MrDetUdom

Hi everyone.

I want to build a carport adjoining my existing house. I've google'd up a couple of builders, but they won't do anything so small scale.

Anyone know or can recommend a builder who can lay down a concrete slab and put a sheet metal carport on top?

Thanks. I'll organize my travel accordingly.

Anyone know what happens if I apply for a visa extension (I am on a spouse visa) and then leave the country temporarily and am still outside Thailand when the visa application is decided or when my current visa ends?

Hi guys. I have a car with an LPG conversion kit. I think it needs a simple fuel filter replacement (although it may turn out to be a bigger problem with the LPG system). I took it down to the Honda service center, but they said they cannot do LPG related parts. Anyone know any garages that can handle this? Can I go to any garage or are there only certain ones that can handle LPG? I don't even know what terms to search in google to find a place.

Thanks Michael for the info about pumping in from the street. As it turns out, they came and dug up the street today and fixed it all up. It seems like some debris got stuck in the mains pipe and they had to clear that out. So now we have water again. That was a lot quicker than I was expecting.

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

Oh..I thought your tanks were filling but a very slow rate

No. Our neighbors (land is lower than ours) have this. But we get nothing at all. The pressure is just that little bit too low.

But thinking about it now, maybe buying another pump will be the cheapest/easier route, as otherwise we are just totally screwed. I already smell like <deleted> after a day without showering. (I used a couple of those big 20L drinking water bottles to wash the kids, but not enough left to wash myself).

I suppose I could buy another water pump and connect it directly to the water meter and have the water pumped up onto our property from there. It seems like a big expense/a lot of work for something that will hopefully be fixed in a couple of weeks.

3 minutes ago, tonray said:

Don't you have a pump ?

Yes, but the pump inlet is connected to the outlet from the water tanks. We need the water to get into the tanks first.

When they came and looked, they pulled apart the meter and water comes out from there. But if you lift the hose from the meter outlet just another 10 cm, there is not enough pressure for water to come out. And the meter is lower than our entire property.

Hi guys.

I have a big problem. PWA has screwed up our water supply, and we have absolutely no water. We can buy bottled water for drinking, but that won't help with showers/flushing the toilet/washing clothes. We have a big water tank. Are there any services that will drive a big tanker of water to our house and fill up our water tank?

Actually, we have 2 water tanks, but one of them is blocked up. I guess it needs cleaning. Anyone know anyone I can pay to come and clean the tank so that we have 2 usable tanks?

As for the PWA, I got them out to look at the water. Turns out the water is coming to our house, but not enough pressure to get to even our lowest tap. While there, the neighbors came out and commented that there have been water pressure issues for weeks now, and PWA seems to have no idea how to fix it, so I guess this will probably drag on for another few weeks until they fix it.

Thanks again guys. Me and family went in and drove around, checked everything out. We went in to The River for a sales tour. It was absolutely not my style, but it did look like they were targeting up-market. There was a Lamborghini in the parking lot, and the sales told us it belonged to a guy who lived there and owned 2. At first I thought it was a BS sales stunt. I don't understand why someone who owns 2 Lamborghini's would be choosing this kind of place to live. However, I got in touch with the Ubon Homes guy, and we had a long chat, and it just seems like this is the kind of place that the Thais like. The fact that it is a gated community makes it seem more exclusive/desirable to them. The info I've heard about that area and the flood plains they reclaimed makes me doubt living there. I've seen how Thai construction companies love to cut corners. I don't see why it would be any different with the reclaimed land around the River.

Thanks too transam. We drove around the lake there, and were quite surprised. It was actually quite nice. I think I would be pretty happy living in that kind of area. There were loads of blocks for sale, as you said, but we probably don't want to go through the hassle of building a new house given that we're not sure how long we would stay. Its also a bit of a catch 22 situation - if the place we choose to live is nice then we will probably stay longer, but if we are not prepared to invest long-term then we won't get a nice place. Also, where is this tech space at Sunee? I've been to the Starbucks there, but had no idea there was a tech space so close.

Thanks for the info!

Michael, the area around Huai Muang lake is one of the places we have been looking. The River is also one that my wife likes. Good to get some info about cracking at Sirimongkol 6. Our house in Det Udom also got cracking because we were in a rush to get it finished and didn't let the foundation dirt sit for long enough. I guess they rushed the build of Sirimongkol 6. I think the River is still under construction, right? We heard that the floods didn't quite make it up to the River, maybe another 20cm of water and it would have flooded. But the flood water would have been great for getting the foundation dirt to settle.

For the office, it doesn't actually need it to be an office. I just can't work at home. Our youngest is 2 years old. It is impossible for a 2 year old to understand that daddy can't play with him because daddy has to work. The reason I would look for co-working space is because it is the cheapest and most effective office. In Bangkok, I'm paying 800baht per month which includes unlimited coffee. I could just rent a regular apartment, but a regular apartment doesn't usually have the right kind of layout for working. I mean, all I need is a room with a toilet and air con. No need for a shower or kitchen or bed. But the kinds of places like that in residential areas tend not to be good places for concentrating/getting work done. I really need a place that is quiet during the day. But if a regular apartment is the cheapest option, then that would be ok. My current arrangement (I work in Bangkok and commute back and forth between Ubon) is also quite expensive.

Thanks NiwPix. I hadn't seen that co-working space. I'll check it out. For the ubonhomes.com, I've seen it but it seems way lacking in terms of stock actually inside Ubon city. Almost everything they have is outside the ring road. I know most Thai's tend to sell/rent out properties just by sticking up a cardboard sign on the front of their houses, which makes it really difficult to look if you are not in the area. I'll have to get the wife and kids in the car, and we'll drive around. It's just difficult to do when you're dragging 2 small kids along who just want to go to the playground in Central.

Hi Everyone,

I was looking for a whole bunch of advice about Ubon Ratchathani city. Me and the family are currently out in the countryside part of Ubon, out past Det Udom towards the Laos border. When we moved the family out there, it was only going to be temporary, so I continued to run my business from Bangkok and fly back and forth. However, 2 years on and our temporary situation has become semi-permanent, and I'm sick of the travel and spending so much time away from wife and kids. So, we are thinking of moving to Ubon city. We've tried tracking down info, but have not had much luck, so onto the questions.

1. Serviced offices/shared offices/co-working/office space. I've tried looking and have never found anything like this. I did find a co-working space on the net, but it had gone out of business before I could get a chance to check it out. Do any of you guys/gals know of this kind of office space? My business is basically just freelance work, so I don't need or want some kind of huge office. Just a room with a desk/toilet/air conditioner. Which brings me to 2:

2. Where is the central business district? Is there any? I've spent a lot of time driving around and looking. There isn't really any part of town that looks like a business center. There is maybe that area stretching out south-west from where immigration is, but even there it just seems like loads of cafes/restaurants, not much business/offices. The few days I've come into town to get the car serviced, I've used the Starbucks in the Sunee Hotel. But that area all seems retail and not business.

3. Where is a nice residential area for family with small children? My wife likes the area around Central. There is a housing estate (Sirimongkol6) and a few others near there. Personally, I hate the idea of those cookie-cutter houses. But, as my wife points out, those estates usually have a playground and sometimes swimming pool, which are huge bonuses for the kids. What do you guys with small kids do? Are there any public facilities like that for small kids, or are we better off getting into a housing estate that has them?

Thanks in advance everyone

Thanks. So it looks like I'll have to go ahead and get a proper marriage visa before I can get a tax id number.

Hi. According to international tax treaties, etc. I am a Thai resident for tax purposes (because I live here and this is the only place where I have a residential address). However, I have no income in Thailand and do not even have a work permit for Thailand. But due to recent international tax stuff that the US has pushed through, my Hong Kong bank requires me to provide them with a tax identification number for Thailand. Does anyone know if such a thing even exists, and if so, how I can get one?

Thanks for details ChangMai Sausage. Our situation will be different as I am currently living in Thailand, so I guess we won't have to worry about home study in a foreign country.

nss70, if the Thai adoption is not recognized in my home country (Australia), then it would be semi-pointless. Step-child adoption in Australia needs the kid to be at least 5 years old, but he is only 2.5 at the moment. Plus, he is not an Australian citizen. (Although citizenship by adoption is possible, which requires the adoption first. So it's a chicken and egg problem).

For the haters, one of the major reasons for adoption is so we can all have the same last name. Currently, mum and first child have mum's last name, while me and second child have my last name. Any kind of air travel without both parents then requires us to carry around birth certificates and translations, and I cannot travel alone with just the first child because I am not legally connected to him despite the fact that I've been his father since he was 6 months old.

I know this is an old thread, but was wondering if you went through with the process? Was it ultimately worth the effort?