JohnC

I only hope the other stores do not raise their prices to the Villa level!

You could also try thaipropertyandland.com or give James a ring on 038421725 he usualy has a good selection and if not can search the market to match your needs.

Bankgkok based company they have offices here in Pattaya, no relation to UK company of ame initials. I have used them for car and house insuranceand found their rates competative.

In Jomtien, Immigration remove the old reporting slip before attaching the new one! I guess your immigration office can not be bothered!

Huge dog pound at the end of Jomtien they have many ex soi dogs, some good some bad. They advertise on Sukhumvit opp Pattaya Thai

ex b/f s are the same as ex g/f s or wives, everywhere in the world, they are EX . he needs to realise you have moved on and so must he, sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind. IMHO

Saw him in Soi VC the other night carrying a small stuffed tiger! the locals just stood open mouthed looking at him I was trying to work out what tribe he was from as his atire was a mixture of Zulu and Ashanti!

I understood tourists do not need a visa , they get a 30 day stamp permission to stay on arrival, prerequisite is a return ticket out of the country. Outside of that if they want to stay longer they need to apply to a Thai embassy in their home country for an appropriate visa. Remember airlines gets financial penalties if they bring someone in who is not in possesion of the correct paperwork and as already stated they should check with them before they arrive at airport!

Hi Mobi

Have an excellent workforce avaialable for hire here in my village, I have recommended them in the past and always got good reports back on the high standard of reliability and workmanship. Due to the building downturn they do not have much work at the moment. In the past they have built houses, cleared land, dug gardens etc the boss is my neighbour so if you are interested give me a call or pm me and I will talk to him. (ALL my previous recommends have remarked on his fair pricing!)

John C

I’ve just leased 3 rai of land which is adjacent to my house for 5 years. The initial reason for this was to forestall the land owner’s plans to rent it to a company who wanted to build an ice factory there.

I now plan to make most of it into a ‘wild country garden’ with maybe a nice wooden sala where I can spend the cool evenings, contemplating nature; with maybe a rai or so turned over to Mrs Mobi who wants to grow Banana trees, Papaya, and other edible produce. (Maybe grapes for our homemade "Pong Plonk" )

The land is covered with knee high wild grass, weeds, bushes etc, and is there is a liberal scattering of towering Palm trees, mango trees and the like.

This is all very idyllic, but there are a number of hard jobs/work to be done before my dream becomes a reality.

• Make a large hole in my back garden wall, and put a gate in for access.
  
• Fence the whole area off, to make sure the locals know it is private property, and to stop the cows and Soi dogs from straying on there.
  
• Run electricity cables for lighting.
  
• Clear the area, cut the grass, build country pathways, and generally turn the land into something hospitable for folk to wander and abide in.
  
• Maintain the area on an ongoing basis.
  

This is an interesting project for me and one that I am prepared to get personally involved in and get my hands dirty, but I have no knowledge or the appropriate skills for this sort of thing and I will need help. I am in no hurry, and it will be good just to watch it slowly progress.

So if anyone out there knows of anyone – Thai or Farang – who may be interested in being gainfully employed in this venture – either for a period of time or on a permanent basis, then please PM me to discuss further.

Thanks.

Mobi

I have mine sent to one of my daughters who then forwards them to me by registered post, that means it has to be signed for here, never had a problem with that. On the other hand ordinary post does go missng especially birthday and christmas cards. My cards from Nationwide used to come ordinary post in UK therefore I think it would be a bit risky sending them to Thailand unregistered.

Hi Mobi

You could also try KATRENA at [email protected] tel: 03842175, she has an office in Soi Day & Night and supports the Ex Pats Club, her husband is a fellow Scot and her english is excellent I transfered my business to them recently as their rates were very competitive whilst professional and competant.

A number of issues here, the state pension is based on NI contributions deducted from salary, normally you can apply to DWP for a forecast of your likely pension at 65 which is given at todays rates and based on your NI contributions (BR19 is the form used) however, because of the recent reform this is not currently available.

The Department for Work and Pensions provides a pension forecasting service to customers in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the Department is temporarily unable to provide customers who reach State Pension Age on or after 6 April 2010, with a State Pension forecast. This is because the computer systems used to provide State Pension forecasts are in the process of being updated to reflect the recent changes to the State Pension rules introduced by the Pensions Act 2007.

Please note that while the Pensions Act 2007 applies only to Great Britain, it is intended that Northern Ireland, which has its own body of pensions legislation, will make corresponding provision for its customers in due course.

Over the next year we will be updating the computer systems used to provide State Pension forecasts, to enable us to provide a service that will be available to all to use. We aim to have the system changes in place by Autumn 2008.

If you are some way from retirement age (currently 65) then next year you can apply for a quote at which time you wll be offered the opportunity to make additional payments if needed. Also note that the retirement age is being raised to 68 between 2024 - 2046!

As ar as Civil Servants are concerned I believe the OP has confused occupational pensions with the state pension, state pension rules apply to everyone irrespective of their past employment, civil servants like the armed forces, police etc have an occupational pension which is subject to its own rules and not the givernment rules on state pension (for example an armed forces pension attracts annual increases irrespective of where you live) Given the current annual pension increases in the state pension (below 3%) it is such a small amount its not really worth getting upset about, you are talking about 200 baht a week! maybe if you live to 90 then the difference will be significant but who knows!

On the plus side the state pension will be raised in line with average earnings increase and not the rate of inflation which could be a bonus for us when we reach that magic age!

If I am still bouncing around Pattaya in 5 years time I will report back to TV !

The Chancelor changed the rules on Private Pensions last year, if you have a PP worth less than £15K it is known as a trivial amount and can be cashed in when you reach 60.You receive 25% tax

After 5 tests ( failed ) and 4k on fees we gave up on trying to get my wife through the uk test and returned to thailand before bankrupcy was forthcoming ! .. its very difficult in the uk now, she failed on 2 questions on the last test,. 1/ what was the last road sign you passed, she replied " pick your own strawberries ? " !. the other one was " where is the dipstick " to which she replied " hes at home with our daughter " ,..

Took a friend who has just arrived from Canada to the Pattaya Driving Licence Centre on Thursday, arrived there at around 2:30pm and it was empty! I thought it was closed for a holiday, but no just no customers. He produced his IDP and copies, passport with O visa and copies, medical certificate and letter of residence from Pattaya Immigration. He took the standard three tests(depth perception, colour and reaction) (he nearly blew the colour test as the "red" is actually a shade of pink so he said pink! but he cottoned on and corrected it to red!") All in all in and out in less than 20 mins complete with his new Thai Driving Licence this must be a record!

And people ridicule Thailand and say its a thirld world country. People stones and glass houses spring to mind!

This woman has in effect lost her life and any chance of normality, Social Services have mounted an investigation!! really!! what good is that going to do as the original perpertrators of this appalling act are probably dead and buried and whatever the findings you cannot turn the clock back and make her a young woman again!

I'm surprised anyone would consider renting instead of buying. I think I saw a sign at Pattaya u 2 or 4 u or whatever they're called; 3rd floor, Tukcom, but don't hang me up on it.

Thanks Phil, checked out Tukcom today Pattaya2U have two stalls and yes used to have notebook for rent but now no have! I can understand why when you see second hand notebooks as cheap as 8000 baht I have no idea why the guy asked about rental but I will pass all the info back to ex pats club. I guess he could buy a second hand one then sell it on when he leaves ?? who knows why some people have these sometimes obscure needs.

Thanks for the info.

John

Checked it out last night, arrived at 9:30p security guy gave us a ticket and all round the site were signs in english & thai announcing the charges which are:

First 15 mins - free thereafter 20baht per hour except if you have a shop/cinema stamp then the first two hours are free thereafter 20baht an hour.

Incidently we went to BKK for dinner , they stamped my ticket, then went to the movies (stardust) came out at 1am which meant I was there for 3 & 1/2 hours. Got stopped by two uniformed ladies on the way out, checked my ticket, looked at some sheet on their table then waved me out without charge?

Whilst 20 baht an hour is a bit high if you just visit one shop and get a stamp you get two hours free which given their location on 2nd road near soi Post Office I can understand otherwise the car park would be full from people not using the centre, Friendship also operate a similar system as do Royal Garden Plaza so I guessthey are not too bad, if you stay for three hours with a stamp you pay 20baht for three hours parking!

Only problem, located at the 2nd road opposite slightly opposite Royal Garden Plaza. Location is a congested area and their parking's small. Might not have sufficient parking space during peak period. And parking's not free. 20 baht for an hour!

When did this start? they have a large multi storey to the rear and I have been every week since the cinema opened and never paid! Last week the car park guy did ask for a tip!! Maybe the free parking was an opening offer now discontinued, I also noticed last week one side of the outside car park was reserved for "Villa"

Of to the movies shortly so will report back if there is a charge!

I have been asked if there are any hire shops in Pattaya that hire out Laptop PC s with wifi and dvd, I have been unable to come up with any and my earlier post on the Internet & Computer forum met with no response.

I know that this is a high risk business with this transient population and given the low cost of a new notebook and the myraid of Internet cafes around one wonders why someone would want to hire a Laptop. However, I have been asked the question so I put it out to TV to see if by any chance someone has come across such a facility in Pattaya.

A question his morning at the ex pats club, are there any places in Pattaya where you can hire a laptop? with the usual refinements, wireless, dvd rw etc. My initial inquiries show that this would be a high risk busines due to the transient population and I cannot find anywhere that does it.

If anyone knows of a business that does this I would be grateful if they pass it on to me.

Thanks guys...John is that 100 hours GRPS for 350 baht? Thanks ThaiHotels, if I can't get the 100 hours that John mentioned then NetSim is the way for me.

Thanks again.

Yes, its the prepaid 1 2 call gprs plan @350baht + tax per month for 100 hours, you top up your sim cardas normal and on the anniversary of the start date every month they deduct the 350 + tax, if you do not have enough credit they try a few times when you go online then if you do not topup they will close the plan and charge you 1baht per minute.

The first problem is you do not specify which model of the Civic you are considering and in 2001 (6 years ago) there were 6 different models which are different in price, secondly you do not say which part of Thailand you are in which can also affect the price, for example here in Pattaya a six year old car would cost less due to the percieved risk of salt water corrosion. The price you give is actually very low therefore you have to ask why is it so cheap?? cut and shunt is widespread here and buying a six year old car on six year finance is very risky. Your finance agreement could outlast the car! What history comes with the car? can it be verified? I appreciate your finacial prediciment but this needs careful thought and yes cars in Thailand do retain a higher value than we normally see in the West so at 360,000 it is cheap but again as in the west you get what you pay for and you could end up with endless repair bills whch would wipe out any saving you made on the price.

Here in Pattaya we have a good monthly magazine called Pattaya Trader and in the centre is Motor Trader which lists second hand car prices back to 1999 plus new car prices for example a basic Toyota Vios is 499,000 list whilst a basic Vigo Standard Cab Pick up is 394,000 so for not much more than your 6 yr old civic you could have a band new vehicle with warranty!

I appreciate your biggest problem will be the wife but yo will get the fallout of the car proves to be a drain on the finances, also and IMHO more importantly is the vehicle safe???

you are putting your family in this vehicle and you know how people drive in Thailand so you need good brakes and steering!

Sorry if all this seems negative but you need to be pragmatic about this.

Go into any televis shop and you can sign up to a 1 2 call plan, I have 100 hours @ 350b + tax, I recently changed my phone and just had this plan activated on my new phone and let the old one run out. Also when t expires i.e you dont renew you can start again at any time. I find 100 hours enough but they also do unlimited for 999b + tax as previously reported.

If you go the monthly 65.000 Thb route , confirmed by an embassy (Affidavit) for your "retirement visa",how much do you need to transfer monthly from your home country to your bankaccount in Thailand?

Or do you need to transfer the full 65.000 Thb?

Or assume you transfer monthly 50.000 Thb,do you need an 200.000 Thb in your bankaccount in Thailand?

Many thanks

I use the pension route for my retirment extension so in answer to your question, you do not need to transfer a fixed amount each month however, when renewing you will be asked for your Thai bankbook which should show regular movement as they copy the previous couple of pages that shows you have living expenses coming in. In addition I was told by a helpful immigration officer at Jomtien to make sure I had around 40,000 baht in my account at renewal time, this I have done and received my retirement extension twice with no problems. The 65000 bah monthly income was actually recorded somewhere I cant remeber for sure but it might have been on the Thai Consulate UK website, interestingly the Immigration here in Pattaya have their own exchange rate they use when calculating your income and earleir this year the lady used 80baht to the £ ! Not sure where she got that from but I was happy as it showed my pension relatively high! Also I draw my monthly expenses from my UK Nationwide Flexi Account via ATM and then occasionely deposit cash into my Bangkok Bank a/c therefore there is no trail of foreign funds transfered only cash payments however this has never been queried or questioned!

Hope this helps.

Key Visa have a good name and have a visa section in the Pattaya People every week, they also have a table at the Ex Pats club Grand Sole Hotel every Sunday where you can get free advice. I asked their advice a couple of years ago and they were honest and upfront even to the point of writing me a letter for the UK Thai Embassy. There was no charge for this help although they did offer to do all my visa paperwork for a fee. As my working life has been involved in bureacracy I have no problems with paperwork but I do understand some people are nervous of officialdom and uncomfortable with paperwork.

For some it is easier to pay a profeesional company and take away all the hastle, in these instances companys like Key Visa are a boon and in your friends case it would cost nothing to ask for advice then if they are still unsure they can pay the company to do the work for them.

As previously stated if you read the threads on TV the actual work is straighforward and may not be as daunting as they think unless of course there is other information that they have not shared with you.