klikster

Loei is a very nice province and Mukdahan also. A nice drive would be to drive to Chiang Khan in Loei province the first night and then follow the Khon River to Ubon. Take a few days and enjoy the sights.

Good idea. The first day trip to Chiang Khan is a bit long. I would suggest going south to Uttaradit, then east to Sirikit Dam and down the border road to Ban Ahee and then Loei, or alternatively, go from Uttaradit across to Chattrakan, Nakorn Thai, Dansai, Phu Rua, and Loei. If you're not too choosy, you can stay in most of these places overnight (except Dansai at the time of the Ghost Festival).

Good advice. An overnight at the EGAT guest house maybe .. beautiful gardens around the EGAT complex. Nice little golf course as well.

^ PM sent.

^ If you were 90+, sick and wheelchair bound, not getting care, would you want ".. anyone butting into your life" -- "anyone", being a friend?

as for 3rd hand information/gossip -- delete that on TV and the site damn near disappears.

"As for the website (other forum name removed), indeed there are some old dogs highjacking each and every thread, and turn it into a battleground."

+1

Caveat: This is 3rd hand information/gossip. There is apparently a 90+ year old man currently living in a mooban in T. Sila, U. Muang who is in bad shape. Don't know nationality. Living with/married to Thai with several of her children. He is wheel-chair bound and possibly getting questionable care.

If this man sounds like a friend of yours, it might be a good idea to check on him.

If you will PM me and IDENTIFY yourself and include telephone contact, I will try to get more and more accurate information, but I can't guarantee it.

PLEASE don't sermonize this thread!

The US Embassy in BKK has a regular schedule for a number of cities in Isaan. It's a great service, saved me 2 trips to BKK.

I hope you are not planning to make that trip during Songkran week. Besides a possible shortage of vehicles for hire, the road trip would be tedious.

".. didnt read any of it , just skimmed through looking at the pictures .."

Is this why so many expats come to Thailand .. then complain?

The gent I referenced in post #13 has been doing this work for more than 35 years. Besides speaking outstanding English and being registered, he has contacts in BKK that carry documents to MFA. His telephone contact is on his web site.

If you are using a Lawyer in Chiang Rai , it is better to take a Thai with you as some lawyers spoken English isnt so great ,

Not if you contact K Virisak >> thaimarriagevisa dot com .. lives in Chiang Rai, speaks perfect English, has translation license ..

If your location allows it, solar heat can be a good option.

You would then heat a stored amount of oil which then heats water on demand through a heat exchanger.

Or you could use a boiler type that stores heated water.

You would then only need a electrical heater when it is not sufficient in volume or temperature.

Initial costs are higher. Solar heat is a lot cheaper then solar photo voltaic for electricity.

I'm thinking very seriously about solar heating since my future carport has a southerly exposure.

Many moons ago I acted as the "mechanical and fabrication guy" for a buddy (heat transfer specialist then working at Fluor Corp) designing solar panels for his own house.

The transparent/translucent cover is apparently very important in making sure the best wavelengths of light get to the surface of the exchanger. I believe he used Lexan (GE), which is a polycarbonate .. but I'm not sure if all transparent polycarbonates are equal. For sure, not all transparent materials are equal.

Also, tubes or plates in open air lose a lot of heat to both natural and forced convection. I may go with plate style exchangers since tube types lose a lot of "area" benefit if reflector type concentrators are not used.

But I'm not willing to fiddle with oil for any number of reasons. Basically, the main benefit of oil as a transfer media is that it has a much higher boiling point than water. Heat transfer rate of water is much better than oil.

I doubt any single method is efficient enough going from line to storage to shower. But storing 50 or 60 degree C. water is not all that difficult, and running that through even a small gas heater can boost the effective rating significantly.

As far as photo-voltaic, okay (for me) for smaller direct electric devices like yard lights, etc .. but nothing heavy duty.

Lucky Flame imports Rinnai gas demand heaters, 26 & 32 l/m from Bt 35k to 50Khttp://www.luckyflame.co.th/products/electric-shower.html

I went to Ubon Gas in Ubon Ratchathani. They called Lucky Flame and were told that they don't have them for sale any longer. I can see from your link on their web page that they show some products. How recent is your information?

Also, I believe the Rheem dealer in BKK has tank style gas heaters .. actually, not a bad way to go by putting the heater in a "closet" adjacent to the house with the flue outside.

Lucky Flame imports Rinnai gas demand heaters, 26 & 32 l/m from Bt 35k to 50K

http://www.luckyflame.co.th/products/electric-shower.html

I've benefited from 2 of these visits, first in Korat, then in Khon Kaen. I don't think it hurts to let the folks from the embassy know how much the outreach program is appreciated.

Per what JLCrab said, although arriving early, I struggled with the forms. Things took awhile because writing freehand has become a nearly impossible task for me. Turns out that many of the forms can be completed online then printed.

I now have a printer.

Version 25.0.1364.97 m

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Hackers are exploiting a previously unknown and currently unpatched vulnerability in the latest version of Java to surreptitiously infect targets with malware, security researchers said Thursday night.

The critical vulnerability is being exploited to install a remote-access trojan dubbed McRat, researchers from security firm FireEye warned. The attacks work against Java versions 1.6 Update 41 and 1.7 Update 15, which are the latest available releases of the widely used software. The attack is triggered when people with a vulnerable version of the Java browser plugin visit a website that has been booby-trapped with attack code. FireEye researchers Darien Kindlund and Yichong Lin said the exploit is being used against "multiple customers" and that they have "observed successful exploitation."

The security of Java is reaching near-crisis levels as reports of new in-the-wild exploits have become an almost weekly occurrence over the past few months.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/another-java-zero-day-exploit-in-the-wild-actively-attacking-targets/

My wife has been here in Texas for 4 years now. We lived together in Bangkok for a couple years as well prior to her moving here. Her mother and father are pretty poor farmers in Si Saket, yet they never really ask for money. I think I've sent them maybe 10k THB since she's been here. I guess I'm lucky in that regard. I do pay for her niece's private school in Chaing Mai which is like 10k THB a semester. We're saving to go back and live in Isaan somewhere, in about 5-6 years. Funny thing is she wants to stay here in the U.S. and I don't. I actually hate it here. It's a good place to make money, and that's about it.

She's adjusted pretty well. She is now a U.S. citizen, has her driver's license , and a regular job.

As your wife is a US Citizen and working, consider fulfilling her SSA time requirements. That pension will go a long way in Si Saket.

over the 6 years in Thaivisa i have privately advised a number of persons in financial matters, but not before receiving answers for the questions i asked. even then i was utmost careful regarding my suggestions by pointing out possible risks and shortcomings.

Yup. Thanks, Naam!

dominique355,

Thanks for your helpful response. Very much appreciated.

Can you give an 'order of magnitude' for the cost?

Preface: I know about various intellectual property rights violations in Thailand and request that those issues not be discussed in this thread.

I got to thinking about something today and a few questions popped into my head. This is not about copyright.

1 - Is it possible to get a patent issued in Thailand?

2 - If a patent is issued here will it be recognized internationally, and can it be enforced internationally?

3 - I presume that international enforcement outside Thailand would be extremely expensive, but how about violations that extend into Thailand?

Maybe try using Google?

I wonder, if 3G ever showed up in the area, if the same unit would then get an even faster connection.

10k plus monthly costs seems a lot for 2.5 Mb, but currently I only get around 180k so I am considering this.

AIR, the initial costs and fee seems similar to a CAT program I had several years back, and also similar to TRUE's dongle and service .. and I don't believe either provided 2.5 MB. On both systems, speed was variable.

Comparably, my IPStar was on the order of Bt 2,500 / mo.

kwonitoy, as someone who suffered with IPStar for 3 miserable years, congratulations!!!

I raise a virtual glass of bubbly in celebration.

Isan spelt many different ways seems to be the most dangerous are of Thailand in my opinion for being "taken for a ride" Something in the genes up in that area. Of course there are few exceptions to every rule. You may be one of them. I am a contractor and all the people that I know married to Thais from this area seem to spending huge sums of money supporting extended families back in LOS.

Maprao, you are posting generalized derogatory claims in the Isaan forum about wives and families of any number of us. What an insulting thing to do. Perhaps your words show your true character?

Sorry to have caused offense this was not my intention. I apologize. However all the guys I work with, with wives from this area, send in excess of $3000 US (monthly) back home to "help" their families back in LOS. I send money as and when asked to do so. But there is a limit. Maybe I just have a cluster around me. Like I said it was only my observation based on my experience. No offense intended to you or any other people who are the exception to what I have seen People get taken for a ride where I live (part time) also.

Thank you.

I appreciate most of your posts Semper but whats with everyone assuming Issan families are rife with blugers?

My wife has 2 brothers, 1 is a chef at Novotel in BKK and the other has a shop in CM.

As for our house in Issan, its for our daughter.

How about personal observation?

How about a distant family member shoving a hand palm upwards in front of your face, not so much as a wai or any attempt to communicate, they wouldnt dare try that shit with another Thai.

How about family being offered work that they turn down?

It sounds like you may have lost control of your situation and feel the need to vent about it.