tommytouch

You might also try "Spices" an Indian grocery store/restaurant near the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel. It's on the Khamphaeng Din street on the stretch that connects Sridonchai to Loi Khro. Here are the gps coordinates you can use on maps.google.com. They are my best estimate and should get you within 50 yards of the place. NancyL's recommendation is also good. I get a lot of my spices there. Very high quality saffron.

18.782086, 98.998404

It's also a restaurant and I suspect a pretty good one since virtually all its clientele are Indians.

They are now closed or change owner and no longer sell stuff.

The place isn't actually closed ; it's still open as a dark, cave-like restaurant under new Indian ownership but as Aristide says, he no longer sells stuff.

I went looking for the Indian spice place at the market but couldn't find anything. Does anyone have any more specific directions?

On the way back home I walked past Spices Restaurant and decided to give it a try - obviously still had Indian spices on my mind. The saag and potato dish was OK but I found the daal overly runny and definitely too salty. I also ordered two chapati and a bottle of water. The bill came to B190. I can also confirm they do sell a range of Indian products.

Is there any happier feeling than when you see that double entry for Thailand in your passport?

Well yes, when I see my 12 month Non-Imm visa.

Personally I think it's good to see a crack down on repeated Tourist Visas given in neighbouring countries.

99.9% of these people are obviously not tourists.

For some reason that I cannot fathom, many Westerners feel they have some sort of birth right to live here.

Obviously a 12 month Non-Immigrant visa is preferable to a tourist visa for anyone wanting to stay here indefinitely.

What annoys me is the fact that people fortunate enough to stay here without having to work are required to travel back home to apply for a new Non-Immigrant visa because they can't meet the marriage / child / 50 years of age or older criteria. Personally I quite like going back home once a year but occasionally, for whatever reason, it's not convenient to do so.

Things have changed this year but you should still qualify.

From Hull website:

Visiting family working/living in Thailand

Evidence required:

Birth/Marriage Certificate to show relationship

Letter from relative confirming they are in Thailand together with a copy of page

in their passport showing valid entry visa or a copy of their valid work permit

Thanks for that, you had me worried for a minute - no plans to get married just yet!

Thanks for the further clarification.

Unfortunately I don't meet any of those requirements, it's either a trip to Laos (tourist visa) or the UK (new non-o).

You wont get a Non Imm O Visa in UK without meeting the qualification.

Thai family, Over 50 etc.

Unless something's changed (hope not) I've been given at least 10 Non-O visas from probably 3 different consulates over the last 15 years on the grounds of visiting family here - British father who's a UK resident, retired in Thailand and married to a Thai national.

To get the 6 months stay you're getting 60 days granted upon entry to the country plus a 30 day extension at immigration x2, right?

It seems ridiculous that people applying for their first tourist visa were also given a stamp stating "The holder of this passport travels to Thailand under a tourist visa several times which may result in the refusal of a visa in the future", because it simply isn't true, unless they were referring to previous back-to-back tourist visas, but that still seems a bit harsh to me.

Thanks for the further clarification.

Unfortunately I don't meet any of those requirements, it's either a trip to Laos (tourist visa) or the UK (new non-o).

OK, thanks for confirming.

It's going to have to be a tourist visa then I guess.

Hi

Just before my Non Immigrant O visa expired in August I left and re-entered the country to give myself another stay of 90 days, which ends in a couple of weeks .

Am I right in thinking that I don't qualify for the B1900 30 day extension of stay from immigration?

Thanks

It's possible, I know rocket's grown here. I can't think of anything else with that distinctive peppery taste, and you say it looks like rocket so there's a good chance it is.

Which market? Was it cheap?

Perfect.

Thanks Mahseer

Hi

I saw someone on here mention there's a place in Warorot market selling Indian ingredients. Can anyone help me out with a name or a more precise location, or an alternative place in Chiang Mai for the same thing?

Thanks for any help

You're looking for a place just for the one night, right?Fraser Suites, as the name suggests, has suites. It's a very nice serviced apartment that also does daily rates, right on soi 11.

Just had a quick look and I think you can get 4 two-bedroom suites - a 1 bed studio and 1 bed superior connected to a living / dining / kitchen area - for around $1000 US. Like I say I didn't have a proper look so could be missing something.

Whether you can arrange for any double beds to be changed to singles or if the place will tolerate 15 guys sharing like that I have no idea (if pushed I suppose you could just say you're 7 gay couples, with the exception of your one friend - the bachelor - who's Thai girlfriend will be arriving later that night!).

Good luck

They sell them in Siam Paragon in Bangkok in the supermarket in the basement. There is a separate section near the front of the supermarket on the far left side as you are facing it, which has a lot of dried and packet herbs, much better than the usual supermarket selection. It looks like it is part of the supermarket but in fact seem to be run separately as you have to pay at the tills in that section rather than at the main supermarket tills. I can't remember the exact price but I think it was about 70 baht for a jar which is a bit pricey. The dried curry leaves are sold whole in a similar bottle to the ones used for bay leaves, ie slightly taller than the average herb jar.

Thanks for that. I heard about this spice place when they first opened but never made it there and forgot it existed. I'll pay them a visit. I went back to the Soi 23 Indian store that I mentioned before and they have fresh curry leaves at B25 for a very small packet (probably dried too, although not much point if they have the fresh).

You are right that the fresh ones are so much better than the dried but if you can't get fresh then the dried are better than nothing. The trouble is that in Thailand hardly anyone knows what you are talking about if you are asking for curry leaves, unless you are talking to an Indian. In the end what we did was that on a trip to Singapore last year we actually bought 2 small curry plants in a garden centre there and brought them back to Thailand. If you wrap them well in newspaper and then wrap in bubble wrap they seem to survive the flight from Singapore quite well, even in the hold baggage. We planted them in the garden and although one died, the other one has thrived and is growing very well even though we live by the sea in Bang Saen so the air is fairly salty. Anyway we now use the fresh ones all the time but I keep a supply of the dried ones for when we are away from home or in case it is raining and I don't fancy going into the garden!

Wow, I'm envious of you having them growing in the garden (lucky you bought two plants if one died). I actually researched them online with a view to acquiring a plant of my own but unfortunately it looks like they grow fairly big, i.e. a small tree / bush - not suitable for my place in Bangkok. You should try freezing some leaves, I have a feeling they'd take quite well to it?

Boddingtons, Pedigree or Jennings.

Even a straight forward pint of Tetleys would do

I'm not sure Boddingtons or Tetleys qualify as REAL ale.

However I know for a fact that cans of Marstons Pedigree are available in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, around B130 for 500ml I think, which is probably about what you'd pay for a pint of the stuff in the UK. Boddingtons and Tetleys also available here in one form or another and I recall seeing London Pride in bottle form too. Pretty good selection of delicious (and generally strong) bottled Belgian beers here too. Beer Lao Dark, B65 for a small bottle, is ok as well and quite strong (which I like).

I would take out all the tuk tuk drivers in Phuket for a years supply of Carlton Draught

I'll happily provide the Carlton Draught. And as many bullets as it takes.

Have you tried to retract or goes back to the same shop at Suk 23 ?

No but I'll have a look the next time I'm over that way, maybe even tomorrow. There's a good chance they're available in Little India (obviously) but that's a bit out of the way for me.

I love using them in Indian recipes. When fresh they're wonderfully aromatic and add great flavour but the dried leaves are nowhere near as nice.

Does anyone know of a place in Bangkok that sells curry leaves, fresh not dried? I seem to recall seeing them in an Indian convenience store on Sukhumvit 23.

Thanks for any help.

Ok thanks

Are you saying it'd be possible to get a single entry tourist visa in PP or KL then?

Are there currently any options other than Vientiane for getting a double entry?

I plan to get a double entry tourist visa for Thailand from either Phnom Penh or Kuala Lumpur. It will be my first tourist visa, after my current non-o visa expires at the end of November.

Firstly, would I get the visa the same day from these embassies or the following working day?

Secondly, am I right assuming they're only open Mon - Fri?

Anything else I need to consider?

Thanks

It's been around for at least 5 years. There's also a Chang Light. Personally I wouldn't bother with either, but I'm more of a Guinness or (real) ale man, or cider if particularly thirsty. Who remembers Singa Gold?

I haven't tried the place but there's a Turkish restaurant on Silom soi 4. I did read a magazine review of it though which was generally pretty positive. There was also a tiny place on Sukhumvie soi 22 next to Larry's Dive although it may have closed - I never saw anybody in there.

Good luck

Sorry my previous post is incorrect, the two restaurants mentioned are not Turkish but Greek. Pretty close though and still worth a try I reckon

I haven't tried the place but there's a Turkish restaurant on Silom soi 4. I did read a magazine review of it though which was generally pretty positive. There was also a tiny place on Sukhumvie soi 22 next to Larry's Dive although it may have closed - I never saw anybody in there.

Good luck

I like it a lot more than SUperrich they are very low key at Siam commercial exchange.. 50-100's (TC get a poor rate) get you a slightly better rate. And yes they close at 4pm on Sat. On another note better start looking for AEON ATM locations its another pain involved with living here having to pay an extra 150baht at Thai bank ATM's. The easiest one to find is in the basement on Siam/Paragon.

According to cihan (post #3) there are two Super Rich companies, one with better rates than the other - rates that also beat Siam Comercial and all the other banks. They too are based on Rajadamri but it's their only branch. Have a look at the helpful link from CharlieH to compare rates, both Super Rich companies are listed. If you're around Sukhumvit there's a nondescript Thai-Chinese exchange place on the corner of soi 7 or 7/1 (same soi as Subway) who also give rates higher than the banks.

I'm pretty sure AEON list all of their ATM locations online.

Thanks people, some very helpful information.

BTW, does anybody know why larger notes can get you a slightly better rate?