billd766

I got my yellow book last month.

It took my over 3 months because the guy dealing with it in my amphur had never done it before. He had a book in front of him and was taking bits that were needed but not all at one time.

I cost me a fair amount of money because I got my wife to tell her exactly what he wanted from me.

He did and I went to the embassy and a translation agency in BKK 400km away and brought them back.

No, what I really wanted was the translations AND the passport information stamped by the Ministry for Consular Affairs and the UK embassy.

Back to BKK again but the embassy said they will not stamp translations (not my job squire) so they did their bit on my passport details, marriage certificate (in English) and a letter confirming my address (which could have been anywhere).

Thank you very much for your kind donation of 4,800 baht to the poor UK government and mind the door doesn't hit you in the ass on the way out.

Back to the translation agency who for "only" 3,000 baht will collect your stuff from the embassy, take it and the translations to the MoCA and collect it then post it back to you.

They did but the lady went to hospital and had a baby which delayed the posting for a few days.

I scanned all the stuff into my computer.

Back to the amphur and the guy couldn't find anything else to ask me so I gave him the original documents anf some copies and he said come back next day.

Later that day my wife said he needed my mothers name as well. Fortunately she held the phone well away from her ear as I went apeshit.

She also said that she had to collect the book even though it was in my name.

I went with her the next day to get it and reminded her that they still had her blue book which she got back after she asked for it. I then told her to tell the guy he was welcome to the scanned copies but I want my originals back.

Cannot he said.

I can says I picking them up.

Cannot again.

Yes I can says I. You have copies of my passport, marriage certificate, driving licence, wifes blue book and ID card NOT the originals.

Cannot again now getting worried.

So I threw the yellow book on his desk and told my wife to get him to call his boss as I am now geeting mad (farang has no face to lose).

He did call his boss who told him the copy is OK.

He then smiled and asked me for 25 baht for the yellow book and we left.

I hope never to see him again.

While they seem relatively nice places I am not sure if my Thai wife and son would be happy leaving Thailand and live in a strange (to them) country and leave all their family and friends behind.

I certainly would not want to go and leave my little piece of paradise behind.

Does bamboo need irrigating as I live on the slope of a hill and if I start to grow bamboo I will need to move water 350 metres horizontally and about 10 metres vertically from the klong to a storage pond and then another 250 metres horizontally and 15 metres vertically to some concrete ring storage tanks that I don't have yet.

It will be an expensive outlay initially but it is a long term project.

Hi Billz

I printed mine out in A4 odd pages first then back to back with the even pages.

Very boring it was too.

However I did find out that the tyre pressure should be 29 front and raer and NOT 40 and 45 and I went over to Khampaeng Phet Honda yesterday and got the reae shock absorbers adjusted up to number 5 (cos I'm fat).

Putting an original saddle instead of the "pimped" one plus the suspension adjustment makes for a more comfortable ride.

Happy new year to you all.

I have a 2005 Honda Phantom and have tried to get an owners manual in English and eventually joined the Singapore Bikers forum and the Phantom Knights group who downloaded a manual in English for me.

It is not perfect but I have found it very useful so I have posted a copy here should anyone want it.

Cheers

billd766

Honda_owners_manual.pdf

The majority of Thai people want to all go away.

Do they really? Where would they go? Most of the Thai people I know like it here in Thailand.

But not if there was a civil war where the colour of your politics is more important than family, friendship or human life.

You have a situation in Thailand now where the prime minister and the Democrats are supposedly threatened with violence if the should venture into parts of the country.

How can you have any form of democracy if people are not allowed to visit any part of the country freely and without hindrance.

There were a couple of radio presenters in Chiang Mai who supposedly threatened the prime ministers life if he went there.

Do you think that this is normal and allowable?

If not how can you have a democratic election with or without vote buying?

Retirement is not all it is cracked up to be.

I certainly didn't work this hard when I was paid to work but I have been clearing scrub and undergrowth on about 10 rai which hasn't been touched for nearly 2 years and it is hard work at my age.

As a reward for my hard work over the years for my family my wife said I could have a choice of a mia noi or a motorbike. As her choice of a mia noi for me was a 53 year old fat former katoey I now have a second hand Honda Phantom 4 years old and 5,500 km on the clock when I bought it.

Yeah right.

I am the 4th owner (all farangs) and though it vibrates a bit it is fun to ride.

Cheers

Well, K. billd, there's no reason to bust your butt clearing that 10 rai when it seems like Central Thailand is over run with illegal Burmese these days willing to work for scraps. I'm in northern Suphanburi and the wife has 5 rai of 'jungle' that needed clearing so I hired a Makro (like a big Bobcat / Skidsteer) for 1K Baht per hour and a crew of 4 hands (the Burmese) to clear the rest and burn the piles. Got them digging the post holes for the perimiter wall under construction now.

Good luck with that Phantom - sounds like the better choice!

It has all been done now, a lot with my own fair hands and now I can get a couple of guys in for 2 days a month to keep it all down.

I t was hard work but now I can spend more time relaxing and building up some money for my next project after the cassava is cleared from the top land.

I am probably going to plant bamboo for shoots and poles but that will need irrigation and the klong is 350 metres away across my neighbours land, under the road through an existing drainpipe and across someone elses land.

That will get me water to my fishpond and storage pond. I then have to go another 250 metres up the land to some concrete ring storage tanks that I have not yet built and then natural flow back down the land for irrigation of the bamboo.

It will probably set me back about 60k baht but it is a one off investment and then hopefully I will have as much water as I need on tap as it were.

However I will need a few workers to trench and lay the pipes and cover it back up afterwards.

The Phantom is good but I feel the desire for something bigger now, like a Honda Steed

I had 5 ten wheel trucks parked outside the house and land yesterday afternoon but they left the space up to the house clear.

Mind you I do live out in the country where people are more considerate other than the tourists who come up from BKK to the national park and use the road as a racetrack while overtaking on blind corners and the like.

Especially the guy in his brand new Fortuna with red plates who drove past me like a maniac around a blind corner and then had to ram his brakes on hard to slow down in order to turn right into a resort. (richardhead).

It would be nice if we knew what they were.

Up here in Central where I live labourers are normally paid around 180 baht a day starting around 8 and finishing around 5.30 to 6 pm with a lunch break.

When I get people in to work for me that is what I pay and I usually give them lunch plus a big cooler with ice and water.

.....meanwhile, you are making a small 'fortune' on the finished product? Just kidding

Actually the only product we have at the moment is about 5 rai of cassava and when we get that out I am thinking of planting bamboo for shoots and poles.

I am 65 and there are things to do around the land that I am simply physically unable to do.

To water the bamboo I need to run a 3 inch water pipe down the side of our land, across my neighbours drive and the front of his land, through a drain under the road and across somebody elses land to the klong. A distance of some 350 metres and it needs a power cable to run the pump as well and the whole thing needs to be buried underground.

That will get water up to my fishpond and storage tanks and then I need to do the same again another 250 metres the other way up to some storage tanks that have not yet been built and from there I can iirigate down hill.

That is when I need some fairly intelligent casual labour as I figure the first part will take about 3 or 4 days and probably 2 men (or women I am not gender specific) and another 2 or 3 days to go uphill on the second part.

Sausage, bacon and 2 duck eggs with Earl Grey tea. I skipped the fried bread but did have the HP sauce and for dinner last night 2 corned beef and Branston pickle snadwiches and a few gloasses of Sang Som, soda and coke.

Up here in Central where I live labourers are normally paid around 180 baht a day starting around 8 and finishing around 5.30 to 6 pm with a lunch break.

When I get people in to work for me that is what I pay and I usually give them lunch plus a big cooler with ice and water.

Gerd, how about give an address?? Phuket is a rather big place

Sorry, but this would be against the forum rules.

Gerd

You have a shop, but you don't want any customers to buy your products?? hmmmm.......

As Gerd says it is against the forum rules but you could always send him a PM.

Just click on the box next to his avavtar and send Private Message.

Personally I think that it is a good idea.

After all if you manage to get your Thai wife to the UK as difficult as that is they have to pass a langauge skills test there so why not here, especially if you are on an ED visa to learn Thai.

That said I find Thai is hard to learn though I try at home using s a CD and langauge books.

I study at home now and again using CD and Thai language books and I find it a bit difficult as I am 65, and partly deaf in each ear so I may say something in Thai but my wife may think I said something else due to the wrong tones used.

Next years task is to try to learn properly and if that works go on to reading and writing Thai.

I rode my motosai down from Tak to Khampaeng Phet yesterday and my ass is still sore.

No the road is still very bad in both directions

Another great fat gas guzzling monster for a very few people to show face or alternatively saying I don't about the hoi polloi.

I am rich and I am showing it.

And no I am not jealous at all, just amazed that anyone would actually want to buy one.

What was the King saying about a sufficiency economy again?

I just looked at the BBC news website this morning and found this little item.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8412035.stm

Where is the Thai one as I can only find the English version to download?

Been there, done that, got pissed off and then moved on.

5 years ago

I will be in BKK next week staying off Suk 22 so I think I will try it out.

I will take my motosai though, bugger walking that far.

FYI There is a motorcycle stand at the beginning of the soi you can use. The motorcycle guys probably recognize the name Himalaya although I hate to think how the thai pronounciation of the word sounds like. Maybe "Hi-ma-ma-ma-ma...." or something like that. If they don't understand, tell them "Soot soi" or the end of the soi. Its before the end of the soi so keep your eyes out for the Himalaya sign on the left.

OK I am easy either way, just sort of fat and lazy I suppose

I will be in BKK next week staying off Suk 22 so I think I will try it out.

I will take my motosai though, bugger walking that far.

I am too fat and old for that.

I hope that it is on the list of banned chemical, biological and nuclear weapons banned by the United Nations.

I hated it when I was a you boy (I'm 65 now) and if anything could be dis-invented it should be this.

As soon as I saw the thread I tasted it again.

Any good ideas for calling UK????? (on AIS)

Try dialing 0050 then 44 then the number.

AIS callcentre told me it was 2 baht per minute but give them a call just in case.

My call was just a normal call as you would expect on any system

I have a 2005 Phantom which I bought at the end of June and I have clocked 5,000 km since then.

I find it Ok though my main problem is that the seat needs more padding to acommodate my frame and weight.

I will probably sell it if anyone is interested as I am doing a lot of touring since I retired and need something in the same style with a bit more oomph in it.

Saisunee, Parinthon (Tiw) our son and I wish His Majesty good health for himself and peace for the Nation of Thailand.

Our prayers be with you.