phusingpete

This is them on parade outside the FC

totster

Hilarious, but so true, so true.............................

Permission to volunteer for a beer captain Martin, sir......................I'm on my way..........

This is them on parade outside the FC

totster

Hilarious, but so true, so true.............................

To reach their third floor shop (which is more pleasant than the ground floor outlet), walk into MBK from the sky train station and keep going until you see some escalators on your left. Go up one floor and go straight ahead on the right hand lane and the shop is on the right.

Beware, it is full of temptation!

What would I do without you guy's,thanks again. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on a digital camera. Often after finishing a painting I think I may alter the composition,but not really sure.With the camera I could take a shot of the painting, run it through photoshop,make some alterations then decide if the change is right and if so alter the painting. I hope it's that easy. I got mixed up with the avatar's it's hughden's that's particularly enticing..cheers

Hi all, have just returned from the uk with my new digital camera a cannon eos 30D,lovely jubbly. After looking around Bangkok and London, on Ebay in the uk finally bought one duty free at Heathrow, not cheap though, had to pay £748, but this had an 18mm-55mm lens and was cheaper than any other price I saw, even body only. So will play with this and if I need to buy a fixed focus lens will do so later. Really enjoying it, masses to learn of course.Unfortunately forgot about the tripod.

there is plenty of thai painters trying to scratch a living , bring your own materials if you use better than student quality .

Thank you nostrel, and jdinasia

So artists materials are that bad in TH! Are you talking about the situation in Khon Kaen or in TH in general? It's hard to believe that the professionals in TH only use student quality. Maybe it is in Bangkok where the quality materials are to find?

I have looked over this homepage,

http://www.rama9art.org/artisan/male/male.html

and there is many very professional Thai artists.

//hanseman//

Hi, I have just returned from a brief trip to the uk so have been out of touch. Re art materials, I work in oils and had a lot of canvas and oils shipped out with some household gear.However it is possible to buy good quality oils out here. I have found suppliers in Sisaket in Issan who sell Winsor Newton oil colour, which I am used to in the uk and they appear to have good permanence value. I understand that canvas is available in Bangkok, I have also heard of a supplier in Ubon,but have not checked this out yet.Thing is you cannot bring oil paint out with you on the air craft so you would need to ship it out by sea. This would surely entail extra costs and stress at customs.

Exhibiting and selling has not been an issue with me as I am just painting to build up a body of work out here and when I have enough I thought I would ship them back to the uk. Seems that we may have difficulties with exhibiting and selling out here,work permit wise, but not sure about this. cheers......Peter

...... why appliances do not have three pin plugs, your site has cleared this up for me, I shall now join the search for the illusive adapters or correct power points.

I have a couple of questions. My distribution board is a square D but the trip switches do not have a button to test them. Does this mean they are not up to good safety

Standards and if not can I have the switches changed or do I have to replace the whole unit?

I am now having a kitchen built and have bought an in built oven. The only information. on installation states that it must be earthed and that it is 230V. I am told,

by Thai’s who know, that this may be plugged into my existing power points, is this correct? I will have to have an electrician put in a new power point because of the ovens position, I just want to be sure that it is right.

This is a very useful site, many many thanks for your time and effort……..

Hi Pete. We seem to have the only branch of HomePro with the adaptors Drop me a PM if you want a couple, they're 70 Baht each

Your oven is going to be marginal on a regular outlet, usually 3kW or so, that's 13.6 Amps at 220V, rather near the (optimistic IMHO) 16A rating of the plug and there's a danger of getting nuisance trips when you plug in the toaster as well, go for a seperate circuit.

Usually there is one breaker (the incoming one) that is an ELCB (with a 'test' button). If you have no test button then you have no ELCB and you should get one installed. As Lop says you just replace the big incoming breaker with an ELCB, or you can add an external unit (trade name Safe-T-Cut).

Thanks for the info. and advice.I thought that I would need a separate circuit, so all I have to do now is find someone reliable to do it all. Wish me luck. Many thanks

I read somewhere in the threads below (cannot remember which one) that even if you paint your house or do some gardening it is deemed to be work and one should have a work permit. I am a painter, pictures not walls, though I have done the odd mural. Selling is not really an issue with me but when I get a bulk of work together I would like to have exhibitions which may possibly end up with some sales. What should I do about this re- work permit wise? I do not want to step on offcialdom's toes and get fined and deported..Any suggestions/ advice would be appreciated......

contact Ilja west, he has a web site google him.............he does shows in BK tell him sean (canada) refered you

Thanks for the information, I have Emailed ilja west.........cheers

I am looking for the adapter for the "Schuko" plug. I have been to every electrical shop where I live, and no one has them. I even printed a picture of the adapter from Crossy's site and took it with me to show them. No joy

Same here...can't find them at all in Pattaya, went to homepro ( all of them in the area ) first they denied having them ,then armed with picture they said out of stock come back in 2 weeks now more than a month later still not in stock.

I'll check if I can still get both and the price, can soon drop a couple in the post if you fail locally

Crossy could you get me some too ? I need 6 of those WA-GF(R5B) adaptors.

No problem John, drop me a PM with your contact details.

Please Note: There is insufficent spacing on a double Thai outlet to use two of these adaptors

Hi all, I have been reading this site with great interest and some concern as

I have just had a house built in Issan and I have no knowledge or understanding

of electrical wiring. However it does seem that my builder did a good job as I have three pin power sockets throughout the house and it is earthed. I have wondered

why appliances do not have three pin plugs, your site has cleared this up for me, I shall now join the search for the illusive adapters or correct power points.

I have a couple of questions. My distribution board is a square D but the trip switches do not have a button to test them. Does this mean they are not up to good safety

Standards and if not can I have the switches changed or do I have to replace the whole unit?

I am now having a kitchen built and have bought an in built oven. The only information. on installation states that it must be earthed and that it is 230V. I am told,

by Thai’s who know, that this may be plugged into my existing power points, is this correct? I will have to have an electrician put in a new power point because of the ovens position, I just want to be sure that it is right.

This is a very useful site, many many thanks for your time and effort……..

I read somewhere in the threads below (cannot remember which one) that even if you paint your house or do some gardening it is deemed to be work and one should have a work permit. I am a painter, pictures not walls, though I have done the odd mural. Selling is not really an issue with me but when I get a bulk of work together I would like to have exhibitions which may possibly end up with some sales. What should I do about this re- work permit wise? I do not want to step on offcialdom's toes and get fined and deported..Any suggestions/ advice would be appreciated......

Phusingpete,

You might see if you can buy some truckloads of good topsoil to put on top of the sand you've got....I think that is what I would do if at all possible....and then continue with addition of organic material. Even 5cm of good topsoil would make a big difference....of course 10cm would be even better. Good dirt here is called black dirt....in Thai "din dahm". You might have a hard time getting any now because it is rice season and most fields are flooded but after harvest when the fields have dried out some you may be able to get some good dirt....it is best to be sure that you are really getting good topsoil when you order it...some people think that really sandy soil is good top soil so you need to make sure they understand what you want....I always investigate where the soil is coming from and go take a look if possible or else get one truckload and examine it yourself (or hire an expert to inspect it for you) before committing to a large number of loads. Also, remember that if you go to a field where they say they are going to get the dirt and the dirt looks good you must still be a bit cautious since the field might have a think covering of good dirt and nothing but sand underneath...you'll get mostly sand....maybe dig a few testholes?

Chownah

Chownah,

I will look into this but really I do not hold much hope of getting better soil,all seems the same red sand round here. However lots of palms ect growing around here so hopefully with the organic manure and rice husks you suggested all will be well. I intend to get a few piles going before I go on holiday so that I can use it on my return. I assume it would be best to spread it then plow it into the land and where I plant larger trees/palms dig large holes , shovel in some manure and plant the tree as suggested in another post. cheers, phusingpete

Phusingpete,

Why should you think that the fact that you are much older than her would make the visa application unliklely to succeed.? Isn't a relationship between a 50 year old and a 19 year old just as genuine as one between 2 25 year olds? Doesn't apply to me i might add as the age differance is not great , but i never understand why an age gap is a problem for some people.

It also helped that she had some land in her name

Steven W ,

You haven't realy given any details about your girlfriends circumstances, without which its impossible to answer you in anything other than general terms.

Atlastaname,

I agree with you entirely, but many people do not share our opinion and I suppose my gut feeling was that the British Embassy officials would be somewhat suspicious of her motives. I was wrong,thankfully.

When my step-daughter applied at the passport office in Bangkok (6 years ago) it took a week. This was before biometric passports, so it may have changed. Outside Bangkok, probably longer.

A month or so ago my wife renewed her passport at the Ubon Ratchatani passport office,it was posted to the house and took only five days.For a new passport,maybe a bit longer.

The Thai passport was a relatively easy process,approximately one hour at the office in Bangkok and they post the passport on to her home address.When my girl friend applied for a visa some three years back we had been together for about 18 months. I was much older than her and frankly did not expect to succeed. I did have my own house in the UK and enough funds to support her, but my girlfriend did not have a job then and only 2 rai of land to her name. However the visa people were more interested in us proving that it was a legit relationship, they asked us for letters and were particularly interested in the envelopes,which had addresses and date stamps.We just happened to have these with us. I was dumfounded when they gave her a six month visa. She is about to make her third trip,now as my wife. Good luck..........

A lot depends on the kind of wall that you want to build. In my opinion an acceptable type involves contructing a reinforced concrete frame with foundation posts going down a couple of feet into the soil, and filling in the gaps with concrete breeze blocks. The frame is cast in situ around steel rods, and is about 9 inches square. The whole thing is then plastered over with cement and painted. At the front of the house most people opt to have lower concrete wall sections topped with steel or alloy 'wrought iron' style fence sections. A few years ago I paid 60,000 baht labour plus costs of materials to buiild such a wall about six feet high around two rai, and lay some concrete drive. As I recall the concrete, steel and blocks cost a little bit more. I chose fairly cheapish steel and alloy gate and fence sections at about 70,000 baht. Stainless steel would have been nice but cost more than double. Painting the wall was extra, but the labour as cheap. So I probably paid around 220,000 baht to enclose two rai. This was at local labour prices. My design could be improved by using small red bricks rather than blocks, but this would be more expensive.

On the other hand a relative of my wife has just had a much more basic wall built for only 180 baht per metre labour costs. This wall was made by using pre-cast concrete posts, laying a bit of concrete and steel as foundation to join up the posts just below ground level, and then putting in blocks to a height of about one metre. There is no cement rendering, or reinforced concrete top, and this wall is only the width of a single, cheap concrete block.

The problem with walls is that Isan houses are often built on a square of land that has been in-filled to raise the height above the surrounding paddy fields. This means the fence is right on the edge of a small slope. If the foundations don't go down far enough the wall may tip outwards. It helps if there is a fair amount of concrete drive or path adjacent to parts of the wall.

Hi I have recently had a wall built round my two rai plot. I had a lot of wrought Iron on top of a low rendered block wall as I did not want to obstruct the beautiful views I have from my house. The blocks are tied in to the pillars with steel and they even put a butress from every forth piller(underground).Not cheap but very good value.Materials such as steel and cement are far more expensive now.I spent around 500,000 baht for the completed wall. cheers

You don't need cow manure, horse manure, buffalo manure. Next time you're at the FC just bring along a pick-up.

Hi all, many,many thanks for the info. and advice, have not been able to access the web for some time , so have just seen your replies. Our soil is definately sandy and will need a great deal of organic material, so will now check the availability of buffalo manure and rice husk's. We do live in the middle of rice fields. We are going for a 2 month holiday to the UK in August, so I shall try to create a manure pile, as suggested by Chownah, before we leave. Also have a look at some of the garden centre's mentioned.

I know what you mean Lampy, sure is a lot of bullshite in the air at your place, but I love it. Notice I said in the air not on the table..........I'm only little!!!!!............. Cheers and thanks again for the advice................

Thanks for the info. and pic's, just what I was looking for. Certainly is a beautiful creature,I was warned that they could be very agressive. Thanks again...

We have one of those large lizards which makes a Toch Eyeii sort of sound visit us on occassion.However before I can get a photograph it scampers off. I am just finishing a portrait of my Thai wife and would like said lizard in the background. As it is very uncooperative I wondered if anyone could put me on to a website where I could download a picture. I have looked for books on the subject but to no avail. Also does it have a proper name.? Cheers

Hi all, we have just completed building our house and garage and now clearing the rubble, after which I am keen to start planting.I have seen a similar site here but it was centred on the Bangkok area. I would like to know of any good, reliable plant/tree suppliers in the Ubon,Sisaket or Surin areas. I was thinking of putting down turf but now wonder if grass seed would take. Trouble is the land has been filled with very poor soil, but I assume I can put down some type of fertliser, but what and where to buy?

We have only one tree on the land,which incidently they wanted to cut down before building the house, so I would like to have a few larger trees to create some shade. But as I am an old git, feel that I do not have a great deal of time to sit and watch saplings grow. I would like to do most of the work involved myself but I assume that if I buy a few large trees the supplier will plant them. I am really interested in creating a jungle like environment with some open grass areas, lots of palms some fruit tree's but also brightly coloured flowering plants. Any info. and advice would be really appreciated.

Many thanks in anticipation...

hi dragonman and geoff

we have asked the land office to get involved but the chanote has been handed on to another department and they still require a signature from this guy to go ahead without it its a civil dispute at which point they wish not to get involved. I may be wrong about thai land law but that is how i see it from their comments so far. On the point of asking him to split the difference 50/50 well any rational person would say yes to that and i would certainly agree to it. However, this guy from one conversation to the next jumps around making so called decisions for us where he things the boundary should be moved from one day its the section in the middle then he goes away and thinks for a while and comes back saying move the fence at the end. I know what his plan is i think to improve the entrance on/off his own land as he plans an access route through the back at some point in time. So far this guy has done his best to insult my Father-in-law, question my wife's eductation and generally making all sorts of personal comments to agrivate the situation further. He is not a very nice person and just another tight arsed chinese guy who thinks we are no smarter than the farmers he steals land from on a day-to-day basis loaning them money. This land was not given to us free we had to buy it at great cost from our savings as the land is on the outskirts of the city and I begrudge giving it away to someone who makes demands. I am already in for 10,000 baht in solicitors fees, international telephone calls back and forth and chanote cancellation. I would really like to discover some loop hole in the law that states we can go ahead with the chanote by default of him not showing any proof of ownership but so far it does not seem to be there under thai law.

Whether they wish to get involved in a Civil Dispute, or not, is irrelevant. They are involved, in that it is the Land Department's responsibility! If any Court Action took place they would be prime witness. However you have to bear in mind that you may actually be getting away with a good deal, as many land boundaries under Nor Sor Sahm are up to 20% out. This is of course the disadvantage of the acquisition, and why most decent lawyers do not suggest other than chanote or Nor Sor Sahm Gor, especially where building is going to take place.

Hi, I know nothing about Thai land law but if what you say about his plans for an access on the disputed land is correct, seems to me you have the upper hand here. I assume he cannot create said access on disputed land without your say so. Maybe best to just to wait it out ,you never know he may plan to build an industrial estate on the land......

Thinking of stopping off in Switzerland with the missus for a 5 day stay on way back to LOS

What type of UK visa does your wife have? If she has ILR, FLR, a fiance visa, a spouse visa or certain other types of visa/entry clearance, but not a visit visa, for the UK then she does not need a visa to enter Switzerland as a visitor, and can stay for up to 3 months.

See item 5 on this page.

Thanks for the reply GU22. She doesn't yet have a UK visa, but will be on a Visitor Visa when we got to UK, so will need to get a Swiss visa. Was really hoping for some personal insight from someone who has recently applied for a Swiss visa, and can give a description of the procedure and any pitfalls to avoid or wrinkes to make life easier? These sort of things are what the website doesn't mention and can help make life smooth for the next punter. Cheers.

Hi, one thing I can tell you is that the Swiss Embassy shuts at 11.30 am.Having been in Bangkok for 5-6 days we finally got my wife's vv and went to the Swiss Embassy to find it closed.Like you, we only wanted to go for 4-5 days. I really did not want to spend any more time in Bangkok so gave up on the Swiss visit as we are only on holiday in the UK for 2 months.

From How to apply.

The UK Visa Application Centre is run and managed by VFS(Thailand) Ltd. A service charge of 425 THB plus 7% VAT is applicable per passport. Credit cards are not accepted.

The service charge may be paid in cash.

Not sure if ths has been mentioned before,but may be useful info.I have just recently been to get visa for my TW and as we arrived we were met by a young girl who took us into an office to check our application over.They then told us that we did not have enough info in the application and asked if we would like them to do the application for us. My wife has had two visa's in the past so I declined the offer, but we wasted approx. half an hour on this stupidity.Needless to say my wife's application was successful. Don't let them waste your time.Go directly to the 2nd floor......

Guys

For us who lives on the other side of the border (Ubon Province), and might want to join an eventual?????pissup.

Please let us know when and where Then we have some time to plan

We can share all the British, American, Viking, and other humour when we meet!!!!!!!!!!

Don't worry mate...there's a gang of us coming down to see you soon anyway

Lampy let me know when the trip to bergen is due. Probably see you soon at the great Surin pissup.If it is official let me know and I'll wear my Black Russian cod piece.

Hi, over a year ago I needed stretched canvas for oil painting and after some months looking and asking around I had to bring some over from the UK. Stupid thing is they were actually produced in China. Does anyone know where I might buy these, preferably in the area of Ubon, Sisaket or Surin, but I am prepared to go anywhere. I am able to buy oil paint ect. in Sisaket but they cannot help with the canvas.

Phusingpete,

Please inform us if you succeeded in finding

your canvas and / or other painters materials.

At he moment I live in The Netherlands but

in the nearby future I'll settle down in the Issan

and hope to paint a lot over there.

Hope to hear one of these days from you,

Grtz

Norman

Hi Norman, certainly oil and acrylic paint, brushes ect are available in SiSaket, I just have a problem finding canvas. I will let you know how I get on. cheers

Therefore the main reason to purchase cover is for medical expenses, now bearing in mind your gf is coming to the UK should the need arise she would always be treated free of charge by the NHS.

If she were coming to the UK to settle then she would be entitled to free NHS treatment. However, as she is coming as a visitor then she is not!

From the Department of Health, Are you coming to the United Kingdom on holiday or to visit relatives?

What if I should need hospital treatment?

Under the current Regulations, anyone who comes to the UK on holiday or for a short term visit will have to pay for any NHS hospital treatment they may need while they are here, unless they meet the criteria for one of the exemptions from charges. This includes people coming to visit relatives who are ordinarily resident in the UK. Their entitlement to free treatment does not extend to you, even if you are going to be staying with them for several weeks or months. If you think you will have to pay for treatment, you are strongly advised to take out health insurance before you travel.

Of course, if she were lying bleeding in the street the ambulance isn't going to leave her there if she can't pay (this isn't America ), and she would receive any emergency treatment without charge, but any follow up treatment or stay in hospital would be charged for.

Do I have to pay for emergency treatment if I have an accident?

Regardless of residential status or nationality, emergency treatment given at Primary Care Practices (a GP) or in Accident and Emergency departments or a Walk-in Centre providing services similar to those of a hospital Accident and Emergency department is free of charge.

In the case of treatment given in an Accident and Emergency department or Walk-in Centre the exemption from charges will cease to apply once the patient is formally admitted as an in-patient (this will include emergency operations and admittance to High Dependency Units) or registered at an outpatient clinic.

Get insurance.

Hi, I can confirm that if you need to visit a GP you have to pay.My wife had numerous HURT'S on our last visit to the UK,it cost £25 a time to see a nurse.at our local practice.Soon mounts up...

Since this section started there has been little interest in the Arts side,

as opposed to photography.

See the two posts this week.

No response to either.

Should we rename the section to Photography - Technical and Artistic

and forget the other arts?

Tell us what you think.

I am an artist who lived in Chiang Rai for 10 yrs and just left 6 months ago, I feel homesick and today was looking for art news about Chiang Rai and all I could find was this forum (doesnt 9 art gallery have a site?). Chiang Rai has a vibrant and talented art scene and needs all the support it can get so please do not close this site. What I appreciated the most was the comeraderie shared by the artists and the sense of shared purpose which seems to be lacking in the place I am now, I will be back.

Hi excr, I know exactly what you mean. I am a painter living in Issan and do miss the company of other artists.Please do not get me wrong I am very happy here,the people are wonderful and the landscape is magical and I am working (painting). However I do feel that my work is stagnant and needs some added stimulation, as you rightly said the "sense of shared purpose". Let's hope more people use this site it could be so great, possibly lead to group meetings and mixed exhibitions. I am fortunate that I do not have to sell work to survive,but I do love having an exhibition, the deadline, hanging the work, the preview and the wine, sheer bliss. Perhaps you could get some of your friends in Chiang Rai to post on the site, certainly sounds like a place I should visit. I confess I know nothing about running a web site, but is it more work to leave the Arts in the Photography section?. If not why remove it, even if it is not used extensively.

Malaysia is good value. A little far- but if you need a visa run. I know of a good place in Chinatown in KL. Venus arts I believe,

Good luck

Hi,many thanks for the info.To be honest I had given up on this one so it is a nice surprise. I shall be in Bangkok next week so will try there first. many thanks