Flapman

I found House of Body Narat to be very thorough and good.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Uw4pE9vsSmW6gC7cA?g_st=ic
 

He’s in Soi Nantaram, on RHS, driving away from Rat Chiang Saen Rd, which is the road outside the moat, on the southern edge of the old city.

Perhaps I should have been more specific: My re-entry was to Chiang Mai (CNX) on 13 Sep.

I paid for a Professional RAT test in Oz at my departure airport within 72 hours before planned arrival date in Thailand. Q-tips were inserted up each nostril, but not far up. Waited one hour.  The Cert was 3 pages long, including a QR code and details of certifying company - one's passport details must be correct. I downloaded the Cert from email onto my phone.  Required by airline at Oz check-in, then Cert was  photographed with passport  by Thai Health Officer before being allowed to queue for entry Immigration stamp.

Could some expert telecom/IT person explain in lay terms what, if any, affect all this will have on me currently using CAT CDMA as my only internet service provider?

I am no expert on the subject, but like you I use CAT CDMA to connect to the Internet.

Last week I tried to get a network router that would accept my CAT CDMA air card, which CAT said would be suitable for the purpose. Two frustrating days later they then said I need the new CAT CDMA EC150 air card, which is 3G compatible and gives download speeds of up to 3.1Mbps - but that will not be available in Udon for about a year!

So far as I can see from the pictures of the device, it does not have an antenna socket. That screws me as I am too far from the transmitter to get a signal without an antenna.

The Cradlepoint MBR900 is a good router with a USB modem port. It works fine with the C-motech CCU-680 modem from CAT, which has a socket that accepts a "pig-tail" which connects onto the cable running up to a Yagi antenna. 50 Ohm cable is the correct spec: Times Microwave Systems LMR-400 cable is a good spec low-loss flexible coax UV resistant cable.

Belated thanx Tywais. I got my Cradlepoint MBR900 for Thb5,900.- from Total IT Co which is the same business as Totalaircard. A friend picked it up and sent it to me as I wasn't sure about transferring cash to an unknown person online. Probably would have been fine. CAT agent in Chiang Mai was asking Thb8,000 for MBR900!

MBR900 is working well so far: plug and play. I'm accessing MBR900 from a D-Link DWA-125 wireless adapter plugged into a USB port --my old Compaq nx9010 doesn't have Wi-Fi!

I have a yagi high-gain antenna on a 12mtr pipe mast with a RG6/U cable + connector to my C-motech CCU-680 usb modem (bought from CAT). Mast is about 50mtrs from house, down the end of garden -- to "see" the CAT tower better from there. I've made a kind of "bird house" for the MBR900 which is mounted on the mast with a couple of "U" bolts. Inside that is a plastic clip-lid box (upside down) to keep the MBR900 and Cmotech CCU-680 dry. Haven't tested it in a storm yet! Will get a permanent power supply fitted when testing and set-up is complete.

I get OK results from speedtest.net, but in reality everything is s-l-o-w. D-Link is Wi-Fi connected to MBR900 at 65Mbps. Maybe time for a new notebook! Or perhaps need to rotate the yagi antenna a bit, or extend the mast more above tree-tops.

Will report more if anyone is interested.....

<BR>

I'm looking at getting a Cradlepoint MBR-900 - which looks like it'll do the job, but a bit cheaper than MBR-1000.  Do you know where the shop is for the thailandcdma.com site you have given a link to?  (I can't see any address on their website).

<BR>That appears to be an on-line ordering shop only.  From their home page > "Welcome to the online store Thailand CDMA Shop"<BR><BR>Here is another shop in Bangkok that offers it > <A class=bbc_url title="External link" href="http://www.totalaircard.com/pages/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A9%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%97.html" rel="nofollow external">Total Aircard</A><BR><BR>Another shop > <A class=bbc_url title="External link" href="http://www.kkplaza.com/" rel="nofollow external">http://www.kkplaza.com/</A><BR>

Me and 4 friends saw it about 10:30pm Sat 19 June 10. We were on my balcony / verandah out near Khuan Mae Gwaang Dam, out near Doi Saket. Some good descriptions already posted here describe what we saw. Direction of travel of the Object (Unidentified and definitely Flying!) would be approx North, maybe a bit East of north. There are some tall trees about 25mtrs from where we were sitting -- after a bit of clear view we could then see it through the trees, as we looked NW direction. So it can't have been all that high in the sky. Flight path was straight but descending. It did look very hot - like something burning up on reentry.

I asked the GF to call the Royal Observatory (on the road up to Wat Doi Suthep) this morning and they said it was part of a Soyuz rocket.

Wikipedia says Soyuz TMA-19 was launched on 15 June 2010, heading for the International Space Station, on Expedition 24. But ... if it was a booster rocket from TMA-19 then it took rather a long time to re-enter earth's atmosphere! Would that be likely?

Soyuz TMA-19 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quite exciting!

Hi dave_boo,

I'm looking at getting a Cradlepoint MBR-900 - which looks like it'll do the job, but a bit cheaper than MBR-1000. Do you know where the shop is for the thailandcdma.com site you have given a link to? (I can't see any address on their website).

Did you bring in your MBR-1000 with you, or by post? Any duty paid?

Thx,

Flapman

I've got the Cradlepoint MBR-1000. You have to pay a lot for it, but it's worth it. Maybe more advanced than what you need. A slightly cheaper option would be getting the MiFi from CAT themselves.

**EDIT**

Sorry, but I pulled the trigger too soon. Twice

The Cradlepoint can be found here (and horribly overpriced in LOS--I bought mine from the States and got a much better deal). Apparently they now offer a MBR1200, but I can't see the difference other than no external antennas and perhaps a PCMCIA slot (?).

The MIFI can be found here. It will not do load balancing nor fallover, but fallover isn't that big of a deal if you're going to use 2x CAT modems; if the tower goes down neither will connect! The other really cool thing is that you can run it for a while on batteries.

I received tis reply from Cradlepoint Tech Supprt:

"We don’t know of any particular housings for the MBr900 unless they are custom made by customers themselves. But the best matrial to use would be a thin plastic or thin wood which can be well ventilated especially in your climate. We do not have a dealer in Thailand.

Mike B.

Cradlepoint Inc.

Technical Support"

I'm using CAT CDMA 3G service. My house location couldn't get a good signal so I've put up a 12m pipe mast with yagi antenna and RG6/U coaxial cable to connector for my Cmotech CCU-680 EV-DO modem. Signal strenght is OK @ 1.2Mb download, but it's at the end of the garden. I now need to install wireless to bring signal 45mtrs up to the house. I plan on using a Cradlepoint MBR900 router.

Most grateful if anyone could advise me on the following:

1) CAT's "agent's" want Thb8,000 for the MBR900, which seems a bit steep. Where can I buy one?

2) How should the MBR900 be housed? It needs a weather-proof housing - for heat (!) and rain. Is an external fan needed to keep it cool? MBR can operate up to 50C. What materials would be best for the housing? (don't want to lose signal by using the wrong materials).

3) how high above ground should the MBR900 be located? Fit it ina housing on the mast? Maybe need to access it sometimes?

Any help received with thanks.

Flapman

Middle ring road off Hang Dong road - but it is on the side approaching Hang Dong road.

Turn onto middle ring road at Big C, take the first U turn and the shop is on the left. Not very big but we paid 625 sq m for granite for flooring

He also has stuff at 3,500 sq m if you want it.

Think it is called Chiang Mai stone and used to be near Windsor windows but recently moved. Only Thai spoken.

I used Chiang Mai Stone and they did a good job (granite work tops) for a reasonable price. Some of their granite is cheaper than some shops I checked out in Tak. CMS is on the left, a few 100 mtrs before the traffic lights, as you drive on the inner ring road from SuperHighway towards Hang Dong Big C.

I'm using CAT's CDMA near to a mast at Doi Saket, Near Chiang Mai. Signal strength has been constant: all the bars on my c-Motech CCU-680.

CAT admitted the problems I had in May/June were due to a CAT "software" problem. The engineer kept calling me if things were better or not. For a while they weren't, then slowly in June I could get a connection, and connections now don't drop. But speed is way down: on speedtest.net ping to SuksonHost I just got:

155ms ping

0.41 Mbps d/load

0.15 Mbps u/load.

As earlier commented, it smacks of lack of system capacity i.e. over-subscription.

Anyone using a yaki high-gain antenna with a c-Motech modem? I tested an antenna (tied to the end of a bamboo pole!) at a plot of land near here a while ago and could watch (Thai) TV on the engineer's notebook. Not sure it's be the same now tho'!

A local Thai BUPA agent I was talking to showed me her current list of the charges (e.g. private room and ICU per day) for the major hospitals in my area. Or, pick a hospital in which you would like to end up should things go pear-shaped (for you or yours), and go ask them what they charge. Daily rate X days of expected stay would give a basis to answer your Q "how much cover do I need?". Add in some surgery fees and you have some idea of cost.

As pointed out above, there are Thai-based policies and there are overseas-based policies. I'm in same boat as you, and now considering what to go for. One Q is how much cover outside of LoS might you need?

AIA only offers health insurance to expats with work permits.

Muang Thai, and others, offer health insurance on the back of a life assurance policy. You get half your money back from the assurance premiums after some years (e.g. 8, 10, 12). But the health insurance is cheap(-er), but the cover ain't great.

Thai Pragaan Sukapaap (same as Thai Pragaan Chewit, I believe) offers straight health ins, and is offered via Thai-Visa.com by AA Ins Brokers. However, I can't figure how the deal offered via AA maps onto what TPS offers on its website. I must give them a call, or perhaps AA will read this and advise.

For me. Goodhealth, Allianz and o/seas BUPA etc are off the cost richter scale. But Exeter Friendly Society looks interesting for UK-based o/seas cover.

Ironic that we should discuss this point this morning since it now appears that HBOS will be bought by Lloyds TSB. So the shorters win and the losers are the many thousands of people who will lose their jobs as a result.

We short the investment banks because we know that they are corrupt, lying thieves who have been stealing investors money for years. You can only sweep so much under a carpet before eventually someone trips and breaks their neck.

You mentioned that HBOS is a sound financial institution despite the fact that their shares have plunged over the last three days and they are now being bailed out by Lloyds TSB. I find it ironic that only a few hours after you posted an idiotic comment about the stability of HBOS we find out they are being saved by Lloyds further illustrating how little you know of this subject.

If you want to educate yourself please study Jim Rogers...

And if you want to educate yourself go read the reports on HBOS - their takeover results from a crisis in confidence whilst having a fundamentally sound balance sheet, idiot.

But where does this lack of confidence come from? No smoke w'out fire, right? I thought a large part part of HBOS's problems stemmed from it's off-balance-sheet funding vehicle, Grampian? I understand this is where HBOS off-loaded all it's debts to clean up its b-s and thus keep the CDS rate low, and so able to borrow cheaply in the wholsale markets. A bit like stuffing bad USA housing debts into the Frannies.

Well, this British Expat IS VERY interested since my money is in their Banks!!!

I am sorry to write you British's ex pats but I have heard from people in high places that the Rothschild's shall take over the Bank of England. And the Next King of England shall be A Rothschild I forgot his name but that the married to a Dubai Princess

Off topic! After Lehman Brothers and AIG, what's the next big US financial institution set to fall? Some analysts predict multiple US bank failures. Back to OP - who reading this thread is pessimistic enough to hold more than, say, 50% of their financial assets in gold?

I am interested whats happening with brit banks too..do you think HSBC/First Direct are at risk.? How would one find out.? They are not exactly going to shout it from the rooftops that they are in dire straights.

As for you bkkjames,being as I am in Thailand and am interested what potentially could happen to my money,could you possibly go police another useless thread here on Thaivisa,there are many to keep your reporting button smoking for days.

Froggs

Keep and eye on the CDS rating (Credit Default Swap) for the bank you are concerned about. That gives a measure as to how risky other banks think it is to lend your bank money. Having said that, wholesale credit markets have all but seized up at present from what I read in the online "Torygraph".

It's hard to know what's what with a bank if they have a load of hidden off-balance sheet debt such as HBOS's Grampian.

My earlier pre-emptive on HBOS seems to be less of a worry now that the news is out that FLloyds Tee Ess Bee is in talks with HBOS.

Good luck to us all as this financial Tsunami roars through.

Beside a few brit expats here, how is this related to Thailand? Or it that it?

bkkjames, you have a point. I guess most expats in LoS all have some interest in how to manage external stacks of the folding stuff so as to be able to live here. How many bank UK/UK offshore - who knows? A few thousand, maybe?

But ... not too may posts on this thread so far!

mixture of the two!

And if you have never done a transfer before, make sure that you:

• do a test transfer with a small amount of money to test the system
  
• transfer hard currency to Thailand and do the exchange in Thailand
  
• obtain a certificate of transfer for each amount with the stated aim of buying a house clearly indicated.
  

I understand that if ever you wish to re-export your THBs you will need a currency conversion form which shows that you brought GBP/USD into Thailand from o/seas. So I

went into Bangkok Bank, Tha Pae, Chiang Mai and the lady there said one needs to transfer USD20k or more to qualify for a forex cert from BBank.

The paras below are extracted from Money Morning's email circular of 4 Sep by David Stevenson, entitled: "Why Britain's in a bigger mess than the rest"

What to do, move out of GBP altogether (not easy!)?

What's the best (legal!) way to move from GBP to gold?

Any insights most welcome.

Flapman

"Why we may be heading for another banking crisis

But back to the banks and their borrowing…that’s a different matter entirely. “Troubled UK lenders may have tapped the Bank of England’s emergency funding scheme as much as £200bn, double the previous most aggressive estimates”, says the Telegraph. And the real problem is that the bailout scheme is set to end in October.

Bloomberg yesterday reported that it’s so serious that several banks may even face insolvency unless Bank governor Mervyn King gets a new system in place by then, according to analysts at UBS. At the very least, British banks would have £200bn of “exploding funding” to refinance within the next three years and would be forced to cut back on lending and shrink their assets, said UBS’s Alistair Ryan, meaning house prices could plunge 40%.

And who are the main addicts? It seems that Britain's No. 1 mortgage lender HBOS may be the biggest SLS user, ahead of Lloyds TSB, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, says Alex Potter at Collins Stewart, who reckons that UK lenders have a £285bn “funding gap”, i.e. the difference between lending commitments and deposit funding. Apparently, though, the asset swaps under SLS are unlikely to total that much – because the UK banks have been borrowing from the European Central Bank as well.

Somehow I’m not sure that last bit provides too much solace.

The official line, as usual, is ‘no comment’, though of course the UK authorities will be straining every sinew to make sure that there’s no repeat of Northern Rock. But I’m starting to feel that it’s all getting very scary. And that it could turn very nasty."

I visited my dad after his major surgery and we thought maybe he'd be OK. Then a month or two later he was told "3 to 6 months". So I flew to UK again, and spent some time with him. That was really good timing, as it turned out. I was working overseas, and had to get back. I returned to work, and he soon went down hill pretty rapidly. So I didn't see him again before he passed away. I am glad I went back to see him when I did.

I tend to agree with Lannarebirth. I reckon that even if the dollar IS on the bounce its not going to rocket upwards too fast. A little sideways movement and then a slow climb. I have my nestegg in the Nationwide riding on a 1 year bond giving me 6.8 % tax free per annum so 2.5% sounds a bit grim.

Useful postings, many thx. Do you think Nationwide will be a good haven as the UK housing market storm continues? I panicked back in March when there was an attempted raid on HBOS, and it's Credit Default Swap (CDS) rating rose to 244 against perceived debt risk. So I opened a/cs in LloydsTSB (secure?, but lousy int. rates) and HSBC, and moved a fair chunk out of Bank of Scotland Intl (HBOS).

Maybe the banks' bad debt disclosures are past half-way played out / priced in by now? Nothing has collapsed in UK since Northern Rock. I distrust some of those banks that pay really good rates (Nigeria, Iceland etc). Now the guessing seems to have shifted from where to bank, to how to hang on to value across currencies. Any advice welcome on what are the best sources of info for decision making in this area?

Oxymoran, Thai/tools...

Exactly so...but then, why would they need good tools, they cannot and/or will not use them anyway.

As you said exactly to which I will say "Yes Exactly" I had some guy doing some tiling in my apartment. He would not have known what a cold chisel was and had a piece of semi rigid plastic pipe with a concrete nail thru the end which he was hitting with a hammer to roughen the wall surface. Won't say anymore b'cos it will only be deleted.

Using the above-mentioned "high-tech" nail-with-garden hose handle, my Thai neighbour helped me do some bathroom tiles removal. I tried it out and it was quite OK to use. It needs to be a good strong cement nail to be useful. The rubber hose makes it easy to hold something your'e belting with a hammer, and keeps the fingers safer. Recommended for certain jobs!

In the Becker dict เรียบ (riap) is given as "even, adj."

I seem to remember hearing that Siem Riep (in Cambo) meant something about a victory over Siam. Maybe it means "Get Even with the Siamese" - or perhaps the other way round? Anyone?

......Also if you do have a basal cell, it can be treated with Aldara topical cream.

Dr. Niyom knew exactly what it was the first time I asked him to perscribe it for me 5 years ago. The cream was created for Herpes Warts, but is very effective for basal cell treatment.

I have tried to find it in pharmacies other then Bumrungrad and have not been able to find it. I'm happy to say that I have not had a basal cell in quite some time, but keep the Aldara on hand in case one shows up while I'm stateside. It is much cheaper in Thailand. I'm not sure how many doctors will suggest it for skin cancer treatment. I was lucky and had a Doctor that was filling in for my Doctor in the states suggest it and she suggested that I start seeing a Doctor in Thailand as well. God Bless her!!! It has saved me a great deal of money and unpleasant treatments. Don't forget your hat when you go outside

Aldara - I was prescribed Aldara (Imiquimod cream) manufactured by 3M Health Care Limited, Loughborough, England, in 250mg sachets, to treat warts (Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV). I didn't know Aldara could also be used for basal cell problems.

BTW - HPV (warts) is not Herpes. HPV lives in the skin, whereas Herpes goes up nerves, or so I have read, and cannot be eradicated, whereas HPV can, but sometimes with difficulty.

Amoils - amoils.com in CA, USA has some interesting natural health care products for skin problems: tags, warts, scars etc.

Effudix - 7 years ago I was prescribed Effudix to apply for 3 weeks to treat squamous cell problems on the head (too many sunburns for too many years!). All went well at first, but by the the end of 3 weeks it gave me a h*ll of a burn. I looked like Gorbachov! But .. after the burn damage healed the new skin was a-ok. "Stay out of tropical sun between 11am - 3pm", the specialist advised, and "use plenty of sun block".

The Chiang Mai Mail has in the past reported some bag-snatching targeting female visitors to C-M. I heard also that crime tends to increase when there's something happening that causes a lot of betting, and bad debts, like the soccer World Cup. During the Olympics? maybe then too.

And .... the CCU-680 can take an external antenna (e.g. connect to a high gain yaki antenna), which may be useful if the signal is weak somewhere. Not sure if the CCU-550 also acts as a USB flash drive: the CCU-680 gives me 70Mb of free space available for my files.

It seems for the ad that the CCU-550 takes a standard SIMM card, whereas the CCU-680 doesn't - so must be pre-configured by CAT with the unique user ID.