goldfish

Thanks for the warning here, always appreciated, but I'm not sure what the problem is. It is routine to use sand or cement in cones in the UK on dual carriageways and motorways. If one sees cones, one should go around. If people are deliberately riding into them then they need an IQ test before being allowed out unsupervised. Maybe this is why we now get warnings on boomerangs (warning; could come back) or a packet of nuts (may contain nuts).

The police are trying to do their job, and a stationary cone should be safer than one which is affected by wind.

The pianist (which someone else recommended) and the grey zone (particularly graphic) are a couple more available here, subtitled but no dubbing

I have the usual thai copy here. It is subtitled Thai but not dubbed. I don't know how good the Thai subtitles are

Will be coming to Phuket for a couple of days, from Samui, and need a few parts for a Mio. I can buy from here but am very limited on shops and I'm not fond of going back to someone who tried to scam me (350 baht for 150 baht brake pads). Can buy everything but tyres and rear shock from Yamaha (and fork oil for some reason) so hope someone can advise on places to try. Naturally, I don't need the parts fitted (ie. I will not be riding a Mio from Samui)

I think you guys live in a different Bangkok than me. My 12Call card is the most annoying thing I've ever had. I recharge it and it expires in 6 days. Then it sends me a message " you have 160 Baht but your card is expired until you recharge". So I do and get another 6 days. There HAS to be something better! I went to the shop and the English speaking clerk explained that all the cards are like that. There is no 1 year expiry card that I could find by any Thai crappy phone company. What a scam.

They changed the sim cards a couple of years ago, so all new sim's (as far as I know) now expire a few days after topping up regardless of how much unspent money they have on them. Obviously it lasts longer the more you top-up. Dtac offer a service, only if the sim is 3 months old or more, whereas you can pay for 'a stay of execution'. 2 baht a month. Make a call as the sim is about to expire, make a note of the number and top up according to the English speaking telephonist.

I swapped an old t-shirt with a prossie I know for one of her sims, topped it up for 6 months last time (any credit you top it up with in the meantime is added on) and have just topped it up again for a year.

A friend called it 'capitalism run rampant'. Unfortunately without the laws to govern these companies will do whatever makes the most money, regardless of ethics. One quick read of this thread confirms that it was a great idea, financially. As long as people are prepared to top-up a sim which is already in credit this rule will persist

Just one more question folks.

Will my UK driving license suffice for driving in Samui as it does for a rental car or would I need to apply for an international license?

You need an international licence with a UK licence which is only valid for 3 consecutive months, not a year. It's easy and fast enough to get a Thai licence, without undergoing a test, if you hold an international licence. Check the motoring forum

Castrate the fckers instead of fining them 100 baht might help.

You're 'aving a larf? The ones who couldn't afford the full op will be hoping to get caught just to save on the expense of the surgery and the ones who could would have nothing to fear

................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!''''''''''''''

Here you go, I've got some spares

Or go back to the same Tesco and buy a couple of innertubes. Size is written on the tyre. Somchai will change

In Chaweng, on the road from the thai market to the ring road, some 200/300 meter before the traffic light, on the left side, a small shop with helicopters.

That's the road that goes from lamdin market to the traffic lights at the ring road junction between the two petrol stations. They used to also fly on some waste ground by the lake, accessed either from the ring road or the road that goes towards Chaweng from Tesco. Listen when you pass and you will hear them if they are flying

I think you'll find most bike hire shops will not allow the bikes to leave the island. This was certainly true of Ohm three years ago, and I'll be surprised if their policy has changed. Not too sure whether a Ducati would make a good road bike for Thailand either, personally I'd go for a Kawasaki.

Met a guy on his way back to Phuket, via ferry, on a new R1. The bike looked as though it had suffered. I finally passed him on a straight, semi-unsurfaced road doing about 50kph. Can guarantee he was having more fun than myself in a car, but he would have enjoyed himself a lot more in the dry on some twisty roads.

Whatever you decide, enjoy yourself. I've also travelled back and forth to Malaysia and up to Bangkok with no problems apart from a pair of jeans that looked as though I'd buried them on the beach for a week

Didn't think of the health/looking for parasites etc. This was in a quiet area of Koh Samui. There are adverts for Buffalo fights here, but this was well away from those areas. Mind you, I have seen an Elephant on the back of a truck here so anything is possible. Not sure if it's a bull, it did have streamlined horns but didn't think of looking at ear length. Is that how you tell, cause I'm not going to start inspecting genitilia.

Came across some shepherd huts in the Himalayas which had space for the animals and a small room above for the humans. Do Buffalo have homes, do they sleep standing up? Mind you, it was a bit colder in the Himalayas. Some of the huts were appearing as the snow melted. Mud and grass roofs helped

I grew up in suburbia where people washed the family car on a Sunday. Just saw a guy washing the buffalo. Why? He had a hosepipe and a bucket, didn’t see any polish. Have never thought about it, presume a buffalo wallows in mud to keep cool, so why wash him? Maybe to keep the buffalo garage clean? Where do you park them, at night? Is this a weekly clean?

The rest are not much behind them either & the so called franchised pharmacies are a joke on the island.

The prices marked on the items, generally, bear no relation to the actual prices. I have refused to pay the marked prices and haggle. It takes a spot of hunting but can usually find a pharmacy which will charge according to the computer; eg 175 baht for some pills showed a price of 60 baht on the screen

P.S. Anyone know an honest (for Samui anyway) pharmacy. Have found one in Bangrak (100yds before Lord Nelson coming from Bophut) to be better than many

Sounds like these

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Artists-t189...tml&hl=fake

I don't believe you will be able to buy an automatic mio, or similar, for 15000 baht on Samui which is safe. The thai 'mechanics' here are an embarrassment to the profession. I've even recommended a friend take his mio to yamaha for a service and it came back a deathtrap. You really need to spend more or rent from someone who maintains it (although I've yet to see a thai rental shop that actually cares for their bikes. Sorry, but that's life

I went to Bandon Hospital yesterday. For 2500THB they offer the following:

From my personal experience there will be no correlation between the initial quote and the final price, regardless of how many times you confirm the initial price. I should have read this thread first

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Hospital-Koh...l&hl=bandon

There could be more to this than you think OP.

She wants you to forget yet she told you anyway? Duh!.....

Keep your whits about you and your hand firmly on your wallet because something doesn't add up here.

Agreed, there are endless possibilities here

If the only drawback is some people don't find it aesthetically pleasing then I'd consider it a success. Solar energy is, naturally, a great idea but, if I'm correct, I believe a certain percentage has to be sold back to the national grid at a greatly reduced rate therefore making solar energy uneconomically viable. Unfortunate but true, if I remember correctly. Something really needs to be done at a political level here

I'd also agree with Bophut as a suggestion. Maybe try sawadee.com (I think it's called) for hotel recommendations

I have a question, partly out of curiosity, but mainly to keep neverdie happy with his new forum. What do you use as a rack system?

I would love to have a turntable and vinyl here but it's too much hassle to go to as I am not making Thailand my permanent home. For that reason I'm not going to the grief of finding and buying a rack. I've set up a cyrus amp and cd player on floor tiles seperated by whisky bottles filled with sand. It works, and pretty well at that. There was a noticeable improvement when the bottles were filled with sand and it's confused the occassional girl when I've told them you have to dig at the beach to get the different coloured sand. And yes, it does look tacky but it works. The bottom tile is placed on triangular isolators and there are rubber mats (cut from car dashboard mats from tesco's) between the bottles and tiles and under the amp and cd player.

Anyone have any better ideas because, although it works great and was cheap, I'm in trouble if it goes over. There gonna be a lot of sand and glass in my system

I also agree with the e-bay recommendation, but you will need to register with paypal or know someone who is. There is new as well as second-hand for sale. I thought buying leathers was more of a personal thing. Maybe offer to pay for what he buys?

Not too sure 'bout a dedicated forum on a website where there already seems to be a propensity for snobbery amongst people whos hobby is already so inclined

Although saying that, it would be helpful to have details of somewhere that could competently repair equipment and, personally speaking, a dedicated classifieds would be handy but only so as I can sell my equipment when I finally leave Thailand. Under no circumstances should the snobbery refuse talk of home theatre, tv's, i-pods etc

Thank you for the replies. I thought it would be rather a long shot as the 'all-encompassing' style of book I was hoping to find wouldn't appeal to those with the knowledge most who contribute to a computer forum would have. Living on Koh Samui makes the general browsing impossible whilst looking through Amazon (will be ordering some more books in about a month) very time consuming, and fruitless so far

Had a friend bring over a cyrus amp and cd player. Bought some Dali speakers in malaysia (hadn't heard them before but impressed with the sound). Made some speaker stands out of 60cm floor tiles (inexpertly cut with an angle grinder, glued and filled with a large amount of sand), and a hi-fi rack made again from floor tiles supported by whisky bottles filled with coloured sand (just like you'd find in a tacky shop at the beach. Any thai girls who ask get told to dig for the different colours). All perched on 'triangular feet'. Needs must. Works pretty good