Mousehound

I never take cash to Thailand always Travelers cheques (this is the only country I know of that gives better rates than cash) which my bank provides free of charge. Also a lot safer. Also some countries eg Australia have a limit of 10K .

I have visited CM several times but look like moving there to try it out on a longer term basis. I can either rent a small house, share, or rent a condo. Can anyone help by letting me know if there are any really dodgy bits outside the main Muang that should be avoided.

Thanks

This might work:

http://www.escapin.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=33_39&zenid=09s8ntioo40p2v640nv8fjlj22

I have some nice pics of old bike frames being used in the recent AUDAX event in Perth WA. Some shots of old English frames etc. There are several other albums with some (I hope) good pics on my SMuMug site. For some reason this site won't let me copy and paste a URL so you need to go to:

SmugMug.com

Stephen Keeling

Oppy 2012

I am interested in camping in some of the Parks. Park cabin accommodation is often expensive or booked out. Does anyone have experience of camping in the CM area NP and in particular Doi Inthanon? I do a lot of bird and macro photography. Can anyone tell me if the park entry fee is charged daily and is the fee before you get to the camp area or is the camp area outside the gate of any park you have experienced.

thanks

I had a week at the Narai on Silom Rd. You can negotiate a price. Good hotel with a great buffet. The Sunday buffet lunch is packed with locals that know a good deal. I paid 2100Bht during peak season (they were asking 4000).

Often turn up on EBAY - if you get stuck.

IMHO

I have fished Bungsamran several times and would say that I a pretty experienced at the sport in general. I have fished it alone but that the best fishing I ever had was my first experience at this water with the Helios "team". Expensive by Thai standards but worth every penny and in particular if you are on a tight time schedule. We were there when it was packed out but got a great cabin - much better gear than is available for hire there normally (getting distance casting very heavy weights is important - I do all my own casting and rigging but to the guides recommendation. We had a top local guide and assistant for the whole day and were picked up and dropped off from hotel. Food and drink from the restaurant are delivered to you. All baits are provided as is all gear. I think it worked out at about the same price per person as going on a charter boat for a days bottom bouncing here in Australia - shared with 20 others and catching little other than sunburn and seasick. Difference is we caught so many big fish I was in agony with a bad back for days after. I got a Mekong Cat of 104lb but saw one foul hooked that weighed in at 137lb. So. if like me you want a lifetime experience and you really are going to have aone go at it I would say pay your money and give yourself the best chance you can of a great experience.

Jean-Francoise Helios is a world class fisherman and he and his wife are great people: have a look at their site.

http://www.anglingthailand.com/

I have no assosiation or interest with their operation and do not know them except for that single and most memorable day.

However, if I had the funds I would spend every day fishing with Jean-Francoise in the SW Asia area and at Gillham's -Krabi. http://www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com/ Again, I have no connection with Gillham's other than they gave me some great fishing experiences.

Hope this helps.

A good experienced teacher will always be able to teach virtually anything they are required to. At least to High School level. A higher degree in literature is no guarantee of any ability to teach English. The ability to understand the teaching/learning process, motivate students, classroom control and real classroom experience are far more important. I have higher education qualifications in English, business and law and have recently completed another degree in the arts. None of these are as powerful as the years of experience I have at working a classroom.

Vegemite does not work against Ross River Virus or Dengue we have it in epidemic proportions in OZ. Marmite may do so - but I would not take the risk, as only poms are immune to Marmite!

To obtain the OA visa you had to also have medical and police report in addition to proof of funds. The extension of stay is making the 90 day entry one year longer and this can be repeated in country. If you need to convert from a tourist visa entry that will cost an extra 2,000 baht at immigration and proof you have the funds for retirement. That new entry can then be extended for one year for the normal 1,900 baht fee. Or you can just visit a Consulate to obtain a single entry non immigrant O visa to start the process.

Just 2 weeks I did exactly lopburi has indicated, except it was more simple. I came from Japan, arrived in Thailand, BKK airport, with no visa, entered based on "visa exemption rule" since I am Canadian, and got a stamp to stay for 30 days. Went to the Jomtien immigration office 7 days after entry, paid 3900b and got a retirement visa good until April 2012. I returned the next day and got a multi-entry re-entry permit for 3800 baht. Now I can come into Thailand and stay as log as I want until April 2012, and leave and re-enter as many times as I want, until April 2012. I do need to report to immigration after staying in the country for 90 days, and every 90 day period thereafter.

To get the retirement visa, the following were required: 2 sets of documents, each set consists of:

a. photo copy of bank book showing funds of 800k baht in the account for at least 3 months

b. application form completed (available for free at immigration office)

c. a passport size photo of me for each application form (at the shop beside immigration 4 photos were 150b)

d. proof of my address, a receipt from the hotel was OK

e. letter from bank confirming the balance in the bank(one set gets the original, the second set can have a photo copy of the letter)

f. your passport with at least 2 blank pages

No police report, no medical report required!

S how did you have the 800000 Bht in the bank for 3 months prior?

I live in them - litterally - I wear them to work and at home. i would shower in them if I could. You can get them on ebay. I have seen them in Chiang Mai kad Suan so they must be about. The ones I have seen in Thailand are very heavy weight denim though. They look good but are too hot for me to wear, I got my last lot (3 from UK - Ebay. They worked out at $25US each inc freight. The zips are not good though. The other thing is to check out a tropical jacket from ScotEvest. They are very good and you can use them to carry huge amounts of kit without being too obvious. If you put them on your email list they will give you an allert when they have them on special. Usually 20% off. You want the lightweight one.

http://www.scottevest.com/v3_store/Mens-Lightweight-Vest.shtml

I teach photography and I find this link is clear, well put together and concise - have a look.

http://acratech.net/pages.php?pageid=21

I got a Yaris - I call it Rolf.

It takes a bit of getting used to and I hated it when I bought it (6month old with 8k on the clock). I mostly do a long commute to work - 180k a day - so the old merc had to go.

However, it is now nudging up 450 000k and I even tow a lightweight dinghy with it. I have recond the alternator and done the two rear wheel barings (also I maintain it mechanically as per service recs). I have never cleaned it - not once, as I hate it. It now needs the clutch doing after I lit up the tyres at the boat ramp. The motor sounds smoooth. The fact that it had a timing chain whereas our Corola had a belt was a deciding factor for me.

I have to say that it has been far cheaper and more reliable than any of the the 3 Corolas we have owned.

I am confident it will make the 600 000k without any engine overhaul. And, I am told I could sell it tomorow for 3k - I paid 12k for it 8years ago.

not bad!

I am shifting toward extended stays in CM prior to retiring full time there. I know CM as regular visitor but don't really know the resedential areas of the Muang. I shall be looking at 1-3 month stays at first: are there any areas that I should avoid living in from a safety point of view?

I think about 30k also.

I speak as someone who ran a computer company for many years and one that believes there are many benefits from useing computers in the classroom. But I have to say that now I am a teacher I am coming to the idea that the downside may well outway the benefits. Sure you need to know how to use them. But this should be restricted to basic skills unless you are going to major in computing and even then a good grounding in English and math is still going to be more valuable in the long run. A a well educated kid can pick these things up fast when they go into further education. The fact is computing is seen as the silver bullet that will give our kids a great education - but actually for many it cements them into a 2nd world where they play games and listen to music. many High School students do badly in exams simply because they can't understand the questions and they don'y have the litteracy skills to write a coherent answer. The IT industry is driven by entertainment - not the desire to really educate. When we are desperate for funds for maintaing schools and paying teachers what is the wisdom of rolling out millions of dollars worth of computers that will need to be replaced in three to four years anyway. In addition to this it is hard to see how all these machines are going to be technically supported. One poorly paid technician (if a school even has one at all) can hardly support 600+ machines with a vast array of printers, networks and software.

A group of wise people under a tree can make better decisions than "IT educated" politicians can in a billion dollar parliament house.

Can you give me a map ref as I am having a lot of difficulty finding this place.

regards

Steve

Ok my tip for you:

Use 2 rods one with bread going out as far as you can (needed to get real close to the other side) This will be the rod you can expect to catch the most on (but not the biggest fish). (no float)

One rod with only the hook and some syrofome balls and put the massage bread direct on the hook. (this is hard to cast so you will stay much closer). Dump some small balls of the massage bread all around where your fishing and wait for say 25-30 min to get it back.

Can anyone give a map ref for Shadow Lake? i am having difficulty finding it.

Thanks

I was wrong - just checked my records - it is at the end of soi 14. 12.883106,100.888159 on Google maps

Jomtien is just a rectangular pond with cover down one side. Plenty of fish but only saw one sp of catfish - I am not sure but they may be Chao Praya Catfish which seem to be thickest at the back far corner from the entry area. In other words, when there, go as far down and away from the place you pay and cast to the very back corner. Average size was not great - 12K but good fun. The place was filled with Russian Tourists when I was last there - no problems except they had no idea about fishing manners - cast across you - tread on your gear etc. Can't remember the soi number but think it was 18 or 21 off the Jomtien beach road. It's a fair walk down the soi to the very end. There were a couple of very dodgy soi dogs - I picked up a stick and that was all that was needed. Looked like rabies on four legs to me though.

Came accross these - ugly looking things but may just be the job for travel - particularly if you don't know what weight gear you will need.

http://www.emmrodsoz.com.au/main/page_products_products_page_2.html

One argument in favour of quality copies is this. The copies are made and often sold by families of the people that make the genuine stuff. They work in sweatshop conditions for little or nothing to make big western companies rich. In fact these companies would not be able to exist without this cheap labor. It's all about big profits. I have worked in the high end clothing market and believe me they steal from each other and are up to every trick in the book to maximise profit. Copyright etc is a fascinating area. The big debate now is that the bio labs should have ownership and copyright on your DNA as they identify it. Will the big companies of the future be raiding MBK to confiscate pirate clones we have made of ourselves? We, by the way will have no say in the matter.

This is what a 104lb Mekong looks like :weighed in on scales.

I have to say this because catching a big fish is very exciting and posting on a forum for others to enjoy is enjoyable, now if people dispute the obvious and reply with idiotic comments like check to see if the scales are in metric or imperial insinuating that the poster is thick and not capable of reading a set of scales that are in kgs then I think it would be better just to not bother posting at all. what does it matter if the fish in question looks smaller in a picture which quite often they do, my fish was weighed and the weight read out by 4 different people, the scales have been checked 3 times so yes the fish was 47.5kgs..

In all my time here in Thailand and posting on many forums you always get the idiots and fools who think it is funny making stupid comments but as they say in this country up to them most of them are key board hereos with no friends.

So will I post any more big fish pictures, no I can not be bothered I would rather just show other fishing lovers away from these forums.

Happy new year to all and lets hope the new year brings bigger fish.

Tight lines...

I had a stint there for 3 days. It was great. Yes it costs more than most places in Thailand but then you get a hell of a lot more for your money. Brand new chalets great food and personal attention from a world class fisherman. All this with great scenery and the best quality fish I have come accross in Thailand. They are harder to get than BSR but you know they are living in a very different environment than BSR. It is much more like fishing than "catching". I hooked plenty and saw a monster freshwater ray caught whilst there. Hooked up on some big ones and lost more than I landed but I would go back tomorrow if I had the chance. Compared with the cost of fishing in OZ it is cheap (take imnto account accommodation boat charter etc I would guess about half).

I have fished all around the world and I would rate Gillham's as being in the top two fishing experiences of my life.

Oh, and did I mention the food?