KhaoYai

Wonderful, they'll never stop wearing masks now.

Yes, his name would suggest that.

Thanks for that - good advice. Not sure about this charter/hire business, there is a minor possibility that I could mix business with pleasure but I doubt the Thai labour laws would allow me to actually be in charge of a boat being used for business purposes. I have seen places advertising that they will get you through your 'Boat Captain's' licence in Phuket so I just presumed it was a requirement for all boats?

No, my time is spent between Thailand and England.

My plan was to convert an old Thai fishing boat to a dayboat to float around the islands on retirement. A few years ago I saw a report of a guy in Phuket who had sucessfully done the same and spent weekends cruising around the Andaman. The cost was minimal although I'm not sure where he kept it. However, when the plan came about I had somewhere to moor a boat - I don't now so mooring costs might affect my choice of boat. I don't need to impress anyone and I don't need a pe&%s extension, I just want to potter about down in the Eastern islands so an old Thai boat would have been ideal to cruise along slowly but that might have to change. Don't really fancy an outboard and I've been looking around at alternatives that are not popstar prices. The Yanmar Toprun and Nissan Suncat look like potential alternatives. If I can find somewhere down around Trat where I can moor a boat safely I might keep to the old fishing boat idea. As retirement approaches I want to make a start - I'm a complete novice and all I know is that I need a boat captain's licence - not sure if that is affected by size. As I say, I have a lot to learn so want to make a start. Retirement could come as early as next year - up to me.

As per the title, I can't find anything about boating here - am I looking in the wrong place? What I'm looking for is advice for a total newbie in Thailand. Any ideas anyone?

So you take a woman you know nothing about to your room and your things are not locked away? Som nam naa.

OP, I don't know where you come from but if its a country with free healthcare, I'd get yourself back there. I was diagnosed with stage 3/4 cancer in 2015 and was just within the criteria for potentially curative treatment - although I was warned that I probably had 2 - 4 years remaining. 8 years later I'm still here and doing well. Cancer treatment is very expensive and your entitlement to treatment shouldn't depend on your ability to pay. Don't hang about - cancer doesn't, get yourself home, the sooner you get treatment the better your chance of a cure. You can return to Thailand when everything's done. I received treatment in Leeds, UK and the cancer centre at St James's hospital there is state of the art - everyone should be able to access such treatment, not just those who can pay, hopefully you will too.

Much safer, but still not 100%, is to locate gas cylinders elsewhere. Mine's downstairs in my garage and connected by a flexible copper pipe. When I bought my house the cylinder was located in the kitchen in the kitchen unit below the gas hob - asking for trouble in my opinion but seems to be common in Thai homes, there was a purpose built tray in the unit for the cylinder to sit on and slide in and out. Very sad that a young life has been changed forever by something that was most likely avoidable.

To be honest, I doubt they'd even know. When I obtained my first Thai licence, I didn't even have an IDP, just my UK licence.

And yet the UK government says Thailand requires an IDP to be based on the 1968 convention: https://www.gov.uk/driving-abroad/international-driving-permit

OP your experience is appreciated but as with most things Thai - everything depends on the requirements of the local Land Transport Office and they are all different. My 5 year Thai licence expired last year and as I'm not there as often as I used to be, I haven't bothered replacing it. However, I am hoping to move there in September so asked what I need to do to get a new one. I was told that I would have to take the full test in the same way that Thai's do. I was also told that the application process must be done online - the last time I just went to the LTO and got my licence there and then. When I changed up to a 5 year I simply had a colour blindness test and a reaction test. I also think I will have to start again - as in I won't get another 5 year licence. Anyone know what's given now - 1 or 2 year? I hold a UK licence.

I suspect that the proportion of foreign imports is low, taken as a whole. There are a lot of Thai farms producing weed and if and when they ever get this confusing and ridiculous law sorted out, you will see the big boys moving in. I believe that her sentiment in general is trying to blame foreigners for the negatives whilst promoting the benefits to Thailand from home grown weed. Watch this space, you will see more of this. I would not be surprised at all if the next kid that's found on the street 'off his head' will have consumed some nasty foreign brand. Now she's started this, it will become popular as other 'influencers' will be able to promote their anti cannabis stance as being anti foreign cannabis.

Because its the way. Whenever possible, the norm in Thailand is to pass the problem off as caused by foreigners. Its OK to promote Thailand as a cannabis tourist destinantion because that's seen as a positive but I believe that increasingly, we will see foreigners blamed for any negative aspects of the business. Hasn't this always been the way in Thailand? Blame the foreigners? Take for example murders, I'm sure there are plenty of murders every day in Thailand but which receive the most attention? If a foreigner commits a murder, it seems to me that they receive by far the greatest coverage. Then there's the culture of blaming foreigners, not necessarily Westerners, for serious crimes - sometimes with no or scant evidence, as we have have seen in recent years. As its election time, I think blaming foreign interests for the situation with cannabis will become even more common place. Madam Kitty's argument seems to be blaming foreign strains of cannabis for breaking the .2% limit. I don't know of any cannabis plant that produces .2% THC - even the leaves contain way more than that in most plants. Native strains? I personally know of one large farm that produces weed that has a THC content of over 20%. I don't know the origin of the strain grown but that is not important to the owners - what they want is as strong a product as possible because that's what sells. Interestingly, that farm has been around since way before the recent changes in the law and is well known locally - its not easy to keep a farm of that size secret. The ownership of that farm is even more interesting - definitely Thai ownership but let's just say its not owned by ordinary Thai citizens.

Yanks and guns again!

It may be the law of the land but laws should be proportionate to the potential for harm - death for a kilo of weed is totally ridiculous. Its time that countries started refusing to do business with others that have such draconian laws - that would bring them to their senses. I believe that a country should have the right to view drugs as serious but a death sentence is well over the top - especially in a country where alcohol is legal. Its a proven fact that alcohol is far more injurious to health than canabis - particularly if its ingested rather than smoked.

You actually believe that someone would buy a very expensive air ticket - simply to be able to smoke weed in Thailand? Somehow I doubt that - weed is illegal in most countries but its also freely available in many. Even in countries where it is illegal, most either turn a blind eye or the punishment is very minor. Singapore being one exception..........jeez!!!

He certainly needs to take measures to protect himself but he should at least take legal advice. That advice may well tell him to get the hell out of there.

As you say, you went against the advice previously given and are now paying the price for that. I don't see too many options for you but I recommend you talk to a lawyer. At the very least that might save you from any further problems - at best, they might come up with a solution that may help you. The land may be in your wife's name and bought before you were married but if things go to court, things are not always as clear cut as they seem. I presume you have evidence that the money used to buy the land and pay for the house came from you? Bank transfers etc? If you can show that then it is possible that you could divorce her and force her to sell the land/house to pay you your share. I recently had a car returned to me that I paid for and my ex wife put in her name. That was only possible because I could prove that I had transferred the funds to buy it. I also had a letter from the seller stating that he'd sold it to me (through online negotiations) and as far as he knew, my wife only picked it up. As a sweetener, I also agreed to drop some criminal charges against my wife. The gist is that, she took advice and that advice was to take my offer as I could prove my case - my lawyer ountilned the evidence I had against her and I presume her lawyer, friend, whoever, advised her to settle. You need to try to get things on a more non-confrontational footing with your wife. It is possible that she could be persuaded not to be so confident that she's going to win and accept a deal that gives you something back and allows you to bow out. You will not win everything, you're going to have to accept that but based on what you say, if you can prove that you paid for everything with money you had before you were married - you stand a good chance of getting something. Where in Isaan are you? I have a very good lawyer but she's not taking on too many cases at the moment as she's preparing to become a judge. If you're not too far away from her (Korat) she may take on your case. At the very least, if you are prepared to drive to Korat, I think she would advise you of your options and she will tell you the cost up front. I hear a lot of stories that claim the 'farang always loses' - I can only think that in such cases, 'the farang' didn't actually go legal as my experience has been different. However, there are way too many variables and I suspect, other details, for anyone here to give reliable advice - if I was you I'd at least spend a few thousand baht on the advice of a decent lawyer. On thing I can tell you, if things do have to go to court - the courts in Thailand expect people to negotiate and try to reach a settlement before court. If either party has acted unreasonably or has refused to negotiate without good reason, that will go against them. Thai courts hate confrontation but love compromise. Isaan lawyers are also in Korat and are under new (foreign) ownership

I have no link to any official rules on this but last time I talked to a lawyer about it, I was told that the requirement is just 2 Thai employees if you are married to a Thai national - worth checking with a lawyer.

Possibly but there were some empty seats on the Doha-BKK leg. Anyway, the Thai government has at last realised that tourists are not spending money - primarily because they've spent most of their cash on flights. Let's see if their threat to the airlines that they will employ more staff and open up new slots, thereby introducing the potential of competition has any effect. I certainly spent less on my recent trip. I have a set budget each time and the flight price is included so clearly, the more expensive the flight, the less I have to spend. I suspect most people do the same - few have a limitless supply of cash.

The airlines are telling us that current high ticket prices are down to supply and demand. I'm not sure that is entirely true. I was supposed to fly from Manchester to Bangkok (via Doha) on 8 April - evening flight. Unfortunately that flight was cancelled due to a technical issue with the aircraft - but that's another story - however, this was Easter weekend in the UK, normally a busy time for travel. There were only around 150 people on the flight and when I mentioned to the staff that it seemed very quiet, they told me that the morning flights had all been full. Well that certainly wasn't the case the next day - not only were Qatar able to fit all the passengers from the cancelled flight onto the next morning's flight, there were still some empty seats left over. Similar story with the Doha-BKK leg, there were empty seats - something I've never seen on an Easter bank holiday weekend before. OK, this is just 2 flights but it certainly doesn't fit with the airline's claims. How full have your recent flights been?

I would only use QCON blocks for an interior wall. Having used them to create an inner wall (cavity) at my house - yes they are very easy to use etc. etc. - however, they are so weak its unbelievable. It won't be too long before the Thai burglar community realise that they no longer need to break doors down, all they need is a saw and they're in ????. Seriously though, it would be very easy to either cut through a QCON wall or hammer it down with minimal noise. Got to be honest, I haven't checked out what other blocks are available but I'm pretty sure that concrete blocks will be around and if I was building an exterior wall, that would be what I'd go for. If you do go for QCON, make sure your builder is used to using them. Chasing out for sockets etc is very easy but its also very easy to make a big mess if you're too heavy handed. If you're drilling into them to mount something, don't use the hammer option on your drill - its not necessary and will just make a mess if you do.

Yes, right - I hadn't thought of it like that. Sort of......err.........Ambassadors???

It most certainly is not. The name still exists but its now on Dewsbury Road and has been raided several times . The old 'Winstons' that was at the end of the A65 was demolished. A little research shows that the ownership has also changed several times.