Stevemercer

It's the mini-monsoon. The winds come from the cooler north during the dry, but are now shifting to the south from the Gulf as the monsoon starts to built. The winds mix causing thunderstorms. But they only last a week or so until the southern monsoon winds prevail and bring the hot/sticky weather.

I cannot help you. But I do recall a fear I had when I first moved to Thailand and had to often use those little squat toilets without running water. The disposal hole is tiny and I was always concerned my poo would not fit down the little hole when I splashed in the water. A few times it would not fit and the lengths I had to go to to fix the problem were ridiculous. The easiest (if visiting my wife's friends or relatives) was just to tell the wife we had to leave immediately and never return.

I wonder how much the suspects paid to be released the first time they were apprehended

I wear welling boots/gum boots when working in the garden. Barefoot inside the house. Thongs when travelling locally. Cycle shoes when cycling. A good pair of comfortable shoes when travelling. I never wear socks. A good shoe should be comfortable without socks.

It's amazing how far sound travels at night. We live 2 km, and on the other side of town, from where concerts are often held, but it sounds like they are next door. It's pretty amazing how every small town can seemingly have a free public concert, fair, circus, market or whatever every other week. Plus the 23 or so public holidays (admittedly only for gov't workers) each year.

I've applied for many of my Thai wife's friends to visit Australia. If they have plenty of money in the bank (or a joint account) and are married/live with a westerner, they should be able to get a visitor visa (usually covers 12 months with max. 30 days per stay). You don't need a return ticket or evidence of bookings etc. to fill in the online application form. They typically need to show at least 100,000 Baht in a sole or joint bank account (6months of bank records) and evidence they will return to Thailand (home ownership, children or job etc.)

Maybe he ordered his employees to do things they didn't want to or spoke rudely to them if they messed up. The complaints are pretty trivial. All the flies are buzzing around the living corpse to see what they can get. I wonder who is stirring them up?

It is fairly normal. After a month or so in Thailand, and getting sucked into all the family dramas etc. etc. you might find she starts missing you more. For my missus, I am expected to call her 2 times a day when we are apart. I'm not really sure why this requirement rests solely with me. We usually just exchange hellos and the conversation is over in less than 30 seconds. Sometimes, when she is at a meal with family/friends she will want to video call and go around the table. I would expect your wife would want the odd video call with you when she is with family, if nothing else to prove to her family/friends she is in a stable and happy relationship. I would find it odd if she never does this.

Local hospitals are good for most immediate emergencies, but always ask for a private room if staying overnight. If available, the extra cost is worth it. One thing about public hospitals is that a family member usually stays with the patient and does all the routine cleaning, hygiene tasks etc. Although there are plenty of nurses, they only seem to do medical things and distain routine patient care in the public wards. Fortunately, this is not usually the case if you get a private room in a public hospital. The care and attention is often first rate.

I still think he is more innocent than most of the top brass. It's strange that, according to Thai media, no one seems to be able to identify where the gold is now or who has it. The subordinate who is the 'witness' is facing charges, but seems to have had them dismissed in return for his testimony.

The bank will take a copy of the info page on your Passport. I have never had to show my current visa. Bank officers will not be able to understand or interpret the visa information. The bank will not check the visa in your passport or copy it.

We have a fence. It helps if you paint it the same colour as the house, and grow trees alongside away from the house

There is quite an active cycling community in Khon Kaen. As another poster suggested it's best to go to a bicycle shop and ask. There are competitive racing clubs, but also recreational clubs. The main drawback is they typically start 5:00 am or similar

I think most of us are attracted to bargirls when we first hit Thailand. They seem so attractive and available the first few year. But after a few years most of us have moved onto woman from other backgrounds or, more likely, have a permanent partner.