Mousehound

You do realise I am on a diet!

This is just cruell. sob!

I have made a few quitars - and teach solid body guitar making. In the past I learned by repairing violins. I presume you mean acoustic rather than solid body. Stew Mac, in the US is a great source of parts and info but not cheap and it is not always easy to get wood imported to some countries. I think it is much more interesting to find what you can locally. If you are in BKK you might like to look at some of the used timber and door places. I found a lot running along the banks of the saen saeb canal at its western end. Some had some very nice old door panels - just test that they are not too brittle or had rot. I have used the backs and sides of cupboards and even table tops.

Well, actually, as a someone about to visit Doi Inthanon and enter the park every day for ten days for photographic purposes the cost is starting to be a serious thought. My wife will accompany me and we will need a hire car. This means the entry fee will be 10K, plus I guess a charge for the car. As a visitor I am not really worried about paying a bit more than those that live locally but I can say that we have decided to cut our trip by 50% as a result of these increased charges. This means half the time in a local guest house. Hiring a guide is now out for that amount of time.

We had also started planning our next trip in about a year but are seriously looking at Cambodia instead. But then again we are not rich people and it may not be a problem for most foreign visitors.

We shall be sad not to make our annual visit to Chiang Mai as we have many farang expat friends as well as Thai friends and also Thai family in lamphun, but every year it is getting harder to cover the cost.

I have to say that when visiting the US most things seem a lot cheaper than Australia. Food and clothing as well as housing and cars were a lot cheaper - except housing in the super expensive parts. Here, in Perth, if you can rent a house under $500 a week it will be a dump. A loaf of bread is about $3-6 and a beer $8-10 for a pint. A decent pub meal is about $30-40 for a main course. Average house about $550 000 if you live outer city and a million plus within 5k of the city in a reasonable area. Electricity and gas $400 per month . Cinema average about $19 for adult. A 5k train ride $5. Petrol 92 $1.42/L (down from $1.82/L). A Big Mac combo $11. Average family car 30-40k. Standard service for Toyota Camry with new "saphire" plugs $420 - I just had this done. A family needs about $150k/year to have a hope of buying a small house and a car and that would be tight. Average income tax about 35% - 46%. The only thing free is the sun - you also get free melanoma thrown in with this! I was quoted $42 000 for major work by the dentist. Chiang Mai Smile - less than $10 for the same procedures, but that was 2years ago so may well have gone up since then - I am still saving up! Death is expensive here also - I am told $7k is a DIY price and will get you a cardboard box and cremation - so I can';t afford to die yet either. I have to work 'till I'm 74 when my wifeand I will be able to apply for a State pension. So I am flat out with two jobs (I'm 64) - the tax man is relying on me to bale the nation out of debt!

If, after all this, you feel sorry for me you can buy me a ticket to the LOS - I miss it.

Most real sales people work on commission - so if you are confident you can really grow the business then you should consider what you can achieve as turnover and work out a percentage. eg. I would think a minimum would be 50K but if you can really deliver then there should realy be no top limit. It is then in their interest for you to earn as much as possible. This is a tack I used to get some very good marketting jobs over the years. So, you may like to look at 50K as a base but a commission on top to reflect high performance.

Min of health in OZ now talking about a ban in the next ten years or so on cigs altogether. Now law has passed banning any packaging other than drab green with health warning. Also no duty free cigs into OZ.

Thanks lopburi3. Pretty well as I expected.

Thanks for the ifo. I am in Western Australia which I understand no longer has a Thai consul. Also, is it possible to have monies deposited in Thailand but held as Australian $ - I understand that this would mean I would have to cover exchange fluctuation possibilities. And finally, what type of account would you recommend?

Thanks Jingthing. Got it now.

I understand it can be difficult to open a bank account if you are not a resident. How are you able to open a bank account if you are a tourist so you can deposit your 800K Bht?

If I enter with an O tourist visa valid for 60 days and get it extended to 90 days I would not be able to have the 800 000Bht in the bank for the required 3 months as I would have to apply to convert to a retirement visa before the extension expired.

How do work around this?

Thanks.

You can price up a system to your own specs from places like Austin Computers - you will have to Google them.

I recently sold a computer business in OZ and at that time there was not much in it. We found drives were good value in Thailand but you need to factor in warrnty issues and freight. In the end I think you are better off getting it in OZ.

Lucky you I am more like XXXL (yes I am on a diet). Anyone found a supplier of this size? If I were to get shirts made any suggestions as to where and a ball park price for cotton s/s?

Boric acid is sold by virtually every decent drug store in the world. It is NOT a difficult item to find but you might need to know the Thai name for it at some drug stores. For those who can't find drug stores, there are at least three chemical supply companies in Chiang Mai; two on Suthep Rd, on the same side as Wat Suan Dok, (one about one block east and another about 2-3 blocks east,) and another on the north side of Old City, facing the moat. The chemical supply houses will call it Boric Acid.

Boric acid can be used as an antiseptic for minor burns or cuts and is sometimes used in dressings or salves. Boric acid is applied in a very dilute solution as an eye wash. Dilute boric acid can be used as a vaginal douche to treat bacterial vaginosis due to excessive alkalinity.^[14] As an anti-bacterial compound, boric acid can also be used as an acne treatment. It is also used as prevention of athlete's foot, by inserting powder in the socks or stockings, and in solution can be used to treat some kinds of otitis externa (ear infection) in both humans and animals. The preservative in urine sample bottles (red cap) in the UK is boric acid.

It is toxic if taken internally in large quantities, i.e. about 10g per Kilo of body weight. A man weighing 90k would need to eat more than a pound of boric acid to be fatal.

Thanks FolkGuitar. This gives me a completely different impression of what people in the "red ant" thread were saying. It seemed that according to the posts in that thread, it was a difficult item to find. (Something about its availability being banned in Thailand (for the most part) because too many unscrupulous meat venders were using to make old meat look fresh -- apparently an unhealthy thing to do.)

But you're saying that it's a common item in drug stores. So, if i visit the village drug store or Boots in Pattaya, will they'll have it? Failing that, does anyone know of a chemical supply shop in or around Pattaya?

Unless there is a 'real' governmental ban on the stuff, a drug chain such as Boots would certainly carry it. Or PharmaChoice. But I'd bet that your village shop has it too. It's just waaaay too common an item not to have it. It's as common as Hydrogen Peroxide.

This กรดบอริก 'could be' the Thai name for it. I just used 'Google Translate' for Boric Acid and it came up with that.

I am no expert (I don't yet live in Thailand - but hope to soon. I have been teaching myself to read Thai - so I may have it wrong but I think the Thai script reads: Grot (h) Borik - (Acid Boric).

Take no notice of scare mongers going on about snaked and such. I have camped all over the world and especially in Australia where just about everything that moves is deadly. The chances of being bitten are very remote and death even more unlikely. Nothing like as dangerous as travelling on the roads. There is only one insect that I would take real precautions against (unless you are allergic to bees) and that is mosquitos. These little buggers can be deadly. Dengue Fever, Ross River Fever and Malaria are no fun at all! I take lots af anti-mozz, a mosquito net and wash my clothes in permethrin before I go "bush". Yes i do use DEET. Some like to use Avon skin soft instead.

I have a background in buying and importing clothing. I would like to have a few phrases memorised for doing business in Thailand. I have taught myself to read Thai at a basic level so i can usually work it out from thai script although as I don't live in Thailand i have no way of practicing the spoken version exactly. I have visited a few times and have Thai contacts here where i live.

Phrases such as:

Where is this made?

How much for ... pieces?

Can I get a discount for .... pcs?

How much per piece?

What sizes do you have?

Is it color fast?

Will it shrink?

Can you make this in another fabric?

Do you have other patterns?

Can you do it with (make it with) .... ?

Some of these I have tried to work out with a dictionary but I am not sure if they are how it would go down in the street.

If anyone can help please?

We got these photo services everywhere in OZ - I had one during Easter - 7kph over, on the motorway - 6000Bht, and that is the lowest fine - no demerit points untill you hit 10k over (at 10k it is demerit points and 9000Bht I think).

Does anyone know how much the pre-vaccination costs? They are quoting me $500 AUS in OZ.

I don't drink or smoke, but all this telling me what I can and can't do makes me feel I should get a life and start!

I just baught Hushpuppies size 11 US at Zen.

Some of these reviews remind me of Benidorm - English breakfast six meals a day - yum.

Did anyone find out how much the shots cost. I am interested as I spend time in Thailand photographing wildlife I recon it a matter of time before I get bitten by something - most likely a temple or soi dog. I was going to get the pre-set of shots here in OZ before visiting Lao and Cambodia via BKK. BUT the cost here for the preventative? shots is 15 000 bht and if you do get bitten you still need some shots.

Beb - I can't get your link to open.

Thanks Paagai - sounds an interesting area so I should at least check it out.

Can't find Santhitam on the map - can you give a few landmarks and general directions please?

Thanks for the heads up everyone - lots of good info to think about.