LostInBKK

Wow, I would not have expected to see those transit times......good to know. Thanks for the info!!

It came as expected - and 7 baht handling fee to the building.

Nothing has ever been stolen.

Possibly, the key thing is to state in the "Value" line: "No Commercial Value". IME, works for gifts too.

How was it sent? USPS? When I have to order something it's because I need it now, so I'll usually go with FedEx or DHL....

I wonder if writing "No Commervial Value" on those receipts will work too...

I wired USD 15,000 to my Bank Of Ayudhya account from Wells Fargo about a month ago and never got hit up for a charge on this end, it was about USD 30 from Wells Fargo and took less than 24 hours.

If you're looking for a plasitc type house, I saw them at Makro for a faily cheap price (under 1,500 baht) and would be perfect for a dog that small..... If you're looking for a cage I had the best luck at Suan Lum Night Plaza.....there's a ton of pet store shops one which deals with nothing but cages...

When I moved from my base in Iraq to Thailand, I shipped 2 large foot lockers.... the 1st one contained my xbox 360 and games and some various small items, it cost me $200 to send via DHL and THB 7,000 to receive it in Thailand....i was told that if I were able to go and present my passport in Bangkok then I would only pay handling fees which were about THB 1,000. That trunk left Iraq about 3 weeks before I did and my wife wanted it so she paid the fees.

The 2nd trunk I shipped the day I departed my base in Iraq, cost $150 to send to Thailand, and when I arrived here my wife said that DHL wanted my passport. They sent a courier to the hotel I was staying at to retrieve my passport, but I did give it to them (I know, stupid of me but I had time to get a new one if needed) and the next day they returned it to me. I had to pay THB 500 to receive the package in Chaiyaphum, and they delivered it 2 days later.

I have no idea what showing my passport has to do with getting a lower price, maybe this will help someone else?

I have been wanting to order some books and various things that I can't purchase here, the cheapest option for me right now is using the APO in bangkok as my shipping address, and plead with APO staff to let me pick up my stuff as I do have a military ID (not retired, but not expired either). I guess I could also ship these books to the APO in Iraq to a friend of mine and they can bring it for me when they come, but I don't want to trouble anyone...

Anyone have a better idea?

Ummm...what area are you looking in? I just moved in to a 2br. serviced apt. for 15k/mo..... I tried for 3 weeks to find a place but had the best luck in the classified section of Bangkok Post....I know there are no pictures but you can usually judge by the area...found some great deals though.

Also try www.bahtsold.com

Check out www.tollthai.com

I use to use it when I was in Iraq...comes out to about 1 cent per minute and $1 per week maintenance fee...

They have changed their site since then, but the card I was using from them was "Fan Chan"

Thanks for everyone's replies.

One comment on Skype, it would be great, but it assumes they have a decent computer, a good quality broadband connection, and I only want to call them when they are home. Unfortunately that's very few of the people I'm calling.

Check out www.tollthai.com

I use to use it when I was in Iraq...comes out to about 1 cent per minute and $1 per week maintenance fee...

They have changed their site since then, but the card I was using from them was "Fan Chan"

Hi,

Hearty congratulations to you! losing 40 Lbs is a big acheivement!!!!!!!

Tks for your motivating, insightful and detailed post. However I have a few questions.

1) Exactly which Vitamins you were taking? where can we get them? can we get it into medical/chemist shops? how much quantity do u suggest to take?

2) As you mentioned about the breakfast......not sure if u were taking the fruits and immediately use to take salad and lean protein or it was for lunch? What u use to take for dinner? ......It will be very very useful for all of us if your could elaborate about the quantity of your salad, fruits and lean protein..........

Also kindly let us know that if someone is a vegetarian then what should he/she take as lean proteins instead of chicken/fish?

thanking you in advance

The vitamins were GNC Mega Men Multivitamin at the recommended 2 a day... I have been unable to locate these vitamins in Thailand... all of the GNC stores that I have been to carry one of the Mega Men series but it's the basic one, you'd do better paying Bht. 200 less and getting Centrum.

As far as the diet goes...I tried to keep my options open as much as possible, here was a typical day.

Morning - Fruit (Honeydew melon, watermelon, pineapple, seedless grapes, orange, apple) at various quantities depending on how hungry I was.... since it's fruit and loaded with water, whatever you eat will be gone in about 2-3 hours. Breakfast for me was usually at 0800, so I tried to place lunch at around 1130 or 1230 depending on work. I also drank about 1-2 L of water. If I simply couldn't take it I'd snack on fruit or almonds, cashews, peanuts, etc...

Lunch - Salad (1 medium sized bowl, I usually used lettuce, olives, cheese, green/red/yellow peppers, cucumber, tomato, brockley, cauliflower, and random samplings from time to time for taste...) Also, I only used Italian dressing, I stayed away from the Thousand Island and other creamy dressings, however when Italian wasn't available, I used Ranch. Main Course - I usually ate some kind of bread or pasta if it was available and some type of lean protien...chicken and beef were served every day and fish every 2 days or so. I ate a healthy serving, I can't say how much as far as weight per serving, that one is up to you.

Dinner - Fruit again, no later then 5 or 6 PM. I tried to eat light at night because that's when I was able to work out.

Also, I for at least 1 month I worked out in the AM right after I woke up. I started waking up 2 hours before I had to so that I could pull off a 1 hour work out that included cardio, and have enough time to shower and get to work. In the morning before breakfast is the absolute BEST time to work out if you want to loose weight. You will burn much more fat if you start early, plus your body gets a kick start in the AM and it usually doesn't slow down until lunch time.

For snacks, when I was tired of fruit, I would eat something like trailmix (only 1 serving as stated on the package) or other fruit/nut mix. The main thing was sugar, try to stay away from it and drink lots of water. If your urine is yellow and you're not taking vitamins then you are dehydrated. It should almost always be almost clear (which means that you're going to the toilet at least 4 times before lunch) except if taking vitamins, then expect an erie neon green.

That's about it...

Now that I am in BKK, I need to get back on that diet I put it off for 3 months after I moved here.

Just what we need, another gimp, infected XP copy floating around. This isn't exactly "news" genius.

The OP asked a question and I offered an answer... You're just full of positive flaming comments today aren't you, eh?

Meant to say that the very lack of Kentucky Fried Cack and other f/f dives, is the reason I like Isaan so much, and it pains me to see those places opening up in every province. You've got some of the best food in the world right here in Isaan, and you want to eat f/f <deleted> every day???

If you want a decent hamburger, make it yourself dude.........

I'm not saying that I don't enjoy the food in Issan it's great, but for the first 3 or so months that I need to "re-home" myself it's sure nice to have an Outback or Sizzler.... Though now that I'm in BKK, I am eating mostly meals on a stick. When ever I move the average adjustment period is 3 months, though Iraq took about 6 to adjust to.

I'll be moving to BKK off of Soi Suan Plu soon and was wondering if anyone can give me a recommendation for a vet there....someone who has their own office so that if I need to I can leave my dog there for a few days.

Also, does anyone know of a pet supermarket? sort of like Pet's Mart back in the states? Every small pet store and BigC/Tessco has the same thing...I'm looking for other stuff for my dog like smoked beef shank/knuckle bones.

Thanks in advance...

There are some good vets over at the Chulalongkorn Vet Hospital which isn't too far away from Suan Plu. I would imagine any of these doctors could answer the rest of your questions.

Thanks for the tip!

All moved in and settled...found the mother of all pet stores at Suan Luam night plaza too.

These are some of the things I tried and lost almost 40 lbs. in 3 months...

1. Stop drinking soda!! 12 oz. of Coke a day will MAINTAIN 14 lbs. a year. Drink water instead

2. Take Vitamins (Centrum or equivalant)

3. Exercise daily (You can start by walking at least 1 mile a day, put the baby in the stroller and push him around... eventually you will want to run and when you do you can decide when to increase speed/distance etc...though not with the baby.

4. Eat Healthy (Try to eat a LOT of fruit and salads and lean protein) I started by eating a large plate of fruit for breakfast (apples, grapes, pineapple, water melon, and honeydew melon were my top choices) followed by a nice salad with lean protein (chicken, seafood, or beef) and a snack of fruit a few hours later and a nice dinner no later then 6pm.

Hope this helps!

Edit: Forgot to spell check LOL

From what I've um...heard... you can get a copy at Pantip Plaza in BKK. It's the best "IT" shop I've ever been to in Thailand

I'll be moving to BKK off of Soi Suan Plu soon and was wondering if anyone can give me a recommendation for a vet there....someone who has their own office so that if I need to I can leave my dog there for a few days.

Also, does anyone know of a pet supermarket? sort of like Pet's Mart back in the states? Every small pet store and BigC/Tessco has the same thing...I'm looking for other stuff for my dog like smoked beef shank/knuckle bones.

Thanks in advance...

Free WiFi would probably only be available in the 'big' hotel chains in the cities (maybe Starbucks also?). Cheap dial-up is a bit easier. We generally get the 1 month / 45 hour CS-LoxInfo card from one of the IT shops. It has local dialup numbers for most areas & doesn't seem to increase the phone bill too much. The card come in a range of prices: 100 / 300 / 500b. It is slower than you're probably use to, but we can't have everything out here...

Well you're not going to find any of that in Chaiyaphum unless you're near my house...I gave up after a week of searching and ordered DSL and a wireless router.

Hey, if any of my kids have reached the level where they're misspelling accomodation before I leave, I'll consider it a job well done .

Did you find anything? I currently live in Chaiyaphum, across the street from the HiMart and 7/11...not sure what the street name is though, but it's the only part of town with a HiMart and 7/11 next to eachother....the next best landmark I can offer is the Toyota dealership

I too am living in Issan and found that I must leave quickly... not sure why I feel this way but I feel like my wife and I argue about too many household things in a house that is not ours (we live with her parents and sister with a baby; none of the adults work) ...time to move and see if this ship will float on it's own. Other reasons for moving are that it's WAY too frickin' hard to find a good ol' hamburger here....the biggest f/f chain here is KFC in Tessco....followed closely by Swensons....I think that about does it for large chains here...oh yeah, must not forget 7/11.