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richard10365

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Posts posted by richard10365

  1. Here is a service my bank has I just found out about. I don't know if similiar banks have the same.

    I can save on my ATM fees with this. ATM fees here in Thailand are $5 US when I use my Bank of America ATM visa card. My Bangkok Bank ATM fees are 20 baht. It adds up if you use your card alot.

    My Bank of America online account has a feature that allows me to transfer money from my checking account in the USA to my Bangkok Bank LTD account here in Thailand.

    I can transfer my entire pension here for $3 US (3 day process) or $10 US (next day process)

    For the 3 day process, I can transfer $10,000. For next day I can only transfer $2000.

    I wish I had that much to transfer every month.

  2. This is my first time I have seen fish raising done.

    If it dosent work well, I don't think I will do it again. If it works well, I will look at ways of improving the process.

    My wife says she could have saved money buy buying directly from Chonburi instead of having them delivered. That might be something she does different next time

    I haven't seen any birds cleaning out the pond. It is easy to tell there are many thousands of fish in the pond by the number of fish you can see when you feed them. They are getting quite big as well.

    The fish they bought are catfish. My friend was telling me if the catfish get too big, the local people won't buy them. Something about liking to buy smaller fish, put on a stick, and over the grill easier.

    There is another fish also in the same pond as well called "Nin". I hope that fish is not a danger to the catfish.

    Our technical advisor on this little project is my friends 65 yr old father. He seems to know what he is talking about.

  3. I am not sure wich forum to put this in, general or central Thailand which is where I live.

    Does anybody have a fish farm?

    My wife is interested in starting a fish farm and we need to get some information as to whether it is a good idea and if it is profitable.

    I have searched the forum and I can't find much though there is a fair amount on Google fish farming in Thailand.

    There are certian jobs in Thailand farangs are not permitted to do.

    http://www.doe.go.th/workpermit/eng-royaldecree.html

    PRESCRIBING WORKS RELATING TO OCCUPATION AND PROFESSION IN WHICH AN ALIEN IS PROHIBITED TO ENGAGE, B.E. 2522 (1979)

    #2 is Work in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry or fishery excluding specialized work in each particular branch or farm of supervision.

    However, my wife is Thai and she can. This is what she did. A friend let her use a fishing hole on his land. It takes 3 months to raise the fish. The fish are bought in Chonburi.

    Investment

    7200 baht for fish (1.2 baht x 6000 fish)

    2960 baht for fish food (8 x 370 baht/bag) July

    2960 baht for fish food (8 x 370 baht/bag) August

    2960 baht for fish food (8 x 370 baht/bag) September

    Total cost to buy and raise is 16080 baht

    The Return

    7 fish = 1 kilo = 35 baht at the market

    6000 fish/ 7 fish = 857 kg

    875kg x 35 baht = 29995

    Profit

    29995 - 16080 = 13915 baht or 4638/month.

    If she earns her own money this way, I don't have to give it to her out if my pocket. My Thai friend even feeds the fish for her.

    This is just one fish pond. Two fish ponds doubles the investment. If there are 12 fish ponds, it is possible (in theory) to make a profit of 55,660 baht.

    I am sitting back and watching the process to see if it auctually works.

  4. I don't mean to be negative or pedantic, but what's the practical use for an English teacher, of knowing the answer to the OP's question?

    PeaceBlondie, your English seems quite well.

    If you were the only farang in a village and someone took a lot of time time trying to explain why a wan was late, would it make you wonder why Thai people use wan to describe something that sounds more like fan?

    It makes me wonder what is being taught in Thai classrooms and why.

    Does wacume cleaner sound better than facume cleaner?

  5. My thai girlfriend says  แฟน is pronounced fan and not fairn. The Thai dictionary I use said  แฟน is the thai word for lover, husband, wife, best girl, boyfriend, or girlfriend.

    Most thai people I know, when refering to any of the definitions above, say fan and not fairn.

    It is pronounced fairn, but without the "R" sound.

    You say most Thai people you know say "fan" so the others pronounce it correctly, yes? If you are teaching, you should be using correct pronunciation.

    How does you gf pronounce the Thai word for 'Mother'? (Mair or Mae). Does she say it the same way as in the english word 'man'?

    She says Maa without the "r" sound.

    I live in central thailand (near Cambodia) and she is from the north but the kids in this area say maa without the "r" as well. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say Mair.

    Maybe it has something to do with the location of where people are in Thailand.

  6. I will tip at the local bbq. The meal is a little more expensive there. 3 people, 2 beers, a large bottle of coke, and more than enough food (couldnt finish the 2nd order). Total price was about 350 baht. I tiped 10 baht.

    Does that make me a cheap charlie?

    I'm not in Bangkok and the waitress was a 12 year old working in a family restaurant business. The most popular one in this little farming village.

    I would have tipped the restaurant 10-20 baht, and slipped another 20 baht into the 12 year old waitresses hand.

    :o

    I can see why you are called, "Jai Dee" :D

  7. IF you are going to give a tip, it should be a minimum of 10%, so yes, you are a Cheap Charlie. A 350 Bt bill should have warranted at least 35 Bt.

    I did try to tip like that once and my thai friends from the village said not too. It looks odd.

    My Thai friends, poor farmers, often give me advise on what and what not to do in the village.

    I trust their advice.

  8. I have studied a little bit of the Thai language and was wondering what farang teachers teach with regards to 2 letters.

    When saying the word Van, does it sound more authentic to teach kids to say "van" spelled like แวน (wan)  or  แฟน (fan which sounds more like the auctuall word "van")?

    You should teach them to pronounce "V" correctly. Why teach them bad habits?

    Incidently the 2 examples you have given are pronounced "Wairn" and "Fairn" as you have used the vowel 'sera air' (or 'sera ae' as it is often written).

    My thai girlfriend says แฟน is pronounced fan and not fairn. The Thai dictionary I use said แฟน is the thai word for lover, husband, wife, best girl, boyfriend, or girlfriend.

    Most thai people I know, when refering to any of the definitions above, say fan and not fairn.

  9. I have studied a little bit of the Thai language and was wondering what farang teachers teach with regards to 2 letters.

    When saying the word Van, does it sound more authentic to teach kids to say "van" spelled like แวน (wan) or แฟน (fan which sounds more like the auctuall word "van")?

  10. I was in Chaing Mai last week and stayed at a really bad hotel. While walking to it I saw a new guesthouse a few weeks away from their grand opening.

    600 baht a night or 8000 baht a month for the big room.

    The smaller room is 500 baht a night and they were not sure of the monthly rate yet.

    The room is emaculant looking for the price. Very clean. They could easily get 800 to 1000 baht a night for the quality of the room.

    I have been in cheap guest houses before and this looks nothing like one.

    If your in Chaing Mai and looking for a place to stay, check this place out.

    It's located about 5 min walking distance from Panthip Plaza in Chaing Mai.

    Here are the details. Cable TV, refridgerator, small kitchenette, and balcony, and bathroom with bathtub. Everything is brand new and very clean looking.

    Bautong Apartment

    4/4 Loikroh, Soi 3 Rd.

    Changklan Maueng, Chaing Mai

    Tel# 01-8817-931 ask for Tee (ตี้)

    email: [email protected]

    There are 8 rooms total. Once people get word of these rooms they will go fast and at current prices, they will go probably stay booked.

  11. I'm not sure if I am a cheap charlie or not.

    My ampher has 2 farangs living here. My village has 1.

    I usually don't tip for a bowl of noodles (10 baht for a large bowl) or a plate of fried rice (25 baht).

    I will tip at the local bbq. The meal is a little more expensive there. 3 people, 2 beers, a large bottle of coke, and more than enough food (couldnt finish the 2nd order). Total price was about 350 baht. I tiped 10 baht.

    Does that make me a cheap charlie?

    I'm not in Bangkok and the waitress was a 12 year old working in a family restaurant business. The most popular one in this little farming village.

  12. Green/black pattern, wide stripes across its head. A bit of googling suggests 'Chrysopelea ornata' or Golden Tree Snake. Is there any other snake with similar looks or can I assume that this is what I am dealing with?

    It looks like a viper to me. Have had a very similar looking snake (diamond shaped head???) in my house 3x's now. They are poisonous but not too aggressive. Not to me anyway! Just give it an escape route and leave it alone.

    It looks like a viper to me. Most are poisionous. If you have kids around, I would relocate the snake or kill it. You know how curious kids can be.

    post-19457-1123040520.jpg

  13. Green/black pattern, wide stripes across its head. A bit of googling suggests 'Chrysopelea ornata' or Golden Tree Snake. Is there any other snake with similar looks or can I assume that this is what I am dealing with?

    It looks like a viper to me. Have had a very similar looking snake (diamond shaped head???) in my house 3x's now. They are poisonous but not too aggressive. Not to me anyway! Just give it an escape route and leave it alone.

    post-19457-1123040274.jpg

  14. Hi Richard,

    Man, you live far,far away! :o

    How long is the trip to BKK?

    Cheers!

    Hi Firefan,

    Auctually, I live in Sa Kaeo province. I was just visiting my GFs family up in Phayao. Since its so close to Maisai I deceded to get the stamp there.

    To get here from Bangkok, I usually take the overnight train with sleeper car(700 baht) to Chaing Mai. Then the "greenbus" to Phayao (169 baht). Then another bus to her parents village in ampher Chun.

    This trip she ran into her neighbors from her village who gave us a ride from Phayao to Chun.

    I could have went to Aranyapreth since I live about an hour from there but with all the problems with that border I figured its best to avoid it and go visit the soon to be in-laws.

  15. I went to Maisai, Thailand today for my 60 day passport stamp. For those of you who don't know where Maisai is, its the fathest north you can go in Thailand.

    I was out of Thailand, into Myanmar, and back into Thailand in under 10 min. Total cost for Myanmar visa was 250 baht.

    No problems what so ever.

  16. I do appreciate all the help from the people in this forum with the question I asked.

    Some things are harder to accept than others. Not everything is always going to be how I want it to be.

    After all, it is my choice to live here and I have to take the good with the not so great.

    Perhaps one day the law will change. As for now, I will live with it the way it is and get on with my retirement.

  17. Photoshop has a nifty little feature that lets you batch resize hundreds of photos very effortlessly.

    It will also let you rename all the files to a single name such as, ThaiVisa001, ThaiVisa002, ThaiVisa003 etc.

    I use this feature when I want to reduce the file size and the pixle resolution down to 72 dpi so I can't post to the internet easier.

    I use a Kodak EasyShare DX 5430 5 Mega Pixels camera. The color quality is excellent.

    It's very simple to operate and has a SD card memory card slot to expand the internal 16MB of memory. SD memory cards and other memory cards, such as CF memory cards also make transfering the images to your computer very simple.

    There are pleanty of places you can go to get a copy of photoshop before you purchase it. Most malls in the larger Thai cities will have a small store in their IT section that sells this graphics program as well as hundreds of other programs.

    If you like it, and you can afford it, go to the adobe website, payfor and download the real program. Properly registered programs do come with more benifits than the copies you get in the malls.

    Photoshop is the Mercedez Benz of photo editing programs. There are many more less costly programs you can use to resize and edit you programs.

    The difference is similiar to going somewhere with a ragged out volkswagon bug and going with your Mercedez Benz. They both will get you to your destination but the Benz has more features.

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