WinnieTheKhwai

A Thai lifestyle to me isn't primarily related to money because you can do very Thai things that cost a bundle, and you can do very Thai things that cost nothing.

As long as you enjoy those things, be it high or low spending, I'd say you're leading a good life in Thailand.

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No worries, it's a heterosexual thing.

Time for an infra-red triggered camera set-up.

Many (most?) of the small restaurants that do just about any one-dish Thai food do a decent Khai Yad Sai. It's basically a sweet & sour type stir-fry wrapped in an omelet.

If you have trouble pronouncing it then print this: ไข่ยัดใส้

Could be worse, they could have proposed an elevated highway directly above the existing road. Kind of like Hong Kong.

Here's Pattaya Beach 15 years from now:

I killed once last week. Saw it across the street so I went over and clobbered it. Very effective. Kill on sight.

Right, so is there a site that would list the models that are available in Thailand? I checked the Kawasaki site but didn't see anything advertised bigger than a Kawasaki Boss which is a tiny 175cc bike.

I think the issue may be here in the definitions.. For the life of me I can't think of any particular type of house that I would classify as being a 'Farang' house. If you get that comment when driving down the rural countryside then it probably refers to a very MODEST 3/4 bedroom 2 floor house of the exact same type that companies like Land & Houses build by the metric fuc_kton all over suburbs of major towns in Thailand, and which are by and large sold to Thais, obviously.

So the only distinguishing feature that would make it a 'Farang house' would be that it's a standard modern Thai home but built way out in the boonies. In addition to at least one Farang living there of course. Is that about correct?

In that case, I do not live in a 'Farang house' by virtue of it not being located in Outer Nakhon Nowhere. Other than that the house next to me is exactly the same and Thai people live there. Other houses in the same development are even bigger, some owned by Thais, some by half-foreign families.

It looks nice,but i wouldnt feel like i lived in Thialand,too clinical and suburbia,and i left my huge house to be here in Thailand

LOL. The man lives in a village in the Issan, how much more Thai can you get? The local motorbike dealer or CP agro broker lives in a far bigger house. I don't think you have to live in a mouldy wooden shack on stilts with iffy plumbing and even iffyer electricity in order to get a genuine Thai experience!

Take your pick. Just Chonburi/Pattaya already looks just fine right now:

http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/Default.cfm

Losing weight helps. (even when you're not particularly fat)

> :- We have Thai type windows that catch the breeze.

Right! Often these days you see aluminium sliding frames (or PVC for fancier ones), which inevitably means that only half of the available area opens because one panel slides in front of the other. Window frames with hinges that open all the way, or the push-open ones mean that there's a bigger area for the breeze to come in. They're cheaper too.

I will ask close friends/relatives to help with such things to a reasonable level, sure, why not?

On the other hand, I have been asked to export things from Thailand like prescription meds and I have to say no because you can technically get into trouble bringing in meds to the US that you don't have a scrip for.

Just how hard is it in Thailand to get a prescription for anything?

I can't believe this rubbish yet again. Or maybe I'm an exception but I really wouldn't like to think so.

For starters:

About 6 years ago when I was still in the romantic stages of my love affair with Thailand, my girlfriend (who I am still with today), advised me that her parents had 9 rai of land for sale. I went and looked at it and put a 400,000 Baht deposit down.

Ok, first paragraph and right off the bat this is insane. WHO buys land within your own family?! (Among siblings it's common to sell or exchange land, but from parents? And you say understand Thai culture? Don't get me wrong, it's common for people to need money ( ) and perhaps this was put into the form of a land purchase but really, the land is already yours and your wife's as a member of the family.

A couple months on and they advised that there was a problem with the chanote and the land couldn't be transferred (Yes I am very stupid for not bringing along a lawyer). No problem I said, just return the 400,000 Baht. Of course the money had already been given to the bank to save another piece of land that was about to go into foreclosure.

Right, so again as a family, noting what I said above about it being common to need money, the MAIN issue here was probably that particular plot that was with the bank. That's something that as a family you'd look at and decide on ways to keep that in the family, pay the bank and then probably transfer it to your wife's name.

6 years on and my girlfriend's older sister buys my car for 400,000 now and 30,000 "next month". Okay, no problem. 8 months on and the sister has still not paid the 30,000, either ignoring me or offering countless pity inducing excuses. Okay, maybe she really did lose her job.

Your wife should deal with that. Again as a family I would let my wife fight about that with her sister, it's as much her 30K as it is yours. In my case there'd be hel_l to pay. Most likely they'd agree on something involving low monthly payments to pay it off, as little as 1000 baht a month but they'd still pay it off. Or else.

> Last week the older sister in question married and moved to the US. My former car was handed over to her parents. I am stuck renting a car for 17k a month.

I understand less and less of this. You don't really seem to be part of that family at all. Either make sure you are or walk. (Meaning your wife/girlfriend has a choice to make)

> Moral of the story, the Thais' loyalty always, inevitably, no matter what- lies with their family.

Obviously. What many foreigners fail to understand is that they are (or should be, or can be) very much part of that family. When I bought my car I was about to loan from the bank but my mum in law loaned the money to me instead, saying that money should stay within the family, rather than making the bank richer!

My girlfriend feels bad about it all, but not bad enough to order her parents to turn over the car or order her sister to start paying me even a few thousand a month.

I think that's the main issue. Again, she has a choice to make, someone should educate here about family. However, you keep saying 'girlfriend' not wife so it's kind of hard to become a part of the family when you're on an extended dating period.

I seriously doubt the number of expat residents has increased every year. It probably peaked in the mid-'90s. Thanksin, new visa rules and general chaos have driven a lot off and made it difficult for newcomers to grip the ground.

I seriously wonder where that sentiment comes form in some.. Surely if any province, Thaksin was GREAT for Chiang Mai. I wouldn't have my company if it wasn't for Thaksin's economic incentives that pulled Thailand out of the swamp after the economic crisis and ineffective lethargic Chuan government. Add to that the SME incentives and IT incentives and it was the perfect environment to start a business.

This also before the Bangkok big faces took over Niemanhemin Road -- which was considered somewhat out of town back then -- and traffic in Chiang Mai was tolerable. It was a fun place to be back in those days.

Guess what, it's a free country, any Thai can buy land anywhere. And Nimmanhaemin was already a slightly up-market area that foreigners preferred even in the early nineties. Sure it was more out of town, but then the town grew and keeps growing, which, again, is a GOOD thing. Are you just being grumpy for the sake of grumpiness, kind of like sitting on a park bench and saying 'in the old days evertything was better'.. Well it wasn't. It was good, but not better than now. The most changes has happened within all of us.

Also, one could easily get by without air-con in Chiang Mai if you live in a comfortable building, where it would be almost a must have in Bangkok.

What kind of comfortable building in CM would not require aircon? Can you identify some of these buildings? Interested for our eventual move to CM.

The basics:

- Sun is kept off your walls, windows and preferably off as much of your building as possible. (Enough roof overhang, trees, etc.) Enough roof overhang also means you can keep more windows open in the rainy season; when the wind starts blowing it instantly lowers temperatures for the evening.

- The house is positioned to catch the breeze, making sure you havee enough windows that open on the right sides

- Have enough garden/greenery around the house, not cement or concrete that would heat up or reflect heat or keep warming up the area around the house.

- Main living quarters are positioned not to catch afternoon sun.

- The roof is well ventilated. (and possibly insulated)

- You need a two level house at least, this keeps downstairs cooler still.

- Big thermal mass in your walls and floors

- Ceiling fans; moving the air around comfortably gets you through hotter times of the day without aircon, or let them just turn slowly in the evening to move the air around. Probably healthier than refrigerating your home as well.

- Build the house a bit outside of downtown.. Try driving around the outskirts on a moped in the evening, you will notice a remarkable drop in temperature first when getting out of town, and then further still in particular areas (nearer to the hills) those would be prime places to locate your house.

I think that's the most basic ones. In addition to that there's more elaborate passive or active cooling that you can do that doesn't involve airconditioning.. It's interesting to google that.

These days when I come home it so cool inside you'd think the aircon has been on... (Possibly due to the nights still being cool and the soil being cool. I actually keep windows shut downstairs these days.) I think traditional Thai homes (wooden ones on stilts) are good to catch breezes, but do nothing to use coolness from the ground. And of course wood warms up and stays warm.

What's wrong with Tesco Lotus et al for the basic stuff, and the Central Kad Suan Kaew baby department for stuff that matters? (i.e safety equipment, car seats, etc) I wasn't very impressed with the shop in the Busiiness park area behind Carrefour.

Which bigger bikes can be bought legally currently? (New ones) ? (Say 400cc and up)

The new aquarium at CM Zoo is apparently really nice. Also the Mae Sa Valley loop as tons of stuff, the Tiger Kingdom is fairly new and there's a lot of things that kids would like. Possibly they're at an age where you could do a very light trek/tour and see some of the countryside. (Or just rent a car, drive to hilltribe villages and let them hang out.)

Without a gay parade I guess Thaivisa is the next best thing.

- As your US driver's license is in English you can apply for a Thai driver's license WITHOUT taking any tests. You will need to provide the needed documents in addition to your valid US license.

- Once you have a Thai license you can use it to apply for a Thai International license which you could use in other countries.

I'm quite sure that you still have to take the tests WTK. I went there with a valid California drivers license AND an International drivers license and they made me take the tests.

In my opinion the tests are very easy. The only thing that was strange was the response time of the braking test. You almost have to anticipate it and brake a second early.

Oh right, sorry. If that's what we're meaning with tests then yes of course. There's some health / physical / mental fitness tests that you have to do relating to not being color blind (or completely blind ) , reaction time and so on. Those are kind of fun tests.

You however don't have to take any theory or practical exams about traffic rules or your ability to drive a vehicle.

For many years now - maybe 15 - Thailand has had an increasing number of NEW expats. That supply may dry up.

And thank heavens for that!

- As your US driver's license is in English you can apply for a Thai driver's license WITHOUT taking any tests. You will need to provide the needed documents in addition to your valid US license.

- Once you have a Thai license you can use it to apply for a Thai International license which you could use in other countries.

Continued:

My reasons.

Note: Many pictures were not taken by yours truly, but do very much represent my favorite scenes of Chiang Mai.. Some were posted to Thaivisa earlier by the respective author(s). My keeping and now reposting them indicates how much I appreciate the photo! All shots are reduced to 320 x 240, meaning they look great on a cell phone display.. If someone ever asks "So.. Chiang Mai, what's that like?" then I hand them my phone with these pics to flip through.

Frankly I doubt it's much better, though may be a little better. I base this on the PCD site report from the station that's all the way up Doi Suthep near the Royal Palace. While that's marginally better than in town, it's by no means clear air, and today's level fell into the 'dangerous' level just the same.

So... Scanning the chart, Chonburi currenlty has perfect air.. If you can't afford the flight to Phuket, how about a bus to Patters. Great excuse to go there if ever there was one, for health reasons!

BTW, did anyone see the levels for Chiang Rai and Phayao.. close to 300, that's completely terrible.

Perfect! The Veerachai Court Soi!