cheshiremusicman

Are there any rc-shops(Tamyia) in Hua-hin?

Or nearby?

Wfv/Tobbe

Excuse my stupidity, but do you mean 'Radio control' shops, or is this old f-rt out of touch (again) with modern language terms ?

This is really an interesting subject and the job of Hole Judge should interest some of those who are looking for business opportunities, very little outlay and great returns.

The ball hitting a spectator has always seemed a real possibility as in big tournaments the public seem to be very close to the action and a slip of club on ball at full swing could be serious. But I see they have it covered in the rule book.

I thought I could let the subject go but it keeps popping up so I got to ask.

As I understand it the player can send his caddy to the hole at any time to take out the flag, so a good player would want his caddy to be at the hole as he tee’s off (starts) incase he gets a hole in one, yet at the same time he needs the caddy to carry his clubs and show him which club to use.

So the question is can anybody, a spectator, take out the pole if it looks like the ball is going to hit it? Or to be even more devious a spectator put the pole in the hole if he supports the other guy.

Sill curious

Daffy.

Daffy. The only time I have ever got a hole in one was with the 'Pin' or 'Flagstick' in the hole on a par three. I think that it would have dropped in the hole even if the 'flagstick' had not been in the hole, but sometimes you are glad that it IS in the hole, as it can often stop a ball from going a lot further than you intended. I personally have never seen a caddy remove a 'Flagstick' when a player has been playing from well off the green; by that I mean a distance of say 30 metres from the hole.

To quote one of the great's of the game - Arnold Palmer.

"Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated. It satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - It is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented." I will personally second this statement - once if grabs you - boy does it grab you!

Have same problem as OP. Areas of grass which are green on top for 1/3, rest underneath is brown and straw like. Tried fertiliser - only managed to burn the grass by putting too much down.

Any ideas the best way to discourage / get rid of the brown 2/3 grass ?

Agree with 'nomad67', but you have to 'bite the bullet' when you do this and my wife goes crazy when I have done same as the lawn(s) can look like s---t for about a month, but as the man said it WILL recover and then you can decide what 'height' you want to keep the grass growing. An awful lot depends on 'what type of grass' you are trying to cultivate and just how much effort/time/money you are prepared to put into the project, plus the factors like wear and tear - its horses for courses as they say. My old Dad, used to say that you can tell what type of gardener a person was from the quality of their lawns - reckon he was right, as they take an awful lot of looking after if you really want them to look good, whereas plants etc can look after themselves to a certain extent, as long as they have the right nutrients and water. Hope that you don't get into too much trouble if you do decide to 'lower the cut'!

The 'recommended' method of cutting most 'lawns' is to cut 1/3rd of the height off at one time and no more - so a little and often will help the grass to thicken up. Cut too much off in one go ( as many people do) and the grass will throw a wobbler and can go into a state of shock, so I would recommend that you do the deed in say three stages and gradually lower the cutting height if you really want to get back to a much lower cutting height. This again, is only from personal experience back in the UK,so it MIGHT be different out here in the tropics.

Thanks to everyone who has replied and thanks to cheshiremusicman for the long explanation. OK by the sound of it, it’s going to be easier for me to obtain a Non Immigrant 0 Visa and apply in Thailand for my retirement visa.

Cheshiremusicman are you from anywhere near Chester if that is Cheshire in the UK. When you say I don't need a police report or Notarised marriage certificate, will this apply to the immigration office in Chiang Mai? I wouldn’t want to come over and not have everything I need.

Thanks again to everyone.

Dixie

No I am not from Chester, but from south Manchester that comes under Cheshire. My wife and I obtained 'Police reports' from the Greater Manchester Police which cost us about £10 each and took approximately 6 weeks to process. We eventually found a Notary in South Manchester who 'Notarised' both the Police reports and our Marriage certificate at a cost of £190 - yes £190 and he was the cheapest, having been quoted between £300 and £400 for same. So we were a bit miffed to say the least when we applied for our RV's and were told 'Don't Need', so all in all a complete waste of money. I am speaking only has somebody who has applied for the RV's in Hua-Hin but I feel sure that it would apply in Chiang Mia, unless anybody on the forum tells you otherwise!

We have been told that there is an Thai Embassy in Liverpool, which might be more convenient for you, but check on this locally! We went in person, to the Thai Embassy in Hull to obtain our 'O' visas and were charged and extra £10 each for the privilege and another £20 for each certificate (so £60) for the Consulate in Hull to 'confirm that we had had the certificates notarised'. Apparently, even though the Notary has got very special powers and is registered and can be checked out world wide they still insisted on this stupid process - only to be told when we got here that it was not necessary. So save yourself the money for the Chang over here.

Dixie

As advised by others on this thread just get the Non Immigrant 0 Visa and wait for the 60 days to expire then apply for an extension on the grounds of retirement. You do NOT need to get a police report done in the UK as they did not even wantto look at it when my wife and I applied for our RV and they did NOT want to see a 'Notarised Marriage certificate' which cost us a fortune to obtain in the UK so don't waste your money on these. You will need to provide two copies of pages from your passports, the one with the pic on and the ones with the entry visa stamp along with the exit ticket that they will clip into your passports showing the date by which you must leave the country. Copies of ALL pages from you Bank book along with a letter from your bank issued NOT more than one day prior to your application stating your current balance. Copies of your marriage certificate and two recent pictures about 2" x 1.5". The charge for the RV is 1900Baht each and it will be dated from the date that you should have left the country on your original entry slip NOT from the day that the RV is issued to you for some strange reason that we cannot figure out but this is Thailand after all! When you do get your RV make sure that you obtain either a single or multiple RE-ENTRY visa ( if as you said you have any reason to think that you will be leaving Thailand within the year) as your RV is automatically canceled if you leave the country and re-enter without one of these and you will have to go through the process all over again. Hope that this is some help and good luck with your move.

As his Wife is Thai he will only be applying for himself. Another requirement is for the 800,000 Baht to be in the Thai Bank for 3 months before applying for the years extension of stay based on retirement. All quite simple and straight forward.

Hi Dixie. NO my wife is not Thai she is English .You do NOT have to have 800k EACH if you are married and can prove same - at least that is the case with the Immigration at Hua-Hin.

With regard to the date from which the RV is extended by one year, they have used the same date again for us, so we still lost about 3 months on the first RV but obviously we now get 12 months on the second one.

Mitsubishi Double Cab - Triton D.I.D. Automatic 'Warm Silver' 55,000km excellent condition.

2.5 Turbo Diesel. Sony CD/MP3 /. ABS + EBD + airbag. Spot lights.

470,000Baht

e-mail [email protected] . Mobile 0831600823 or landline 032572255

Asking this for a friend in Korat:

Where in Thailand can I buy a lawn mover? Looking for a big expensive one that you can drive around with.

A local golf course will give you info on where they have obtained 'Lawn Mowers' . When you said 'that you can drive around with' I presume that your friend is not wishing to use it on the roads as an alternative form of transport!

There was a 'Lawn Mower Racing Society' in the UK that used to 'soup-up' the engines and charge around on grass circuits in the UK, maybe your friend can start one in Korat.

We have a few outlets in Pranburi that sell large lawnmowers and if you want I can make some enquiries as to suppliers etc if that would be any help and your friend could contact them directly. Just pm me if you would like me to that.

Thanks again for the help!!!! My neighbor uses by hand method & says it works out fine.

We had 3 truckloads of din dam delivered today & it is brown. Looks like subsoil. we have it in the upper garden area & it grows most everything well. Isn't Din Dam supposed to be black& if this is a subsoil should I blend in some quai key to beef up the nutrients before we lay the turf in 2 weeks?

Our land is pure sun with only the back being shady (& very little grass area ) I would have opted for the Bermuda myself.

Thanks again

Barry

If the soil grows other things well then I am sure that your grass will be fine on it. If you can, try dragging a heavy wooden board over the soil to level and compact it to a certain extent before laying the 'sods' and this should help in stopping you getting any deep hollows etc and give the soil a REAL soaking before you lay the 'sods' as well as after. Bermuda is fine but it takes a lot of feeding to maintain its growth and unless you are prepared to keep feeding it on a very regular basis then I believe that the 'Manilla' is the better option, as it will fine up tremendously well if you cut it regularly and doesn't need as much attention.

Just a word of caution to all you lawn lovers who want to eradicate weeds in your beloved green lawns. DON'T use 2-4-D weed killer on ANY lawn that has not been established for at least 9 months and even longer if its Bermuda. I made the mistake of applying same - diluted below normal strength thank goodness on my Bermuda and ended up with big brown patches that lasted for some 2 months, but fortunately it did not kill the grass. I had used 2-4-D in the UK on a regular basis and stupidly didn't check before I used it on my new lawns. I only found out the info the 'day after' I had done the deed when I 'googled' 2-4-D and broke out in a cold sweat when I read the info on it - stupid boy!!! Only excuse is that I don't read Thai ( as yet) and even if I did, I doubt very much, that it would have told me NOT to use it on certain grasses.

Having said all the above, 2-4-D is brilliant for eradicating weeds in lawns. Be interested to know if anybody knows of anything better that they have used out here in Thailand.

...Just a quick comment as my wife and I have just returned from the Hua-Hin Immigration office after renewing our 'Retirement Visa' and yes it does say in our passports 'Retirement Visa' this with reference to our previous thread where we discussed the nomination of the Visa.

This is interesting. You applied at the Hua Hin immigration office for an annual extension of stay for the reason of retirement, you received this extension, and the immigration officer stamped your passport with “Retirement Visa”? Are you quite sure it says “Retirement Visa”, not just “Retirement”?

--

Maestro

Spot on 'Maestro' the word 'Retirement' was hand written above the stamp, sorry for the confusion.

Just a quick comment for anybody that is interested - The Hua-Hin Immigration office have always been most helpful and courteous to us whenever we have had dealings with them, so if you are not too far away it might be worthwhile using them.

Hi Chaps,

I know you have probably gone over this a thousand times but, with all the rules changing so often it’s hard to know where you stand and what laws apply.

I’m looking at coming over to Thailand in March with my Thai wife who has lived with me in the UK for seven years. I will be looking at buying a house over there as I would like to retire in Thailand together with my wife. I am 54 years of age.

If I apply for a retirement visa will I still be able to return home once I have one? I will still need to come back possible to finish off selling my house. And may have sort things out if anything happens to my mother (god forbid). I don’t really want to have to do any border crossings as its all extra money.

Also I’ve noticed from the (Hull Thai Embassy in the UK) on their website that they inform you that you have to travel to Bangkok (I’ll be living in Chiang Mai) to get a letter for approval of funds. I already have funds in the bank in Chiang Mai which have been there for many years and over the required 800,000 baht needed.

Can I just go to the immigration office in Chiang Mia when I apply for the retirement visa and take with me the necessary proof of bank details (and letter from the bank) without having to travel to Bangkok?

Cheers in advance

Dixie

As advised by others on this thread just get the Non Immigrant 0 Visa and wait for the 60 days to expire then apply for an extension on the grounds of retirement. You do NOT need to get a police report done in the UK as they did not even wantto look at it when my wife and I applied for our RV and they did NOT want to see a 'Notarised Marriage certificate' which cost us a fortune to obtain in the UK so don't waste your money on these. You will need to provide two copies of pages from your passports, the one with the pic on and the ones with the entry visa stamp along with the exit ticket that they will clip into your passports showing the date by which you must leave the country. Copies of ALL pages from you Bank book along with a letter from your bank issued NOT more than one day prior to your application stating your current balance. Copies of your marriage certificate and two recent pictures about 2" x 1.5". The charge for the RV is 1900Baht each and it will be dated from the date that you should have left the country on your original entry slip NOT from the day that the RV is issued to you for some strange reason that we cannot figure out but this is Thailand after all! When you do get your RV make sure that you obtain either a single or multiple RE-ENTRY visa ( if as you said you have any reason to think that you will be leaving Thailand within the year) as your RV is automatically canceled if you leave the country and re-enter without one of these and you will have to go through the process all over again. Hope that this is some help and good luck with your move.

The has never been any such requirement at Bangkok that I am aware of (people process every day without that and I processed in June this year and have never made monthly transfers). The requirement is pension of 65k as listed in a letter from your Embassy. They do like to see an account/bank letter for the file but there is no specific requirement for that or what it contains. Nor is there any requirement for another more than Embassy letter as proof of pension. Very, very few people have ever been asked for supporting documents. The TM.7 form and a current photo (that is being checked). The 1,900 baht fee. You will have to fill out a short form of basic data (no TM number) or they will fill out for you; and sign. Basically appears to be the interviewing officer signing off that you meet requirements and they are responsible for you (so probably explains why some want more information at times).

The Police Order 606 Specific language is "Having evidence showing the monthly income not less than 65,000 Baht" and normally the Embassy letter is accepted as the supporting document for that. Only mention of three months account evidence is when using 800k bank deposit method. Obviously there appears to be some exceptions but it is difficult to tell if they are all requirements/alternatives/or just peoples trying to cover all possibilities.

Hi 'lopburi3' Just a quick comment as my wife and I have just returned from the Hua-Hin Immigration office after renewing our 'Retirement Visa' and yes it does say in our passports 'Retirement Visa' this with reference to our previous thread where we discussed the nomination of the Visa.

Re the photo YES they DID ask for a new picture. Otherwise everything as you said is correct.

Thanks a lot; but unfortunately I have to go on a Saturday evening.

Didier

Does it HAVE to be a buffet meal that you are looking for?

[quote name='Lite Beer' post='1623778'

Thank you Cheshire. This is one of the most detailed broken down methods on the lawn posts yet!

I was wondering within a week we will lay down some Nippon grass (the Japanese in the front & sides & the small patch always shaded(or most of the time will get the Malaysian grass.) how long would you suggest waiting after initial laying of turf for fertilizing -so it does not burn the grass & cause brown spots? And is it hard to find a spreader for the fertalizer?

I live in the Pattaya -Bang Sare area that sells tons of turf?

Thanks again & have a delightful New Years as well!!!!!

Barry

Is this 'Nippon' the flowering head variety, as there appear to be a lot of various forms of this from dwarf to tall growing?

With regard to the fertilizing, I would possibly suggest that you make up a 'liquid feed' from your existing choice of fertilizer and if the area is not too large just water it in after the grass has been down for say two weeks. From what I have read ( and I am far from an expert on this subject and have a great deal to learn myself ) it is most important to make sure that the newly laid grass does not get a chance to dry out and this gives the root structure a great deal of help in getting itself well established, so water it copiously.

Diluting fertilizer in water is by far the safest method of ensuring that you do not 'burn' the grass, but it can be a bit impractical if you have a very large area to cover. I do not have a 'spreader' and do it by hand and have found that by using a large bucket and just walking and 'casting a handfull' I can get some kind of reasonable dispersion, but it is trial and error. Far better to put a little on and do it again in a few more days, than to overdo it in one go, and obviously make sure that you have watered the F in as soon as possible after the application, otherwise the F sits on the grass blades and hence you get the 'burn'.

I have possibly made the mistake on my property of putting down 'bermuda grass' in an area that part of which is now in permanent shade from the overhand of the house during this part of the year and maybe the grass will thin out too much because of this! I will have to wait and see what happens. I beleive that one of the best overall grass types to use over here is the 'Manilla' as this can tolerate more shade and I have this on the big side lawn. I went for the 'bermuda' on the area that is visible from the verandah as I wanted to try and get a nice 'fine lawn effect' with cut stripes, but it is early days yet as the lawns have only been down since april of this year and unfortunately I have had to dig them up a few times in order to install drainage pipes. All that is now behind me and I am now trying to get the surface back to some kind of level by applying fine river sand to fill in the bumps and hollows - a slow process but worth it in the end.

Again from what I have read ( and there is an awful lot of info on the internet if you google 'grass or lawns etc ) it is advised that you give a 'newly laid sod lawn' a cutting two weeks after it has been laid. If you do not have a good quality rotary mower, then I would use a decent 'strimmer' as it is amazing just how good a cut you can achieve with one of these with a bit of care.

I hope the info is of some use and the best of luck with the lawns.

Cheshiremusicman, thank you for a very informative article. I have approximately 1600 sq ft of 'Nippon" grass and I use the 16-16-16 fertiliser which I buy for 20 baht per kilo, 5 kilo bags for 100 baht. (About the same price as your bulk buy.) Your formula for how much to spread is very useful and will allow me to increase the application from 3 kilos per 1600 square feet to 5 kilos (provided I have understood your figures correctly). I usually feed the grass 2 x per month and for most of the year the lawn is in good condition. Growth and appearance is below par during the winter season - Nov through Feb. I cut the grass as close as the mower will allow, usually 3 to 4 times per month, and I prefer to collect and throw away the grass cuttings. Less mess brought into the house by my daughter and our dogs.

Glad the info is some use. I use my grass cuttings to mulch the trees and keep the weeds down around the base's of same, as the have got a small edgeing of low plants around them and it also saves me having to bag and remove the cuttings.

I'm growing one large lawned area with 'manilla grass' and the others with a form of 'bermuda' but they have only been established this year about april and will need some TLC to get upto scratch. I have just raised the cutting height on all the lawns to help during the dry season.

So you have got an Extension of Stay for one year. Not a Retirement Visa.

Yes that will be correct. I only refered to it as an RV because that was the term that we HAD understood it was and now we know better, but for the sake of the thread I continued to use it.

Sorry. I was not having a dig at you. It is just amazing how many people do not understand what kind of Visas and Extensions etc. they actually do have.

Off topic, but thanks for the Lawn info.

No problem, it's nice to get decent, reliable info and at least I now know what it really should be called.

Best of luck with the lawn.

So you have got an Extension of Stay for one year. Not a Retirement Visa.

Yes that will be correct. I only refered to it as an RV because that was the term that we HAD understood it was and now we know better, but for the sake of the thread I continued to use it.

what would be the best way if you had a retirement visa, Can you get a muli entery visa to come and go 3 or 4 times a year with a retirement visa?

I asked the same original question on the 'Visa forum area ' as well as here on the HH site and 'lopburi3' gave a lot of very good advice on there, so I would suggest that you read that. In a nutshell, if you have an RV + mutliple entry permit then it would appear that you can make the RV good for almost two years by re-entering the country a few days before you are due to 'renew'. But as I said, read the full responses from 'lopburi3' they certainly know what they are talking about!

Hello.

Does anyone have any idea as to how often I should feed my lawn here in Isaan.

I dont know the technical term but am using the white granules that look like sugar.

The grass looks ok till you look close where the top third of the stems are nice and green but the bottom 2 thirds is a bit straw like.

Maybe this is normal here I do not know.

Thanks.

It depends on a lot of factors, the type of grass your growing, soil condition etc. The info below will give you a lot of very good advice as this came from an article about 'tropical lawns' I hope this helps. I personally use a 16-16-16 fertiliser that I buy from a local Thai supplier who provides all kinds of fertilisers for various local growers. A 50kg bag costs me about 960B. The feed that you refered to is most likely nitrogen and you have to be careful not to use this on its own too often as it will just make the lawn very green without building up a good root structure and eventually the lawn will become very weak and will not tolerate drought. Just one point, read the advice about watering as so many people continue to give a little water often rather than deep water which is the way to encourage the roots to go down deeper. I hope the following is helpful - if not just google 'tropical lawn fertiliser'

A good general lawn fertilizer should provide all three of the major essential elements: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (abbreviated NPK). The three numbers on the front of every fertilizer bag represent the percentage by weight of these three elements. The first number represents the percentage of nitrogen. Nitrogen is required in the greatest amount by turfgrass and should have the highest value by a ratio of at least three to four times the other two. The nitrogen can be present as a mixture of several different materials. Some of these are very water-soluble and are rapidly released in a short period. Others are formulated to be released slowly over a longer period.

All commercial fertilizers are chemical compounds that must first be dissolved in water and allowed to soak into the soil before they can be absorbed by the roots of plants. Highly soluble forms of nitrogen, such as urea or ammonium, dissolve quickly and are a readily available source of nitrogen. The grass greens up and growth rate increases sharply about two days after application, reaches a peak in about two weeks and tapers off to the original condition after four or five weeks. These peaks and valleys in growth rate are typically produced by readily soluble fertilizers and require more frequent application to keep the lawn looking uniform. There also is a greater danger of burning the grass by applying too much at one time.

The newer slow-release formulations for nitrogen overcome several shortcomings of soluble sources. These are synthetics that have a much slower, longer residual nitrogen release pattern and a greatly reduced burn potential. They don't produce peaks and valleys in growth rate. Several forms of slow-release nitrogen are available. The most common found in typical home lawn fertilizers is called sulfur-coated urea, or SCU. This is usually mixed with more soluble nitrogen forms.

The more slow release the formulation, the better. To determine what, if any, amount of slow-release nitrogen is present, look on the back of the bag in the label section marked "guaranteed analysis." The total nitrogen percentage will be broken down into the various forms of nitrogen in the mixture. The soluble forms are listed as ammoniacal nitrogen or urea. If there is any slow-release nitrogen, it will be listed with an asterisk on the urea as "slowly available nitrogen" usually in the form of SCU. Look for the fertilizer containing the greatest amount of slow-release nitrogen.

The final considerations when using commercial fertilizers are how much to apply at one time, and how to spread it. The pounds of fertilizer you apply will depend on the formulation you buy. The recommended amount for grass is one pound of nitrogen for every 1,000 square feet of lawn. To determine how many pounds of fertilizer this will require, look at the first number on the front of the bag — the percentage of total nitrogen. Divide that number into 100. This gives the pounds of that particular fertilizer to use for every 1,000 square feet of lawn. For example: a 2,000-square-foot lawn using a 30-5-5 formulation requires 3.33 pounds of fertilizer (100 divided by 30) per 1,000 square feet, or 6.6 pounds for 2,000 square feet.

Always use a rotary spreader to make the application, and water well immediately afterward. Hand-spreading always results in uneven application that can cause some areas to be burned and others to remain unfertilized. And by the way, grass clippings do not add to thatch buildup and are best left on the lawn if the grass is mowed often enough. The clippings contain large amounts of nitrogen and other essential nutrients that will be recycled back into the soil. Thatch accumulates more rapidly as a result of too much water and nitrogen fertilizer. Higher mowing heights also allow for thicker thatch.

You are not supposed to "renew" a retirement visa (non immigrant OA long stay visa). What you are expected to do is visit an immigration office inside Thailand to extend your stay for one year at a time. You have to show proof of pension/income of 65k per month by Embassy letter or have 800k in local bank account for 3 months or a combination. You then receive a one year extension of your stay.

Long stay visas (non immigrant OA) are only available for one year periods of stay - but if you obtained a multi entry it allows one year entry each time - so if you enter the day before it expires you have almost two years stay (but second year you must obtain re-entry permit to travel).

15 months would be what you can obtain using a normal multi entry non immigrant O visa and making 90 day border runs. It is not a retirement visa and only allows 90 day stays. If you enter just before that expires you would be a new 90 day stay so in effect almost 15 months use.

Thanks 'lopburi3' for the info. I have just returned to read the comments on this thread and thanks to everybody for their inputs.

Just to clear things up for everybody. I (we) obtained what I refered to as a RV after being resident in Thailand for some 60 days on a 'Non Immigrant Visa Category O, specified as 'good for Multiple jounerys to Thailand' this being issued from the Thai Embassy in Hull in the UK. We arrived on 22 Jan 07 and as stated before we had to wait the 60 days before we applied to the Immigration office her in Hua-Hin for what we call the 'Retirement Visa'. I was given to understand that you had to be over 50 years old and be able to show proof of the required income per month or have the necessary 800k B deposited in a Thai bank account and we met these conditions when we applied for what I am refering to as the 'RV'. As you correctly said there is NO reference to the word 'Retirement' on any of the slips that they clip into your passport when you go to obtain the renewal every 90 days, it ( the renewal slip) has a stamped notification at the bottom which says and I quote -

'Note -Residence notification is not an extension of Visa

Must keep this document on your passport

and come for the next renewal on ----/----/---

We were due to report on the 29 Dec 2007 and as this was Saturday we decided to go a day early on the 28th. We arrived in the Immigration office and when they looked at our papers etc they said come back on the 4th Jan and we will renew the Visa and they did not put a new slip in either passport to cover the remaining days between the 29th Dec and the 4th Jan.

The senior Lady Immigration officer just told us to go back to herself on the 4th Jan, along with the usual copies of the required documentation - namely 'Marriage certificate , Copy of Bank book pages and a letter from the bank stating the amount on deposit the day before, plus the usual copies of the pages of the passports etc.

Just for the record, we are only required to have had 800kB in the bank for 3 months prior to the renewal date to cover BOTH of us. I mention this as I have seen people asking in the past if both of you have to have 800kB each.

We understand that the 'renewal' will be dated again from the 22 January - which was our 'original date of entry' NOT the date on which we first obtained our so called RV, which all seems a bit confusing at first, but that appears to be the way that it is done!

We have always found the HH Immigration people to be most obliging and helpful whenever we have had dealings with them.

I must confess that I did NOT realise the implications of having a 'Multi Re-Entry' stamp along with the RV - VERY interesting and thanks again for the information.

I hope that the above clears up any misunderstanding as to what I was asking about in the original question and thanks again to everybody for their responses.

I am due to renew my 'Retirement Visa' in the New Year - this will be my first renewal and I have heard recently that it is now possible to obtain an RV that last for 15 months, which seems an odd length of issue. Does anybody have an knowledge or experience of this?

Maybe this a local thing as I live in Hua-Hin, as they seem to have different rules/laws for different areas!

I am due to renew my 'Retirement Visa' here in HH in the New Year, but have heard that it is now possible to renew it for 15 months Does anybody have any info on this, as it seems a strange length of time for renewal!

Which hotel in Hua Hin or Cha-Am offers the best buffet dinner?

thanks.

Didier

The 'Dusit hotel' near the airport in HH does an excellent carvery on a monday evening at 750B.

A very large selection of starters, including rock lobster, smoked salmon etc. A very large selection of main courses with excellent roast beef , lamb, pork etc. The sweets are to die for along with a huge selection of cheeses. I don't think that you will find a better 750B, but I stand corrected if anybody knows better.

Planning to go to HuaHin in Jan 08 and was wondering where can i get a good and reasonable priced transport? Round trip for 4 pax.

Anyone?

We have used a guy named ORB with a very nice spacious Toyota people carrier, very safe driver. I have just phoned him and he has quoted 2800B single or 5400B both ways. Contact # 0817318175. If you have any difficulty just pm me and I will book it on your behalf from this end. Hope that his is of some use, I know it is not cheap, but you tend to get what you pay for with taxi's!

Any suggestions'

When I turn on my York treadmill it sparks around the windings and then shuts off. The brushes appear ok, it is a 4hp DC motor about 4 years old. Anyone know of someone in Hua Hin area that might fix it? Asked at the Hilton Fitness center but they were most unhelpful. Also ask at the Cha Am fitness center and they gave us a Bangkok phone number for their service man.

It sounds as though you might have a problem with the windings of the commutator, possibly a shorted turn if it is sparking that much. Have you tried removing the brushes and cleaning the dust out as this will have built up over the 4 year period, unless that is you have had it serviced in the interim ?

I would have thought that you could get the motor repaired in Hua-Hin, just keep an eye out for one of the little shops that does electrical repairs, reckon that they will know where they can get it rewound!

Try contacting Mick Wittering at 'Custom Clubmakers Co' at [email protected] or on his mobile 0817369462, beleive that he can give you the info that you want. He was recommended to me by a teaching pro from Hongkong. His shop is near the Hilton hotel in Hua-Hin.