Mousehound

Two tier pricing also exists in Australia. Overseas students pay much higher fees. Visiting a doctor or hospital is way more if you don't have a medicare card. I agree that if you work in Thailand and pay taxes you should get the local rate. If like myself you have never paid Thai taxes and are never likely to I don't find it unreasonable to pay a higher rate. It should really have nothing to do with anything other than citizenship and whether you pay taxes or not.

A beer costs 1.5 euros in Thailand and only 40 cents back home. Cars are cheaper in Europe than here. Fruits and vegetables are more available, free of formaldehyde and much cheaper than here. My electricity bills in Thailand are higher than in my cold home country. The cost of education, well dont get me started there. Clothes or quality appliances are 40% costlier here.

Thailand is not the bargain it was a decade ago. And also, most foreigners are not paying 10k for a hotel room, not in Thailand nor in farang land.

Yes, Heineken costs more.

Yes, european cars cost more.

Yes, european imported fruits and vegetables cost more.

Yes, Organic food has its price.

I dont know which country you are come from but in electricity in every western-europe country costs at least double as much as here, not to mention water costs which for example in Germany costs at least 10x times more.

Yes if you want Lacoste, Ralph Lauren and other brand names which are made for Western market then expect to pay more. You can buy the same quality for half of the price without and Lacoste crocodile or Ralph Lauren tag on it....

"live like a Thai pay like a Thai, live like a foreigner pay like a foreigner... it is the way you choose to live..."

Pay peanuts, get peanuts is what you mean.

Go to any H&M shop in Europe and you will find that t-shirts are lower priced than in Central. I am not talking about designer stuff. Try to buy a Philips shaving machine here, or a speaker set. Most Thais import their stuff from Singapore or Japan. The price of Japanese cars is significantly lower in the US or Europe than here. My electricity bill never topped 4,000 baht a month back home, not even in the cold winters. Here in Bangkok, with 2 aircon units only at night, this seems to be standard. Take the BTS, or MRT and compare their prices with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and you will find it expensive.

Its difficult to find a house, or even apartment these days, less than 4 million baht in Bangkok. That's a whopping 100,000 euro. The house you buy in Europe will still be there in 100 years. Have you ever seen the materials that are used here? Real estate, of comparable quality and size, is more expensive here. I know this because we just build a house up country. The price quality ratio is bizarre.

If you are prepared to live in a wooden shaft, without proper sanitation, ride a motorcycle and eat mama noodles, yes than you can say that living here is cheaper. But I don't know many Thais who like to live like that. Every time I cross the borders I get endless shopping lists from my Thai friends.

Living here for me is cheaper than in the UK. Here I live in a 50sqm condo in central Bangkok, I pay 25k which is a little less than £500. I lived in Manchester previously, there's no way that I would have got a place for that price - and any place I would have got wouldn't have had a pool or fitness room.

Electric: I pay 2500 - 3000 a month. UK I paid gas and electric, it was much more than this.

Internet: UK it is cheaper and more reliable

Food: I spend about the same but here I eat out much more

Gym: UK I paid £38 a month as I was grandfathered into an old price at Virgin, suspect a new member would be much more. Here I pay 1500 or so after paying up front for a year with True. I would say gym costs are about on a par.

In the summer I visited London. Travel card for the tube works out at £12 a day off peak. Taxis cost a fortune, a decent central hotel was £130 a night. I don't drink but alcohol there is much more expensive even than Thonglor or parts of Sathorn where drinks are peak price for BKK.

Just got back from Hong Kong, I was there for 6 days and spent the equivalent of 6000 baht just on taxis. Taxi from airport to hotel: 1500 on the meter.

Yes Thailand might not be as cheap as it used to be and there are cheaper places but it's cheaper than major UK cities.

I agree - you would have to pay me a hell of a lot to live in Manchester.

At the moment I am back in Perth WA. Rents have dropped here to a low of $US 450 a week for an average house forty minutes out of the city.after topping out at $700 a week. A couple of beers set me back $30 US in a central city pub. A pub meal for two with a couple of beers each is about $80US. And I am talking pretty ordinary meals in a suburban pub.. Thailand is way cheaper. I will have to go to 75 years of age here to retire. Then sell my house to survive and watch my capital disappear. Thailand or Vietnam for me - but Thailand is better on the medical front so most likely will opt for Thailand.

Not if it is a "super car".

Some more from this morning:

IMG_02621.jpg

Racket-tailed Treepie (Note the blue eye)

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Well I would like to see it, and I'm closer to 70 than 17! I saw the first one on my first visit to NY just after its release - quite an experience. The sequels never quite matched that initial release.

For me the best Sci Fi ever was Blade runner . Best TV series - Battle Star Galactica.

I agree that the way to see these sorts of films is in the biggest and best cinema you can find. Front and centre and twenty rows back.

I'm taking my grandson, aged 13, and I'm sure we will enjoy it.

Hi TP1

Asian Openbill

most migrate from India from memory

Asian Openbill are resident to Thailand (as well as India and etc.) and fairly common here year round depending on where you are. Though they apparently do get around a bit...

https://books.google.co.th/books?id=-nyzX_7pF24C&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=asian+openbill+stork+thailand&source=bl&ots=9MhyV7qkzO&sig=Fm6rHuzzXKiQrYdnm4qx6XHQYAM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CD4Q6AEwCGoVChMIjbOG_fnIyAIVygOOCh0wJwpn#v=onepage&q=asian%20openbill%20stork%20thailand&f=false

Interesting. So they nest in Thailand and most migrate to Bangladesh.

Bottoms up already exists in the old town .Will never compete with the original in Kowloon.do a bit of research before choosing a name.

Hope it's better than "Bottoms up" in Kowloon. Full of pretentious gwailos.

This Piedish Beetle has a head about the size of a short grain rice. This shot was taken handheld: Canon 6D MPE65 all settings manual. Australian Piedish Beetle Walliston 15 07 2015 9913.jpg

Nice shot , what amplification were you using and did you have some flash as well Mousehound ?

I was on X4 - the beetle is 5mm at its widest. I have a low power dual flash - tricky - rigged up. Just took a shot of a Moths eye I will put up.

Had a New Years at 137 Pillars. A seriously swanky place. Felt I should have had a bow tie on to offset my thongs. Not, in my opinion suitable for very young children. Expensive, but in its own way a memorable and good experience.

Personally I think The Riverside is more of a family scene. I would call it middle of the road but quite a pleasant experience. The major chain hotels are pretty much the same all over the world. Not my scene anymore.

So given that hotshots (like all Porn Ping venues) are in an on-again, off-again mode of operation, what would be some good alternatives for a Thai style pub with live music, roughly in that area?

My own submission for this would be Tamnaan Folk on Chang Klan road. Which I think is actually a lot better than Hot Shot was (although it did have its nights..)

I ve had good reports before about this place Winnie, but for the life of me cant work out exactly where it is.....can you be our guide? Thanks!

It's here, South of Chiang Mai land and the Park hotel on Chang Klan Rd: https://goo.gl/F3GJAk

I always thought that place on the corner of the soi leading to Galare Thong was a dodgy Karaoke bar - and a must to avoid. Always has aggressive black dog outside.

A few personal ramblings:

I always work on 1A to US.65. The A$ is more likely to go down than up. The .65 gives me a realistic buffer. BUT - I expect a couple of minor interest rate rises early to mid next year and this will tend to strengthen the $A. The high Australian bank interest rates in recent years had far more to do with the strong $A than trade. And here is another wrinkle. With the El Niño in there is a strong chance of weak agricultural production - Australia is not just about minerals. But if Australia has weak agricultural production allied to weak mineral prices then a double whammy can be a problem. In this event the Reserve bank lifts interest rates and monies flow in from overseas and this props the dollar up again. Or the Reserve drops interest rates to stimulate the economy and the dollar goes even further down. It is all a bit smoke and mirrors but in the end I would be very cautious on exchange rates. Work on 21Bht to $A and this will give a bit of a buffer.

The correct price of anything on the open market is the price you are prepared to pay. After all no one is forcing you to buy. If a product is overpriced it wont sell. If it priced right for some one it will. Simple.

When women are right they are right - when they are wrong they are still right! This is a universal Venus thing. Get used to it. Also, you are complaining that she wants to clean? Mine prefers to have a maid come in and do that sort of stuff. Fancy a swap?

One thing I have noticed over my many trips to CM is that the exchange rate for Travellers Cheques - which I get free of charges in OZ are slightly higher than the exchange rate for cash. I can bring $10A in cash but prefer to use TC as I get the added security as well. This is the only country I have visited where the TC rate is better than cash.

I'd love to be on the OAP.

The Oz govt has made it quite difficult for expats.

Go back to Oz for 2 years - stay at Vinnies or the Salvos.

How does the average expat survive during his time of imprisonment?

PO Oz!

I know of one that came back for two years to qualify and stayed in a caravan as a sort of security guard for a local golf course. He got free lodgings in a nice environment - not a bad deal for a single bloke. Otherwise if I were on my own I would buy a van and tour around slowly - plenty of free stops if you hunt them down.

I am due to go on the OZ pension in the next few weeks. One little wrinkle is that DepEmployment site states that pensions can be paid to those eligible pensioners living overseas but that the pension will be paid in $US or the currency of the country the pensioner is living in. This would be a problem as I agree with Jimmym40 who posted above that monies are best sent in $A to Thailand and converted locally.

I am returning to CM and ask if anyone has changed cash from Aus to Bht in the last day or so. The bank exchange reads just over 25Bht to the dollar but I expect that I would get less in CM when actually exchanging the cash. I can get 23Bht to the dollar in OZ from the Post Office.

I want , I want , I want ..

Yes the MPE_65 is a manual focus only lens , quite a few users need the adaptation of specifically designed flash units to make compensation of the SS and Aperture issues , but with good light it is awesome . I would like to get one for purely for the magnification qualities , I should have never bought the 100 2.8 non is unit a I find it has a ratio of about 5 % keeper.

With a metabones lens adaptor I can use it on the Sony and get a better DR than Canon can deliver and still keep contact with settings . Shame I have to buy 2 adaptors if I intend to use the OLY as well.

You have a good 60mm already but take a look at the new VENUS 60mm - gives quite a high magnification and gets good reviews. I have tried their flash unit by the way. Not that impressed. Really poorly made and incredibly heavy on batteries. Sometimes it works then not. All in all a poor buy IMHO. The lens looks a better bet - though if you already have a 60 not really worth it I guess. The Olympus 60 is a stunning lens anyway.

Great work Goompa.

I just picked up a canon MPE 65 - I believe very hard to use but can give high magnification (X1 - X5)

Could be interesting.

I hope to get back to Thailand a couple of times next year. I shall be targeting bird and macro work. Hua Hin - parks to North of Khao Yai and out of Chiang Mai. if anyone might be interested in getting together please let me know. You can PM me..