billd766

I am English and I trained my first (UK) son to keep a trash bag in the car and when it gets full to put it in the household bin and stick another in the car.

Now I live in Thailand with my Thai wife and Thai son its just that bit harder to train them. However it mostly works with them. Now all I have to do is to train the other people around the house but I am working in NZ and it will be a while before I can fix them.

Didnt quite get dumballs comments.

I already have a private pension so the state pension is just a bonus.

I didnt say I thought that the general levels of uk pensions were good, in fact for anyone trying to live on them alone they are a disgrace.

Yes, my state pension would equate to around £700 a calender month.

£700 per month might keep you in a cardboard box in the UK but I reckon it's a nice income in warm, sunny Thailand.

well done.

Before income tax. :D

I am also married with a 4 1/2 year old son. However my wife is not that well educated through no fault of her own or her family.

When we go to Bangkok (her family home) I don't stay there and neither does she.

However her mother lives with us while her Dad lives down in Bangkok with the rest of the family. They are always welcome to stay with us up country and do regularly. They speak no English and my Thai is not the best but to my knowledge they have not really insulted me even in jest and we do get along very well within and the language barrier. I am trying to learn Thai but I am working offshore for 6 months at a time and 3 weeks at home.

When I was not working and lived at home the family used to stay for 2 or 3 weeks at a time and we had no problems.

I have helped them out and indeed still do as her Dad is 73 and her Mum is 64. There were several times when I was out of work and down on finance when they helped us out so I guess I am lucky with my wifes family.

Where do you live?

That can make a lot of difference as GPRS and EDGE depend on the number of voice calls in progress on your local cell site. The more calls the slower the GPRS and EDGE service becomes and it does not matter if it is AIS or DTAC, just the amount of traffic carried by the site.

I live 65km from Khampaeng Phet 6km from the site. Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings are bad as that is the local market days but if I go to the other site (on my wifes land) 3 km the other way I have no problems as there are not so many users around and that is only a small site.

F.O.R.D = Fantastic Ordinary Rocking Device.

I like my Ford Ranger it was cheap, its strong, comfortable OH and cheap Insurance was cheap as well

I bought mine on 04 December 2001 and it is still going strong now with 183,00 km on the clock.

I would like an engine and gearbox from the newer model with the common rail engine but I don't know where to find one in BKK.

We live 400 km up country 1/2 way between Bangkok and Chiang Mai and I have just come back to NZ for another 6 months work.

I just bought 4 new Michelin tyres for my Ford Ranger and they came with a pressure of 35 psi. Ford recommend 26 all round when no load which is what it is most of the time.

I dropped the presures to about 29 all around and my wife cannot understand why. She tells me the guys at the depot know what they are doing but I am not so sure.

On the other hand they did set up the tracking using European equipment and I did check them as they were doing it. The car now seems to be fine when I let the steering go at 80 kmh and not pull left as it used to.

These are only the 3rd set of tyres in 183,000 km and some of the tyres I replaced still had 10,000 km roughly left on them.

My wife will sell them to the local tok tok guys for 2 or 300 baht each.

Each tyre 235/80/15 etc cost 3,800 baht. New valves, balancing and alignment came free.

I do appreciate that these things happen but I am also certain there are many more successful marriages than unsuccessful and more farangs living happily with their Thai ladies than there are failures of marriages.

Sometimes when I read these sites I think we and almost all our friends married to Thais must be living in some other dimension. In many years I have seen only two marriages out of dozens break up over what the writers on the net assure me is the fate of anyone in a relationship with a Thai.

But it is a relevant question...

What happens to an avarage Thai/Farang marage when (or if) the Farang falls on hard times?

It happens all to often and to tell you the truth...it's something that is on my mind at the moment too

I ahve been out of work more than in work over the past few years so we pooled what was left of our money, she borroewed some more and opened a small shop with a noodle stall on the side.

She is now earning about 50% of what I earned and she kept us and our son going.

I got another job and now 20% of that money goes into her bank account and the rest to our bank.

Thats what happened in our marriage when I ran out of cash.

I love them both to bits and I wouldn't swap them for anything in the world. :D

I have known my Thai wife since 1993 and we have been married since 2000.

Of course she knows my pin number as I know hers.

I am in the process of setting up a list of things to do (which my mate will help with) for when I die wich will include contacting the embassy here, the offices of my pensions, the lawyer for my will (Thai as I live here), some friends and my son in the UK.

I know her own account in another bank that she deliberately has no ATM card for and some 20% of my salary she puts into that account as I have told her to do.

I love my wife and I trust her 100% so why would I not want her to know what WE have together.

I did the same with my first wife in the UK though in retrospect I think that she knew I was drifting away from her so she did some financial diversions. I was not happy about that though I cannot blame her.

I do appreciate that these things happen but I am also certain there are many more successful marriages than unsuccessful and more farangs living happily with their Thai ladies than there are failures of marriages.

Sometimes when I read these sites I think we and almost all our friends married to Thais must be living in some other dimension. In many years I have seen only two marriages out of dozens break up over what the writers on the net assure me is the fate of anyone in a relationship with a Thai.

Wow

Was it thatb long ago i replied in this thread.

I am working offshore in New Zealand for a while but I am home for 3 weeks holiday (go back on Friday :D ).

I missed my wifes' birthday so I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, Xmas etc present.

A new fridge freezer for the house so that I can use the old on at the shop and noodle restaurant was the reply.

Not exactly what I would have bought but it works for me.

I have no experience in the markets where you are as I live in the Central region of Thailand, however what I did is just follow the locals to see what they bought and get a rough idea of the prices. Grab a phrase book and mug up on local shopping and then just ask "an ni, tao rai" which basically is how much is that one. "an non tao rai", how much is that one? If you think the price is too high, just say "an ni paeng" which is thats expensive.

If you do it with a smile and pleasantly nobody will mind and you should get it cheaper.

Fruit Stall:

- 3 small mangoes I havent bought any recently but mangos are a bit expensive here as they are not in season where I live

- 3 big mangos

- small bag of mandarins probably about 20 baht

TOTAL: 280 Bht

- half a watermelon No more than 40 baht

- large papaya about the same

TOTAL: 120 Bht

Veg Stall:

- 5 spring onions about 15 baht

- small bag of chillis about 15 baht

- handful of coriander no idea

- 2 small egg plants/aubergines maybe 15 to 20 baht

- handful of ear mushrooms about 20 baht

- 1 onion about 5 baht

- 1 potato 10 to 15 baht depending on size

- small packet of baby corn no idea

TOTAL: 220 Bht

I haven't been to the market for a few days so I base that on the last time I went.

I suspect that if my Thai had been charged that much she would have let the traders know in no uncertain terms and walked away. She always gets stuff cheaper than me as

a) she is Thai

she is a woman

c) if she thinks she is paying too much she has an interesting vocabulary

d) at 43 she has been around a few years and was buying food from the market at 8 or 9 and then going home to cook for the family.

Good for her then and good for me now as she is a good cook and runs her own shop and noodle stall.

:D

As you seem to have sorted the beagle out can someone please sort out my duck problem.

We live way out in the sticks on 10 rai of land. We have a fish pond but for some reason our 2 ducks take great delight in crapping on the concrete slab outside the kitchen, both front and back doors. :D

It means we wash down several times a day.

The bad news is that we now have homegrown 14 more fluffy ducklets and if they do the same thing it will be the cooking pot for them. Some of the last lot got eaten by a snake.

On the same note where do they hide their eggs?

Actually some of us married farangs live in the Central region.

I live 65 km southwest of Khampaeng Phet in a small moo ban. It is NOT my wifes village as her family comes from Bang Na near Bangkok. Her mother lives with us in the small house and yes there are no western restaurants no bars with girls nearby. If I want western style food then either my wife or I cook it.

I know of quite a few guys living within 50 km of me, some are permanent as I am except when I work offshore and some are temporary part timers during the year.

There are speakers at the end of the front garden and 300 meteres away up the back is part of the Mae Wong national park.

My neighbours are Thai on one side and my Danish mate ( a part timer ) on the other side neither are closer the 50 m away. We have 10 rai we live on and my wife has another 10 rai 2 km down the road where she runs a small shop and noodle restaurant.

There are 3 resorts within 2 km of where we live.

I have an edge connection on AIS for 500 baht a month plus we have a Ford Ranger double cab 4x4 pickup and a sccoter for cheap travel.

I love it up here and when I finally retire next year (again) I have no desire to live anywhere else in the world.

I have a good wife, a 4 year old son and a good family who call when they want to come up and stay, and they can stay as long as they wish. Some good Thai friends and the only thing I really need in life is to be able to speak Thai far better than I can and also to read and write it too.

Next years projects.

:D

Do it like i do : I pay neither here nor there, nor anywhere ...

Good luck to you...but I have seen what can happen. Not to me, but my friend, XXXX, did that for many years, He lived in BKK and always bragged about "never" paying any taxes in his life. They would never find him, he said. Well, he bragged to the wrong person...and that person turned him in to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (they have a program which gives cash rewards for turning people like him in). He owed at least 10 years back taxes according to the U.S. government. He ran away, but lost everything he owned to the tax people. I haven't seen him in nearly 20 years now, he lost his house and all his savings (not to mention his family) in Thailand. Also all his U.S. bank accounts were frozen to pay the tax bill.

For that reason...pay your taxes...and if you don't....for god's sake keep quiet about it.

I have been living offshore in Thailand since 2001 and been a contractor since before then.

I used to pay tax in Thailand while working here and some contract agencies are based in 1 country, I work in another and am payed from a 3 rd country. Sometimes I have paid with holding tax and sometimes not but as I am a UK citizen I only pay tax on my UK income, which in my case is my pensions.

Now I am working as a permanent employee in New Zealand I pay NZ tax rates but as usual I get no social security or health benefits.

It is all swings and roundabouts but a lot of the time you are up.

The downside is that I have paid USD $ 3,500 with holding tax on a job in Pakistan which has not been paid to the tax authorities there after 3 years and I am still fighting to get it back from the agency (hopefully with interest).

Grilled beef, pork, rice, pad thai. All washed down with a good friend. Captain Morgan black label rum and pepsi at my wifes place. Her family and friends were there. There was also crab, prawns, fish, spicy dips, lao kao, Hong Tong whisky and soda plus beer. Unfortunately for me I don't like any seafood (except fish and chips).

Later we ended up at the resort next to the house where more food and drink were consumed and saw the New Year in, even our 4 year old son though he was flagging a bit at the end.

Yesterday was both a shop and body holiday. Recovery time for all.

If anybody is interested I saw a lot of old Land Rovers on the side of the road at about km 38 north of Ayutta on the main Bangkok Nakhon Sawan highway route 32.

They are on the Bangkok side and I didn't have time to stop as I was northbound on my way home after 6 months offshore.

If I get some time next week on my way down I will see what I can find out.

Oh, another thief has stolen my savings. A Mr. G. Brown is currently fugitive and wanted in connection with the defrauding of the British people.

Don't worry, this crook will soon knock on your door, when he needs your vote !

Please resist the temptation, to give him a swift kick in the goolies, just give him a long lecture about politicians who freeze your poxy UK-government pension, because of where you choose to live ... and then give him the swift kick, plus one from me.

Make mine a double kick please

I live way out in the sticks and there children living around here that don't go to school pas about 12 years old as their parents can't afford to send them, buy school books and lunch as well.

Also during the planting/ harvesting times schools partly close down as the pupils are in the fields helping their families out.

Now that there is a slowdown in the world economy which will affect Thailand more families who had work in the cities and lose their jobs will be back on the farms for a while.

So living, as you do, out in the sticks you should be aware that Thai people are not starving.

The original question was about food, not about schooling and the economy.

From my expereince living out in rural Thailand for many years there is an abundance of food. You can always eat rice, fruit, even exotic meats, like frogs if you so desire. Food is almost free. It is everywhere. Any Thai child that goes hungry in rural NE Thailand, goes hungry due to parental neglect, not from lack of available produce. There is a lot of food in Thailand. In the fields and hanging from the trees.

I live in rural Thailand, and this is exactly what I see. There's no one around here that has a lot of money, most of the people here where I live are farmers. But no one goes hungry except due to parental neglect. Food is too cheap here. And abundant here. Rice, fruit, veggies, and even fish. The kids I see that may be going hungry are hungry because their parents are drunks and can't find the time to sober up and feed them. But they still don't go hungry for long. Too many people giving these kids food to eat.

This true.

My wife runs a noodle stall and the price is the same as last year, 20b for an adult portion and 10b for children. However if she sees someone who has no money there will always be food available for them. It is the same all around the local villages. No one goes starving. If the parents are too drunk then the children sort of belong to the village and will be looked after by a family or two.

Alfredo

I was at the Ford Dealers in Nakhon Sawan last week and they gave me a price list.

I am sorry but is in Thai and it looks as though there is 0% finance.

Double cabs start from around 691,000 for a 2.5 turbo diesel up to 693,000 for the Wildtrak and on to 847,000 for the top of the range 3.0 turbo diesel.

We have had a 2.5 turbo diesel since Dec 2001 with 183,000 on the clock and only minor repairs mainly due to the dents and scrapes. All my own doing as my wife is a better driver than me.

If I could afford a new pickup in the current economic climate I would go for another Ford Ranger.

I used a Toyota Hilux in PNG for 4 months and was less than impressed by it and also a Mitsubishi in New Zealand for a month and I don't like the look of them at all, and I found them not so comfortable either.

Alfredo

I was at the Ford Dealers in Nakhon Sawan last week and they gave me a price list.

I am sorry but is in Thai and it looks as though there is 0% finance.

Double cabs start from around 691,000 for a 2.5 turbo diesel up to 693,000 for the Wildtrak and on to 847,000 for the top of the range 3.0 turbo diesel.

We have had a 2.5 turbo diesel since Dec 2001 with 183,000 on the clock and only minor repairs mainly due to the dents and scrapes. All my own doing as my wife is a better driver than me.

If I could afford a new pickup in the current economic climate I would go for another Ford Ranger.

I used a Toyota Hilux in PNG for 4 months and was less than impressed by it and also a Mitsubishi in New Zealand for a month and I don't like the look of them at all, and I found them not so comfortable either.

1,000 baht I had overpaid.

I had dropped a 1,000 baht note

nasty habits with 1000 baht notes.....think of the money u could save if you looked after them better

Yeah perhaps the OP could post us back with his daily movements....wouldnt mind following him around for a while

Sorry you missed me today but I was at Khampaeng Phet.

Bad news though, I didn't drop any money or overpay.

Still there is always tomorrow when I go to Klong Lan Pattana.

Welcome HOME biggrin.gif

Happy New Year

Dave

Thanks Dave

2 more weeks and then I am back in NZ for 6 months

The glass is definitely half full.

Thanks Mackayae

And tonight it will be full again

:jerk:

What a load of doodoo, you mean to tell me that without Thai people looking out for you and fixing all your incompetent mistakes you would be a walking disaster? How did you survive the trip over here?

Welcome.

I find that there is always one and sometimes more that always look at the dark side.

You have obviously no idea about me at all and not a lot about Thailand either IMHO but its your choice.

Lighten up and be happy as there is a lot more misery in the world without you adding to it.

This week I have heard the happiest and nicest sounds in the world.

Children playing and enjoying themselves.

They don't worry because as parents it is our job to protect them as much as we can.

They will learn in time that all is not perfect but it is not all doom and gloom either.

Sabum, have a nice day on me.

:D

I Have been working in New Zealand for the last 6 months keeping in touch with Thailand generally through family and friends as well as keeping abreast of the happenings here through TV and the Nation/BKK Post.

I arrived around 01.30 on Friday 19th and there were about 8 people in front of me at the immigration desk. The lady before me had not filled out the arrival form, (no time I suppose on an 11hr flight from Sydney), so the immigration officer (male ) told her to fill in the form at the desk and waved me around to the side. He dealt with me politely and pleasantly and I suppose it was less than 10 minutes that I was in the queue.

I picked up my bags almost straight away and was second in the queue for a taxi.

He turned the meter on straight awy and I told him where I wanted to go. That we got lost was my fault and not his so I gave him a 60 baht tip.

In the morning I went down to Sukhumvit and got my medication (much cheaper here than in New Zealand) went back to my friends place, picked up my bags and did a little shopping in Seacon Square. The girls are much better looking here and they smile as well, ate exotic international food (KFC spicy) and drove 400km home.

On Monday I went looking in Big C, Makro and Power Buy in Nakhon Sawan to buy and fridge freezer for my wifes' birthday and Xmas present which was her idea and not mine. I bought from Big C in the end as they had the best choice and prices and the girl at the check out gave me back 1,000 baht I had overpaid.

My wife and son still love me and there have been a few parties to welcome me home.

It is the village fair this week and I went to the bank this morning then to 7/11 where a nice girl stopped me and said in English that I had dropped a 1,000 baht note as I left the bank and wouldn't take anything apart from a smile and a thank you very much from me.

After all the bad publicity and bad news that I have heard and read about in Thailand I must confess I have seen and heard none since I came home, only smiles and nice people.

This of course is what is normal out in the sticks but it happens in BKK as well.

I love it here in Thailand and aim to live the rest of my live here as I have done since 2001 apart from going offshore to work.

:D :D

edited for very bad spelling

I live way out in the sticks and there children living around here that don't go to school pas about 12 years old as their parents can't afford to send them, buy school books and lunch as well.

Also during the planting/ harvesting times schools partly close down as the pupils are in the fields helping their families out.

Now that there is a slowdown in the world economy which will affect Thailand more families who had work in the cities and lose their jobs will be back on the farms for a while.

Thanks for the replies!

I found on the pensions web site you can make claims and amendments online.

I am waiting for their response.

I'll let you know how I get on.

I'll also find the link for the pensions online thing.

Bootneck

Success after a 7 month application process, i have now been awarded additional allowance on my UK Pension for my wife and it was back dated with arrears paid to my pension start date which was 3/3/08 , the increase is worth 52.36 pounds a week .

If you apply and your wife already has a UK National Insurance number it will be quick, if like me she lives in Thailand and doesnt work and has never had a national insurance number , phone the international pensions centre 008441912187777 and ask for application form, allowance for wife , when you send it in make sure you send in the following , marriage cert, wifes birth cert, and if wife has been divorced her divorce papers , they will translate and start the process for issuing a NIN , send them EMS as it is quicker, registered and you can track it on line at Thai post, if you hear nothing after 6 weeks give them a call or send email , remeber when it arrives at pensions office it takes a further 2 weeks before it is in the hands of the person who will deal with it , badger them with emails and phone calls and it will quicken the process , it did in my case .

Good luck pm me if you want any more details

Dave

I have just called the international pensions centre + 44 191 218 7777 which is this number depending on where you call from

I spoke to a nice young lady called Leanne who told me that the earliest that the pensions centre will send out the forms to you is 4 months before your pension is due they will send out the forms to your last given address. In the pack will be a form asking for your dependants details and you fill that in and send them off with your details (making sure you keep a copy or two) and when your pension is paid your wife will get the dependants allowance.

However this will only happen up until April 2010 and it seems that it will only be paid until 2020.

There are threads either currently running or have been which have more detail than I can remember.

We live out in the sticks and lose a couple of dogs a year to cars and the last one was my 4 year old sons favourite.

We explained that this one had also got hit by a car and he just accepted it as a fact of life in the countryside. Before anyone suggests fencing the land in we have about 20 rai of land which fronts onto the road and backs onto a national park and this makes it hard to keep any animals in.

The first 3 dogs we had lasted 1, 3 1/2 and nearly 6 years.