honoluludave

NellyP

I have been unable to catch up w/ my uncle-in-law this weekend. Will keep trying. I am guessing from the school comment, that you are working at one of the schools. They should be able to help you find a proper place to stay. HD

There are a number of used car dealers on rt 221 to Kantharalak. Also on rt226 going toward Kanthararom before you get to Tesco & Marko is a Chevy dealer. Sorry I can't help you w/ a place to rent. Don't know of any. But will ask my uncle-in-law tonight. HD

The thai goverment does not provide trash pick up. You must pay for it if it is avaible in your village. It is only 30 baht a month. For many years we did not have trash service and the only way to get rid of the garbage was to burn it. Anything that was able to sell at the recycle place was saved (botles, paper, cardboard). Not the most enviromental friendly practice but they even still do it in places in the USA.

Fairly common in this part of Issan. They will make an annoucement on the big speakers and a short time later some guy w/ a fogger pack on his back comes by and sprays everybody's home. Happens about twice a year. Not sure what the guy is spraying but I am sure that paper dust mask the guy is wearing is not sufficent to protect him

I know you said you did not want to take a bus. But Nakonchai Air has a non stop that goes to SiSaket. It takes about 7 hours and has good seats with plenty of leg room. The only problem is that the bus is always full and you must buy your ticket well in advance.

I have lived in the next town over called Khu Khan for 5 years now.I spend about 6 months at sea and 6 months at home and enjoy living out in Issan. Khu Han is a nice quiet little farm town. They have a nice private swimming pool that we take all the kids to. When you get married and it has to be an offical one at the Amphur office. Take the certificate and get it translated. I do not remember what IRS form it was (my tax guy got it for me). You will need to have your wife sign the IRS form also. Send the IRS form, copy of your marrage certificat and the translation. And you will get a Taxpayer Id Number. Don't know anything about divorces have not done that one. Enjoy your stay in Issan when you make it out here. Honolulu Dave

From Si Saket you can take the Nakonchai Air Bus to Bangkok for (if I remember right) 480 bht. It takes 7 hours and it is a non-stop. It leaves SiSaket at 0915 & 2115 everyday. It gets into Bangkok at 415 am & pm. Then for 1800 bht you can hire a taxi to take you to Hua Hin. Which takes 3 hours.

I just renewed my USA passport and my (unexpired) non-O visa was in my old passport. I showed immigration both passports and they gave me an entrance visa in my new passport. No problems or questions

Several things come to mind reading this story

1. After all the storys about King Power why even go into their stores? Why take the chance that a scam may happen? They may have some nice stuff but are you really saving that much money buying it there?

2. If they really did steal something what difference does it make if it was daytime or nighttime?

3. Why would any parent let their 16 year old daughter travel internationally w/ her 21 year old boyfriend? It is not so much the age difference but the maturity, life experience, and common sense needed for international travel. Plus she is a little young to be on a 10 day holiday on her own.

Slight miss understanding, the big thai trucks where being turned back. But farangs were still going through

Uncle-in-law just came back from the border crossing in Pu Sing, SiSaket and said that it was closed to both Thai and Frang. Do not have more info than that. Except that he had been going throught that border crossing for the last 15 days delivering bricks with no problems before

Some useful info to pass on to anyone. Had gone into Si Saket to do some errands. Stop by the Tesco Lotus there and was surprise to see that they had a decent wine selection there. Much better selection than the Tesco by my home. As good or better than the Foodland on Sukhumvit. They had a wide variety of brands and prices. With most of the bottles being reasonably priced.

Living in the country I have never been stop to have my ID check. One time I was stopped on the motorbike and they check all my paper and my thai license. Once they figured out that I was legal I have never been bothered by anyone in my home town. I also used my thai license to get on the airplane in Ubon

Thailand has many not so secret, dirty little secrets. And untill it is caught on video and exposed to the rest of the world, the Thai goverment has what is known as plausible deniability. Once its dirty laundry is exposed and the Thai goverment is left with egg on their face. Their solution is not to fix the problem, but to go after the whistle blower. this just discourge others from blowing the whistle and the Thai goverment can go back to looking at their country with rose coloered glasses.

I am glad you got justice but I too have to agree w/ Kevinbloodywilson. Sooner or later they will be released or pardon. When all the publicity dies down.

Ok Tommy, I am going to have to throw my two cents in. First off you need to go with your gut feeling about the whole sitution. If she has drastically changed the way she acts with you then something is different. Just be glad that you were able to pick up on the change. Some girls are very good at juggling 6-8 guys at a time. She is not. But you got to remember that you are a long way away and most likely not returning to Thailand anytime soon. You are not going to change her. And confronting her is not going to fix it. There are many fish in the sea and you just happen to get a bad one. So save your dignity and pride and just walk away. You would not tolerate being treated that way by some girl from your own country. There are plenty of nice thai gals out there.

There is a pretty good editorial in the opinion section of the online version of the Bangkok Post. It makes some good points and worth the read

First thing you need to do is verify that she really is pregnant. Second, if she is pregnant then you need to find out if you are really the father. If she was your g/f on the side you may have been one of many b/f on her side. She may be looking for an easy mark to take care of her and the kid. Your first g/f might not be too happy w/ you but if it is your kid you do not have to get married to take care of it. But it will cost you in the wallet.

Everybody out there needs to be careful about being exposed to the different chemical used on farms. Do not know all the facts but this is what I do know. Two farmers have died this week. Both middle age and in good health. They had been working with a poison to kill snails. The one farmer had returned to his farm after 3days when he should have waited 2 weeks. The next day he woke up pissing blood. Went to the hospital and died 3 days later of massive kidney failure. The second farmer was exposed by a nieghbors farm. He also died 3 days later. Do not know what the poison is but it is having some nasty effects on humans. I for one am staying as far away from my wife's farm as possible

How much did he pay for his degree and where can I get one

I have been using the the UPS store out of hawaii and never had any problems w/ them. You must leave a deposit w/ them to pay for your mail being forward. It can be rather pricey. But w/ UPS it is always reliable. They will not sort through your mail and not send you the junk-mail. Which can add to the weight of what is being sent to you.

Eva Air had stop flying into Hawaii about 2 years ago. So the only option is China Air or Jal. Flew China air in Febuary and the fuel surcharge was about $250 at the time making it one of the most expensive ticket I had purchase to date. Not going to be looking forward to the ticket I must purchase in August

Will be out to sea working this year. So unfortunitly will be missing the activities this year