greenfuji

Found a store in Siam Discovery Centre, I think fifth floor. Sells Warhammer. Also has those Japanese transforming planes for sale. The guy who runs the Warhammer side is a keen gamer and happy to talk.

It was out of the way down one of the lanes, opposite a car audio store.

Umm, so this is a scam? I got a 30 baht ride around a couple of Wat's, the Thai Factory, a gem shop and finally the Palace. It took a few hours, the driver mentioned a few things about some of the temples, the jeweler was nice and yes I bought some things from there which were great value and I thought the ride was cheap.

If the tuk tuk took me to an alley and booted me off, that I consider a scam. How can what I describe be considered a scam?

If you are over there during Thailand New Year, go to Thai Factory. The absolute best. Its only during this time of year that they are open to the public. Once you purchase from them you become a member and can have one suit made a year for you. Real Madrid FC has had their suits made there along with many other celebrities.

I found Manhattan tailors on Rama IV excellent for selection. A lot of the tailors have very small shops with minimal selection. Manhattan Tailors is three stories and very large. They also have leather products and can make shoes, bags, wallets etc. Once they have your size you can also phone, email through an order and they will mail it out to you.

I like Manhattan Tailers Rama 4 road.

A fellow West Auzzie here. If you want to explore some financing options in Perth I can help. There is no reason you couldnt setup a line of credit for example on your property here in Perth. Not sure what beaurcracy you mean but its generally fairly easy to get fiance especially in small amounts you have mentioned. PM me if you want.

This scenario could have happened any where in the world. You should focus on the positives and think back on all the happy moments you spent with her. Dont waste time dwelling on the negatives.

Before you know it, you will be spending many happy moments with another beautiful woman, whether she be Thai or not.

I would like to add some information with the aim to hopefully better inform others on some of the issues raised in this thread.

I currently work for the Water Corporation of Western Australia (WA) and for those not in the know, WA is embarking on building a desalination plant at the moment.

Some facts:

Desalination plants have been in operation around the world for many decades now. Small island countries and remote locations rely on desalination for their drinking water.

The process of desalination (typically reverse osmosis through microfiltration) has and is used in industry for a very long time now. Australians may be interested to note that although the desalination plant is WA is being touted as the first, the process has been used in WA, QLD and NSW for a number of years now in industry.

The argument of power usage of a desalination plant is predominatly scare tactics from extreme environmentalists. The power requirements are typical with an equivalent ground water treatment plant. Factoring operational and maintenance costs into the equation, desalination plants actual cost favourably compared to a groundwater treatment plant.

The water used to clean the streets and largely in industry is grey water, water not suitable for drinking but suitable for cleaning and cooling and specific other industrial uses.

The world at large is generally experiencing water shortages. Desalination and water reclamation (recycling wastewater) which by the way uses extremely similar processes, are the logical step in satisfying the shortage. This does not exclude better education in using water wisely. Germany is the only country to my knowledge encouraging greater water usage. This is due to water quality issues.

I believe it is perfectly sesible that Thailand is looking into desalination as an alternative means of obtaining more drinking water. From what I have seen of how Thailand handles infrastructure implementation, BTS and MRT, I would believe any desalination plant would be well executed.

Hope this helps in the discussion.

If you buy cheap, you get cheap, its a simple as that.

I recommend Manhattan Tailors on Rama IV. Speak to Prakash.

Huge range, excellent quality material. Brand name material available and high quality leather. They make shoes, belts, wallets, bags etc as well.

Non pushy sales and drinks while you make your selection. They have plenty of pictures already and insist on fitings during the tailoring process.

I have used them many times and recommended others and have no complaints.

If you happen to be there around Thai New Year, go to the Thai Factory.

Excellent quality normally not available to the general public. Pictures of celebrities they have catered for are displayed on their walls. These include various soccor teams and movie stars.

Some simple rules on body building. To gain mass you need to use heavy weight (85% of max) and do few reps (8 ideal to be last rep). To tone up, you need to use a lighter weight (65% of max) and do more reps (12). Always keep good form, never use the rest of your body to help in an exercise, its cheating and unhealthy. Do inassociated muscles on the same day. For example dont do biceps and triceps on the same day. Biceps and back are good. Every three months or sooner, you need to shock the system. The body gets used to what you put it through. So not only will you be incrementing the weight as you get stronger at some point in time you will need to do something uncharacteristic. Change your schedule and do different exercises. Drop sets work well for shocking the system.

Drop sets, ideal for someone who has trouble using heavy weights for an extended amount of reps. It involves having three different weight scales. One will be near you max weight, the second 20% less and the third another 20% less. It involves doing the first heavy weight for the maximum amount of reps you can achieve (about 3 or 4) then you immediately go to the next lighter weight, again doing as many reps as possible and then lastly the final weight. Do this for the same amount of sets.

Building big guns (biceps). Stop the preachers. These are great for building the peak on your bicep not the best for gaining mass. Use a heavy weight and do three simple exercises. Dumbell curls, ezycurl bar curls, pulley machine. You can do it seated or standing, seated can be better for your form but you want to be comfortable. Make sure you dont arch your back getting the last few reps out. With the pulley machine I advise you use the rope attachment. Your grip and the angle of seperation between your hands exercises different portion of the bicep. As with the ezycurl bar, you can alternate between the inside grip and the outside grip.

Make sure you also exercise the rest of your arm to keep up with the growth in your bicep. You may find you will get to a point were you can curl more weight but you simply cant hold it. Make sure you exercise your forearms top and bottom. This will also help you in your bench press. Also your triceps are what make your arms look big. Exercise these for huge arms.

There was a large variety of radio controlled cars at Patpong market when I was there. Probably similar to other markets.

I think as a full op TS you should now consider yourself as a woman and live life accordingly. You cannot bear children so to be honest you should tell them that you cant. Let the relationship develop accordingly and when the marriage day comes or the a time when you have to show your ID card and it says MR then let them know. Just reiforce the fact you believe you are a woman, had the physical bits change to reflect the fact and the only difference is you cant have children which they have accepted.

Telling people you used to be a guy has too many negative connotations as opposed to telling people you cannot have children, which for all intensive purposes that is the case in your life now. I hate to think you changed your gender for reasons other than believing you were a woman on the inside born in the wrong body, excluding for financial gain.

What is a Bum Gun? I assume it has something to do with splashing water on your rear?

www.precisionreservations.com

All you need for booking a hotel.

Of you guys who live semi-perminantly in thailand yet travel back home a few times a year and maintain a basic account back home, I dont see why you dont bring over cash. As everyone knows it is such a pain to open a Thai account and even then fees may and do apply. Coupled with how cash talks much better than credit here as in almost anywhere, I dont see why you are bothered with the hassle.

For those permanently living here, you're likely married and have transferred all you cash already so different story.

Im sure all Australian Banks charge fees on international spending on the credit card. I think your propblem is being a member of NAB the highest fee charging bank in Australia.

Im with ANZ and use my credit card in BKK. Due to the hassle to open a bank account in BKK and the minimal interest paid I just bring cash and convert it when required.

Is there no way for a foreigner on a tourist visa to buy a condo without jumping through all these hoops? I was thinking like the originator of this post to come to Thailand cashed up and buy and exisiting apartment. Is this a situation were money just wont talk?

Sorry maerim but flares are back in style.

Go for the pink shirt, all the people calling you a fairy are just jealous.

Beware of things like design standards and safety requirements. Australia at least will require protective gear such as helmets to conform to australian sftey standards. Of course this doesnt stop you from wering one but if found out you could see your insurnce claim get knocked back.

New model bikes that have never been imported to Aus generally also need to be certified as safe. This usually involves a series of crash tests. There are also strict laws on what can be imported. The easiest route is parts.

For more info on importing to australia take at look at www.dotars.gov.au.