craigt3365

I've traveled extensively around the world the past 10 years. With a backpack and with a carry on with wheels. Due age, I now only travel with a carry on that has wheels. My back just can't take a rucksack/backpack any more. And I've found in most places I travel to, it's much easier pulling a roller than it is lugging around a backpack. Constantly taking it off and putting it back on.

IMHO, don't buy something cheap. The wheels fall off, the zipper breaks, etc. As I've said, I travel extensively. Always in coach. My luggage gets a beating...and the only problem I have had so far are broken wheels. Not bad after banging them around for so long.

I bought a cheap backpack 5-6 years ago here in Bangkok. It lasted one trip. Zipper broke, fabric ripped and I left it in Singapore...where I bought a quality one and still have that backpack to this day. On many trips, I carry on a day pack and check my roller...or carry it on also if the airlines allows!

That may be a partial reason, but it has been that way for years. I use to be lucky enough to shop at B&H Photo in NYC. Incredibly smart staff. Many are professional photographers.

I have shopped at Frys for many years. Their staff are usually pretty darn smart. And if you are walking around in kind of a daze due to all the "stuff", they will walk by and politely ask if you need help. This happened even during the boom times.

Huge difference compared to here.

Back to the OP...we shopped there last week and won't be going back. Prices are stupidly high on some items and the selection is not that good. Foodland for us, or Tesco as it's easier to get to for us.

Frys?!?!?! They're the worst. Helpful service?!?!? All they want to do is con you into buying an extended warranty. I've had numerous problems with their products. Ever buy an open box item there? Well, don't. What's going to happen in LOS when they raise the minimum wage? You probably won't see as many places way over staffed with zombies checking for the next SMS

Hmmm...OK. I've been shopping there for many, many, many years. I would never buy an open box item (not worth the 10% discount) and never buy extended warranties. I have returned many items and never had a problem...other than you only get a store credit. Not bad, can buy more good stuff!

Just my experience.

I think no matter where you are, sales staff are hit and miss. This coming from an ex-salesman!

Let's move this over to the biz forum, OK?

This 2 part video from the Khan Acdemy (highly recommend you check out all they have) illustrating an example of how real wealth is destroyed in a deflationary collapse of a credit expansion.

http://www.khanacademy.org/video/wealth-destruction-1?playlist=Credit%20Crisis

Khan Academy is fantastic. I've known about them for a few years. This is a good video. Thanks!!

I had a funny experience the other day there. It was magnified because I recently returned from the US.

I was looking at a computer electronics item and they were locked in a case so I needed service. They were indeed very surly from the start. Now I don't expect everyone to speak English in Thailand, but there was someone there who spoke English well enough. I really wasn't expecting anything, but there were four brand choices for the item I wanted. So I asked him for info, such as why is this one priced double this one, when it looks the same function. He just laughed incredulously and said SAME SAME. The point is this guy presumably works in this store most everyday and no motivation at all to learn the tiniest thing about the products he should be pushing. I guess there's no incentive, bad management, etc.

Anyway here's the contrast. I went to a bunch of electronic stores back in the US and every clerk I met sounded brilliant, and massively overqualified. The most amazing, I met a Singaporean-American working there who had an advanced engineering degree and I asked him for help with selecting the right cable for my needs. Let me tell you, I learned more about cables from this guy than I would ever need to know! BTW, these stores had incentive programs for staff, so a dumbo wouldn't even be hired in the first place.

I think it's called a recession, where you have over qualified college graduates working at Best Buy and serving you your fries at Micky D's. Contrast that with Thailand, where there is basically full employment so it is hard to find good employees for many service jobs. No necessarily a good comparison by the way.

That may be a partial reason, but it has been that way for years. I use to be lucky enough to shop at B&H Photo in NYC. Incredibly smart staff. Many are professional photographers.

I have shopped at Frys for many years. Their staff are usually pretty darn smart. And if you are walking around in kind of a daze due to all the "stuff", they will walk by and politely ask if you need help. This happened even during the boom times.

Huge difference compared to here.

Back to the OP...we shopped there last week and won't be going back. Prices are stupidly high on some items and the selection is not that good. Foodland for us, or Tesco as it's easier to get to for us.

I'm running the new Yahoo email on Chrome and FF. Initially, I had a few problems. But none in the past few weeks.

I'm on ToT and my torrents are screaming right now. Doing fine!

One troll post has been removed. Please be respectful when you post.

China has been a concern of mine for a few years. It it implodes, it will be bad:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/business/global/28iht-yuan28.html

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/06/sovereign-debt?fsrc=rss

Hi Everybody,

This is my first post in here and I was hoping somebody can help me.

I am opening a Thai massage shop in my country, however in order to get a working permit the girls need to present a work experience certificatewith apostle stamp. We managed to make the certificate and stamp it by Notary Public(not apostle as it doesn’t exist). However now I need a stamp of the Ministryof foreign affairs or some other government branch which can double certifythat this is a true signature of the lawyer in order to present it at myembassy and get an apostle.

Please tell me of you know some company which can help mewith this stamp ( Ministry of foreign Affairs) or another way I can get an apostle stamp.

Thanks for your help

Welcome to Thaivisa.com! I recommend you post the above in the business forum. I think you will get a much better response from that forum rather than this one. Many of the specialized forums are watched on a regular basis by "experts". I know that's the case with the biz forum.

Good luck and welcome!!

You can find cheap places near the beach as long as you avoid the major areas like Phuket, Samui (most islands for that matter), Pattaya (but plenty of places not far away), the Eastern Seaboard, south of Hua Hin, etc, etc.

Come on over, cruise around and have a look. You will have a blast doing it.

Let's try this in the insurance forum. If you don't like it there after a short while, we can try elsewhere. OK?

Topic Moved.

Do you want to know the "cheapest place in Thailand" or the "cheapest place in Bangkok"? Big difference. Is you GF working in BKK?

What do you mean by having trouble finding that level of rent? What level? Are you here or back in OZ? If here, it's easy to cruise around and find places. You GF will know many for sure. If you are in OZ, it's more difficult. Most places are not listed on the internet...at least not in English.

Thanks Craig, i am back in oz, after 2 months in thailand, some of the threads said 2000, 3000 tbt for rent, i cant find any for that price, as i said i will have a budget of 60000tbt/mth and the gf does not work, she has a 1 br house in Nonudon, Nongbualamphu, where ever that is! i have not been there, but the house sounds like a lot of work, i am not to fussed where i base myself, i love the the beach but i have to be realistic.

Something for 2-3k Baht can pretty much only be found if you are here...walking around, asking the locals, checking with friends. Even where I live, when I wanted to rent last year, we found way more units by driving around than we did via the internet or the various papers with ads. Higher priced places with be on the internet and in English as they are catering to expats with money.

IMHO, for 2-3k Baht/month, you're not going to get much. Can you really live like that? You have the money. I would set my sights higher. I think you are going to be dreaming of AC in a place like this...as well as quiet.

You can for sure rent a place by the beach. Less than 200M from the beach where I am are units for 1500-2500B. New building. Not advertised. I found them as they are on the way to the beach during my weekly walks.

Plenty of places to look, plenty of places that would for sure fit your budget. But you have to be here and have time to look around. If in Bangkok, you can cruise around via motorcycle taxi. Out where I am, you will need your own scooter...which you can rent quite cheaply...even a car for a few days is not that much money.

I suggest you come here and check out the kingdom before making a choice. There are so many great places to live...and a few you would want to avoid. Just like any other country in the world.

Do you want to know the "cheapest place in Thailand" or the "cheapest place in Bangkok"? Big difference. Is you GF working in BKK?

What do you mean by having trouble finding that level of rent? What level? Are you here or back in OZ? If here, it's easy to cruise around and find places. You GF will know many for sure. If you are in OZ, it's more difficult. Most places are not listed on the internet...at least not in English.

OP: you need to be much more specific.

I didn't read the date either...but will mention Boonthavorn. Quite a large selection.

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face.

They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

I agree with this theory.

There simply is no other explanation considering the poor quality of Thai wine compared to all others.

Many of the wineries here are owned by some very rich families. Profit is not #1 to them. I know Silverlake is jammed on the weekends and they are opening a very large theater there to sponsor high end concerts...as well as building a hotel.

Expensive wine here is a problem for many of us expats.

I am currently looking to buy a snooker table and do the same thing. My snooker table in UK had a dinner top, and I was thinking of having one of them tops made.

Do you have a pic of that setup?

Let me think about that. But I don't think I have the room for a 9'. Even a 8' is pushing it...let me measure again!

Well, let's stay connected on this one. I'm looking for exactly the same thing! I prefer an 8' table. And would love to be able to use it as a dining table also. I live south of Pattaya.

Here's some links I've found:

http://www.pattayaunlimited.com/2010/09/shoot-pool-pattaya.html

http://www.snookservice.com/th/

I emailed the above and am waiting on a response.

http://www.bosssnooker.com/

I'll post what I find out later this week.

Craig

Several posts have been deleted for discussion of moderation, a violation of forum rules. Next post like this gets a warning. Please read the forum rules if you are unclear on forum policies.

Another post was edited to correct the spelling of Thaksin. Please do not misspell politicians names.

Several posts discussion moderation have been deleted. Thaivisa, for several very good reasons, do not allow public discussion of moderation. No warnings this time, but there will be the next time.

If you want to know the forum rules, I highly suggest you read them. I've even made it easy for you and posted a link here (there's also a link at the top of each page):

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Enough! Next attack results in a warning. Take it private with PMs if you desire, but not in this thread.

Let's stay on topic. Several off topic posts deleted. Apologies to members who replied to the deleted posts. :jap:

Next off topic reply will result in a warning.

I wouldn't worry. Thaksin won't bring a booming economy. He will bring misery. Thailand's economy OK during his regime because it was a time of GLOBAL boom. Abhisit has delivered a strong economy (and currency) during a time of global meltdown. Thaksin was lucky. Abhisit was skilled. Don't expect that Thaksin's bizarre economic policies will deliver under the current global conditions. Massively raise the wages here for unskilled labor? All of a sudden, Thailand can't compete globally and will lose many millions of jobs. To raise the wages, you need to raise the educational levels and skills. Its not magic but yes I concede the Thais may today elect magic. Black magic that is.

<snip>

reminds me of when I lived in NYC, 1997-2001. They had a thing where they had a monkey throw a dart at a board to select stocks. As you probably remember, the monkey beat many stock analysts picks! Same thing with Thaksin. He was at the right place at the right time...and is a smart man for sure.

Only a few hours to go!!!