Robin

Is this thread only for posting pictures or can we ask questions about suppliers of Western Food?

Your wife might have asked BIL to 'look after' the building site while you are away, so if you make her change thsi, she will lose face in the family, so no way is she going o change. Just the ay it is in Thailand. Also BIL will sas he did not intend the fire to get out of hand and burn the fence. it was the fault of the wind/fire. remember that no Thai is ever responsible for anything he does, nor can he think ahead and consider ay consequences of something not going to his plans. For most Thai females, any Thai man knows far more than any Farang. Being Thai trumps any qualification from outside Thailand. Sorry, but if you didn't know all this, you have trouble ahead. Any money you spend in Thailand, particularly on buildings, will always stay in Thailand.

This is Thailand. If his father is rich he has a right to do what he wants with any poor person. he has learned his behaviour from Thai Soaps on Ch7.

When using standard VIP over-night bus from Chiang Rai or Phayao, it was normally stopped a a police check point early in the journey. Police would walk through the bus looking at passengers ID cards. As I was normally the only farang on the bus, I might be ignored, or asked for passport. Normally I would pretend not to understand Thai, or say the my passport was packed in my bag, (in luggage compartment,) never any problem and never taken any further. But.... I believe that Thai law requires farangs to always carry their passport. I always had a valid Visa to be in Thailand, so never worried about such checks. I suspect that many up-country police do no speak English, so would want to avoid confrontation with Farang.

Depends on the source of the water from the tap. In my village, tap water is river water filtered through a column of sand. Filtering is to remove mud and silt only, and often no very effective at that. Tap water is often 'muddy' and cloudy. Periodically, water i shut off and the filter tower reverse flushed to remove filtered sediment. After water is cloudy, mucky for a day. AFIK here is no treatment to remove bacteria or other nasties. hence tap water is only considered fit for washing. I have always cleaned my teeth using tap water with no ill effects. I have always assumed that all tap water is similarly obtained from filtered rive or ground water, so no guarantee that it is bacteria free. I believe that bottled drinking water is tap water passed through a microfilter and this is assumed o remove bacteria. Some local Thai tried to interest me in a business filtering tap/river water to get drinking water, but I was not convinced. From experience with marine water makers, (reverse osmosis) I know that the filters are delicate and expensive, and i would not trust a local Thai business to maintain the correctly. Also are the bottles that the water is sold in sterilised before use? I have a large tank of rain-water for drinking, and the rain-water is filtered before it goes in the tank, and tank is cleaned out every year. No ill effects from drinking this water. Another point is that many users have a pump to get more water pressure, which can put a negative pressure, (suction) in the incoming water supply pipe, and suck in contaminates from any crack /leak in the pipe. No, i would never drink Thailand's tap water

UK Pensions Office is the same. Desperately hoping that all pensioners will die quickly. They provide a 'life certificate' that a Thai Doctor can sign, with hospital stamp. My Dr in local hospital in Thailand did this and stamped with official stamp. Certificate is in English and DR can read English, so no translation needed. Might not e he same for Germany, but worth seeing if you can get a similar form. General warning; make sure the relevant docs, asking if you are still alive, are sent to you in Thailand, or keep checking that your pension is being paid. In UK DWP stops paying your pension as soon as they think you might be dead.

In the days before metered taxis, it could be interesting to agree a fare with the driver, when you could see that he had no idea where your destination was, and let him drive round pretending to know where he was going. I saw lot of interesting places in Bangkok that way Similarly, i would sometimes get a bus to the 'end of the route,' just to see where that was. Easy when fares were 1.5 and 2.5 B.

Too many useless Wannabees in Thailand. My first criteria for any worker is; Does he have all the tools he needs to do the job? If so a good chance he might be able to do the job properly, as he might have done something similar before. If he starts off by trying to borrow your tools, or asking you to buy tools for the job, Beware!! Ask about locally for any recommendations. My experience is that any worker who is any good will be appreciate locally and therefore busy and in demand. if he says he can start tomorrow, do not bother, if next month, better. If he is busy now, try to see the job he is working on.

it is (presumably) his money he is spending, and his life. So he can do what he wants. Ever thought that he might be enjoying what he is doing? Possibly make sure he knows the law, and reality about owning property in Thailand. i.e. You cannot and the house will always be his wife's. Any money he puts into that stays with her

So, what were the charges against he "Actress"? Appearing to be drunk? Having Vaping equipment in her hand-bag? I do not see that she has been charged with any offence, so what excuse do RTP have for taking her to police station and 'fining' her 27,000 baht Why was she made to kneel and apologise to them? What was thee reason her taxi was stopped. I do not see anything except RTP harassment and intimidation following false arrest. This is getting too big to be just brushed aside and a few RTP transferred.

CCTV in Thailand has a long history of unreliability when needed to prove anything against RTP, so do not expect anything different in his case. What was her supposed crime? Telling the RTP where to get off with their road block? She comes from a free country where the police behave correctly and she made the mistake of expecting Thailand o be the same

Road tax should not be a problem as it is for the car to be on the road, not for the owner, but insurance could be difficult. My experience of UK insurance companies is that they do not want to insure anyone who is not UK national, resident in UK. (I was refused insurance because I lived 9 months of year in Thailand and was not classified as UK resident. Finally got insured after appeal and proving that i was UK national, born in UK of parents born in UK. 'Short term' insurance is also expensive, so it might be cheaper/easier for you to insure your car for a year with friends as named drivers . Check the small print.

Do not worry, I have been doing this for years. if you are not in Thailand when the 90 day report is due, then you do not need to report. 90 day period starts when you re-enter Thailand again..

keep checkin on Expedia or similar. Some flight might be released

Pity the Thai people if these two are the best that can be offered to lead the Country.

Finally managed to get Wife/ girl-friend ( our marriage is not registered in Thailand,) to discuss inheritance etc. She owns everything we have in Phayao, no problem fro me, but I wnt her to make soem sort of will, so that her wishes are enacted when she dies.. We ave a will in UK and she inherits much of my assets there, so she will be quite well off. Can anyone recommend an English speak lawyer in Phayao who will draw up the required documents for us. neither of us have had any previous dealings with any lawyer in Thailand. I can only make assumptions based on UK inheritance law, nd tell her that most probably, as we have no children, her siblings will inherit all from her. if she wnt any different, she must make a will specifying what she wants. As I am 15yrs. older than her, I am mot likely to pre-decease her I would appreciate any informed advice on this matter, as I do not want her left with complications when I die. Should i be making a will in Thailand even though I have few assets here?

I bought a cheapish HP laser/scanner at my local computer shop. Had it 3 yrs now. it is the first printer I have had in Thailand that can be relied on to print when I want it. previous ink-jet printers lasted on rint session an the needed new toner cartridges. Similar experience in UK. I do not miss colour printing. If I want colour, I can use a local photograph shop. I print on ordinary, cheap copier paper from Lotus.

Just because the man is a "Tick Tok Star" does not mean that he is not entitled to justice when being sold a bad second -hand car. If the dealer managed to unload a 'dog' onto the unfortunate man, the dealer should make some recompense. I was always told that Porsches do not break down.

I gave up on this E visa last August, and entered Thailand on a 56 day visa exempt, flying Thai from LHR. Not questioned about onward or return ticket, I flew on one-way ticket. In Country, I went to my local I/O and showed them the 56 day entry visa, aske to convert to Non O visa so as to get Retirement extension, which I had previously used. No problems, I/O took all my details and gave me appointment to return to apply for Non 0. I had to get all bank details as if applying for Retirement Extension. When all details submitted, I was told to come back within 30dys of 5 day entry expiring. Did so; another appointment with I/O aand with no more hassle, i was given 365 day Retirement extension. Charged 18,000 Baht "for services" this was 8000 for extension and 10,000 to fill in all the forms for me. I was happy to pay this to get the RTE. Fr less effort than required fro Non O on line application.

I hate this sort of behaviour as much as any one, but, to be fair, the fien should be for the offence, not how much he can afford. if th law says the fine fro Drug driving is max XX Baht, hen he can only be fined XX Baht, even i this is small change to him. I hope the loss of reputation of integrity will hurt him more ( though do any Thais care about personal integrity?) Thailand is not the only country in the world, where the rich and influential are seen to get get preferential treatment.

You cannot blame the painter, however convenient it might be. Any driver is obliged to drive so they can stop within the distance they can see. That is basic road safety. It could have easily have been a child running across the road, or even playing in the road. Didn't know she had run over someone, or did not want to know she had runover someone?

After I changed from UK to Thai address, Nat West closed my UK account without giving any reason. Investigation last year while in UK revealed that HSBC will allow an account in UK with Thai address, and that Santander will give UK bank account to anyone who is UK taxpayer. To avoid further problems, I suggest that you look an each bank's website to see if you qualify for an account when living in Thailand. Do not rely on what I am telling you, i applied for me last year, but might have changed now. Be aware that some UK credit cards will not send new or replacement cards to Thailand. Where best to put your savings often depends on how much you have to offer

He has really made a job of this. Going to fast is putting it mildly

The penalty for DUI here is so trivial, one wonders why he anted to avoid it. A man of his wealth surely could afford a driver? In UK failing to give a breath sample when requested is a crime equivalent to failing a breath test. But not in Thailand, so long as you are rich. Did his wife know who his passenger was?

Ten years in prison for each one. No excuses like becoming a monk for 3 months. Easy enough to identify the culprits. if it happen again, close down the 'colleges'