Wentworth

It is illegal in Australia to use alcohol fuel in any percentage, the reason why is the alcohol separates over time and settles to the bottom of the tank. If this happens the engine will not run. So avoid it if it is a car the tends to sit around a lot.

I'm grateful to hear this, I hadn't heard of it before. I did mention to start with that I'd seen a report in the Bangkok Post Motoring section over a year ago. It basically said that even using E10 in engines not designed for it would cause problems and shorten it's life. My car is only 3 years old and I'm still convinced that people are just burying their heads in the sand about this point. Our car doesn't get that much use; lucky to 7 or 8.000 kms in 6 months. I hear conflicting information on this post and so I'll err on the side of caution and continue to use standard 91. I just wonder in an emergency if it would be alright to use standard 95.

My wife and I converse in English and she's happy for me to practise my Thai, though my Thai is not so good. I've finally found a Thai teacher(I live in the Boonies) and want to practise as much as possible.

How do you approach this so that we can practise each other's languages?

It would help if we knew what car it was. Most if not all fuel injected cars within the last 5 years can run E10 (gasohol 91). with the exception of the more exotic cars like Ferrari etc.

My wife's car is a Honda City.

To start with - I'm told that 91 and 95 refers to the octane levels - which means 'The square root of nothing to me'. I'd never heard of 91 and 95 before I came to Thailand; all I knew was 4 star or unleaded.

My wife's car is about 3 years old and the book says 91(the normal stuff, not Gasohol). Most people tell me that 91 Gasohol is fine. I know it's cheaper but the performance is noticeably more sluggish when I'm in other cars, not sure if there's any difference in the distance per litre. I saw a report in the press that continuous use of 91 Gasohol in my case will cause engine problems. I'm not sure how true it is but I stick to using the ordinary 91. With that in mind, how about if I used 91 gasohol on the odd occasion eg every 4 fill-ups?

I don't usually let the tank get down to sucking the fumes, but my wife isn't always so vigilant. I'd be grateful for some advice about what to do if I get to desperation status and can only find a garage with say 95 and 95 gasohol. Will I have problems if I put one of the 95 variations in the tank in an emergency? Can I use these or should I keep my fingers crossed that the car will make it to a garage with 91? Advice in layman's term would be appreciated.

Does that mean I need to ask the 'shop' /net connection owners for a password?

I've never used Wi-Fi before and just wanted to check if I was doing something wrong.

I bought an Ipod Touch and tried it at a coffee shop with free wi-fi. The Ipod Wi-Fi was set to 'On'. It connected to the shop wi-fi but Safari(Ipod web browser) said it wasn't connected to the net. I guessed that it should be OK as it was connected to the shop signal and the shop people said the net was working fine. The Ipod settings show that they had a signal but there was a 'padlock' sign. I'm told that this shows that the wi-fi signal needs a password.

Can anyone tell me if I just need to put the password in, the shop people didn't understand me when I asked them about this - also, is there a default password for places that give free wi-fi.

I've been looking at buying an MP3 Player; I just want music, not bothered about video so don't really want MP4. I know that the IPod can be slotted into a docking station that can give good Hi-Fi sound when not using an earpiece. I see the slot on the bottom of the IPod but don't see anything similar on any MP3 players I"ve looked at. Does this mean that Non IPod users just use a USB cable into say a home theatre or up to date portable CD Player?

A friend of mine has a retirement visa. He's thinking about trying for the 'Married' route but is wondering if it's possible to get anything as a 'dependent' of his Thai son. The son is in his mid twenties and expects to start a job fairly soon. I' ve never heard of this approach but hazzard a guess that if it could be done then the son would need to provide some sort of proof of financial status.

I'm grateful for the info. My wife has a Gold card and Social Insurance as well. It's just that she couldn't really explain it all to me and I was just looking to see what it was all about.

I remember the Pound being about 55 Baht at the end of last year; It had started to rise from the dismal 46 or so. I thought that the rise was due to the markets having a little faith in how the financial measures eg QE were helping in the credit crunch. Suddenly there was a realistic chance of a hung parliament after the expected general election, whereby the government wouldn't be able to give the bad medicine that was needed - Then the Pound nosedived again. Whether it's right or wrong politically, the markets seem to like what the coalition government are doing. I did think the Pound would rise but I get the feeling that it's cautious as the last budget cuts along with government department cuts, due in October, seem to be what the markets like but they are also worried about a possible double-dip recession or very slow growth as a result of the austerity measures.

I'm trying to find out what the pros and cons are of these two ways of getting medical treatment. I would be grateful if someone could explain them to me.

I'm grateful for the info on Bangkok Bank funds. The investments are for my stepson who is very young. Generally I thought the BBL funds looked alright compared to other providers. The main thing I have in mind is that I'll have only small amounts for him and I could trade them via my BBL internet banking page; as you mention some have no-loads and so I think this is probably the easiest option.

I'm very grateful for all the help. I'm not working but still grateful for the tax advice. I have internet banking with Bangkok Bank and it 'looks', (careful what say at the moment) good for investing online in bank funds. It would make it easier, but they only have a small amount of funds. I just want to see what's on offer from Kosher fund providers.

I'm grateful for your information. I would grateful if you could let me know the website; I say that as I've heard of Aberdeen but want to make sure I get the right department etc. I'm aiming for Mutual Funds as I look at it in the long term eg 20 years. I have enough time to research and keep up to date but not as much as you would need for stocks. I'm trading Mutual Funds outside of Thailand already so I understand them and I'm comfortable with them. How about the Stock Club, is that separate from Aberdeen? I'd be interested to see if there's something that could help with Mutual Funds

It used to be 21 days, but there are recent reports that immigration accepts15 or even 10 days. If your friend didn't get an extension on his tourist visa already, he can first get the 30 day extension.<br><br>(Unless he doesn't have a visa, but just got 30 days at the airport, which is called a visa exempt entry).<br>

My friend's present Tourist Visa ends early August and will be looking for the 30 day extension. I"m hoping he will try and transfer shortly afterwards.

I'm very grateful for your help.

Many thanks

I'm looking at investing in Mutual Funds denominated in Thai Baht. I'd be grateful for recommendations on brokers/fund providers within Thailand. The amounts don't make it worthwhile to go offshore or involving costly transactions outside of Thailand and I want to keep the money in Thai Baht.

An elderly friend wants to change from Tourist to Retirement Visa. He doesn't want to leave Thailand unless necessary. I know that he has to go to the main Immigration office in Bangkok firstly to change to a Non Imm Visa - I say this as I had to do the same myself last year. We realise that if the transfer is succesful and he gets 3 months then he needs to apply for the 1 year Non Imm 'O' (Retirement) at his local immigration office.

I've tried calling and emailing the immigration office, but no response. What we would like to know is how much time does he need to have left on his Tourist Visa when he goes to Bangkok to apply for the transfer?

About 3 years ago I went to renew my work permit. The man handling my application told me that the following year I would be more inconvenienced as I would need a police check from my home country. I politely asked him why and he told me that I was male and working with children and could be a Paedophile. I get where he was coming from but then asked him if the Thai teachers in my school had to do the same thing. His reply was that Thai men aren't Paedophiles - it was accompanied by that certain look that says - "it's obvious - Duuh!".

I read somewhere recently that they are giving free tourist visas. Can anyone tell me if this is true and if so, is there an end date? Also, interested to know if they are still allowing double entries. Would the free visa apply to double entry as well?

As far as I know all Thai males have to make themselves available for National Service. Can anyone clarify what the rules and Exemptions are? Do they have to go at a defined age or can they defer eg finish university first?

As a matter of interest, do they all enlist into the Army or can they be assigned to the Navy and Air Force?

As I write this, positions 5, 6 and 7 seem to qualify in the BBC Premier League table. The BBC have changed this over the past few weeks from just 5th place, then including 6th and now 7th. From what I can gather, 5th place alongside FA and Carling Cup winners get entry and there's talk of 'Fair Play Awards'.

I've tried to get my head around the BBC explanation but still confused. Can anyone give me a layman's version of who qualifies and perhaps why?

I would be grateful for any feedback about this company: www.currencysolutions.co.uk. They specialise in foreign transfers from the UK.

They only charge 10 GBP for transfers under 10,000 GBP. There are no further charges or taxes etc. I thought the rates were good and you get confirmation of the details beforehand. The transfer process seems quite quick. They claim to be regulated by the FSA and HM Customs, which I will check if I feel positive about it.

I've used SWIFT transfers from my UK bank before but even with a priority request you just don't know what the rates are. Also, they charged me 26 GBP and could have been higher.

My next 90 Day Report is due on a Monday. The immigration office tends to be shoe-horning people in like cattle on Mondays. I'm told that I've got 7 days grace and so would prefer to go the next day. Has anyone used this 7 day grace period and not been penalised?

'O' Visa Renewal - Money in the Bank. I've got the Chiang Mai Immigration Office visa renewal leaflet but it doesn't stipulate the time I should have the money in the bank. I'm told that I should have it in the bank 3 months prior to my visa end date ie 2 months before I apply for next year. I've heard some other offices stipulate 4 months before the end date ie 3 months before the application date. Anyone shine some light?

I tend to wait until the gauge is about 20% full before nipping to the petrol station and then usually filling it up. I've been told different things by different people. Some say you fill it till half as there's less weight, but then I wonder about all the unnecessary things people carry in the car that would more than compensate for say the weight of say 20 litres. I've been told that I should fill to max when it's down to half and then do it fairly early in the morning as the heat affects it. I tend to fill it to the max as money isn't that tight and can't be bothered with additional trips to the filling station.

Is there any kosher mechanical advice about the optimum approach to putting petrol in the car?

I'm very grateful - my browser was able to translate close enough -even got the results from this afternoon.

Thanks again.