Guts

Keep me in the loop on this one.

I've been member of a CMAS club for 10+ years and was always good fun.

My suggestion would be, start up a Thailand Diving Group/Club (with a provincial representative if that is easier).

Create a Facebook Group or Meetup.com group where people can post what they are up to and/or event page where people can sign-up.

Do a little survey what everyone wants out of this group and the best days/times for dives. Then post first event and go diving or just meetup ;-)

I have no time to be in the organizational part right now, but PM me if you need assistance.

Does anyone know when you finally have this permanent residence status, that you are required to stay a minimum amount of days within Thailand in a calendar year or you lose it again? This is maybe an odd question, since you want to have this status to stay here, but I see myself going abroad again for longer than a year and coming back to Thailand. It would be worthless if you lose it again just because of "overstaying abroad".

Just out of curiosity:

If you haven't paid rent while still under contract, don't you breach the contract anyway?

And has the landlord therefore the right to keep the deposit?

Just got off the phone with True.

2 different subscriptions. One that drops speed after 3Gig and one after 5Gig.

As I understand it they also offer free Wifi at True Hotspots.

Should I take that into consideration? Are there many of those Wifi points?

(I guess AIS offers that too. Which one has better wifi-spots?)

Skippy,

Your are using AIS at 21 MB/s and True H at 6-7 MB/s?

Sounds like a big difference in speed?

I would like to start out with just one provider first.

Which you recommend?

Thai baby or foreign baby?

Thai citizen get free hospital treatment, and it's not bad at all.

Thai baby.

The free hospital treatment is highly dependent on which hospital you

are allowed to use free. If I am not mistaken that is only in the area

where your kid is registered in the actual Tabien Baan. If you are elsewhere

you still would have to pay (or this is what I understood).

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Hi everybody,

My baby got a bacterial infection and landed in the hospital a couple of times now.

I think it is time for me to look for an insurance.

I am looking for a local insurance company. Who has experience with those local insurance,

and what do you recommend checking? (I am located in Bangkok).

I am not looking for brokers asking me to fill in their quote form. I am looking for parents

that have good experiences with local insurance and can recommend them.

If it is not allowed to post contact info on the forum, please PM me.

Thanks a ton!

Hi everybody,

I am looking for an USB Aircard to get Internet in Bangkok and preferably also one that works in Pattaya (Jomtien).

Main thing is to communication by Skype and web browsing.

Which provider would you suggest and why? True, AIS, DTAC?

Any recommendations on the Aircard itself are welcome too and the best place to buy this.

Thank you.

Any advice on which 3G service I should go with?

I am at Jomtien and the internet is of very low quality.

Preferably I would be interested in buying a service (3G True | AIS | DTAC)

that works also best in Bangkok.

What would be the best option? and where to purchase this in Pattaya?

Thanks

Any advice on which Air-card to buy? or Which service?

I am at Jomtien and the internet is of very low quality.

Preferably I would be interested in buying a service (3G True | AIS | DTAC)

that works also best in Bangkok.

What would be the best option? and where to purchase this in Pattaya?

Thanks

I was looking for the same thing and could not find one.

I connected 2 chairs on top each other with a wooden top.

Works fine ;-)

If you want to avoid the possibility of a repeat of this incident, here's a

Are there Yubikeys for sale in Bangkok?

And if so, do you have to watch out from who you buy those? i.e. a copied version that could compromise security instead...

Guts

What about a Jeep Cherokee?

I see many second hand Jeeps here.

A friend in Europe bought one and he is raving about it.

Any thoughts?

Guts

I am interested in this too.

I am not Cave certified, but have Technical and wreck diving experience.

Go for the better education for your children! You can always return back to Thailand later.

Having a permanent residency for Singapore sounds good too.

A while ago I had lunch at Da Mattia Italian Restaurant. Nice Italian restaurant in the center of Chiang Mai.

According to the owner/chef there are many Italian restaurants around in Chiang Mai, but there are not many offering Italian food in the real traditional Italian way/taste. While this does not really concerns me, lol. (if it tastes good, it is fine to me), it might be interesting for others looking for the real traditional taste?

Do you have tips how you can protect yourself without violating the law and without making the situation more dangerous?

Where can I buy these things?

Getting away safely out of the situation would be a priority, but maybe you will be not that fortunate to do that one day....

Learn some self-defence techniques and practice the moves regularly. I bet there are classes for this in Thailand.

You also might want to search on "Yawara Stick" and "Yawara Stick Techniques". Almost any small rod shaped object can be used as a yawara stick and is legal to carry.

Keys can also be used in self-defense. For example, if you have three keys on your key chain, make a fist and put the keys in between the fingers so the points stick out.

Use weapons only when there is no safe way to escape.

Be safe!

- Guts

By me allowing her to put her name in the house book tabian barn haveI left myself open?

If she is not a director of the company who legally owns the house, then you can get her out of the Tabien Baan. Have a "meeting" with the directors and go to the Amphur to have her signed out of the Tabien Baan. Best is to consult your Accountant I guess. Maybe you have to explain a reason, but mistrust and misconduct should be enough.

I think it is not a good idea to rent it out to a friend. Let it settle first and assess the situation well. A situation like this could easily go ape-shit and end up in a drive-by shooting, especially if your girl has bad connections or some overheated family members.

Sad to read all the unsuccessful stories of farang living in LOS. Having that said, there are many successful farang with Thai partners having a good life, living in nice houses and also farang couples living the good life in LOS and living in their dream houses which in my opinion is legally sorted out well and nothing much to worry about.

If you feel that Thailand is a nice destination for living, do not let all the negative stories put you off. Do good research though. Living in Thailand (or in any foreign country) is not for everyone.

I still think Thailand is a nice place to be.

And a Survinior Shop... lol.

I did not get the 'On Line' thing here

I am interested in buying a house in an estate in Chiang Mai, and was wanting some suggestions of the better moo bahns around.

Not concerned with which part of Chiang Mai, just the best quality houses in nice settings.

moneyshot,

Koolpunt 10 in San Kamphaeng has good homes. Atmosphere is nice too.

Home In Park is also worth a look.

Sivalai 3 is good value for the money, but I personally would not put it in the category of 'better quality homes'.

When you are inspecting projects, don't steer blind on what the developer tells you. Do talk with residents living there for awhile (6 months to a year). Knock on a few doors and ask their living experience and/or building experience.

If you buy or build a home in a project with lots of development going on, expect a lot of noise, dust, traffic, and labor annoyances, which could easily go on for another year or maybe two, especially if the project has various development phases, or is extending the project.

Building a home in Thailand is fun if you can control your building project, but it can also be a very stressful event. The language barrier can give more problems then you could ever think of. Put everything in writing, especially modifications, extra's, and detailed quality specifics. Double-check everything.

Research as much as you can, or hire a residential property assistant.

If you need more information or resources, leave me a message.

and the potential for huge water run off into my garden....

The project claim he can do what he wants upto the perimeter of his plot but I have been told by a lwyer that 2 metres is the limitation......

Any advice or similar situations and the procedure/outcome would be much appreciated.

He cannot just do what he wants. The construction has to be approved. Unfortunaltely that does not say much in LOS.

According to my lawyer, there is no 2 meter limitation, but in case of water run off into your garden, he needs to deal with that. Probably a gutter placement.

While there recently I walked over the bridge and noticed two plaques stating that the bridge was constructed by a Tokyo company.

Does anyone know the history of this and why Japan was decided upon to win this contract? and did they build it free of charge as some form of recompense for their activities during WW2?

The original metal bridge is a Dutch construction and was confiscated during the war at Madioen on Java, Indonesia, where it once spanned the Solo-River.

On 13th february 1945, 2 spans of this bridge were destroyed. The Japanese repaired the bridge using temporarily wooden supports, and finally the middle part was replaced with a construction made in Tokoyo. Cannot remember the date of this. Anyone?

Last week while diving Chumphon pinnacle two European divers were spear fishing, this is very dangerous while other divers are in the water, also I don't think is legal in Thailand.

I did not manage to see the boat they got on but there was only one other boat on the mooring line and to fishing boats a long way from the dive site.

If it is illegal then they should follow the rules. But if it is legal what is the problem? Skilled spearfisherman aren't that much dangerous and spearfishing is just great fun. Do non-spearfishing divers have more rights to be underwater then divers who like spearfishing nowadays?

Sorry I forgot; read this forum for as long as you possibly can. It is the quickest way of getting a good idea of what it is like living here and just in case you are wondering it's all pretty accurate!!

If I would be planning to move to Thailand, and read longer and longer on this forum, I would not want to live in Thailand, ha ha ha. Sure you can pick some information off this forum, but as somebody else mentioned "don't believe anything people tell you (or what you read here on this forum), find out for yourself."

It is your own experience what counts here. Start to live in Thailand for a year (2-3 months is really to short to settle in) and see if it is of your liking! Thailand is a really nice place for living, but it is not for everyone. There are many who cannot adapt to Thai Way of life. But if you can, and you have stuff to do which is matching your interests, a great parter to live with (who also enjoys living here), if you can live the lifestyle you want, and if you meet the immigration requirements, it is absolutely worth it!