cjnst2

April 21, 2007

Ok. I live in Chiang Mai and was told not to drink the water from the pipes in my apartment. Bottled water is quite cheap here and I don't mind buying it but I was wondering of another option.

In my country we have this device known as a "Brita"...may be spelled wrong...that basically filters water. You fill the Brita up with water at the top and the filtered water comes to a rest at the bottom. Store it in your fridge and when you want a cold class of water you just pour yourself a glass.

Would this be enough to make the tap water in Thailand clean enough to drink? Just wondering because with all this heat I find myself running out to get more water all the time and and alternative might work better for me.

March 19, 2007

Ok. I've procrastinated on getting my airline tickets back to America. I've been all over the internet at all the main websites dealing with tickets(Kayak, cheaptickets.com, etc) and all of them have prices higher than expected.

I flew out here using EVA airways and they seem to have a special promotion going on right now that I'm considering but I'd like to know if any one knows of better options.

Facts:

I am in Chiang Mai right now. I'm have to get to Pittsburgh, PA.

I'll travel via plains, trains, and or automobiles....whatever is the most economical.

My travel dates are flexible within reason. I can leave between March 26 and April 2......and I'd like to return in late April sometime.

Right now my best option seems to be: Bangkok to Los Angeles for ~20,000...give or take 3,000 baht. EVA's website isn't very clear on the promotion. Then I'd get either another ticket from Los Angeles to Pittburgh round trip or a just go greyhound(bus) for about $230 round trip.

I'd like to know if anyone knows of a good travel agent or another way that can get me a better deal. Also realize I wouldn't mind going to New York via flight as it is closer to my home. I flew out here threw New York.

Basically I'm looking to get from where I'm at now(Chiang Mai) to Pittsburgh for ~$1000 to $1100US round trip. I'm a cheapskate when it comes to spending money on stuff like this. I hope it's possible.

February 28, 2007

I'm sure my answer may be in this forum somewhere but I thought I'd post anyway. Sorry.

I have a tourist visa that I'm looking to extend. I'm living in Chiang Mai and have stayed ~2months on this visa. To get it extended Do I just go to the nearest immigration office, pay 1900 baht and have it extended? Is this all? Is the process difficult? Meaning am I guaranteed an extension and/or should I goto the immigration office early because of big lines, etc? Thanks.

December 31, 2006

Ok. So I've been doing the monthly runs for the past 4 or 5 months and now it's time to get a tourist visa.

I'm planning on making my first TV run to Vientiane from Chiang Mai. I've never applied or been issued a tourist visa before so I have some questions. I also have some questions regarding the trip to Vientiane that might be able to be answered by some have you that live near Chiang Mai.

Ok ..here goes.

1) I need a Laos visa. It seems from reading that I can get one from a travel agent. It will cost me between $30 - $40. This should allow me to enter Laos. I can't get this at the border or the airport ...correct? meaning I should get it in Chiang Mai before I leave. What is the time frame on this visa? Can I walk in and get it in a matter of minutes or do I have to wait a day or so.

2)Is there somewhere I can downlioad the TV application and fill it out ahead of time or should I just pick one up when I get into Laos at the consulate. Should I bring two small pictures with me or can this be done for a fee at the consulate.

3)From what I read it seems it will take a couple of days for the TV to be processed. If this is true...any suggestions on accomodation is Laos?

4)Finally...flying from Chiang Mai to Vientiane seems to be about $200 round trip. Is the airport close to the consulate or your recommended accomodation? How long is the trip via bus if I would go that route?

Thanks for any help and I may add to this thread if needed if a new question comes up.

December 31, 2006

Ok. So I've been doing the monthly runs for the past 4 or 5 months and now it's time to get a tourist visa.

I'm planning on making my first TV run to Vientiane from Chiang Mai. I've never applied or been issued a tourist visa before so I have some questions. I also have some questions regarding the trip to Vientiane that might be able to be answered by some have you that live near Chiang Mai.

Ok ..here goes.

1) I need a Laos visa. It seems from reading that I can get one from a travel agent. It will cost me between $30 - $40. This should allow me to enter Laos. I can't get this at the border or the airport ...correct? meaning I should get it in Chiang Mai before I leave. What is the time frame on this visa? Can I walk in and get it in a matter of minutes or do I have to wait a day or so.

2)Is there somewhere I can downlioad the TV application and fill it out ahead of time or should I just pick one up when I get into Laos at the consulate. Should I bring two small pictures with me or can this be done for a fee at the consulate.

3)From what I read it seems it will take a couple of days for the TV to be processed. If this is true...any suggestions on accomodation is Laos?

4)Finally...flying from Chiang Mai to Vientiane seems to be about $200 round trip. Is the airport close to the consulate or your recommended accomodation? How long is the trip via bus if I would go that route?

Thanks for any help and I may add to this thread if needed if a new question comes up.

September 13, 2006

I'm still looking but I've considered moving into Flora condo. It has almost everything I am looking for except a decent ISP provider. Atleast as far as I know now.

Also really liked the Hillside 4.

If you have a one bedroom(not a studio) condo with a mountain view on one of the higher floors and are looking for a tenant please PM me.

Thanks.

September 13, 2006

Hello,

I've visited Flora and really like what I see. I've almost signed the paper work but I'm concerned over the ISP service offered there. They are to the west of the river so I can't get the cable internet connection through TRUE. ToT is the service in the area but from all the horror stories I'm not really interested in ADSL. Someone recommed KSC to me but this is still ADSL, right? Are there any other ISP's that offer a cable modem connection near Flora? Does anyone live in or around Flora and have a reliable connection from their ISP? If so, please recommend. Thanks.

August 25, 2006

For the price you quote try Rimping Condo. They have condos that are around 120sq mts with full on river/city / Doi Sutep views and if you catch one on the NW corner the balcony is easily 20sq mts. Flora will also fit in with your budget as will most other condo blocks in town. The 2 that I mention are both just to the east of the river across Nakornping bridge.

Sorry Mahseer. I haven't actually seen them in person so they may be really nice places but on the internet the pictures seemed to make them look more directed towards a family style setup. They definitely have the size I'm looking for so maybe I'll check them out and then just move a few things around to my liking. I'm looking for the business, bachelor type setup.

By the way...No one answered any of my questions on Hillside 4. Does anyone know if they have one bedroom apartments or larger? I'm jealous of the people that have those if they do.

August 25, 2006

One more thing. I've used the search function and have looked over some other suggestions such as Rimping and Plaza for people that pose my question. Those rooms were nice but didn't really have the style that I'm looking for in an apartment. I'm looking for something younger and more hip like Hillside or Viangbua's setup and not the homely, I'm retired and married with children, look that some of those other places shared. Thanks.

Basically I would prefer not to have flowered walls and decorated drapes, etc.

August 25, 2006

Oh yeah! Responding to my own post.

Just to give props to all you that do live in Hillside 4 and in case I didn't make it obvious from my post......Those balconies are unbelievable! Probably the main reason I'm even considering moving into a studio there. When I stepped out on that ledge I almost fell over the rail I was so taken away by the view and the size of the balcony itself. I bet some good times can be had on those things. Later.

August 25, 2006

Right now I'm staying in a deluxe room at Viangbua Mansion. Its about 80 SQR Meters. Very nice room but unfortunately they refusing to let me continue to stay in it as there are future reservations already made for other guests. They are all booked up on the Deluxe rooms.

That being said I'm in the market for a new place to live in about 10 days. Many of you have recommended Hillside 4. I went to visit there today and here are some of my comments on the room they showed me.

-very nice bed and leather couch. the couch was better than the one I have in Viangbua. The Bathroom was standard(not anywhere near as nice as Viangbua's) and so was the kitchen. The room was on the 10th floor and I must say the balcony and view from Hillside 4 were amazing. I'm on the seventh floor in Viangbua and it doesn't even compare to the view from that room. However, I'm not really feeling studio apartments(need a larger room,preferably one bedroom apartment) and from what they told me this is all that Hillside 4 offers. Is this true? Are they all studios? They also showed me a studio that was for sell and told me that it wasn't for rent, only buy. Are the ones up to buy as nice as the ones that get rented out? Finally, I'm not satisfied with the ASDL internet I've experienced in Thailand. I would want to get my own cable internet hookup in the room. Will they allow me to do this at Hillside 4?

If you guys have any other suggestions on highrise apartments with great views or other comments, good or bad on Hillside 4, I'd appreciate them. I'm going to check out some other houses and condos too but I really do like living 5 or more stories up. Thanks in advance.

~Christopher

P.s. I'm not really on a budget but considering I pay 22K at Viangbua and love what I have I think I should be able to find something similar or better somewhere else. So lets keep the suggestions under 30K for housing.

August 23, 2006

Moneybookers will charge me a fixed rate fee of 1.80Euros to withdrawal money. they also say this It is from their website......
"What exchange rates do you apply if I send money in another currency or to an account in another currency?

Your question to Moneybookers was very general, and you got their general but correct reply.
Basically, your question was unnecessary, because you should not ask Moneybookers to do the conversion; your Thai bank should do it. In other words, if your account with Moneybookers is in US dollars you order Moneybookers to remit, for example, USD 2,000 to your Thai bank account, if your Moneybookers account is in euro you order the transfer of EUR 2,000. You will always get a better exchange rate if your Thai bank receives the foreign currency and then converts it.

Moneybookers does not need to know in what currency the recipient’s account is. In fact, any bank’s payment order form does not ask this information.

A fee or EUR 1.80 (of Moneybookers) for a SWIFT remittance is very good, probably much lower than the fee your US bank would charge you.

The fee of your Thai bank will be same regardless from what foreign bank the remittance comes.

Yes, the T/T rate is the rate applied by your Thai bank for incoming SWIFT remittances (T/T stands for “telegraphic transfer”, but today the telegraph is no longer used, it is all done by computers communicating with each other)

Just for your information, the “spread” mentioned by Moneybookers is the range between their buying and selling prices for foreign currency. For example, if your account is in USD and somebody remits EUR to that account Moneybookers will credit your account at the “fixed rate” minus the spread of 0.95%; if you order the transfer of EUR to another account Moneybookers will debit your USD account with the “fixed rate” plus 0.95%. All banks use such spread; their buying rate is always lower than their selling rate.

---------------

Maestro

Thanks Maestro..... Just for your information I never sent that question to moneybookers....It was in their FAQ section on their website. Thanks for clearing that up though. I definitely want the conversion to take place in Thailand. My bank charges a 0.25% fee on swift transfers which actually seems quite good to me. Of course their is a minimum fee of 200 baht but that isn't too bad. That's like a $5 or $6 dollar fee plus the $2 dollar fee from moneybookers on a transfer of $2k. Seems fair to me. Peace.

~Christopher

August 23, 2006

OK. Here is my situation.

I have a US Bank account, a bunch of virtual e-wallet type accounts(moneybookers, neteller, paypal, etc), and a Thai bank account.

I've read on this forum of the many different ways that a lot of you transfer money. Some say Western Union, some say Nationwide, some say moneybookers.....I'm confused.

I'm confused on the whole exchange rate process and how it works.

Today I found the FIXED rate to be 1US dollar = 37.445.

When I went into my bank at Siam Commercial they told me I could get the T/T rate of 37.53 baht to the dollar. Obviously this was a better rate so what exactly did the fixed rate that I looked up online represent?

I believe the T/T rate is a Swift transfer rate but I'm not 100% sure.

Ok. Now to my questions.....

Moneybookers will charge me a fixed rate fee of 1.80Euros to withdrawal money. they also say this It is from their website......

"What exchange rates do you apply if I send money in another currency or to an account in another currency?

For transactions involving a currency conversion, we use the daily reference rates as published by the European Central Bank. However, we apply a spread of 0.95% in either direction for transactions involving only one of the three: EUR, USD or GBP. For transactions involving any other currency, we apply a spread of 1.3%. This is not a hidden charge but a protection against the volatility and risk associated with FX markets."

I question this. It seems like bullshit and a definite hidden charge. Shouldn't I be able to just have the currency converted here in Thailand to if I want? 1.3% seems pretty steep to me. My ATM fees using my US card were only slightly higher than that. Or am I reading this wrong?

The only other fees that I would incur would be a fee of minimum 200baht, maximum 500baht from my bank here in Thailand. That doesn't seem like too much as long as I move money in larger amounts. Don't want to keep much more than 50,000 to 100,000 baht in my Thai account though. I'll only move money here when I my account runs low.

Overall with these facts does moneybookers sound like a good option for me or should I go with another option? Is the T/T rate one of the better rates one can get?

Anyway......Let me know. Peace.

~Christopher

August 20, 2006

Ok. Thanks for the all of the advice.

I ended up going the route of apologizing and decided to finance her trip for her. I mentioned that I would be honored to meet her parents at some point but that I would like to get to know her better first. Wished her a merry trip and told her to tell Ma and Pa I said Hi! She seemed to take it very good. Thanks for all the suggestions again. Later.

August 19, 2006

...making a mistake. It's not that simple though. Here is my situation.

I'm friends with girl who works at one of the nearby bars. I'm not really sexually active with her but I see her almost every day. The bar is close to my apartment and I go there for a couple of drinks before bed.

The other day I had been drinking a little more than usual and the bar girl had mentioned that she was going home on Sunday to see her family. She then invited me to come and see her family. In my slightly tipsy state and the fact that I haven't seen much of Thailand yet...... I thought ....."OK. Why not take a week to see the countryside." After reading up on this though it seems that meeting a girl's parents is almost one step away from marriage. Plus my Thai is very basic at this point and I would hate to offend her family by accident if I did go.

The bottom line is this......I don't think it would be a good idea for me to meet my friend's parents. It may and I may have already sent mixed signals to my Thai friend by telling her I would meet her parents. I'm looking for a polite way to let her off easy and let her know that although I would be honored to meet her family and that I think shes a very wonderful person, I don't think it's good idea at this point in time. ....or something of that nature. Any suggestions?

Oh yeah...Just to clarify and complicate the problem a bit more. I've only slept with her once and it happened to be on the night of this talk. The talk happened before though.

August 7, 2006

LOL! I get a kick out the replies telling me to move to Hawaii, etc. I've only been here 3 days and actually like most of everything I've experienced so far. Bangkok just doesn't seem like the place for me long term. By long term I mean more than a couple of weeks. As for the language problem.....well!...I haven't experienced much of a problem here in Bangkok. Most thais speak decent English with a few exceptions. I've had one or two cab drivers that didn't speak fluent English and maybe a couple of other street vendors but this should be expected, right? I guess I was just looking to get away from the busy city but not necessarilly to an area where people only speak thai.

By the way. I would LIKE to spend 30,000 baht or less on housing but I have the income to pay a lot more if needed. Just seems with all the nice places I've seen for prices under 30,000 baht in Thailand that I could get a similar price in a tourist town for about 30k.

The most important issue for me is a reliable and preferably fast internet connection. I know this may sound like a shallow issue to most but it is vital to my business and I wont be able to afford to live anywhere long time without it.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. Feel free to send me some more. I'll appreciate all the help I can get.

August 7, 2006

We have a leased line with fibre optic connection through KSC.
Quite pricey though.

Thanks Colonel and everyone else. Would like to know more about this internet connection. What's pricey? $50, $100 per month? The internet is very important to me as I said in the above post. Would I be able to have this installed in a service or other apartment complex in Phuket if needed? Not sure if you meant that normal ISPs were ok or just your service. I am assuming KSC is your ISP. Let me know more if possible

Also, Does anyone know of any good service apartments or hotels in Phuket to lay my head? I'd like to settle down somewhere for atleast a month and get my feet wet. Atleast until I find my ideal place in Phuket or elsewhere. Let me know. Thanks.

August 7, 2006

I'm looking for a place to live in Thailaid!

Ok. Many of you have been very helpful to me so far. Here is my story in a nutshell. Feel free to skip down to things I'm looking for if you want.

I'm a 26 year old male US citizen. I grew up and lived in the northeastern part of the United States all of my life. Went to school for mathematics and finance but after school I found a different path. I have been financially supporting myself for the last 4 years while living with two life long friends in an apartment in the United States. Recently I've decided to use my financial freedom to travel to world. Many of my friends had suggested Thailand and I decided to make it a go. I've read books about Thailand but nothing prepares you for the real thing. So far I've stayed three days in Bangkok and althought I've found many things I like about the city it really isn't where I want to settle. It's a bit too congested for me. Here are somethings I'm looking for......

My BUDGET is 30K or less baht per month for housing and utilities. Atleast while I'm starting out here.

(1) I need a reliable high-speed internet connection. This is very important to me and probably my number one priority as I want to continue to support myself while in Thailand. This is vital.

(2) I prefer the beach but from what I hear many of the island and beaches down south have sub par internet. I'd also prefer a Serviced apartment or atleast one with furniture and appliances already in it.

(3) I'm the outdoor type and love to run. It was almost a daily ritual for me in the United States at one point. If possible I'm looking for a place where I can strap on my running shoes and take a 10 mile run without getting hit by a car.

(4) I'd prefer a place where English is well spoken throughout the area. It isn't too bad in Bangkok right now but I don't adjust well at first to change and I'm having a hard time adjusting to language gap. Haven't met any farangs yet either. A place where a lot of farangs are would make my transition a lot easier. Don't know if there are farangs that play basketball(do they even have this in thailand) or watch Sunday NFL football but I wouldn't mind finding a place that offered things like this.

(5) I don't mind the hedonistic side of certain areas but I'd prefer not to live in the center of it all.

I can't think of much else. Basically I'd like a little part of America with me while I'm here in Thailand. I'm not asking Thailand to change for me but to just make my transition a bit easier.

So far I'm considering a treck up north to Chiang Mai. Does this fit my profile at all from those that have been there?

Considering staying at the ......www.viangbuamansion-chiangmai.com....Some on this board have recommended this service apartment and it has most everything I need. Anyway, sorry if this is too long but I'd appreciate any information you all can give me.

August 7, 2006

...................to LIVE! ....atleast for awhile.