billd766

Friends will be friends. Queen and Freddie Mercury

Thanks for your help guys.

So far RC link works but a lot of it is Thai which is tricky.

From Thai Normans link I found this thread which I started which I suppose makes me an international author though with a limited readership.

I suspect I will have to spend a day or so chasing it up when come back next month.

Cheers

either  GPRS/EDGE from AIS or DTAC

or  WCDMA from hutch

to use either with your laptop/desktop you will need a GPRS phone or pcmia card ( pci adapter for card if using with a desktop )

if you go the phone route you will either connect to it via cable or Bluetooth from your computer.

GPRS coverage seems to be universal with EDGE confined to a couple of cities - I am unsure about the Hutch wcdma network

search the forums for GPRS and if crushdepth has solved his XOOP problems have a search of his site crushdepth.net

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The OP lives a long way out of the city and the Hutch CDMA network does not get that far. However CAT is going to introduce a new CDMA network but it is being phased in over 3 years and I suspect it will be mainly in cities, large towns and on the main roads.

It will not be cost effective to run it out to the villages or further as most people out there (I live out there too) have no use for CDMA.

The other problem with a CDMA mobile is that it can only be used on a CDMA network rather than a GSM mobile which you can use on DTAC, AIS, Orange etc.

I was a little more fortunate than most pollsters as I had been out of the UK for a few years and only went back 3 times a year for holidays. When i divorced my UK wife a few of my friends had negative comments but when I said I was marrying my Thai wife 2 of my friends wives gave me a very hard time on the phone for 15 minutes or so until I managed to say that I was merely informing them as a friend and not asking their permission.

My good friend and her family met my wife as we were staying with them and got married from her house and they loved my wife from the start as did most of the people she met in the UK.

As for the rest I couldn't really give a rats a**e for them.

We married each other and no one else and it is our life to live plus now we have a son.

So love and listen to your lady and bo***x to the rest.

Cheers and good life to both of you.

The Elite bookshop is relatively expensive with books areound the 250 baht mark but you do get 30% back on a return. There is another bookshop on the corner of Sukhumvit 22 and another bu the Nana junction where the books are about 100 baht but only 20 baht on the return so it is cheaper in the longer term.

The advantage of Elite is that their stock is much larger.

Happy reading.

Can anybody please help me.

My wife and her friend want to buy a tractor to work on our land and to rent out with a driver in the area when we are not using it.

They are talking about a medium tractor but I have no idea of the brand.

Unfortunately I am in Pakistan and though I have googled about tractor sales in Thailand I generally get sent to UK or USA websites. Are there any Ford or whatever tractor dealers in Thailand with websites?

IMHO the only way that corruption can be reduced is to take the top ten generals, police men and politicians from all parties and publicly shoot them. Give their successors 3 months to slow or stop the corruption and if they cannot shoot them as wlll. By the 4th or 5th round there will be a very concerted effort to clean up society. All the assets owned by them and their immediate families should be sold and the monies generated by the sale given transparantly to poor people in the provinces.

Brutal,yes. Prone to errors, yes. But if 2500 plus "drug dealers" were executed and nothing much has changed what are a couple of hundred more deaths compared to that.

Who knows it may even work.

On another point that has been raised (albeit off topic) I know quite a few farangs who have Thai wives and live in villages quite well on rather small Western pensions. None of them "lord it" over their Thai neighbours. I am not saying that it may not happen anywhere, but it certainly is not universal!

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Sorry about that Martin but I have been to the hospital to get my tongue removed from my cheek.

Does this ban include Eurotrash cadging drinks in bars?

How about Brits who marry Thais in order to live in rural villages on their pitiful pensions (and try to act superior to the locals)?

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Hi Kaojai

How many Brits married to Thais living in rural villages do you actually know. I am one and I must admit I dont remember meeting you at all, but when I come home to my village you must come to see me and how superior I am to all the local peasants. Ask around the village and see how many I beat with a stick every day.

No thanks necessary- the news of your success is all that anyone would ask for.

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I agree with britmaveric totally. I am sure that it will work out well for you both.

Thanks for the info guys.

I don't know who my wife has talked about for drilling but I do know where we live is mostly dirt and rock and not claystone so it should be OK.

The problem is then when she gets an idea in her head it is very difficult to shift it.

I will be back in a couple of months and I will try to arrangr a meeting with some drillers at home and see if that works or perhaps go to the local Amphur and check with them.

Cheers Bill

Can anyone help me?

I live a fair way out of the local village up in the hills and the government water supply is somewhat erratic to non existant in the dry season and I need to drill a borehole.

The problem is that I am working in Pakistan and my wife and her friend tell me that the government has passed a law banning borehole drilling completely due to fears of subsidence.

Unfortunately as I am unable to read Thai I cannot find any information to say that this is true or not so I am limited to Google etc searches in English, not that I don't believe her, but up where we live the only local government people we see are the trash men.

Can anyone confirm if this is true or does it mean we need to get a licence to drill?

cheers

 

WHOO-OOOOO!!!!!

She had her short interview this morning, asked her a few questions about me, visa granted!!!!!

Happy as a pig in sh$t...

Waiting for travel agents to confirm dates for coming to pick her up!!!

A big list of THANK YOU's will follow.

 

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I am happy that it has worked out for you and your lady. hopefully now you will be able to relax together and the rest will follow as it should.

Hello Billd766,

I must have missed your post in the confusion I faced back end of last year.

I note that PSISAT now have an English version of the webpage. You said that you were going to install one of their rigs. How is it?

How come no monthly payments. Is it all Free To Air channels? In which case no movies?

Peter

Are digital satellite TV installations available in HH area? I would like something capable of an English news channel, the odd sports and movie channels.

Information on availability, recommended retailers and satellite providers will be welcomed.

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Hi Peter

Try this company.

The website is in Thai but the main phone number is in English and they do speak English at the head office.

You may also recognise the HH area code and bypass the main office.

I am going to get their service put in sometime next year. From what I have seen of the brochure the service is very good and it is around 17,500 Bt for one 2mt dish, one decoder and the service with no monthly rentals. If you have more than one TV or you need a different dish the cost varies.

Hope that this helps.

Here is the web address

http://www.psisat.com/index.php

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At this time we still have not installed PSISat as there were more pressing things to do around the farm but it is still on my list.

As far as I know there are around 250 channels that you can access and also there are no monthly payments but most of them are free to air but I have not looked since last year. Perhaps the website can tell you.

I am working in Pakistan at the moment and my wife seems happy enough with 3 1/2 Thai channels. Maybe later this year.

I voted for Big C as it is only 125 km away from where I live. However in BKK I use Villa at Sukhumvit 33 and the supermarket at the mall next to Seacon Square (can't remember the name). Their deli section is very good though a little expensive.

Which farang will be brave enough to make a complaint to the Prime Minister, giving all his contact details?

Not me!

Isn't the prime minister who made this suggestion public, at least a little bit knowledgeable about telecommunications in Thailand?

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Actually no he has no real idea of how the systems work as do most people. However he is a good manager in the same way Bill Gates of Microsoft is. To be very successful and very rich you need to hire the best people to run your business, pay them well and simply reap the profits.

My problem is that if I went to the south I would not be permitted to use my mobile according to the government as the registered owner is my wife (and it is on the AIS system).

I have had a Thai partner for 2 years, she has a visa for the UK and later this year we are getting married in the UK.

What rights do I get married to a Thai.

Is it easier for me to stay long term in Thailand etc.

look forward to your replies

Chesterboy

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Chesterboy

I had a Thai partner for 7 years and she came to the UK 5 years ago to marry me. It was the second best thing I have done in my life. The first was to divorce my first (UK) wife and the third best thing is our son who is now 8 months old.

It is easier for you to stay long term in Thailand provided that you meet the rules for income etc.

I share all my income with my Thai wife and yes I do realise that should we divorce she will still own the land and property that we share and it would then not be so easy for me to stay in Thailand.

However it was my choice to do so and my wife never forced me to marry her, any support that I give to her family is our choice,. I have never paid a dowry nor do I give my wife all of my money. We share what we have and if it all finished tomorrow I would still think that it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

There are some doomsayers on this forum but remember the choice you make is for the two of you and nobody here will be looking at you or living your life.

Go with what your heart feels and live your life together.

About a year ago I was involved in the planning of a WiFi network in Thailand starting in Bangkok which would have made available a very large bandwith to anyone who had a window in their house/apartment. At the customer end all that was required was a small panel antenna and a power point for the receiver which you could connect ito your computer.

It never got off the ground as it required the National Telecomms Committee of Thailand to have given the go ahead for the frequencies involved.

It would have given any one who used the service ADSL quality at a reasonable price which may also have had something to do with it.

Unfortunately the government had dissolved the previous committee a couple of years before due to "irregularities" shall we say, and as far as I know it has not been reconstituted. Without this authority you cannot start up any telecomms service such as AIS, DTAC or Orange etc.

However the existing operators are OK.

My wife won't eat Buffalo meat, most other types of meat but not Buffalo, and she is not a country girl born and bred.

I bought diving equipment and can claim 7k baht tax return at Dong Muang airport when leaving LOS later this month. But I will return for diving and don't need to carry that heavy stuff back and forth. Weight problem for luggage....

Anyone can clarify me the exact procedure at the airport?

Do I Need to show the goods?

I could give the stuff at the airport to a friend staying in LOS.

Thanks for help

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Hi Jef

To claim your VAT back you HAVE to export the items because if you leave the items in country you are not entitled to claim the tax back.

To claim your VAT back you must first show the items at the VAT refund desk at the check in side of the airport where you will be given a form to claim the refund. You then pass through immigration, passport control etc to the air side of the terminal and go to the VAT refund counter there, give them the form and you will get your VAT back.

If you don't go to the counter before check in you cannot come back through and start again once you are on the other side.

I forgot the first step and did not get 1,500 Baht back. My fault and nobody elses.

The reason for that first step is to confirm that you have the items with you and to give you a chance to pack them in your case if you so wish.

I wish you and your girlfriend all the best and I hope that this will work out for you both.

I think it depends on the appearance of said lady.

in what way exactly ?

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a snake tatoo from neck to ankle perhaps

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Lets be honest many guys on here don't know the difference between what a decent and non-decent lady looks like.

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Perhaps I could lean on your vast experience to explain the difference to me. Most of the Thai people I have met in the last 12 years in Thailand look decent to me, from the lady and man who work in hotels and sweep the streets to the som tam lady and the people in the shops and villages. Perhaps I need new glasses.

Also in that time I have never had any problems booking into hotels in Thailand with my girlfriend/wife.

I have been looking for this software for a long time anf the best software map I have come up with in Thailand is Map Magic which is a very good product and available in most good software stores and also some good bookshops. Unfortunately they have no plans yet to introduce GPS mapping, at least this year.

I use a Garmin III gps and Garmin dont have any good maps of Thailand either.

If you find any can you let me know?

Cheers billd766

I use my laptop and a GPRS connection using AIS in Thailand and Ufone here in Pakistan. Because I don't have access to a landline at home I bought a program called Mail Express Pro which turns my laptop into a server so I don't need anything like CS Loxinfo etc and I can access the Internet and emails etc anywhere in the world I can get

get a GPRS link.

PS I am the "other" on your poll