tjansen

How much water pressure do these things require? The water supply I would use can be stopped by putting my finger over the tap. Does Home Pro sell a booster pump for this purpose?

Thanks for the useful information.

Normally RO requires high pressure (between 2 and 17 kg/sqcm for fresh/brackish) which is higher then what most citywater supplies deliver.

Hence most proper RO machines have a high pressure pump built in.

Which means as long as there is a bit of flow you should be alright...

Monty,

Thanks for the information.

How much water pressure do these things require? The water supply I would use can be stopped by putting my finger over the tap. Does Home Pro sell a booster pump for this purpose?

Thanks for the useful information.

Normally RO requires high pressure (between 2 and 17 kg/sqcm for fresh/brackish) which is higher then what most citywater supplies deliver.

Hence most proper RO machines have a high pressure pump built in.

Which means as long as there is a bit of flow you should be alright...

Thank you.

There is one in front of my apartment building. I used it thinking the water was clean but I might as well have been scooping out of the sewer and subsequently got a severe throat infection. I have since taken to boiling all my water and no more problems. I think these machines probably require some type of periodic maintenance that the purchasers fail to do.

absolutely 100% wrong, they are designed NOT to work when the filter is full or blocked, the older the filter is the more water is discarded, only pure water emerges, if the filters are blocked /contaminated no water will be supplied.Eventually when the filters get completey blocked no clean water will be supllied ,and all the water will be wasted. If you are getting water from R/O it is 100% pure, you must of got your sore throat from some were else

I know 100% that I got the sore throat from this machine because it happened to me twice while drinking from the machine. The sore throats and ulcers that went with them went away as soon as I started boiling the water.

However you may be right about how they are designed to work. I noticed the machine in front of my building has been gutted and refashioned with new parts several times. It probably just says reverse Osmosis on the front but in actuality is just pumping out tap water. Remember TiT

How much water pressure do these things require? The water supply I would use can be stopped by putting my finger over the tap. Does Home Pro sell a booster pump for this purpose?

Thanks for the useful information.

That makes sense. Can you suggest a store in Bangkok, or is that like asking where a 7-11 is? I live in Ratchaburi Province and have not run across such a store. Thanks for your help.

Hello,

I would like to buy a crescent-shaped Zafu, filled with buckwheat or a similar material, in Thailand. The shipping costs I have been quoted from other countries are very high, around $100+. I would also like to get a matching zabuton if possible. I have a couple of benches that I had made locally, and they work well, but I still would like to find a Zafu.

Thanks for any help.

Hooray for the guy who escaped the clutches of these Thai cop maniacs with their idiotic war on drugs.

----------------

We're Losing the Drug War Because Prohibition Never Works

By Hodding Carter III.

There is clearly no point in beating a dead horse, whether you are a politician or a columnist, but sometimes you have to do it just the same, if only for the record. So, for the record, here's another attempt to argue that a majority of the American people and their elected representatives can be and are wrong about the way they have chosen to wage the "war against drugs." Prohibition can't work, won't work and has never worked, but it can and does have monumentally costly effects on the criminal justice system and on the integrity of government at every level.

Experience should be the best teacher, and my experience with prohibition is a little more recent than most Americans for whom the "noble experiment" ended with repeal in 1933. In my home state of Mississippi, it lasted for an additional 33 years, and for all those years it was a truism that the drinkers had their liquor, the preachers had their prohibition and the sheriffs made the money. Al Capone would have been proud of the latitude that bootleggers were able to buy with their payoffs of constables, deputies, police chiefs and sheriffs across the state.

But as a first-rate series in the New York Times made clear early last year, Mississippi's prohibition-era corruption (and Chicago's before that) was penny ante stuff compared with what is happening in the U.S. today. From Brooklyn police precincts to Miami's police stations to rural Georgia courthouses, big drug money is purchasing major breakdowns in law enforcement. Sheriffs, other policemen and now judges are being bought up by the gross. But that money, with the net profits for the drug traffickers estimated at anywhere from $40 billion to $100 billion a year, is also buying up banks, legitimate businesses and, to the south of us, entire governments. The latter becomes an increasingly likely outcome in a number of cities and states in this country as well. Cicero, Ill., during Prohibition is an instructive case in point.

The money to be made from an illegal product that has about 23 million current users in this country also explains why its sale is so attractive on the mean streets of America's big cities. A street salesman can gross about $2,500 a day in Washington, which puts him in the pay category of a local television anchor, and this in a neighborhood of dead-end job chances.

Since the courts and jails are already swamped beyond capacity by the arrests that are routinely made (44,000 drug dealers and users over a two-year period in Washington alone, for instance) and since those arrests barely skim the top of the pond, arguing that stricter enforcement is the answer begs a larger question: Who is going to pay the billions of dollars required to build the prisons, hire the judges, train the policemen and employ the prosecutors needed for the load already on hand, let alone the huge one yet to come if we ever get serious about arresting dealers and users?

Much is made of the cost of drug addiction, and it should be, but the current breakdown in the criminal justice system is not one of them. That breakdown is the result of prohibition, not addiction. Drug addiction, after all, does not come close to the far vaster problems of alcohol and tobacco addiction (as former Surgeon General Koop correctly noted, tobacco is at least as addictive as heroin). Hard drugs are estimated to kill 4,000 people a year directly and several tens of thousands a year indirectly. Alcohol kills at least 100,000 a year, addicts millions more and costs the marketplace billions of dollars. Tobacco kills over 300,000 a year, addicts tens of millions and fouls the atmosphere as well. But neither alcohol nor tobacco threaten to subvert our system of law and order, because they are treated as personal and societal problems rather than as criminal ones.

Indeed, every argument that is made for prohibiting the use of currently illegal drugs can be made even more convincingly about tobacco and alcohol. The effects on the unborn? Staggeringly direct. The effects on adolescents? Alcoholism is the addiction of choice for young Americans on a ratio of about 100 to one. Lethal effect? Tobacco's murderous results are not a matter of debate anywhere outside the Tobacco Institute.

Which leaves the lingering and legitimate fear that legalization might produce a surge in use. It probably would, although not nearly as dramatic a one as opponents usually estimate. The fact is that personal use of marijuana, whatever the local laws may say, has been virtually decriminalized for some time now, but there has been a stabilization or slight decline in use, rather than an increase, for several years. Heroin addiction has held steady at about 500,000 people for some time, though the street price of heroin is far lower now than it used to be. Use of cocaine in its old form also seems to have stopped climbing and begun to drop off among young and old alike, though there is an abundantly available supply.

That leaves crack cocaine, stalker of the inner city and terror of the suburbs. Instant and addictive in effect, easy to use and relatively cheap to buy, it is a personality-destroying substance that is a clear menace to its users. But it is hard to imagine it being any more accessible under legalization than it is in most cities today under prohibition, while the financial incentives for promoting its use would virtually disappear with legalization.

Proponents of legalization should not try to fuzz the issue, nonetheless. Addiction levels might increase, at least temporarily, if legal sanctions were removed. That happened after the repeal of Prohibition, or so at least some studies have suggested. But while that would be a personal disaster for the addicts and their families, and would involve larger costs to society as a whole, those costs would be minuscule compared with the costs of continued prohibition.

The young Capones of today own the inner cities and the wholesalers behind these young retailers are rapidly buying up the larger system which is supposed to control them. Prohibition gave us the Mafia and organized crime on a scale that has been with us ever since. The new prohibition is writing a new chapter on that old text. hel_l-bent on learning nothing from history, we are witnessing its repetition, predictably enough, as tragedy.

---

Reprinted with permission of Wall Street Journal Jul 13, 1989. Mr. Carter is a political commentator who heads a television production firm.

They seem to be comparing apples with oranges here.

Alcohol and Heroin are totally different. Heroine is VERY VERY addictive and absolutely ruins peoples lives, guaranteed. There is no such thing as a "casual heroine user" or "social user", like a social drinker or whatever.

So I cant see any real alternative. Making Heroine legal (cheap and easily accessible) isnt going to make it easier for people to kick their habit. I for one am a cigarette smoker and I would WELCOME any law that made cigarettes illegal. I have tried so many times to give up, but I find I myself going to the local shop to buy a pack. If they weren't easily available, I would have given up by now.

People usually get addicted to heroin because they have deep rooted emotional issues and the drug takes their pain away. However the drug itself does not help them in any way in the long run. Heroin addiction is a reflection of our modern society and the problems people have, usually from childhood, breakdowns of the family, rape, abuse, poverty and all the other issues that give people emotional and psychological problems. Also many people are "born" with psychological problems - for example you can find physical differences in the brains of bi-polar people to healthy people.

I think in many cases its unkind to label people as "bad" "scum" etc because of their heroin addiction. But yes the drug does ruin people and turn otherwise good people into killers, muggers. People who could kill their own grandmother and then have a shot and feel OK again.

I was just describing today to a friend my adventure with giving up smoking (one year after quitting drinking). Two keys that I can identify:

1) Acknowledging that, while smoking has its well-known evil aspects, there are some very positive aspects of smoking that need to be recognized by the addict, then sacrificed for his / her higher goal. For example, smoking for me was a ready friend, a way to relax, to calm down, to make my pain go away, to get a rush, etc. I cried on the last day I smoked, and I haven't looked back. 1982

2) A fellow addict told me as I was quitting, "The first few days will be very hard, then the difficulty will begin tapering off, allowing just a little bit of relaxation. Then, one day you will wake up feeling like a 'piece of s*** in the toilet'. As your mind searches for a solution, you will come to realize that the only possible thing to make the feeling go away is a cigarette. If you can somehow hold on and pass through that point, the feeling will change and subside, and you will have dealt a very serious blow to your addiction." That's what happened.

Chok Dee

Any of these phones would work as a 14.4 baud modem using 1-2-call? just for email access in remote areas? Or has. that changed? Not hip to EDGE exactly. I think it was the Samsung J700 that looked ok for an inexpensive phone. Those Nokia Xpress phones looked ok also.

I read that Nokia is coming out with an inexpensive phone that is capable of using 3G, if it were to come about. The article said it is coming out "third quarter of this year", which should be about now, but I haven't seen one yet. It is model 2730 and is supposed to sell for a bit over 100 US Dollars.

Does anyone know where I can get authentic Sourdough bread near Ban Pong, Ratchaburi, or if not there, then in Bangkok? I have heard that the sourdough at the Western gourmet market at Paragon is not too great.

Thanks

A tip for TOT customers. If you're having frequent data dropouts, slow service, and trouble accessing some pages, check that your DNS is 203.113.127.199

The TOT technician told me that the downstream SNR margin on your line should be 20 or above. Much below that and the phone line has too much interference and ADSL will be painfully slow. You can check this on your router's setup page.

Thanks for that little tip. After months of painfully slow computing on the internet, it's like I have a new provider! From tortoise back to hare!

I'm curious as to where you obtained that DNS server number? Is that DNS server owned by TOT? (or is that even a valid question?)

I got it from the TOT tech who came to the house a couple of weeks ago. He said that lots but not all customers were affected.

Glad to have helped you out.

AMAZING and thanks for that tip as well. My story might help others since it is so simple and commonplace. About four months ago I had to buy a new computer because my old one crashed. I just plugged it into my TOT Billion router and off I went, experiencing the great speeds that I expected from my carefully selected computer. As the weeks have rolled along, my connectivity has gotten worse and worse. However, at times it was still solid and no problem. I actually thought someone in my apartment building was disconnecting my phone line and using my internet, then reconnecting.

Last night when you posted that DNS number, I glanced at my TOT paperwork, since I had it readily at hand for my daily calls to TOT to get them to fix my problem. LO AND BEHOLD, on my original paperwork from a year ago, was the identical DNS to the one you provided on your post, that TOT had given me to set on my control panel. When I looked at my Control Panel "Network Connections", my settings for DNS were in the default "Auto Selection" mode. So I inserted the proper DNS settings as provided by you (and TOT). This morning, as I post this note, at the time of day when my problems usually have been starting, my connection is rock-solid and very quick.

By the way, I only had to change my Computer settings because the router is still set with its original settings that TOT set up for me when I subscribed last year, which is fortunate because the Username and Password I have written down to access the Router don't work.

For convenience, here is what I did:

Go to Start, single click

Go to Control Panel, single click

Go to Network Connections, double click to open

Go to Local Area Connections Icon, right click

Go to Properties, left click

Go to Internet Protocol, TCP/IP, select with cursor

Go to Properties, left click

Go to General Tab if not already there

Select with your cursor, "Use the following DNS server addresses"

Type in 203 113 127 199 in the "Preferred DNS server" space

Type in the same number except for the last block, which has to be less than 255 and should be something different from 199. I used 203 113 127 209

REMEMBER, this is only for TOT as I understand.

Bear in mind, this is the Idiot's Guide, as requested above, and ironically, it is being written by an idiot, so if there are any errors in my understanding, scathing chastisement is welcome. One lurking precaution is that in my elation at finding a solution and wanting to share the information, I haven't done a time-test, but it seems to me that the problem is obvious and fits all of the descriptions.

As a side note, a Google search on what DNS means is rather enlightening.

Tom

I hope I am posting this properly. I have two questions.

The first is about the ADSL and PPP lights--general information. What does it mean if:

-they are both on

-then they both go off

-then the ADSL blinks, then becomes solid

-then the PPP comes back on and everything works. I have gone for a long while with this not happening, now it happens regularly but sometimes not for a few hours, then it starts again.

A different condition started tonight with the PPP going off and the ADSL staying on, at least for a while. What does that one mean?

MY SECOND QUESTION

I am getting fed up enough trying to keep all the links between TOT and me functioning to give the mobile phone approach a try. Last Sunday evening around 8:00 I tried out a friend's Nokia with AIS sim card. It was good enough to use Skype, just a bit choppy here and there. My TOT connection, when it is working, has very good speed for Skype except during some busy times. I usually use it after 10:00 PM and it is good. Am I deluding myself to think Skype will be OK with a Mobile Phone hookup?

I am used to using, and familiar with, DTAC but would readily go to AIS if they are faster. Would you know what the speed difference between DTAC and AIS might be? I think I will buy a Nokia 3310 or a 2730 if they are available, so I can possibly use 3G if it comes around.

My Information:

I live in Ban Pong Ratchaburi near Wat Don Toom

Billion ADSL 2+ Modem / Router,

Acer 4730Z

Windows XP with License and Updates

TOT ISP with faster option, I think 2.0 something

By the way, I have TOT coming out for their second (recent) look at the wires going to my apartment.

Thanks for any help.

Yes, that would work. The re-entry permit will be good until the same date as your extension.

Because the new rule is you have to get them at your asigned imm office, lots of reports of people getting them when they get their extensions, "just in case".

Great. Thanks again to you and to a very helpful Forum.

Tom

The (M) on your visa would indicate that it'a a multiple entry visa.

If that is the case, no need for a re=entry permit. You'll get another year from whatever date you return to Thailand, as long as it's before 14 April 2010.

Enter just before that date and you turn the visa into a 2 year visa. After that date you would need a re-entry permit to keep the visa valid.

No such thing as an exit permit. As far as I know, you're allowed to leave anytime you want to.

I have a another question about entry permits. I am on a retirement extension, valid until April 2010. My Visa was a Single entry Tourist Visa that I got in Penang. I need to leave Thailand to go to Malaysia, probably by train, around September 8, returning around September 25. I think I need to get a permit to re-enter the Kingdom.

My question is whether there is any time window requirement on getting the permit to re-enter. I will be doing my 90 day report around August 31 in Kanchanaburi, and it would be easy to get the permit to re-enter at the same time. Does this sound correct?

I just wanted to say that I have not forgotten this exercise - the search to find the top 3000 Thai words. I do have a growing list in an Excel spreadsheet, but after throwing everything in, I realised awhile back that it has to be tackled from a different angle. A more practical angle.

Some Thai words are created by joining two words together - compound nouns, compound verbs, compound noun + verb, compound noun + adjective, etc - so while knowing the top word frequencies is handy, word frequencies do not work on their own.

I personally believe that you need to start from the meaning and work backwards. I now know that not all English words have an exact duplicate in Thai, so there is that problem. Another problem: sentences to go with each word = a must...

So that's what I'm doing now. Last year, with three Thais, a vocabulary list from a generic book on learning languages was put together. This past month I dragged it out of the mothballs. In the coming months I'll sort it to suit. Right now it matches the book (page by page) so it's pretty basic. And like I mentioned, it's generic to learning all languages so words special to Thai are not listed (yet). So I plan on deleting what doesn't belong, tweaking, and then I'll start adding the must know Thai words from my excel spread sheet until... well, until it is right. Or close to right. Or at least to the point where it generates less of an argument.

The file, such as it is, can be downloaded from this post. Rikker did a quick look at the file, so PLEASE read his disclaimer in the comments.

My dream, for each word, is to have a sentence for: proper Thai (the Thai we get in our course books), street Thai, a more polite Thai than street, and the Issan Thai we hear in taxis and up north.

Yes, I do realise the amount of work this will take, but I am not in any rush...

Btw - For what it's worth, I'm armed with a whole heap of Thai courses, dictionaries, grammar books, phrase books, online resources, etc. I have Rikker's top frequencies, as well as thai2english.com's and others. Seems to me, some sense can be made from all of the resources combined. Or at least I'll have fun trying

I ran across a website that I like very much and have been using for a few weeks. You can try 15 or so free lessons and then subscribe to all the courses for $6.99 per month. It is at www.its4thai.com If you know of a better one, I would appreciate knowing about it. I am also looking for a list of the 1000 most frequently used English words with their Thai meanings. Any help there?

Tom

Here is another "Learning Thai" site to add to the list. It appears to be a new site (this year).

At the moment, they have 15 free Thai Language lessons available with promises of more to come.

http://www.its4thai.com

I looked at several sites for learning Thai, and its4thai was my choice. I have done all 15 free lessons and learned a lot of basic sentence construction (with audio) that have eluded me for the year I have been in Thailand. I just subscribed to the whole course for $6.99 per month.

EXCELLENT SITE.

I believe to help with the sleepless issue when you stop drinking, its better to go to the gym or swim hard for a bit before sleep. Make yourself exhausted through that, or perhaps sex (!), and you shouldnt need to be drunk to sleep

I use to be xtra hyperactive if i am training to late in the evening,so i stop doing that years ago.But if i want to get busy at night i do,and the other thing u say thats like a sleepingpill(Better) hehe.......... A friend of mine in Scandinavia "drinks" everyday (Beer,Many Many)) and he started when 18,now he is 85 (woow): I think because he have to take the bicykle 1hour eatch way ( loaded backpack on his way back) in all kinds of weather, make all of him able to carry on strong.he also "run" around in the garden and eat all kind of Green stuff . If you keep on drinking from young it will start to hit back on you when u get 40,50 or so,IF You do not "prepare yourself"...Happy Happy

I have a few points to add...

1) I joined AA when I was 36, and I am now 64.

2) As someone pointed out to me when I was asking similar questions, and rexall said something similar, "Have you ever counted the number of green beans that you consume each day to figure out if you have a problem?

3) I heard, but never tried it, that a better test is to have exactly one beer per day for some period of time. My dad quit religiously every Lent for many years, with plenty of alcohol around the house. He used this as his 'proof' that he didn't have a problem serious enough to quit. He was still a drinker when he died, and he told me close to his death that he had decided life was not worth living.

4) My bottom line belief about things like this is that you will quit if and when the pain of not quitting is unbearable or at least worse than the pain of quitting.

I hope this helps, and as I said on another post, I can't compare different cases, since I only have myself and my way as an example. But I know that I love my life today and am grateful for everything it took to get me here.

Take care. My good wishes are with you.

Tom

PCLOS - Lordy - dont know why they did that either - they left a lot of folks out in the cold - 2007 & 2008 were very sweet.

They also blew out a lot of really good talent - I run all of them - but once I get an O/S locked down and hardened I dont upgrade or patch it.

Why?!

They could quite easily have run 2 x branches - 80% of their fan club was on 07/08.

Plus they had a lot - still do - of upgrade & syn probs anyway - so its not as if they achieved anything major.

They also appear to have a lot of angry people working there now - there is no dev work either.

BR>Jack

Thank you Jack Daniels and Rawkus for your response to 'why Linux'. Thanks also for the inferential taste of Tolstoy. Linux sounds like something I would like to play with in a while.

Tom

Thank you Lord for letting me smile today, but please, don't let me forget how I cried.

One thing I heard early on in AA, and I took it seriously, is that if you get stuck at the Fourth Step and don't do it, you are more likely to 'go out' drinking. Of course, having only done it one way, I don't know how other ways would or wouldn't work.

The best thing that I can say from the recovered perspective, that is very much less than obvious, is that a sober life is well worth the initial agony of quitting and learning to live without drinking.

Chok Dee to all on the path.

Tom

Well, I can't get rid of "Task manager has been disabled" thingy that pops up every other day.

Clean with Spyboot, it repairs the registry and deletes a couple of files, then two days later it happens again.

Usual AV can't find anything, and I don't have time for deep virus scan either. So, come weekend, I'll boot into Ubuntu, install ClamAV and seriously clean that Windows partition.

Overall - yes, still the same XP, no reinstalls, and generally no problems.

My PC broke a few months ago, and I had to reluctantly buy a new one. I bought an Acer. After having to plead with a shop to take my 3500 baht to get a licensed copy of Windows so I could get support, I still can't get what I need. At one point I decided to go the Linux route but found that my lack of tech savvy left me overwhelmed just reading about how to do it.

Three questions:

1) What is the primary compelling reason that leads people to choose to go to Linux?

2) Is it possible for a relative neophyte to do it?

3) Since my primary issue right now is the desire to feel safe doing online purchasing, banking, etc, (I do none of this now), is the security available for Linux any more foolproof than that available for Windows. Right now I am using Eset Nod 32 and MalwareBytes.

Thanks, and interesting thread.

Tom

LIE and Loong, you are doing so well. Keep up this thread and not only will you make people's day, but you might also encourage others to follow your example.

Hello Garro,

I have to say that it wasn't my intention to stop drinking altogether, usually I would drink 3 large beer Chang every day. Sometimes only 2 sometimes 4. In times of stress, ie argument with the gf, I would drink more. This IS a danger sign. I know many people who drink a lot more and they don't think that they have a problem.

I used to have regular breaks from drinking of between 3 and 7 days at a time, but I had gone 6 months without a break. I forced myself to have a break and didn't drink for 3 days. Then I bought 1 bottle, but when it finished, I had to go and buy another. After 3 days I was drinking the same as before and then happened to read Livinginexiles post. Reading his post made me look at myself again and think about where I was headed.

The beer was getting to be too important to me and I was encouraged to take a further break from drinking.

At the moment, I just consider that I'm on an extended break, that was my only intention. Now I find that I feel healthier, happier and sleep better without 3 Changs a day. I don't want to go back to 3 a day and realise that 1 leads to another, so is better to go without. So I will continue with the break.

Livin' 32 days, great stuff. More than a month of taking back your life already. BIG achievement

Thanks Loong, how is your health? the reason I ask is I have not felt so good (physically) for many years. Today I actually felt like going for a jog!

It didn't get past a thought tho.

I still wake in the mornings with a nasty hangover feeling without the headache. Wonder what that is.

33 days today for me.

Take care buddy.

I saw your comment about jogging. For me it took about one year of not drinking and working the steps until I realized that I would like to spend more time awake. That is the time that I finally decided to quit smoking. In conjunction with quitting smoking, I started jogging, of course using a 'how to book' to help. I walked a block, jogged a block, continuing to alternate. I finally got to a point where I could run 2-3 miles without stopping. I still do that off and on, along with other exercises 4-5 times a week.

Good luck, and just practice patience. It is all worth it.

My last was 1994. Good for you.

One day at a time.

Mine was March 4, 1981, and yes I remember. I never tried it without AA, but I know that many people did not find lasting success without that support group and of course, many who did not find lasting success even with the group. If you read Bill and Dr. Bob's stories and listen to tales in the meetings, you will know that we are dealing with a "cunning, baffling, and powerful" foe.

The road can get very rocky for a while after the pink cloud goes away. While I will refrain from urging you to join AA, since I know that that advice would be rather meaningless if that is now what you want to do, at the same time, please remember, when it seems and feels like it is not worth it, that indeed it is worth the hel_l you may have to go through. And on the other side of the hel_l, there is a lasting peace that grows with every year, that is beyond description when compared to the fear that I experienced just opening my eyes every morning to face another day.

My thoughts and feelings of support, along with those of a multitude of other spiritual survivors, are with you. I find this forum remarkable for its practical advice as well as its unrestrained well-wishing at a time like this.

My wife is a lawyer and does simple wills very cheap as there in not much to them. As far as a living will (advanced directives) what you would like the hospital to do or not do, I do those FREE, I have forms that are good in Thailand and the USA. PM me if you have interest.

Thank you for the helpful responses. Sorry for the late reply. I thought I had opted for e-mail notification of responses but I am not getting them. I finally figured out that I am getting responses to my posts but that I need to go in and retrieve them. I have PMed one of the responders and should be able to get the help I was looking for. Thanks again.

Tom

Not sure where this question should go. I am living in Thailand on a Retirement Extension. I am from the US. Does anyone know the procedure for:

1) Doing a Will for my assets in a Thai bank account that will go to my chileren in the US.

2) Doing a Living Will, giving instructions on what to do and not do, from a life-sustaining perspective, in case of serious illness or injury.

3) Instructions for disposing of my remains in Thailand (not shipping them back to the US) if I die in Thailand?

Any other suggestions that I am not thinking of would be appreciated.

Tom

4 days

Congratulations. I see no mention of Alcoholics Anonymus in the posts. That is the path I took in 1981, and it worked for me. I am now living in Ban Pong, retired, and very happy. It's funny because my Thai lady friend was recently telling me what a problem alcohol is in Thailand, and she was relating many instances of damaged lives that she knows of personally.

I will try not to preach about AA, but I will urge you to keep their number handy, and when the time comes that you are ready to bag the effort as not being worth it, give them a jingle and find a meeting. I believe I looked on the Internet and found some meetings in Bangkok. The one thing to realize about AA is that they teach and give you skills for living sober, not just for staying dry.

Another interesting thing, in my case, is that the 11th step of AA mentions the words prayer and meditation, and I have been wanting the meditation part for all these years but have not been able to get at it. When I was ready to leave Thailand in January at the end of a 9 month engineering contract and retire to Malaysia, my newly found friend suggested a ten day Buddhist meditation retreat, which I attended. I am now meditating every day, I love my life, and I know that stopping my uncontrollable drinking was the first step that made it possible.

You have quite an adventure ahead of you. Continue reaching out for support and know that whatever you have to go through, it is worth it. My thoughts will be with you today. If you want to get in touch with me, my**please pm poster***

My wife and I have a home in ban mung village just south of banpong on the river, we will be living there in 2008 when i retire. was hoping to meet others who may be living in the area. the wife and I will be there on vacation in November 07.

I have been here a little over a year and am staying in an apartment. I would like some help finding a house to rent or for my friend to buy. My e-mail is Drop me a line and maybe we can meet up.

Tom

Hello,

I live in a nice but noisy apartment building and would like to rent a house with a bit of land for a garden in or near Ban Pong, Ratchaburi. Does anyone have a suggestion to aid in searching for such a place. I tried a local real estate office and have asked a few business owners here and there, but I would like to speed the search along by doing something more effective.

Thanks for any help.

Tom