Roy Jing

Thanks Samran and KhaoNiaw,

The information in your posts are much appreciated.

Roy

I am so p#ssed off at the way my wife was treated by Immigration that I had to ring her again and get more details of exactly what happened to her on her arrival at Phuket.

She said that she explained to the head Honcho on duty, precisely what her circumstances were in regards to her having a new Thai passport and an Australian passport but she was told that you cannot have 2 passports and that she would have to choose between being Thai or Australian.

She chose Australian, so she had to refill out her arrival form in English instead of Thai.

Needless to say she is as angry as I am about the situation but there is nothing that you can do about it except grin and bare it as TIT...

Just a bit of an update on the 2 passport question.

My wife wanted to go on a holiday to visit her family in Nakhon Si Thammarat so I bought her a return ticket from Sydney to Phuket flying direct with Jetstar.

Normally when we go to Thailand for holidays she uses her Australian passport ( she has dual nationality - Thai and Australian) as we are only there for 2 or 3 weeks at a time so the 30 day entry stamp is sufficient for us.

This time however she will be away for 35 days so I told her to use both passports to avoid having to apply for visas.

We noticed that her current Thai passport was about to expire so she applied at the Royal Thai Consulate in Sydney for a new one. When we went back to pick up the new passport my wife asked the Thai staff about using both her Thai and Australian passport for travel. She was told that they could not advise her on that. She mentioned that I had read on forums that it was very common for people to travel on 2 passports but again she was told that they could not advise her and that it was up to her what she chose to do.

My wife flew back to Thailand yesterday. At Sydney airport we showed both passports at check-in and there was no dramas.

I have just rung up my wife this morning to see if she got home alright and she told me that at Phuket Airport they would not let her use her Thai passport as it had no stamp in it saying that she had been in Australia.She explained that she was both a Thai and Aus citizen and that her original passport that had a visa to enter Australia was 20 years ago and had long since expired. She told them that this new passport was issued from the Consulate in Sydney.

She was taken to see one of the head officers at Immigration who happened to come from Nakhon also, and as pleasant as he was, said that she would have to use her Australian passport and she would need to apply for an extension in Nakhon town to cover the extra days.

I will get the more complete version of this story when my wife comes back to Aus but for those of you who think that you can definately use 2 passports maybe you should think again, it may not be the case.

Roy

South - Thanks for the directions. Much appreciated

Roy

I know this question has been asked in the past but I am after some more recent experiences.

Does anyone know of a good Dentist in or around Surat Thani ( not Samui ) or preferably Nakhon Si Thammarat.

Thanks

Can somebody please give me in Thai script the translation for the professions of :

1.Chiropractor

2.Physiotherapist

Thanks

Thanks for the info everyone, much appreciated.

Roy

Can anybody tell me approximately what the exchange rate for Australian Dollar Notes to Thai Baht is at the moment from money exchanges in Thailand.

Thanks

Maybe it's a typo for สถาปนิก - architect.

Katana,

Yes the spelling was wrong. I thought it was something like architect so thanks very much for confirming it. Much appreciated

Roy

Can someone please explain what สถาปะนิก is. Thanks

Roy

Great shots Mozi.....Keep em coming

Thai south word I believe:

lahk tdahn (no idea of the spelling) --its a superlative meaning really or very. ie rohn lahk tdahn--really hot. In a semi-crass but not quite rude sort of way

**edit*** just found out from my husband, this is a word used on the islands; Samui, Phangan and Tao and not in use on the mainland.

sbk,

You will find that these words are most definately used on the mainland. My wife is from Nakhon Si Thammarat and it is used there. We have friends and family from Surat and Chumpon and they all use that word as well.

Keep in mind that if she is bored she might cheat on you(With a zillion english men), you have to think of the worst sometimes, I suggest bring her there first to see if she likes it, dont force her to go if she doesnt like it, if she says shes likes it or wants to try then by all means go, Id keep a hidden camera at home though for security....

DragonQuest what the <deleted> are you talking about. Why would you assume that if someone is bored with where they are living that they would automatically want to cheat on their partner with a zillion people of the opposite sex. Sorry if it's happened to you, but get over it and let other people enjoy their lives. As for the Op your wife can always read the Thai newspapers on the internet each day and as others have mentioned Thai Global Network has a satellite tv that is free to air once you purchase the dish and receiver. Not sure of the price in the UK but in Aus it is only about $300

Roy

why oh why dont one of or all of the big 4 make a trail bike ? its beyond me, if i were the marketing manger id jump right on it,.bizzare,.

I'm with you 100% on that. With all the dirt roads and farms around, a trail bike is the ideal type of bike.

BTW 20 years ago Honda had a trail bike on the market here in Thailand called MT-X 125cc. They were a watercooled ( if memory serves me correct ) 2 stroke , heaps of fun to ride, but they stopped selling them for some reason.

Don't know why there isn't a 4 stroke version around now.

Roy

I'm with you on this one Dan Sai Kid. It bloody irritates me.

My wife has been living in Australia for about 17 years and she understands english quite well, yet I still hear people talking to her in pidgeon english, including some of our best friends.

When I have asked our friends why they speak like this they have replied that they were unaware they were doing it.

Maybe they are subconsciously copying the way that she speaks as I know she does leave out some little words in her sentences. They might think it is easier for her to understand,but as you mentioned I wish they wouldn"t speak this way, as it only makes mastering the language that more difficult.

Roy

How about.. "The Overseas Thai Community" ?

totster

Sounds like a good name to me.

I hope a new sub-forum does start up, as there should be plenty of people around with good information to share that might help make life in a new country a little bit easier for Thai people.

Roy

staffbull,

Wow, what a beautiful little Staffy you've got. Absolutely stunning. Sure hope you succeed in getting him into Thailand as I would hate to have to leave such a great dog behind.

Roy

staffbull,

I can't answer any of your questions but I will say good luck and hope you succeed.

Staffies are the most loving and affectionate dogs you can get towards all people. They are only capable of licking someone to death but unfortunately they do appear to be grouped in with Pit Bulls and Am Staffs and people are afraid of them.

I remember buying our Staffy 9 years ago( Australia ) and friends of our said that we were crazy getting such a savage breed of dog seeing as we had young children, but I had done alot of research into dog breeds and I kept finding the same comments about Staffys being 10 out 10 for loving people.

Our Staffy and every staffy I have seen has been just that, people friendly dogs.

Anyway, I'm sure you know all of this already so once again best of luck and please let us know how you get on.

Roy

Leisurely - We've just finished our dinner using you recipe for the pepper gravy. Very nice indeed. Even our 2 teenage kids gave it the nod of approval. Thanks again.

Sceadugenga - Yeah, I like the green pepper corns also. Guess I'm a bit different as I'm the young husband with the older wife and don't really need any help with the pepper corns as mentioned by your wife. Ha ha

Steve W - Thanks for your recipe. I'll definately be trying it next time. If I wasn't so full at the moment I'd be back in the kitchen right now. Sounds good.

Roy

Chop an onion finely and cook it over a gentle heat until done, add 4-8 tablespoons of crushed peppercorns and stir them around. Then you can either sling in some brandy, red wine or stock and reduce it. It is up to you if you add cream or not - depends on how virtuous you are feeling.

An alternative is a jar of (?chinese) pepper sauce. You can put a tablespoon of that into a frying pan and then add fluid and cream to taste. The ready made stuff is pretty good and saves fannying around when you are busy. The jar is about 12cm tall and has a red lid I think.

I can feel pepper steak coming on for tea

Thanks leisurely. That'll be going on my scotch fillet tonight and there will be no holding back on the cream.

Roy

I need help in making a tasty pepper sauce or gravy that goes with steak. I am assuming that there would be lots on the internet but I would prefer something that is tried and tested by some of you TV foodies, so if anyone can give me their secret recipe it would be much appreciated.

Roy

Does anyone know the ideal spacing that makhua puang would be planted if grown commercially? We've got a few in our garden in Sydney and in 6 months they have grown from nothing to 2.5 metres high and are spreading out 2 - 3 metres in all directions.

Should these plants be pruned to try and encourage more dense foliage, or just left to grow on there own, as we have done?

Roy

Just been informed by the wife that the term " nai hua" is not only used for elderly Thai/Chinese wealthy business people but can also be used for Thai people in certain circumstances.

Roy

Why don’t a few members(if you’re curious) on this forum go and ask their thai wife on the meaning of the word “nai haang” and report back? Just to prove my point that the word refers to/or describes a person with considerable wealth (med-old age men) in general, doesn’t matter which decent.

I just asked my wife about the meaning of "nai haang" and she said that she has only ever heard it refering to Thais of Indian decent, never Chinese. She also said that she comes from southern Thailand and that it could be possible that people from other parts of Thailand do use this term for Thai/Chinese.

Down south she would use the words "Nai Hua" for elderly Thai/Chinese business people.

Roy

Leae/purchase is not a concept that is legal for a foreigner here. I have looked at purchasing up to 70 rai of producing rubber via the Ms. The economics just don't add up to a good ROI.

All pricing etc. is based on my location in Eastern Thailand.

Today #1 liquid latex is selling at 71 Baht/kilo. The family is getting about 10 kilo per rai on a good day. They have only cut 4 out the last ten days. #1 liquid latex has been as low as 45B per kilo within the last 12 months and as high as 92 I think.

They do all their own tapping and hauling. If your not 'into' rubber you will have to pay someone to do it for you at what used to be 40% gross. Now that number is as high as 60% in some areas due to no one wants to cut rubber for small money. The days of the really poor doing this as an employee are gone sorry to say.

They already own the land so there is no expense involved there. The 'maintenance' is several bags of fert per ria per year not extravagant. The cleaning and maintaining of the brush/grass and overall trimming etc can be had for roughly 100B/day.

You can only cut 'in season' when the tree can stand it. i.e not when budding etc. When cutting the tree must get rest every 4th or 5th day depending on a lot of factors. Yeilds can range from 5 kilo per day to 12 kilo per day per rai. of course depending on tree status, rain, soil etc.

Can't cut when it has rained heavily that day or if its currently raining. Hmmm rubber grows best in areas with high rainfall. I figured out, using the families experience, that on average they cut between 185 and 210 days a year.

SiL just sold off 18 rai of rubber trees for approx. 1MM baht. Now its clearing time, excavator, layout, weeding cutting brush etc. getting ready to plant prior to the coming rainy season. Total cost probably around 30K Baht as a lot of the work was done with family helping out.

Using the averages of pricing mentioned above:

#1 latex = 67 Baht / kilo

rubber tapper at 50% = 33 Baht / kilo

Gross /day = 34 Baht / kilo multiply by # of rai - X

X times the number of days 196 = annual gross.

Using a 20 ria plot that comes out to 133,280 Baht per year. (take out the rubber cutters salary and it doubles)

now deal with the 'maintenance'/ fertilizer issues probably less than 20,000 Baht.

When your trees get to be 30 - 35 years old they will not produce quality sap and its time to replace. You get the 1 MM baht but then you have to replant and then wait 7 years for start up production.

OK so you say those numbers aren't accurate... hmmm figure I'm off 20% either way that's Ok

A return of 150,000 Baht does not give me a return I'm interested in.

I have not looked at the site you posted so if they are giving the land away and charging actual cutter costs without any add-on fees then I might be interested..

All of the above is my personal observation of 1 family. They have mulitple sources of income since rubber can't hack it. They also do a lot of fruit.

Rgds

Bt

Btate,

You have stated that your family gets 10kg of rubber per Rai on a good day in one sentence , and in another sentence between 5kg and 12kg of rubber per Rai per day.

Correct me if I'm wrong but your calculations appear to be worked out on only getting 1kg of rubber per Rai per day and not between 5 and 12 kg per day.

Therefore I think your numbers should be more like this:

34baht (33 has gone to tapper) x 5 (kilo per rai - using your smallest number) x 20 ( No. of rai ) x 196 ( days cut ) = 666,400 baht not 133,280 baht as you thought.I would think your figures are at the very least 500% off the mark and not 20%

Hope this helps.

Roy