th September 2015 and then every televised game there after. Please feel free to join our Facebook Page - "Leeds United Bangkok Whites" and keep on touch with events etc.

Marching on together,

Howdy,

Last night I was approached my a Pakistani couple whilst checking out of Tesco and they were very keen to become friends with me and my wife asking where we lived and what Country we are from. Within seconds they were inviting us to their house for food and asking for our numbers. At first, they could me by surprise and I was caught up in their seemingly friendly nature and agreed to give out my LINE to them. They have messaged me saying how they are Christian Pakistani's forced to leave their own Country due to persecution.

I have started to feel a bit suspicious about their forwardness and openness. Has anyone here heard about any tricks made by such people? I did read up a bit and read that some Pakistani's in Bangkok have been tricking people into letting them see their foreign and local money and then taking it. Does anyone here have any experience/knowledge of this? Maybe I am being overly cynical, who knows, either way I don't think I will be taking up the invitation.