PaoloR

20 minutes ago, Katipo said:

because a Yamaha will never be as cool as a Vespa.

Really? Neither even stirs the needle on cool unless you are of the fur trimmed parka generation. Even then Vespa's were girly and Lambretta's ruled.

I did mine 2 years ago from Thailand and posted everything off. Response was quick and they agreed to pay every 3 months as I requested.

Waited, no payment.

Contacted them and they informed me payment was made - then returned by my bank.

I re-sent my bank details and waited; again no payment.

Contacted them again and again they said payment returned claiming there was a mix-up caused by Krungsri sometimes being called other names.

I called bull on this and asked my bank to monitor the situation closely as I was now owed over a year of pension. Turns out they had all the details of my account correct but were using a Japanese name as the account holder, not mine. The bank will not accept an incoming transfer if the name does not match that of the account holder.

Was told this was not possible as the sum had been remitted in my name. I asked them to check again.

Finally got paid with sincere apologies 16 months late.

Easy, you don't have to pay anything.

Take the road down to the beach just before the mosque, park the car and walk round to the fossil beach - no pay - no steps.

All beaches are public - only the access is private, once on the beach you can walk where you like.

I walk my dogs there most mornings and have never encountered other dogs.

You would have to be a geologist to appreciate the place but the sunsets from the free car park can be spectacular. The free to enter fish research centre 500m back down the road is also worth a visit. 

Rode my bike (GS1200) from Betong to Satun on Thursday.

Many landslides on the Betong road, all cleared overnight making the road passable by Thursday morning. They did a great job.

The water level in the Bang Lang reservoir was very high so the gates had to be opened to prevent the dam from bursting. This allowed major flooding downstream through Yaha and South of Yala. Many minor roads were impassable and major roads were under water in areas but still passable. 9 hours to do a 4 hour ride.

12 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

With respects who would holiday in a Muslim insurgency area resort ?

I do! It is a wonderful untouched region which I have visited over 10 times and never encountered any problem; full of friendly people and beautiful scenery. Great for a motorbike tour.

I bought a V40 3 years ago - excellent vehicle with no breakdowns.

Mine has a 5 year free maintenance parts and labour + roadside assistance - I don't know how long Volvo have been doing this but if it is free I am sure that gets past one of the major problems here in Thailand, a lack of regular servicing.

I have used Volvo in Phuket and Hatyai; both have all the equipment and trained mechanics who know how to use it (not so BMW in Phuket).

If you don't live near a dealer or are not prepared to travel to one then don't buy a Volvo as the electrical systems are computer directed and serviced and the car won't do well at the local bodge shop.

I had a similar situation but was on the other side of the equation.

I put a 250,000 deposit on a property in the process of being built but requested (and had put into the contract) that the seller would make some significant changes to the property before purchase.

The seller did not make these changes in reasonable time and when pushed by my lawyer said that he had decided not to make them and I would have to buy the property as is. I pulled out of the contract and requested my deposit back - he refused and kept the money.

I proceeded to take him to court, not in great hope of getting my money back, more as a matter of principle.

The trial process was going to be long and to cost me but my lawyer applied to the court for an arbitration hearing which is non binding but gives both parties a clear indication of where they would stand if the case were to go to full court.

The judge at this hearing said that builder had clearly breached his contract and should pay me. The builder said no. The Judge pointed out that he would add a file to the papers recommending that the builder pay in full plus my costs should the case be pursued.

A huddle ensued between my lawyer, the builder and the Judge and my lawyer came back to me with a cheque for 200K. The judge having allowed the builder 50K to compensate him for having the property off the market for 6 months and in the words of my lawyer " to save face for all parties"

I considered this a win as the non-urgent legal case would, as my lawyer admitted, have taken years to settle and the arbitration is not binding only a recommendation.

Legal systems vary in each Province - my case was in Krabi. Suggest you see if you can apply for an arbitration hearing (Sorry it was a long time ago and I have forgotten the Thai terminology for this type of hearing.

Good luck

Get a farm dog; ours kill snakes, alert us to scorpions, tarantulas, centipedes etc. and fight off monitor lizards.

Unfortunately they also kill any cat brave enough to venture onto our property.

220,000 om my 11 year old Vigo. Tyres and battery - little else except the ABS lines when the puppy chewed them - twice.

Anticipate keeping it till 300,000 and beyond. Leather seats now really tatty so will get them re-covered when cash allows.

Just change the oil every 10-15K and fill it with diesel when it stops moving. 

18 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

maybe it's a good thing if some courses go bust then golfers can get together and buy the courses and run them how they want, optional cart, optional caddy, yearly membership, lockers for clubs, more farang food, competitions run by the club, committee set up, captain and all that stuff that makes golf clubs work in farangland

Another guy who wants everything just like it is in farangland, run by farangs for farangs and even with farang food!

This is Thailand, enjoy it for what it is - you won't change it.

3 hours ago, vogie said:

Can I ask for this snake to be identified please. My wife spotted it out side this morning, it's probably less than a metre long, black with an orange collar? Thanks.

 

 

Red necked keelback.

Poisonous but not very dangerous as it is rear fanged and you would have to sick your finger in it's mouth and then let it chew down on it to get any serious amount of venom. For many years these snakes were considered harmless. Move it to a neww location and you can both be happy.

44 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

If history says anything about higher rubber prices in Thailand, farmers will plant more rubber trees. Then at the time to harvest, prices will have substantially fallen much lower as world demand normalizes and the initial price benefit reversed. And possibly more unpaid debt.

You are aware that from planting to first crop is approximately 7 years! 

Have to be a pretty perspicacious farmer to predict the cycle 7 years ahead in this day and age. 

5 minutes ago, connda said:

And then to top it off - reject foreigners, which I've got to assume means that they'll reject foreigners who are already in the country on long stay.  We'll have to make sure to check on that ahead of time when we travel this high season - well, not that they'll be any shortages of hotel, but perhaps a shortage of hotels not practicing racial discrimination.

"We're dying of hunger......but we refuse to eat THAT food." 

So be it.  Hotels will fold.  Some will eventually be bought for a discount. Others may never open again.  But, those who hold on to their xenophobic fear of 'dirty' foreigners are in all reality allowing their own racism to hammer in the last of the nails into their economic coffins.  I don't have a lot of sympathy for that class of business people. Given the economic conditions, smart businesses would be courting any customer willing to visit their establishments.  It's a buyers market kids.

No way will we reject foreigners who are already here- I have some booked for this weekend. We will however not jump through the hoops and expensive regulations necessary to join the government scheme in the vague hope that we might pick up one or two of the very small number allowed in from outside Thailand - and then lose our regular business. Would you choose to stay in a hotel that was allowing people straight off an overseas flight to occupy the room next to you? Yes, hotels will fold, mine might too, but I'm not going to throw good money after bad to support a scheme that has little or no impact and no chance of succeeding. 

16 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

That's interested reading the obligation of a hotel booking site.

I've never used one, but in these Covid times if there was an issue, can you explain how the obligation works?

Will they find you another hotel and absorb any higher room price for example?

 

Under the terms and conditions we sign onto with Expedia, Agoda, Booking.com etc.:

If we accept a booking and then fail to provide a room we are obliged to find equivalent or better accommodation and to pay for it. Failure to comply means difficulty in extracting funds owed by the booking sites and, or, black-listing from these sites. In reality the booking site usually steps in and finds a hotel for them and then deducts the difference from commission owed.

Update:

Drove past yesterday not one mark on the bright yellow pinball bumpers which shows nobody has hit the barriers.

A local Thai said that proves how effective the barrier has been.

My view is that it proves how unnecessary the barrier is in a spot where speeds of over 35km/hour are unachievable.

4 hours ago, clarky cat said:

very confused, hotel websites are still offering rooms

 

do they just turn you away when arriving and pocket the cash?

Read what I and many others have already said!

We are open for all visitors except ASQ international ones. The cost and difficulty of housing ASQ visitors and the loss of our local (Thai and foreign) guests make this a non-starter.

Book by phone directly to the hotel, or if you are concerned about being turned away, use an online major booking site who have an obligation to house you once they have confirmed the booking.

If you read the excessively complicated document they make you sign to join this scheme (I have)

The liabilities they need you to accept, the penalties you may incur and the hoops you have to jump through - just to possibly catch one or two bookings. No way!

I declined because our costs (mostly staff) would increase considerably and hiring staff just to let them go again is a non-starter. Also I will not accept that if they send me a case of covid I suffer all the penalties of closure etc. and they reserve the right to penalise me on top of that!

Sad that, as usual, there are three pages of Location/Thai bashing from completely uninformed keyboard warriors none of whom has bothered to put any thought into the reasons why this may happen and automatically assume that hotel owners are too lazy to do business whilst being busy going broke!

47 minutes ago, TEFLKrabi said:

Sadly it’s well known to expats who live in Krabi that most of the locals really don’t like foreigners. Many families have become rich selling family land and would be happy if tourism closed down. 

I have lived in Krabi (although I think you are referring to Ao Nang) for 15 years - before the tourist boom here. I and many others would completely disagree with your comment.

Krabi itself has few foreign visitors (mostly backpackers) as it has no beach. It is perfectly happy to have foreigners but lacks tourist infrastructure and may seem unfriendly to such as you.

Anyone who starts a comment with the words "it's well known" is usually blowing smoke.

Most newer bikes (Honda 500 series and Versys included) now have a gear indicator which is useful when you are learning and are uncertain.

If you buy a bike without one, you can always buy a gear position indicator off Lazada etc. They are cheap, easy to fit yourself and mostly accurate.