Na Fan

So the rule is that you can get 1 bottle (liter) of alcohol person into the country without having to pay tax.

Say you wanted to bring in 2 bottles, nice ones, and you wouldn't mind paying some sort of tax. What's the process here?

To be perfectly clear:

- Having to pay a fee, OK

- Having the bottle taken away for the customs officer to enjoy with his friends: NOT OK.

Can someone comment who has actually done this before? I couldn't find anything "official" - but I may just have been googling in the wrong language.

Cheers!

11 minutes ago, Mang Gon said:

I second this. I have stayed in well used AIRbnbs where I am fairly certain the filter has NEVER been changed or cleaned.

Check/replace filters. Clean your place top to bottom. Wash sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc.

Use fans if you can when you sleep.

Eat your veggies ????

Check for lizard droppings, possibly in bags of rice, etc.

 

Daunting task I know, but if you don't have your health what DO you have?

Aircons are cleaned regularly. And we have a housekeeper twice a week who is scrubbin' like mad.

I don't think it's environmental.

2 minutes ago, markclover said:

All over body pain and a sore throat.  It's called being middle aged.

middle-aged, at the age of 3? ????

Centrally - Chonburi on the beach. It's not particularly cold here. We never feel cold or chilly, at least.

These past 2 months I've constantly, permanently had a cold. Sore throat, runny nose, cough and back the the beginning all over again. Not one day passed without symptoms. No fever at all - just constantly sick-lish.  It just won't go away. Rest of the family is the same, it isn't just me.

18 hours ago, bbi1 said:

I think you've been put on the blacklist. Other people seem to have no issues getting deliveries.

We used to order loads and loads in this household - and most of the time from my account. Never any issues before.

And it happens all the sudden with both Grab AND LineMan?

Nah, that's definitely not it.

These past 2 days we have been unable to get anything delivered. No food, no groceries, nothing. Not from Grab, not from Line Man....

Are they on strike again or something?

Chonburi.

Even willing to travel to Bangkok.

Where exactly? Got a concrete #  / address?

1 hour ago, jastheace said:

DIY

that's the only way you know it's done with due diligence.

would if I could. Last time round I did I ended up with achilles tendonitis that I still felt months after.

Do you know of any good relocation service that is capable to disassemble and re-assemble large furniture, such as 6-door bedroom closets, large, heavy beds and so forth?

We've had bad experiences in the past where people have rushed stuff around,  and screws ended up getting loose shortly after moving, heavy doors fell off the closet in the bedroom (which was very dangerous), and just in general it felt like they didn't know what they were doing.

Any good experience you can share and recommend?

Cheers

Fan

I've got a load of books that I no longer need. They're very high quality Oracle, Unix, Linux books. Cost me a fortune and they still hold quite a lot of valuable information - they're not like totally outdated and worthless.

We're in Pattaya, but would be willing to bring or send them elsewhere.

Question is where? We've tried the local library and they're like completely disinterested because the books are of course in English.

Cash is a gamble with any of those services. They most of the time will not bring change, or pretend they didn't.

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

My nephew is quite good, though not available till November.

November might fit the timeline here!

Know anyone from personal experience that you can recommend? We're looking to do a fairly large renovation project and would like to not chase after sleepyheads that take years to do what should be done in months.

Did the bank also lend you money for renovations? What percentage of the house price did they give you? What bank was it?

Is there any agency or office that can do this?

Government or company?

Basically, getting an answer to the question "Is this house sound and a good buy for this price?"

We've  been looking at houses and since we already have a house full of furniture, I really like seeing a floor plan to see how large the room exactly are, where the windows are, where the power outlets are, etc etc - the basics, really. Just to see if the furniture we have can fit reasonably well.

Now we're looking at buying a property and of course no floor plans are available.

Is it not reasonable to request that the property agent provides those? They're getting a huge commission after all?

Are there companies that can provide it for a reasonable cost? I'm talking basic layout, not a full architectural design with all specs, etc.

2 hours ago, internationalism said:

if you are asking this question it means you are in need of it and have some spare money for it.

Yes, as you I treat insurance as scam, but for the last 2 years I am in financial position to throw some money because I am slightly scared (and getting older).

 

I have started my first ever insurance at the beginning of covid. Slighly panicked and took 16mln cover for 57k. Regret it now, because I got back only 30k on chipped accidentally tooth (the same treatment would cost only some 10k in a street clinic, not at the somitivej hospital).

The next year I took the cheapest one from pacific cross and topped accident cover to 1mln for only 1350b and and outpatient for only 4000b.

Later they allowed me to upgrade to meet requirements for thailand pass. For that I have opted for 300k deductible which halved my contribution. To cover 300k deductible I got covid only policy for 4200b.

 

pacific cross offers up to 20% discount when not claiming. I think it's the only insurer offering that. I think they drop 5% per year for not claiming.

 

Do activate your policy just a day before your birthday.

On misterprakan you got comparison from 6 insurers, all clear in one place, interactive. They are pretty efficient with communication

 

No, I do not have "spare money". But I have even less money to cover a serious illness or surgery for my children out my own pocket. We simply can't afford that.

So it's really not a matter of choice. It's a must IMHO. Which makes scammy policies and so even less desirable.

Thanks for the hint on Pacific  Cross, I'll look at them

What do y'all use, if you're happy with it?

We have that exact same pump - sold by the same manufacturer as the pool. It's useless and very weak.

The thing isn't even so much about throwing the water away. It's the fact that you need to clean the whole thing because of the algae or whatever that slimy <deleted> is that gets all over it. It's a colossal pain to deal with.

Hello

So, for the kids to play and learn to swim, we bought this thing:

It holds about 4000 liters of water and quickly gets muddy and smelly. The wife has been looking for a swimming pool cleaning and maintenance service, but nobody seems to be competent. At least not to an extent that I'd feel comfortable not to expose my kids to too high levels of chlorine or worse.

I'd think if they pop by twice a month or so to make sure the water is OK and top it up as needed, that should be plenty? Or am I missing something?

Can anyone recommend a service? Or are you all doing it yourself?

From what I've seen there's liquid form or there's tablets. The tablets seem to be designed for pools with 50k liters, according to the packaging - so those would be way over for our little one here. The local shops in the area have some in liquid form for sale, but when asked about the concentration they didn't know the answer, and they just said "use about one water bottle full, that will be OK". Yeah...

The other thing I am concerned about is what to do with the chlorinated water. I don't think you should just dump it in the garden when you want to pack up the pool at some point in the future. Some of those pool maintainers said "mai pen rai - just empty it" - that was one of the guys we didn't see again after that.

Any hints, tips?

Cheers

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

Not exactly.  Farang means Caucasian.  So if a white guy, born in Thailand, full Thai citizen, and never left Thailand, he's still a farang, not a foreigner.

yes, right!

Here's me, understanding the Thai terminology, but not the English one.

Duh!

On 4/21/2022 at 9:20 AM, LivingNThailand said:

From what I understand, and I may be wrong, Farang means all Foreigners regardless of race, creed, color, religion, etc.   So why be offended?  It's a word for everyone.  I'd rather be called a Farang than a Foreigner or Alien.  But, as others have  mentioned above, it's the way it is said, the tone.  

incorrect. Farang means "white foreigner". Other races of foreigners have their own words used to describe them.

The weird part to it is, that Farang, is a fruit.