Gold2005

I am looking for somone who can fix our leaking house roof. A roofing contractor or builder who has experience. It needs some work doing to it and also then resolving the hug ceiling that is damaged throughout. It is about 1-1.5 hours outside of Lophuri so not so easy to find someone it seems....any ideas or help greatly appreciated. They can stay nearby if they do it. Accomodation can be provided.

If anyone knows a good roofer or some one who they knwo doesa good job on roofs I woudl be most grateful. Having a real problem trying to get a roofer in Chaibadan near Lophuri.

Having been personally affected by this as a foreigner and a Thai tax payer and worker here I am so pleased to even hear some potentially good news. Well done for everyone and I hope this works and brings this country back onto the road of peace. To avoid more conflict it is so much better to compromise, talk and show compassion. Violence is no good for anyone and I think the PM has actually done a very good job of an incredibly difficult and complex situation. Easy for us armchair experts but just imagine what it was like to deal with. Good luck for Thailand ! I wish all sides peace and prosperity. I know it is early days but the glimmer of hope is so much better than the doom and gloom of conflict. Whatever it takes to bring back peace and stability. Certainly the Wests tough uncompromising attitude to our counrties problems with other nations has not worked and being so dam_n one minded has only brought more problems for us. So if the sides can compromise and agree we should all be happy. I hope and prey this works and it will be a great credit to Thailand to resolve their problems. Good luck and I am hoping for more good news !!

A good friend of mine who unfortunately died not so long ago said to me:

"Never talk politics or religion with friends and keep out of such discussions. Try to say nice things about people rather than bad and look for the good in life rather than dwell on the negative. Do that and you will find you will always have a happy time. Life is far too short to spend it hating."

Such wise words.

This is really bad and none of us like to see what is going on. There are some bad things happening that is for sure....however I do think we should also not allow ourselves to get too bogged down in just concentrating our minds on only negative and sad things happening in Thailand. This is only in various pockets of Bangkok and a few smaller places outside. Tragic and horrible.....but....The rest of Thailand; the majority of people are going on life as normal. So albeit this is all very sad and naturally worrying for anyone living here, it is not the whole big picture. Terrible yes, worrying yes, sad yes.... but life goes on and there are I believe 60 odd million people in Thailand and they are not involved. Remember the race riots in the UK in the 80's: 650 properties burnt, widespread looting and a policeman had his head cut off and put on a 16 foot pole then used to taunt police. His name was PC Blakelock if any remember those disturbing times. USA riots, numerous dead and injured, looting and mayhem. The French riots even worse. Australian race problems, Italy etc etc.... All countries have problems and often it turns to violence. Thailand is not the only country to have such problems. Different reasons but violence is violence. It is not nice to see. But sadly, its how human beings behave sometimes. How many people die of gun related crimes every day in the USA. How many people stabbed on a Friday night in England. Football match violence..........the list goes on. Does it mean the end is coming. No of course not. And people still go to the USA and Europe on holiday, albeit violence is common. Life goes on. Of course...I do not wish to sound like I am in anyway trivialising the terrible and shocking past few days here, but we must be clear headed about this and not get carried away with only bad bad bad. No one can predict the future and we can only hope it gets better. I am optimistic. This is a tiny percentage of what is going on in Thailand right now. Lets hope they start to calm down and lets hope things get resolved. Sure it is terrible and not good for Thailand or anyone.....but keep optimistic ! Hope is all we have in life when things go bad !

Uthai Thani - Wat Jantaram - Wat Thasung Compound

Yours truly,

Kan Win

Superb photos. I wish my snaps looked as good as these do !!! Well done.

seeing as how I have more than a few sunset photos, I shall add them here for others to decide if they are TV calendar worthy or not

Beautiful photos. Amazing

Good move !

Not the last time I checked no.

Try Stephan at satihoga.com Very nice man and helped alot of people find property. People always talk nicely about him and recommend him.

I think it is personal and about what you are looking for. We are all different and all want and like different things. If you like an easy going way of life, reasonably low costed living, cooler weather at times, countryside, golf and want to be close enough to a fairly large city....Chiang Mai is a winner. I think it is either the most popular or one of the most popular retirement places in SE Asia. But its only what I read. Thailand is a good place to retire especially if you have had a reasonable career and have some money saved, pension or some investments . Good restaurants, bars, shops, hospitals and so on. Many people love it. I saw a good article on a web site called Xomba about retirement in Chiang Mai. Useful information and comments. Maybe check it out.

www.changthai.com. is a good one and I am usre you will have a great time and learn alot. Elephants are such amazing animals.

If I hear of anyone let you know. But maybe you have already found a good home. Hope so

Maybe a bit too late but you should try thailandarchitects.com Really helpful. Thai English speaking architects. Many architects don't like getting into disputes for the obvious reasons but you can try them. Good luck with it.

Here is a genuine testimonial from a recent customer of Kensington who are builders in Chiang Mai. I mentioned them before but bumped into a friend and he was telling me how pleased he was with their service. I asked permission to use it. I think it speaks for itself. With some companies treating their customers with no care and regard, particularly as we saw with the run up to the awful world recession. I think these guys deserve a mention. What a fabulous recommendation. I love to see people running proper companies and doing well. It is so positive in these difficult times. Good on ya lads !

“As an expatriate married to a Thai lady and hoping to spend my retirement in Chiang Mai, for me and many others like me, our first priority was to have a comfortable home built to European and international standards; standards we have been accustomed to during our working life and now seek to continue in our retirement. Until I found Kensington my worries/concerns were to be sure my house would be properly and reliably constructed, with proper plumbing, electrics, quality finish with proper control, supervision and good quality interior/exterior materials.

Having heard of the horror stories of some others who entrusted their house construction to incompetent contractors and having overflowing toilets, flooding drains, house fires with improper wiring etc, I was most relieved from my first meeting with Graeme James, that I was able to notice at once that I was dealing with a professional outfit. I had no hesitation in entrusting my life savings in a luxurious villa in the hands of Kensington. Now over a year on my house is completed to standards better than my expectations. They conducted business with a caring personal touch whilst I was thousands of miles away in Oman. They carried out everything as if I was present each day at the construction site. I can from my personal experience recommend Kensington as an honest, reliable and highly competent contractor; with a professional management team which will cater for your every preference in constructing your house at very competitive market rates. Thanking you.” Kingsley & Katai Pathmanathan October 12th 2009

Wife and I bought a small lot in Mae Rim. Now need a good recommendation for a builder.

Because of the possible dynamite view a pole/stilt/raised house might be in the cards.

PM me or say your peace right here.

Thanks kindly.

My friends had a super home built by Kensington. Graeme is a really good guy and knows so much about building. They guaranteed it and even insured it during construction. Got an office and been around for a long time which says something for their reputation and the way they do things. Its a Thai company but with Western supervision. Price was below most too. They seem to be the most popular builders for expats in Chiang Mai. If you do a seach for Chiang Mai builders on Google they are at the top I think last time I looked. They took my friend to meet their customers and provided references. Really looked after them. Their web site has actual testimonials and comments to from customers. Good bunch of lads and build properly. Good luck.

Just found out from my friend: The land is actually 2 plots on a small development ready to build on. one is 1 rai and the other a bit less. Both are for sale at about 500-600,000 each. Wall and services all in. Its an excellent buy but it belongs to a developer who naturally wants to build on it after. So brilliant if you want to build a home but pretty sure it can't be bought just as an investmnet to sit on. Its 15 mins from city. As I say great buy at good price but you must want to build a home on it. Which is fair enough. Maybe try Stephan at www.satihoga.com A real estate company who have helped many people find property. Very nice person too. Good luck.

Thanks everyone, the more info. I have the more choices. Yes, I am aware of the horror stories. Although, I have been with her almost 5 years and I have pretty well finished looking for any red flags, but still on the alert. I am also going to get a pre nup. made(according to Thai law) to cover myself a little more. My first gf was a she devil in Thailand and that ended before she could take me to the cleaners. Wonderful country Thailand is, but a lot of pitfalls and snakes. Keep the info. coming. Thanks, again!

Yeah I know somewhere in Doi Saket for around 600,000 I think. You need to check as it may have gone.

Probably a bit late as you wrote this end of last year. But was surfing around and came across your request. I know of Kensington and found them to be nice guys. Just do a search for thailand builders and they pop up number one I think. Honesty is the most important ingrediant to look for initially in building over here. These guys are certainly that, tell you as it truly is and are exceptionally fair. Good luck.

I use Kasikorn and found them very good. Never had a problem and always very polite and nice. Infact they put the banks back home to shame actually as far as manners and how to treat the customer. So you could try them. In Bangkok I use UOB and Siam Commercial. Both fine too

I wanted to have one for some time as many friends told me how good it was. I did and it was fine. A bit of discomfort at times but got through it. I only did it once so not sure if that is enough. But the half day of massage, sauna and relaxation was very nice. I went to one in Bangkok. It was very clean and well done. I know some people do it regularly every 6 months and they seem to think it does them good. So can't be bad if it makes them happy and they believe it is helping their health. As for me, I may go again but it is not something I race to do. But I would certainly not put anyone off having it done. Each to their own and try and see. A good thread as it is becoming very popular. I researched on net alot and there were two schools of thought. Some thought it was nonsense others raved about it. So make your own choices.

Unusual words of wisdom for this thread.

Thanks for the vote of confidence in what I said And for the welcome !

As I said I would certainly not put anyone off trying it. I think I may well go back again at some point. If it makes people feel good and they believe it helps them..... that is marvelous in my books. It is also very reasonably priced to try it in Thailand. We are lucky in that respect compared to other parts of the world where it is very expensive. I am no expert at all, but many thousands of people now use this treatment and they think its great. So good for them ! If it makes them happy, that is fantastic ! I am all for it. I like to see people happy.

Great photos. I wish I did not have a fear of them as they are beautiful creatures. But I can't get over the fear. So I avoid them and always give them a wide berth. Nice you removed the sanke and did not kill it.

You could try Satihoga Real Estate. Run by a very nice guy called Stephan. Check on the net. Not sure what he has for sale but he has helped many expats with Thai wives find land. It does not cost anything to e-mail him and ask. He can then keep an eye out for you. On the whole the further out of town, the lower the price but not always the case. Land can cost what someone is willing to sell it for and the size it is. 1m baht a rai is not unusal now but with the recession you are in the power seat as there are not so many buyers right now.

House builds can cost anything from 10,000 baht to 35,000 a square metre plus. It is all down to the specs of the property, design and your choices. Built two homes now. Be careful with the builder and I would always use one that is a registered company, has experience, can show you homes they built, insures the build during construction, and has a foreign person overseeing it or involved. That is no criticism of Thai contractors but it is so much easier and less hassle if you can talk direct to someone who is foreign. The Thai workers and engineers do it but it has foreign involvement which is very useful. The combination works very well. They also understand the standards expected and what you will want. And contrary to rediculous belief they are not overtly expenisive. The one I used was middle of the road on price but did a cracking job for me. If you pay a bit more using a foreign managed company, you save money in the end as you avoid all the hassles and problems associated with construction that can occur. You need the foreign person to discuss it with and they should help you avoid all the negative problems that you could well encounter. Some people try to do it themselves but unless you have been in construction I would not do that. It can have disastrous results as seen by some of the terrible quality homes built.

Do a search for chiang Mai builders or Chiang mai construction. Any decent company will have a good web site and can be easily found. If it looks like a badly put together web site and looks like they don't care then that tells you something about the company. They should have an office too and be available via e-mail and phone. It shows they care and are doing it professionally. Just as you would expect back home. Good luck. Hope you find what you are looking for. Thats my opinon for what its worth. Hope it helps. I would also check out Alant's land. Its for sale and cost nothing to look and see what you think. Might be just what you are looking for.

I wanted to have one for some time as many friends told me how good it was. I did and it was fine. A bit of discomfort at times but got through it. I only did it once so not sure if that is enough. But the half day of massage, sauna and relaxation was very nice. I went to one in Bangkok. It was very clean and well done. I know some people do it regularly every 6 months and they seem to think it does them good. So can't be bad if it makes them happy and they believe it is helping their health. As for me, I may go again but it is not something I race to do. But I would certainly not put anyone off having it done. Each to their own and try and see. A good thread as it is becoming very popular. I researched on net alot and there were two schools of thought. Some thought it was nonsense others raved about it. So make your own choices.

While I was there, I stayed in Royal Asia Lodge hotel, I'm wondering if there's any similar hotels that has better rooms (TV that's good lol and free internet usage in the room) affordable prices in that area, although I didn't spend much for the hotel, I would like to shop around for better deals, anyone recommend me anything better? thanks.

Dynasty Grande in Soi 6 off Soi 4 is pretty nice. Big rooms, new and with big TV's. Worth a look for sure.