HauptmannUK

LOL! Talk about getting things backwards - the whole point of the IDP is that its a standard format and therefore police don't need to read English! For any doubters out there someone sent me this very recent YouTube video. An English guy getting fined ฿500 on Pattaya Beach Road for no IDP. The relevant bit is at 10:36

I didn't see any suggestion they should only charge ฿20, but rather something more realistic than ฿1000. Keycards are consumables for a hotel. Buy a box of 100 and the cost falls to something like ฿12 each. They take seconds to program. I have a programmer - cost me about ฿600. The lock readers are around ฿400-600. This is not expensive technology.

฿1000 is greedy. The common re-writable 125kHz RFID cards are around ฿150 - 200 for a pack of ten. So no more than about ฿20 each.

Worrying too much. I've transported desktop PCs multiple times between UK and Thailand and UK and China. Just put into the cardboard box the tower case originally came in and check it in as normal. Never been stopped or questioned. Once too 25 PC motherboards to China in a cardboard box, along with loads of cables, PSUs etc in a big box. Over the years flown into BKK (mostly with Ermirates) with tools, power drill etc, trolley jack, couple of bikes, couple of HiFi systems, part of a car exhaust system etc etc. Been asked a couple of times 'what's in the box?'. Answered honestly and no further checks. Amazingly never had anything damaged in transit either. Only had trouble in India (they confiscated two Melton Mowbray pork pies) and Nigeria (confiscated a souvenir mug they said was a potential weapon!).

We use PK Air on Theppasit Rd. They usually send three guys and they do a good job. Just had them round. Inside and outside units stripped and cleaned. Normal wall mounted a/c is 400THB and the big ones ducted into the ceiling (quite a bit more work involved) are 700THB.

Thai road design is very poor and those U-turns are lethal. A friend of mine was crushed by a truck at a U-turn on 304 near Nakon Nayok. Its best to assume that everyone is out to kill you and that a vehicle waiting at a U-turn WILL pull out. Also do not apply those stupid dark windscreen tints. They are lethal at night on rural roads. There are enough dangers on Thai roads without hobbling yourself with poor nighttime visibility. My Toyota came from the factory with a 10% windscreen tint and I've not applied any film. Just a very light tint to the side windows.

Normal clear tempered automotive glass blocks at least 50% of UVA and UVB. Your sunroof is likely factory-treated to block much more than that. If its heat transmission you're worried about then you need to block infra-red - IR. There's numerous films on the market so best to visit an automotive window film fitter and discuss with them. Even if you block a lot of the IR the glass panel itself will still heat up and then act as a radiator to send heat down into the car. Many sunroof installations have an interior sliding panel under the glass to reduce this heat radiation. Overall I don't think sunroofs are a good idea in tropical climates.

Very few of these ladies are properly trained and really know what they are doing - they can inflict some serious damage. They start off learning from an aunt and then maybe, after a few years, they become skilled through a process of trial and error. I had an oil massage yesterday. The lady who usually works on me wasn't at the shop so another girl did it. To my surprise she was very good. Generally its the older ones with 20 years experience that give a good massage. The younger cute ones are only qualified to pull one muscle ????

Mytello is a dail-in service. You dial a landline number in Thailand and then get routed through to the UK number at whatever rate Mytello charge. Bear in mind you need to add the cost of the landline call in Thailand. For calls to UK landlines Skype Out is not bad - 1.7p a minute - less than ฿1. Its expensive to UK mobiles though (7.7p).

What? What 3BB package is that? AFAIK 3BB's slowest package is 300/300 down/up at around ฿300/month plus tax.

The fact is if you are from an ASEAN country an English translation will suffice. If not ASEAN and you are a tourist then you need an IDP. The cops have a card with a picture of an IDP on, so they know what they are looking for. ฿400 fine otherwise. In Pattaya the cops impound bikes if no IDP - saw this happen last week under my nose - to a highly distraught Frenchman! Applying for a Thai DL is a different matter and they don't ask for an IDP. Hertz Thailand ask for IDP from non-ASEAN renters.

"In addition the police say they have evidence that many foreigners paid 30,000 to 40,000 baht for a training seminar that never took place." So 'corruption involving foreigners' - but its the foreigners that were defrauded?

Looking forward to some entertaining posts over the coming months. Keep us updated on how the search goes!

Expats 'have it good' in Thailand because they mostly have an income multiple-times the average Thai salary. If you're back in your home country with an income, say, four times the average salary then life might not be so bad either. In another thread, "Poll shows most Thais unable to earn enough to make ends meet"..... Try living on what the average working class Thai has to live on and things are not so rosy. Don't even ask about health care. And that 23-years-younger girlfriend won't hang around for long either.... My wife and I split our time roughly 50/50 between UK and Thailand. I enjoy our time in Thailand and also the UK. In the UK we live in a lovely village in central England. My wife loves it there. She has a UK passport and we take short holidays in Spain, Italy etc. She's a partner in a local hotel business and earns many multiple times what she could earn in Thailand. The UK has its problems but life is still very good for many. One of my daughters runs a successful restaurant, the other is a doctor. My son is an engineering manager at a car company. All state educated. They have a standard of living and quality of life way better than I had at their age, and I did ok. I think there are indeed tough times ahead, but there always are.

A job I had many years ago required me to visit the BMW R&D Centre in Munich, Germany. One day the guys there took me out to one of the assembly lines. I was amazed to see beer vending machines at the side of the assembly line. Workers could just grab a beer.... This was about 18 years ago - maybe not the same now....

Asinine comment. The OP came looking for advice and was advised (several times) to get the car fixed as a matter of urgency. Also advised of faults that could lead to the symptoms he's experiencing. I doubt this thread has caused him to 'drive around with faulty brakes while digesting the Internet's opinion' - more likely he's learnt something and consulting a mechanic quicker than he otherwise might have done.

Yes I agree. Any brake problem should be attended to urgently.

You can do some diagnosis of the problem yourself. I frequently get asked to check braking systems......here are some basic tests: 1. With the car parked, engine off, handbrake off, gear in 'P'....Press gently on the brake pedal several times to relieve any vacuum in the servo. Now press down firmly on the pedal. It should come to an abrupt 'hard' stop clear of the carpet/floorpan. Any springiness/sponginess at the bottom of its travel indicates air in the system and bleeding is required. Ditto if the pedal contacts the carpet. 2. Maintain some pressure on the pedal. If it slowly sinks further under your foot then you likely have a problem with master cylinder seals. 3. Now, release the pedal and then press down again, keeping moderate pressure on the pedal, start the engine. Over a few seconds you should feel the pedal 'sink' under your foot. This is the vacuum servo providing assistance. If nothing happens then you have a faulty servo. If the system passes the above tests but you still need to pump the pedal on first use the its possible the rear drum brakes are way out of adjustment. They need stripping, cleaning and adjusting. I would recommend changing brake fluid every three years. Toyota/Lexus seem particularly prone to sticking caliper slide pins on lightly used cars. Its worth greasing the slide pins every couple of years.

Hysteria seems to getting out of control. I am sure that most Westerners in Thailand are NOT on 'the paedophile list' and have not come to Thailand to take advantage of a poor nation. If you want to sniff out some paedophilia you might want to start in the UK. Telford (a small town in the British Midlands) would be a good place - but there are plenty of others... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telford_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal

I do wonder if the 'customers' were aware of the ages - probably thought the hotels would check the girl's ID ? I am sure we've all been with, or at least seen, girls that looked about 15 but were actually over 18.

What a shambles. Drove down there yesterday evening. Cars trying to maneuver into gaps and blocking traffic and then a small truck double-parked meant only one lane. Second road also a mess. I know work has to be done but they don't finish one job before starting another.

Grooming and abuse of children is unfortunately widespread in both Hindu and Muslim communities. Muslims tend to favour non-Muslim children because its less of a sin. Hindu priests abusing children from within their own community has been a particular problem and is often covered up. A Hindu priest in Leicester was abusing young boys for years before being hounded out of the community and fleeing to India. A priest in Coventry was convicted of abusing young girls (from 4 Y.O.) over 30 years. In Leicester a muslim male who either manage to convert, or get pregnant, a Hindu girl would be rewarded with £2000. In some rural areas of India and Pakistan the sexual abuse of young women and children is endemic. Way beyond anything in Thailand or Western countries.

Some tough talk to please the conference - there will be no follow through. The truth is that the UK had always been fairly relaxed about illegal immigration. The overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants are not refugees, they are economic migrants from countries such as Albania, Ghana, Tunisia etc etc. The UK government know this, they have precise data. If they wanted to fix this issue it would have been fixed years ago. The government know that these people provide cheap labour. Many work 'zero hours' in food factories and warehouses where there is no document checking whatsoever - they turn up for a shift and just write their name on a piece of paper - no questions asked. They are often driven out to these employers by 'agents' who take a cut of their wages. France offers them very little (no accommodation, one cup of coffee and half a baguette each day, tight control on access to healthcare and a national ID system). In contrast the UK offers accommodation, the English language, light-touch policing, very well established and well-funded community centres, temples etc, free at point of delivery healthcare etc. Very slim chance of being caught and even slimmer chance of being deported. Unlike most of Europe the UK has no ID cards and many public services are available without any identity checks at all. My family operate a motor-trade business in the UK. A neighbouring small unit is operate by an Indian guy. He makes no secret at all of the fact that he came to the UK illegally 16 years ago at the age of 14. He stayed with an aunt. Enrolled in a UK high school. Got a NI number and set up a small business. He told me that under the government's '20 year rule' when he's been in the UK for 20 years the Home Office have to give him citizenship, illegal entry or not.

Ok. Got it now. For that I would use a thin layer of sanitary silicone sealant. You would still be able to disassemble it in future and peel the silicone off the parts. Old school plumbers may well use putty.... no idea where you'd get that in TH.

The 'sports rivalry' is certainly the line that was spun. The reality is that Muslim-Hindu tensions have been building for a while. Both within India and among the diaspora. India's PM, Narendra Modi, is fairly hardline BJP (Hindu nationalist). He's from Gujarat, where the majority of the UK's Hindu's originate. Most Gujarati's are BJP and a significant number are quite hardline Hindutva, especially in west Gujarat (they believe India should be an exclusively Hindu nation). In recent years a lot of poorly educated Hinduvta-supporting Gujaratis from the west coast (many fisherman) were able to obtain Portuguese passports (often fraudulently) - Keith Vaz assisted in this.... With a Portuguese passport they were able to come to the UK. Many settled in Leicester - reputedly 20000 or more. Being poorly educated and illiterate even in their native language many ended up working in sweatshops. These recent immigrants tended to be fiercely anti-muslim - hence a sharp rise in Hindu-Muslim tension spilling over in violence, vandalism, religious abuse etc. The big concern is that this is going to get a lot worse. Yogi Adityanath (BJP), AKA 'Bulldozer Baba' is currently Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh - he is virulently anti-muslim and widely tipped to succeed Modi. Could be widespread religious conflict in India which would spur conflict in many UK cities.