Fraktalkid

Well, I took cmsally's advice, went to Top's last night and bought myself a plunger (cost all of about 65 baht).. and well, I managed to unblock my dodgy pipe..!bathroom's now being thoroughly chlorinated (the water drainage from the upstairs shower was flooding the bathroom below for quite some time...) mee kwaam suuk maak! Now all I need is a toolbelt and a Bob the Builder hat! Still, I'm rather shocked that here in Thailand they don't have a 'plumbing profession' hmmm

I'm really happy you gave me the kick to go and figure it out myself :-)

I second jon's request - my downstairs bathroom is flooding from water coming from my bathroom upstairs... please please please does anyone know how one would go about finding a plumber or contact details for a good plumber?

Cheeeeers!

there's a leaky pipe slowly dripping water through my bathroom ceiling. anyone know of a decent plumber in chiang mai? if he speaks a few words of english, even better.

thanks in advance...

jon

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I think my friend Prathom can get you sorted....

04-043-4560

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Nice one :-) Thanks for the info Ajarn! I really think I should put together a website with this sort of useful info - a 'proper' plumber in Chiang Mai who had a single page advertisement online would be set to make a fortune from the local farangs

I second jon's request - my downstairs bathroom is flooding from water coming from my bathroom upstairs... please please please does anyone know how one would go about finding a plumber or contact details for a good plumber?

Cheeeeers!

there's a leaky pipe slowly dripping water through my bathroom ceiling. anyone know of a decent plumber in chiang mai? if he speaks a few words of english, even better.

thanks in advance...

jon

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There's an internet cafe on Huay Kaew (near Chiang Mai University, just before you get to Boat Restaurant, same side of the road) where I WI-FI with my laptop every day. They're VERY cheap (20 baht for 2 hours, pre-pay with a coupon).

Their connection speed varies depending on how many people are there, but download speeds are around about the 20k per second mark. Their closing times vary, but at weekends are often open until gone midnight.

Of course, they're a bit out of the way of the moat area, but 10 baht in a rot daeng saves you getting ripped off by 50 baht/hour in the centre of the city.

Rich

Hi Everyone,

I've FINALLY got my arse into gear and have relocated from Phuket up to Chiang Mai.. I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction... I recently bought an electric shower unit from Big C, and need a good electrician to come and help me install it into my house (near Chiang Mai university).

Does anyone know a good electrician who speaks reasonable English (I speak a bit of Thai, but not enough to talk about electricals, and well, I wonder if Kham Muang is a different language altogether!  )

Any recommendations greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!

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Got a good guy for you. Electrician by training, does excellent work, and has been my handyman for 5 years.....Very nice guy, and very patient with farangs

Prathom 01-706-6939

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Thanks for your recommendation Ajarn - really appreciated! I shall be giving him a call tomorrow! :-)

Rich

Hi Everyone,

I've FINALLY got my arse into gear and have relocated from Phuket up to Chiang Mai.. I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction... I recently bought an electric shower unit from Big C, and need a good electrician to come and help me install it into my house (near Chiang Mai university).

Does anyone know a good electrician who speaks reasonable English (I speak a bit of Thai, but not enough to talk about electricals, and well, I wonder if Kham Muang is a different language altogether! )

Any recommendations greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!

I was speaking with one of my friends last night at our local restaurant, who told me that Neil was on his way down to visit him in Phuket before the accident happened.

He told me that he was a genuinely nice guy. His death is quite tragic.

I didn't know him personally, but my condolences to Neil's family.

Rich

Does anyone know the precise definition of the words 'buddha image'? Does this cover, say paintings of buddhist images?

Thank you both for replying to my post. The THAI flight looks interesting, although the fare for a single trip direct appears to have gone up to around B4000 mark.

As for other domestic airlines, I noticed www.airportthai.co.th hasn't been updated in around 4 years. So, we've got Bangkok Airways, AirAsia, Nok Airways... Are there any more that people can think of that might cover routes between Phuket and Chiang Mai (not necessarily direct)?

I'm planning on moving up to Chiang Mai in about 6 weeks time, having lived in Phuket for the past 6 months or so. I was wondering if anyone has come across direct flights between CM and Phuket, as I'd like to visit my friends regularly in Phuket when I move up north, but would prefer not to have to wait around for 6 hours at Bangkok (AirAsia flights unfortunately don't connect too well between the two routes). Cheers!! :-)

Yeah,

I can confirm that.

I spoke with them about 3 months ago (they totally didn't understand me on the phone but did when I emailed them and explained), and they said that they don't have any NNTP servers... sheesh.. ISP provision in Thailand is sorely lacking at the moment

If anyone knows otherwise I'd be very interested to hear.

Cheers,

Frak

Hey Ben,

PM me with a fuller brief if you're still looking for some help - I can probaby give you some assistance on your project :-)

Rich

Hey JazzyUK,

your ISP on the island is somewhat determined by who you've got your telephone line with - TT&T or TOT. The next thing to do is go to one of them (both have offices in Phuket Town) to find out if you're in an ADSL enabled area.

We're now on TOT, which I've found to be slightly less reliable than TT&T (our last place in Chalong had a TT&T line).

In the meantime, a dialup modem with a Loxinfo card seems to be the best way of dialing up on the island. It doesn't always work, depending on whether or not there are routing problems in Bangkok.

Give us a shout if you need any more advice :-) (may not answer straight away as I'm darting around London sorting out business before I come back).

Rich

aren't you suppose to be in college.

haha nah, I was one of those weirdos that went straight from school to college to university.. and graduated with my degree (BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence) when I was 21.

And now settling into Phuket rather nicely

There was talk in the Phuket Gazette of a new IT visa that the Thai governmentt are planning to launch to bring IT skills into the country:

http://phuketgazette.com/issuesanswers/details.asp?id=589

Has anyone heard any more about this? Is there somewhere in Phuket we can contact for more info, or do we need to speak to someone in Bangkok about this? Does this apply to IT freelancers and if so, what are the requirements?

I'm just happy that ADSL has started coming to the island - we're one of the early adopters (read guinea pigs) but slowly it's starting to appear more stable.

We went for the TT&T/CAT 2mbps connection but only achieve speeds of around 200kbps through to the US and UK so plan on switching down to the 512kbps service as it's not worth the extra dosh.

It seems to cut out when we get rainstorms, although it only cuts out for about 5 minutes and then comes back on. I guess that's what happens when the giant beetles get washed off the line

And apart from a DNS outage lasting 2 days it's working quite well.

hehe I guess it would take me about 3 hours to cycle on my bike from Chalong to Patong? lol How many thousand baht do the Tuk Tuks charge these days?

I'd like to get a bicycle and tone up a bit. Does anyone know of any good places to get a bike? I've been hearing mixed reactions about a shop near Phuket Town? Also, recommended cycling routes would be appreciated (I live in Chalong).

:-)

Rich

Hey Jimbo,

The only place I've found so far that does Houmous and Pitta bread is an Israeli restuarant called 'Family Restaurant', just off of Hayek Chalong (from Wat Chalong Road, come to roundabout, take first turning, go down just on right hand side). Haven't found any in the shops, unless anyone else knows different?

As for salami and ham, can't help I'm afraid (I'm one of those funny vegetarian blokes )

Rich

Wow, some excellent advice! I thought I'd share with you: I went and created a gay.com profile, and then entered the Bangkok chatroom. Within 10 seconds I had about 20 guys all saying hello to me.. windows popping up everywhere!

good lord! It was pretty obvious that some were 'moneyboys', but after spending a couple of hours there I'm really pleased as I've made 5 'friends' - 1 in Phuket, 2 in Bangkok, 1 in KL and 1 in Perlis (Malaysian border state with Thailand). I was chatting to another farang in the room and he was telling me a bit about it the etiquette of the room; he also confirmed a lot of what you both said.

Tell me, would you agree overall that Malay proficiency with English is much higher than Thai proficiency? I mean, I really respect these Thai guys learning English - based on the small efforts that I've been making learning Thai, I'm beginning to think that the two languages are complete polar opposites!??

Shame I missed Pride... but there is a chance that I'll be arriving near Songkhran! *ducks out the way*

John - thanks for your invitation to meet up with you in Pattaya - I might just take you up on that offer! I've just been reading your post as well.. that's unbelievable.. who does he think he is acting that way in a foreign country?!

Anyway, I better start packing my suitcase!

Rxx

Very good question Roger - 3 month tourist visa initially (from Thai Embassy in UK) followed by a 1 year non-immigrant work visa (friend runs a company, will put me on the board of directors) That sound cool to you?

Well, I just thought I'd let you know - events have changed rather quickly October has now morphed into April!!!

Does anyone know anyone in Chiang Mai?? I'd REALLY like to visit for a 2 or 3 days about a month after I arrive, but I don't know anyone up there

Gosh, I'm SO excited! *pretends to do cartwheel flip*

Hey there,

Check out this link:

Long Yang Club (London)

I would go, but it looks like I'm leaving London in April!!!!!!!! Thailand here I come! *big smile*

Rich xx

Hey Jay, Mike,

Thanks for your good advice and taking the time to reply! This is all gonna be a bit new to me.. That sounds fantastic, especially as I'm gonna be living round the corner from the Chalong 5-way roundabout Very convenient! When you say F1, is that a grid reference or something?

Unfortunately I don't drive so that kinda buggers me up in that respect.

Malaysia actually is also appealing as I've got a friend who lives in Perak that I wanna go and visit.

Anyway, I thought I'd say - my Thailand plans are moving ahead at full steam - I was originally intending on relocating in October, but April is the month (just got made redundant - I was too expensive! However, I got a very good settlement).

So, it looks like it's time to leave freezing cold London for something a bit more temperate and exciting and friendly.

Now all I'm looking for is some lovely people to become friends with this cool guy. Any volunteers?

I think my 'wanted ad' would go something like this:

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

Friendly, intelligent 22 year old computer 'geek' originally from the UK

(into photography, arthouse cinema, foreign languages, bonsai trees,

philosophy and building websites amongst other things) seeks cultural

stimulation, friendly faces and cool people to hang out with (Thai and

Farang welcome) Apply within

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As for translating it into Thai.. well, I've only conquered 10 of the Thai characters so far! doh!

Rich

Hello everyone! I was wondering if you could share your experiences of border runs from Phuket - most convenient places to go, cheapest / quickest, most scenic, etc.

Also, I was reading in my 2003 version of Lonely Planet it stated that SRT (state railway of thailand) were planning on connecting up Phuket to Surat Thani. Anyone heard anything about that lately? Maybe it's on the cards for 2023?

Thanks for your support guys! I really appreciate your votes of confidence - makes me feel a bit more confident knowing that I'm thinking in the right general direction! I guess it's all just one BIG adventure when you make the decision one day to abandon your life in the Western world for something a little bit different?

I'll definately keep you posted - and I'm on the lookout for some interesting friends in Thailand if anyone's volunteering for the position? *cheeky grin*

BTW, when does the Thai equivalent of Pride happen?