Hadrian1

Your friend(you) should open a Thai bank account and gain trust in the Thai economy.

Every party will benefit

If it was me, why would I need pretend otherwise. He asked me because I actually lived in Bangkok in the late 90's. I worked there. I banked with Thai Farmers to begin with and then BKK bank because I changed employers. I have nothing to hide. The best years of my life to date. I wish I could return....but it's highly unlikely. I'm just helping a mate who'se just been there on holiday and spent most of that on Samui. He is in his late fifty's and retired with a pension. He would like to give living out there a go.

If the Thai baht runs into trouble then it is us as Westerners who will benefit !

if the gent does as you suggest he would be wise to transfer money in £ as the exchange rate will be for favorable in Thailand than in the UK.

Accessing cash via ATMs is expensive as most Thai Banks make a charge which is separate from the UK bank charges.

Thank you for both of your replies. So then, once he will have transferred to a Thai bank....let's say Bangkok Bank......what would be the best way? Visit the bank and make a largeish withdrawl as opposed to frequent use of the ATM? Do you know who much they charge at the ATM's?

Hi,

I've got a friend who has been to Thailand and when out there he was using his UK debit card in the ATM's when out there. Of course, there's a fee everytime he did this. He is thinking of going out there again in 2014; he will be staying mainly on Koh Samui but also travelling a little. He's retired with a pension and he's considering making it a long term stay. I suggested to him to open a bank account with a Thai bank and transfer a lup sum into there to avoid the ATM transaction costs. But he said that he wasn't keen on doing that because he said there were concernt about the Thai economy and I guess he'd be worried about Thai baht devaluation. He said that he was thinking of opening an account with some Australian bank or other who had a presence in Thailand. I'm not sure how these things work so could somebody suggest the best way to be able to get access to money without the risk of losing value if the Thai economy runs into trouble? Thank you.

Oh yes, the meat I saw being used was chicken.

I spent some time working in a Thai 'restaurant' in the UK. They used a number of vegetables.....onion, carrot, green/red pepper, long beans, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms.

For the 'paste' they had a 50/50 mix red/green chillies. This was then put in a fodd processor with garlic at the rate of around 75% chillies to 25 garlic. Blitz but not to paste. This was then covered with oil and would keep a long time in the fridge.

The meat wassn't minced but cut rather finely.

In a dish for one after firstly frying the beg and meat in a little oil 2 desert spoons of oyster sauce was added along with half a desert of white sugar. Then one desert of Soya sauce and a little....maybe half a desert of dark soya sauce.

Taste to make sure the balance of flavours is correct ie sweet/salty.

Holy Basil added at the end followed by a little white pepper for a nice fragrance. I also like to fried egg on top.

I did see it made without any basil because it had ran out. Still very nice.

Thais are clean people!

Never seen one was there hands after taking a crap.

Regarding hairs in the food I would push the plate to one side and eat what else I had ordered, pay and leave and not think to much about it.

So you eat food prepared by people who don't wash their hands after using the toilet? Because you suggest they never do this? Bullshit!

Where I used to regularly eat when I was there I can remember a couple of times seeing a swarm of fly/moth creatures flying around. They would get everywhere including one or two in the Tom Yum. On another occasion at another place, I found a larvae in my fried rice.......but hey, it's part of the charm of Thailand. It won't be long before they all have to get their Health and Safety Certificates and also their Hygiene Certificates etc etc the cost of which will be passed onto the consumer. Enjoy not getting ripped off while it lasts.

I was never ill there from eating any food in almost 4 years of eating mainly at street side'establishments'. The Thais are a clean people.

Wandee Culinary School

Website is in Thai, but maybe you can get through it.

You can switch to English if you want to using the Brit Flag button at the top. I heard this is a good course. I'm thinking of doing it myself. The Le Cordon Bleu course looks interesting but very expensive and they cover the business side of running a Thai restaurant too. But it's a new course and the first intake of students haven't yet completed. I'd love to chat with one of these but I haven't been able to track one down.....yet.

PS Roc634, I can give you a little more info on Wandee if you want to contact me.

The Hard Rock Cafe in Siam Sq used to have a happy hour. Buy one beer or jug and get one free. Do they still do this?

Excuse me for being nosy....but what happened? This is almost like a soap. I'm waiting for the next instalment.

Anybody here doing this programme or know anything about it?

I know that a lot of potatoes sold in the UK are now grown in......Egypt. I saw a programme on it. They were grown in the desert but fed and irrigated of course. And if I remember correctly, they were a Scottish variety.

I lived in Thailand for almost 4 years. I ate mostly in you side road locals eateries and street food. I wasn't ill once from eating in one of these places. I was once ill form eating a Take-away in the UK a few years ago. But that wasn't Thai. And the Health and Safety rules and regulations in the UK are 'crippling'.

Would beer be taken before you got ill after eating out.

No. I was on my way home from work which I finished at 10 PM. No beer involved.

I lived in Thailand for almost 4 years. I ate mostly in you side road locals eateries and street food. I wasn't ill once from eating in one of these places. I was once ill form eating a Take-away in the UK a few years ago. But that wasn't Thai. And the Health and Safety rules and regulations in the UK are 'crippling'.

There's at least a couple of on-line Thai shops in the UK. I use the following:

www.thai-food-online.co.uk

PS

Where do shops like these get their Thai vegs from? A lot from Thailand I suppose. I suppose they have to pay for some licence or other to the government....which then makes it allright.

Which country are you in?

Thanks for those replies.

I am from Malaysia. Not sure if holy basil is available.

What about stock ? is it required ?

I live in the UK and it's available here. It is apparently even possible to grow it here and they sell the seeds here in several places so I'll try to do that. I wasn't successfull last year. :-(

I spent a couple of days learning a little Thai cooking in London. I saw them cooking this Thai dish Gai karpow and they didn't have any Holy Basil at the time. It still tasted really nice. I might post it up later but it's a westernised version.

Which country are you in?

The first thing you need to learn if you want to become rich is to learn how money works.

Anybody understand what I'm saying?

Yes, i do "the flow of money only way, many coming in nothing is going"

Good lesson thanks for that

Good attempt......but no cigar.

No replies. I don't suppose anybody here will be 'getting' rich then.

The first thing you need to learn if you want to become rich is to learn how money works.

Anybody understand what I'm saying?

There is not an 'UK Citrus Industry' as far as I know. Anyway, I've decided not to do this and will buy from a UK nursery. Thanks for the replies.

Maybe it was wiped out by the dreaded kaffir lime leaf lurgi?

Good decision in the end I think. If I was your friend I wouldn't be happy after getting caught smuggling plants into the country, they might start looking where only doctors and customs men are allowed to go, ouch

Many varieties can't survive watter-logged conditions including the kaffir Lime and few varieties can survive sub zero temps. One of these is the Japanese Bitter Orange which I've already got. It's often used as a root-stock which I might try grafting a Kaffir onto. The Japanese Bitter Orange (or as otherwise known Poncirus Trifoliata) can withstand sub-zero temps. Unfortunately, it's fruit are too bitter to eat.

There is not an 'UK Citrus Industry' as far as I know. Anyway, I've decided not to do this and will buy from a UK nursery. Thanks for the replies.

Guppy,

The question is....where does one buy in Thailand?

I gave you an idea in post #2, good luck.

Yes cheers. Do they have such a concept as 'Garden Centres' or something similar in Thailand?

Guppy,

Thanks for your help. But I know they are being sent to the UK from a seller in Malaysia via ebay and not sure about other places too. My mate might even send it via post to me. The question is....where does one buy in Thailand? I don't want to bring in any drugs or whatever....just a humble Kaffir Lime seedling a few inches in height and not be fleeced for it.

I live in the UK. I did get some seeds before but I wasn't successfull in getting them to germinate. Plants can be quite expensive here.