fiddlehead

I agree and blame it on Television. It's easy to see that Thai's are easily brainwashed.

I remember seeing my sister in law buying that whitening cream with her small salary. I told her i didn't think that stuff worked and she should put some on only one arm to test it. She replied by saying: "What do you know, you don't even watch TV"

They think i know nothing and you are correct, they love to take medicine and i've seen the hospitals admit people for 4 days with a common cold. (western hospitals here in Phuket)

I will say that Sa-Ra medicine works for some things and is reasonably priced.

Hoping to get a Press Pass for this speech.

I bet they don't allow you to wear any shoes in the room.

A few years ago, my Thai friend took me to his friend who was a manufacturer and seller of this drink.

He showed me the process.

He bought the raw product from the people who climb the ladders and go up where the swallows build their nests and these people raid the nests to take the "rock salt-like" spit or whatever it is they use to hold these nests together. This product is very expensive. (can't remember how much though)

Then he takes that stuff that looks like rock salt and soaks it in water overnight (Perhaps 2 nights, i don't remember)

When this is done, he had a product that was very jell-like, almost like a jellyfish.

He took this product and diluted it greatly (maybe 100 to 1)? with water and put it into bottles that he sold for around 50 baht each i think.

(my memory and the prices and numbers are vague)

I believe he made a decent living doing this but not great.

Many have seen the ladders and ropes on a rock wall in Phi Phi Ley where the birds have these nests and the locals steal them.

I believe it is full of vitamins and perhaps the Chinese people think that it has viagra-like tendencies.

Bring your chamber pot. That will solve the problem.

my thoughts exactly!

Yes, that is cool. Pictures in Rawai near my house appear to be at least a year old, maybe a year and a half.

Thanks.

I love the scenery, beaches, weather, food, and smiles.

I don't see a lot of Thai culture in Phuket. More like Thai's trying to act western.

One thing i don't like is all the empty buildings (new) with no parking figured into the plan and more being built all the time.

Who is going to vacate these places?

Yes, and i also don't like all the McDonald's and KFC's and fast food joints. I guess somebody goes in them???

I'd much rather see the guy making the pad thai right on the street than Ronald frick-in McDonald. Jeez, this is Thailand, not New Jersey!

I appreciate all the answers and am learning a lot here.

Looks like lots of options as we are still officially single.

Please keep the answers coming if anyone knows other/more scenarios that happened to you.

I'm leaning towards my sons name although always have the "what if's"

i feel strange giving up big money and signing a paper saying it never happened. Definitely would go against my better judgment even though i trust my wife to be.

Hello, I've lived here for 7 years.

My Thai GF and I have been together for 5 years.

We have a 3 year old son.

We are still not officially married although we now have all the paperwork in order and are ready to tie the knot.

We are also looking at some land with a house (with a Chanote) and hoping to buy.

Two questions:

1/ I have heard that once a Thai woman marries a Farang, she cannot buy land in Thailand. Is there any truth to this?

2/ Can i put the land/house in my son's name (he has Thai passport and US passport)

Thanks in advance for your answers and any advice.

Also, does anyone know a trustworthy lawyer preferrably near Chalong? (i know that's 3 questions, sorry)

Ummm...

I think your information is wrong about the parties involved in the crash.

As we were at "a great rawai steakhouse" late into the evening, we came upon this accident, and have photos to back up this story, and it involved a "brand name cola delivery truck" and by the looks of it, (having 12 years of Fire Fighting and Rescue experience), I would say that the two cars hit each other while both were at really high speeds. We followed the wrecker with said delivery pick up, and it took 2 hours to drag it from the scene to the circle in Chalong. It could not roll on its own. It was literally dragged (drug) of the scene.

Oh, and there were MULTIPLE BODIES!!!!

but who really wants the truth?

todd

Yes, i don't pretend to know what happened for sure.

I saw the pickup truck when i came home (maybe you were there??) and it looked like no one could've survived.

Then in the morning, my wife told me the local gossip about the farang on the wrong side of the road.

theres always people driving on the road side of the road in los

True, but rarely are they pickup trucks or cars on a 4 lane highway, late at night, going around a turn.

By the way, Mangosteen Hill is on the way to Rawai (from Chalong circle)

Came home about midnight Sunday night and saw there was lots of flashing lights and a mangled up pickup truck near my home by Mangosteen Hill.

In the morning, local gossip has it that a farang left the 7-11 and made it that far driving on the wrong side of the road where he had a head on collision with a vehicle driven by a Thai woman.

Farang died, Thai woman is supposedly in the hospital in ICU.

Good luck to her.

I don't know where it's going to be and if it's not near Chalong, probably won't go BUT................

I am always on the lookout for some healthy snacks. In Thai stores, pretzels (sticks) are one of the few things i am ok with. (and fruit of course)

I would like some granola bars or something like that. (Not much sugar, no msg, easy on the sodium, THat kind of thing. )

That is Songkran. The biggest Thai holiday. The calender says it lasts 3 days. Depends where you are.

In PHuket, it is usually one or two days. In Issan, it's more like 7 days.

It gets crazy around that time. Many farangs don't like it for some reason.

But you get to see the Thai's having a great time and they welcome you to join them.

Skiing is one thing i really miss living here.

I have tried Switzerland but prefer Colorado.

I have done most of my skiing in New England which means you'd better be able to ski on ice.

Good luck. Have fun.

My 21 year old niece came here last year and stayed 2 months. Every week or so, i'd ask if she called or emailed her Mom which she had not.

I would ask her to and sometimes she would and sometimes not. So, i would.

Then she lost her phone. Then she lost her ATM card but didn't seem too concerned. She booked some flights with her credit card and eventually headed back home. I still hear from her every few months via facebook but she's not reliable at all.

I wonder if your cousin is similar? folks that age might not be too concerned about checking in and not really know how much it can hurt.

I'm certainly not looking forward to the time when my kid is like that.

Good luck.

Yeah, it's all they do. I agree they are good.

she is a member of the comunity police, so may have been more aware than the rest of us

I went out just after she got to her home, having told me .and I saw one pair chasing

a lone man on a bike, they were too fast for me to see what happend

as they were traveling in the other direction the people who tried to stop the women were hiding near to Dons. the pair i saw were coming from the laguna area

Sorry to be so ignorant, but where is the laguna area?

Of course I haven't gone out after dark in 3 years

Huh? It gets dark at 7 here. 7:30 at the latest.

It did pick up for a couple of weeks but is now worse than ever,

I was in there, ever hopeful, no bacon. no sausage, no lamb, no burgers.

I was in there 3 days ago and they bacon, 4 different kinds of sausage, burgers, steaks. Didn't see lamb although i didn't look for it.

Maybe you went at night. I usually hit it in the morning.

I too bought mine on ebay and had it shipped here.

Paid around $200 for a Garmin 60 CSX

The thing is awesome.

Thai maps were tough getting installed but it makes all the difference having them.

Before that, i just created routes and tracks.

Now i can find bars, food and money.

can't beat that.

When i bought my pickup, about 3 1/2 years ago I looked at a lot of the used car dealers and they all seemed about the same (high)

I ended up buying one privately from the owner (saw it on the side of the road in northern Phuket town), and he came down considerably in price because i was willing to pay the total cost.

Thai people often cannot afford to do this and must pay it off or go to a bank or ??? so, he was willing to lower his price because i paid him cash the next day.

Maybe he was desperate? Maybe i was just lucky?

My truck just finished a 5,000+ km trip around Thailand with my family and never once did i have any problems or see any loss of oil on the dipstick.

I bought Toyota because i believe they are the best.

My truck had 180,000 km on it when i bought it and has 225,000 on it now. It has never given me any problems except the battery went dead and i replaced the tires last year.

Good luck.

Well my daughter is only 18 months old, and already speaks, English, Thai, Mandarin and Latin, she could count from 1 to 1 million when she was 9 months and was doing quadratic and simultaneous equations by the time she was 13 months. She has just completed he BAGA 6 award for Gymnastics and is currently taking hr grade 7 piano exams. She can sing the wheels on the bus go round and round in 12 languages and was competent in morse code from the time she had been in the womb 5 months and used to communicate regularly, when I would tap out in morse the contents of the 'Telegraph' and 'Financial Times' every day. Apart from all that when she is not horse riding and practising her gymkhana she is a normal 18 month old girl who likes playing with dolls and solving the rubics cube in under 40 seconds.I am worried she may get bored at school (although we have booked her into Harvard University when she is 5), do you think she needs an IQ test??

Tigs, congratulations on your exceptional child.

Are you, by any chance, a politician or real estate agent?

I have a Thai wife and 3 year old hah sip/ hah sip son.

At this age, he really likes anything related to the Army.

But my wife tells me that to join the Army and Police in Thailand, you must be 100% Thai, meaning father and mother must both be Thai.

I didn't know this and don't really have a problem with it as i'm hoping my son has better ambitions when he gets older.

But, i wonder what other occupations are restricted here.

readers?

I don't normally like to hijack a thread but it appears the OP has left us.

[quote name='jeab321' date='2009-02-09 10:32:36' post='2521124'

At the end of the day, people employed here in Thailand that still have jobs are very lucky considering the economic downturn that is causing millions of people around the world to lose their incomes and their homes.

The tourist/hotel industry has seen a huge decline in recent months after the airport closures. People have lost confidence in Thailand as a destination and now potential tourists will lose confidence in the largest private employer on Phuket. What I am saying is, we should not forget that although Laguna is a big company its mere presence on the island has generated thousands of jobs, smaller businesses that are in that area have benefited and if that company is persecuted just because its big and it is showing prudence by not giving large bonuses and preserving jobs then why would employees be this angry?

Seems stupid to me. Mob behaviour should never be condoned. The gangs were quite aggressive to Thai staff trying to enter and exit the resort over the weekend.

My thoughts exactly.

These are tough times. People that have jobs are lucky. It's not a time for demanding more money.

Hopefully this economic downturn will not last too long. When hotels are full again and jobs are plentiful, let them find peaceful ways to ask for a raise.

In Phuket Town: phuketdentalcenter dot com is excellent.

I had a lot of work done there and now it's 9 years later and haven't needed a dentist, except for cleaning, since.

They are right next to the Bangkok Phuket hospital in town.

A few years ago, we got my son his Thai passport at Central shopping center along with about 500 other Thai people.

The passport people were set up to do about 10 at a time and it moved fairly quickly.

My wife's Thai passport is about to expire and we were hoping to renew it in this same way.

If anyone hears that they are coming to Phuket in the near future, could you please post here or PM me.

Thanks, fh