Bangkok45

It all has to do with where in Bkk do you live, if you're a Silom to Sukhumvit areas resident than it's

nt so cheap, if you go live in the boondocks of Bkk, that you can practically live on a shoe string...

I totally agree with you! When I first moved to Bangkok my obvious choice was to live in Sukhumvit at La Raffine Condominium which costs me 120k baht a month. Yes, it's posh and classy but years down the road and with a little bit more gravitas to my senses. I moved to a townhouse 15 minutes outside the city center. It cost me 25k baht for a 4 story 3 bedrooms all with ensuite bathrooms amd a rooftop garden. I'm happy now, but recently I discovered a gem of a townhouse in Bang Buae Tong in Nonthaburi, just as good as my current home and here's the shocker...it's only 9k baht a month. Thus location determines the cost:)

120K/month?? Hope your company was paying for it.

I stayed 6 months in a pretty posh and classy place in Suk for 30K/month with unlimited electricity and daily maid service.

I'm 10 minutes away now and the wife pays all of 4K/month though she's had it 15 years. There's no BTS or MRT so taxis can eat up more than the rent.

After about 11 months of being stupid and a showoff, and as I had signed a 1 year contract I had to do an optional 2 months extension before I found the townhouse in Bang Sue, gave notice to the owner ( to get my 2 months deposit) as I had already came to my senses and decided that not only was I stupid but pretty retarded for having done that. I became a cheapskate when it boils down to my personal toiletries and such while seeming to be living the good life. Cheap Tesco razors, bought my pastries after 8 at Lotus just to save a few hundred.

Then when I moved to the nice townhouse in Bang Sue I had already gotten my deposit back which was 240k baht, paid the new landlord 50k baht for deposit + 1 month 25k rent, I had enough balance from that deposit to buy some SB furnitures for all the bedrooms, 2 LG Smart TV's on promotion at The Mall and cheap but nice vases and plastic flowers at Sirinthorn Road.

As my housing allowances is pegged at 40k baht I still have 10k baht balance after paying each month rent and bills. As my salary does not need to cover the lifestyle I chose then, it became a huge progress for me financially. I saved for about 4 months, made a deposit for a Ford Fiesta, with the 10k balance from my housing allowance and just dipping about 2k baht from my salary to pay the monthly instalment. I'm moving on fine and still got to score the girls but not anymore now, as I'm already in a relationship.

I would love to move to the townhouse that cost only 9k baht a month in Bang Buae Tong but it's not practical as I had to drive farther to my office and the traffic is bad and it would have cost me more time to and fro work.

Thus I'm staying put in Bang Sue for now. Compared to Singapore, where I was before being posted here I would not be able to live the way I do now. Happy, contented and living well! Kept my boss happy and hopefully live here for as long as I can

It all has to do with where in Bkk do you live, if you're a Silom to Sukhumvit areas resident than it's

not so cheap, if you go live in the boondocks of Bkk, that you can practically live on a shoe string...

I totally agree with you! When I first moved to Bangkok my obvious choice was to live in Sukhumvit at La Raffine Condominium which costs me 120k baht a month. Yes, it's posh and classy but years down the road and with a little bit more gravitas to my senses. I moved to a townhouse 15 minutes outside the city center. It cost me 25k baht for a 4 story 3 bedrooms all with ensuite bathrooms amd a rooftop garden. I'm happy now, but recently I discovered a gem of a townhouse in Bang Buae Tong in Nonthaburi, just as good as my current home and here's the shocker...it's only 9k baht a month. Thus location determines the cost:)

Poorly educated thugs and control freaks rule in pretty much all Thai schools. They are more interested in this sort of thing than educating the children. The education system here is 50 years behind the rest of the world. How many education ministers have tried reforms and failed? That's why my children go to international school.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Which international school does your kids go to. It must be an elite one as you are an upstanding tax contributing owner of vikingpowersystem.com?

Normally, the 2 months deposit will be used to cover damages should there be any after the contract ends. In you case, if you are to break the 1 year contract your deposit will be forfeited based on that fact alone, and any damages have to be paid for separately. Is there an early termination clause in your contract? I'm asking this because there's variations to leasing contracts. If you do not have an early termination clause, you could ask permission to sublet from your landlord to fulfill the contract terms of duration. Good luck!

very reactive actions to cover up the real problem. The conditions these guys live and work under are nothing short of exploitation and slavery. Having lived in Singapore for 7 years and seeing how these guys, who by the way actually built Singapore, are being treated in inhumane. Maybe that had finally just had enough of the treatment.

Exploitation, inhumane and slavery? You are a joke and obviously, your purported 7 years in Singapore is a lie.

Calling someone liar exposes the name caller to intense scrutiny and questions their credibility.

Calling someone a joke is juvenile and seems a shallow attempt to degrade a person without supporting evidence.

Please provide some intelligent and relevant information to support your position.

The obvious joke is by saying that the migrant Indians built Singapore. Research and read the history of Singapore!

7 years in Singapore and saw inhumane treatment, exploitation and slavery is a figment of imagination. Thus he must not have been there. A lie!

Scrutinize all you want. But what do you know about Singapore?

very reactive actions to cover up the real problem. The conditions these guys live and work under are nothing short of exploitation and slavery. Having lived in Singapore for 7 years and seeing how these guys, who by the way actually built Singapore, are being treated in inhumane. Maybe that had finally just had enough of the treatment.

Exploitation, inhumane and slavery? You are a joke and obviously, your purported 7 years in Singapore is a lie.

From all reports I have seen they only do single entry tourist visas.

Well, maybe they were trying to scam me by saying it's possible. And probably would tell me later that it's not possible or rejected after I part with my money. I'll take your word my wise friend:)

Was there more than a year back. Bad experience, man! It was extortionate and there's too many hassles and hustles. But to answer your question, yes, it is possible to get the multiple entry visa that is I'm assuming you are not Asian. As to how long it takes, it depends on how much are you willing to fork out. I simply felt it was not worth it. So I left to Vientiane and got mine there. But who knows things might have change now. Good luck!

Great news! Thanks for posting this:)

To the OP. They are available! PM me and elaborate more.

Personally, I think i could be quite a challenge for expats because Thai is a tonal language. For eg. getting the wrong tone to express the word 'Ma' could mean Dog or a Horse when you actually wanted to say Come! After 5 years I still get some pronunciation wrong. But I was motivated to learn to read and write Thai as I already speak Mandarin which is a tonal language too. Like one of the above answers, I say to each his own!

No, but a friend of mine from India was asked to show monetary proof once.

too bad he was not a rich HISO Thai he could have fled to singapore ......anyway on the other hand , he will have time to think in jail ....

Obviously you don't know much about Singapore. It is the country that would get yourself arrested by one phone call. And there's zero tolerance on perps of a crime locally or internationally. Money don't buy freedom in Singapore and there's nowhere to hide at the tiny red dot on the map.

To the OP, let me say this! I disagree with all the naysayers pertaining to the business. However, what they said about it being passed the good business viability date, it is not without merit.

I'm not going to dwell on the legal or illegalities of it. Nonetheless, I would like you to know that for a business to prosper it pretty much depended on strategies and know-hows. Location is vital for this kind of endeavour. Though to rent a DVD might be passe for a certain group of people in some demographics with cable and internet, but at the same time it is sought by many without.

Straight of, I can tell you that there are 3 video rental shops near where I live in Prachachuen that is doing brisk business. I for one am an occassional customer even with all the predisposed basic necessities of having internet and cable.

So be it big or small, do a simple SWOT analysis before embarking on your endeavour. Chok dee!

Are you kidding me?! You have made 281 postings and you have never came across the countless threads pertaining to visa on arrival/visa border runs and everything pertaining to it?

Nonetheless, I'm going to reply to your query as to where you can go in order to get that 90 days visa you so needed. The best place to do it is in Vientiane, Laos. You can either apply for single entry or multiple entry tourist visa. FYI, it's actually a 60 day visa that you can apply to have another 30 day extension for 1900 baht at the Immigration in Chaeng Wattana. So that makes it 90 days in total.

Well, it is hassle free in the sense that there are no mafias or taunting touts. Average wait at the Thai embassy is between 1 to 3 hours on application, and 2 to 4 hour on next day collection. But, you can get it done in less than 10 minutes if you know who to go to.

PM me if you want to know. Hope this answer your question!

Too bad for him. Walking the streets with that cash and jewellery does not necessarily make him a potential target. But walking the streets alone at 4.30 in the morning and being a 'farang', that's putting a target on his front and back! Anybody who does that is in the crosshairs of a criminal waiting to take a shot.

I think 100k baht should suffice for the basics+++ and I would not be surprised if it streches longer, perhaps, a year:)

The sad fact about Thailand is, everything has a price! Integrity of the police? Depended on how much they will get from it. Corrupt police, corrupt politicians and corrupt government. That said, let's live and let live, and hopefully, not be the victim:)

Hi,

I suggest you go to MBK fourth floor (?) and get a demo from several shops, then buy the one which suits your needs. You can get good deals there (but read my cautionary tale below too). If you don't want a smartphone, then cheap chinese or cheap old Nokia are probably fine for what you need, but be sure the features on the phone you do buy - keypad, camera capacity - are up the the standard you want. That's why a multi-shop experience like MBK is probably worthwhile - then you can treat yourself to the big food extravaganza upstairs!

best, Paul

My Fone Follies.

I have USA/ATT iPhone 3gs, wanted to unlock - MBK guys said expensive, like THB 1500. So I go to find an Android cheap. I settle on and buy a Samsung "copy " smartphone very cheap with credit card - not the real thing - under impression it had all the Samsung features. Wrong - it had most, but it lacked GPS, which I wanted. I tried to return- no go, refused. Thus, I disputed the purchase with credit card, and was reimbursed - we'll see if it sticks. Their loss....

Meanwhile, I decided to go ahead, pay and have the iPhone 3gs unlocked - alas, after four tries in four different places, I'm told it couldn't be done probably because I updated the OS. So, I shop for Android again, but much more carefully. I bought a cheap Chinese Oppo for about 4500 thb, and it has what I need, incl. gps. However,the processor is SLOW and camera is total crap, almost useless. However, those things aren't that important to me. You do get what you pay for in smartphones, imo.

Can do it for you (Unlocking & Jailbreaking) if you are in Bangkok. Just buy me a couple of beers:)

It's possible that the name of the unfortunate deceased is actually Brown Frank, though it is far more likely that, as is common in this country, the Thai reporter has transposed the given and family names. A simple understanding of foreign names, both farang and others, and a rigorous check, would go some way in adding to the accuracy and integrity of such reportage.

I really enjoying reading posts about bad punctuation, mis-spelling or (in this case) possible transposed names. Shame the posters haven't got more important things to do in their lives. Hopefully my spelling and grammar is OK

If grammatical and correct spelling is your priority, then a forum like this is, obvoiusly, the wrong place for you. Read the English dailies or a book written by scholars. Wrong place to be showing off, Mr. English!

Btw, what did Buddha had for his last meal? Meat! Yes MEAT.

One of the reasons of course is that the Brainless section of Thai society somehow imagines that they are being virtuos to not kill dogs or mosquitoes while conveniently forgetting about all the other animals that they love to kill and eat-great Buddhists.All Chinese Buddhists are vegatarian-all Taiwanese Buddhists are vegetarian-what happened to the lower cl;ass Buddhists here and in TIbet where they somehow twist Lord Buddas AHIMSA teaching to allow themselves to eat FLESH AND Blood rather than get it in the civilised form of milk products.God help us,and to top it all off-they actually consider it virtuos to stop those great fellows who are exporting all these filthy dogs to Cambodia etc.Is there any sense at all in Thailand,but at least I like the weather.

Firstly, are you familiar with Theravada, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Zen and the various schools of thoughts in the Buddhist faith? Do not assumed, because it certainly make an ASS of U according to ME!

Why don't you start doing something? Scooping up poop for a start, in the name of humanitarian concerns voluntarily. Be the CHANGE you want to see, not see what you want to CHANGE, and just talk about it. Start something and I'll participate:)