SamuiRes

That shop opposite Makro used to be quite good - I had some good service and help from them. Those days have sadly gone. They never have a decent supply of printer ink and I recently went in to buy a new power cord for my lap top. No chance. The staff have certainly changed as there was previously a very helpful guy there - but no more. Shame as it was convenient.

NatWest and various other Credit Card providers refused to issue new cards to me with a Thai Address but did not cancel the accounts. LTSB had no problem sending me a Debit Card to Samui. Cannot now remember how they sent it or what they charged as it was quite a while ago.

Yes watched all four races and certainly these new boats add a different dimension. However, I do not think anything can match that final race a few years ago when Alingi won from Team New Zealand by a second (or was it two?) when they were still racing mono-hulls. 360 degrees before the line for TNZ and a broken spinnaker pole for Alingi in the last few seconds. Match racing at its best.

Also Live 365 and XiiaLive which have a bunch of stations to suit all tastes. I have been streaming regularly since I upgraded to 3G with AIS which means I can also listen in my car through Bluetooth. The reception has mostly been excellent - I am on Samui - except for the last couple of days when it has not been so good. I hear that by the end of the year the BBC will be streaming for Android phones which will add a whole new range of programmes to listen to when not near to my notebook.

Last I heard we didn't have an operational Australian Hon Consul on Samui & that was from the embassy.

Ken is the official Australian Honorary Consul here on Samui. He has been in that role for at least the past 8-10 years. In the Australian Embassy's website under Services for Australians it mentions the Australian Consulate in Samui. Contact details through the embassy. He doesn't handle issues with passports and visas but it the representative for Australia here on the island.

Maybe one of the Mods could contact Ken and, if he approves, have his contact details pinned in the appropriate section above. I had to ask on this forum for his contact details because if you Google for the Samui Consular rep - NONE of the information that you get is correct and of course the Embassy in Bangkok is closed at the weekend. I would hate to be an Australian needing consular assistance at a weekend here. When I did get hold of Ken he was very helpful. Mind you - the Mods may need to ask SilentReader or me for his contact details!

It is much sorrow that I have just heard that Peter "3 fingers" White passed away in his sleep last night in Australia having just returned there from visiting his wife Dang here in Thailand. No further details as yet. Dang many of you may remember was the victim of the car crash in Bangrak which burst into flames in the 7-11 and she has had to endure many skin grafts over the last few years. I have spoken to Dang who is clearly distraught and we are doing what we can to help her.

PM sent

Many thanks. Have spoken to Ken.

We have government water and every 4-5 months I have to take the tap apart and soak in a mixture of vinegar and baking soda to remove the brown crud that builds up in there which restricts the flow. Yes I brush my teeth and shower in it but nothing more. Always use the big white bottles delivered to the house and the office.

I need to contact Ken Chung the Honary Australian Consul quite urgently but cannot find a contact number for him. Can someone PM with it please.

Now I am not sure if this would work or not and would not get the money back but MIGHT get the Russian - assuming the Passport is real.

The most tenacious people you can deal with here are the Revenue Dept. If they feel they are owed money watch out.

Send them a copy of the lease, the Passport and the receipt for the money.

Seems to be standard practice. I had the same with our brand new Isuzu and I bought my own insurance through our regular broker and the insured sum is only 80% of the new value.

If you use AIS, you can request a new SIM at Telewiz, they can also copy the contents (contacts) from the old sim card. This is a free service, at least it was last year.

Yes - did this last week at AIS in Tesco Samui. Just upgraded and they cut the card where I bought the phone, but I was changing my contract with AIS to include 3G and they noticed the cut card, saved all my numbers and gave me a new small card free. The other good thing is that they have my numbers saved so if I lost the phone they have a back up.

All our policies, cars and properties, are in ENglish through QBE.

Has anybody had any luck with manuals in English yet? The dealer where I bought my VCross said that he had ordered one for me. It would be one month and cost THB500. That was 3 months ago.

Yes here in Samui they ordered one for me, Baht 500, and it was here in 4 weeks. What is missing is the second manual which deals with the entertainment and GPS Navigation system which is a separate book. The dealer says they are not available and emails to Isuzu Bangkok are ignored. They must have them as they supply these cars to English speaking countries. Tried contacting the UK but they refuse to deal with overseas enquiries. Anyone seen one or managed to get one?

SumuiRes, thanks for the heads up I will make sure to check that online services are offered on joint accounts.

It really is nonsense. I have two clients who tried to do this and were refused internet banking by both Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank yet both would issue ATM cards to both people. In their case they just opened a single account with internet banking but both had the access codes!

For useability Bangkok Bank far outshines SCB. I use them for both Business Banking and Private Banking and the internet banking is first class for both. SCB was a nightmare which is why I closed all my accounts there.

Check that whichever bank you choose allows internet banking on a joint private account. Strangely enough the Bangkok Bank and Siam Commercial Bank here in Samui will not do that. Do not know about other banks but you should check.

Bangrak back on but Plai Laem Soi 4 still off.

Bangrak has been a nightmare since about 15.00 yesterday. Power on and off every few minutes, phases dropping etc and it has started again today. So much for them having solved the problem with the new transformer station in Meanam. Scheduled power cuts would be better than this. Total incompetents. What is worrying is that they probably think they are doing a good job.

Remember, that you are only interested in the footprint (i.e. reduced) land size as this is what is shown on the title deed (the view of the perimeter if you were looking directly down on it from above). The land owner will undoubtedly have done a tape survey around the perimeter and applied some random maths to come up with the figure. In other words, the lengths of the boundary he measured with be the ground measurements along slopes (over boulders, around trees etc) with give a much longer reading than the reduced (or arial) view which is the proper and correct method for ascertaining the size of a land parcel in Thailand. Contact a surveyor with a theodolite for a precision perimeter survey that will give you both the reduced (correct) land size and the surface (actual) land size. Only pay for the reduced land size. Be prepared for a high degree of complaining and moaning from the incumbent land owner who will not be able to get his head around the maths.

It really depends on the title. NSSG or Chanot. What you say is correct for NSSG as they are measured from aerial surveys. A Chanot is measured on the ground and takes into account slopes. This is why you often have more land showing after an upgrade of hillside land from NSSG to Chanot. If you think of an inverted right angle triangle, the top is the horizontal aerial measurement whilst the hypoteneuse is the measurement along the slope. The greater the difference in height between top and bottom, the greater the difference in area between the two.

Getting the Land Office to determine the boundaries is essential both with regard to ownership and size.

Try Dr Pawltree Nawalertpunya opposite the Post Office in Chaweng. She is a really nice lady and good dentist. Have seen many Thai children in there. Office number 077 414 386

You need to be careful with Buddha images. A few years ago a couple of publications in Samui were fined for including them in their magazines. The law and application of the law in this respect is still unclear so best not.

Has anyone seen a health food shop on Samui? Looking to buy Bran for some cooking and neither Tesco or Big C have had any for weeks. In fact Tesco is becoming really boring with its half empty shelves.

So before it was 1 million baht life time membership with no yearly fee and unlimited golf and spar.. and it DIDN'T sell. nOw 2 million baht and only 20 years with 20k a year fee and only 24 golf and spa... winner

I have a couple of clients who bought in at the beginning and were not bothered about the peripheral perks but the visa and meet and greet for them has in their opinion been well worth it and they are still entitled to use it under the old scheme. So for some people it ws not all bad.