danw

The villa prices and the fake google adverts sell it to me!

I lived in one of the 2 bed villas listed on there at 800gbp a WEEK yet I know it costs half that for a month with no lengthy contract - which is a pretty standard rate. Additionally the apartment seems to have changed name and moved around 10km north.

What a wholly dodgy website - hopefully future potential clients of onlyonsamui search for information and find this thread. Also would be fitting if Google get wind of the fake adwords usage, they can be litigious regarding misuse of their trademarks in this manner.

Slim but toned, so i hear. Guess that's a swimmer build?

I am curious if and/or when any of you gentlemen you may become concerned, if your lady does not answer her phone when you call. My experience is that a Thai lady is never far from her phone & it is generally her constant companion. My case in question are several occasions where whe did not answer for a couple of hours or more. The latest incident was this Sunday, with not response from 2 PM, with a return call at 6 PM. The story was that she did not see her phone. On the weekends she visits her parents home from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. She says this, but I've never been there to verify such. She is 24 & I think a visit home EVERY weekend is a bit unusual. Parents live about 30 km from her apt. When she is at her apt, durning the week, she usually answers quite quickly. Try to keep the nasty replies to a minimum. Thank you.

It's suspicious. I had an 18 month relationship where she was 'visiting her family' who lived 20km away every Sunday, and never answered her phone or returned calls promptly on that day, just sms or short phone calls a few hours later. I met her family, even saw them pick her up on the Sunday on occasion, but in truth - she had another boyfriend, another farang, same age, who was involved with her before me. Does she keep her phone on silent - if so, leave.

Whether she is cheating or not - you don't trust her so you have at least one issue to deal with.

Varies, but between 2000 and 10000. One ATM card, and Credit Card always left at home! I'm using UK cards, I really need to start transferring monthly sums to a thai account and use that, once I do - UK ATM will also remain at home.

I used to carry all my cards, until the day I crashed a jeep and my wallet disappeared in between accident and hospital (containing my cash, any access to more cash, and identification) - very nearly was not admitted, and was in trouble for 2 - 3 weeks arranging for new cards to be sent out to me. Always keep a card at home!

If they get stopped at customs, the answer is a hefty YES

I believe the official rate on tobacco is 40%, however this is applied to the cost of the products AND the shipping, and from my experience, it is often miscalculated by outrageous amounts (worst case was about 80%) .

I use swedish Snus, and import 10 cans once a month, if they get stopped, the tax ends up being roughly 1500 baht (product cost 2000)

My tips are, if the vendor offers alternatives to UPS, use them:

A - UPS always seem to get stopped, wheareas using less known/untracked mailing companies often seems to bypass customs inspections.

B - UPS is much more expensive than other delivery options

Obviously not using international trackable mail is a case of trusting your postie, since I switched from using UPS to non internationally tracked delivery I saved myself $30 on postage, and nothing ever got stopped at customs - ie i got my product totally tax free. Chok Dee Krap to my postman.

If your product does get picked up, be prepared to pay up to 80% of amount you paid for the products and shipping again, also they may require you to fax passport / id to them to get customs to release the goods - if this happens do not delay, UPS charge extra for each day they hold the goods, and i think this may even be included in the final tax calculation... I'm sure you 'could' appeal the tax if it's too high, but bear in mind if you do this before accepting delivery and paying the dues, the charges from UPS for holding will increase on a daily basis - catch 22.

Good luck!!

I could, of course, be wrong but think you'll find the 30baht payment for Thais (may even be free now) only relates to the local hospital where the person is registered. Most of the people who live and work on Samui are not local and therefore not registered. Suspect the 160k doesn't even come close to paying the bills so far accumulated so 17th at soi reggae will be much appreciated by Daeng

I thnk you're right mate - same applies for voting, land ownership and allsorts so far as I understand it.

Will attempt to make it down on the 17th, although my only ever experience of bunjee jumping might put me off that aspect

ATM, it probaly burned, if not, it probably got looted, as it would anywhere else in the world! who cares frankly.

I'd like an update on the situation of the injured lady too - hope she's on the mend.

Argentina, every car you see has collision damage, and when you get on the roads you see why!

No problem

You can get 100% Concentrate (unflavoured) in the green top 700g Pro Flex containers from most pharmacies, 990 baht. if you want 100% isolate it's harder to find, and more expensive - however I got it in the past from The Samui Health Center mentioned above.

Only got a chance to make it down to the fundraiser for an hour, but from what I saw, it was a great success and the targets the organisers had set were more than achieved - can only hope that the poor lady makes a recovery in as short a time as possible.

The ATM comments above are very sad and are out of order, it's not a time to joke around. Give it up.

Yaba is a typical Northern and Central-African drug, same as marijuana. Morocco is a big producer together with the Sahel countries. It was traditionally used by Bedouin and African tribes against fatigue and hunger. Its very popular and widely used all over Africa. In fact its a part of daily life in Africa.

Heroine is mostly produced in Afghanistan (90 % of world production) and is controlled by the Taliban and exported via the the old USSR republics and Pakistan. The trade is mostly organised by Muslims.

Cocaine is a party drug mostly used by Yuppies.

Stopping the use drug's can only achieved by fierce measures. Simply to give death penalty by overdose to every user or dealer, regardless the amount of drug's in his possession. Because their is not any reason who can justified the use of drug's.

And by drug's I also mean amphetamines, XTC or any other chemical drug.

Woah had to reply to this post, it's very misinformed. I wonder if you know of the British newspaper called the Daily Mail?

1 - I think you're confusing Yaba (a small methamphetamine based pink pill) with Khat - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat - Khat being a plant that is popularly and traditionally harvested and used (by chewing the leaves) in African tribes - there's a HUGE difference between the 2 drugs. I'd be very surprised if Yaba was traditionally used by Bedouin tribes - it's a synthesised drug, it comes in pills that users crush up and smoke.

2 - You are well off the mark with the Taliban/Heroin remark - they did some awfully bad things in regards to human rights, but they were ANTI heroin production before they were ousted from power after the Sept 11th 2001 WTC attack - look at this news report from 1999 - http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/1999/02/19/h...ghan990219.html there are loads of links I could supply regarding this issue, but i'll stop at http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_arti...bcf8c56569a940c and an outtake from there:

An October United Nations report confirmed that the Taliban successfully eliminated opium production in Afghanistan with a ban in 2000 that was almost universally enforced. The feat was enormous: before the ban, Afghanistan supplied 90 per cent of Europe's heroin. Then, Afghanistan provided 3,276 tons of opium poppies, more than half the world's output. This year's [ie 2001's] post-ban crop, however, was a small 185 tons, over 90 percent of it from provinces under the control of America's allies the Northern Alliance.

3 - Spend some time in South America and you'll see cocaine use, in a variety of forms, is widespread from the super-rich to the destitute - granted, here in Thailand it is too expensive for the average citizen, so is mainly used by 'Hi-So' Thais or Foreigners.

4 - This is more of a subjective retort - yes, a blanket death penalty would probably reduce drug use, but killing someone for havng a joint seems overkill to me - I guess it depends on your politics and your views on individual liberty.

In the meantime whilst TV are sorting out the lo-fi, if you're using firefox you can save banwdith by selecting 'View', 'Page Style', 'No Style' from the main firefox menu at the top. IE probably has a similar option.

As an update, I had 3 items shipped:

1 - Some aftershave via USPS (not UPS) from the states, arrived no customs check

2 - A pair of shoes, UK Recorded, arrived no customs check (and no signature asked for..)

3 - Another pair of shoes, UPS - customs whacked on 60% of the stated value AND the shipping cost

From other experiences, I use Swedish snus tobacco, and often order online, it's been hit and miss with taxation, the rule on tobacco is 40% but it has varied between about 20% and ridiculously high :-/

Last order, (after getting being taxed 2800baht on a value of 800baht tobacco) I chanced it with standard Swiss postal delivery (no tracking) - arrived within a week, no customs check.

So, the rule appears to be, so long as you have a trustworthy postman!! avoid UPS. Test first by sending something that looks valuable but isnt to check if your postie is on the rob ;-)

This could be an option for you - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Internet-Usb-t204830.html

That's fast - much better than people were reporting using the cat CDMA device 1 year ago - samui bill please could you tell me the make and model number of your usb device?

Thanks,

Dan

:-( they were all found dead by my landlord in the grounds yesterday. Apparently some kind, devout buddhist soul has decided there are too many cats in the area. All these cats and 3 or 4 others have been found dead in the last fortnight in the area. Frankly I wish I knew who it was to give them the same treatment - there are too many hideous excuses for human beings in this place. Really very sad, and extremely ANGRY.

Sheryl thank you very much for taking the time to reply!

The day after i posted this the mother moved all the kittens, I don't know where to.. I'd read she might do this, and I don't know where she has taken them - am a bit worried for their health (and sad they have gone) but I guess she knows best - she has been coming back for food, hope she has them somewhere safe and is looking after them.

I will see what develops over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully I will see them again - they were nearly able to walk on their back legs when she moved them (probably why she moved them) - there's not much I can do as I don't know where she has put them :-(

Anyway, thanks again Sheryl,

I've often wondered why there are so many Brits in Thailand. I'm talking young Brits in their late 20s, early 30s, who should be pursuing careers in England. Instead, they are here working shit teaching jobs just so they can stay. What happens when they're 65 and have nothing? I have an excuse - I'm retired, got a pension and a ton of bucks in the bank. I'm here to chill. Is it realy that bad in England? Must be a miserable little island....

It's now possible to build a career and earn UK wages via the internet, and the age group 20 - 30 is the generation that grew up with the opportunity to learn computing readily available at school and at home. Web development, web design, graphic design, seo, software development, internet marketing - there are many financially more rewarding careers available to internet savvy twenty/thirtysomethings than teaching English. Personally at 29 I have ten years commercial experience in building websites, and the nature of the work enables me to live anywhere in the world and telecommute. Not all 20 - 30 year olds earn bad money in shit jobs. I could of course choose to live in England where living is expensive, and life (as the weather) is all a bit dull - but to me it's a bit of a no-brainer.

OK, so I inadvertently adopted a feral cat when I moved to my rented house in Samui 8 months ago, there were a number of young (3 or 4 months at a guess) kittens hanging round the house, and I felt sorry for the skinniest / most fragile and started to pet her (and consequently feed her on occasion) - she went from being very afraid of humans to being extremely affectionate. Not just toward me however, also to the local toms... So about 3 months ago I suspected she was pregnant, and she was, she started hanging around my balcony more and as she got bigger I placed a box on my balcony where the local dogs can't access as an option for her to give birth in - she didn't even go in it, until 2 weeks ago on the day she gave birth to 4 healthy kittens, I had to help untangle the last kitten, and was a bit worried about interfering, but once I got the umbilical cord unwrapped from around mother cats leg she began to clean and mother the last one - no abandoned/rejected kittens :-) three are grey like their mother and one is pure white (am a bit worried on that as I have read that white fur / blue eyes has an increased risk of deafness)

It's now two weeks later, and they seem healthy, she's feeding them regularly, and keeps them clean (i change bedding every 1 or 2 days) - they rarely cry or mew. However - they have naturally got bigger, and this evening I found they had discovered that the mum sized door to their box is now reachable, with a little climbing on top of each other. Basically they had grown too big for their home. I have hastily (at 2am) constructed a bigger box with a higher entry door, however I need some advice on a number of points from any people with experience in these matters:

- At some point they will get big enough again to get out of this new home, my balcony is raised about 1 - 1.5m from the ground, ie// if they get out of the box they could conceivably fall down to ground level, but they wouldn't be able to get back up again, which might injure them and if not will expose them to the dogs running round - If it was up to me I'd move the box inside the house until the kittens are able to jump high enough!, however my landlord wont allow this, and additionally I want these kittens to be able to look after themselves once they get older - I don't know how long I will stay in this country, and whilst I am happy to feed the mom at the moment whilst she is weaning, I don't want 5 dependent cats - any suggestions as to what to do? I could line the bottom 12" of the balcony with some kind of board to stop them being able to jump or fall down, is this a sensible solution or am I being overconcerned / should be leaving mother cat to keep her kittens safe.

- I was intending to wait for a few months and get all the cats spayed (including mom) however I just read that this will lead them to be more homely, which (as I cant have them inside and don't want to be carting 5 cats round the world with me) and goes against my intention of being just a partial owner whilst they are growing - should I get them spayed?

- I read that kittens copy their mother in terms of using litter trays - mother cat doesn't use a litter tray. I bought one, and put her in it and moved her back paws in a 'bury it' motion, she mewed appreciatively and then she lay down sunbathing in it. Any suggestions on how to train her (unlikely) or her kittens to use the tray for its intended purpose?

Basically any useful advice for kitten care from 2 weeks -> big enough to jump 1m is appreciated - I know I'm being slack and a little standoffish towards responsibilty, but if anyone has good advice for caring for them whilst encouragng them to be independent when older would be useful. I was trying to do the right thing by feeding the mother in the first place, maybe it's backfired. I think once they are a few months old I will look for people to adopt them, but don't hold out too much hope as there are so many cats out here already.

Thanks for any advice!

Dan

PS - here's the family @ 2 days

Being lazy on the guacamole - thanks PoorSucker and mssabai (and goldfish)

In terms of the music, that's very subjective - personally I wouldn't choose to go for a meal and and listen to indie/rock, but I like electronic music. I do need to come down to Kush and have some food though, can they mash up avocados as well as vinyl?

Does that come with guacamole and tortilla chips?

Offtopic but - anyone found Guacamole in any markets in Samui?

I highly recommend Dentist 51 in Thonglor, google for the name and you'll find it. Went there for tooth whitening and she cleaned my teeth up properly (embarrased to say I hadn't had this done professionally in 15 years!) - after a thorough clean, she said it was up to me, but in her opinion I didn't need them whitening, and looking in the mirror she was right! Very honest, professional and saved me close to 10,000 baht when she could have just gone through the motions with the lasers.

I found them after doing a search for recommended dentists a few months ago, and they were well regarded and cheaper than the others. Left happy.

I'm in Plai Laem, just east of Big Buddha and haven't noticed anything overly amiss - over the last two months maybe 2x 3hr power cuts usually coinciding with thunderstorms, and maybe a 10 second on/offcut every other day (i have a UPS for my computer so don't notice it really). Maybe there's a dodgy connection thats hitting those of you up in the far north of Plai Laem?

Roads in Bangrak = much better! can see they are doing Choeng Mon now, will be interesting to see the effect in Nov.

On the righthand top side it says: options.

Try to switch to standard display mode.

I think that is what you mean..

It's the stripped down text only version (much faster) that OP is referring to, found usually via the link at the bottom of every page saying 'lo-fi version' - seems to be broken, it just refreshes the full image heavy version now.