DocTom

Sorry. Somehow I missed the query about room size.  It is quite large, nominally 6m x 5.5m, but with a toilet in one corner at 2.17m x 2.9m, which I discount from the volume to be cooled. The height is 2.85m.

There is a large window/door to a balcony, but normally this is closed and curtained.

I will be very grateful for any advice.

Tom.

So many different views and experiences!

To add my bit : we have 2 Mitsubishi Electric units in adjacent bedrooms, one a Mr Slim, one not. Both are some 10 years old. The Slim cools the room very efficiently, sometimes too cold for me; but has needed 2 replacement temperature sensors.  The other just will not cool the room adequately now (it did so originally).  Both are cleaned about twice a year by contractors.

Asked why the two do not cool similarly the contractor engineer replied that the Slim unit is a bigger one that the other - but in fact they are both 24500 BTU rated.

So I am less than satisfied with Mitsubishi Electric, and I am looking to replace one unit, so your comments are helpful even though very varied.

A local shop offered me Daikin  models at 20500 or 25500 BTU rating, but wanted me to choose.  Online sites that calculate size for my room give values from 9000 to something over 30,000 BTU !

So please can anybody assist me, or point me to a reliable source, to determine the appropriate size for a new unit ?

Tom. 

We have Mitsu Slim 18500 BTU units in two similar size bedrooms. I am not happy with them - component failures in one, and poor cooling in the other. The independent engineer says that poor cooling is due to undersize unit, but I doubt this - I think there is something fundamentally wrong, and it is not lack of refrigerant as it was topped up.

I am looking for a replacement.

I have read all the posts.

Does anyone have any updated comments now in 2024?

Mike Lister, your information is hugely helpful. Many thanks.

I am a UK citizen, retired and living in Thailand for 20 years. I am approaching dotage now, and completing a Thai tax return will be difficult for me. So I am interested in firms that provide such services. One such is ExPattax Thailand. They have many useful videos.
My question is : do you or other posters know of other companies offering tax return services for individuals (not companies), perhaps with any views or experiences, and approximate costs?
DocTom.

Denim, many thanks indeed. The list seems to be quite good. I do not know why my net searches failed to find it. Thanks again, Tom.

Does anyone know of a glossary of automotive terms in Thai and English (with transliteration - not just Thai scripts)? I think that a list of car components (e.g. shock absorber, fuel injector....) and causes (e.g. worn-out, broken...) would be very useful to many English-speaking vehicle owners.
Such an item would be very helpful when getting a car serviced at facilities where there are no English speakers.
I am unable to find by searches anything useful along these lines.
Can anyone help please?

I have used, and recommend, Cambridge Tax Practice.  They specialise to a degree in expat tax matters.   A director, Kieran O'Conner has been very helpful.

Mahseer, Raindancer,  many thanks to both of you for your speedy and helpful replies.  I shall act according to your advice, perhaps preceded by a telephone call to hear what the Mae Sod officials demand of me.

DocTom.

 

14 hours ago, Mahseer said:

Letter no longer required. Head to immigration airport branch and fill out the appropriate form and provide copies of the following:

 

Info page old & new passport.

All pages with Thai stamps.

TM30 & 90 day.

 

Go straight to counter number 3.

Mahseer.   Thanks for the reply.  However my local Thai Immigration office is in Mae Sod, not an airport branch.  But it still requires a long car drive.  So before I go, please can you comment further - will the same conditions apply as at the airport branch?  Do I have to go now, or is it permissible to wait until my August visit when I go for my one year visa extension?

Thanks again,  DocTom.

I just got my renewal UK passport from VFS Chiang Mai.  Despite the strike, the total time was about 1 month. The service from VFS was excellent.

However, I am informed by a friend that I should have been given an embossed letter from the UK asking Thai Immigration to record detail of the new passport. I did not receive the document, so I now need to contact VFS Global Chiang Mai.  

Despite exhaustive searches, I cannot find an email address, nor a tel. number fro VFS Chiang Mai.  Can anyone help please? 

DocTom.

Billd776 and JAF : 

many thanks for your responses.  At nearly 30k baht, my interest in a Honda mower has just about disappeared!  I intend at my earliest possible moment to follow the excellent directions to the shop in KP, and to see what they have to offer. I will look at any Troy Bilt models if they have them.

Again thanks for your input - most helpful.

DocTom.

(I do not know how my earlier post got displayed twice, but i guess that I must let the Administrator delete one of them.)

I too am seeking a new lawnmower.  I have only about 500 sq m of lawn,  I have had bad experiences with a supposed Briggs and Stratten mower; and similarly now with a Makita electric mower which needs repair at present (new bearing and motor needed, following on from replacement of the capacitor.) If anyone is interested I can elaborate on these unhappy experiences.

So I have found this thread very interesting.  I had assumed that a Honda mower would be top quality, and the drive power is attractive to a 70+ year old, but the talk of blade wear alarms me.  Any further advice from members will be very welcome.

 

Billd766 -- I will be very grateful for any directions or address for the shop in Khampaeng Phet, as it is quite near to me.

 

DocTom.

 

I too am seeking a new lawnmower.  I have only about 500 sq m of lawn,  I have had bad experiences with a supposed Briggs and Stratten mower; and similarly now with a Makita electric mower which needs repair at present (new bearing and motor needed, following on from replacement of the capacitor.) If anyone is interested I can elaborate on these unhappy experiences.

So I have found this thread very interesting.  I had assumed that a Honda mower would be top quality, and the drive power is attractive to a 70+ year old, but the talk of blade wear alarms me.  Any further advice from members will be very welcome.

 

Billd766 -- I will be very grateful for any directions or address for the shop in Khampaeng Phet, as it is quite near to me.

 

DocTom.

 

Kamalabob2 :   your effort on my behalf in contacting your friend and getting the contact in Mae Sot is much appreciated.  I live in Muang Tak, so Mae Sot is a bit of a treck, particularly now that the road extensions in the mountains are in progress, but I intend to get a Thai family member to phone K. Chanp (my rudimentary Thai is hardly good enough for a proper discussion of the problem) and make an arrangement if he is able to help.

So many thanks indeed for your help.

DocTom.

Gentlemen :  I have read this thread with interest, since I am seeking service for my Makita electric lawnmower

I used the Makita website to find the official Thai email address for customer support, sent an email, and I am still waiting for a reply.  There seems to be no way to email Makita Global to complain.

So reading the remarks about Thai Seng and the company in Buriram, I ask your advice as to how to proceed to find a repair location.

The problem (in brief) with the lawnmower is ....(from my unanswered email)

I have an ELM4110 Makita electric lawnmower.   After about 2 years of work, the motor is making strange noises, and frequently at switch-on it will not turn the blade until I have manually turned the blade to a new position.

I have been unable to find a service location on the web.  So please will you direct me to the location of an appropriate service facility?  I live in Tak, so I will be grateful if you will identify the nearest centre.  (end of email.)

I suspect that the motor may require new brushes. 

Gentlemen, the grass is growing fast! So I will be extremely grateful for any advice as to how to obtain a repair.

DocTom.

I too have been contacted by HSBC re. its Safeguard initiative. In fact they reduced the withdrawal limit on my debit card because I had not responded (by mistake.) This caused serious annoyance! I have banked with them for nearly 30 years

I sent the required documents, certified as true copies by my Thai bank, as indicated as an option on the HSBC Safeguard website.

I have just been contacted to say that cerification by a Thai bank is not acceptable, and that I will have to get more copies notarized.

This nuisance comes after a similar episode concerning FATCA compliance.

I am now seiously interested in changing banks - does anyone know of reliable banks that will accept new customers by online application?

About a year ago, I found a web document that was a proposal (very well drafted, and very thorough) for changes to the UK Health Service and entitlements to treatment.

Of significance to this thread was the proposal that entitlement to completely free health service should be given to expats who live abroad but who have paid National Insurance contributions for a period of 20 years or so (I forget the exact number.)

The document was a consultation proposal. After about a year or so, the plan was to submit it to government or parliament in some way or other, ultimately to become an official proposal for goverment consideration.

Unfortunately due to computer crashes etc I am unable to locate the document, and nor can I find any recent news of it.

Does anyone know of this proposal? Have there been further developments?

If implemented, it would be a major beneficial change to Health Service entitlement for many expats.

DocTom.

Sorry I have been absent for a while, but now I see your responses. Many thanks to you all.

The whatiscalled link is quite useful, but not very extensive in the terms that are covered - however better than anything that I had previously, so thanks AyG.

I could not get the link to thai-language.com to work, but I got there by a series of steps - very good site, but again lacking some terms. The womenlearnthai links also provided some useful information.

It seems that there is no comprehensive facility, but the sites that you suggested are a significant advance on what I had available previously.

I do think that the sites that you suggested may be of sufficient interest and utility that it would be useful to put them in a pinned entry.

Many thanks to you all.

DocTom.

Sorry I have been absent for a while, but now I see your responses. Many thanks to you all.

The whatiscalled link is quite useful, but not very extensive in the terms that are covered - however better than anything that I had previously, so thanks AyG.

I could not get the link to thai-language.com to work, but I got there by a series of steps - very good site, but again lacking some terms. The womenlearnthai links also provided some useful information.

It seems that there is no comprehensive facility, but the sites that you suggested are a significant advance on what I had available previously.

I do think that the sites that you suggested may be of sufficient interest and utility that it would be useful to put them in a pinned entry.

Many thanks to you all.

DocTom.

Gentlemen,

I have searched generally on the web, and in this site, but I cannot find a good English-Thai-English online dictionary of medical terms (preferably one with Romanised Thai also).

Can anyone point me to one or more please? (Seems like an item that could be useful to many.)

DocTom.

Ubonjoe : many thanks indeed for your quick reply. Will do as you advise. DocTom.

I have a query related to this topic. I have lived in Thailand for 12 years, each year getting an extension to my visa based on retirement.

I have never been required to produce "proof of address", but there is a suggestion that this year (2 weeks time) when I go to Mae Sod, there will be such a demand.

I live in a property that my wife owns (that I purchased), so there is no lease or rental agreement.

My name is not on the house book that my wife keeps (sorry I do not know the technical term).

So to my question please to the experts : how then do I provide proof of address? (For example will a telephone bill bearing my name and our address be accepted?)

I will be grateful indeed for any advice.

Doctom.

Well Meatboy, it appears that your knowledge has no bounds - even to the extent of asserting that charges are being made to my bank account when I can see that no such deductions are being made!

I can confirm part of what BillBenBob says about transfers from HSBC UK.

I have made transfers every month for years using HSBC Internet banking. In my case the transfer is to Kasikorn Bank where I have my account.

The HSBC charge is 4 GBP and that is levied when I choose the option that the sender (me) pays all the fees for the complete transfer.

I choose to send the funds in GBP, and they are converted to Thai Baht somewhere along the route at Telex Transfer exchange rate.

I am not knowledgeable about intermediary banks. I have always assumed that the route is HSBC UK --> HSBC Thailand --> Kasikorn, but this may be incorrect.

At Kasikorn there are no charges, or at least there have been none so far (more than 5 years.)

I have become a bit annoyed with Kasikorn recently (for other reasons), so I was searching this forum for opinions on other banks. In view of the charges levied by Bangkok Bank and others, I think that maybe I will remain with Kasikorn!

I hope that this is of interest, even though the thread is months old.

DocTom.

Many thanks for your interest and responses. The overall impression that I get is that the recovery is very improbable. The banks have been asking for documents from the UK solicitors for a year now, and it seems inconceivable to me that they still do not have what is required. I fear that they have no intention of releasing the monies to his estate.

In view of the rather small amount of money, I think that hiring a Thai solicitor is not worthwhile.

As to withdrawing the money from the ATM, it is an appealing thought, but of course we do not know his PIN.

Nobody suggested that publicity (adverse) might create persuasive pressure. I wonder whether the BKK Post, and/or the Nation, might be prepared to print a critical letter, sent with copies to the CEOs of the two banks. Any opinions?

Thanks again for your collective wisdom.

DocTom.