Mansell

Amused by the comments on German cars. Out Xmas shopping and ended up talking to an Indian guy around 35. He coordinates the building of BMW chassis here near Pattaya….he did same job in India and Germany before this. So who knows where these cars are built anymore.

Just a suggestion, but check out the Suzuki XL7. Costs a shade under 800,000 but they are offering discounts up the ying yang. Traded in our Mazda 2 and they offered 140,000 baht, my wife said I want 200,000 baht….said Yes immediately. It is an MPV with 7 seats and not the huge size of the big SUV’s. We have another Suzuki Ciaz with 90,000 kilos….very comfortable and my favorite for quite a while when we had the Mazda. Suzuki service in Korat was the best when we lived there. I think they try harder. Suzuki were going to drive down to Pattaya to pick up the Mazda and then drive back to BKK……they really wanted to make the deal happen. It is a buyers market right now. Good luck.

I knew a woman in the USA and when her dogs went crazy she used a cattle prod on them…..eventually she only needed to pick it up and it made the buzzing noise and they sat obediently.

Totally agree. The government doesn’t have a clue, Why? Because they are military officers and not trained for running a country. Basically clowns pretending to know what they are doing. They need to strip away all the immigration nonsense and start over with a good system based on other countries who know what they are doing. Not difficult, but it does take intelligence and the ability to admit the past doesn’t work very well, and it’s time to move forward with a completely new approach. Will it happen? Not unless the powers that be admit they are clueless and are open to getting outside help to restructure their complex and inefficient present system.

I’m not getting an Elite Visa, but I had no idea you had to report to immigration each year….I knew the ninety day was still in effect. What the hell is the point getting this visa….it seems like it offers you nothing, just the ability to pay 500,000 baht. For what? To get screwed anyway by immigration and get banned for a year. They really don’t have a clue here to create a good and safe immigration process that works for everybody. Banning a guy who has paid 15,000 dollars for a misunderstanding that could be resolved with one of their beloved rubber stamps……It jus beggars belief. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, more like the brain. I thought Asian people were smart….it doesn’t come across like that here.

I don’t see the point of the 90 day report, and completing it by computer makes it redundant as they don’t know who you are and where you are. Might as well dump it now. And if they screw it up and you don’t know, the onus will fall on you and not them. I will probably just pop in and do it as immigration is on my way to playing tennis, and then I have their piece of paper in my passport to remind me. It only takes minutes, but I do understand what a pain in the aspidestra it is for folks living hundreds of miles away from any office.

You can buy a nice table at Big C for around 4,000 baht on wheels etc and folds in half. We have one, works great.

If your from the USA and receive Social Security you can get an email from the Embassy in the Philippines showing what you have been paid over the last year…..this takes a few days. The immigration woman wanted much more including an embassy letter which stopped a few years ago. She still demanded nonsense letters…..so I printed out all the emails backwards and forwards from that embassy. I presented her with them and I don’t believe she can even read English, and she accepted them……all total nonsense. Remember the old saying bull*#*% baffles brains.

Getting older is a <deleted> shoot, especially the health issues….you either have health problems or you do not. A lot depends upon your life getting to be 77. Were you active and doing lots of activities, or was it a sedentary lifestyle? I spent my life playing tennis, walking for hours, surfing, and bicycling. I ride the bicycle now a few times a week usual 12 kilo each time, a bit of time with weights. But mainly playing competitive doubles tennis with guys of mostly 20 years younger or more. I am lucky most of my health issues are my eyes, and I’m dealing with that….one nasty atrial fibrillation attack, but I handle that with supplements. But once again health is a <deleted> shoot. As for interactions with other farang…..besides tennis nothing really. Bars are not my scene, and I’m not into nightlife. I would love to be in a book club and discussing the merits of assorted books, but only non-fiction. Presently reading Nelson Mandela’s life story…..engrossing read. Actually got to hear the great man talk in Capetown in 1999. I am a people person, so living here has been difficult, and I love debating assorted topics, but that doesn’t seem to happen in Thailand. I am near Pattaya, and in my experience farang here really keep to themselves. And as I’m healthy I don’t drink tea or coffee or much beer….so that puts a crimp into the social life. I guess most of us will just keep plodding along until the great door in the sky opens and welcomes us back. Good luck people.

He came on here and gave his opinion of his experience in the UK. And he gets attacked……ridiculous nonsense. I think a lot of these posters are stuck in the UK and find it easier to attack because he’s right about many of his experiences there. The UK is very expensive, it is more expensive than California for renting apartments, food and eating out at restaurants, petrol, clothes, and pretty much everything. Wages and rentals when I lived in the UK was reasonable……I know it was fifty years ago but an apartment for two in Cheltenham was five pounds a week, groceries was another five pounds a week. I was making 45 pounds a week which was about twice as much as the national average. Flats in London then were expensive, and they were small boxes…..not very appealing. I left the UK in 1972 for California, and when I return I feel like I have stepped back into a time warp…..everything looks the same, but the prices are outrageous to me. We all make our choices, and Thailand is mine……for now as things change.

My sons private school opened today, but not for the under twelve year olds. It’s a beginning.

I would recommend the Suzuki Ciaz……I also have the Mazda 2, but I prefer the Ciaz as it is much roomier all round, and very comfortable for longer journeys. You could buy new for your budget. And my experiences with the Suzuki dealer in Korat was first class……very knowledgeable and friendly. Maybe they try harder because they don’t sell as many cars as Toyota etc. Test drive one before you commit to any of them. I’ve rented a few different cars, and I found the Jazz was better built and more solid than the smaller Toyota’s. Good luck.

Many places already sell alcohol anyway, usually in a coffee mug…..but some openly drinking in bars in cities. If we are all going to hell in a hand basket…..whatever that means…..let’s have a drink along the way. Personally I drink a beer occasionally and I’m done….but let others enjoy their existence.

No divers, but Ao Yon south beach is nice clean beach and water, minimal amount of people. And you could probably get an AirbnB right on the beach. There is the Beach Bar on the next beach looking across to the giant Buddha statue. Anybody could tell you how to get there.

No, they don’t kill dogs there. They have over a thousand dogs, and they send them to Europe and America for adoptions. They brought Tammy to me from Phuket. They are a very impressive organization. Thanks for considering Tammy.

I am not getting any responses from the community. So if you would consider taking Tammy we would have to start initiating this over the next few days, otherwise she is back to Phuket and Soi Dogs. Let me know please.

After more interactions with her I don’t think she is completely blind…..I think she can see dark and light to some degree. I can move my hand across her face and she will react to that. I’ve noticed other reactions when large things move…..when she walks with my son and myself for exercise for the boy, we go backwards and forwards on our driveway, she never bumps into us. Going to be difficult letting her go, but my wife is adamant the dog goes.

my only suggestion would be buy it from the USA and save quite a bit of money…..have a friend bring it over in his luggage. love my IPad.

Had a friend in Phuket who had an agent handling his visa concerns, and a few other farang. One day she just disappeared with everyone’s passports. Most thought she had gambling issues. My friend was lucky as he had two passports from other countries, but lapsed. He got a temporary passport and decided to go to Malaysia to sort some things out….but his visa had lapsed and at the border he was banned from returning for one year. Not exactly an on top of things guy. Earlier this year he got a sailboat and was sailing from California to Ecuador, but his maintenance left a lot to be desired etc. Way down the Mexican coast hit some bad weather and the trimaran started coming apart and he had to send an SOS, five hours later he was picked up by a ship heading back to California…..last saw his boat drifting off into the night. A lot of lessons to be learned from these things.

When I first went to Morocco I stayed there for the English winter, no issues. Also the government would give a discount on purchasing gasoline. Something like for every 20 dirhams of gas, 8 dirhams were subsidized by the government to encourage tourism. Pretty easy to be a tourist long term there.

She is completely blind as far as I can tell. I called her and she came running towards the sound of my voice, but I stood perfectly still and she walked right past me. But she has amazing awareness of our property…..it is a hundred twenty feet to our gate and another sixty or so to the back of the house. She navigates around avoiding everything including cars, bicycles, fish pots, and supports for the car port extended roof. Great hearing and sense of smell.

Hot drink with apple cider vinegar, lime juice, and honey, breakfast itself could be either muesli with strawberries, banana, bran flakes, and fat free milk. Or buckwheat pancakes with an egg and little milk in the mix, add sliced frozen strawberries in as well, cook, then on the plate with honey and a mashed banana. For those wondering the Buckwheat pancake mix is sold in the supermarket at Central near the beach in Pattaya…….seems to be the only place that sells it.

I put them in a cardboard box….a shoe box is great…..then they ripen, but must check every day.

Thanks for even considering her. I forgot to post a pic of her, and she weighs 22 kilos. If it doesn’t work out Soi Dogs will come from Phuket and pic her up, but I would love to find a home for her here then I could visit her…..she and I get along great. Within minutes of getting out of the transport we were bonding, and I walked around our property and she had it all down within 30 minutes. I was impressed.

Hi guys i have a lovely female dog Tammy, she is four years old and she is blind. But she is extremely smart and responds to sit and lay down……she is a very happy and sweet dog, and runs around without bumping into any thing which I couldn’t do if I was blind. I think she may have been owned originally by a farang. I adopted her from Soi Dogs Phuket, but unfortunately my wife is terrified of dogs. I thought she would come round…..not happening. if somebody is interested in adopting her I will give you everything I bought for her including a trampoline type bed, a harness, two leashes, bags of food and snacks I bought from Lazada, a baby gate for inside the house, a GPS for her collar. Tammy is also chipped. If you are a dog lover, you are welcome to come over and meet her. Give me a PM if you are interested in Tammy.