JimiDee01

For all those who were not there click on the link below to see our video

I think it is admirable what individuals are doing here on thai visa and beyond....

But today (Friday) will be, i`m sure a very difficult day for Andrews family, wife and friends....

The service is being held at the main temple next to prasat police staion at 1 pm, and the cremation localy there after...Please show your respect sensitively........ RIP

Please stop the silly speculation on what happened, when you know the story in the fullness of time you may just think how these unfounded theories affect those concerned, when the case is fully investigated properly you will understand it`s sensitive nature....

Couldn't agree more.

The Leelawadee Gardens is holding it's annual Songkran party on April 13th. It starts at 10am and goes on to we drop!! Check out our youtube invite at

All are Welcome . This year the theme is pirates.

Thanks for all the advice over the years Martin. You'll be missed. Surin just won't be the same place without you. R.I.P.

Has anyone done this journey, how long does it take? any tips thankfully received.

regards songhklasid.

You can take a golden mini buses, which run regularly from Surin to the border. I am not sure of the price, but it's around the 100B mark. From the border you can take a taxi to Siem Riep which should cost around 2500B. It all depends on the state of the road/track to how long it takes. Its normally around 5 hrs though.

For anyone who likes to party in the street, there is a ding dong at the the Leelawadee Gardens in Prasat Surin. It's on April 13th and starts at 10 a.m. till around 6 p.m. Then we will organize transport up to the Harley Bar where there is Live music & free BBQ. If you don't like Water-fights, Fancy Dress, Loud Music, Drinking and Dancing and having fun, then stay at home.

Click on the link below to see our you-tube invitation.

" What I love most about living up here is the freedom."

Hmmmmmm.

O.k. some don't get to taste the freedom, but aside from the odd visa problem, I get to live without some bureaucratic jobs worth telling me how to pick my nose.

Isaan life can be great.

I loved the time I spent in Isaan, with my GF & her family and have many good memories.

The downside was:

1. Need to travel many miles to access reasonable retail specialties.
   
2. Sitting and eating on the floor played havoc with my back.
   
3. Sleeping on a thin floor mattress resulted in sleepless nights.
   
4. The burning off of the rice straw after the harvest destroyed my lungs for a number of days.
   
5. The smoke from the kitchen fires choked out the whole house.
   
6. Every dish was cooked in Plah Rar (homemade fish sauce) and became too much.
   
7. The drunken uncles regularly asking for 200b for whiskey.
   
8. The dusty pothole riddled dirt roads playing havoc with ones vehicles.
   
9. The incessant nightly humidity during the summer.
   
10. The need to get used to dishes such as frog, bugs, ant eggs, fish heads and other delicacies.
    
11. Local food markets selling unrefrigerated perishables.
    
12. Few and limited services.
    
13. Villagers just walk in (even when you're trying to make love).
    

On the positive, most things are cheap, the squat toilets are a treat, and everyone is welcoming.

BTW: What's this about "Isaan is good, but keep away from the North". I thought being North East, Isaan was the North??!

I have lived in Isaan for over a decade, and the downside list was pretty normal of people who stay out in the village. I live in a town and that's about as rural as I can get. One of things I found difficult in dealing with at first, with the locals can be the difference in education, and there attitude that ignorance, bad manners and their insistance that rudeness is Thai custom & culture. We are taught about action and reaction, and are more prepared to deal with the consequence when it arrives. We work in Logic, there work in Magic. I never seem to have the same problems in Bkk. The local inter village youth battles can be a bore, although sometimes I must admit to warming to a Gengis Kahn battle reinactment. Saying that I love it up here and have a great relationship with the locals, mainly because I make an effort to intergrate. I amazes me that alot of long term stayers, never bother to learn the fundamentals of the Thai/Isaan/Khmer language, and spend their hard earned time else where. What I love most about living up here is the freedom, and there's no nanny state health and safety nazi's telling me what I can't do. I think for alot of people, Isaan offers a certain rawness to life, that the sanatised western world can't. Learn to laugh at the idosyncratic way's of those around you(the local expats too), and issan life will become more than palitable.

Here are some answers to the above list.

1. Think of the 100km round trip as being an adventure.

2. Buy a plastic chair and plates, eating off the floor can be unheigenic

3. You really should be drinking more.

4. Try smoking the local tobbaco, and the aromatic wafts of the local ricemill will become pleasant.

5. On the positive side, no mosquito's

6. Add more Chilli

7. Get drunk, then go around the village asking everyone for money Heineken money. You'll soon find that no one will ever bother you again.

8. Buy a dirt bike. A platinuim is only 45k.

9. Take a shower, and half dry yourself, then sit near a fan.

10. You should be more worried about the dog entering and wanting a lick, than granny staring at your redeo performance.

Does anyone know where to buy UPVC doors and windows of good quality in Thailand?

quote

"Also could I simply have these vaccinations in Pattaya or Surin at a more affordable cost. I will also start a course of Malaria tablets 2 days before leaving on doctore advice."

unquote

Ask your Dr if he has ever lived in Thailand.

Jeeeezus, what a croc of <deleted> has been posted on this topic.

On the subject of malaria - I should add to this topic that I have lived for almost a decade in Thailand and managed to catch malaria two years ago (Dec 07) in Surin province. Not a nice disease to have. It is not practical to take anti-malarial tablets everyday if you are here for a long period of time. But it is wise to wear long sleeves and long trousers in the evening and apply a good DEET spray if staying close to the cambodian border.

It's not a croc of <deleted>. Thailand does have malaria. I know. I had it.

I can verify this. I remember when you had it, but to make it clear it was the crazy ex missus that made you leave Surin

Every Friday evening at about 8ish, there is a pub quiz at the Harley Bar. It seems to be gaining some notoriety as people are traveling from as far as Pak Chong. The winners now get there name on a trophy, which they get to keep for a week. There is a couple of scousers who seem to win most weeks, all are welcome to try and knock them off their pertch. It's teams of two, with 100B entry fee, and the winners taking the pot. There are three rounds of ten questions, which include general knowledge, music and sport. There is also an open air market(Klong Thom) that the wives seem to like wandering around, buying useless bits of nothing.

Sounds like a lot of fun, but I have it from a well-informed source that the quiz at Harley's tends to be very difficult...

Quotes the likes of "I didn't get any one of those..." are not entirely uncommon... so I've heard

Depends who you are talking to. Some of the Thai wives tend to struggle with a few of the answers.

Some of the expats struggle to get any answers about their Thai wives. As for the quiz hard is better than soft.

Every Friday evening at about 8ish, there is a pub quiz at the Harley Bar. It seems to be gaining some notoriety as people are traveling from as far as Pak Chong. The winners now get there name on a trophy, which they get to keep for a week. There is a couple of scousers who seem to win most weeks, all are welcome to try and knock them off their pertch. It's teams of two, with 100B entry fee, and the winners taking the pot. There are three rounds of ten questions, which include general knowledge, music and sport. There is also an open air market(Klong Thom) that the wives seem to like wandering around, buying useless bits of nothing.

I want to take my wife to the large market near the Cambodian Border. I think it's called the Grensen Market? Can anyone please give me directions from BKK and also recommend a decent hotel near there. Many thanks for your help.

If you want to go to the Chong Chom border market in Surin. I recommend you stay at the Leelawadee Gardens in Prasat, which is about 40km from the border. Though I think you are talking about the border at Arunyaphatet.

You don't drink Beer Chang. On Friday we shall be drinking the finest wines known to humanity, and smoking fancy cigars.

Hi,

Has anyone got any idea for the dates for the elephant festival 2009?

Yes, as I am now officially part of the organising commitee, I can say that the main events will hope to be staged on ther 13th, 14th & 15th November.

Itinery of events:

Friday 13th............................08.00-10.30 Parade from Railway station, leading to Elephant breakfast at and around the Elephant Roundabout and adjoining streets.

17.00 Transport leaves Railway station to go to Prasat Sikhoraphum, where there will be a demonstration of Thai Dancing & Silk Show, followed by the Light & Sound Show. Transport returns to Surin around 23.00.

Saturday 14th.......................08.30- 11.00 Elephant Show at the main Elephant stadium

Sunday 15th.........................08.30-11.00 Repeat performance.

There will also be a Gala dinner and repeat performance of Friday evenings events at Sikhoraphum Castle, either Saturday or Sunday evening. Cost for this has yet to be finalised, but last year it was 6,000฿ for a table for 8.

These times and events cannot be guaranteed, as we all know what happened last year.

Thanks Martin,

Much appreciated

Hi,

Has anyone got any idea for the dates for the elephant festival 2009?

There does seem to be a lot of cynics, but to a man they have made little effort to adapt to there environment. Try learning the language, you can then have normal conversations with your neighbors and the people you meet daily. I have seen too many falangs trying to second guess what the Thai's are thinking, and with a cynical mind, this usual means they are wrong. Also by improving your language skills you will gain the respect and friendship of the locals. Remember all the locals see, is a falang loosing his temper in frustration. It seems to me that living in Isaan with no Thai language skills is like being in a wheel chair, with your thai girlfriend pushing you around, because you movement is restricted. Oh yeh, for all the people who think they are too old to learn, I have a customer who is 60, and has spent the past 4 years learning Thai. He is currently reading Harry Potter books.

I have a good idea too, now that you mention it. Two of the three places in Surin Gary supplies. Enough said.

Sound like he should be supplying just one then.

Dave

I've just realised my error on that too. I forgot a comma. What I meant was, Gary supplies two of the three main Farang watering holes in Surin, us and the Oasis.

I hope that your not suggesting that Nobby can use a computer?

Of course not,but he does have a Gopher. And all the negative posts about Gary's, and funnily enough a positive one about Soi Kola are all from newbies.

This post did not come from anyone in Surin. Gary knows where it came from. It has nothing to do with anyone's business, so lets forget about the negative comments and enjoy Gary's pies.

Well said RayBan..... I have high suspicions that the two unfavorable posts were from either competitors that see just how well Gary runs his business or perhaps friends of someone that does run a similar business.

I came to the same conclussion.

Like Ray & DingDong says, he is doing a good job and deserves support.

Happy New Year

Dave

Am not sure. Having lived in the Prasat area and knowing all the resturant / bar owners well, it seems that everyone gets along fine. No real compitition that I can see there. At least not any compitition that would stoop as low as too diss the place incognito on a public web forum.

Gary is a good friend of mine, and he knows now who posted the negative comments, and it is not as it seems. I send lot's of customers to Gary's and visa versa. We both have a good relationship with Paul of the Harley Bar. It's unfortunate that the person who wrote negative comments about Gary, also wrote about the Leelawadee Gardens in a positive way. In no way did these comments come from the Leelawadee Gardens or any friends. If you still have any doubts, go have breakfast at Gary's and ask him yourself.

We fully support Gary and Bun, and use his minimart regularly.

Can anyone tell if the 400,000B to be shown in Singapore has to be in an account in my name, or can it be in my wifes for the multi entry O visa. Is it possible to get a multi entry from anywhere else in SE Asia? How about KL or Panang? Also how long does it take to process the visa in Singapore? I've got to do my visa in 3 weeks. Any info would be a great help.

Hi there,

If I go to Singapore for a multi entry O visa, can anyone tell me if the money has to be in an account with my name, or can it be in an account in my wifes name? Also do I have to show a record of my account if I apply in KL for a multi entry O visa. I am 35 years of age and my eldest child is 8, if that makes a difference.