martynsnowman

I thought that the point of 9 carat is that the other metal in the ring or chain makes it much harder than high-carat gold would be. So it isn't soft enough to wear away.

that's a fairy tale Martin which is mostly spread in the U.S. of A. my wife owns since many years 24k gold jewelry such bracelets, necklaces and rings and never had a problem. only when precious stones are set the goldsmiths use 20-21k or lower (in rare cases which depend on the settings 22k).

quite some years ago i lived in Saudi Arabia where they would have chopped of a jeweller's hand if he sold anything below 18k and called it "gold".

hi dr naam,

what i tell you is the truth as i know it .... i cant remember the shop name in bkk but its billed as ...THE BIGGEST JEWELRY SHOP IN THE WORLD...the taxi drivers take you there , the shop is very big ( as i say first time in los too much money very stupid ) i got the citificate ( sorry spelling ) saying 24 carat and how much i payed ..... now 4 years later i live udon thani .... my wife tryed 2 diffrent gold shops and they would not even value it for us never mind buy it .... its 1 ring but made from 8 i think called a puzzle ring ,

each part of ring has hallmarks....but after what you say now i,m puzzled ....

I thought that the point of 9 carat is that the other metal in the ring or chain makes it much harder than high-carat gold would be. So it isn't soft enough to wear away.

However, as 'savings against a rainy day', the ring or chain is not such a good investment as getting out the gold means a costlier process.

Incidentally, I find that Thai gold shops don't trust each other. The good ones will buy back what they have themselves sold to you.

hi before you all laugh ,

i bought a 24 carat gold ring in bkk on my first trip to los ( long time ago now ) i forgot all about it as i never fitted my finnger very well , when i moved here to live i asked my wife if she wanted it to sell or swop for gold she could where .... every shop she took it to said NO CHANCE 24 carat for export only ... i will have to sell when i leave los some time ... any1 else been told the same .??? ( cost 4 years ago 25,000 bt ) .....martyn....

I used my rental agreement as my proof of residency. When I purchased my Nissan. No realy problems!

I did have a letter from the immigration office in BKK, which set me back 500bt and a letter from embassy1500bt

BUT THEY TOOK THE RENTAL AGREEMENT ONLY.

I have a Int drivers permit only,

Will be off next week for Thai drivers lic.

hi i,m here on type O multy entry i went to immigration the day after arriving with my thai wife at udon thani payed 1000bt for my proof of residency and bought pick up same day in my name .....no problems ...nothing from u.k embassy .....martyn...

She would need to apply for a Schengen visa in Thailand.

Note that:

The questions marked with * do not have to be answered by family members of EU or EEA citizens (spouse, child or dependent ascendant). Family members of EU or EEA citizens have to present documents to prove this relationship.

thanks vinny ,

i have printed the forms you sent can the visa be applyed for through the post as we live up country ISAAN and we have marrage certificate we,ve been marred over two years now .. ....

hi to all ,

can anyone help with this please , i,m british so no problem , my wife thai we both live in LOS , the company i used to work for has invited us both to Amsterdam for a short break 5 /7 days , my wife has thai passport from when she got visa to visit me in U.K before we moved here .

can she get visa on entry in Holland or will she have to apply at dutch emmbassy here ???

will she have problem because we have no family there we only want short holiday ??

thanks for any help ...martyn.

I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread as a reference for people considering buying a car in Thailand

For example - what deals can one expect from a dealer ? Discounts ? Extras ?

Please share you experiences and advice here, if there is a good response I'll pin it.

Totster

I hope some folks respond to this thread.....I have the same questions, i.e. the "sticker price" in the US is just a starting point. Is the same thing true here???

hi to all,

i bought a new nissan navara 2.5lt diesel 4 door , in udon thani 3 months ago .

list price 649,000 bt i payed full price cash , but they gave me .... back liner , crome back bumper , mirror covers, uprated c.d player , and 1 year class 1 insurance... i dont know if it was a good deal or not but upto now i,m very happy with it .....i,ve since added bull bar at front , roll over bar on top and tinnted the windows .. looks spot on now .... i hope that helps with your thread...martyn...

I'm on a limited budget and the Acer and Compaq models in OP are the two that meet my basic requirements. Asus haven't been around long enough for me to consider. Toshiba..out of my budget and not a name I would personally go for when buying a notebook..perhaps if I were looking for a fridge or fan then maybe

Thanks for all the replies so far...anyone else got any comments on Acer or Compaq brands?

ACER every time i,m on my second 1 now the first did me well for 3 years NO problems ......

Been a while since I left my car there but there was never a problem. It strikes me as one of the safer places a car could be left around Udon. If you get there at the right time you can park nearer the terminal entrance for more visibility.

Cheers for that! I think I'll get the tickets booked we'll only be gone for a couple of nights so it's not like it'll be there a full week or more.

hi tech,

theres no problems at all leaving your car at the airport ( and no cost ) i live about 2km away and have never seen or heard of theft or damage there ...

After reading a number of recent threads there appears to be more than just myself and Dave (up2ubar) using this forum and living in the Ban Dung district.

Why not introduce yourselves, by PM if you like.

hi , i come down the road from nonk khai to udon every weekend, where we stop for fri and sat nights is ban dung any where near there ??? i,m still new to the area

hi am i breaking any law ?... my brother in the u.k records me dvds from SKY sat movies, you can fit about 4 hours on 1 disc v good quality, and sends me 6 / 7 discs every month . on the customs paper on the parcel the writes contans dvds when they get to me i never need to pay anything to thai customs ... is that correct ????

p.s living in ISAAN village can be boring somtimes thats why so many free movies ...

[Amazingly enough, the car's computer is quite accurate as far as fuel usage.

Bought a 'Fortuner' 3 litre diesel some 3 months ago and have been doing the fuel comsumption figures tank full to tank full and found that the car's computer was very accurate. I'm getting about 9km/l at the moment on short runs ( less than 12kms) and suppose that it will improve as the engine settles in and would expect to get 12/13km per L on a decent run in the future - don't know if that is about the right figure - and NO I'm not a heavy footed driver, far from it!

hi cheshire, ( by the way i,m from congleton ,cheshire )

my nissan is a navara 2.5 diesel 4 door ,only 2 wheel drive , in the book it says 144 BHP. i bought it 3 months ago 1st June .i payed 649,000bt cash with the extras added plus insurance, at the time i did,nt know you could get a 3.0lt nissan in thailand . all the other makes seem to be coming down to 2.5lt also on diesels ....

My 2004 3.0 liter Nissan diesel pickup easily gets 15 kilometers to a liter on the highway. In contrast my 2007 Ford Focus 1.8 liter gasoline gets 13 kilometers per liter. As far as local driving, the diesel doesn't drop very much, not more than 2 kilometers per liter but the gasoline engine will drop to about 9 kilometers per liter. To get an accurate figure, you need to zero out the trip odometer, make the trip and total the amount of liters from all the fill ups and divide that total into the kilometers traveled. Hopefully one of the car makers will eventually offer a diesel engine option. Amazingly enough, the car's computer is quite accurate as far as fuel usage.

hi again,

maybee my maths is like my spelling WAY OFF !!! i got to about 18km /LT by buying 39 lt diesel at 26bt per lt (1000bt) 39 lt got me 565km i filled when the red fuel light came on i dont know how acurate that is but as i said before its all expressway driving ....

this sunday on the same run from UDON to NONG KHAI the traffic police pulled us up saying we were doing 120+ as we were only going about 95km /p/h still checking the fuel comsumption it took a few choice words from the wife before they let us go ..... no tea money to pay ...

I've been trying to find out where I can buy the foam bottle holders. Anyone out there? Cheers

hi , sorry cant help , but i,ve been looking for the same thing everywhere in udon thani and nong khai

if any 1 can help me also ...

hi to all ,

( sorry if my spelling of topic is wrong )

can any 1 tell me how many km per lt . i should get from my pick up , its a nissan navana 4 door , only just done 2000km , i only drive on express way from home to udon , at about 100km / hour . i,m getting just about 18km/per lt.

thanks for any info ....martyn.

Hi All,

Off to Udon Thani next month for about 7 - 10 days.

..Have heard some mixed reports on the hotels. Would anyboby recommend staying at either Ban Chiang or Charoensri Grand Royal? (or anywhere else!). Also going to hire a pick up and go explore. Again anyboby recommend a rental company

hi ,

i,ve stopped at both hotels , this year !!! both are o.k upto a point ... the rooms at ban chiang are fine , clean ( we had the large room ) about 1100b but the food was after first day never eat there again ...

charoensri grand alsp o.k food much better but hotel well over priced for what you get .... they have pick up hire at hotel ....

i built my own house in udon much better and if the foods not good then i box the wife ...( only joking ).. ....

hi to all,

can anyone help , i bought my pickup new and the garage gave me 1 years free class 1 insurance what ever that means ... on the papers i cant see any amount for the premium ( how much the garage payed ) i want to know how much about i,ll have to pay myself when its time to renew it , is there a no clamis system here as in the U.K or will i just have to ring around all the diffrent companys for a quote ....

its a new 4 door nissan navana ( how much to insure about ??? )

thanks for any help ......martyn.

Sure Hull will give you another Multiple Yearly Visa.

This Consulate is very helpfull.

Upon each entry into Thailand you will be give 90days,means you can stretch this Visa for up to 15 month.

thanks for the help the other O.P is correct i dont want to have to explane my money to the thai,s as i only have a lump sum and not money coming every month . going back to u.k every 15 months is no problem . or untill the goverment here alows you to stay if you have cash in your thai account , be it

400,000 or even a million baht ......martyn...

hi to all,

can someone help me with a little info please .....

if you get to the end of your visa , type O multy entry after 14 / 15 .months can you just get flight back to u.k where i got my first 1 and get a new visa stright away (i got my original 1 from Hull only took 3 days ) then return to thailand after say a week in England ? and start over again .

thanks for any help ...mb.

Have been before but not by road so was a new experience for me.

Thr bus overnite from C Rai should of taken 13 hours, but with a breakdown I arrived in Udon Thani

15 hours later at 0800. I'm already under pressure to make the Vientiane application cut off time which I

thought was 1130 ( it is actually 1200, but I wasn't aware of that) Another bus to Nong Khai should have

been straightforward, but it was like a kerbcrawler in Soho, trawling around for customers, filling up petrol, resulting

in an hour and a half journey. When if ever will Thailand wake up to the fact that bad service is just not acceptable.

Mistake #1 .....I didn't get off the bus at Friendship bridge instead I carried on to the bus station......Arrggh

Grab a Tuk Tuk to take me back the 6 Kms to Immigration, but instead he drops me off at a roadside travel

agents. More wasted time another 2 Kms tuk tuk to Immigration.

Now I'm really hotting up to discover my 30 $ should be 35 $, OK 200 Baht covers the difference, another page disappears in my passport but Laos visa quickly sorted. Through Laos immigration and waiting around for a bus to Vientiane 52 Kms away.

Mistake #2......I decide to take a nice Prado all on my own to Vientiane for 300 Baht promising extra if he gets me there before 11. The road to Vientiane is not easy to speed on so we get there at 1115, and to my huge relief discover I've got time to spare. Had I not made it then a weekend stopover would have been necessary. Somewhat frustrating to see a few other farangs get there before and around the same time as me, so I guess I was panicking and perhaps these guys had done it all before.

How refreshing to see the colour yellow was only apparent on the many many Beer lao lorries with their yellow crates

Five years ago this town was a hot dusty, petrol smelling heap, but not now. Quite a sophisticated tourist friendly place with

lots of choice for drinking, eating out, sleeping places and plenty of the other if you are that way inclined .I've not been to Vietnam yet, but

by crikey these Laoation girls are pretty special. I didn't get that who the ###### are you and what the ###### are you doing here type looks that I've noticed in Thailand lately.

I took a Vientiane - Udon Thani bus back that involved a lot of nonsense at the border getting on / off to fill in more forms etc etc, but OK.

A six pack of BeerLao made me very popular on the bus with a couple of young Thai guys, and I also gave up my seat to a lady. Everybody was laughing at stupid farang.....a good crack and a nice way to say Bye Bye Laos PDR

My bus back to C Rai was a nightmare lasting 15 hours on a bus without a toilet .

No reason to slag off the bus people here other than to say ....Never again

P.S. I have fallen in love with Beer Lao....10,000 Kip a big one

Oh....did I mention Visa ?? Got it

hi john,

i hope you dont mind me picking your brains !!!!

i,m about to do my first visa run to laos but i only live 35km from nong khai so not the same bus travel

i,m here on a type O multy entry visa . and need my first stamp , do i only need to go to lao immagration over the bridge pay my $35 and come back or do i need to go to thai embassy in vienaiane.

thanks for any help ...martyn.

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hi buck.

sorry but i,m too far away at nong khai , but can you tell me if at t.v you ever have get togethers at UDON or anywhere else this end of isaan ????

hi to all...

you,ve probibly had this question a hundred times , but help me out please ...

i,m here on a 1 year type O multy entry visa and next week i need get my first passport stamp, at LAOS as i live near nong khai , WHAT do i need to take with me ? i,m told its $30 u.s but do i need a lao visa application form with photo ? and how long do i need to stay out of thailand ?

thank for any help ...martyn.

I guess I might have to get a proof of address from the embassy. Since I live up north at my liveins village. Nothing in my name here to show I live here.

That's not always a problem. They may actually just take your word for it. Worst case is making the house owner sign something that states you live there, and include a copy of his/her ID card (signed) as well as a copy of his/her tabian ban. (House registration booklet. , also signed every page of the copy)

hi , i just bought a new nissan in my name i went with my wife to imigration at udon thani with my passport and visa my wife gave them proof of address i payed 1000b and was o.k at the showroom i payed 2000b deposit pick up was ready to collect in 2 weeks no problems ...

Only 2,000 baht deposit!!!!

hi again.... i forgot to say when i payed my 2000b deposit and choose colour , thats when i asked for and GOT the extra,s back linner , crome bumper , upraterd c.d player ( multyplayer ) and 1 years 1st class insurance .. i hope that helps ...martyn.

I guess I might have to get a proof of address from the embassy. Since I live up north at my liveins village. Nothing in my name here to show I live here.

That's not always a problem. They may actually just take your word for it. Worst case is making the house owner sign something that states you live there, and include a copy of his/her ID card (signed) as well as a copy of his/her tabian ban. (House registration booklet. , also signed every page of the copy)

hi , i just bought a new nissan in my name i went with my wife to imigration at udon thani with my passport and visa my wife gave them proof of address i payed 1000b and was o.k at the showroom i payed 2000b deposit pick up was ready to collect in 2 weeks no problems ...

Yes.the most you said is true,unfortunately.Even you was sharp here,that's the way it is...Here are a lot of proves but there is a hope...To find a balance in teaching and having fun,to make yourself as a friendly person to them,so they would be interested for YOUR subject.I'm doing that way and it WORKS...As with your own kids-all the time you have to show them carrot and stick in other hand...MOST IMPORTANT THING IS.smile always to them and even out of classes make jokes,some silly things for them so they will not escape from your classes...I hope all of us here are in some kind of mission-to give to those kids a chance in life.As well we know what is ALTERNATIVE to education here,yong men or women-whoever they are temptations of any crime will be all over them in nearly future - if they have alternative(by good education)they will stay out of any dark things in the future of their own...It's wrong to put above all,some piece of paper,if you know to WORK WITH THE KIDS,if you are deducated to your work...It's more simple then we think it is...So,i will not understand people as Bruceboy here,sorry...

IMHO Bruce is correct in worrying about how his education dollar is spent. I have been teaching English in Thailand and neighbouring countries for close to 10 years and it is a business riddled with corruption. Here are my observations of the A,B,Cs of the biz. First you have \\\'A\\\' the demand and \\\'C\\\' the supply who are not going to connect without \\\'B\\\' the greedy business person who knows nothing about teaching and often nothing about English. Mr. B prefers the unqualified populist teacher because the students do too. He goes out of his way to keep the students happy. I had one Mr. B tell me that I must observe Tom because he is a good teacher and the students are lined up to register in his class. Tom did everything that I was told not to do in my two TEFL courses. When trained teachers make lesson plans they are focusing on what the student will learn and not only if the student will enjoy this and will they like me. Although learning a language is an inexact science there exist empirical methodologies that one can only learn by attending a TEFL course. Tom informed me before the class that using contractions in his class was strictly forbidden because he \\\'felt\\\' that the students should use full words. He started the 50 minute lesson by asking each student what they did that day. They spoke for 30 seconds and his comments were 3 minutes. He felt that the air should constantly be filled with English because they are learning to listen. Finally, he had a reading exercise where each student stood and read a paragraph aloud and Tom corrected their pronunciation. The students had no idea what they were reading. Tom was a hard working man and the students loved him.

Most students dont care about studying and are forced to learn English. Most cheat their way through school and university. Most are as thick as sh*te with little or no motivation to try and improve themselves. Its who you know rather than what you know that gets a job here and they know it. Education is rotten to the core in this country and having a go at Tom is pointless. Tom isnt the problem. Tom is a bandaid doing his best. Not the best teacher but certainly not the worst. The Thai cultural system / way of life simply doesnt allow for any productive learning to the masses. Therefore most ideas learned on courses simply dont apply to Thai students. Most would switch off and would probably learn as much with Tom as they would with you and your theories but at least they would have had fun with Tom. Fun is big here, studying isnt. Cutting out the tumor isn\'t going to happen anytime soon. So id suggest you do your best and let Tom do his.

Foreign Parents educating their kids in a Thai school are doing so because they are selfish and want to live here and not because they care about their kids education. If you really cared about them you would go back home and give your kids a proper education, unless of course you can teach them yourself.

Yes, Thai education really is that bad.

Thanks for the advice. I've learned a lot lately.

hi , i might be going a little off track here but ...... i know some one working here in issan from my old town in england he worked in a factory as a manual worker , he said how easy it was to buy a fake degree from usa to teach in l.o. s . and sure enough he,s been working here about 3 years now . my problem is my family will be moving to the same city and youngest daughter will go to the school he works at ....... do i say somthing to wife or school ? or keep my nose out ?

how does the power and fuel consumption compare to other trucks you have owned in thailand?

please state the engine ,transmission, 2 vs 4 wheel drive configuration too please....getting closer to buying and need someone to kick me in a certain direction.

thanx

hi there i bought a new nissan navara L.S 4 door 2 wheel drive , about 2 months ago now done 1500km from nissan udon thani its fine , quick when you put your foot down but drinks a bit much , insides o.k and comfortable enough . only problem was nissan udon who put the crome back bumper on it fell off after few km,s after having that put right now the number plates fallen off back bumper still waiting for new 1 . i payed cash 649,000. free bumper free back linner and class1 insurance . if thats any help ...martyn.