lannaman

My wife has adopted her niece's daughter. She did this through the local Tessaban office, the whole procedure was fairly easy but took 18 months. I reckon your wife would have to be resident in her Thai home district for that period of time, could not do this living abroad as regular visits to office and the officials visited our home about three time. As well as that all the close family were interviewed.

A foreigner can do this in his name through the Adoption Centre in BKK. Very long winded and complicated procedure. At 68 I was considered to old, so fell at first hurdle!

On 08/03/2017 at 9:23 AM, daveAustin said:

40. Couple that with ever-rising costs here. Gone are the days of 76 to pound. A lot will be heading home methinks.

My pension is down by 20% as is every Brit's.

For now until the recovery, that I feel will surely happen, we just have to cut back.

We had three vehicles in my Thai family, so I've just sold my truck, I can use Honda Wave and wife's car when she's not using it, I've said I'll pay half insurance costs.

If I'm stuck, then there are always taxis which are relatively cheap.

I'm ordering a folding bike which will easily fit in a car/taxi boot, so I can still be mobile in town.

So Brits, for now just cut back and enjoy the simple things in life!

Despite this I'm still fully behind Theresa May.

5 hours ago, hobz said:

Yeah chiang mai is so sad right now.. Completely dead after midnight

Good, people can get some sleep

Under the leadership of Phra Khru Sutthee who is an personable Buddhist teacher and speaks good English , the Chiang Rai Buddhist  group plans to make a site seeing and meditation trip to three historic parks including Sukhothai.

 The four day, three night trip will take place Monday January 16 departing Chiangrai at 8:00 am returning in the evening on Thursday January 19. 

The plan is to practice various meditative exercises near the less visited just and only visit the major ruins briefly for cultural appreciation. 

The group will not exceed thirty including some of Phra Khru Sutthee's students who he thinks can help as guides and benefit from exposure to the English language. Including all transport, three nights shared accommodation and three Great Chance to visit and meditate in the Buddhist Historical Parks in mid-January, water and park entry fees we anticipate a cost per participant of 2500 Baht. Lunch, supper and other beverages are not included.  People wishing to have a single room will need to contribute 3750 Baht.  
The plan is to spend two nights outside Kamphaengpet and one night around Sri Satchanalai. 
The accommodation will be around two stars at best and in the rural areas. We will try to get twin beds but participants should appreciate that most places in this price range and in these relatively quiet areas offer mainly rooms with double beds. 

To reserve a place on the trip and for additional information, please contact Bruce Kennedy at [email protected] 
phone 089 635 3224. 

​Noisy & aggressive Russian just moved in above my room. What to do?

How would you handle this problem?

I rent a pleasant condo in Bangkok suburbs. Been here a year. No desire to move again. Room above vacant for the past year. Beginning of this month, new tenant moved in up there. Three days now, loud, pounding footsteps back and forth overhead. Very loud, as if jumping up and down or doing aerobics, but I'm sure is just ordinary walking with heavy footsteps.

This evening I went up, knocked on the door, introduced myself as neighbor below. Russian man, age about 28, tall, heavy build. Speaks a bit of English. Very aggressive attitude from the beginning. I wont go into details, you can imagine. He kept saying, If you want to go to Police, go! I can live here! Zero attitude of conciliation. And he has Russian girlfriend/wife with him, so acting extra manly in front of her.

Next, I went down to lobby and security guard came back with me a second time. Again, aggressive attitude. I live here! What you want from me? Walk all time on toes? Russian doesnt speak any Thai. Security guard doesnt speak any any Russian.

Friends whove encountered Russian problems tell me only way to handle them is to hit em hard and fast. The only thing they understand is overwhelming power, immediately applied.

• Is that correct?
• If correct, what is the best way to do it?

My personal inclination is the Thai approach: soft-soft, one step at a time. But that won't work with this Russian. Of course I will complain to Ne-te condo management, but, being Thai, they certainly will avoid all conflict. So I dont expect any help from there.

I dont know any policemen, but if I did, Id invite 3-4 of them to visit some evening after their shift, and we could go up for another chat with the Russian. But if he continues with the pounding footsteps, what then? Its not a crime. And, really, I dont want to get involved with the police in any way.

​

I'm willing to put some money into a solution, if that's what it takes. I certainly won't depend on any sense of "fair play" from the Russian.

I will be grateful for any practical suggestions of how to handle this Russian problem.

​Noisy & aggressive Russian just moved in above my room. What to do?

How would you handle this problem?

I rent a pleasant condo in Bangkok suburbs. Been here a year. No desire to move again. Room above vacant for the past year. Beginning of this month, new tenant moved in up there. Three days now, loud, pounding footsteps back and forth overhead. Very loud, as if jumping up and down or doing aerobics, but I'm sure is just ordinary walking with heavy footsteps.

This evening I went up, knocked on the door, introduced myself as neighbor below. Russian man, age about 28, tall, heavy build. Speaks a bit of English. Very aggressive attitude from the beginning. I wont go into details, you can imagine. He kept saying, If you want to go to Police, go! I can live here! Zero attitude of conciliation. And he has Russian girlfriend/wife with him, so acting extra manly in front of her.

Next, I went down to lobby and security guard came back with me a second time. Again, aggressive attitude. I live here! What you want from me? Walk all time on toes? Russian doesnt speak any Thai. Security guard doesnt speak any any Russian.

Friends whove encountered Russian problems tell me only way to handle them is to hit em hard and fast. The only thing they understand is overwhelming power, immediately applied.

• Is that correct?
• If correct, what is the best way to do it?

My personal inclination is the Thai approach: soft-soft, one step at a time. But that won't work with this Russian. Of course I will complain to Ne-te condo management, but, being Thai, they certainly will avoid all conflict. So I dont expect any help from there.

I dont know any policemen, but if I did, Id invite 3-4 of them to visit some evening after their shift, and we could go up for another chat with the Russian. But if he continues with the pounding footsteps, what then? Its not a crime. And, really, I dont want to get involved with the police in any way.

​

I'm willing to put some money into a solution, if that's what it takes. I certainly won't depend on any sense of "fair play" from the Russian.

I will be grateful for any practical suggestions of how to handle this Russian problem.

I am British aged 69, my Thai wife is 46. We have been married 9 years.

My wife has a niece who left a baby girl with my wife's family, she was only one month old and we took her into our care and she's been with us since then. She's now 21 months, and has completely bonded with us.

Her birth mother works in a low income job in Bangkok, is single with three kids, she has the oldest child with her, the middle one lives with his grandmother and she could not afford to keep the baby who is now living with us.

The mother is completely happy with us adopting her, as are the rest of the family.

My wife has been to the municiple office dealing with adoptions, and they have said that as I am a foreigner I need to go to the Adoption Centre in Bangkok, I plan to go there next Wednesday. I tried phoning them but had such a softly spoken Thai lady that I could understand a lot of what she said.

Has anyone had a similar experience? We are very keen to adopt her,and thus under our loving care give her a decent future. She is a quiet, good and intelligent child, and we love her very much. Please advise!

Living with Thais as I have done for years one has to fit in with their time clocks. Go to bed by 10pm or early then the barking dogs at 5.30 would not be a problem.

Saw this patriotic cyclist today near Sri Sae Mun.

Some good news for fans of the Barclays Premier League is that Channel 3 has reached an agreement with CTH to broadcast 23 matches on their free channels. The first match will be broadcast on Channel 3 (analogue) and Channel 3 HD (Digital 33). There will also be EPL highlights just after midnight every Saturday from 24th August. The first match will be Everton vs. Arsenal at 11:15pm on channel 3 and channel 4 HD on 23rd August.

The following are the match fixtures that have been released so far. I will update when more come in:

23rd August 2014: Everton vs. Arsenal from 11:15pm-1:30am

31st August 2014: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool from 7:15pm-9:30pm

13th September 2014: Arsenal vs. Manchester City from 6:30pm-8:45pm

21st September 2014: Leicester City vs. Manchester United from 7:15pm-9:30pm

27th September: Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur from 11:15pm-1:30pm

5th October: Manchester United vs. Everton from 5:40pm-9pm

18th October: Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur from 6:30pm-8:45pm

26th October: Manchester United vs. Chelsea from 10:45pm-1:00am

One way to watch ALL of the EPL matches in Thailand is either by subscribing to 365Sport or CTH. With 365Sport you can watch five days on demand. That means if you dont want to stay up for a match you can watch when you wake up in the morning or any time for the following five days. To get a free trial (works until 24 August) click here for details.

We thought the big tremor this morning about 8am was stronger than the initial one.

Will be interesting to see the Ricter rating. I fear many structures weakened yesterday will be brought down.

5 kms East of city, fairly strong, no damage, scared cats, boy of 17 not move from the computer!

Watching Mrs Lannaman strim the grass, she looked as if she thought she was drunk!

I read books on my iPad very effectively. A kindle is tied to Amazon is it not?

I have many downloads on my PC which I'm only to willing to share.

Violent storm here last night, horizontal wind, hail and rain. Outside things are all over the place, and the vent blew off our under stairs cupboard and everything in there is soaked!

Mrs Lannaman and son are at the village, the girls went out clubbing so I'm alone to clear things up a bit. Teaching this morning so will leave most of clearing up to them.

4kms East of the city, cool wind, light show but so far no rain.

Not only the tuk-tuks but the motorcycle taxis have doubled their prices. I visit Hua Hin quite often and the fare from the bus station to my guest house near the Hilton was 50 baht last year. Two visits this year and they tried to extort 100 baht from me, settling on 70 bt after a friendly haggle. On my last return I had my 17 year old stepson with me and it was 60 baht each (3 up on the bike), fair enough I suppose as we had bags too, but safe no, as the driver only had one eye!

No food! Enough money for a smoke though.

I don't like their parties.

Yeah, none of us like their loud music, but just show your face for a bit, smile, wai and join a dance, YOU WILL EARN THEIR RESPECT. Don't forget your ear plugs!

No need to hang around for a long time.

You won't find anything cheap in Phuket, which is in my opinion overpriced ( when we visited my Thai family were paying 70baht for noodles compared to 25bt in Chiang rai).

Phuket is also overcrowded and the locals a lurking to rip you off. My advice is to travel around and take a look at other places, there are many places near and away from the sea that are more genuinely Thai, where you will have a better quality of life. Enjoy your holiday!

Several exchange places near the entrance to Night Bazaar, you'll have no problem. Enjoy your stay!

I am surprised there aren't more accdents considering the appalling driving I see on Chiang Rai road from drivers with City of Angel number plates - too fast and little consideration for other road users. Lannaman will be happy to see them all go home, that is if they return there alive!

Having been shivering in the English autumn for the last four weeks I'm now looking forward to returning next week to the snugger Thai winter. I've been prompted by the thread below to re-engage with posting some photos.

I've been using my Samsung S2 phone over here and have been impressed with the results. Here are two examples.

Sorry not of Chiang Rai, but will be in action next month.

There seems to be a problem using a debit card provided by LloydsTSB. When I tried to book airline tickets I was told LloydsTSB has been blacklisted in Thailand.