jing jing

If you're planning to live here I reckon job #1 is start learning the Thai language. That'll keep you busy for awhile. Sounds like you've already decided to take the plunge before, ah... burdening yourself with a whole bunch of information... interesting. Just keep an eye on the ole pocketbook and don't forget how to say no, a very useful word when it comes to surviving in the LOS.

Let us know how it goes...

As someone wiser than I once said, "discretion is the better part of valor." I've no need to prove my masculinity or sharp wit to strange Thai men and their groups of friends. Those who choose to do so are, in my opinion, instead demonstrating their own insecurity and a lack of common sense. I come from a place where confrontations and chest thumping often end in gunplay and quite possibly a trip to the morgue. Personally I don't know enough about the subtleties of colloquial Thai/Issan/Lao/Khmer language to conjure up the "appropriate" response, so I prefer to ignore it. So far this hasn't yet resulted in being assaulted by Thai dudes with crowbars, broken bottles, or anything like that but if it had, I'd probably reevaluate my attitude and consider changing it to something a bit more conducive to my own well being... if only for my family's sake.

it all depends on what exactly you are spraying clean. I wouldn't suppose you are arguing with a woman, are you? that would explain the cleaning from the front

That would make sense, however this is a house of two men!! That's why I can't understand how the "from the front" technique would be the preferred option, but he insists that's the way it's meant to be done!!

I don't get it.

So you reckon it's best to just blast the debris onto the back of your sack? Sorry but I gotta side with the roommate on this one. In my household the ladies seem to squirt back to front judging by the residue under the seat... mai sa aat loei, mai chorp!!

My experience is that people have units far too big in Thailand!

Heheheh... passing up the double entendre opportunity, I'll just point out that someone stated the exact opposite a few posts up. A friend of mine who's done some research agrees with you, however, it seems surprisingly difficult to find a consensus on this subject.

BTW, 20 000 BTU sounds about right for 40 square metres. Most people in Thailand (and Australia) who do not bother to have a "professional" survey done, tend to "guess" the size of unit. This normally results in a unit that is too small to do the job & consequently, the compressor runs almost constantly.

OK, but earlier in this thread someone said:

"9,000 btu should be for a room of about 45 square metres."

Seems like there is some contradictory information here. I understand that there are many variables in determining exactly what cooling capacity is needed, but assmuming some sort of average ceiling height and temperature, does anyone know a rule of thumb for calculating BTU per square meter?

I'm just wondering if 9000 BTU is really adequate for 45 sq. met., and if so, how can the same unit be appropriate for a 16 sq. met. room? I've got a 4 x 6 meter living room adjoining a 3 x 6 meter kitchen/dining area with no door between them - that's 42 sq. met. combined, and I was told that even a 24K BTU unit was too small for that area.

Is the interview where they give her the visa or is that later on down the road? How many days in advance will she get about the interview date? Thank you for all the info.

Usually the visa candidate is given a month (or more) notice about their appointment. I believe if the visa is approved, it is given the day of the interview.

I recommend that you attend the interview with your fiance. It adds more validity to your relationship.

One thing I can say that s*cks about the US Embassy (in BKK), is that they send the Packet 3 to the visa candidate (your fiance), and not to the petitioner (you). If your fiance is not fluent with English, I recommend that she send you the forms for you to complete (with information she provides you when needed). When you arrive for her interview in Thailand, have her complete anything that requires Thai script and her signature prior to going to the Embassy.

Right, as I recall there was about one month's notice for the interview. They will grant the visa at the interview but will not issue it on the spot anymore, it will be put in your GF's passport and then mailed to her within a couple of days.

Regarding the Packet 3, she can pick it up at the embassy after your application is approved by USCIS. The form you will need to fill out at that point (the affadavit of support) you can download from the US government website.

I did the US K1 visa by myself with no problem at all. Your girl has nothing to worry about until the interview with the consular officer at the very end, after her application has already been approved by US immigration. I suggest you make a trip to BKK to be with her for the interview... to be honest I seriously doubt the visa would have been granted had I not been there by her side. The officer spoke primarily to me and only asked my GF a couple of simple questions.

You need to properly fill out the application and supplementary forms, gather all the supporting evidence, then doublecheck and make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. Your girl will need to fill out a portion of the application in Thai and sign it, but other than that there's really nothing for her to do in the initial stage of the process. After you mail in the completed application, it's just a matter of waiting for them to notify you that they've received it, and then waiting for the approval/denial.

Once the application is approved your GF will need to get her police report and medical exam in BKK and put together the package of information for the US embassy, including your affadavit of support. As I said, the only part of the process it is really critical for you to be there for is the interview. You will get the interview date, I believe, when she submits the packet to the embassy.

I could write lots more but rather than waste time and bandwidth, just ask if you have any specific questions.

Good luck... just do your due diligence, prepare and be with your GF for the interview, and you should have no problems.

9,000 btu should be for a room of about 45 square metres.

Is that right? How about for a bedroom size 4 x 4 meters?

Why the h… make the business man think that he “has a sale” and then just “disappear”….in other words….they often make the foreign business man think they has a sale and then they just stop replying to your phone calls, emails and SMS messages…like they’ve vanished from the surface of the earth!

any business man worth his salt will know who is serious straight away.

its the inexperienced salesmen who waste time e-mailing and phoning.

an interested buyer wont need to be hassled by a salesman with sms , e-mails and phone calls.

they will do their sums and get back to you if they want to take it further.

there is nothing worse for a prospective buyer than being bothered by annoying e-mails and even more annoying phone calls etc. from a falang salesman desperate to close the deal and trouser his commission or profit in time for the weekend.

we know where you are , we've seen your product , we can make up our own minds.

dont call us , we'll call you.

True, for the most part. One of the most important parts of becoming a successful salesman or businessman is learning how to "qualify" your prospects. In sales, time is your most precious commodity, and you can't afford to let yourself be jerked around by every looky-loo and his brother. The time you waste on someone who isn't a real buyer is time you should have spent looking for one who is.

On big ticket items like real estate or business opportunities, buyers will be sophisticated enough not to be swayed by pressure from a desperate salesman. As stated above, if the prospective buyers are interested and the numbers make sense to them, they will call you back.

If you're spending too much time with people who aren't real buyers then you don't know how to properly qualify a prospect.

Hi everyone, sorry for the previous post, I didn't mean to sound like a beggar! Just dreaming that's all.

Regards, Hugh

Mai pen rai, Hugh, and sorry to hear about that nasty mishap of yours. Get yourself healed up as quickly as possible. I wish you good luck and hope you can get back on two wheels soon.

This one's pretty much a case study in how NOT to handle your affairs. It's fellas like Noodle's pal who make it rough on the rest of us -- putting those immigration chaps in a state of mind of just hoping for an excuse to jerk us around.

Good bedsheets are available at Central Chidlom, not much more expensive, if at all, than the good stuff back West. The Tesco stuff is pretty brutal -- seems like about 65% polyester and 85 grit thread count... but what do you expect for $20?

edit: Sunscreen is a good idea. It's available here, but not cheap and not much selection. In fact the only brand I've ever seen is Nivea.

30 kilos? Ye gods!

Got mine at Tesco/Lotus, like 300 baht or so. Works perfectly.

Just do it yourself. It is not rocket science.

I'll second that. I did it myself no problems at all, 4 months from mailing in the application to picking up the visa and booking the flight.

Having said that, some folks either don't have the time to fool with it or are seriously paperwork averse, so in that case I would recommend William White, Esq. (don't know if it's the same White as mentioned above). I did have a couple of phone conversations with him before deciding to do it myself.

As an example, how many times do you read that just because someone has not had any negative experience personally about violence here, that someone automatically concludes that Thailand must be such a safe and peaceful country, ignoring everything that may counter those idyllic views?

Where personal likes and dislikes appearantly matter though more than more articulated and realistic viewpints seems to be on internet boards by certain types who never took off their rose colored glasses.

Honestly, maybe I've been reading the wrong topics, but I haven't read many statements to that effect. What I would say is that, realistically, I feel much safer walking the backstreets of Bangkok at 2 or 3AM than I would walking the backstreets of New York, Chicago, L.A., or most other big American cities; safer than in London, Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, Budapest, or most other big European cities; safer than in any big city in Latin America, and safer than in almost any other big city in the world outside of Tokyo.

Of course there is violence in Thailand, as there is everywhere in the world, because violence is part of the human condition. However - as with all other negative aspects of whatever place one chooses to live - it must be considered relative to the other options available. If someone was especially interested in sexy women, great food, and picturesque scenery, Brazil would certainly be an option -- but the crime rate there is bloody well off the scale. I'd like to keep both my kidneys intact and not be robbed every time I go to the ATM, thank you very much.

Thailand is far from perfect, and I don't really see any expats with significant time on the ground here wearing "rose colored glasses," but (if I may speak for my brothers who feel good, as I do, about living here) we've just come to realize that all things considered and based upon the other options available, this charming little country - warts and all - is where we choose to spend most of our time.

Excuse me.....What is superficial about women and food ????

Why is it egotistic to judge thailand on personal experience ???

A simple person just asking simple questions would like simple answers

I was wondering about exactly the same things. (BTW, nice topic Lampy)

After all, aren't we discussing our opinions of Thailand as a place to live? Opinions are, by definition, subjective... so why do we all need to see things "objectively" when our opinions are naturally colored by our own perceptions of this place that many of us call home?

For example, I've noticed some folks describe the weather here as good or even great, which leads me to wonder where on the planet they are from; I'm from Southern California near the beach, where the weather is as close to perfect as you can get -- generally between 65 and 85 degrees F. with almost no humidity and probably 20 rainy days per year on average. To me, the weather in Thailand is fairly miserable - hot as hel_l and ridiculously humid - but I suppose to someone from the UK, Scandinavia, or northern Europe it's a wonderful change from the cold and dreary conditions back home.

One person may see a smiling khon Thai and say to himself, "that b@stard may be smiling at me but I'm sure he'd like nothing better than to bury a knife between my ribs and take all my money," while another bloke will say to himself, "wow, that poor guy hasn't got 2 satang to rub together, just a humble dirt farmer, but he's still able to put a smile on his face..."

There are some who complain about how terrible it is that the police are so "corrupt," while others are quite happy to be able to give a chap $10 tea money and drive merrily on their way without having to waste a whole day sitting in traffic court and/or have their insurance premium go up by $1000 per year.

I see folks go on and on about what a disaster the political situation here is even when it has absolutely no effect on their own lives, and when a supposedly civilized country like the USA is run by a military-industrial-pharmaceutical complex that is no less - and probably far more - corrupt than the Thai-Chinese cabal running the show in these parts. Just ask those folks who didn't vote Republican how they feel about the political situation in the States, if you think things are messed up over here.

If a person can be happy here and enjoy life despite the corruption, the hot and humid weather, the allegedly shallow Thai culture or lack thereof, the chaotic traffic and interesting local driving habits, the lack of farang style amenities, the language barrier, and all the other sources of so much irritation for some folks, then I say what the <deleted>... more power to him.

If on the other hand, a person finds himself waking up each morning and cursing the heavens for causing him to live in such a godforsaken shytehole with so many glaring faults, then I say that person ought to seriously re-evaluate why he came here in the first place. If he was sent here by the company, then I would submit that as long as he is still a free man, there is nothing forcing him to remain employed under those circumstances; be a real man, stand up and either request a transfer or quit and find another job. Life is too short to submit yourself to such misery.

Incidentally, I've travelled all over the world and the quality of the women and food here are second to none. Gorgeous women and delicious food... who would ever want to live someplace with an abundance of those?

Congratulations Simon43! Cute kid. My son's 7 months old tomorrow and I still haven't gotten a full night's sleep since he was born... gotta love those afternoon naps (mine, not his)!

He was 3.2 kg at birth, natural delivery, about 6 hours of labor. The key for my wife was a sedative and an epidural -- about 5 minutes after labor started she was screaming for a c-section. The doctor (female) said, have this sedative and we'll talk again in a few hours. 4 hours later when the sedative wasn't doing much, the wife was again calling for a c-section. The doctor said, let's do an epidural and see how you feel. After the epidural my wife said, let's go for a normal delivery. After the baby was born she said, if I'd had any idea how much that delivery was going to hurt, I'd have had a c-section.

The episiotomy healed and we were back in the saddle after 7 or 8 weeks.

Pretty steep. If I was a high roller in a hurry, maybe it would be of interest, but I'd rather catch up on some reading and sleep on the night train at 1000 baht RT.

Overall I like the weather, food and cost of living. Thais are good to be around but they are quite shallow and not very bright. I get fed up of dealing with imature 'big kids' who find thinking a 'chore'.

I like farangs who say things like this. Its good to know what they really say about Thais behind their backs.

Not to worry, farangs like that are in the minority, just as are Thais who have silly negative preconceptions about all farangs.

I like the people, the food, the culture, the mai pen rai easygoing attitude.

I dislike the heat and humidity.

Theft victim delivers swift justice

Englishman Steve Parkinson delivered swift justice to a 16-year-old thief after the youth and another man snatched his 5 baht-weight gold necklace. Parkinson gave chase on his Honda Phantom and rammed the pair near the Grand Hall market in Soi Bua Khao in the early hours of August 21.

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Y'know, I realize this bloke has grieving friends and family, and not to speak ill of the dead and all that, but it still seems to me that the late Mr. Parkinson was hardly your average punter trying to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble.

Anyone with even a couple of properly firing synapses in their skull should realize Pattaya's not the sort of place to go spotseering about on a scooter with a 5 baht gold chain dangling from your neck. I mean, why tempt fate? Then you buy a house for a 24 year old girl, get in a spat with her, and ride around town at 3AM with a bar girl on the back of your scooter?

Call it random, or coincidence, or unlucky, or whatever you like if it makes you feel better, but from the information available so far it seems Mr. Parkinson was bound and determined to push his luck as far as it would go in every possible way.

In person, one day... drop off before 11:30, pick up next day after noon.

I find that a bit hard to believe.

If its the same lads that attempted to rob him before, surely can't be coincidence Dave?

If it is the same lads then fair enough! If it was the same lads then why did'nt they shoot the girl, she could now ID them.

Same lads or not she could ID them, unless they wore something to conceal their identities. Maybe she was somehow involved. Who knows? Personally, I'd try to avoid wearing conspicuous gold jewelry when mongering around town, and it doesn't seem all that bright to be scootering about Pattaya with a bar girl in tow whilst having "girlfriend" problems. It is, after all, a rather small town.

I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that he had it coming, only that exercising a bit of discretion goes a long way toward reducing the chances of having these "random" episodes of bad luck that Mr. Parkinson seemed prone to.

....Also in general do Thai people accept Farrangs , or are you allways an outsider ?

You may well ask "why I did not ask these questions when I was there", well the simple answer is something in my trousers was ruling my brain !

I dont want to put the cart before the horse, so as allways your comments are wellcome

regards Roy

1. You are always an outsider, but are accepted as long as the money flows.

2. One might gather that something in your trousers is still ruling your brain, pretty much the case for many of us, all the more reason to spend a few months here on a trial basis travelling around and sampling different locales/women.

3. If you do decide to move over, remember to always have a workable exit strategy.