brianwl

Good Day,

My gf and I are looking for a long term rental house/condo/villa in Cha-am. Unfortunately I'm going to be doing this on my own because she cannot get the time off work here in Phetchabun.

Here's what we're looking for:

20000 THB per month maximum
No more than 1/2km to beach (preferably)

Available anytime after 14 April

Furnished
2+ bedroom
1+ bathroom
Living room
Kitchen
Air conditioning
Allows an indoor cat
Allows first 2 months without a contract. We are planning to move to the Cha-am/Hua Hin area from Phetchabun and want some time to make a final decision.

I'm open to all ideas and information.

Thanks

Awesome, really appreciate the information.

Would you happen to know if many people are into RC planes and cars?

If you are bored in Petchabun it will be worse in Rayong. Very quiet there and not much to see or do. Hua Hin is a bit touristy and expensive plus awkward beach access. Cha am would be better. Nice place with enough to do to prevent boredom.

Great, thanks for the info. Can you tell me more about Cha-am? Maybe name some places (hotels, beaches, museums, parks, activity clubs, etc) for me to look up on the net?

I need to move out of Phetchabun due to sheer boredom, among other things. I'm a retiree and have some physical limitations which interfere in such things as golf. I don't drink and have a gf, so bars are of no interest. But the beach, museums, parks, history, taking Thai classes, etc, are.

I'm considering the idea of either Hua Hin or Rayong. Been doing some reading on here about both. Rayong seems to be the lesser expensive of the 2, but it does not appear to offer much in the way of lifestyle either.

So, here's my initial questions:

1. Hua Hin/Cha-Am or Rayong?

2. Hotel recommendations either on or near (100m) the beach, decent place but inexpensive say up to 2500 THB per night?

3. What things are there to do outside of the beach and shopping?

I'm sure I'll be asking more questions once I decide which place to visit.

So will mine once we move into a place with a kitchen. Lol

ThLolbreakfast will be before 9:30.

Sounds good

My bedroom. Thats the problem, this is the most anti-recreation place I have ever been.

Only place with air is Big C or Lotus.

I'll be back next month, happy to meet up for a coffee and a chat. Have you been to Toffee home ?

Great, let me know when you are in town. Hopefully the temp will be below 40c

Always see a few around Tesco have you tried chatting to them ?

Yes, I have. Thanks

Hi All,

Thanks for the input on places/things to do. Other than the drinking, is there a particular day/time when folks can be found at these places?

Brian

Hi Folks,

I've been living in Phetchabun for a few months now but having a lot of problems finding people that speak English fluently. I've met several friendly farangs, but having a casual conversation is difficult when English is my first/only language and its their 2nd or 3rd.

I'm not into bars or drinking but do enjoy site seeing. Mainly looking for friends to meet up with during the day while my gf works. Yup, I'm a retiree.

If there's an English speaker that can teach me Thai, that would be awesome.

I've seen some posts about London Cafe. I'm at Lotus several times a week in the evening for dinner but can meet up there or anywhere during the day.

On another note, if one does not work, what is there to do here?

I'm considering a 90 day trip to Chiang Mai for a much needed pressure relief. I'm wondering if there are reasonable quality golf clubs available for rent or if I should bring mine.

For that matter, will my clubs take a walk on me at the airport?

My potential time for the trip will be April - June.

Hi All,

Been a while since I posted here. I am interested in touring throughout Asia and interested in any input regarding Visa requirements for various countries, how long I should plan for each country to see it well and just enjoy myself in general.

Countries I have in mind at this time are Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and China. I'm not interested in the "big city" scene, rather I want to see the historical sites and have no interest in the "nightlife". I want to experience the people, food, and culture.

Timeframe is flexible, but won't be before March. Budget is an issue. As it stands I am traveling alone, but that could change.

So, let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Tell your friend to look up Thai Consulate on the internet and fill out the forms from the site then take all needed documentation to the nearest Thai Consulate.

Interesting reading.

Musth: When a male elephant reaches the age of 20, he starts to come into a phase known as musth which prepares him for the intense competition for females and mating rights. Musth is a Hindi word meaning intoxicated. When a male elephant comes into musth, his level of testosterone (a principal male sex hormone) will rise dramatically by a factor of twenty or more. It is physiologically and mentally an uncomfortable time for the male elephant and typically they will display aggressive behavior. Musth might last up to 60 days as they wander looking for females in estrus. During this time the bull will dramatically reduce his food intake and burn up much of his fat reserves. The temporal gland between the eyes and ears swell and discharge a viscous aromatic secretion. Along with the dribbling of urine that contains soluble pheromones, it signals other elephants of his state. Interestingly, African elephants experience a less pronounced form of musth and at an older age, than their Asian cousins.

http://www.honoluluzoo.org/indian_elephant.htm

You all have given me some great replies which will come in handy when the time comes to make the move. I really appreciate it.

Brian

What kind of nonsense is that?!

I am rated "unemployable" by the Veterans Administration. It means my % of disability is less than 100%, but I am paid at the 100% level. With luck I will also have my Social Security Disability by the time I actually make the jump, which also makes it illegal for me to earn $$.

With that said, the money (85,000TB per month) I make now is not sufficient to "live" on the US economy but would do me fine I think in Thailand, if my SSDI does not come through.

I've been living hand to mouth for 4 years fighting this battle with the US Government and I am sick of it.

Hi All,

Some of you may remember me from late 06 - early 07 time frame. Well, I am now officially retired. I have sufficient income to meet the visa requirements, so the visa is not an issue.

But, I honestly don't know what to do with my time or where in Thailand I want to retire to. First of all, as part of my retirement I am not legally allowed to earn money (this is not just a visa issue), so working is out of the question. That leaves me to my hobbies which are Golf, SCUBA, history, photography, and fixing on anything mechanical.

I do not have a Thai gf. I've only been to Thailand once and that was Phuket in Sep - Dec 06. I do know I want to move to Thailand, but I really dislike the tourist crowds and don't care for bars at all.

So, if I move here are the questions:

1. Where should I consider living?

2. How do I occupy my time (this is a general retirement issue)?

3. Anything I'm missing?

I'm retired millitary and lived on the economy in many countries all over the world, so culture shock is not an issue.

Thanks

Brian

Funny thing is in all my years or traveling around the world and eating in road side stands in "third world" countries, the only time I've gotten sick was at McDonalds in Panama.

Last time I ever at one of those anywhere outside the US. Rarely eat at one here too.

I have heard that when one buys electronics from a store in Thailand the purchaser must pay a duty on the item being purchased. The items I am concerned with are TV's, stereos, and digital cameras.

If there is a duty to be paid do locals pay it or just foreigners?

It's so hard to resist bashing America when someone starts talking about how great the USA is. I will try to resist this time.

I'll only say that I am trying to figure out a way to move to Thailand. Just don't have the 800k in the bank, I've got the age though.

Here in the US we have some 20 million illegals. The politicians keep telling us the illegals are doing jobs Americans won't do and that they should be allowed to stay on some type of amnesty deal. In fact they don't even call them "illegals" they are officially known as "undocumented workers." Calling them illegals would make them criminals and we wouldn't want that, now would we.

Using just a tad bit of common sense it is really easy to realize that once those "illegals" become legal they will have to pay taxes and will not be able to afford to do the same jobs they are doing for the same amount of money.

So, are they truly jobs we won't do or are they doing jobs in conditions and for pay we wouldn't tolerate. I think it's the latter and once they become legal, they won't tolerate it either.

Either way they are a huge drain on our society because of the cost of their social services, medical services, and the education of their children. Not to mention the cost of paying for their crimes such as driving without a license or insurance or the gangs such as MS-13.

I think any country that can stop illegals is well justified to do so.

Here is what I was getting at. I use Bank of America and pay all my bills via the internet for free. I was going to set my Thai bank account up as a monthly bill to be paid from my Bank of America account.

Anyone ever done this?

Should one take this to mean that the Thai banks don't have internet banking where you can simply move money from one bank to another? I was considering getting an account at a Thai bank and simply pay myself from my Band of America account as though it were a bill.

Do the Thai banks not use the a standard format for the routing number and account number?

Thanks

Brian

Yes, it can be something like Citibank.

Not very useful though as they have only one branch in the country.

Better to use a major Thai bank, SCB, Kasikorn etc.

Also note that making many small deposits from overseas becomes very

expensive in terms of bank charges. It will cost you almost as much in charges to

transfer a hundred dollars as it would be to transfer fifty thousand.

Naka.

Non Immigrant O:

http://www.thaivisa.com/278.0.html

Oh, that Internet thing is ever so useful....

Thanks, but I don't remember posting anything about supporting anyone. Want to try again?