billd766

I started my marriage extension in Mae Sot today (I go back in 4 weeks) and I asked the major there if there was going to be one in Nakhon Sawan and he told me probably next month but certainly b y the time I make my nextr renewal.

I live in Khampaeng Phet province 200 km from Mae Sot but only 125km from Nakhon Sawan.

Up in the village where I live I see the same 2 disabled people at the markets and I always give 10 or 20 baht to each one. They are local people and I give because there is always someone worse off than me or you and there is little help for disabled people in Thailand anyway.

I have also taught my 5 year old son to do the same.

I bought a second hand 2005 Phantom through TV sales and wanted from a farang in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

It supposedly had 5,500 km on the clock and may well have but it also had 3 farang owners before me.

I live in Khampaeng Phet and took an aircon bus to Rangsit bin Bangkok and flew down to NST by Nok Air.

The bike seemed OK but I took the air conditioned train to Bangkok from Thong Sala junction as I couldn't get the bike on at NST station rather than ride 800 km on unfamiliar roads.

My bike went on the train before mine and was waiting when I got to Hua Lampong station.

I road it to my friends place on Sukhumvit 101 and got cleaned up then rode 380 km home on familiar roads.

Since then I use it as a daily runner instead of the pickup truck and I am getting around 30km/ltr which I am impressed with.

I took it in for a 4,000 km service and I only paid 140 baht.

The bike seems to vibrate a bit and the cool cowboy style seat needs extra padding for my fat a@@ but it seems to be OK apart from that.

So far I am :D

You left the Uk to build a better life , 20 years ago , good luck to you , why do you now want to claim money that you paid very little into,,You got your protection while you lived in the Uk ,free Schools . police , street lighting and all the usual utilitys , its like an insurance policy ,You have not paid into or contibuited any tax ,For the last 20 years. Also there is a new thing coming out that says if you leave the Uk and live abrord for a number of years you are not entitled to NHS care any more,I am not a racist but this is exactly the thing that is making the working class in Britain pisst off.The same thing has happend in Spain ,People that left Britain for a so called better life, now they are begging to come back to the Uk, because they have no money , Sorry to say but what happened to the better life, I bet they called Britain all the names under the sun when they left , but it looks a better propositon when you have no money ,health care ,or pension.Good luck to you . This is only my oppinion and i am sorry if i offend you,

I left the UK 10 years ago and worked offshore as self employed.

I get a retirement pension after working for 25 years working in the military, a retirement pension from my company after 12 years and I am soon to be in receipt of a state pension.

It may seem a little strange to you but I have been paying income tax on BOTH of my pensions since I got them and I will also be paying tax on my state pension when I get it.

I have also paid National Insurance for 44 years and not the 30 required now but I still get the same amount of state pension which will be frozen at this years level from when I get it until the day I die.

I am saving the state a pitiful amount on my pension plus all the allowances that I would be entitled to if I remained in the UK and also the amount that I would cost the government in NHS costs if I lived there, not to mention the family allowance I am not allowed to claim.

I LIVE the better life in Thailand and have no intention of returning even when I die.

There is nothing of the UK that is recognisable to me from the many years that I lived and worked there and certainly nothing which would entice me to ever want to live there any more.

This is my personal opinion and I am not sorry if you are offended by it.

Thanks for that information.

PM works fine for me.

This is our son Tiw at Cha-Am beach last month.

He will be 5 on 1st August.

No but I will be going next month for my marriage extension so I will ask.

I live 65 km southwest of Khampaeng Phet and I am 200 km from Mae Sot and 125 from Nakhon Sawan.

IF it comes off I wonder which office I will have to report to?

Been reading about the various organic fertilising methods.

Why not just use liquid organic fertilizer?

No messing with poo etc just a nice clean back pack and there u go.

And of course liquid fertilizers are more effective than granular.

For larger operations use injectors with sprinklers.

For the less technical method, resort to water tank on a tractor etc.

Anyway for those interested, I could make some of our export product available locally (Bangkok).

If you are going to use compost or organic matter, we have a soil conditioner that will speed up the decomposition and inject beneficial micro-organisms into your soil and start reversing damage from chemical fertilizers.

I know this may be sacreledge on this particular forum but...

For the the die hard NPK users, u can also mix our soil conditioner with your NPK (or other chemical fertilizer) and halve the amount of NPK needed.

You save about 40% in fertilizer costs with this bio-chemical method.

It will make your NPK more effective (i.e. losses will be reduced) and limit further damage to your soil.

Also a good interim step for those wanting to gradually switch from chemical to organic fertilizing.

Where can it be obtained from, in what amounts and at what cost.

I live 375 km from Bangkok, 65 km southwest of Khampaeng Phet so where would my nearest dealer be?

I have been working away for a year and this is outside the front garden after 6 months.

The first one is what it looked like and the other one took me nearly 4 hours to cut a path to the water and electricty meters with a petrol strimmer.

I could get somebody to do it for me but I am now retired and it beats sitting around drinking beer and being on the internet all day.

The white plastic square tanks which sit on a pallet with a wire cage around them hold 1,000 liters. I carry one in the back of my short bed Isuzu P/U sometimes. It's pretty heavy (MT) and you wouldn't want to do it all the time. You also need to brace it so it doesn't slide around.

I bought one a couple of years ago to top my storage tanks during the dry season.

It is 1,300 litres and weighs about 50kb empty in its frame.

Full it comes in around 1350 kg and it fits nicely on the bed of my Ford Ranger pickup.

The best I managedwas 6 trips in a day to the klong about 4 km away and around a 45 minute trip each time.

My wife bought a chinese copy of the Honda waterpump and I used to hump it on the Ford, drive it to the klong, offload it and connect it all up, fill the tank, shut down, reload every thing back on the truck, go home, do the same thing at home and then repeat the exercise.

It fair knackered me guv, but we had about 12 people living here at the time and that is a lot of showers, toilet flushing, laundry etc in a week.

Now we are down to 4 or 6 and that is much easier plus the water doesn't seem to go off as much now.

I am in the middle of doing it already.

I was in New Zealand until the end of May and my original birth and marriage certificates were in Thailand.

when I spoke to them on the phone I explained that I was married to a Thai which is no problem but also that she had never lived or worked in the UK.

Would it be possible for her to obtain a National Insurance number?

Yes provided that I sent her original birth certificate and the marriage certificate which was already going off to them by Thai EMS post.

Today I had the original certificates back and I am waiting for my pension (and hers) to be paid.

I will follow up on this as more information becomes available.

:D

I have just bought a Honda Phantom and I would like to mount my Garmin Nuvi 260W on the bike.

I have spoken to the Garmin sales people in Bangkok and they don't make a mount and I also spoke to a lady at the Eagle GPS store who didn't really understand what I wanted. I suspect it was more my fault than hers but she said that they didn't have any.

Where do I go from here?

Ram should make a mount that would suit, check out the link below for Gadgettrend in BKK, they have a mount specifically for scooters also.

http://www.gadgetrend.com/rammount.php

Thanks for that gadgetrend link as I will be down in BKK in a couple of weeks time at the British embassy which is not so far away and I am staying out at Sukhumvit 101/1 so easy for Thong Lor as well.

I have a Garmin Nuvi 260W with an SD card and I bought that in New Zealand last year.

I contacted Rottweiler maps and bought the all Thailand maps.

I came back home last month and was having terrible trouble with the map on my Nuvi. The map on my PC was fine.

RT went through very carefully with me even to the extent of linking me to an unlocked copy especially done for me.

However that still did not work and in the end we went through line by line as his system he tells me is idiot proof and cannot not work unless there is a greater idiot in the world.

I now claim that dubious position.

After him asking me many times if the serial number is correct for my Nuvi and me telling him equally as many times les 1 last week the problem was an operator error.

I had misread 1 number in the serial so it would not unlock. :D

Having given the correct number he gave me a new password and my Nuvi lit up right away.

Point of the post is Rottweiler maps are excellent for me and the after sales service is even better.

Fortunately there is no smiley here showing blushes and great embarrasment.

Thanks a lot RT. :D

I have just bought a Honda Phantom and I would like to mount my Garmin Nuvi 260W on the bike.

I have spoken to the Garmin sales people in Bangkok and they don't make a mount and I also spoke to a lady at the Eagle GPS store who didn't really understand what I wanted. I suspect it was more my fault than hers but she said that they didn't have any.

Where do I go from here?

I was up there this month enquiring (with my wife's help) about the married visa extension but at the Immigration department itself at the side of the bridge.

They are open from 08.30 until 12.00 and from 13.00 to 16.30 Monday to Friday excluding Thai public holidays.

We wne in after lunch and there were perhaps a dozen Chinese (I think) people in front of us and one of the officers asked my wife what we wanted. She explained and they gave us a list ( the photos are probably not necessary but I will take them anyway).

They were very helpful and gave me a list.

I have to go to BKK next month to get my pension papers letter from the UK embassy and everything tidied up for the last week of July which gives me around a month to see them and get it sorted out.

It will be my first time there as I used to go to Suan Phlu.

You are correct about the road though on the day we went there were several trucks broken down in the middle lanes.

There is not much in the way of gas stations from the Tak turn off until you get to Mae Sot so be aware of that but plenty in Mae Sot itself.

I think the best way to describe that road trip is "interesting, very interesting".

:D

Stuff_to_take_for_my_visa_v2.xls

I am 120kg and my wife is around 55kg.

We have had a Yamaha Mio Fino since Oct 2006 and it has just clocked 21,000 and I have only replaced tyres and battery and it regularly serviced.

This weekend I am buying a s/h Honda Phanthom and we are looking to replace the Fino with perhaps an elegance for my wife.

Then we will probably sell the Fino and get some money back.

I recommend the Yamaha as it is ideal for buzzing around up here in the countryside.

I bought a Breville in New Zealand and posted it back to Thailand but I have only been back a month and I have been too busy to get it out of the box yet.

I WILL do it but probably next month

Mario2008 springs to my mind.

Thanks Mario

"Normally, all property acquired by a husband and a wife after marriage is considered “marital property” or “community property” and would generally be shared equally between the husband and wife in the event of death or divorce. Gifts to one spouse, however, are deemed as the spouse’s “separate property.”

Correct me if I'm wrong...

This means that in a case of divorce, the husband is not legally entitled to half that house+land (or the value of it) since this is a separate gift to her which he therefore doesn't have any claims on. No loop holes in this law. She can throw you out and keep the house, no matter what.

Better be married to the right woman and be nice to her then!

I am :D

Our son will be 5 in August and the joy he brings far outweighs the costs.

However in practical terms we send him on the school bus to the farther village and that costs us up country about 4,000 baht a term including the school bus.

As my wife runs her own shop and restaurant, holidays and sick time are not important as there is always someone to look after him and I am now retired so I see him on the bus and meet him off it in the afternoons.

Toys are a bit expensive as I spoil him but usually between jobs but now I have retired he doesn't get so much.

He is growing and goes through a set of school uniforms fairly quickly at the moment and that is not cheap but not that expensive.

We also have medical insurance for him but my wife has dealt with that so I have no idea of the cost.

*138

Listen to the computerized system...

You can buy one time packages, or monthly packages. Many available from 1 hour to unlimited. 100 hours/month is I think 350 Baht. Every month the amount will get deducted from the credit on your simcard. If not enough credit you'll receive a sms message, and when you top up the package will get renewed...

On DTAC today I paid 199 baht for 50 hours on my Dhappy card and got another 50 hours free making a total cost of 212.5 baht for 100 hours internet connection. Of course it did cost me about 300 baht for the Sim card and I had a spare mobile but it is soooo easy and cheap at the moment.

Post paid on my AIS mobile I pay 500 baht for 250 hours of internet connection.

Same price but DTAC is a bit better where I live and I have a fall back in case 1 system dies.

I have just spent a year working in New Zealand and I gained nearly 10kg.

I have been back almost a month now and I have lost 7kg without dieting but eating less and better at my wife place which surprise surprise sells noodle as well as other Thai food all freshly cooked.

In fact she has normally sold out her noodles in 3 hours most days.

Sorry about that but I actually like her cooking very much which is one reason that I married her.

Just to add my 2 bahts worth which I can afford (just) my wife has gone against the trend of moving to the city and we have moved to the countryside. We have a nearly 5 year old son and I am now retired

We built a small 1 bedroom place (25 sq/m) which she lived in while the 3 bedroom place was built. It was always going to be used for her parents when they wanted to leave Bangkok and relax for the rest of their lives.

My mother in law moved in nearly 2 years ago so she has her own place with TV etc and no skivvy work to do to look after her family in Bangkok which consists of

Father in law

Older brother, his second wife, 2 children from the first marriage and one from the second,

middle brother, his wife and 1 son

younger brother who is medically not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

We give her Mum and Dad 3,000 baht each to live on.

MY choice and that of my wife who never asked me to do so.

The family in Bangkok apart from the youngest brother all work and support each other and their Dad and they are all welcome here at any time for as long as they wish.

We have helped them out financially at times and they have helped us when things got really bad for me.

My wife has 2 x 10 rai of land. We live on one site and my wife has a shop and restaurant on the other site. If any of the family want to come and live here and build a house there is plenty of land to do so.

My wife supports her parents because they brought her up from a baby to a woman and she helps them whenever they need or ask if it is possible. She also respects them as do I though I am actually older that my MIL.

It was my wife's choice all the time in the 16 years I have known her and I support her all the way and I am more than happy to do so.

Good for you Wolfy and quite right too but as has been said previously not all families are like yours, I was older than my MIL too but my wifes sisters are not like that unfortunately.

Guess I was just lucky.

Everybody gets lucky once in their life, twice for me as our son will be 5 in a few weeks :D

Just to add my 2 bahts worth which I can afford (just) my wife has gone against the trend of moving to the city and we have moved to the countryside. We have a nearly 5 year old son and I am now retired

We built a small 1 bedroom place (25 sq/m) which she lived in while the 3 bedroom place was built. It was always going to be used for her parents when they wanted to leave Bangkok and relax for the rest of their lives.

My mother in law moved in nearly 2 years ago so she has her own place with TV etc and no skivvy work to do to look after her family in Bangkok which consists of

Father in law

Older brother, his second wife, 2 children from the first marriage and one from the second,

middle brother, his wife and 1 son

younger brother who is medically not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

We give her Mum and Dad 3,000 baht each to live on.

MY choice and that of my wife who never asked me to do so.

The family in Bangkok apart from the youngest brother all work and support each other and their Dad and they are all welcome here at any time for as long as they wish.

We have helped them out financially at times and they have helped us when things got really bad for me.

My wife has 2 x 10 rai of land. We live on one site and my wife has a shop and restaurant on the other site. If any of the family want to come and live here and build a house there is plenty of land to do so.

My wife supports her parents because they brought her up from a baby to a woman and she helps them whenever they need or ask if it is possible. She also respects them as do I though I am actually older that my MIL.

It was my wife's choice all the time in the 16 years I have known her and I support her all the way and I am more than happy to do so.

Good for you Wolfy and quite right too but as has been said previously not all families are like yours, I was older than my MIL too but my wifes sisters are not like that unfortunately.

Guess I was just lucky.

Everybody gets lucky once in their life, twice for me as our son will be 5 in a few weeks :D

WHEN my wife makes them (not often enough for me) she also makes a very thin sliced carrot and honey sauce to go with them.

I usually burn my tongue on the first few and I am OK after that.

The Vietnamese ones I have eaten are usually larger then the Thai ones which are about thumb sized.