Carmine6

If the loan(s) are unsecured against the property then they can not go for it.

....

In the US they could sue for the unsecured debt, then if they win they can go after assets you have. A lien can be put on the house for the judgement which would have to be paid upon sale, or more commonly refinance. I'd imagine there's some similar or possibly easier legal arrangements in the UK.

If you book on Air Asia, the "Travel Requirements" has this:

4.6 Cash/Credit Card

Thailand

The Thai Immigration requires all Thai citizens leaving Thailand to have a minimum of THB 20,000 or a credit card with them, failing which the check-in counter will not issue a boarding pass.

Not sure if this is because they are usually dealing with budget Thai travelers, but this is the only place I've seen this.

Hi thanks for the replies I have just talked to my GF, I would like to go with a 3 bedroom bungalow with 1 bathroom (I will add a second later) 1 large kitchen (whats the differences between thai & european?) and 1 large mainroom, I don't want a carport, I would like a blue tiled roof like the ones you see in Korat, her mum is getting the land filled cost of 8,000 baht for the trucks & soil, she has also told me that it will cost 250 baht a day for each worker (about 10 in total) is this o.k or to much they said it will take about 2 months to finish is this true as I don't want to be paying workers 4 months later down the line, I have a budget of 600,000 will you think I will have any left over to build a wall around the house and maybe a small garden with lawn.

Cheers

Jason

The house my girlfriend's family built is a 3 bedroom, 200 sq meter, (1,800 sq ft) house in Chaiyaphum. It took from late Sept. to the first week of Nov. so about 8 weeks, but note there seemed to be a lot of downtime. For comparison, it is 2 story with a concrete first story and wood second story. The kitchen is on a porch out back so no extensive work required for that. The bathroom is their old outside bathroom and they just re-tiled and repainted it. Bring those inside and who knows how much time it would have added.

My girlfriend supervised every day, and for a Thai girl she's a fireball, so that may have kept them on schedule. They also were scheduled to start another house right after, and I believe they also had a fixed labor fee with a good portion of it on completion.

I just opened a CitiBank account in San Francisco to use their online wire transfer for $30. The teller who set my account up said that I could use my new CitiBank debit card to make withdrawls at the ATM machine at the BKK Citibank and there would be NO fees whatsoever! - has anyone ever done this?, were there fees? - Was the exchange rate any good?

Wire transfers through them go over at about 99% of the current currency exchange rate so I'm guessing an ATM withdrawal would be about the same. The biggest problem is getting to the single branch they have in Thailand. Close enough to the Sky Train to walk, but hardly convenient.

We saw him today, probably for the last time.

He smiled a lot so I think he is content, I bought him a new ariel for his TV ,but could not get it to work, but he did not bat an eyelid, just said I should not have wasted my money and smiled!!! He wants to go, He is prepared to go, he is happy to "Let Go"

We have left our phone number in a prominent place is his room so hopefully someone will let us know if he dies.

He gave us both some very old relics which we will cherish, and I am sure that having them with us saved us from a collission with a 16 wheeler this afternoon on our return journey. Maybee not, but he was in our thoughts most of the way back as we drove straight from his Temple in BK back to Chaingmai.

I will post any further developments, and thank you all for your offers of help.

TP

I'm glad you accepted the relics. It just seems they should be somewhere where they have a history and meaning.

I originally thought you should collect them all then contribute them to a temple or museum as a set, with his background and some history on the pieces. But then I have no idea what would be appropriate. Maybe if they're spread among more people each piece will have more meaning and his memory will be bigger. Even if they haven't treated him so well, whoever gets a relic will likely remember who they got it from. I can only hope that years from know the monks and helpers think back on what they're doing now.

I don't think it's the heat primarily. I lived 18 years in Las Vegas where it gets much hotter than here. Average grade batteries there lasted 3 years. The best car battery made is the 'Optima' which comes with an 8 year guarantee, first 3 years no pro-rating at all, complete replacement. This is a sealed battery and very 'beefy'.

I think the batteries here are just cheap...not very high quality.

Steve

I bet there're few Australians who are surprised by the battery life. The heat has a great deal to do with it. While it's hot under the hood anywhere, the battery is being charged when the car is running. Later when it's just sitting around, the chemical reaction is faster if the temperature is warmer. That's what deteriorates it.

Most of my batteries die in Southern California in 2 or 3 years even if I buy 84 month warranty, expensive batteries. Quality may have something to do with it in Thailand, but since the heat will kill it fast, why bother with the most expensive batteries?

http://www.lowcostbatteries.com/batteries2.html

http://www.austintexasbusiness.com/transpo...r-batteries.php

http://www.ecozen.com/battery1.htm

I hate the sound of joints cracking during massage and I ask them not to do it with me.

I have always believed that it weakens the joint but I have heard that no harm is done. I can't however, see how it could be beneficial but I'll be guided by any experts who can tell me otherwise.

I have also believed that, I thought it stretched the ligaments and would cause problems in later life, arthritis or whatever. If anyone does actually know the answer please post it. I also hate the sound

Joint clicking is caused by air within the synovial (sp) fluid within the joint. As far as I know it does no harm, and might be beneficial

A few years ago there was a tv show about astronauts and the head Dr. at NASA said you can't crack your knuckles and be an astronaut, they want nice tight joints. Not sure if that's true anymore and they have special needs with low gravity environment.

Everyone seems to say there's no harm in doing it these days.

If you are legally married at a District Office your husband is going to have to start a visa process for you. He will require information from you but he is the one who must take the action.

Your husband can find the information at THIS WEBSITE

Immigrant Visa (IR1 or CR1)

How Does My Spouse (Husband/Wife) Get an Immigrant Visa?

The first step is to file a Petition for Alien Relative, Form I-130 for your spouse (husband or wife) to immigrate to the United States. You file the petition with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) immigration Field Office in the United States that serves the area where you live. For instructions on how to file a petition see Petitioning Procedures: Bringing a Spouse (Husband of Wife) to Live in the United States.

Hm, looks like error in the website. Brings up this topic.

Where can i get a *Large* bean bag?

Tesco/Carrefour have them, but are way too small.

Perhaps there is a place where I could commission one? That would be ideal, and probably cheaper.

But a well made one in a shop would be fine...

You mean like a beanbag chair? There's a store on the 6th floor of the Big C building on Rahmkhamhaeng Rd. around soi 20. It's a hardware/home decorating store that seemed to be a chain, so it's likely in other places. They have a small furniture section, and had what I remember as a normal sized beanbag chair there. The floor model was orange and I'm not sure if they had other colors. But if Tesco has ones that are too small, this could be as well. I was telling the girlfriend it would be a great chair in her apartment, but she wasn't buying it.

I suspect that it is not just the house you want removing, but also the existing undergrounds, toilet etc.

I would offer the house timber for free but on the agreement that the undergrounds are removed too (Removed not burried), If you are building a new house you do not want an old septic tank burried under the floor.

It might be best to get your builder to remove the house and undergrounds as a no charge item.

How big are these tanks normally? Are they deep? The back of my girlfriend's parent's outside bathroom is maybe only 5 ft from a 3 ft. drop off to the neighbor's yard (and maybe 4 ft. further to the neighbor's front porch!). This doesn't seem big enough to squeeze a tank into. But there are some concrete lid looking things back there.

The 2005 stock market was very good to me. January of 2006 was also quite good. I emailed my broker today and told him to sell all my portfolio and I mean ALL of it. I'm going to start spending my kid's inheritance.

I asked him to set something up for me to start taking a monthly draw and still try to get a decent interest rate. I think interest rates will continue to go up. Most of my money is still in a 401K so how much I take will depend on NOT having any tax liability. I will sleep good tonight!

My biggest decision now is how much to keep in baht and how much in dollars. The baht is weakening so that is good for me. I worked VERY hard for my little nest egg and I'm determined to enjoy it.

Based on prior discussions, I'm going to be in the minority, but I'd keep a lot of that in the US. Move enough money to Thailand so that you won't feel bad if the Baht strengthens. Maybe a year's expenses. Then you can try to move spending money over when the exchange rate kind of rises during the year. You can kind of skip months or quarters when the rate seems low since you have the cushion in the bank.

In the US you'll have a lot of options to earn a decent interest rate to try to tread water against inflation. In Thailand I'm not sure you could do that.

People on the board keep saying the dollar is going to drop because of the debt, oil prices and all kinds of other things. But betting on Baht against the dollar is a tricky game. If inflation in the US stays low (and Bernanke is said to be a big proponent of targeting a figure), you're playing currency of a higher inflation country against a low inflation country. That should keep the Baht from strengthening a whole lot. The US came in with a 4.7% unemployment rate for January and that doesn't include the growing number of illegal aliens working here. GDP has been fine in spite of oil prices. So I wouldnt' worry about the debt just yet. Inflation maybe, but if Bernanke is better than Greenspan, he'll firm up the dollar and keep inflation low.

Stick a big sign outside the house saying they can take this house free. It'll be one pretty sharpish I reckon.

May want to word this as can take this wood free. Otherwise I can just imagine anther posting on how to evict squatters.

that are the round tubes.

Does every ballast work for every tube? I mean a ballast for the straight ones and the round ones is the same?

I remember years ago a friend told me that he uses the electronic from the flourescent lightings with socket (they are meant to replace the tungston ones) for starting his flourescent tubes, but I can not remember the full story anymore.

I can see the 100 Hz (but having doubts, when I look at the light I see some "vibration" of the light), but on the other hand when I set the monitor to 85 Hz I can not see any flickering, but at 60 Hz I can see it. so is it really 100 Hz or just 50 or do I see something different?????

Questions over Questions.......

I personaly love Quicksilver steam lamps. In the past I had to solder a lot smd electronic and my eyes are not the best and with a 400 Watt lamp of this I could see perfect, but I guess it kills the eyes very fast.

Sounds like a question for the store on whether a certain ballast will work with a certain bulb. I was thinking more of space inside the fixture. The long ones have a lot of room to work with and pretty much whatever size the new one was would fit in some way. Not sure how much room there is in the round fixtures. I'd wager those bulbs are also lower wattage too. If it's the right specs and you can get it in there, it wouldn't matter what fixture it was. But don't forget to check if you have to swap the starter too.

I'm not sure the flickering you're seeing is due to the 50hz. Could just be a worn out fixture. Can you see this with lights at other houses or maybe at food stalls?

we have basically everywhere flourescent lights and I guess the cheapest available. Together with daily 12-14 hours computer work it makes my wife and me crazy now.

So if I understand it right, there are 2 different things:

The tube or however this part is called in english, if I buy a better one I get a more "natural" color but still the 50 Hz flickering

And the electronic ballast, can this be bought sepperate? Or will they look at me like I am from the moon (again) when I ask for a better ballast? (Mai mee)

Thanks

Try to replace the "starter" it nearly costs nothing, maybe with a new one they start fast again (not tested, but would make sense in my opinion)

I don't mind flourescent lighting, as long as it's bright enough to see what I'm doing, what annoys me is the time they take to come on. From new they come on quite quick, then after a short time they get slower, that's what I've found anyway.

You're right, it's the starter, not the ballast on the startup. The ballast keeps the light going after that.

If you're talking about long straight tubes, you may be able to do this but you have to be handy as there's wiring involved to swap the ballast. You might have to change the starter with that too. I don't think they'll look at you crazy since the lights are fairly common and I'm sure it's common to fix them when they go bad. For round ceiling lights, maybe the parts will be available, maybe not. They never seem to be interchangeable in the US.

Frankly, I'm not one of those who can pick out the flickering, it's only the color that I hate. I have small standard ballast lights, but with a nicer color. Thai lights are just too blue. There's a color rating system that may be stamped on the bulbs that's explained at this website. Good thing I found it as I thought the colors went the other way.

http://www.topbulb.com/lighting_information/info_color.asp

One way around the ballast issue may be a low wattage normal light close to your work space. The flicker will still be there on the space lights, but the regular light won't flicker and it may be enough.

Does anyone know how this device for 30.000 cycles per second is called here in Thailand and/or where I can buy it?

thank....

Health Effects

Migraine headaches, loss of concentration, and general irritation have all been blamed on fluorescent lights. These problems are caused not by the lights themselves, but by the way they are run. Common magnetic ballasts run the lamps at the same 60 cycles per second that is delivered by our electrical grid. This causes the lamps to flicker noticeably 120 times per second, every time the alternating current switches direction. Approximately one-third of the human population is sensitive to this flicker on a subliminal level.

The cure is to use electronic ballasts, which operate at around 30,000 cycles per second. This rapid cycling totally eliminates perceptible flicker and avoids the ensuing health complaints.

At the very least, according to some of them, certain types of fluorescent tubes leak radiation and some may lead to a depletion of brain chemicals such as serotonin and melatonin. This can lead to the kind of depression that in extreme situations precipitates suicide.

All flourescent lights have ballasts built in. Lights with better (electronic) ballasts cost more money and I'm not sure you can retrofit a fixture for much less than a new fixture, unless you're good with electrical. I believe the ballast is the part that usually goes bad first. For example, if your light starts taking longer to light up when you turn it on, it's the ballast.

As for the US, there are actually a ton of flourescent lights, just not so much in houses. They're usually in kitchens and garages since the light color isn't as appealing for most home uses. But this is changing as better color lights have come out. I have the coiled ones in every room except the bathroom with has a standard incandescent. They're also used in office buildings, schools and other large facilities where the energy savings makes a lot of sense.

LEDs are just now coming to the market for home use and these will probably dominate as the price drops. Very efficient, durable, and much more compact that flourescents. US traffic lights are being switched over to LEDs due to the energy savings and long life of the bulbs, so if you look carefully you see lots of little LED lights making one big red or green light.

I think you'll find that some hotels charge more for walk-ins and some charge less. The more expensive branded hotels, especially American ones will cost more if you walk in, and also cost more on their own website than 3rd party websites. If you can book early, then IMA_FARANG is right that you'll almost always get great deals ahead of time.

The bigger hotels basically charge more for last minute travelers which tend to be business folks for which their company is generally paying, or more affluent travelers who are willing to pay full price at the last minute. They use the 3rd party websites to fill in rooms that they aren't using.

But I've found small hotels that charge less for walk-ins than for either their own website or 3rd party websites. Smaller hotels use the 3rd party sites to get customers they're just not going to get because no one knows about them. Sometimes they'll pass through the 3rd party charges in the form of higher rates. Other times they charge more since it's tourists as oppossed to locals reserving on the website.

Basically it all depends. Try the websites first and try direct with the hotel if it's that big an issue. For the best bargains, pay cash at smaller hotels, and have someone Thai make the reservation or walk-in to the front desk. These hotels don't really discount for advance reservation, plus it gives you the option of changing plans and not dealing with refunds.

On at least 2 occassions, I've gotten breakfast with the room at a cheaper price than the non-breakfast online price by walking in. These were tiny hotels in Phuket or Samui, and I actually think it was a mistake by the front desk. More organized hotels (and likely larger) are less likely to have done this.

How about calling a local travel agent for the answer to 1? Seems like it would be possible to to this, but you won't know if there are special rules or something unless you ask.

I always get an E-Ticket and it is very rare that I can't choose my seats when I book. It's actually been so long that I can't remember if I've ever had an international flight without choosing seats. This is with about a week of advance ticketing, as those times I remember not choosing were last minute domestic tickets. This includes both ticketing through airlines directly and US travel sites such as Orbitz or Travelocity.

It wouldn't be entirely a bad thing to have a separate itinerary just in case the visa gets held up or something.

Carmine your right, I just thought I'd ask here first, but yeah your right.

How could I have a seperate itinerary?

Oops, just edited it while you responded. If you can't book it all on one itinerary, you'll have 2 by default. It'll either be a one-way itinerary on one plus 2 one-way tickets on the other, or a round-trip for you plus a one-one itinerary on the other. A round-trip plus a one-way should cost less. But if there's a chance that you'd have to change the date on the return trip, it may be cheaper to get a non-changeable out there and a changeable one-way for you both back.

Not an issue traveling with more than one itinerary. The airline or immigration may ask you for the proof of onward travel, so you'd just have to show the other itinerary or confirmation info.

How about calling a local travel agent for the answer to 1? Seems like it would be possible to to this, but you won't know if there are special rules or something unless you ask.

I always get an E-Ticket and it is very rare that I can't choose my seats when I book. This includes both ticketing through airlines directly and US travel sites such as Orbitz or Travelocity.

It wouldn't be entirely a bad thing to have a separate itinerary just in case the visa gets held up or something. Ask your wife for her passport number and spelling of her name in the passport. I don't think you'll need anything besides that to book the ticket, but maybe also get the expiration date and other info. It wouldn't hurt to sign her up for the airline mileage program as well since that could help if you have to deal with changing seats or changing the flight date. Plus that's a lot of miles you don't want to give up.

...

If applicants have sponsors, applicants only need to show

1. Strong tie to their country

...

If you have first hand knowledge of this working with the Bangkok office, it'd be very interesting, as the funds part is the reason I haven't had my girlfriend apply. She's a student, so obviously on a limited budget, but I could qualify to support several people. Plus another thread has an application that was turned down because the boyfriend was supplying some funds and the applicant didn't have enough on their own.

That really sucks. That company must have done some shady stuff to bring on all those questions concerning them.

Wonder what they would have done if she had already flown to the US? It's so nuts that they do just about nothing with the southern border, but try to do it the right way for a temporary visit and it's really difficult.

Good luck with your K-1 or K-3.

I read in another thread about others arguments between Travellers Cheques and Credit/Debit Cards.

I got sent this advert mail this morning and it looks to me like a really good way around it.

"Speedcard is a Prepaid Visa Card, which gives you access to your money, when and wherever you want.

You simply pay money into your Speedcard account then access your money worldwide at Cash Machines (ATM's) or by paying for goods and services in shops, or on the web.

With Speedcard, its simple, there are no credit checks. Also you don't get charged at ATM's"

According to their own FAQ you do:

FEE TYPE GBP

CARD APPLICATION FEE 9.95

MONTHLY SERVICE CHARGE 2.45

CUSTOMER CALL PER MINUTE National Call Rate

CREDIT CARD LOAD 3.45%

BANK DEPOSIT FEE UK Barclays Branches 1% (MIN £1)

BANK DEPOSIT FEE INTERNATIONAL (SWIFT IN) 10.00

ATM WITHDRAWAL 1.20

PURCHASE (POS) Free

INTERNET PURCHASE (POS) Free

OTHER FEES – WHERE APPLICABLE GBP

COURIER DELIVERY (If requested by Cardholder) 15.00

TRANSMISSION INVESTIGATION/ COPY REQUEST 15.00

CHARGEBACK- (following fraudulent activity by

Cardholder) 25.00

ACCOUNT TERMINATION FEE 5.00

REPLACEMENT OF LOST/STOLEN CARD AND/OR PIN 10.00

CARD RENEWAL (EVERY 2 YRS) 9.95

DORMANT CARD ACCOUNT – (Inactive accounts with insufficient funds) 2 Month’s Service charged once funds are available

So, if you open the account and put in money in a Barclays Bank, it wil cost £1. Lets say you stick in a grand. You are going away for a month. You don't take any cash out of ATM's (take T-cheques for cash), only pay for things by swiping or by internet. Then cancel the card, paying £5 cancel fee, you should come out ok.?

Don't know what, CREDIT CARD LOAD 3.45% , means.....?

redrus

For a month of use on £1,000, it looks like you'd pay the application fee, monthly service charge (probably 2), deposit fee, and termination fee. So, £9.95 + 2.45 + 10.00 + 5.00 = £27.40

That's 2.74% or 2.985% if you incur 2 monthly fees. Not a great deal. And even though there's no "foreign currency fee" it doesn't guarantee you'll get a good exchange rate. I'd think you're better off with extra traveler's cheques.

I believe the 3.45% "Credit Card Load" is what's charged if you use a credit card to load this one.

The worst for me has to be the baseball bat scene at the end of Casino where the two brothers bet battered then buried alive.

When I saw one of them breath out through the dust being shovelled onto his face , that did it for me.

Yeah, or the trunk scene in Goodfellas.

A good mob movie will always have a scene that makes you cringe.

Saw Goodfellas on a first date because she was dying to see it. Was there a second date? Nope.

From trying to figure this out before, I found an OLD Dept of State form with the same OMB number and form number that seemed to be for this purpose. But the new referenced form is a USCIS form, which would put it into the immigration area. It's one of the forms listed that may be requested for a fiancee or marriage visa and some other situations.

I remember a Filipino friend's family submitting something like this when their relatives visited, but this was maybe 20 years ago.

If it was used for such a purpose before, I wouldn't be surprised if this form is still listed and accepted as a form for a tourist visa in some places. This is the US Govt. we're talking about, where the IRS's own help line answers about 1/4 of tax questions incorrectly.

I've never found any govt. source that specifically says this form can be used for a tourist visa, however there are many places that say a tourist must qualify on their own. For example, this Dept. of State website for the below quote and others on the left side:

http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/visiting.html

"People often ask how they can help a family member, relative or friend get a visa to visit them in the United States. We appreciate their desire to help and do understand that sometimes the need for a visit can be urgent.

Under U.S. law, however, applicants for visitor visas must qualify on their own for visas to visit the United States."

Does anyone know of an ATM in Thailand (actually bank) whose ATM's accept amex cards? My parrents who are due to visit in May asked me, I have been to most and looked at the stickers for what cards they accept, these seem to be cirrus, mastercard and visa. Not yet located AMEX. Any offers or is my mum off her rocker?

...I can remember some 6 years ago, Bangkok Bank ATM's accept AMEX cards.

Yes, the "ATM Finder" on the AMEX website lists only Bangkok Bank ATMs. I don't think that's the best choice for money since it'd be a cash advance and AMEX doesn't give a great exchange rate. They could easily use AMEX traveler's cheques. But hey, how many parents do strange things?

I don't think that it matters who helped your GF with the visa application. What is important is that the statements within it are true and how much proof your GF has to support them. As gsxd implied, she would have problems if some statements were false. Does she have a copy of her completed visa application form that was filed?

As far as we know nothing has been falsified. She owns a house, some land, and has a food garden all in Udon. She was surprsied when she went to the first meeting becuase they really didn't want to see any of the paperwork, like land deeds and so forth. In fact she was disappointed because she had gone to so much trouble to get all the papers together and all they saidd was "everything is fine, you can pick up your visa in a week. It was about a 5 min meeting.

Now they call and tell her to come back, can't quite firgue out what the problem is. Thye made it a point to tell her not to use the visa and make sure she comes to the meeting. They may just have a few followup questions, or maybe the first guy did not do a through job and they want to see again. I don't know, but is sure is uncomfortable!

I did say I was her BF, and listed all of my assets and so forth. But from what I have read and been told, my items are not important, for a tourist visa she needs to stand on her own.

Update********** I got a call tonight from the embassy. Apparently there is a problem with the Visa company. This was said to me quite clearly by the embassy staff. Thye had many questions on how we met the visa company, how much we paid them and so forth. My gf has her meeting with them in about 1 hour and I think they will ask her similar questions. They assured me this will not have a negative effect on her visa, but I am not so sure.

I would like to adivse people reading this forum the name of the visa compnay we used, but I am not sure that would be appropriate. Maybe a moderator could comment? In the mean time, you can send me an email and I will respond direclty.

I almost went in and talked to that Visa company based on your success, but didn't have the time on a short trip. Now I'm glad I didn't, although I would just have talked to them and not signed up at this point. I wonder how they figured out you used a visa company. Did they say to write things a certain way and mention certain things? Must have been some similarity they picked out.

Maybe someone else was caught with lies on their app and they tried to find all the apps from the same company. Since your girlfriend has all her docs, I hope they just verify the info and let the visa stand.