CarlBkk

The first English-speaking badminton coaching club is starting up this weekend at Badminton Assoc of Thailand courts in Lumpini (Wittayu road) on Sunday at 5-6pm. It will run weekly with another session for advanced/competitive players to train at Phra Kanong later on the same day.

Please see Badzone Bangkok Facebook page and www.meetup.com for details and registration.

I'm a Badminton England qualified coach and junior club organiser, still playing competitively in uk and Bangkok. Happy to do individual and small group coaching too.

Hi Jeff I'm not a member but I am interested in running a badminton club at Racket Club (I'm a coach and player). I'm not sure how receptive they'd be to non members coming as participants.

I'd highly recommend The Room 62 (Punnawithi BTS) for that budget. I looked at several and that was excellent VFM at around 20,000. Not all that close to Asoke, but not too bad. Otherwise Supalai Premier on Asoke has a few units that may be ok, but the facilities are a bit naff (it's oldish).

You don't need Sonus, just get a Logitech Sqeezebox. I haven't looked for them in Thailand, but they are available on Amazon. It streams music and net radio, connects wirelessly to your mac and also has an onboard DAC. The only thing you'll need is an amp and speakers (or indeed Active speakers with onboard amps). Some perfect Dynaudios in Amarin Plaza!

Amazing because it's usually the Turks who like to use a knife.

Classe/B&W still have their shop in Gaysorn and also one in Ploenchit Centre. Never have I seen a prospective customer inside them!

There is a new shop in the ever-changing Amarin Plaza showing some Boulder monos with Wilson Alexias. Wonderful!!

I'm about to move back to Bkk from Uk next month and I have a lot of spare kg. any recommendations on what to bring over? I'll be leaving my main system in storage in the Uk and looking to start again with a condo-sized system. Not sure what's available second hand in Bkk now, but thinking along the lines of an Arcam Solo and good bookshelf speakers like Neats. Will just stream music from laptop.

Snarky, nice system...I heard that Meadowlarks are excellent. Mine is Wadia 8, Wadia 321 dac, Modwright ls36.5 valve pre, Krell ksa300s, wilson Sophias, squeezebox touch.

Yeah I know Khun Pordee, I bought my Wadias from him...but there is a separate website/forum for trading used hifi in Thailand.

Snarky you know your stuff. What system are you enjoying yourself?

The guy in Piyanas gave me the website of the main second hand hiend but/sell in Thailand...looked a few times then lost it! Any idea what it is?

I saw a sign for a hifi shop at Piyarom before, but even walking around the place I couldn't find it! I guess it's just an office?

moogradod, if you "began" with a Krell KSA100s and Apogee speakers that is already high end and will compete very closely with modern systems costing 1 million baht up. I know because I've heard that combo. What system are you bringing to Thailand? Different speakers/systems seem to favour the different characteristics of speaker cable brands.

I have no idea how you could be happy with Denon, Marantz and the likes after a system like that, but let us know your budget and room size. I'd definitely recommend Piyanas for mid range equipment and farang-friendly attitudes. I'd stay clear of KS Sons (Paragon, Amarin, Fortune) and the one at the top of MBK. 3rd floor of Amarin is well worth a look...always great little dealers popping up there. Fortune is worth a look (Piyanas have a branch here).

You'd get a lot worse that a good little streaming system for a small room. I own a Krell/Wilson/Wadia/Modwright system, but if moving to a condo in BKK I'd definitely go for some new Elac speakers (or other ribbon tweeters), Aura Premier amp/CD player and Squeezebox Touch for streaming duties.

If the motorbike taxi drivers were this dilligent to EVERYONE who threw rubbish, then great. Areas would be nicer. But they're not. As others have said, they get bored and farangs are there to be joked about....they don't fit into the Thai "class" system of respect. Farangs in a good mood will often have a laugh with motorbike taxi drivers which puts them on the same level socially (psychologically), and thus open to gossip, questions, offensiveness. Do you ever see Thai customers converse with them? No...because they want to keep that separation. They're aware of their social habits as above. Thais want the motorbike taxi drivers to maintain some respect for them and not become too at ease.

The drivers won't often order a passing Thai to do something, especially a male, more so a large older male, in case they have "contacts" and "money" that will affect them back indirectly. They're more scared of that than having a there and then fight. Foreigners don't use contacts to scare them, so no repurcussions.

Example: lo-so head of taxi queue at On Nut calls some farangs who prefer to walk down the soi instead of queue for one of his bikes "farang kee nok" to himself or the riders, but loud enough to hear. A good example of stupid logic and disrespect...BUT remonstrating with one of these guys (for a Thai) is to completely bring yourself to their level and would be shameful to the max.

In the blind tests and informal audiophile tests most people cannot tell the difference between hi res and 320 bit mp3 recordings. It's when you get low mp3 bit rates it gets easily audible on decent systems. Depends how revealing they are.

Always check Www.hdtracks.com for hi res and I use Www.junodownloads.com for hi res electronic and mainstream.

Yep, I'm attending tomorrow. Apparently Amphion and Audio Note (yawn) are producing the best sounds of the show while Naim Statement's ticket-only demo is also popular (but check the price!!!). I'll update tomorrow if anyone's interested.

The real shows were the one at Windsor...true high end, and Scalford next weekend where users take their systems for enjoyment demos, not to sell. Brilliant.

NIK studio on 3rd floor of Fortune (and also a Facebook page). Rare records, honest English speaking owner who really knows his stuff.

Just like any bank or credit card debt, they will sell it on to a specialist company who will try to trace his address and contact details. If they get no joy, it will be sold on again then again. The most important thing to realise is that if they cannot find a record of his current address, debt collection procedures cannot begin. So, if Experian or his banks do not have it, they also cannot get it. If he comes back to UK and lives in a new address without linking this to his previous address, he will also remain anonymous to them.

Lastly, if they cannot make contact for 6 years after the debt became valid, it must be wiped by law.

Amanta Ratchada is great. I lived there for 3 years, brand new modern 2 bed apartment for 35,000 p.m. Brilliant pool, fitness. Right near Esplanade and MRT but quite a tropical quiet resort set back from the busy Ratchada road.

Agoda have a good deal on the serviced apartment tower now at 2000 baht per night. Cheaper than booking through Amanta's own website.

It's sad to say but there are loads of girls like this in Thailand...and the true extent of their baggage takes some time to expose itself, as you found out. Be ready for when it does by being strong and true to your word.

You need to give her an ultimatum now - which could either be the next time she shouts down the phone at you/hits you/damages something it's definitely over. You need to seriously plan now what the next step is: getting her out and keeping her away will be very difficult. I know plenty of good honest guys who've just had to do a runner and move to another part of the city, otherwise the trouble will not go away. Paying someone off implies you're at fault - Thais will rarely admit they are at fault, but may...just may....look back and realise it when they're on their own, after an ultimatum, not knowing where they're nice kind gentle boyfriend has gone.

Your problem lies in that you will need to leave your job too, as I very much doubt she would! I can just imagine the scenes she'd cause at work if you run.

Lastly, you need to record the abuse she gives you, just in case you ever need it legally or to prove anything. I've heard of family members/friends believing one side so strongly that they also conspire to "get" the bad boyfriend, of relatives in the law being called in to "scare" and others.

I think you'll be amazed by the Kef LS50. Beautiful looking and sound thrice their price. Good in small areas too. It's also well worth considering front-ported bookshelf speakers from PMC - they'll work well in enclosed spaces by not extending false bass bloom.

Tata Young sang "dhoom dhoom" which you might be confusing it with. It was an Indian style dance track and I think her biggest hit.

Unfortunately it's linked to Thailand's admiration and bias towards the wealthy, who become powerful. When you get police motorcades stopping cars for some old guy/woman who even no Thais recognise (and then proceeding to go way over the speed limit), questions have to be asked. There are just way too many of them and way too many arse-kissers willing to provide unreasonable benefits (at the expense of the general public) in hopeful return of a future favour or promotion.

It's basically an indication of the unfairness in position/wealth that Thailand continues to purport. If you look at other countries, more civil countries with fairer legal systems, how many police motorcades do you see per month? Royal family, yes, maybe one range rover and 2 police bikes only. Prime Minister yes, dangerous criminals being escorted to prison, yes. And that's it.

Less developed countries in South America, Africa, Asia see loads more. Having said that, I can't think of one Asian country that I've been to that have as many police in a motorcade as often as Thailand...and that includes the Philippines which is less developed. Apart from showing off, the only other reason I can think of for it is there are maybe more assassination attempts in Thailand (and why is that?).

A multitude of bozo VIPs and excessive motorcades are draconian and should be confined to dictatorship countries. Equality it ain't supporting.

A massive embarrassment to Thai badminton fans/players around the world this. Dislike brewing for some time between them, but there must have been a good reason for this to happen...and we're waiting for it to come out.

Reminds me of an experience i had with a half Thai girl I met in Sydney. Parents were obviously wealthy enough to send the daughter to study in Sydney but the mother's greed and insecurity was reminiscent of a poor farming girl.

It turns out, the father, who had also divorced the mother some time ago was a farang of reasonable wealth but the mother was from a poor Isaan family who had married him for the security. The father, obviously getting fed up with the greedy mother, divorced her and left her with some money for the daughter and went back to his home country. The mother wasted all that money and so married again demanding a huge sinsot.

The mother would always gloat about how rich she is, how successful she is, how she was too wealthy to mix with her family in Isaan yet too poor at heart to mix with the Bangkok crowd. I actually felt sorry for her, I could see how desperate she was to fit into Bangkok society.

That's a good story and so indicative of many hi-so wannabes in Bangkok who mix with farang bragging about their wealth and status (with many farangs believing it), trying to show off to the true Bangkok women with status, but being looked down upon. If you can't make it, don't fake it.

For the OP, rich Bangkok families are split when it comes to sin sot. I know many traditionalists who would require a large payment for face/culture, despite not needing it, and I also know a few (admittedly much fewer) families of equal wealth who are modern-thinking parents/daughter and would not ask for a sin not from a foreigner.

Many parents do not know how many guys their daughter has slept with and can only guess, or indeed pretend not to believe it. Their perceived value of their daughter is therefore based on innocence, potential, demand and looks. I can just imagine the response when asking for a pre-nup or investing the sin sot over 10 years! It's like enforcing a condition on it which goes against their cultural beliefs, despite being practical and sensible.

The mother of the Op doesn't sound born into money, she's a divorcee herself with a new wealthy guy, no doubt obtained on her looks. They can be a greedy sort with inflated expectations. 800,000 baht seems reasonable.

Hi, your space is big and highly reflective so you've really got to plan carefully or your system will hurt your ears straight away, regardless of how great/costly each component is. Acoustic panels and bass traps are so important, but if that's not possibly a rug and some more soft furnishings maybe...although I know this isn't so common in the heat of Thai living rooms.

The last thing you want are bright sounding speakers, so go for warm musical brands such as B&W or PMC speakers. Klipsch aren't highly regarded for Sound For The Money, but it's whatever you like. Avoid Focal. Definitely consider the Sonus system, it really is great value for money and you can set it up yourself easily enough. Streamers like that rarely go wrong with lack of moving parts, and can always be reset with a button. If you don't like the dealer can someone bring it over from Aus or wherever? It would be cheaper and not heavy (minus speakers). Dynaudio do some very good cableless speakers, but you should also consider checking out active speakers (with amps built in, fewer boxes and cables) by JBL, ATC and best of all Event Opals. The Events are standmounts but WILL fill your room with big sound...downside is that I doubt you'll find them in Thailand. For your budget and level Piyanas (the dealer) should be a definite stop.

Hi Lex, I should have a definite schedule this time next month. Just finishing up with a new junior coaching club in the UK which is now running well so ready for the return. I'm open to suggestions as to a location....so please give me some feedback as to a location in central BKK which would be convenient for you (or anyone). So far the options are courts at the Thai Badminton Association (Rajadamri area), 71 Sports Club at Phra Kanong, British Club courts just off Silom. Other further options are courts at On Nut and Bang Na.

The perfect situation would be to run the club at the Racket Club or Piyarom, but they don't seem communicative and need all participants to either be members or pay each time. One to One coaching would therefore cost a fortune. I'll begin with two clubs, one for juniors and one for adults...both then split into two by standard of play, and both consisting of coaching plus doubles play. Again, I'm definitely keen to hear your preference on days and times.

One to One (hour long) will also be offered.

Looking forward to getting this going, not for massive income, but because I just love doing it and think there's a lack of racket sport clubs for ex pats in BKK. I've already had some definites for the junior club, mainly from international school students.