mgjackson69

I don't have much choice. Tesco is 16 km away and Makro is 35 km away. I do not find the produce fresh at all and general l have to buy the quantity I need which cost a lot more than the local market. Not a good deal.

At the local market what I buy for way less and share with the family. The amount I buy local would cost 20 Baht at the local market would cost 60 to 80 or more at Tesco.

And I don't want to hear about what chemicals are used. They all buy from the same places.

How do you know that ? Yes market sellers buy from local farmers, but I am pretty sure Makro and Big C have their own suppliers of fruit and vegetables. Regarding chemicals we just don't know , but they sell a lot of stuff wrapped in plastic , maybe it's more hygienic than buying stuff from the market.

Bought from the open market or bought from a supermarket, I still wash the produce with soap and water.

The fact that it is wrapped in plastic is nothing to do with hygiene...that is packaging for convenience of the customer and checkout.

Richard

I have to admit I am puzzled by your question. I can not imagine a case where you would need such a document in Thailand. Maybe more information would get you the answer you need.

My experiences would say the sale of a Thai property is proven by the change in ownership documents from the land office.

As for the sale of a property overseas, Lopburi3's link points out that the U.S. Embassy/Consulate simply offers validation of your signature or certification of true copy. They do not certify the contents of a document are true or valid.

And that is exactly what a Notary Public does.

The Notary witnesses you signing the document, and attests to that signature with their signature and Notary seal.

The Notary does not certify the contents of a legal document.

^^ perhaps you could start a new thread with your project?

When I get the project going I will certainly have some questions.

I will try to get some photos of the existing wiring and some "as-I-go" photos.

So hundreds of tire companies get together and conspire to make crappy tires rather than one of them deciding to be the only company to offer the 100k tire and becoming the most popular brand in the world.

You guys crack me up.

Polyurethane is one of the toughest elastomers around. But hey, I'm only a research scientist. I'm pleased I provide entertainment for your superior intellect.

What you may or may not be means nothing to me. If you can produce a tire that lasts100,000 miles with comparable ride quality and traction at a competitive price, you should start a tire company.

If you are already a billionaire, please tell me how as I would like to be rich and famous.

So why not start a tire company?

When polyurethane hit the market in the 1960's, just about every company was looking for applications for it. The chair you are sitting on is probably polyurethane foam. The whispers in the polymer field were several tyre companies had developed 100k plus tyres with it, based on accelerated testing. But why sell a tyre with double or triple the life, if you can make more profit with established polymers?

Planned obsolescence is nothing new. It supports a number of industries. Try reading Vance Packard's "The Waste Makers". Published in the 1950's I think , but what he has to say is still valid today.

If you want to think about it, the laptop, tablet or smartphones we have are ideal examples of planned obsolescence. Don't think there is a single executive in those industries who wants us to be keeping a laptop for 20 years.

Or take the American car industry. The Japanese upset the applecart of planned obsolescence big time.

You're too late to be rich and famous. You needed to start with an idea and dedication to it when you were in your twenties. If I had followed my idea maybe I'd be a billionaire now. Instead, I got married.

The American auto industry is not really a good example of planned obsolescence. Back in the '70s and '80s is a car got to 100,000 miles it was usually junk. Now it is very common to find vehicles with 150,000 miles or more, than run and drive nearly as well as a new one.

In the auto industry, getting the consumers to buy a new vehicle ("upgrade") is more about style than substance. Functionally, the latest model Toyota HiLux Vigo PreRunner is not all that more advanced than the 2008 model that I own. Granted, there are more options available, mostly luxury/comfort items, and there have been some advances in the powertrain components...but functionally it is not much different; incremental rather than revolutionary.

The major "upgrade" is in the style/sheet metal.

" piece of barbed wire he used as a washing line. "

whenever I travel I find carrying a small length of string in my suitcase to be handy as a washing line because it is certainly more compact than barbed wire

Yes...but that piece of string or rope might cost 10 baht, and the security wire is already there...

Will these new rules have any effect for the hardened existing over stayers?

Most have over stayed for a reason, usually not having proof of funds to get an extension.

If they don't have money, then how can they pay the fine, return home to get the correct Visa, then deposit funds in a Thai bank.

I think most will chance their arm and continue to remain in the hope of never being caught.

A particular case in mind is a German guy I know who came to Thailand 30 years ago on a Tourist Visa, got married, and never returned home.

He has no income other than a little money his elderly parents send him and his wife earns. His passport expired years ago.

He doesn't have any options, so I doubt the new rules will have any effect to his situation.

I'll bet there are a few in exactly the same situation.

I don't really care what happens to guys like this...let him live his little life as far as I'm concerned. He's made his bed and if he's happy in it fine. I also won't have any sympathy for him if he ever gets found out, for whatever reason, and ends up spending his days in IDC in Bangkok if his elderly parents can't or won't bail him out.

And this old guy's situation impacts on your life, how? exactly?

The poster never said the old guy's situation impacted his life.

He said he does not care what happens to guys like this...

I am of the same mind. If that old guy manages to stay in country in his current situation for the rest of his life, so be it.

By the same token, if he gets caught, I am not going feel any sympathy for him, nor waste one second worrying about him.

The OP is concerned with the safety (and the aesthetics) of an electrical installation in his new home. So keeping in the interests of safety, and with all due respect to the well intended responders, may I suggest that it would be in the interest of safety, that the responders identify their electrical installation qualifications along with their advise.

I, personnaly, would seek out the advice of a Thailand qualified electctrical installer to inspect and advise on this issue. (I say Thai qualified, as electrical regulations vary from place to place).

To practice what I preach: I hold a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering...but not Thai.

Much better to be safe than sorry.

A self-taught person with electrical wiring experience is just as credible, or more so, than an Electrical Engineering degree, unless said EE also has household wiring experience.

By the same token, a person holding a degree in Mechanical Engineering does not necessarily know anything about repairing a car.

To the above poster's point, agreed that safety is the primary concern when dealing with electrical wiring. Secondarily, the aesthetics are important as well.

Looking at many of the wiring jobs done here, especially 'up-country', neither of these considerations seem to be held in much regard.

I am not a professional electrician, but I know enough to get the job done correctly, and am honest enough with myself to seek help when I am not sure about something. I have a nephew here who is a pretty good electrician (when he is sober)...I pay him well and supervise his work for aesthetics, and buy him some whiskey after the job is done.

I am making ready to rewire the house we are in now. The wiring below the ceiling is all good, surface mounted wiring neatly done with recessed boxes for switches and outlets. I will be redoing the above-ceiling wiring and replacing the single fuse and cut-off switch with a multiple-breaker service panel.

Between myself, the nephew, and the advice I can get from some knowledgeable folks here (Crossy and some others), I am confident that I can get the job done in a safe and effective manner.

There is a fairly common notion that bars and restaurants "need" free WiFi to draw customers.

At first glance, this seems reasonable.

On further thought, it would not be a good business decision.

Consider the stories about McDonalds being clogged with students who come in, order a drink, and sit for hours using the WiFi.

If I am a restaurant owner, I want the people to sit, order, eat, and vacate the table...unless they want to sit a while and have some after-dinner drinks.

If my place is a bar, I want those plonkers in the seats paying attention to my waitstaff and building up a bar bill, not staring at the their screen whilst nursing a draft beer or glass of water.

Other than putting a few butts in the seats to make the place look busier during slow traffic times, there is no upside to having free WiFi in a bar/restaurant.

All that said, I highly doubt that bar owners are getting in trouble for someone sitting in their place with a laptop open. That is the likely story they can tell the laptop user, to pass the "blame" to some (faceless and non-present) other entity.

Lessons learned for "khun" Amnat and his girlfriend?

No lessons learned.

Stay tuned for more jackassery from K Amnat

Why should refugees come from another country to, for example, Switzerland, and not pay for their upkeep.

Why in fact should any host country take resources from its own people to care for refugees from another country? All that achieves in the longer term is a large financial burden on the host country which means that less resources are available for the people of that country. Most lose but refugees win.

You're right. The USA should have turned away all the nasty refugees who emigrated there in the 19th and 20th centuries. Or, if they did let them come, they should have confiscated most of their money so they couldn't set up business and compete with native merchants. Very sound thinking.

Well the UK is welcoming them.

If however I want to bring my wife and son to the UK, BOTH must pass an English language test, I must prove an income of £18,600 and NOT even 1p less just to get my wife into the UK plus a further sum for my son, although I am not too sure of that as he is a UK citizen.

I will also be expected (as I have pension payments) to fund our own accommodation and living expenses, yet if we were refugees it would all be given for free.

So please explain to me why as a UK citizen I have to pay my own way despite paying income tax for 56 years, and still have to pay it, yet people who have contributed nothing can come in for free and live at the expense of the UK tax payer?

UK is merely continuing the process of turning the country into a third-world ghetto.

It is not a tradition. It is a scam on foreigners.

If that is case, then explain why Thai men pay a sinsod

Thai men do not pay a sindod. None that I know of, nor any expats. Perhaps I live in a different society to you where the brides parents always pay fpr the wedding.

P,S I have been here a long time

Our experiences have differed then.

I am not sure how many Thai/Thai weddings I have seen, I would guess 10 - 12 over the years, ranging from country folk in Isaan to some educated professionals in Bangkok.

In all cases a sinsod was payed.

I do not know the details of whether the sinsod was returned or not...but the sinsod was on display.

That is my observation only. Perhaps if I traveled in loftier circles or was here "a long time" such as yourself I might observe otherwise.

So hundreds of tire companies get together and conspire to make crappy tires rather than one of them deciding to be the only company to offer the 100k tire and becoming the most popular brand in the world.

You guys crack me up.

And that one guy invented a carburetor that would let any car get 100+ miles per gallon, and the Big Oil companies bought it and buried it.

Op there are a few things that you need tolook at.

While you may be able to get a higher rent for an ocean view you are also going to pay more.

A good real estate agent or broker should be able to provide you with a breakdown of rents that are currently being paid in the condo.

If not check the paper for rentals that are available that are close to what you are realistically offering

As has been stated there is going to be months that you may not have a tenant if you are doing short time rentals and repairs that you will have to make when you get the bad tenant and you will..

realistic tool is the 1% rule take your price you are paying for the condo and charge 1% of the price at a minimum.

One reason I avoid short-term renting. The client is on holiday and will not treat the place as home.

On the other hand, a short-term renter is not going to treat it as home....as in driving nails into the walls to hang things, putting stickers on things, cobbling the wiring, etc.

On the other hand, there are good and bad short-term and long-term renters. I would always consult my landlord for approval before doing anything to his property.

There are also bad landlords. Fortunately I have had a good one for 7 years now; however, I understand Thailand is rife with bad ones.

Oh yes...I have been a good and a bad tenant ("bad" was a lot of years ago, and only for a few months), and now am a (I hope good) landlord, with rental properties is USA and in Thailand.

My USA tenants are great, they ask me for very little and I in turn take good care of them. The Thai rental is an 8-unit apartment in Loei; so far our tenants there have all been good.

Date labels are very useful when buying veggies as the difference of a few days is not visible in most cases. At Friendship I look for the most recent dates of the stacked veggies, which are at the back. Then I check the vegetables visually and have a good feel for firmness if it's a root vegetable or zucchini or such like - all in air conditioned comfort with no one standing near egging me to on to buy or making me feel uncomfortable if I walk away. Sure, if I just look and walk on, no problem. But picking up a market holders vegetables to feel them and then walk away is not so cool.

For example, some things just have to be handled. Stall holders do not like you picking up and squeezing mangosteens, which is a must if you don't want to pay big money for rocks which are inedible. I can do that in the supermarkets.

I have no problem checking the merchandise in the open markets. You are absolutely correct, some of the stall owners get their back up a bit if one does so, but I have no problem putting it down and walking away if they start bitching about it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options for those who like to shop in the supermarkets as well as for those who prefer the local markets.

We all manage to bring home the groceries.

Meanwhile.....Cambodia begs: "Please ramp up the abuse of Thailand's farangs, so we can have the overflow." Perhaps the most dense, obtuse immigration in the developing world. Someone PLEASE explain to them that you DO NOT grow an economy by abusing your cash cows.

Ridiculous comment , the amount of money the overstays contribute to the Thai economy would be so minuscule it would hardly register, definitely not anything like cash cows, overstays only cause problem for legal people. you can not do it in other countries why in Thailand.

Every plonker in Chiang Mai sitting on a bar stool nursing that one draft beer for two hours thinks he is some sort of "cash cow" for Thailand.

Not that there is anything inherently wrong with being in Chiang Mai, on a barstool, with a beer in front of you....but one needs to keep the perspective of what they are contributing.

The answer is simple get a visa or a visa exemption. Good for them coming down on this now maybe the rest of us who play by the rules wont have as hard a time of it

What about asylum seekers who cannot return to their country and to whom the visas are outrageously expensive and unaffordable?

What about them?

If someone is truly seeking asylum then they would fall under some different rules and be treated on a case-by-case basis.

"Seeking asylum" does not mean "I do not want to go home".

People can come across hard times in any country in the world. I wonder how they would react if the arrested someone who was married to a Thai had lost his job or was scammed by a BAD BOY and was struggling to support their 2 kids?

Split up the family and leave the kids with no father for say 10 years until they allow him back in?

Sad state of affairs really that a harmless guy down on his luck can get the same treatment as these scammers out to rob good people.

I agree, sure weed out the riff raff, but please provide some better solution(s) for the people married to a Thai (with kids) living in Thailand

We are not terrorists or crooks.

I am one of those people married to a Thai (with kids) living in Thailand.

I have managed to get the proper visa and for the past 8 years extensions of stay based on marriage.

I am employed by a US company and travel extensively, spending perhaps 3 months per year in Thailand.

I have managed to do this...why can others not do the same? Granted, people's situations are different...but how are you people managing to provide for your families here, yet you cannot obtain the proper visa/extension status?

There are various avenues available for "being here", with different requirements as far as reporting/leaving the country/etc.

Simple economics, when the price of raw materials goes up there is pressure on prices to increase.

When the cost of the raw materials goes down there is no pressure to decrease prices other than

competitive pressure. Companies would rather add the profits to the bottom line than pass savings

to the customers. Remember, products are not priced based on what they cost to produce, they

are priced on what consumers are willing to pay. If there is not a great enough profit margin in

manufacturing a product the product is not made.

And there you have it...one of the most basic principles of economics stated in very simple terms.

Prices changes because they "have to". The forces that cause prices to rise always have more impact in the short term than those forces that cause prices to fall.

Just want to say "I Love Thailand"

I've started with two weeks stays - to one year entries..

Numerous border runs..

Done the overstay(s) from 1 day to multiple year overstay..

Overstaying was/is an option no matter what your age is - or the money you make..

Follow the rules or not - it doesn't matter what others think...

Bottom line for me... My money goes into the Thai economy...

I think the overstay rule is to keep the poor tourist and illegal workers out... And will continue to allow those lazy non-workers in..

So - if the new overstay rule offends you - you must not be able to afford to be here and should be banned for years before returning..

It is funny to hear the "overstay rationalizers" defend their position.

It really is simple, just as it always has been...obtain the proper visa for the reason that you are here. If a visa does not exist that matches your purposes, then you do not belong here.

There are cost that need to be offset. The world goes toward a user pay system. This 14k charge

will not cover the costs but will help offset then. Seems reasonable to me.

Yes...you can come here, we will help you, but it is not going to be a free ride.

Just don't know why The Immigration chief does not welcome tourists on a 6 month visa without having to leave the country every 60 days one way to get tourists back to thailand!!

How many genuine tourists visit a country for 6 months?

Ahhh... The signs of economic recovery the US government has so proudly proclaimed...

Why would anyone crow about the US having economic problems?

The largest economy in the world affects all others.

Facts are facts, whether one crows or shut their gaps...

But knowledge precedes planning.

Whose facts?

If you listen strictly to the current US administration, all is hunky-dory, the best recovery ever, brah brah brah.

I understand basic economics concepts, and manage my own quite well...but I am no economist by any stretch of the imagination. My trusted source is Professor Ernie Goss at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska USA.

He is non-partisan and seems to be pretty accurate most of the time. His take on the current "recovery" is that it, while a recovery, it is very lackluster, and is not showing the proportionate manufacturing increases and employment that past recoveries have shown.

So, while we do not disagree on the magnitude or success of the US economic recovery, my questions still stands: Why would on be happy about the world's largest economy experiencing problems?

What about the 20 or so stores that suddenly closed a few months ago for emergency " plumbing" repairs? Haven't heard anything about them lately.

Those are the Walmarts that are being converted to FEMA prison camps, for when Obama declares martial law.

I'm not an expert but the way I see things is maybe too simple. Current condo's are exceedingly empty, yet they build more. Now there is a new individual in the market to invest in rentals? Best wishes. I would purchase property back in home country where you can no doubt legally own it and rent it out. Much more of a wise investment IMHO.

I see this in many parts of the world...new commercial space being build next to a space that has been 90% vacant for years.

Likely it is similar in the residential as well. In USA at least, it seems it is easier to sell new construction than existing, when it comes to single-family dwellings.

If I ran a country, my policy would be thus: After passing a very rigorous background check, we will accept any refugee. For each refugee accepted from a particular country, payments to that country (foreign aid, etc) are reduced by (pick a significant figure).. 1 million USD?

Sounds reasonable to me