Mousehound

Thanks for the info FolkGuitar.

I have heard of this place but never been there. I would like to give it a try. I presume you pay up front at a booth or table first?

Or get it scanned in a print shop.

I have found taking a photo with an ipad gets OK results as suggested.

Good idea Sata. Also if you have a smartphone you may find the pic is quite good. Or get a friend to use a smartphone to take a pic and send it to you as an email. Then forward the email. Or, even better take up Gonzo's kind offer - never turn down a free coffee! Makes my day when I am reminded there are many more decent TV members than not..

Whilst on cameras - if you are in the market for a bridge camera - I have always liked the look of the Panasonic FZ200. A 600mm reach at 2.8 is just the go for birds. If I wanted to supplement my canon 6D or 5D3 this is the one for me. The best camera is the one you have in your hand. I have a ton of gear but you just can't have it all handy. A bridge can never give you the quality, especially in low light of a full frame but they are soooo handy. Now I have talked myself into getting one.

I see the TV loony tune brigade are in good form. The Op never mentioned renting. As Dante99 stated it is the owners responsibility.

I have a vehicle that I lend out. The borrower is on a policy as a named driver with history recorded and I paid for the policy (fully comprehensive). The person who is borrowing the vehicle reimbursed me the cost of insurance. This might work for you but there may be other and better ways TV posters know about. If not and you think this is a possibility contact an insurance company and find out what they think. Get confirmation of policy with named drivers in writing. Could also effect no claims though if the problem does have a prang. My insurance is higher as I pay to have my no claims protected.

We forgot insurance. Car insurance, house insurance, health insurance. I scuba so I have DAN insurance for diving and DAN insurance for traveling. That's cheap. $1,000 dollars per year. If you have a child, you need really good insurance. You can't scrape by with DAN. What is the bill? $1000 dollars per year for house and car. Health insurance can be brutal. You need $10,000 dollars in savings for emergencies and up to $1,000 dollars for the insurance monthly payment. Also, we forgot the child's recreation. How many trips to the beach? How many rides on elephants? How many private lessons: swim, piano, gymnastics. How much for school teams? Soccer, swim, dance. God forbid the child takes up golf to be with his/her friends. Horseback riding. Some kids love horses. You may plan on living modestly but having a child in Chiang Mai can be a major expense. Why would your child want to weed your vegetables when his/her friends are on a swim team and ride horses? If my two grandchildren lived with me, I would be plunged into poverty. Between the school fees and the sports fees I would be hard-pressed to find food money and gasoline money. I would have to give up all my recreation. I would be broke.

So - same as anywhere else I would suspect. Could still be cheaper than other places. My daughter had a horse and it did cost, but there is no way I could have afforded one in say London. Kids are going to keep you poor anywhere in the world - but don't worry - when they get to be about forty years of age they cost a bit less! I think there are a lot worse places to bring up kids than CM.

You might find it better to hire sorngtau for a day as they know their way about. Say 1200 - 1400 bht a day and give them a list of where you want to go. No parking or driving problems.

I posted Top North - mad cow disease must have set in! I meant North Wheels

http://www.northwheels.com/

As others have posted get good insurance - I pay with my credit card which gives excellent cover with genuine hire companies. ( I am required to have an International license to be covered by this insurance - backed by Zurich).

My guess is 120k - 150k Bht pm would be pretty comfortable. After say six months to a year you could possibly reduce this. This would not include trips home or health insurance. Cars are expensive but cheap to fix. Scooters are cheap but dangerous and until you get the hang of the traffic I wouldn't risk it. Especially if you have a young family to consider. Petrol is expensive compared to the USA but cheaper than Europe - similar to Australia. If, as previous poster has stated, a car cost 7Bht per k then each car will cost 12k Bht per month to run based on 20k km each car.

Just a thought and it may not be possible for the OP, but I am coming around to the idea that home schooling can be a the way to go. I am seeing some really great results with home schooling: however, you have to have the time and the inclination - but with research and application and following an outcomes based programme it can be done.

As much wiser and more experienced posters than myself have pointed out, the upset costs are high and I would say much higher than you might expect. Budget for the worst and you wont get a shock.

Top North

Just assume there is a camera every 100m and you will be OK.

It would be interesting to see if what is termed a "terraced" house or unit, that is a row of dwellings sharing a common wall with its neighbours that are on communal land coming on the market now. These are very appealing as you get a small garden allocation/ parking area and are of course at ground floor level (1st floor for Americans). With logic you would think foreign ownership should be OK as the land is not owned by the individual but rather is shared. However, I am nervous about official Thai interpretation and would want a good lawyer to advise the legality of foreign ownership of such a dwelling.

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I think this is: The Great Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina

Where is this 3% figure from,? All the science I read talks in the 70%+ efficacy level. Look at my earlier post. People that spout on about immunisation being ineffective or dangerous are a real problem. I come up against this argument with parents refusing to immunise children against measles, polio and a host of diseases. That is one of the reasons why many diseases are on the comeback. Flu is a killer. Even if it were 3% - what if you were given a 3% chance (every year) of catching say smallpox or winning the state lottery would you not think it worth it? I have never had a qualified doctor tell me that a flu jab is not worth it. On the contrary they are all for them.

The flu vaccine varies in effectiveness but generally it is well worth having. As for the mumbo jumbo mob that claim the vaccine causes flu or has no effect they are delusional. My wife is one of these, and every year I have to put up with her staggering about with flu. I have a friend who swears that if you change your socks twice a day you won't get headaches - and if you believe that you will believe anything. Check out actual science :

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaccineeffect.htm

I am looking at a 50sqm condo. gets fairly hot in late afternoon and I need to keep temp at no more than 24C 24hrs a day. usual TV Pc etc but only micro cooking. Any guesstimates on a range of cost for electricity? Two people. I would really appreciate an estimate for budgeting. I understand the influences of position and insulation etc. 7Bht per unit.

I would not even consider Moving in to a place which not run government rates. Why would the owner have Any interest in maintaining anything related to ac in such place. The older and less effecient equipment, the more he earns.

Not that easy to find a govt rate place that I like.

I am looking at a 50sqm condo. gets fairly hot in late afternoon and I need to keep temp at no more than 24C 24hrs a day. usual TV Pc etc but only micro cooking. Any guesstimates on a range of cost for electricity? Two people. I would really appreciate an estimate for budgeting. I understand the influences of position and insulation etc. 7Bht per unit.

You mean to say I can't smoke my shisha whilst on my bike? I never knew that!

1. If you took your test in Australia and sat in the outside track of your lane you should have failed your test. You are required to stay in the left wheel track unless there is a threat from the left eg vehicle at intersection on the left or parked vehicles. Then you would move to the right wheel track. The theory being that a "head on" is much more likely to be fatal.

2. However, on open to built up areas, but not jam packed, for experienced riders there are seven positions on a lane - far left, centre left wheel track, right of left wheel track, centre of lane, right of centre a, centre of right wheel track and far right of right wheel track. The Brits have a really good advanced driving course and I have seen some excellent stuff from the USA that use these numbered positions when teaching advanced techniques. They advocate the : "halve the threat method" where you move from left to right - generally position 2 to position six or centre left wheel track to centre right wheel track, according to the threat. Centre lane is not usually recommended unless the road has no dirt on the centre and you are not following a truck (as you are in the blind spot).

3. In built up muang areas far left and far right are both a problem. Here I am with those that prefer the centre of the lane. Again halving the danger.

4. Be alert, be visible, be confident but not aggressive and drive to stay alive. I have spent weeks visiting a ward in Oz where my nephew was, having had a bad spinal injury from a stupid accident - of his own doing. The ward was filled with bike accident victims. It is a dangerous activity - but, I do love it so.

Common Black and white bird

Oriental Magpie-Robin: common, but an interesting bird that would deserve detailed study.

Crawling up the toilet wall one afternoon at Mae Wong National Park

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Next morning it had morphed into this.

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We left that day so didn't see where, or what, to from there.

This may be a rare sighting indeed. A are butterfly: Acrea issoria sordice. The Yellow Coster. They have, as far as I know only been recorded in Northern Thailand but are known in Laos and Northern India. They have the longest larval stage of any known butterfly in Thailand - 5-6 months.

I recognise it from the Butterfly farm in Chiang Mai where they breed them. They are, I am told, only now regularly found on Doi Suthep.

So you may have made an important find!

Vagrant.

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Inside.

Bf Vagrant. 1.JPG

And out.

Do you know what it is? Where from?

According to the little book I have it is called Vagrant Vagrans sinha. Was taken up the Mae Wong River MWNP 1st of this month Canon SX50HS

Thanks for the info - just could not get this one - my book has a very ordinary pic showing it as almost all over chocolate and I see there are in fact several varieties.

Official Thai Tourist Police are just that - officials. They do have powers. If they fail to identify themselves then they are not police. If they do so, but you are concerned, ask for their name and number and make a show of calling the police and checking if they are genuine. If they are not they will most likely take off. Failing to give a correct name and address to police when requested is a crime in many countries (not sure about Thailand, but do you want to take the risk and possibly endanger your visa status?).

Buy hundreds of Geckos and get free entertainment watching them go to work.

Vagrant.

Bf Vagrant.JPG

Inside.

Bf Vagrant. 1.JPG

And out.

Do you know what it is? Where from?