jcgodber

Heres is the one I use for - chocolate pudding

INGREDIENTS:

l 1/2 cup white sugar

l 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

l 1/4 cup cornstarch

l 1/8 teaspoon salt

l 2 3/4 cups milk

l 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

l 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in

milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back

of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and vanilla. Let cool briefly, and serve

warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

( here in Thailand cornstarch is called corn flour)

Jim

I have a retirement visa and am married to a Thai. I am 63 years old and do not have a large sum of money in any Thai bank.

I went to the American embassy and requested a letter stating that I have at least a certain amount of income each month. I was told to first go to line #13 and pay my fee of $35.00. I completed the short form and filled in the amount that I said I received each month.

I was never asked to prove or show documentation as proof of my monthly income. I do have more than the required amount coming in but didn’t have to nothing.

The official then applied the stamp to the letter. I was then handed the letter to take to the Thai Immigration office. I now have a one-year retirement visa and NEVER have to leave Thailand if I don’t want to. I DO have to go to the immigration office in the province that I live every 3 months to get a new paper added to my passport, that takes all of about 5 minutes and I am good to go. I couldn’t be more easy.

Jim

Just a point of interest-

here in Sa Kaeo Makro has started building a new store. Everyday I driveby and see that there are still many construction workers ( 100) working.

Jim

George:

I too had the very same problem. Go to any Siam City Bank and they will be happy to open an account for you.

Cyn-

Any time I travel from the U.S. back to Thailand I almost always bring-

Las Palmas Enchilada sauce

Pico Pica –taco hot sauce

Jell-O instant puddings

Masa flour

Heinz sweet relish- in plastic bottles

Splenda sugar substitute

Kraft Velveeta cheese

Good Seasons salad dressings

Etc.

I have brought my-

Tortilla press

10” iron skillet

120-volt electric carving knife (to slice bread)

Bread machine 120 volt (1000watt transformer can be bought here) must be a real transformer; the electronic ones won’t work with this.

Bread slicing guide made by Presto

A good can opener

A good vegetable peeler

Timer

Large crock-pot

Presto Fry Daddy (remember to bring a 1000w electronic converter from Fry’s Electronics store)

You can find here-

Corn meal

Taco shells

Flour tortillas (Good)

Corn tortillas (OK)

Most of your baking needs (flour, yeast, baking powder and baking soda)

You can easily buy a 3 or 4 burner stove with an oven gas or electric.

I hope this helps

Jim

I live in the province of Sa Kaeo. The province of Sa Kaeo has no shopping centers or Big C, Tesco or any other large store.

In the town of Sa Kaeo all (most) of the merchants have a captive audience. They charge what ever the traffic will bear and have had it their way for as long as I can remember.

Does this sound familiar?

I am driving up the street and see a parking place right in front of where I want to go and shop. Before I can park, someone from that shop runs out and places 2 plastic chairs in the street to prevent me or anyone else from parking there.

I am forced to park far from the shop and have to walk in the street back to where I want to go because all or most of the stores have also placed merchendice out on the sidewalk so much so that it is virtually impossible to walk on the side walk. I am quite sure that the police have been paid to look the other way.

Once inside the shop I have problems navigating down the extremely narrow aisles (less than a meter wide). I am constantly on guard that I might accidentally trip over stock that has not yet been placed on the shelves or worse yet, brush against a precarious display and cause breakage.

I find the product that I want and see that it has no price on it.

The product is out of date and is shop worn from sitting on the shelf for far too long.

There is an association of merchants that constantly fight to keep ANY big store out so as not to change the strangle hold they have on the community.

Now for the FINAL INSULT –

I am holding my purchases in a hand basket and am 4th in line. The owner / cashier spots a friend that wants to check out and allows him to go to the front of the line. I am expected to just wait and let all friends and more favorite customers go first, THEN I am allowed to make my purchase. I would go somewhere else but there is nowhere else to go.

Has anyone any information on driving into Burma with one’s own car? I am an American with both a Thai and international license. I am curious whether I could get a visa for driving inside Burma.

Jim

I come from the Los Angeles area and the best hot dog there IMHO is Tommy’s world famous Chili Dog.

OK I know that Thailand does not have that, BUT I did find really good Vienna style hot dogs at the Foodland in patteya.

Steam the dog and the hot dog bun.

I then make an almost exact copy of Tommy’s Chili (I make 2 or 3 gallons at time and then freeze it. UMMM

Jim

Thank you for the very good advice. I have been thinking about switching to a DVR with hard drive as that would solve many problems.

Jim

I have been baking sourdough bread in a bread machine with just great results.

I make a 2 pound loaf.

The starter is dead easy-

In a non metal container put 1 cup of bread flour 1 cup of “warm” water” adds 1 packet of yeast “ I got tired of trying to do it the “natural way”. Cover with a cloth and let sit overnight.

In the first few hours it will start to bubble, this is good. You should very soon start to smell the sourdough.

Use this recipe as a basic sourdough recipe and you are good to go.

· 2 Cups of sponge (proofed starter)

· 3 Cups of unbleached flour “bread flour is just fine”

· 2 tablespoons of olive oil or softened margarine

· 4 teaspoons of sugar

· 2 teaspoons of salt

YOU CAN'T BUY BREAD THIS GOOD!

Has anyone seen Heinz sweet relish for sale here in the kingdom?

NOT the mustard / relish hotdog relish.

Sukhumvit Sukhumvit Sukhumvit

always Sukhumvit,

I wish they wold open one in Sa Kaeo

Jim

I have been using the Solomon USB modem for both my laptop and PC it is almost "bulletproof"

I have used it everywhere in Thailand that has cell service.

The prices have also come down. The speed is "good enough" for email and light surfing.

In villages such as mine there IS NO alternative as there are no landlines.

Go to their web site at-

http://www.solomon.com.tw/download/english...ucts/index.html

Jim

Isent an email to MY Bank of America today asking once again " Can I make an international payment"

This is the reply that they sent to me. I t seems quite clear that they want to collect a large fee rather than the .35 that you have spoke of-

Thank you for your inquiry dated 8/30/06.

We understand your concerns regarding overseas payment. Please be

informed that to make a payment to an overseas payee we recommend you

to

establish an outgoing wire transfer. To establish an outgoing wire

transfer, please visit one of our local banking centers to perform the

wire in person or establish repetitive wire service. Unfortunately, we

are unable to provide wire transfer service via e-mail, Online Banking,

the Bank of America Web site, or telephone.

For the location of the nearest Bank of America banking center, please

visit www.bankofamerica.com and use the ATM and Banking Center locator

link on the lower left side of the home page.

If you are unable to visit one of our banking centers, we recommend

using a commercial wire service.

In order to establish an outgoing wire transfer, you will need the

following information about the recipient as well as any additional

information that the receiving bank may require:

- Name on the account

- Bank name

- Account number

- Routing number

The fees for outgoing wire transfers are:

International Money Transfers:

- US Currency or USD International $45.00

- Foreign Currency or Foreign Exchange $35.00.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If we may be of

further assistance, please contact us again by e-mail. Thank you for

choosing Bank of America.

Sincerely,

I hope that answers the question of internation al payees with the Bof A

Jim

You are right-

The officer at my Bank of America also told me about doing the same as you suggest, making a phone call having a code number etc. Frankly I am not comfortable having to try and make a call to my bank and the try to explain what I want . Each time you call you get a new person and have to re-tell the story

Very recently I had a good friend who also lives here in Thailand go to his local ATM machine to get some much needed cash. The machine refused him for whatever reason. As he know that he had plenty of money in the bank he tried to use his wife’s ATM card and that too had been shut off. He called the band back in the states and was advised that it was “just a temporary glitch” and wood be OK soon. Soon never came. The man had to borrow money to return the states and straighten out the problem with his bank in person.

Just to avoid the same pitfall I have some traveler’s checks that I keep in a safe, just in case.

Jim

I read what you wrote and I too have been into my B of A bank in trhe States to set up myself as a payee here in Thailand. This was at the suggestion of the bank person.

When I got back to Thailand I went to set myself up as a payee and was informed by Bank of America that they don't do international payees. I just now cut and pasted this from the Banks web site-

"Tip: Keep in mind that you can pay virtually any company or individual in the United States through Bill Pay, even if they do not appear on our payee list."

One other problem that I have had with the bank is the high rate of turn-over of personel there. Just as soon as you find someone at your branch that understands just what you are doing they move on and when you try to contact the bank no one know what the heck your talking about I have gone thru this now for 2 years in a row as I have return to California each year to take care of business.

I have just once again sent email to the B of A asking if they do in fact do international payees

The Siam City Bank charge is a flat rate regardless of the amount.

I am doing $5000 just this time as a test and once I am satisfied that all is OK will be writing a personal check every 90 days. My plan would be to deposit the check here in Thailand the needed number of days prior to the time it take for the transfer to complete.

One other thing to think about - It is easy to bring money into the kingdom and yet another thing to take it back out.

I too have had the same idea of something to drive around my village. I wouldn't worry too much about being legal as more than half of the motor bikes in my village have no plates or lights.

I have seen companies down near patteya selling used carts I have ment to enquire as to price. I will let you know.

I use the Garmin 2650 street pilot and it works great for me. Garmin does not make or provide GPS map sets for Thailand. The only map set they have that can be used here in Thailand is their world map.

However- ESRI a cartographer company here in Thailand, has a contract to produce 3rd party software for the Garmin. If you do a Google for ESRI you will get their address here in bangkok. I bought the 10th street pilot sold here in Thailand about 2 years ago and it has never failed me. 2 years ago the price was 50,000 baht. Esri sells and services most garmin and other brands.

Jim

Thanks for the input I will let you know how much the trees are if I can find them I should know in the next few days.

Jim

I simply went to my online banking web site and copied and printed the endorsed and stamped check (both sides) that my bank posted online from B of A and Siam city bank I have the documented proof that the funds indeed came from abroad.

Backflip-

I was somewhat surprised that you transferred so much money into Thailand, not that it is wrong but I had a terrible experience.

I too transferred a very large sum into the Bank of Bangkok back in 1997. At that time the baht was about 25 –26 to the dollar. Over night the economy here collapsed and the Thai baht was suddenly worth less than half. I lost half of my in country cash. Ever since I keep most of my money in the states.

Thanks for the information. I will be in the Pak Chong area this coming weekend as we will be driving in a rally sponsored by Isuzu.

Yes my 2 trees are from seeds, and I had planed to graft them. BUT with your advise will now go and buy several trees. Hay how expensive can they be? One avocado bought in Patteya cost 40 baht or more.

Thanks,Jim

You may have missed where I had written that My Thai bank Siam City Bank charged me 220 baht

Jim