carpediem

This now poses a bigger problem for the Israelis, US and Britian. I don't expect they will sit idly by and let this guy plot his own course.

WHAT???????????

jd - yours is obviously an unpopular stance.

It is revealing and disheartening to see the consternation among so many farang that a Sonthi should be a muslim. The thais suffer no such animosities. Though like most countries they resist separatist movements. (Spain-basques; Italy-south tyrol; and many others outside europe have/had these problems). Intelligent people seem unable to distinguish separatist, nationalist, ethnic conflicts from 'muslim' - whereas they have no such difficulty when the movement is made up of non-muslims; for example these days there are the tamils fighting the (buddhist) sri lankan government. Yes it's disheartening - and it tends to confirm to the islamic world the west's prejudice or hypocrisy.

lopburi, is a credit slip from the bank showing the remittance enough, or must one obtain a formal letter on this point from the bank?

lopburi3, thanks for the clarification. i'll make a note of the info for action when my non immigration o is in its last month. i assume it can all be done quickly on the day.

maybe i can make an initial attempt to do this at the office convenient to me and if it doesn't work let them advize me of the appropriate place. i assume if i did need an address verification this document can be obtained 'on the spot' - but at a different office from the immigration office? (i expect to be in a rented house in chiang mai at the relevant time. if you live in chiang mai, perhaps you could you tell me roughly where this office is - i could check on this point with them in advance.)

appreciate the advice.

hurricane, thanks but your advice presumed I was american - which i'm not. british.

if i may hop on this thread for info on a slightly different situation.

i have a multiple entry non immigrant o visa which i obtained in march. i am of retirement age.

can i apply for a retirement visa at any immigration office? i am presently in rented accommodation near pakchong - in a month or two hope to move to rented accommodation in chiang mai. i'd like to deal with an immigration office in chiang mai which may be more familiar with these matters.

questions

- must one apply at the office local to one's address, or is address and/or proof of address not a document needed for this purpose?

- other than the proof of 800k baht from overseas & doc's cert is there something more i should prepare?

- presumably it is to my advantage to wait until nearer the date of expiry of my current visa before applying, since my visa has the authorization for multiple entries and i do expect to be going out at least once before its expiry.

i don't doubt that i could get this information by an assiduous search but perhaps the helpful & clearly knowledgeable contributors could provide me this short cut.

thanks a lot.

cd

Not so suitable for a car but heard great things on a new place in Ratchadamnoen Soi 1.

This one : http://www.minicostcm.com/

Another great example of a place calling itself a guesthouse, but actually being closer to a small / boutique hotel. Nice eh?

It's less suitable if you have a car because parkign in Ratchdamnoen Soi 1 would be nightmarish at best. If you have a car however you can stay just about anywhere out of the way of course. Still, Top North Hotel (not to be confused with Top North Guesthouse) has a good parking lot I think.

Cheers,

Chanchao

chanchao

thanks a lot. the minicost site gives no info on prices or the variety of rooms - i've emailed them for this info just now.

am going to google for top north hotel too and look into that.

so far i've found that the vuanghua mansions gives me all i want (including even a kitchen which will obviate a bit of expense and hassle occasionally); the flora apartments look ok, but i've asked about internet connexions, and if they're not good it'll rule that out. if the minicostcom is much cheaper i might go for it - i say much because the vuanghua gives me a an exercise room too (as well as the kitchen and big room).

yes i'd happily take a place out of town - with my car and so on - if i can save money. do you know of a suitable place for a month or so? but in any case, thanks for passing on the info you have already.

Skimming through this thread I saw no recommendation for a implant dentist, that being what I was looking for. Can anyone provide such a recommendation - and their current (total) cost for each implant?

cd

50-60 thou is the price generally quoted. But dont ask me to recommend an implant dentist as that price is way out of my league.

thanks for the info. but have just noticed a casual reference earlier in this thread to a muchhigher figure (90,000 - which would make it more expensive by far than in paris).

i'm hoping still that someone who has had an implant (even perhaps two) may see my plea for a recommendation and info and will take the trouble to respond. i'd really be very grateful. many many thanks.

Gary,

Tahnks for the info - I assume it was a vey recent check your friend did on the work going on. I just sent cbre the agents an email to confirm all is in order.

I'm a buyer of a condo in the project. My intention was not to live in it but to use it as an investment to generate rental income. (I would rather live in a rented house in the Chiang Mai area.) As you may know the Sails condos are pricey - 100k a sq m for the v high floors, and I'm not rich enough to be that extravagant. My thinking was that with the linked building to be a luxury Meridien hotel with the inevitable facilities, restaurants, etc (the condo block itself is pretty well provided for anyway) there could be good prospects for decent income from renters - maybe families - who wanted a non hotel let but without losing the benefits of a hotel.

cd

I was wondering if anyone got the true story on The Sails situation - really cancelled, or was that a crazy rumour passed on by djinn?

Thanks for that.

Lots of people advize looking for oneself and not through agents - advice I intend to follow, unless it leads me nowhere for a good while. In general are most houses on agents' websites also available to me directly if I find them, or is there an exclusivity commitment by the landlord to the agent?

Once I start driving around, looking, I may have more questions - hope I can return to this thread with them then.....next month, as I'm out of Thailand just now.

Want to come to find a place to rent - about 2+ years to start with, and this site seems to have lots of very helpful info. If anyone would trouble to add anything to adapt it for a prospective renter - instead of a buyer - I'd be very grateful. I'd want 2/3 bedrooms, within 10/15 minutes drive of CM, fitness room, connectability to adsl - as much else as was available. I could go to 15000 or a bit more a month.

If nothing else I'd appreciate suggestions of where I should best drive around to look; I'll have a thai speaker with me too.

Thanks a lot.

cd

May I revive this one? Coming to CM to look around and I hope identify a house to rent long term. Am looking for a hotel/guest house. Priorities are charm (hotel and location), size of the room and connectability tointernet for my lap top. It doesn't have to be central as I'll have my car. I anticipate staying a fortnight or so - first time to CM and want to get a feel for it and environs. Thanks

cd

As an extension of this query - I expect soon to be a newcomer to CM - will I need to go through a procedure to have the address on the thai license changed once I've got an address in CM? Is there a time limit - ie maybe I could do it when I go for the 5 year extension next year?

Sorry to revive this apparently tired topic of driving license.

cd

Skimming through this thread I saw no recommendation for a implant dentist, that being what I was looking for. Can anyone provide such a recommendation - and their current (total) cost for each implant?

cd

presumably there are - from the outset - the normal arrangements for being met and driven home privately, ie a car park and easy, not too distant, walk between it and the terminal. if it's a question of taking a shuttle to the car park it's going to be a pain.

Poor Man's A/C -

Get a fan and point it at you.

Pay 20 baht and get yourself a spray bottle (you know, like one of those that you spray your houseplants with?)

Fill with water

Spray yourself (with a fine mist) about once every 10 minutes.

Almost as effective as A/C without the high power consumption :-)

I come from the UK, where it's cold most of the year. Living in CM with my spray bottle when indoors is really tolerable and quite comfortable, even in the hot season. My Thai friends think it's pretty amusing!

Frak

U must be joking!! hehehe u made me laugh a lot...hehe ting tong..

that fine spray thing is precisely what is happening in many a parisian cafe in chic areas. i experienced one on st germain des pres a few days ago - yes it was pretty hot. the french like to think they're clever, cool, et al. - would hate to think themselves ting tong. (not known for laughing at themselves at all...)

of course the spray idea is centries old. i think.

me i don't like a/c except in very very extreme conditions of humidity.

cd

this query in soem form inevitably recurs - even so i'm surprized at the help that does turn up. so here goes.

i want to find a thai style house equipped with modern amenities (bathroom, internet, et al) to rent for up to 2 years - though i would consider also something else if it has character and isn't replicated in large numbers in a compound. i don't need umpteen bedrooms - but the more floor space, land, trees, view the better.

i can pay up to 20 000 baht a month - if i have to, for just the right place - but would be much happier to keep it well below that. i can accept sparse furniture as i will buy furniture which i can use later in my own place which i foresee owning in due course.

i haven't been to chiang mai before - though i have been living some 6 months near khao yai. i will have my car to drive around in. i want to plan a modus operandi to make best use of my time.

1) a decent out of town guest house - even if not with internet. don't need to pay in city rates for my present puposes.

2) shall i not bother with agents for a few days, and simply drive around myself in area outside town? if i draw a blank i can then go to the agents. (people suggest that one can usually do that in thailand and get a better deal thereby.) i'll have a thai speaker with me.

3) is my budget generous, easy etc? or tight for what i want? is there much negotiation on quoted rent?

4) can anyone recommend a guesthouse outside the city, and perhaps in a direction where houses i'm looking for will be found?

5) can anyone recommend an agent for when/if i do need to fall back on one?

i don't want to make this email any longer. if anyone has any comment on any of these (or other logical) steps, i'll be very grateful.

cd

it's probably not the thread - and maybe untactful - to ask the question, but how does one find/buy fish in thailand that isn't farmed?

i'm not a fetishist about it but sometimes would be happy to pay a little more to eat wild fish.

cd

farangsay, i'd be interested to know which site you use. i use govoyages.fr and assumed there were no others in paris worth looking for.

tiesto, i'm curious as what qatar airways said to you about this question. (i've bought a one way ticket with them too.)

cd