Tofer

3 hours ago, Ace of Pop said:

6 or 7in a. Yarris ?.


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They arrived in 2 cars, so left in 3!

Me thinks you worry too much! Chai yen yen....

Build a panic room in your home if you're so concerned. And don't watch the movie 'Panic Room' if you want to sleep nights..... 

I was broken into so many times on my building site in UK I would have charged them rent if I'd caught them. Never had a thing go missing on our building site in Thailand or the homes we've lived in, including a bamboo shack that could be entered with a Stanley knife! 

2 hours ago, maxcorrigan said:

I seem to remember a while back some people took this problem of unfair pension to the ECHR, blair (the scrote) in turn, took a delegation to Brussels to block it and won, maybe someone can remember this, and come up with more details!

I am not yet drawing my UK pension, so it does not altogether bother me right now. However I totally agree it is an unfair arrangement and where you live should not be a consideration, if you've paid into the NI system for the required qualifying years why are expats treated any different to UK residents.

UK residents pay no tax on a basic government pension and no further NI contributions, yet they avail themselves of all the free social and health services, which expats generally do not. So what is the logic / reasoning behind freezing pensions for expats living in certain countries? I would be grateful to hear an explanation.

As I understand it if the complainants were to launch an online government petition and raise 100,000 supporting signatures there's has to be a hearing in parliament, and presumably a vote.

Forget about the front facing dashcam, I would not be without my reversing camera for any money.

Years ago a knocked a child (2-3 years old) of his tricycle whilst reversing out of a space in a public car park, that he had decided to treat as his personal playground, some 100m from his home accessed down a public road. Thankfully it was the bumper that caught him and not the wheels.

His parents were on the scene in seconds, although it appeared they couldn't have cared less where he'd got to earlier. I took them all to hospital to get the child checked over, and along the way, with my limited Thai, understood the Mother to be saying "there's money to be had here", whilst her husband was saying "never mind farang is doing the right thing taking us to hospital". The doctors confirmed it was a minor bump and a bit of shock, nothing to worry about, I paid the bill and drove them home.

On our return to their home there was a family linch mob holding their hands out for compensation. I refused and told them to call the police if they were not satisfied. Police arrived, followed me home to get my wife to assist, carrying the distressed child and his parents in the back of their pick up on a hot day, very concerned parents...

Negotiations ensued at my home as my wife convinced me if we got to the police station the cost would escalate, settlement B10,000, at which point the Mother said "if baby gets sick we come back for more from farang"... To their credit the police told her no way, this was the full and final settlement, and not to go near us again.

Forget justice in this country, it will never happen!!

I just got through not even half the posts and it occurred to me that, presumably someone in the Thai government is monitoring TV for feed back of farang opinion, yet nothing ever changes

A vast majority of farang living in Thailand are of independent means and a considerable number of those contribute considerably financially to this society and it's citizens wellbeing. Yet this still seems to count for nothing.....

One of the Philippines biggest foreign currency earners is their citizens repatriation of overseas earnings which in my experience is a fraction of what farang bring into this country per capita.

Plate should have been 666 for this red devil. What a s..t for brains.

My wife saw some cute looking bubble styled Tuk Tuks on you tube, supposedly made in Kanchanaburi. Does anybody know of these and who makes them?

Sorry for hijacking the thread somewhat.

3 hours ago, thaiowl said:

Notice that these girls have the ubiquitous "branding" where their lower leg has touched the exhaust pipe of the motor cycle.

Maybe they grip the bike like a horse rider grips the horse..., but with legs dangling out of the stirrups, sorry stands. Think about those muscles! 

If you're happy with second hand, I can recommend the Pajero Sport. Ours is a 2015 model (last of the old style - I personally don't like the new styling). Drive and comfort are great, servicing in our Krabi branch and a branch in Bangkok are superb. I had problems also with the GPS, but Mitsubishi changed it 3 times under warranty without quibble, now it seems ok, fingers crossed... Same comment with luggage space if you load 7 people, but with the back row flat there's lots of space.

9 hours ago, JAS21 said:

And if petite a cushion may help ...

And if tall you can cut a hole in the roof for your head...., unless you like driving with your eyes at dashboard level.....

Thanks all for your input. Being of a certain generation, Google and YouTube don't automatically spring to mind, but now I've had a look I'm inundated with ideas!

All I need now is somebody to make a decision for me, 555....

13 hours ago, stephen mills said:

Here's a pic of the one I built in Koh Lanta at my bar

Hi Steve, seen it, thanks. Don't operate it yourself though!!

1 hour ago, jeab1980 said:

If you listen to women in general about anything you will never finish 

Chauvinist p...k. 

I'm sorry for your impediment, perhaps you should get out more and socialise with  women with something between their ears not just their legs.

31 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

What a load of horse manure you talk. 

1. He cant own the land.

2. Building permit? Depends where you build. 

3. Buying a ready built you have no idea of what construction material is in it here and wethere footings are correctly dug.

4. Far cheaper to be on site and build your own house.

5. You need to be on site to tell the builders how you want it and to source materials a dam site cheaper than the builders would. 

6. Nothing to think long and hard about. Do the homework do the maths. Hold the budget.  Project manage thevend resultbis always better than a ready built gated crap property.

IMHO OF COURSE. Other opinions are available. 

Second thoughts,

1. If you read the OP he's building with his wife, whom I presume is Thai, and can own land.

2. Khon Kaen, and yes maybe it does depend exactly where - doesn't mean they don't have to check it out. I didn't tell him he had to have one, I asked if he had one - there is a difference, read it properly!!

3. So you've never lived in a ready built house / apartment. BS. All one needs is a modicum of common sense, a brain and a pair of eyes to see what's in front of them. If they are not clever enough to judge the quality of a ready built they are not clever enough to know if what's been built before their eyes is adequate. Unless of course they are qualified structural engineers, architects, roofers, joiners, plumbers and electricians. I've seen many properties that are quite frankly unsalable because of poor design, bad locations and amateur construction. I presume then you never expect to be able to sell your house, as nobody would be so stupid as to buy a ready built house?

4.Not necessarily, I've seen properties offered at less than cost in distressed sales.

5. You think you can buy materials cheaper than a Thai builder, in your dreams!

6. Who said it had to be a 'gated crap property'.

Nothing humble about your opinion, that's for sure.

16 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

What a load of horse manure you talk. 

1. He cant own the land.

2. Building permit? Depends where you build. 

3. Buying a ready built you have no idea of what construction material is in it here and wethere footings are correctly dug.

4. Far cheaper to be on site and build your own house.

5. You need to be on site to tell the builders how you want it and to source materials a dam site cheaper than the builders would. 

6. Nothing to think long and hard about. Do the homework do the maths. Hold the budget.  Project manage thevend resultbis always better than a ready built gated crap property.

IMHO OF COURSE. Other opinions are available. 

I'll forgive the insult this time. So late you've probably had too much 'sauce' already to think or type straight.... Quite frankly I can't be bothered to respond to such blinkered drivel.

48 minutes ago, spiderorchid said:

Murder is murder whether state sanctioned or criminal caused.

There are some miscreants and deranged persons but all evidence

suggests that murdering your citizens does not cause a fall in crime

or murder by these "citizens".

Instead, some become martyrs, some are falsely accused, some are dissidents.

Some are the result of state and federal corruption.

Some are from police thuggery.

Either way murder is murder.

You demean democracy when the state becomes a murderer.

Rubbish! Murder is a premeditated criminal act. The death sentence is a legally sanctioned punishment. You reap what you sow!

13 hours ago, fruitman said:

I would go to Makro and buy a grill there, i've seen great ones with the burners at the sides so all drippings fall on the bottom, not on the burners.

They are stainless steel so can always be cleaned.

 

For me the best grill can adjust the flames very well (or the height of the racks or both) and are easy to clean. Electric ignition is also a plus.

 

 

Thanks, I'll have a look and consider that option.

22 hours ago, sirineou said:

Not bad advise ,

unfortunately for me I am not in Thailand right now.

I was Planing to come to Thailand this Fall  and start after the rainy season, but conditions at work have changed , so I told the wife . "why don't we go now and get the ball rolling with building"  

"No can do" , she say, monks must bless the start or bad things will happen to you!

No way I can get there before the 9th and I certainly don't want bad things to happen to me.

 

 

If there's no rush - don't rush! Use the interim period to think carefully about what you really want.

You don't say if you already own the land and if you have the building permit in place. I presume you do if you were thinking of starting imminently. If not, have you considered buying a ready built house, a lot less hassle and you can see what you're getting. Also a lot of heavily discounted property for sale around the country.

As noted in other posts, a lot of hassle and you need to be on site daily if you're going to build your own. You need a lot of patience and a leathery tongue that doesn't suffer the teeth marks from frequent biting.....

I asked another foreigner in HomeMart - are you having fun?, he let rip a tirade of frustrated rantings. At least we had a good laugh about it to lighten the mood.

Think hard and long!

12 hours ago, r136dg said:

 

That's what we did also. 1 footing pad with the rebar sticking up for colunm. Hung some items on the rebar & local customs were satisfied. Don't think the gods were though cause damn near the whole project's been a PITA.

Here here to that.... To be fair most building projects are a PITA, stressful and require far too many decisions to be made for my liking. Thailand is no different to anywhere else except a bit less sophisticated. 

I should have known better as I made a career out of construction, and know first hand it's never plain sailing.

17 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why did YOU jump in the hole? YOU can't own the land, ergo you can't own the house ( even if you paid for it ), so it should be the owner, ie HER that is climbing in and out of holes in the ground.

I don't think it's related to ownership so much as residency. She was in there with me though, she's not shy about getting stuck in.

I even carried his blessed cotton roll around while he linked all 3 posts together with it and his holy water. I understand it's just as much a blessing of us as residents as it is the building, particularly as we were required to squat and wi whilst he showered us with holy water.

Actually, unless the law has changed, I was under the impression that farang could own any appendage on the land which, as you quite rightly point out, cannot be owned. Purely a point of interest if anyone has up to date info.

However it makes no odds to me as it's our money, not mine, earned by both of us together since we got married from our earlier business in Thailand and our property portfolio in UK. Wills and usufructs will take care of us both in the event of divorce, and to some degree in case of death.

Just go with the flow, get a hole dug and stick the rebar in, you've still got 7 days left. When in Rome... and all that....

Following 3 x 40km round trips to town to buy all the necessary charms etc our auspicious day arrived.

Stupidly I got all dressed up as I was collecting the Monk and thinking a non believing farang would be excluded from ceremonies. However, I was required to partake by jumping down into 3 b.....y deep holes on top of a load of rebar to stick 9 bits of special wood in each pit.

I ruined a good pair of my favourite scholl  shoes into the bargain - not well pleased as they'd been discontinued and I couldn't replace them. So be warned.

I think the Monk was secretly having a darned good laugh watching farang scramble in and out of these holes, sweating profusely and getting all mucked up in his finery......

We live and learn!

On 1 July 2017 at 8:39 AM, tartempion said:

Had the forms translated, if I can trust that it says "adopted"

And obtained a passport showing the document.

 

 

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Congratulations on your successful adoption.

My wife adopted her nephew after his Grandmother died, both parents already deceased, so she could bring him back to England as she is a naturalised Brit. It took about 2 months, followed by only one week to get a visa from the UK embassy without any interviews, amazing. We then immediately applied and got him naturalisation and a Brit passport in UK.

The UK adoption agency stated it would take us about 3 years and cost £7,000 through them, so I packed her off on a plane and told her to do it in her name in Thailand. Best decision ever.

I couldn't say what documents she got in Thailand, but you appear to have sorted that unknown already, well done.

13 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Depends on what sort of bbq you are planning. Just grilling stuff for you own table or small parties or smoking and other slow-cooking methods.There's a wealth of designs and ideas on the internet. Pretty much no problem with chicken and pork here in LOS but getting decent beef may be a challenge depending on where you are.

Thanks for your reply, I'll have a search on the Internet.

It would only be for grilling stuff for our table and parties at home, just your regular home barbecue, nothing special or commercial involved. 

Is there a child seat made to fit the drivers seat? From what I've seen kids are now driving cars not just motorbikes!

I thought also that the majority of deaths on the road were motorcyclists, surely that should be the priority to remove kids from the one arm dangle or bamboo seat wedged in front. I've even seen a child (3-4 years old) sitting on the petroleum tank of his parents trendy road bike. Not to mention those that actually drive the motorbike as young as about 8-9....

That old argument about what the locals can afford doesn't wash. When I was a kid we didn't have a car, we caught buses!

I'm looking for practical suggestions and designs for a built in barbecue for our outdoor wet kitchen area and wondered if any of you had built anything similar and could give some good advice of how best to build it. It will be built into a low walled area with the usual Thai style concrete worktop and I assume a charcoal pit with a griddle over and an ashtray on a lower shelf would suffice.

I'm sure  some of you Aussie contributors have loads of experience in this field. We never had that much call for them in UK to justify building one in situ. Thanks in anticipation.