Na Fan

My neighbor suspects he might have Alzheimer and had himself checked out in a very large private hospital here in Pattaya. He doesn't seem to entirely trust their way of work (they just keep feeding him pills without a proper diagnosis).

Any recommendations for a  trustworthy place, anywhere in Chonburi province, or Bangkok?

I was thinking some sort of university hospital may have a stronger interest in the patient's health vs the finances.

Faan

It is Amazon - that's what bedazzles me.

Hence I can't choose the carrier.

So we've ordered a little package, containing something like $30 worth of baby products. Toothbrushes, finger brushes, things like that. From Amazon. Like we've done dozens of times here in the past.

Then, we get this email from UP*:

""

Dear The customer,

Please see in the attached files for import shipment

and follow up the process clearance instruction from below.

   As the shipment hold in the customs to process the customs entry. To do the clearance process for the shipment , the importer need to contact the customs directly to do the Importer Paperless Registration. The importer must bring the Original passport or company’s documents as the customs require and then fill in the Paperless Registration form pass to the customs to submit and add your information into the customs Database. Most of importer come to the customs office near their location or if the customer can give the original passport to UP* for adding Paperless registration (collect the original passport by UP* messenger only in Bangkok), Please feedback to UP* for the process customs clearance.

  The Customs clearance process can’t be start until the importer do the above process. Once the Paperless Registration done, Please .inform UP* back again then we can run to the next process until the customs release the package. The shipment need also assess the duty and tax, the customs clearance charges, warehouse fee, terminal charges, document fee which UP* will inform back once the process finished. For more information all charge from below.

#In case clear under the personal’s name : MR.xxx  .** the customs require to put  the name title necessary for Manifest system**

Please support to run the process clearance.

1.                  if you cannot process by yourself,we can service for you but please give us the original passport ,T.M 6 immigration , immigration over 90 day (im case stay in thailand over 90 days ) .you can wait and we’ll return passport to you once process completed (take time 2 –3 DAY ) ,

2.                  after that we can submit import entry via customs system,once we got the reply from system then we can process customs clearance.for this process,take time around 2-3 day.we'll also inform the delivery date and total expenses to you in the meantime

3.                  Thai description of goods following in the invoice detail and  If you have.( Name, Brand, Picture of goods , Origine country, Quantity, Cataog, … etc. /Need complete product detail for find out the tax rate)

Thanks

""

So apart from the horrible, horrible email both in terms of language and formatting which is not really what I'd expect from UP*, they are seriously considering that I would go down to Bangkok, or hand over my original passport to a stranger. For a package with a bunch of cheap baby products?!

I'd understand if I'm importing a car or something else valuable, potentially dangerous, or whatnot. But blimmin' toothbrushes and stuff?

I've seen silly things in the years I've stayed here, but man, this is beyond ridiculous.

Oh yeah and note that THEY are asking ME to provide THEM pictures of the goods - yet THEY. HAVE. THE. GOODS!? What in the world are they thinking?

Rant over.

Why Bangsaen?

I have lived there three and a half years, and if you're looking for good beach times, Bangsaen isn't it.

It's a Thai holiday destination - many Bangkok folks drive up on the weekends, and leave the beach a total mess.

We've had two occasions where kids stepped into broken glass while playing on the beaches, one of which ended in many stitches in the hospital.

Bangsaen has its charms, but the beach surely isn't one of them. It's also often affected by oil spills and you'll end up with it all over your feet (and the kids feet).

If beach is your primary goal, I'd recommend anywhere else less crowded - Bang Saray, for example still has pretty nice beaches and isn't that far, either. Heck, even Jomtien is far nicer than Bangsaen, in terms of beaches.

If on the other hand you want to stick to Bangsaen, The Royal Sammuk village is quite alright. I've stayed there, renting a house. But make sure you check everything thoroughly, as many of the houses are old and often badly maintained. You could also suffer flooding during the rainy season, with the whole town being under water up to your knees. Houses are slightly elevated and shouldn't get flooded, but it's still an annoyance.

There is also a large condominium (the one that looks like a boat, sorry can't recall the name) in Laem Thaen, where the weekend markets are at. I've been inside some and they can be real nice.

It's been nearly 4 years since I've moved away from there, though, so take this with a grain of salt. Unlikely, but, it may have changed somewhat since then.

Can anyone recommend a good plumber - someone who actually knows what they're doing?

About 2 months ago we had spoken to one driver - it's still not legal. Taxi drivers are reporting them to police and the driver got fined 2000 Baht.

Personally, we've not had any issues, except the drivers often being worried to pick up or drop off somewhere next to taxi stands or even motorbike taxis.

You need to fix your privacy policy. 

http://reform-thai-immigration.com/Terms_of_use.pdf

The only thing it mentions is comments and cookies - which is useless blabber. But there is no mention whatsoever what happens to the personal information you ask us to fill in when we sign that petition. 

It appears that this was just copied from somewhere else and doesn't really have anything to do with the site its sitting on.

We kill 4 or 5 of them every day. Those nasty & dangerous buggers - gf panics every time she sees one. 

Both of our bathrooms have them and they re-appear every day. We kill a bunch, next day there's more. Mostly small ones, but occasionally a larger one.

We have a toddler now and this is becoming worrying.

They appear to be nested somewhere in the piping? Or inside the walls or floor? 

The house isn't that old, and we're somewhat central, e.g. not out in the sticks. 

Are exterminators a thing that works around here? Or is it just another Baht-sink and nothing happens?

The panda is very hit and miss. More miss than hit lately unfortunately. Had virtually inedible food on many occasions.

In Pattaya they also seem to lack drivers often - sometimes takes 2 hours for food to arrive, while their super shiny doofus app hollers it's right around the corner.

Who are you using? Experiences? Good, bad?

What are you paying per month? What's the coverage limit?

Appreciate any input!

The thing is, you know how much these dishes cost. The prices are always the same, with the exception being a few Baht more or less here and there. That is in casual places of course, not the high-so type of place (where you'd expect to pay more). But these prices are 2 to 3 times what you'd expect. The dishes they had should be less than 1000 Baht altogether in your typical beach place.

It could be the airline or website / service you used for the purchase. Some have been caught up in frauds enough times so they're automatically blocked. Happened to me a few times. Usually a call to the bank sorts it out.

You can use power of attorney forms for almost everything here. Banks, government issues, etc. Never had an issue with it and you don't need to be present.

Of course, it requires a party on site that you can trust with it.

Thank you for the clarification Sheryl!

I'm assuming this means that the same rule applies to the newborn as well, and that she'll get the free health care whereever she is registered in the Tabien Baan.

Sheryl, is that documented  somewhere (in English preferably)?

If you are referring to the 30-Baht health scheme, I had thought that was a Taksin-thing and was stopped when the junta took power. At least, so I've been told by various Thais.

I do know for a fact that my girlfriend, who's Thai, does not get free health care. 

I'd love to hear what you folks are using and what your experiences were.

Regarding: 

3.       Can any of the four full-time employees also legally be employed full-time at another Thai company? 

To an extent, no. If that company already has them registered for SSO, you can't register them twice. But many companies do not provide SSO for their Thai staff.

Yeah it may seem harsh, but it's really self-preservation more than anything else at this point.

Nah, the ride ends now. One way or another. I ain't standing by to watch someone tear me down with 'em out of pure stupidity. There's only so much I will cope with. And the threshold has been reached. 

"there's a strong stupid often adamant belief in many gamblers that they can gamble there way out of debt and addiction. "

That's exactly it. 

SO, 8 months pregnant, has picked up the habit 3 weeks ago. Has since "pawned" MY motorbike 3 times and I had to buy it out of some crook again each time.

Enough.

Getting her to thoroughly read someone else's experiences I was hoping might help. But it's hard for me to find anything. And places like the cabin in chiang mai are way out of my league financially (they don't list prices, which indicates it'll be stupidly expensive. Plus the photos indicate the same thing).

I am looking for a book - in Thai - about dealing with gambling addiction. Ideally someone that tells his or her story, the damage it has done to their life, and how they managed to get out of it.

Any tips greatly appreciated!

What always helps if you have that option - take a Thai with you when you go to the bank. Had no issues opening accounts at SCB a few years ago when I went with a friend of mine who's a local.