Colonel_Mustard

That didn't pan out quite as the senators thought.

Normal school, and home school at night or weekend. Your kid needs friends to play and communicate with.

It's fairly easy to arrange activities outside home school for them to interact and play with other kids.

If you can't afford an international school here, then it's the best option (and possibly still the best option even if you can afford one).

Any ideas on what the costs are for CTH and what packages available? Went on their website but couldn't get much info from it.

Where do I go to speak to someone about getting this?

I think I pay about 1000 baht a month for their top package. We just contacted the local CTH provider. The list of providers for Phuket is available at http://www.cth.co.th/en/lso_list/ , Just scroll down the addresses (only in Thai I think) and find the one nearest to you.

Package info is at http://www.cth.co.th/en/package-599/

CTH would seem to fit what you are looking for (not during a coup though).

My school's managment just emailed all parents to cancel school tomorrow.

Why? School hours are outside of curfew times.

All schools, both government and private, are to close until Monday.

Home school and get a private Thai tutor for 4-8 hours of Thai lessons per week. The best of both worlds.

hope they are proud to bring all this to this lovely country... a disgrace they should be ashamed

They scored a partial victory they can home.. this is a disaster for the Shins. You lost get over it.

I heard the same after the last coup and the net result wasn't much different.

There are and will be no winners until the corruption on both sides can be removed and a true democracy that works for the people established. Until the politicians can put the needs of the county before their own nothing much will change for the better. Sadly there seems no real desire to deal with these issues on either side.

I fear it will once again be a case of one step forward and one or two steps back.

In a restaurant I generally tip between 5 and 10% depending on the bill and quality of service. Rarely tip elsewhere.

The rocks at either end of Nai Thon beach plus a few spots at Nai Yang and Mai Khao beaches seem to be result in some decent catches of smallish fish.

I have a couple of friends that catch quite a lot off the North East coast too but not sure where exactly but can ask if you are interested,

A teaching based on LOVE does not need to fight wars to defend it, or send brain-washed drones out into the world to spread it.

Personally I think any teaching (not matter what it is) that is truly based on love for others should be spread as widely as possible.

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Imagine being burned/buried on soil you could never own, even if you were alive.

You ought to know we don't own anything in this world. It is delusional to think otherwise. Sorry for getting too philosophical, but we don't even own our own bodies. They leave us in the end too. And we have to leave everything we thought we owned behind.

And to be scientific, everything is a mass of atoms owned by the universe. Nothing is ours.

And if i am still so full of ego on my deathbed that i worry about being burned on a piece of earth that "i never owned", then something is far wrong and life has been wasted.

Let's enjoy Thailand for what it is for however long we choose (and good luck to Neeranam on his quest home...have a decent dram for me mate ).

Just out of interest, what exactly do you think would be enjoying Thailand except for the ego or body?

Plenty to do and keep oneself occupied. No need to ever be bored.

However, if you are looking for a bit of culture, your options will be quite limited. I guess that's not what most people are here for but I do miss it personally.

One could always have a game of Cluedo,to pass the time.

We do frequently . It's one of the family's favourites and that's why I chose the username. As i said there's no lack of activities to pass the time. Slightly more intellectual pursuits are perhaps a bit harder to find though.

Plenty to do and keep oneself occupied. No need to ever be bored.

However, if you are looking for a bit of culture, your options will be quite limited. I guess that's not what most people are here for but I do miss it personally.

Kraft real mayo is great on a high fat - low carb diet as unlike many of the others, they don't put sugars in. In fact I think it has zero carbs.

I looked around a couple of years ago and the best I could find was called Plookpanya (or something like that). Problem was that they only offer up to age 14 I think.

We looked at St Stephen's but to be honest it looked a bit run down and they seemed to be gradually cutting back on the upper ages that they offer classes to. At one time I think they went up to age 18, now it's 16 I think, and they stated that it would be reduced further to age 14 and older kids would then have to attend St Stephens in BKK. Not sure whether or not that happened but it just didn't impress me much so I didn't pursue it.

No, I'd say if 1% are wealthy, then 1% of that 1% may be interested in buying property.

The Chinese much prefer HK, and Singapore for buying property and are a much better investment opportunity than Phuket.

That may well be the case but there are still many people from HK buying in Phuket at the moment. I know quite a few people in the RE business here and pretty much all of them say that most of their buyers are from HK and to a lesser extent Singapore. Not as many Russians as I would have expected but when they do buy, apparently they mainly go for condos (perhaps as not many seem to have Thai partners).

It's hard to forecast the property market in Thailand at present due to the political issues that are happening and are likely happen in the near future. Barring a major increase civil unrest, I would expect prices to increase very slightly or at least remain stable.

Worst - Philippines

Best - Indian and Japanese

I guess it depends what you mean by living Thai style. There are many Thais living in large air-conditioned houses, driving German cars, wearing designer labels, spending hundreds of thousands of baht per month while many poor families may live in one small room with a fan and no running water and make do on a few thousand baht per month.

If by Thai style, you mean the latter then no, I don't live Thai style and have no wish to. I suspect most Thais wouldn't either given the choice.

I do see some attraction in a simpler, less cluttered lifestyle than I have at present but I still couldn't do without certain luxuries that I have got used to.

Leaving Phuket soon so won't be able to play sadly but the courts at Thayapura are very good.

Thai women (and men) are pretty much the same as those from any other country, some are loyal and some aren't. The trick, as always, is in picking the right one.

If I die in Thailand, I can't really say I died in the land I love, could you?

No, I couldn't. If given the choice I'd die in The Czech Republic as it's the country I love the most and feel most at home in. It's not a major issue though and there are a lot worse places to be than in Thailand to see out my last days.

Colonel_Mustard, on 18 May 2014 - 00:02, said:

Rorri, on 17 May 2014 - 14:10, said:

StreetCowboy, on 16 May 2014 - 22:16, said:StreetCowboy, on 16 May 2014 - 22:16, said:

I think it is the OP who was off topic. He says "what happens when you go to meet your maker?" and then digresses onto the fate of those left behind. Perhaps if he had captioned it "What happens to those left behind when you shuffle off this mortal coil" fewer of us would have responded on more spiritually important issue of what we anticipate on the final day of judgement when we stand in front of our maker to account for what we have made of our meager lives

SC

I don't give a dam-n what happens on a more spiritual level.... I suggest, instead of trying to hijack my thread, you start you own....

It's not your thread though is it? It's a general thread that anyone may post on as they see fit and SCs' comments seem reasonable enough to me.

He's more concerned with his own fate, whereas you're more concerned with the fate of those left behind. Both are different but equally valid viewpoints IMO.

Oh you silly silly boy..it is a "general" forum.. the definition of a "thread" is: Forums have a specific set of jargon associated with them; e.g. a single conversation is called a "thread", or topic. Once again, it is my thread, if you don't like it.... pee off, and start your own. I thought any moron was capable of understanding my point, obviously you and those you support have a problem. Spiritually has NOTHING to do with my post...topic...thread.

StreetCowboy, on 16 May 2014 - 22:16, said:

I think it is the OP who was off topic. He says "what happens when you go to meet your maker?" and then digresses onto the fate of those left behind. Perhaps if he had captioned it "What happens to those left behind when you shuffle off this mortal coil" fewer of us would have responded on more spiritually important issue of what we anticipate on the final day of judgement when we stand in front of our maker to account for what we have made of our meager lives

SC

I don't give a dam-n what happens on a more spiritual level.... I suggest, instead of trying to hijack my thread, you start you own....

It's not your thread though is it? It's a general thread that anyone may post on as they see fit and SCs' comments seem reasonable enough to me.

He's more concerned with his own fate, whereas you're more concerned with the fate of those left behind. Both are different but equally valid viewpoints IMO.

Property that is reasonably priced will sell without too much of a problem. The problem is too many owners overvalue their property.

Everyone that I personally know that has put their property on the market at a sensible price in the last 12 months sold it fairly quickly (myself included). In each case to buyers from Hong Kong.

I can't see prices going up much in the short to mid-term but I also don't see them going down either (barring increased civil unrest). I'd buy a property here to live in but not as an investment.

" I'd buy a property here to live in but not as an investment." - so, in other words, you would make a donation to a property developer.

As I said I'd only buy a property to live in with the expectation of not losing money on it but also not making much, if any profit. I'd also save on paying rent in the meantime.

I had a house built here about 10 years ago and sold it this year. I made quite a lot of profit on the original build cost but by the time I factor in maintenance costs over that period, then I guess I have done slightly better than breaking even and have, in effect, lived there rent free for a very enjoyable 10 years.

I would never buy property in Thailand as an investment vehicle but purely as a way to live in the property that I want, for as long as I want and get my money back when I want to move on. That's ok by me. For investments there are better opportunities than property in Thailand or elsewhere.

I agree with what you are saying, but with a higher sale price for property here now, that money can be put to better use than simply buying a property to avoid paying rent, which is so cheap here.

Without a gain on your outlay, not to mention the maintenance costs and fees over the years, I consider renting to be the better option, rather than breaking even, or having a loss, on property here.

The money one would use to buy a property here, that will not appreciate in the future, and in fact, will probably depreciate, plus maintenance etc - can be used to cover rental costs, plus some.

As I said, there are better investments than property. However, I'm glad I bought. I got to design the exact house that I wanted, where I wanted and got to decide when I wanted to leave. I couldn't guarantee that in a rented place. I had a wonderful 10 years there and it was a perfect place to bring my children up, so no regrets at all.

I'm keeping a property in the North of Thailand in case I decide to return to Thailand at any time in the future. If I wanted to return to Phuket for a couple of years or so at any time, then in the future I would probably rent as the kids would most likely be grown up by then and i wouldn't feel the need to be quite so choosy about where I lived.