rak sa_ngop

Dr. Taworn at Bangkok Chrisitian Hospital on Silom (near Saladaeng). One of the least expensive private hospitals in Bangkok as it is non-profit.

http://www.bangkokchristianhospital.org/dr-e.asp?page=fs&spid=002-Med (click on his name to see the hours)

US Trained (UCLA) and extremely good

Consultation will cost maybe 1,000 baht. Stress test if needed maybe 2,000. Don't buy meds at the hospital, get at an outside pharmacy.

No appointment needed but it is first come first serve so arrive early - you'll need to register for a hospital number first.

I actually saw Dr Taworn at the BCH last Thursday. He takes time to explain in good English. Total cost was 620 baht (no medication or tests).

Go to the second floor of the old building. He is 'in' mon to sat, but not every morning, afternoon and only one evening. Best make an appointment to catch him.

I will never carry a phone in my shirt top pocket.

I was shown a photo of somebody's chest after their phone exploded....a bl**dy mess!

I think you will find that this statement is incorrect. The Tax Credit on dividends was sufficient to cover the lowest tax band up to about 30,000+ pounds income. Above this figure dividends are liable to a higher tax band

My statement is correct. For non-residents UK dividends constitute "disregarded income" and no income tax liability arises upon them.

You can read about this at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/saimmanual/saim1170.htm

OK, I will look into this with my tax advisors. Meeting next week.

"If this is applied to non-residents this is clearly a bad thing - particularly given that in the past there has been a concession that there's no income tax to pay on dividend income irrespective of amount. (The tax deducted at source has been deemed sufficient.)"

I think you will find that this statement is incorrect. The Tax Credit on dividends was sufficient to cover the lowest tax band up to about 30,000+ pounds income. Above this figure dividends are liable to a higher tax band.

Quote:

Any UK dividend income that comes to £31,785 (£31,865 in 2014-15) or less when added to non-savings income and savings income will be taxed at 10% (offset by a tax credit of 10% when you receive the dividend, meaning no further tax will be payable).

Any UK dividend income that comes to more than £31,785 (£31,865 in 2014-15) when added to non-savings income and savings income will be taxed at 32.5% (taking into account the 10% tax credit, the effective tax you pay on the dividend you receive will be 25%). If it comes to more than £150,000, it will be taxed at 37.5 Unquote

I do not think being an expat makes any difference as the dividends are generated in the UK

Maybe you SHOULD go to Bangrak and get your diamond certified at the AIGS lab, or better still the GIA lab on Rama IV near Silom MRT.

The cost will be a few thousand baht but with a certificate it will be easier to calculate the (trade) price based on the current diamond Rapaport tables.

What percentage of the trade price you get will probably depend on your bargaining skills. Just avoid the high street jewellery shops and best go to where the gem traders go i.e. The Jewelery Trade Centre, Bangrak or similar.

Maybe salty water. There have been warnings in Bangkok that due to the low fresh water levels there has been an ingress of sea water into the system.

For no written vowels, รรรรร (a name) takes some beating.

So how do you say this name?

I suspect that the 9H film will still scratch because household dust contains quartz particles with a hardness of 7, whereas all glass falls within a range of 6 to 7. I haven't been able to find out the mohs scale hardness of the 9H film, only that it is 9H on a pencil lead scale (where 1H, 2H are very hard pencil leads, and HB is the average).

However I suspect that the film has the attribute of toughness so will not break/shatter easily whereas glass will.

So even though the 9H film offers some protection (and I will probably buy one myself) I still think that the Samsung plastic clear case may be a bad idea. Possibly because the (softish) plastic used seems to catch dirt particles and trap them in one place. These particles then grind away at the opposing surface when the case is jostled around in your pocket. So your 9H film may still suffer damage and need regular replacement. This is my theory anyway.

I have read this word in books but yet to hear:

กระบอง krabong

As it 'says on the tin' its a club,truncheon,cudgel etc.

Should be easy to learn this word 555!

I have available a comprehensive Burmese language course produced by John Okell, SOAS Dept. of the London University.

Consists of 3 books (originals) and 32 audio cassettes. Price 1000 baht neg.

I have listed the sale on the Thai Visa New Classified site under Hobbies - Books and magazines. Dated 28th June

To access this site go to the Business in Thailand section and scroll down to Free Classifieds for Sale/Rent Wanted and click on the 'our new classifieds' link. More details are given there.

I hope the mods allow this posting, as I doubt anyone interested will chance upon this listing otherwise.

Thanks

It can take 2 hours of waiting to get you re-entry permit at Chaeng Wattana (Wednesday, 2 days ago).

Basically half a day wasted if you have better things to do!

I recommend not to wear tight jeans, as you will have trouble getting your leg over!

It amazes me that so many Thai women walk down the BTS steps in their high heel shoes, texting or playing with their smart phones at the same time.

It seems such a no-brainer to me!

I once did a 200 baht phone top-up at 7-11, but when I entered the code it only showed up as a 100 baht top up.

I am now pretty sure that it was my mistake, I was probably given 2 receipts, each one with a top 100 baht top up.

For some reason most staff don't know how to make a 200 baht top-up on one receipt.

Jeremiah Mathis Thede.

What a wonderful name!!!!

I think that what Chaeng Wattana means is that there is no general Certificate of Residence as such.

What they can do is send you by post a 'Certificate of Residence' for the purpose of selling/buying a car/motorbike OR for obtaining a car/motorbike licence.'

I obtained one for buying a car (I think) which the TMB bank accepted for opening an account.

Just have to think out-of-the-box a bit. Us farangs are supposed to be good at that!

Why not go to a Samsung service centre. I had my S6 Edge screen replaced (free) within 2 hours. Service Centre o Silom Road opposite Bangkok Bank head office.

Progressive lens come in different thicknesses.The cheapest are the thickest and the one time I bought a pair I dumped them pretty quickly. The sideways vision is very poor (distorted) and of course they look very thick and cheap.

The most expensive lens are the thinnest with excellent all round vision, and I was told come from Germany.

And there are different thicknesses in between.

Buyer beware!

No need to spend a lot on a 3G data package. AIS have a 199 baht/month package that gives you 300 MB of data, which is more than enough for social media apps as long as you do not download too many videos.

Of course with the cheapest package you get no free calls, SMSs etc. But it suits my needs very well (AIS used to have a 99 baht 90 MB package that I could even stretch out to last a month, now discontinued). As mentioned already, you can have your SIM card upgraded free to access 3G when you buy the package in an AIS shop. Not sure about 4G though.

The English translation of the condo act refers specifically to "building" in the singular and to "apartments". I dont know what words the original Thai version uses, and Thai is not exactly the most precise of languages, but I suspect that individual villas built on shared-ownership land would not qualify. So to that small extent the condo act does indeed seem to be concerned with architecture.

My condo actually consists of 4 separated buildings surrounding the swimming pool, so in this case 'building' actually allows 4 buildings to be part of one 'condominium'.

Each building comprises about 40 units but maybe individual buildings with one unit would not be allowed.

If it were allowed surely it would be a popular way of buying your house (on shared land).

With Air Asia you can print out your boarding pass (2 weeks ahead I think) and go straight to the departure gate if you have no check in luggage.

No need for an e-ticket.

Lots of parts of Bangkok do not have an western (Irish?) type bar (with a good happy hour for draught beer). Yet farangs are scattered all around the city so no shortage of potential customers. And many of the existing bars attract Thais as well.

Think outside of the box!

I have bought them in Chinatown before, about half kilo bags. Can't remember the price but a lot cheaper than in the normal shops. I used to soak them in gin for my father to drink in the UK!

Walk down Yawarat and you will see many shops selling them. Maybe you can find an importer in the backstreets. I know you don't want cashew nuts but I have seen into some of the backstreet stores and seen what looked like 20 or more kg sacks of them.

I made a trip to the Baan Mo soi in Chinatown (near Old Siam) and found ni-cd replacement batteries in the Amorn branch there. They were also able to solder the 4 ni-cd batteries together and re-attach the connector clips for a total price of 400 baht. They have 'bench press' type industrial soldering machine so the whole thing took a matter of a few minutes.(not sure if all Amorn branches offer the same service)

Now my carpet sweeper is working like an F-1 racing car!

You live and learn, don't replace one type of re-chargeable battery with another type.

Thanks

You may also want to look at Gatwick instead of Heathrow. Certainly in Business class LHR sells out in cheaper seats faster than LGW. Can make a 20,000 baht difference. And the fast train can get you into Victoria faster than the tube from Heathrow.