ballbreaker

The doctor she sees will make the difference not the hospital. I have used St. Mary's and let me tell you they have both good and bad doctors.

There is no doubt that power cycling electronics shortens its life by a measurable amount, most failures occur at power up.

That said, a few cycles a day like the OP is no issue (and saves energy). Personally, my desktop gets powered up in the morning and off when I go to bed as I tend to be on and off it all day.

I do exactly the same thing.

Don't give Soi 7 Beer Garden a pass based on other peoples opinion. I for one like the place and it isn't a whore house. It does have some pretty used women but also some very delightful ones. The food is okay and not overly pricy. Visit and judge for yourself.

I suggest you spend an hour or so walking the area. Nana Road has many nices places past the Nana Plaza entrance. Soi 5 has Gullivers and Country Road. Soi 7/1 and Soi 11 also have a number of bars you can check out.

I may need a taxi from BKK airport to my place, 50 km from Khon Kaen again in the future.

I used a taxi last year. I was approached by one of this illegal taxi drivers in the airport and took the chance. 3'500 Baht at 20:00 in the evening. There where two drivers: one drove me to Khon Kaen, the other was then driving the taxi back to Bangkok. It was an old Mercedes with a changed engine to run with gas. It did not run faster then the allowed 90 km/h - which was OK with me. We arrived save and well at my home at 02:30.

Did you get a taxi - and if so, where?

How much did you pay and how much hassle was involved?

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Regards

Thedi

I always talk with the meter taxi's and set a price. I usually get one for 1800-2000 baht for trip 30 km north of Korat. The illegal taxi's are always at least 1000 baht over what a meter taxi will charge for trip.

Just make sure meter taxi is newer before you finalize deal. Older ones can have loud mufflers and bad suspension. Makes for a terrible trip if not in good condition.

Its come to my attention that most HR directors in Thailand doest really hold the actual power in selecting the final job candidate. I not sure might be wrong. So give me your two cents opinion on it.

Not sure about Thailand but it holds true for the US. HR just filters applicants and passes on likely prospects.

I always bypassed HR and made my pitch directly to individual that would make the decision. He would then direct HR to bring me in for an interview to complete process. This method never failed me once when after a particular position.

And my opposition with circumcision is those cases it is forced upon a child. It's an abuse on their rights.

You guys are a real hoot.

You need to drop this argument because its done every day in the form of immunizations and surgical procedures. Who makes the call without talking to the child...the parents.

Here is what I do to cut all that crap out. You can do this if you have a Thai bank account. I have a Siam Commercial Bank account. I setup a Paypal account noting the country as Thailand during the setup. I added my Siam Commercial Bank account to it. It was listed as a bank in the drop down. I also have an American Paypal so what I do is transfer money from my Paypal American account to my Paypal Thailand account. If i do over 5000 baht there is no fee otherwise it's 50 baht. It takes about 7 days to transfer the money but I pay NOTHING. Even when I paypal myself to the Thailand Paypal, they take nothing. Then the money hits my SCB account. I know it might seem like a lot of steps but honestly it takes me 1 minute to do the transfer and I just wait. This is how I pay my rent and get my money here in Thailand because Wells Fargo in America charges a ATM fee, International Currency Fee and some other crap. So, i don't get charged all the fees. The only drawback could be the exchange rate on the baht but it's fairly decent right now.

What is the exchange rate difference you get between doing as you describe vs ATM withdraw or wire transfer?

DB that would be an ideal solution, I drive a Mitsubishi which has a very good Pioneer radio so your solution would mean I could retain the great sound!!

Any idea where in Chiang Mai I could find a suitable FM broadcaster??

Great idea except it doesn't work. So don't do it. I repeat: Don't do it. It won't work, and the "great sound" of your pioneer will be wasted because you get tons of FM interference that makes your mp3s sound like an AM radio station from 1975. Forget about it.

You'll always get some people who claim that the FM transmitter works for them, but they are either trying to sell you one, or they are oblivious to the sound quality.

I am one of those people that says the cheap FM transmitters work. I have two, one has built in 1 GHz memory and you download mp3's from your PC and the other uses SD flash cards that most camera's use. I like the latter because it allows me to easily change type of music while on the road.

I live in Bangkok and sure there are times when you might need to shift freq's on the device and your radio but I have found it to be very rare. I also make monthly trips to Pattaya and Korat with no problems. In normal use I have to switch between 87.5 and 108 Mhz on occasion all of which is done with the press of a button on the FM transmitter and radio.

I have found it a great solution rather than replace a perfectly good radio and they only cost a few hundred baht. The flash cards are extra.

I also live close to the On Nut BTS and use Smartzone for internet access and have none of your problems. I would like a faster connection for downloading large files but otherwise it is great for normal needs and I never experience disconnections.

Hostel located on Soi 25 just off Sukhumvit has single rooms that might be cheap.

Else she might has to wait 10 year for the operation.....

If she want the money from you, it might be a variation of the "sick Buffalo" story.

Either of the above two statements could be true.

Are you sure this is a government hospital because my wife is undergoing some very expensive treatment that has only cost 30 baht over the last 18 months and see goes in every month.

There is also a possibility some medical problems are not covered under the plan.

Here is the link for info I posted about property registration that was downloaded from Sunbelt.

http://www.sunbeltlegaladvisors.com/Thaila...egistration.php

so your actual profit does not come into play, only the sales price + number of years owned? you will still have to pay taxes if you sell for less than you bought it for?... Or was the 4m baht number in your example the profit, not the sales price?

thx

Wish I could answer your questions but the info I posted was downloaded several months ago from a legal or real estate site and saved on my hard drive.

I have driven both the Yamaha Nouvo and Honda Click and would only go with one of these if you want an automatic. Don't even think about the Mio or Fino in my opinion

My choice would be the Honda Click because I feel it is a more reliable bike when starting a cold or hot engine. I also like the lighter feel for around town use and think it might just be the bike you are looking for.

if so, what rates? thx.

I think they just call it income but yes you will have to pay. It will be collected when the change in property ownership is done at land office.

Don't remember which of the legal firms that advertise on this website I downloaded from but it should provide a clue as to amount you will owe.

If the Seller is a natural person, you have to look at the income in the schedule of the progressive rate under the Revenue Code of Thailand :-

not more than 100,000 0%

more than 100,000 - 500,000 10%

more than 500,000 - 1,000,000 20%

more than 1,000,000 - 4,000,000 30%

more than 4,000,000 37%

The method of calculation is like this....

You need to first calculate the amount of tax to be paid under the progressive rate, the gross amount of income will be first deducted by deductible allowance with the percentage according to a number of years the owner owns the land.

1 year 92%

2 years 84%

3 years 77%

4 years 71%

5 years 65%

6 years 60%

7 years 55%

8 years 50%

For example, if you sell the land you own for three years for the price of 4,000,000 baht, you may first deduct the allowance of 71% for the rate of 4 years being 2,840,000 baht. The sales price of 4,000,000 baht deducted by 2,840,000 baht is 1,160,000 baht.

The deducted amount of 1,160,000 baht will be divided by 4 years which has the result of 290,000 Baht.

290,000 baht will be used as the base to calculate the progressive tax rate being :-

0% for the amount not more than 100,000 baht being 0,000 baht

10% for the amount of 190,000 baht being 19,000 baht

The result is 19,000 baht.

The amount of 19,000 baht must be multiplied once again by the number of years the seller owns the land. In this case it was 4 years

The amount of tax to be paid is 76,000 baht.

S.S. payments from US, I marry, I die, how does she go about collecting, what should one do to make it an easy turn over, Thank you

As many have pointed out if she has never been in the US she will not receive any death benefits.

Another option you have if a military veteran during one of the many wars would be a monthly death benefit when you kick off. Check the VA website for details and time periods covered to see you qualify.

anything 600 or less will do. anyone know anywhere.thank you

Try the Chaophraya Inn located near Klang Plaza. Its been a couple years but it was under 600.

Can you have too many Desk Top icons? Mine have sneaked up to 24 again and I remember someone telling me that they slow your system down.

I have a shitload of icons in the unused desktop icons folder as well, mainly for program installers.

With the speed of current computers and graphics card you have no problems with icons on desktop or in quick start tray because they are just icons only. You should be concerned with number of icons in the tray next to the clock because these are running applications.

I disagree. There are a lot of very bright people in Thailand, who are prevented from succeeding by governments that couldn't care less about their plight.

Could you please explain to me what the government is doing to prevent these people from succeeding?

First let's take a look at what successive governments were seen to be not doing:

1) Educating the majority of its people, leaving it up to them to provide even the most basic schooling for their children, and

Agree the Thai government should be doing a better job on education.

2) Offering financial assistance to those who fall on hard times, so that their kids can stay in school, and

Great idea but are the Thai people ready to pay the taxes to support such programs.

3) Offering financial assistance to people with good ideas, who want to start a businees and fend for themselves, and

In some countries perhaps but generally its the role of banks and venture capitalist to take on such roles.

4) Providing a basic level of health care

Thailand does have that, thanks to Thaksin, but he also wanted Thailand to become a medical care destination for the world which stripped the public

system of many of their personnel.

And here is what the powers that be are seen to be doing:

1) Expelling governments that are elected by the people on the basis that they provide these basic necessities, and

If done through a legal process then I see no problem but if by coup then thats another story.

2) Calling the masses 'uneducated' and not deserving of their vote

Your using a broad brush and thats like me saying every poor person backs Thaksin, and you and I both know thats not true.

I think it's fair to say that the traditionalists are not doing enough to progress the lives of the Thai general public, and that Thaksin's lot had made at least some concrete steps in the right direction. If the yellow lot were seen as representing a better life for the masses, then we wouldn't be seeing growing discontent and riots that are looking more and more like a class war. If you haven't noticed this, then I suspect that you haven't been in Thailand for very long.

If the people truely want these things then it should start at the grass root level not in the streets of Bangkok. Each district, or whatever its called in Thailand, has an elected MP so why aren't his constituents demanding he get his act together or he is out next election. Instead they chose to follow a pied piper who threw them a few bread crumbs while he took the loaf.

I disagree. There are a lot of very bright people in Thailand, who are prevented from succeeding by governments that couldn't care less about their plight.

Could you please explain to me what the government is doing to prevent these people from succeeding?

Where to live is a question that only you can answer. You first need to make a list of items or activities that are needed for your desired lifestyle then find a location that offers all or most.

I have tried the rural life 30 km north of Korat and found that even though Korat is a large city it didn't offer what I wanted and became boring after 6 months.

Bangkok on the other hand offers everything I like and its not necessary to live downtown to enjoy its advantages. I have lived here for 5 years and have no regrets about making the move.

OP can you please fill me in on the disadvantages of renting? I have been doing just that for the last five years and see no downside.

Doing the papers through the mail sounds like a good idea but what happens if she spends all the money you give her then tells you she wants more before she files the papers. I think better to hold back funds and go to Thailand and finalize divorce before giving funds. Give her a few bucks for living on till you arrive in September with the understanding she will get more when papers filed.

Don't give up on Thailand but do learn from your mistakes. Next time around don't marry someone you haven't lived with at least two years. Also forget about having a long distant relationship with a gf or wife.

Not really BB. Somchai replaced Samak as party leader when Samak was disqualified from his post by the judiciary for appearing on a TV cookery show.

Hate to rain on your parade but Somchai was nominated by a coalition of parties with numbers sufficient to win the vote in parliament. This is exactly the same way Abhisit became PM. What is different?

It is rule by the elites. never was a democracy, may never be

I don't know where you hail from but in my part of the world it may not be elites but it is special interest groups that control policy.