milesm

Normally bank of ayudhaya and post office but western union is very expensive compared to other payment options

rono

hi rono,

would you care to elaborate on those other payment options? thanks.

milesm

perhaps you can take something from a Dan Fogelberg song entitled, "Next Time"

One too many days I've felt forgotten

And one too many nights I've slept alone

And every time I watch the fruit turn rotten

I tell myself I'll try a little harder next time

Whoa oh, next time

Sacred are the ties that love entrusts us

Even if they fray before they bind

And I'm afraid I never did you justice (should be in your case, "and i'm afraid you never did me justice")

So I'm going to feel my love a little stronger

Make it last a little longer next time

next time

Well next time I ain't gonna fall on my knees

And come out of love empty-handed

But next time I'll be even harder to please

Oh when will the next time be

When will the next time be

Well next time I ain't gonna fall on my knees for nobody

And come out of love empty-handed

But next time I'll be even harder to please

Oh when will the next time be

When will the next time be

One too many days I've felt forgotten by you

And one too many nights I've slept alone

And every time I watch the fruit turn rotten

I tell myself I'll try a little harder

Play my cards a little smarter next time

Oh next time

macb, i hope all works out for you and your daughter.

i agree--it's double-pricing at its best. i'm pretty sure thais pay less than 100 baht; i paid 500 a couple of years ago.

Some interesting stuff here. Thanks.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Mobi

your pond is getting too much direct sunlight. perhaps you could put a filtering screen (50%+ blockage) over parts of your pond.

water lettuce and water hyacinth will provide shade and food, as well as take up excess nutrients in the water, as an earlier post suggested.

good luck.

I operate small resort in Andaman sea and looking for English speaking Thai staff.. Unfortunately local Thai girls not willing to work hard, lazy, cannot speak any language except Thai.

If members who live in Isaan can be good Christian and give some local girls who want to earn money , better opportunity to work than bar or massage girls. For my personal experience all hard working girls in Thailand are from Isaan.

We need English speaking, nice looking girls to work as guide for fishing, snorkeling trips and also for restaurant, reception and accounting. Salary + bonus 15000 Baht and up.

If some members with Thai wife also willing to work in resort you can also contact me.

I will gladly send you my wife she speaks very good english, and is very hard working....so hard that she sets the alarm to wake her up at 3am, so she can bit%# some at me

I will even pay for her ticket and give another 10.000baht, for every month you keep her down there.....

May god save you

PS you dont need to feed her, losing 25 kilos will only do her good.

Tilapia.

She is nice? If yes - can keep, no problem - as long as you wish. Good for you in the island telephone not work.. She cannot call you... No supermarkets... She will keep all earned money. We also give food - pleanty of fish, shell and crabs and she will live in resort campus with other girls..

this reply is not surprising coming from a guy who thinks isaan (or any thai) women want to work in the sun...

thanks for the link. the isaan landscape is so beautiful when the rice fields are that electric green. can't wait to get back, an agonizing 3 - 4 months to go

Hear, hear - I love that green !! (You won't have it in 3-4 months though , it's dusty brown time then)

dang!

i've been there every month except feb - april, sept. can't remember when it was green.

Yeah that is a great video.It just seemed a bit strange for the choose of music seeing that it looks like the maker went to his girlfriends village for her.Any way here is another Issan Video,interesting but not as good.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5...issan&hl=en

thanks for the link. the isaan landscape is so beautiful when the rice fields are that electric green. can't wait to get back, an agonizing 3 - 4 months to go

magicman,

the new airport is several km from impact arena.

~ 60 Km

or around 300 bt (plus tolls) taxi ride from the airport to mtt and impact arena

magicman,

the new airport is several km from impact arena. don muang is no longer in operation. good luck.

i've been to a festival in chaiyaphum in january. it is to celebrate the founder of the city. don't remember too much dancing, but im sure it's part of it. they have elephant parades, food booths, general merchanise, and the ubiquitous LOUD and ANNOYING hawkers.

as a cautionary note, there are a few osama bin laden sympathizers, merchants selling tshirts with his picture on it (and not with a bullseye superimposed on his face, like the kind you see in bkk). i was taken aback.

my wife's family all think im good looking enough to be a model or movie star--that's what they told her when i first met them. unfortunately, my wife doesn't share the same opinion. "you too old"

we've been flying china air for the past few years, primarily because the connect times through taipei are the shortest. i've flown united and had to wait 5 hours in tokyo for my connecting flight to/from bkk. it also gets in to bkk in the afternoon, none of that 1:00am stuff.

the food quality has gone downhill, particularly in coach, but we usually upgrade to business.

Have you got any favorite products? What do you like from the Northeast? Is there a food which you absolutely love? Maybe you know of something good that the rest of us don't know about.

For me there's one thing which I like that I don't have that often. It's called mum. It's a sausage that comes from Issan which is especially popular in the Chaiyaphum - Khon Kaen Area. They also have it in Korat to I guess. It's different from the average Isaan sausage. It's made from beef and tastes a bit sour. I believe theyt also make it with pork too. Has anyone ever had it? It's hard to find outside of Isaan because not that many people from other provinces take to it. As it's usually made from beef I would guess that a lot of Thais won't eat it.

i have eaten a sausage that was made out of pork and rice, also in chaiyaphum; don't know what it is called. it was grilled and quite tasty.

i like the isaan trinity: gai yang, som tom lao, and khao nieow.

my wife also likes to give back to her village when we visit. last visit, we sponsored a lunch for a school serving some of the less fortunate children. we also gave them packets of school supplies, like pens, pencils, erasers, and rulers. can't remember the exact cost, but like ray said, seeing the gratefulness and appreciation on the faces of these very courteous students was priceless.

First off I would like to thank everyone for the advice and genuine concern for my family situation.

I've never gotten so many responses from a thread that I started.

Secondly, my mom's tests came back negative, she does not have cancer. The lump inside is not cancerous, but must be removed nonetheless. She is going to have the sergury done in the States and should be back at work soon after it's done. A breast cancer foundation is going to help her with the costs as well. Good news all around. Cheers, Mbk

good news. many a time the lump is non-cancerous, but should never be discounted. women 40 and over should be getting mammograms at least once every 1 - 2 years--early detection is key to survival: 5-year survival rate is virtually 100% if diagnosed in situ. your mom may be able to qualify for free or low cost mammograms.

standard care for breast ca in thailand is some form of mastectomy, followed up with radiation and/or chemotherapy. survival rates relate to stage of diagnosis, other things being equal.

while breast cancer is not as common in thailand, relative to the us, it is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in bkk. cervical, lung, and liver cancers are more common in the other regions of thailand. fortunately, the thai government makes pap testing and mammography very cheap, if not entirely free...unfortunately, most of these services go largely underutilized--"why should i go to the doctor if nothing is wrong" is all too often said by women, particularly those upcountry. when something IS wrong, it IS too late.

milesm

The traffic before and after the Exhibition about the life of His Majesty the King at Impact Challenger has been horrendous all week. Possibly the worst I've ever seen ANYWHERE in Thailand in all my time here.

This weekend it is expected to be even worse so avoid the Muang Tong Thani area as well as Laksi and Chaeng Wattana like the plague if you can.

as i sit here in my mtt apt, the traffic is horrendous and has been all day. its like one long, parking lot on the toll highway and surface streets. stay away.

ricklev,

you might want to consider getting those plastic/vinyl ones with reflective coating on one side. as to where to get them, i would imagine any store selling curtains would have them. here in muang thong thani there isa woman who makes custom curtains and she uses those exclusively. they are long lasting and durable.

Im looking for some INEXPENSIVE curtains for my rented townhome. Any ideas where i may buy some? I have tried MBK already but they were more expensive than i am willing to spend.

Thanks.

Yes, MBK is a total ripoff for curtains. Go where the Thai's go, Big C. Premade curtains of various sizes and types, under 1000 baht per window (yes, that's per window, not per square foot of material like MBK).

where in town do you live? if you're anywhere near Muang Thong Thani, there is woman who works out of her home. 1000B, including liner, per 10' window.

oh no, im headed there early june. dang mozzies love me too mutt.

hi,

i will be in Thailand later this month.

is it safe to eat chicken? i really love gai-yang, the grilled isaan chicken. it is cooked at high enough temperatures and for a sufficient duration to kill off the avian flu virus? what about eating eggs?

thanks.

Prefer something with more than three floors, as I have sweet blood for mosquitoes... have motorcycle so no need for central location if cheaper outside the city

hi greg,

i stayed at the pin hotel and the tip chang. both are 4 floors, i believe. both are about 600 bt a night, including breakfast. the tip chang is in the city proper, pin just a litte outside. the tip chang has a nightclub, open till 1am, so if you're a light sleeper like me, request a room on the opposite side of the club. i prefer the tip chang, rooms seemed less gloomy than the pin. hope this helps.

ps. 4 floors may not be high enough. we get them in our 16th floor apt in muang tong thani.

I'm on the verge of taking up residence in Muang Thong Thani and haven't really had the time to explore the vicinity as yet.

On first impressions there seems to be little around here which suits me during the week but I like a night out every now and again to break the monotony.

Has anyone lived around here before or better still still live around here?

What are the highlights or the area as regards to boozers, restaurants etc?

Cheers

Doc Fart,

i live part time in MTT, in the "popular" condo's (the ones with colored alphanumeric signs). there are one bedroom (not a 1 bd rm in the western sense; just a separtate sleeping area, separated from the living area by a drawn partition). studios are rather small, but average for Thai.

i'd have to say, though, that the condition of our building (at least) has deteriorated rather badly--elevator service has been cut in half, the paint in the hallways has been marred by scuff marks, hallways dark and kind of spooky, security guards becoming more lax.

there are food stalls in each of the buildings, as well as a large food court. seems like more and more little shops are opening up around the food court area.

in terms of transportation, there is a van that you can take to victory monument, where you can get on the sky train if you need to get to town. big c, makro, lotut are nearby. good hospital, as mentioned by another poster.

i see a couple of farang here and there, but it's mainly Thai. english is not spoken here, although one can get the Post and Nation.

don't know much about the surrounding area. didn't know there was a farang ghetto nearby.

all in all, i like living there. will be going back later this year.