springer64

living in udon,anyone know where i can pick up a pair of turntables new,thanking you in advance

Travelling to krabi from udon late sept early oct,looking for a reggae bar/club to play a set as i'm a reggae dj with a sound system in Dublin-Ireland called Natural Vibes, bringing 7" records with me some brand new up to date tunes and some revival classics,just wanting to play not looking payment,any suggestions,advice or help would be very welcome and thank you in advance.

Heading down to Krabi from Udon late sept early oct,was intending to drive, but would consider going by train if possible, have a party of 12 people to much of a journey to drive, don't really want to bus it,and flights to much money.anyone any suggestions many thanks in advance.

Visiting Krabi in sep/oct just wondering if theres any reggae bar/clubs in Krabi were i could play a set as i'm a reggae dj with a sound called Natural vibes based in Dublin Ireland,and would like to bring down some new tunes and play.thanks in advance for your replys.

House looks great and you done really well for 1.1,who designed it and how long did it take to build anymore photos.Thanks for reply

I designed the house myself and it took 3 months to build with another couple of months to build the wall and sort out the garden, I will be starting my own post on this very soon with all cost which will help any BM's who are thinking of building

thanks again looking forward to your own post.

Hi.

I drove almost that stretch last year.

You can drive Udon-Saraburi in one day. The road is quite good the whole way. In Saraburi I would recommend the Kyo-Un hotel. It´s about 900 baht per night. It´s on 273/5 Paholyotin Road. Leave really early in the morning to avoid any traffic while passing through Bangkok. Next place we stopped was i Hua Hin where we stayed in Fulay Guesthouse. Very nice place with friendly staff. Nice to stop and have a swim and a good nights sleep. www.fulay-huahin.com/

The next stop we made was in Chumphon. A nice small town. We stayed at Jamson hotel in the city center. From Chumphon you can continue directly to Krabi in one day. From Chumphon you can chhose either road 41 via Surat Thani or road 4 via Ranong. I don´t know the state of the roads now but I know that not long ago the were doing big renovations on road 4.

Enjoy the trip, take it slow and remember to rest a lot. It´s quite tireing to drive through Thailand.

Feffe

thanks for your reply we were planning a night in hua hin any way,chumphon is another idea,i want to avoid bkk altogether because of the traffic is this possile without going to far out of the way,thanks again.

thanks for your reply,i don't really need to go near bkk so is there any way of bypassing it without going well of track,thanks again for your time.

To start with open a new window/tab and look at this link. ( This is the home page. ) The map suggests that the total distance is about 1,350 Km assuming you are doing highway speeds for most of the trip I guess that about 22 hours straight would be about right. This is based on the assumption that your average speed would be 60 kph during the drive, I have done Phuket to Khon Kaen in about 19 hours - but I was extremely wasted at the end and needed to stop a few times during the last 100km to take cat naps. I doubt I would attempt to do that in one hit again.

Depending on your plans and your personal situation, consider breaking the trip down into easier sections and think about where you could make an overnight stop. Getting round Bangkok might cause the biggest delay in your journey so if possible it would be wise to time your departure so that you are driving round Bangkok outside of the busy periods. If you were to leave home on a Saturday mid-morning you could reach Saraburi after about an 6-8 hour drive - including a stop for lunch, that would put you in a good position to get round Bangkok early on Sunday morning. Unless you have a particular reason to go through Bangkok using the bypass Higway 9 is best, then 35 then join Hwy 4.

One factor that can screw up the best plans is the weather. Once you are South of Bangkok there is only one major road running North/South, Highway 4, and this can be badly affected by heavy rain. We had a four hour wait on one occasion when a bridge was washed out - after a while police came through the traffic picking out vehicles to go on a detour - so glad I have 4x4 - they selected the pickups (no prerunners) with 4x4 to go through a village on the coastal side of the road - it was a nice adventure at the time, across sand and through a river crossing for about 45 minutes till we were around the obstruction and back on the highway.

The drive can be boring for some, if you have kids to keep amused addressing that issue might be wise. A good supply of music (audio books) can help keep you with it. My OH always brings a blanket and pillow to sleep while I drive, personally I drink a lot of water as needing to stop every so often keeps you alert. Also I don't fill the tank at every stop, just half full gives another reason to stop and take a break - otherwise there is a tendency to stay in the car all day and just drive. Wetwipes and a towel are useful to clean hands after all the road side fruit and sweetcorn etc that you end up buying.

Thinking back to the details of our drive down, the delays because of flooding messed up the timing to get to our hotel in Phuket - so we stayed at a different location that night - the lesson is to be flexible in your plans and allow them to change with the situation, don't be dogmatic about when you will reach a particular location.

Some in-car computers can be given a distance and then feedback an estimated arrival time. If yours does not have this, zero your odometer and see how far you travel in one hour. You will quickly see how your overall average speed drops from the 120 kph that you probably maintain during the long runs on open roads.

When we've done these sorts of road trips we generally stay in the cheap short time hotels dotted around the country for a few hours sleep and a shower enroute to somewhere nicer. If you need a particular hotel it can be wise to print off a few maps of towns on your route with possible target hotels marked, finding a particular place after dark is not always easy and many town's streets are empty after 10pm.

If your car is not used to covering long distances a pre trip service is wise. Carrying a first aid kit is useful if you do not already have one. Check tyres and the spare.

No need for GPS IMHO - a couple of good maps is enough.

HTH - please ask any questions to fill in bits I've missed.

My wife and i are planning to drive from udon to krabi in late sep/early oct, any tips e.g. how long should it take,how many kilometers, any advice most welcome.

Try googling, googlemaps. I have never driven that far down, but, as you head down through bangkok just follow the signs for Doa Khanong, that'll take you over the bridge and heading down to the south. However I would guestimate a good 19+ hours, but I'm sure some of our esteemed members can give you more details.

Have a nice drive.

John.....

thanks a lot for the reply,i know this needs a lot of planning,but i have time as its oct i'll be driving cheers

My wife and i are planning to drive from udon to krabi in late sep/early oct, any tips e.g. how long should it take,how many kilometers, any advice most welcome.

House looks great and you done really well for 1.1,who designed it and how long did it take to build anymore photos.Thanks for reply

My wife and i are planning to relocate from Ireland to Udon,planning to move some items over mainly vinyl records, we plan to ship them over, about 600 7" records + 200 albums + 12" records, maybe with 2 decks, amp,speakers.Whats the story reguarding Thai customs will we have problems,all will be packaged well, oh also cds as well, will we have hassle bringing them in all are used items.Any suggestions or advice most welcome. cheers

Does anyone know the pros and cons of putting in basement rooms,e.g. bedrooms or shower would it more cool but yet more costly and more hassle to do?

Can this be built for 1.5 million baht,no designs as yet i have no idea on how to design,have one family friend whose quilified designer in udon who can take care for this,what price would i be roughly paying for him to design.

Have you seen the house design books by Home Collection Group available in all decent sized bookstores, cost about 350 baht all sizes and styles of house's available in the books. If you after a bungalow then buy book number 120, ISBN No 978-974-8418-90-2.

Just show the design you want to your builder for a quote. Might save some money on having someone designing for you if there is a plan you like.

Best Regards

Mr Conrad

Thanks Mr Conrad,I will get one of books, but right now not sure if it will be a bungalow or to add another storie,we might even go down to have basement rooms do you think this would be costly? thanks again for your reply.

You can call Hoy 081 544 0141. He is a very good designer and a graduate from ajan Prokab( a very well respected teacher/builder in this area) and he also works with a builder that is good so he can quote you construction costs.Plans for what you are talking about will be about 3000 to 4000 baht . Even if you dont use him for the construction pay him to come to the job site once a week and check that things are being done right.( It is not expensive and will most likley save you alot of money and headaces in the end) Make sure that in your contract with the builder that he has to fix anything hoy finds fault with. Also he does not speak english

Thanks nongkhaidude for the advice,however as we are planning to build and settle in the village my wife thinks it would be in our best interests to keep it local ( well the labour anyway),there are many teams of young guys around looking for work and capable of a good days work,yeah i know they will expect their bottles of loa kow + ciggies but it might be cheaper using there services and it keeps the cash inside the village,if we opt for outside builders we might piss off a few people for a while,right now were undecided on that point,but thanks for Hoys number i will definetly call him when i get to udon for a meet + see where we go from there,thanks again

My wife and i are planning to build a house in udon thani,near Nong Som about 20min from Big C by car,have land bought and cleared already,size about 300 sqmt.Is this size ok, ? for a bungalow or should i go up,ideally we would like to have 1 ample size bedroom wth en suite,2smaller bedrooms,kitchen,2 living rooms,extra bathroom with shower.Can this be built for 1.5 million baht,no designs as yet i have no idea on how to design,have one family friend whose quilified designer in udon who can take care for this,what price would i be roughly paying for him to design.We plan to buy all materials ourselves and be there all the time the house is being built.In Ireland at the moment going to udon for a month in sept maybe build perimeter wall then,some people have suggested to go down and have basement bedrooms but i'm unsure about this maybe pricey.The village is Nong na Jalung near nong som and nong wa very close to the potash company.Any suggestions,help, or advice would be welcome.This is my first posting,i have lived in samui for almost 5yrs had a restaurant/bar near Bophut also a bar in Chaweng,married 3yrs moved to Ireland with my wife 2 yrs ago both holding steady jobs, planning to settle within the next 2yrs have stayed in udon many times with inlaws good family, hard working,minimal drinkers,non card players so i'm lucky in that respect,wife comes from small family 2 sisters 1 brother all sorted more or less.My few years in samui brought me some good experience, i learned alot but yes i know things can go belly up,but if we go about things with some good planning and try to be a little wise with our decisions i hope we will be o.k.,i've heard to many horror stories.All help/replys welcomed. Thanks