JimmieBlonde

Telecoms Engineer or Computer ENgineer, first year out, we pay 13 500 upwards, second year 18 - 20 000.

Receptionist, very good English, 11500, second years 13 000.

Maid, live in, 5000,

COO, High level Government contacts, 45 000

Site staff at LEarning Centres, 7000

All staff get 1month bonus except COO, depends on results for him.

Community Liason, from 18 000 - 28 000, high level job meeting Governors in provences etc.

There is a very good place in Koa San road, plus many crap ones, they do very good free hand, i've bought 7 tattoo's there over the last 2 years and very happy with results, none on me though, for family.

YMK half way down in a arcade on the left, is VERY good.

For years I've had this problem, if you can get a cash advance, why can't you make a cash deposit????

I know for the Aussie banks I have to send to my account and get the manager to transfer to the Visa account,

Painful and silly of Visa (I assume Master Card the saem?)

I'm up here at the show, interesting, mostly mobiles/PC's/disks etc, but some interesting stuff. Bt the noise level is aweful, still, good to see a very regional town doing something positive.

Acumen, SAMART, TOT all resell iPSTAR, however TOT has the master rights for Thailand, and recently have been offering very good prices. Acumen has a better service, I use iPSTAR at a number of sites, thinking of switching to TOT but currently happy with Acumen though they are much more expensive.

In Africa I use a traditional VSAT which costs $850 for a 256 down 52 up service, compere that too $80 from iPSTAR for double that speed and you see why people say iPSTAR is the only affordable Satellite solution.

That said, at the ICT show here I see TOT and TT&T all offering dsl services in places not available before.

Projects I work on have been mentioned a few times by the Post and we've then been contacted by senior gov people, so they do read it.

As to 'real 1080i' being available ?? Can I have some clues on this.. Am happy to spend to buy the equipment ?? What birds are broadcasting, when encryption is used, etc etc etc..

Still looking to find out about this ???

I heard the the system is "cached content" i.e. NOT streaming, but already on the Hard Drive inside the box before you watch it.

This means even if the internet disconects, i.e. a big storm, what ever, you can still watch most of the movies in the box already put there as part of the service.

Therefore don't worry about internet being reliable or unreliable affecting the service, not part of the end product, High Def Movies/series on TV.

It is true High Def, very nice quality.

I've borrowed from the "Loan Sharks" sometimes the only corse open to me, and I repayed on time, and was glad at least someone would lend to me.

I think I can, just can't see them, if I aim in the right direction maybe

I don't know, but I'd check to see if it's a prtected profession, oddest things are.

Maybe open a Art Gallery (photography bt dont tell government) may be easier,

For the record I started the photographers gallery in Australia years ago

The smaller dish is NBT, a Thai package of 18 channels (maybe 20 now) all in Thai, cartoon, Siam sport, some Farang movies usual dubbed in Thai (Though I say one once in English)

The box is not "open" so you can't surf other channels either

Good deal for Thai's. Not a expat deal, try j sat tv as others have said, but a lot more expensive

People need to seperate iPSTAR, which is a network technology like ADSL/DSL and not compere it with a ISP.

I use Jasmine at some sites, a lot more expensive than TOT but better quality, though I hear TOT is trying to get better.

Remember it's the ISP that controls the bandwidth.

And never compere iPSTAR to ADSL/DSL/Cable, compere it too VSAT, for example in Ghana I pay $850 for a 212 / 56 kbps VSAT link, here at my sites I would pay $80 for the equivilant.

iPSTAR is great if you have no choice, it doesn't compete though that well with terrestrial networks.

The company I am presently employed with in Canada/USA would like to open up a center here in Thailand. It will employ up to 20 local residents where ever in Thailand it is situated.

What my employer would like to know is this. Is there a business start up grant available to Farang to start businesses that will ultimately employ Thai Nationals? If so, were can I find information about this?

Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

The Canadian Government has grants for Companies trying to sell work overseas under the CIDA Inc program. Contact the Embassy here, good people.

What Industry sector are you thinking about?

Mostly no grants available to Farangs, but Tax holidays under BOI (I think this board lists in the "General" section a Thai Government web site and BOI is there.

I have had BOI before, not hard then, no idea now.

If your in Software, I suggest contacting Software Park, good people.

I work in rural Thailand, so I can tell you that unless there is a sudden huge demand for second grade rubber, there will be a glut of it in 4 - 5 years time. I wouldn't go into rubber, plus you need to be there to see what is happening.

Now if your interested in small self sustaining education/ICT centres then let me know coz thats what I build in Thailand and elsewhere.

NDA's exist in Thailand, we use them regularly, however as someone else said if it's that simple to copy, then Thailand is the land of copying! Just look at the Soi's with nothing bt car tyre shops, sois of the same thing.

Good Luck, I know the feeling, I'm trying to get investor's now for our work in rural Thailand building self sstaining infrastructure, dam hard to do!

Check out this website.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this company in any way, just a happy customer.

I also know these people, they know their stuff, not cheap but good.

A fun report from a fellow Englishman who obviously loves living in this country, despite (maybe because of?) all the weird things that go on. Good luck to you, and have fun. And keep those dogs at bay. (By contrast, the dogs in my soi seem to have gotten used to me. Docile as kittens now).

Thanks for nice words everyone, I'll add another post soon, new one rather one from the archives

I had the same problem with lasagna pasta sheets from Villa, took them back, they wanted to give me the baht back, however I went and swapped for a new pack, opened it in front of the, same problem, I kept opening till I found a sheet. If I hadn;t I am sure they would have not done a thing as I have seen in the past (a)

very funny...

sorry..!!what's your wife name mean?

just curious!!

A common question, I obviously like Dr Who, I think I even wrote a story about how I named her. It's a mixture of two Thai Names, Dar and Lek, one of which is her real name, but put together, makes a creature that goes "DARLEKS DESTROY DARLEKS DESTROY" which as calm as she is, reminds me of her at times when I see her thinking of me.

My daughter would kill me!, thogh sometimes I am tempted

Enjoyed it - made me smile a lot.

Thanks people, will post more as I submit them,

My thai is polite? Well, actually I think my thai, reading back on this story for the first time in 7 years, is rahter crap compered to then. The family and staff have learnt to understand what ever language it is I speak, no it ain't thai by a long shot, nor inglich

There is a sequile to this, with Claude Von Dammit, which I thought I wrote but hadn;t, so will soon.

Till then, tomorrow is my son's 2nd birthday, so I have to keep stirring the stew

Thanks!

this cracked me up

the type of thing i do too

perverse lateral solutions to irritating problems

good work mate

Thanks, Most are posted on Thailand Stories, I put new ones up here, but given the thread abot dogs thought appropriate to post a very old post to show things dont change.

I have another story I see I have never posted anywhere, I have taken to saying to the Dogs "Pom Gin Ma!" (I eat Dog) Oddly, it works !!!!

Living with a Thai Girl - Mad Dogs and English Men

My wife DarLek loves her bicycle. It cost 1000 Baht from the Big C superstore, and we have two, one for her and one for me. As Bangkok is very flat, and we live on the edge of town, away from the traffic, it is an easy way to get around.

"Better than walking!" as DarLek always says. However, if you are thinking of doing the same always carry a big stick.

There are packs of stray dogs living in the area. On the first day I went out by myself. DarLek said going on a bicycle at 2pm in the afternoon was for mad men. "Or Englishmen." I said in reply. However early 20th century English novels or quotations is not her strong point and she just looked at me like I was a mad man. So I went out by myself.

Of course I would have to discover a pack of dogs living behind a restaurant that had developed a taste for Farangs (foreigners).

One thing that really annoys me is badly trained dogs (or Thai girls), and mistreated dogs. Having lived with a Vet for a long time I learned most dogs are cowards if you have a big stick. So I got off my bike, picked up a big stick and run towards the leader of the pack, shouting in my limited Thai "Mai doo pom!" (Don?t look at me!) "Mai pood gup pom." (Don?t talk with me.) I have no idea how to say bark, and I hope they inderstand my Thai.

The leader fled, and the rest followed. The poor dogs ran for their lives. Upsetting the afternoon siesta, the local Thais stared in amazement as a crazy Farang talked with the dogs and chased them, instead of providing entertainment and being chased by the dogs.

I was not content however, so I went home and got DarLek to come with me to the local restaurant. Thinking as always of her stomach, she eagerly agreed. However, I introduced her to the dogs instead. "Anee Paliar Khon Pom." "This is my wife (I hope I am saying)." I yelled. The dogs seeing me return, ran cowering under cars trying to evade any new conversations with the crazy farang.

Not deterred, I chased them from under the cars, all the time yelling, "Mai Pood gup Paliar khon pom." (Don?t talk with my wife.) and "Mai doo Paliar khon pom." (Don?t look at my wife.)

By now the locals where in hysterics, and DarLek was shaking her head in shame at the crazy farang she married. She is wondering if we will ever get around to eating mid-afternoon lunch, along with the dogs she also likes the restaurant I have chosen to embarrass her in front of.

Wisely she tells me, "Khun Ma gup Chan kitwar Sarmee dink donk". ("Mr Dog and I both think my husband is nuts.") The locals all agreed, and the dogs stayed under the cars, and run there now whenever I bicycle past. DarLek had her 3rd lunch for the day, and I went on my way bicycling around Muang Kong Thani.

Jimmie Blonde

I wrote thus abot 6 years ago when I first moved here, it seems the dog problem isn;t going away and won't people work out if they can't afford to care for the animals, it's better to put them down and neuter most of them.

Wheres the best place to get a tattoo in pattaya ?

Or is it safer to stick with a palour at home.

On Khoa San road, which has a lot of very crappy tattoo parlors, YMK half way down in a arcade on the left, is VERY good. I've bought 7 tatoo's there, all free hand jobs, for friends,

Center Point Plaza, 02 629 1027

What is STEP ONE for my sister in law?

Learn Japanese, French or what....? I heard that moon has only 1 sixth of the gravity of the earth, maybe that is why you head is so light!

How can I answer when I don't know what your sister does, did she leave school in grade 6 or higher, what does she do know, does she have a family, what are her responsibilities, maybe I missed those details earlier, but without them, planning something JUST for you sister is impossible