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Hey Toby! I am old enough to remember the days of 427 Chevys and big Dodge Hemies offering 5 or 6 miles to the gallon so watching the needle stick on 'F' km after km gives me much pleasure. 6L / 100 is at speed(ish) btw. 4 or 5 / could be had with eco set and a light foot.555 yourself🙂🙏🏼

Thanks NanLaew, for an expanded review of Denim's suggestion. I have found the reference on a FB post from 2019 reference, thank you Denim, the price has changed a bit but what a great idea. I have searched https://www.airbnb.com/ and there are many options within minutes of the AP from 11,000 baht for 30 days (parking, pool, and all usual amenities included). That gives more options to consider as AP parking is 7500 in the garage. I know that there are issues with airbnb regards housing shortages in the west but feel ok about it here in Thailand. Not same problems. Thanks a lot for these ideas.🙏🏼🙂

Thanks Ben and Denim. I have done the drive/hotel/fly option during covid and it is ok but not needing the room for more than a night makes the whole process of arrive, check in and out almost as bad as the connecting flight process. For this domestic travel I am going to try driving down. My car is a Toyota hybrid and I use 6L/100km so 300km is 3L x 6 @35B = 630 THB minus 3Lx1 @ 35B = 105 THB. so 630 minus 105 is 525 fuel cost difference. I know this is silly and does not reflect the true cost of driving but you did ask. 555 Thanks very much for your interest 🙏🏼

Well Crossy, do you have a shady corner in your yard that you might want to rent for a month? Taxi to DMK ok?🙏🏼

Thank you for the link Crossy. Is it 250 B a day minimum whatever parking area used? Are there any off site park and transfer to AP services available? Any of the parking offered recommended please? Fly down option is more costly (4600 vs 2000) and is much longer (6++ hours connecting vs 1.5 hrs from DMK to Surat direct). Fly down arrives in the late afternoon in Surat with ferry ride ahead = very late arrival in KP. Drive+fly arrives Surat in the morning = normal ferry connection and afternoon arrival in KP. If I leave home at midnight (or later) I should easily be at the AP for a 0700 flight having driven 300 km on empty(ish) roads. I would have had to drive/taxi about 100km to get to any local AP anyway as we are pretty far from any of these facilities. Thanks again for comments.🙏🏼

Thank you Olav, I'll check it out. The drive down or bus down option is because flights from Buriram or Kong Kean are 2000+ baht more costly and can be a 10 hr flight (due to connecting flight at BKK) more than flying from DMK to URT (Surat Thani). Also, all the connecting flights arrive at URT in the late afternoon. That means taking the ferry to Koh Phangan the next day. Direct flights from DMK arrive in the morning so normal day transfer to KP will enable same day travel and hotel check in on the island. Flying into Koh Samui is more than 10,000 baht more expensive with same flight time, btw. Shorter ferry ride but is it worth it? Thanks again for any comments.🙏🏼

About parking options and costs for 1 month accessible 24/7. Sorry, I have written to various parking options shown on G maps but no reply so far. I plan to drive down from Isaan during the night to catch an early morning flight to Surat Thani and so will want to park at 0500 or so in the morning. Best options please and thank you for any comments.🙏🏼

: Taxi, minibus service from Buriram city to Bangkok (DMA) airport. Traveling to Koh Phangan all the flights from this area, including from Kong Kean and Korat stop in Bangkok and can be pricy (to Koh Samui). Are there any overnight buses that get to DMK in time for a 0700 flight to Surat Thani please? I have just made the drive down to Phuket and do not want to repeat if other options are available. This is a lazy way to search for travel options and I thank you in advance for your indulgence and comments.🙏🏼

Posted this a while ago but still have not found a yoga group although I see there is a pilates and yoga open near the hospital now. I am 90km north of Buriram city and would like to find a group to join on a regular basis. Anyone aware of yoga groups and/or instruction near to Buriram city or within striking distance of there. I attended Yoga classes with AGAMA in Kho Phangan for some time and would like to continue. I am a novice and also too lazy to do on my own just now. Thanks in advance for any comments.

Thanks MJCM. I know Bob and will give him a call.🙏🏼

Thanks for your comments. I have had a little bit of experience with wood boring beetles and with those we had some success soaking the infested wood with a nasty chemical product and also injected it by drilling small holes and using hypodermic needle. That fixed up local infestations but I wouldn't know how to start on a whole house. This house is in Satuek, Surin area. Can anyone suggest a company to help with this problem please? Thank you🙏🏼

A friend has some sort of insects eating the wood of her home. In other countries there are strong insecticides to spray onto or inject into wood that can cure the problem. I have done this work myself with varying levels of success (some to none). There are also companies that come and do the work to eradicate the problem. Any comments and/or suggestions for products, anti bug companies etc. here in Thailand will be very welcome. Thank you🙏🏼

If you are going for a 90 day then no need to leave the country. To extend a non 'o' retirement visa for another year (the best as no med insurance currently req'd) then no need to leave the country. You MUST get a letter from immigration giving permission to exit and come back if you choose to go. Failure to do so will cancel your current visa on exit and you must re apply from the start again. I do not understand why muranp feels leaving the country is a feature of visa renewal.

The cost of a SB coffee vs min wage prompts this question about pay etc. in Thailand. Up here in rural Isaan there are lots of numbers thrown out ranging from say, 300 baht/day for casual labor, to 10,000 baht/month for 7-11 staff. How much do staff at banks or municipal positions earn? I have heard that payments (bribes) to higher management are required to secure better paying jobs with police, banks, government etc.. Are all jobs of the 6 day/week variety? How much to workers earn on the big highway projects that we see everywhere these days? How much do the uniformed factory workers seen in their hundreds entering various places of employment earn? What should a person pay for casual labor only help in the garden (no tools or equipment supplied)? 'Pay me what you think it is worth' comment soon comes apart if less than the imagined amount is offered. Is there a legal or guideline minimum wage in Thailand? What difference does a diploma make? Or extra abilities such as multiple languages skills, for example. (I understand a little bit about nursing having just put my niece through the process in Nakhon Ratchasima; but apparently even they must 'pay thousands' for their diploma celebration). There are plenty of big Mercedes and Beamers around even up here so some people are big earners even if the root cleaners on the hwys are not. I tip delivery persons 20 baht (~50 cents euro) which is not much but it is almost 1/2 the hourly wage at 300 baht/day. Also, if everyone gave 20 baht the delivery persons might wind up with a living wage. Anybody know what a Kerry person gets per delivery btw? Retail prices online vs shops are also confusing as they relate to pay. 'Mc denim shorts' are for sale online for <300 baht but in the shop there are seemingly identical items on sale for 1500 baht. It would take nearly 4 days earnings for a low paid worker to acquire these shorts from the shop. A 50% discount offered on Crocks costing ~2000 baht (not 200 baht online) is not much of a good deal from where I sit. Who are these young Thais shopping in the big centers and what work do they do to afford the high prices? I have asked these same questions for a long time and the variety of replies equals the number of times this question has been posed. Thanks for any comments.🙏🏼

What coffee costs more than what minimum wage please? Is there an hourly, weekly, monthly minimum wage covering all types of employment here in Thailand? Is it that the basic coffees offered are costly or is it the sugar drinks and sugar cakes/buns? Thanks🙏🏼

Looks good, thank you. How much better are the products selling for 5 or 600 baht/gram? .5G fits nicely into my 2 toke bong therefore 300 baht per inhale or 2 seems a bit pricy to me. Thanks v much for the info. I will give them a try.🙏🏼

Good morning, Up here in rural Isaan we have few (zero) weed shops near me. I visited a number of weed shops whilst on holiday in Krabi recently, however, and found 'local weed' for sale at much less than the unaffordable (for me) prices for the different special bud strains. I found some ok (local) weed at 50b/g which is ok but I see that BMT has recommended a shop selling actual buds for much less (@ca08-thankyou BMT.) (That shop has sadly sold out of the strains that are attractive to me). Any more suggestions please? Thank you very much.🙏🏼 BTW- I too have tried growing this plant and it is much harder than it seems.

Thank you BMT. Is it 'godfather' in the pic @ 20b Please? Is this available on line and if so, what is the site address please? Thankyou🙏🏼

Thank you for all the comments. I had not thought about relocating to another country. It would take some unknown incentive, however, to relaunch a 'right to be there visa' along with relearning all the other things that make a country special. I have the right to live in 3 countries; Canada, UK and France and have a legal relationship with all 3. That is bank, pension, health care and other stuff that took some effort to establish a link with them to my being a resident here. I am also on the verge of speaking Thai badly with improvements on the horizon. My local health care has helped with skin cancer, cataracts and other less serious issues. It is hard enough to think about even leaving an area that I have come to know during the past 7 years or so without adding a new country to the equation. I have wasted about 8 years with a woman who is a dedicated narcissist, who lacks imagination and who is also lazy. A good day is a day without anger. That is not enough for me. I do not have many more 8 year efforts in me these days. To be clear; if I could meet an honest woman who (whom?) I could trust my questions would be reduced to only a few. I would happily get stuck in to renovating her home or building a new one for us to live in until I die. I am a healthy 75 and my parents lived into their 90's so it could be for a while. Anybody with a wonderful wife who has an unattached sister? (only 1/2 joking) Preferably with interests of some sort other that knitting all day, every day. Thanks again. I will read all your suggestions in more detail again and would welcome more ideas with thanks🙏🏼🟡🔵.

Continued from earlier moving and storage post: I must leave the comfortable home that I have been creating for about 8 years. I am 75 and (apparently) in possession of all my faculties, as they say. I am left with a big question about where to next? I had live on Koh Phangan for a few years and it could be ok to go back again but I am exploring other options. I have a bit of money (not 10s of millions) but it may be better to rent as I cannot buy land etc. and condo living does not appeal. I don't drink and do not spend much time with people who do, (no offence indented, I have moved on from decades of addiction and prefer sober now). I am/was a carpenter/contractor who enjoys building and working with people. I would be happy if I could volunteer to help people learn new skills or help teaching English in a good, legal environment. (I speak some Thai and it is improving daily.) Any Ideas of where I could focus my attention for a potential new home please? Or ideas about organizations who might welcome help from a person such as myself? (I did do some volunteer work in Nepal for a charity (Doug Scott: Community Action Nepal) who provide schools and health care in remote areas of that country; it went well.) If there was such an organization here I could relocate to an area needing help with their efforts. Not particularly a charity like the one in Nepal, just any legitimate group who are engaged helping people get ahead in life. Any ideas please? Places and/or organizations? Thanks in advance for your comments🙏🏼🟡🔵

Thanks One More.... That is not what I had in mind. Think of the air pollution, if nothing else!🙏🏼

Dear Morch, My idea too! Thank you. My home is typical concrete slab, columns with siporex (Diamond) block walls. Removing my stuff could include electric consumer units (trimming the conduit above and below the panel with an angle grinder) removing doors and windows and filling pool pipes and well (pump dth) with cement. Excuse me; getting a bit carried away there... The value of what I would take away is peanuts compared to the cost of land, house, services, well etc. etc. but it would make me feel better. Much, much better... even if the stuff rots in a garage. I built the house and paid for it and the contents b4 we married and the pre-nup states specifically that she has zero claim to anything pre marriage. I could bulldoze the buildings but that is not on the cards (for now). Thanks again. 🙏🏼💛💙

Thank you for your comments. I will follow up on the Google (Brave) search thanks. My home is in north Buriram province and is pretty rural. I have been with my wife for about 8 years married for 1. I thought I was doing the 'right thing'. I am 75 with a clear mind(?555); aside from occasional accusations about fictitious GFs etc., I am treated like an elderly person who needs to be 'looked after'. (I have been active all my life and still am) That 'need' will inevitably wind up being true if I let them. I cannot take the house but I can take my tools, equipment, gym stuff, stereo and even the pool pump. The idea of a new boyfriend moving in to enjoy what I have built and comfortably furnished (simple; not western style) makes me unhappy. Even if I just give it away in the end; it will be better than handing over all my personal possessions to a person who has caused me so much grief. Destroying all that stuff goes against the grain esp. when there are so many needy people around. Thanks again for your comments.🙏🏼💛💙

Sorry for the fatality but it is impossible not to know that it is harvest time in Isaan when in Isaan. The practice of drying rice on paved roads may not be centuries old (60 years ago the track to the family fields was a dirt footpath) but road drying is a valuable asset. More warning than a branch in front of the pile would improve safety and many would welcome a traffic cone or some other bright object used there.🙏🏼💛💙