neilrob

I agree with you, 2peteok, the DVD shop on Sripoom Rd was excellent. I tried to find them after the shop closed, but with no success. My guess is they just went out of business, but I hope I'm wrong and they will pop up somewhere.

You can reach them here: 053-808084

Thanks for the information. Does this mean they still have a shop somewhere? If so, where? You can't rent a DVD over the phone (unless they have home delivery).

A prime example of this is someone I know who owns rental property in his home country and condos here. Yet he goes around in worn out clothes. I saw him at the bank for a business meeting in shorts and a torn shirt. I don't think that is appropriate in his home country and it is definitely not in Thailand. Strange, particularly considering how cheap clothes are here

I agree with the OP and have made similar observations of expats who clearly have money (eg. own multiple properties abroad), but are simply too cheap to spend a few hundred baht. It seems like bizarre behavior. My only explanation is that Thailand, simply because it is cheap to live here, attracts such people. Probably they behave the same way at home---misers at home and misers here.

I renewed my five year car driving license in CM a few days ago. Before doing so, I looked up the requirements on Thaivisa and elsewhere on the internet and found some current requirements in CM are different to those posted there. The first time I tried I turned up about 1:30pm to find I was too late. They do it only twice each day, at 9:30am and 1:00pm, so you have to arrive a bit before either time. Requirements are:

- You hold a 1 year visa.

- Passport with copies of picture page, last visa extension and last entry.

- Residence certification (copy and original), either certificate from consulate or from immigration, or work permit or yellow tabian baan.

- Expiring Thai driver's license. You can renew up to 90 days before.

- Fee of 605B (extra 50B if you've changed your address).

- If you have two driving licenses you must make two copies of documents.

Two items that other postings say are required they did not need:

- Medical certificate---I brought one and they said not necessary.

- Photocopy of front and back of old license.

There was a colour blindness test using a traffic light mockup, but with the red, green and amber lights appearing in random positions, a braking reaction time test and a one hour training course. Thai participants went into a lecture hall for this. I watched an English language video on a computer monitor.

Everything moved quite quickly (except the video!) and total time from entering to leaving with a new license in hand was about 1.5 hours.

I went in a few days after my license had expired. No one commented on this and it is well worth doing. The new license expires five birthdays from now, so I received what in effect is a 6 year license, expiring in November 2019.

I live within a stone's throw of Central Festival, so I was looking forward to it opening. I just went there and found it very disappointing. The building, inside and out, has no style or imagination. Promenada may not have many customers unfortunately, but at least it shows some imagination. Central Festival has all the style and imagination of a matchbox with tinsel draped round it. Even KSK is better architecturally, and KSK is a mess. But the worst thing about Central Festival is the acoustics. The noise level is deafening and there is no sign of any attempts at sound damping. How could anyone build a new mall and not take into account the acoustics of the design?

I suppose your spelling in Thai is impeccable?

FYO: even the Thai's seldom spell anything the same in Thai script. so lay off the sarcasm, OK?

First you don't know an acronym that has been around for decades. An acronym that did not come from Thailand but is an English language acronym. Then you think it is Thais not being able to spell !! Then you suggest Thais cannot spell Thai. I don't know which Thais you know, but I can assure you that many Thais can spell Thai perfectly well. Sarcasm seems entirely called for in response to your comments.

My experience is that Bangkok Bank do the letter while you wait. If you want you can do the letter a bit earlier in the week. I've used letters up to a week old with no comment from immigration.

I have a 1966 and a 1972 Jaguar. Both were shipped from the factory to Bangkok and sold new in Thailand. I would like to find the name of the original owners, just so I know more of the history of the cars. The log books show the date of first registration and the original registration number. Unfortunately, both log books have changed, probably several times, over the 40+ years and they do not show the name of the original owner. Jaguar factory records show the original dealer in Bangkok, but not who purchased the car. Neither dealer is still in business. Has anyone got any experience of trying to find the name of the first owners from Land Transport Dept records? Thanks for any help on this.

The same with Big C extra in CM, it also used to be a Carrefour. As in Bangkok, it appears to me to carry more upscale foods than other Big Cs, but then I have not been to other Big Cs to compare for quite a while.

I did the extension in CM two weeks ago. The officer handling it told me the policy has changed. You can now renew 45 days in advance.

Hinlay seems to have stood the test of time and consistency is certainly not prevalent among restaurants of a similar nature.

Haven't been to Hinlay's in a couple of years, but my recollection was that they were cooking their curries in advance in bulk and then reheated individual servings for customers, and that with the exception of the vindaloo the curries were very bland. Has that changed? Only good thing that I remember about the place was that they served the food quickly.

Of course worthwhile Indian restaurants cook some of their curries in advance. Depending on the curry, the flavor improves the day after, because the spices and other flavours have had a chance to blend. Some dishes have to be cooked in advance to be at their best. This is not a valid criticism of Hinlay or of any Indian restaurant. Nor is it true that Hinlay's curries are bland. Of course they have milder and spicier dishes on the menu. I suggest you try Hinlay again and order one of the spicier dishes.

I have tried most of the Indian restaurants in CM. The only one I've found which is worth going back to is Hinlay, which offers a consistent high standard of food at reasonable prices.

I guess I thought i was talking about ID theft and having someone gaining access to and draining my account. Not the gov, irs or courts filing a lien on my assets. I can not speak for other countries but I am fairly sure that could and does happen in most if not all. Someone also weighed in that Thai banks are FDIC insured, just like the US banks are FDIC insured. Really???????? Thai banks are FDIC insured???? That would be another new one for me.

To each his own but there have been more than a few TV accounts of ID fraud draining there accounts here in LOS. In US this would be insured, here, it is not. That is the only point that I was trying to make. If you can convince me that Thai banks are somehow FDIC insured and that all of these that had their accounts drained have some recourse in getting it back please share it. Until I get it I will continue to do as many others that I know do, keep only enough in Thai banks to carry me month to month, with a little nest egg, never "risking more than I can afford to lose".

FDIC insurance in the US only covers such events as the bank failing. There is similar govenrment insurance in Thailand. FDIC insurance does NOT cover identity theft or similar criminal acts, either here or in the US. I suggest you go to the US FDIC web site to understand what FDIC insurance is and how limited it is.

If you maintain a high balance in a deposit account you also receive better interest rates, which is more important than any freebies. For example, I get 3.25% from Bangkok Bank. This is a pretty good interest rate considering the low risk. So it is not at all surprising that people do indeed maintain high balances, irrespective of whether or not you get a VIP parking sticker (I get that also).

Unfortunately, royal ownership is no guarantee against development. Crown Property Bureau land has been intensively developed in the past. Just look at what has happened in Bangkok. An example is a long time open space in central Bangkok recently leased to a condo developer in spite of neighbourhood protests. Furthermore, according to news reports, the Crown Property Bureau plans to become a developer in its own right on land at prime locations, starting with the launch of a new leasehold luxury condominium in Soi Langsuan this year.

I saw him in the Pub last week. He was talking with the staff there. From what I overheard, he was not obviously insane, but sounded not too bright. But then again you would not expect anyone who wore such offensive costume, featuring a very large nazi style swastika, to be very bright.

You will own the rights to control the land for your lifetime and although the owner could sell the land, the new owner would be subject to the usufruct and could not occupy or otherwise control the use of the land during your lifetime.

Rubbish.

I find it difficult to understand the motive for a post such as this by Elektrified. Why do people who know nothing still have an urge to post? Strange. The original post by Trujillo that a usufruct can give you these rights was correct, on topic and helpful. The response by Electrified was none of these things.

Its just water with a bit of kerosene added and a machine to create the fog - not harmful at all, except to the mossies. Thailand is not unique here - used in many countries and much safer than the pesticides and pure kero they use in many parts of eg. Australia.

How do you know this? What is your source of information and how reliable is it? Do you actually know this to be true? I hope you are right, but although you may be an exception, many people post on Thaivisa without knowing what they are talking about.

I subscribe to the Bangkok Post directly. It is delivered about noon every day. The cost, around two years ago when I subscribed, was the equivalent of 14.5B per day, including delivery. This is less than half the newsstand cost of 30B, so I think it's a great deal. The contact information then was 02 240 3777, ext. 1606, 1613, 1621 or 1634-1637.

Mae baan does not mean housewife, it means housekeeper. We just got work permits for a Burmese mae baan and a Burmese gardener. I would expect that it would be similar for a Filipina. An individual, not a company, can indeed do this. However, I am told that it has to be a Thai employer---a foriegner cannot legally apply for a work permit for a foriegn housekeeper

What a shame for his family. You have to wonder if he would have been attacked by the robber, if he had not brought the knife.

Don't pick a weapon up unless you know how to use it and are willing to do so. Otherwise, vacate the premise and call the police.

Also, stab, injure, or kill an unarmed intruder in your home, and you are probably going to do some hard time in Thai jail. TIT. This ain't American and I don't think there is an "Castle Doctrine" in this country -- and you're a farang.

My understanding of Thai law is that you DO have a right to injure or even kill an unauthorized intruder in your home, although this case illustrates that calling the police would have been much more prudent.

I suggest trying Khun Daychaa. If he cannot do the job, he will recommend someone. He specialises in repairing older cars---he only repairs cars with carburettors, no fuel injection etc. He is competent, reliable and remarkably reasonable. He does not speak English however, so unless your Thai is good take a Thai friend with you. To get to his shop these are the directions. Drive out of the city on highway 1006, towards Sankhampaeng. Cross the Superhighway. Drive a bit less than 1km. On your RHS you will see a large shop on a corner which usually has forklift trucks, golf buggies etc outside (and parts from wrecked cars inside). Turn right immediately after this shop. Drive about 100m and his shop is on the right---it looks like a house, but if you look in through the front gate you will see lots of cars being repaired. Hope this is helpful. PM me for his phone number.

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Ate there tonight for the first time in ages. Now I can't understand why it took me so long to go back there. Both the food and service were superior. I'll be back there again soon.