grain

VN GuestHouse looks very nice, I particularly like the look of that balcony photo looking over the river. Many thanks for your recommendation, it's certainly one I'm considering.

Cheers Salerno, I usually have motoring holidays in Thailand. I guess not having the car on this one we'll need stay at a resort close, like the one you recommend, so we can walk.

Looks very nice and price is good, thanks for the recommendation.

Many thanks everyone for your recommendations and links, you've all been very helpful. Salerno mentioned transportation, and this is something that concerns me a little. We do have a car but my wife isn't a very experienced driver so she won't be driving into BKK (from Korat), she'll take a van in to meet me, so if we go to Kanchanaburi we won't have our own transportation. So I guess we'll be better staying close to the river but close to the town as well. Anyway, thanks again everyone, I still have a couple of weeks to check out those links and make a choice, but I now have some good recommendations.

I'll fly into BKK near end Feb, my wife will meet me there and after spending first night at a hotel in BKK, I'd like us to go somewhere nice for a few nights but not too far away from BKK. Don't want to go to Pattaya or HuaHin but thinking Kanchanaburi would be good. A peaceful riverside resort with river view would be nice, or one of those raft houses. If possible I wouldn't want to be too far out of the town as we'd probably like to go into the town in the evenings for dinner and a walk around. So does anyone have any recommendations for nice places to stay for a few nights? Nothing too pricey, maybe 1500Bt a night max.

Thanks Encid, when I get the tank and pump installed I'll also probably get some filtration installed with it, at the same time...not for drinking but for other general use, taking a sample for testing is a good idea. Does anyone know if there's a similar service to test water and recommend filtration in Korat?

Thank you unheard, for the links...very helpful. And thank you Stevemercer for your very useful post above. All this information is very helpful for me. I think it's best if I wait until I return and then get it all sorted, but now I have a very clear idea of what's involved. Thanks again.

I'm currently on holiday in Australia and won't return to Korat until mid-March. I spoke with tirak yesterday and she has already gone ahead and bought a new replacement pump for her well, she's now just waiting for one of the local guys to come and connect it up. So the well-pump-filter idea has now been dropped. However, I'm very interested in the idea of installing a 2000 litre water tank and connecting a 250watt pump. This whole idea seems the ideal solution to me. As I'm not currently in Thailand, could you, and any others please, show me some links to the type of water talk and the type of pumps I should be considering. Perhaps links to Thaiwatsadu, or MegaHome or Do Home, or any similar store, so I can check out my options and do some costing.

Yes this is a good idea, and something I'll look into further.

Thanks everybody for your replies, and thanks Muhendis for the link. I'm looking around online for more info & prices. I don't know how deep the bore is, or if it has any pvc lining, I seriously doubt it has any lining as it's a cheapo set up just to water her garden. But where she lives the main water supply is very unreliable, and often you turn on the tap and there's no water, so I'm thinking if I can get her a good pump and some filtration, then the water from her bore could be used for general household use as well as the garden. All our drinking water gets delivered in big plastic bottles, plus we buy packs from Lotus's, so it's only general household use that we'll need the water from the bore for.

Tirak's plot of land in rural Korat, she has a bore with a cheap pump (think it cost her 2000 Bt) that she used to water her crops, anyway the pump has now broken so I want her to replace it with a better quality and more powerful pump. Also the water that came from the bore was full of sand and impurities, so I'd like to get her a pump that has some water filtration, so it can remove the sand and dirt and purify the water somewhat...obviously not purify enough for drinking but enough so the water is clean enough to wash in and use for washing clothes. So any suggestions or recommendations for us?

Pathetic little spoilt twit.

Years ago I was given Tramadol by a dentist after a tooth extraction, lovely stuff, back home I curled up in a warm fuzzy ball, scratching away. Then after I used what the dentist gave me I happened to spot a box of Tram on a pharmacy shelf, so got some more. Fast forward a few years and I was an addict. I did 2 detoxes in Australian drug & alcohol centers. Anyway, I've been off it for years now, over 10 years. The withdrawals were terrible, horrible muscle spasms in my legs. Glad to be finished with that.

I've been in and out of Thailand since 1978, I've been on tourist visas, non-imm visas, marriage exts, retirement exts, I've had WPs, and I've entered without any kind of visa and got 30-day stamps. And in 44 years I've never overstayed a minute, not once.

Why don't you go to the nearest IT shop and get one of the Thais to sort it out, that's what I'd do, one of those Thai techs will fix the issue in no time. Probably cost a couple hundred baht.

English mate of mine lives in Savannakhet reports the following: I walked past Thai Consulate about 9.30am-ish. There must have been close to 200 people queing. On the way back 1hr later, still over 100. Not many falangs, maybe 20-ish. The rest looked Korean. There were 10 mini buses parked up for them. Now it closes at 11am. No way would they get processed in time. On Friday not 1 person was there. Because that meant, you had to spend 3 nights in Savannakhet.

Can understand how some dumb farang who doesn't know the ropes can get stomped for not trying to nick off without paying his bill, but you'd think all Thai men would have a clear understanding of the consequences.

Why on earth would he go to the Thalang Police Station and notify them of his lottery win? Unless he wanted some extra security, I can't think of any reason to notify the cops.

When I first saw the heading for this thread I thought it read: Bat Guano Sauce. I thought what the heck, then took a 2nd closer look. ????

RIP.

Aren't there any IT experts in Australia smart enough to get into the dark web and bring it down, wipe all those posts of the Medibank records?

Koh Samui, there are some Russians at a bar at Koh Samui who can help you out. I read something about it last week.

I nearly got caught on a COD scam that was on FB. A brand new Sony camera, latest model, a special promotion price of around 3-4K Bt. I entered thinking what the hell it's COD, I got nothing to lose, then a couple weeks later I got a phone call from a delivery man saying they had my parcel and there was 3-4K Bt to pay. I thought WOW how lucky I got one of those Sony cameras, I'm a lucky SOB. But when the parcel came it was too small and too light, so I was suspicious. The delivery man said I could not have a look a check it out first, had to pay the money then I could open it. He advised me against it, and said it could be a plastic toy or a cake of soap, I'd I'd be out of pocket a few thousand baht. So there are lots of these COD scams going on. Be careful.

I live out in the boonies of Korat, I see Thais wearing masks while riding their motorcycles on empty country roads, not another person around. I've seen them driving alone in passing cars wearing masks. I think masks have now become like their Buddhist amulets. It wouldn't surprise me if some even wear their masks while they sleep.

One of the tricks to surviving a long time in Thailand is mind your own business and stay well away from trouble and street fights. If you are old and don't know how to handle yourself in a street fight and you see trouble brewing then walk away fast, in the opposite direction.