mike44

I recommend Cherry Bikes on the left hand side of the 118 just before the 132 when heading out of the city. 

I bought a Giant MTB from it and used it for several years without looking after it.  Then, after leaving the bike in the sun unused for several months, all the cables became brittle and failed.  It replaced them all and fully serviced the bike so it was as good as new, all for a very reasonable price.

Look at the reviews on Google maps.

I will be holidaying alone for three weeks from Thailand to Vietnam. I intend to spend a couple of days in HCMC and then use a travel agent in HCMC to book a Vietnam tour, ideally with a local tour group. I would appreciate any advice on a suitable travel agent in HCMC and any other thoughts. 

Thanks for the helpful replies. I will get another OA visa in the UK and convert to retirement visa in Thailand. And I will certainly make sure I get a re-entry stamp whenever I leave Thailand...

I had a retirement visa issued in Thailand as an extension to an OA visa issued in the UK. I am now in the UK but did not get a re-entry permit when leaving Thailand as I did not expect to return to Thailand until after the retirement extension would have expired by passage of time. However, I will now be going back to Thailand (planning to stay for several months) before the retirement visa would have expired by passage of time. From reading various posts, I understand the retirement visa will have expired because I did not get a re-entry permit. Is there any way around this to get the retirement visa extended in the UK? Or do I have to get another OA visa to enter Thailand and restart the process for application of a retirement visa? Or has anyone any better suggestions?

How should we protect our car against rats and other vermin when storing it outside, but under cover, for two or three months?

We have recently returned to Thailand to find wiring in the car had been attacked by, we presume, rats.  The local garage recommends spraying the engine compartment with some strong smelling pesticide.  Has anyone suggestions for the right type of pesticide or any other ideas?.   

Once again thanks for the helpful replies.

If I can find one in Thailand, it looks like a battery and inverter with auto on/off on power fail/restore is the way to go.

We have a water boiler and storage tank (not instantaneous water heaters) so, with a back-up power supply, we can continue to have hot water from the storage tank for some time during a power cut.

Thanks for the helpful and prompt replies.

It's back to the drawing board as I had not realised that the tower would need to be more than 10m high to obtain adequate pressure. Such a tower would be wholly out of place.

It looks like we need to consider the alternative of a back-up power supply.

In this regard any thoughts on how the inverter and battery option compares to a diesel generator with automatic changeover on loss of mains power?

We are subject to occasional power cuts which means we lose water supply as our house is fed from a well with a pumped supply to a water tank at ground level and a further pump from the water tank to the house.

We plan to install a water tank on a tower to provide water supply under gravity (and hence to provide a water supply reserve, until the tank runs dry, during a power cut).

The maximum water pipe run will be about 30m from the tank and the highest fitting will be a shower about 2m above ground level.

We wish to minimise the tower height for visual amenity and cost reasons.

How high should the water tank be to provide adequate water pressure?

I am a UK citizen and joint Executor of my late mother's UK estate. As part of the application process for grant of probate I need to swear an oath to confirm that the information provided in the application form is accurate. This would normally be done at a "commissioner of oaths" in the UK. But I will be in Thailand for several months... Is there an equivalent to a UK commissioner of oaths in Thailand? Does the British embassy offer this service? Or is some cheaper option available?

Try Xanadu at the Furama on the Superhighway near the Chiang Mai Grand View. You need to book to get the tables with the best view.

Thanks for the helpful response. If I have to do it it myself I will try, though I would prefer to employ someone. Can you remember the name of the website?

I have a steerable dish system which failed due to water in the actuator motor. I bought a Superjack 18" actuator with motor from an online site in Bangkok (1,000 baht). They sent it by EMS and I just installed it in the system in place of the damaged one. It was not very difficult, just a little bit of fiddling around to get the limit switches set.

I have a dynasat system with a steerable satellite dish. The dish no longer moves - the box sends the signal to change orientation but the dish motor seems not to work. Can anyone recommend someone who can repair at reasonable cost?

Thanks for the helpful replies. I went around a few of the shops today and concluded that I will either have to up my budget or go for a mountain bike. I'll probably get a mountain bike as I don't go cycling very often.

I want a fairly basic road bike with say 18 gears but don't want to spend too much as I will use it infrequently. I would prefer somethng a bit better than the 4500Baht bikes at Tesco but don't want to spend more than say 10000Baht. Any thoughts on where I should look?

My partner has a son (now aged 31) who holds a UK passport and a Thai passport. He is currently living in Thailand on his UK passport making reports to immigration every 90 days. He believes that he is unable to use his Thai passport as he has not complied with his military service obligations (he failed to appear for the military service lottery when asked to attend, while a student in Thailand using his Thai passport, aged 21).

Does his military servicve obligation expire? If so, when? If not, is there any way to regularise the situation w,ithout undertaking military service?

I would particularly welcome thoughts from anyone Thai with direct experience of mililary service.

Thanks for the replies.

I got the phone unlocked at AMP mobile on the third floor of Kad Suan Kaew. Cost was 500Baht, I could also have had the phone jail breaked but I did not as they said that they could not guarantee it would not cause problems when I returned to the UK. Only issue is that the unlocking will reset if I allow the phone battery to discharge completely.

If possible, can you give as much detail as possible about the phone (3, 3G, 4?), OS version and things like that.

I haven't looked into it now, but a while ago there wasn't an unlock available for the newest IOS.

It's an iphone 3GS with software version 4.2.1

Thanks for both responses. I will report back on cost of unlocking.

I want to use a local pay as you go service if possible but, first, I need to get my UK iphone unlocked. Any ideas welcome.

Extremely sad.

It is inconceivable to me that a "ride by" shooting could have occurred without certain parties looking the other way. I ate in Soi Convent last night and left at 10.00pm. There were fully armed soldiers and police stationed every 10m or so down Silom and there were also few people around compared with a usual friday night.

Whether one agrees or not with the demonstrators, it is fairly clear that the demonstrators should leave now to avoid further confrontation in the hope that the road map leads to reconciliation and stability. The demonstrators can always return if the road map turns out to be a mirage.

Thanks for the helpful replies. I guess I'll start with Sony.

Ideas in BKK (or CNX)

At our village in Mae Taeng, a basic two storey house with a footprint of about 80 square meters is under construction by a local builder. I am told the all in price is about 7000Baht/square meter.

There is no doubt if your hire a Thai builder from a village, you will get it done cheaper.

But has he built quality houses for farangs before, have you seen any of them & spoken to those guys?

For 10,000 bht sqm, your going to get very cheap quality, to get any thing decent your looking at 13,000 bht sqm ++. But that wont be top quality either.

Although what your building does sounds like something very simple

I use to work in the construction industry in Pattaya until quite recently, so i am very well aware of building costs, & quality around here.

I can't speak for prices in Chang Mai though.

For house only I am paying 10,000B sq mtr not including kitchen and hot water if required grade "A" finish as many electrical points that I want and earthed the builder as done everything that I have required and changed things that I have not been happy with I pay on work completed the only real problem I have is that he is slow I see 2 farang houses that he built before I decided to use him

We got three wood signs made up by a guy who attends the sunday walking street. His stall is exactly at the other end from Thapae Gate (I can't remember the name of the street). After negotiation the price was 350Baht each for signs with house names both in English/Thai. We gave him a printout with the words we wanted to avoid any mistakes. We are happy with the signs.