Pearlgirl

I am sure that these things have been asked ad finitum in that past, and that this thread of mine could be a 'ladies in Thailand' forum equivalent to "how much sin-sod" ect, but I must get it of my chest:......

1) Toilet seat... Up or down? Would you all please collaborate so as to give a definitive answer. It seems to be a 50/50 thing that us men somehow, and against the odds, seem to get wrong 80% of the time. How is that even possible?

More importantly, what does it matter anyway?

2) Movies, as in watching movies. I mean as in when actually watching a movie with a guy (lets call him Bob).

Bob has not seen the movie himself, in which case what is the point in asking Bob what is happening?. Bob knows as much as you do and so you are surely better of asking somebody else who has actually seen the movie already. Or even better just watch the movie fukcing yourself which is surely the point of watching it in the first place, right?

And when you ask "what did he say?" and Bob replies "I don't know because I was telling you about the last chapter". There is no need to take massive offence resulting in a big domestic dispute, incidentally Bob wouldn't have actually know anyway because you were talking through that bit of the movie and you have now also spoken through the current bit meaning that when the next chapter comes along .......... can you see a pattern emerging here?

Apologies for my little rant, but some things have to be said.

Oh, and when Bob asks "should the toilet seat be up or down anyway?" , please don't respond with a question like "Why does it bother you so much anyway?". Such responses are a tad tough for us men to handle.

I know this is in the farming section of TV - but as a tomatoe grower myself, have any of you tried growing different variaties in clay pots? Easy to move around and keep a close eye on. I haven't tried growing in pots yet, but always did in Canada and was quite successful.

Canadaians are not a good sourc for tippinfo. Their culture is just like thais, they dont! Well known fact in america btw, i not making this up.

What part of Canada are you from? Of course we tip - and we are overly generous, especially for good and friendly service! If you're not a tipper, then its because you are cheap!

We also tip, probably too much, in Thailand. Another point to be made is that if the restaurant owners had to pay their staff more money versus having them rely on tips, not only would the level of service go down but they would have to charge more for their food and services.

We have tried unsuccessfully to contact the Elephant Dung Paper and the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang to buy 300 Elephant Dung notepads A5 size or 15cm x 21 cm to sell in Australia as a fundraiser.

Do any of the forum readers have contacts at the Centre that they could put in touch with? Or know where else we can source the dung paper from?

You can email me direct.

Try this website

www.elephantdungpaper.com/

Its frfom the conservation center.

Can anyone recommend a Bangkok based company that does the range of day tours?

I was looking on the net but most seem to internet companies rather than local travel companies - I am looking for a decent local operation to trust my aging parents to for a few trips around Bangkok and to Ayuthaya.

Any recommendations?

Cheers

Sorry, I just saw this. We used "Smiling Albino" who are based in Bangkok for a couple of our tours. They can customize as well. The company was started by two young Canadian guys and they are very dependable and fun. They can arrange local day trips as well as weekly trips.

Hi,

I'm looking car rental for a month starting end of March. My budget is about 15k. Would you have any recommendation where i could find reasonable rate for cars ? Insurance must be included ...

Thanks,

Timppa

usually you would have plenty of options (just buy a "Bangkok Post" to see all the promotion offers !), but as this date falls in the SONGKHRAN period, I am not sure if you will find a car at that price.

why dont u just call the "usual suspects" such as Budget, Avis, National, Hertz, TVCar and so on, and ask for any promotional rates.

then still u didnt mention WHERE you actually want to rent the car.

In Bangkok ? Chiang Mai ? Phuket ? Nong Bua Lamphu ?

If you're renting in Chiang Mai - we used

Rental Information

Car Model: NISSAN TIIDA HATCHBACK 1.6 AUTO

Total Days: 32

Rate: @850 Baht/Day NET (Monthly Rate: 25,500 Baht/Month)

Total Price: 27,200 Baht (Vat included, Fuel excluded)

Maybe a little more than you wanted to spend, but we didn't get the smallest car - this is a mid-sized.

I don't know if they have a branch in Bangkok.

Yes, Thailand Post is the way to go. Many tourists ship all kinds of things with Thai Post: saw one lady placing a bamboo chair, amongst a lot of other odds and ends, in a box at the small postal office beside Thapae Gate in CMai; she said it was about 8500 B to France. I've used their trucks to ship a m/c across Thailand.

Refer to: http://www.thailandpost.com/search_ems_result_en.asp

LIVE Cargo! Possibly someone can recommend an efficient, reasonably-priced shipping company to ship 4 large dogs to the east side of Canada from Chiangmai Thailand. Thai Air quoted 183,000B and I have yet to buy the air kennels which are at least 8000B each. Air Canada will provide air kennels from Europe and the USA, at about 180C$ each delivered to your home address, BUT not Thailand. I have yet to figure out how to get 4 dogs to link up to Air Canada at the Big Swampy: see their site: http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/air...ggage/pets.html

Possibly a cargo company can arrange allm\, including air kennels. Cheers

I know that there are a number of companies that will arrange for the transportation of your pets from Thailand to Canada - they will choose the route, adivise you on all the shots they'll need, organize the airlines, and at each stopover, they will arrange for someone to make sure that the dogs are transferred to the correct plane. It could be a little costly, but not a whole bunch more than you quoted above. You might want to try and buy crates for the dogs second-hand. If you transport your dogs in cargo versus the baggage area of the plane you're on - they probably will have to go into quarantine once they arrive in Canada. There is a forum here on Pets - there's lots of information there on transporting your pets.

Good luck! I have wavy hair, and haven't found anyone that I like yet... Some of my friends go to one of the hairdressers in Robinson for their cut/colour, and their hair always looks good!

Robinson's you say. I could give them a try. I've noticed some hairdressing supply stores around town - I should check these out too. I have a friend that is a hairdresser downtown - she does a great job with cuts, but she even said to me that my colour will be a problem in Chiang Mai, so maybe the supply store will have something? I'm more concerned with the coloring than the cut. My present hairdresser does my hair with 2 colours using foil - I suspect I won't have much luck finding anyone that can do that - but, as long as the blond color is what I like, that should do?

Thanks for the advice on Robinson's.

I'm not sure if this should go in the Chiang Mai forum or the Ladies Forum - this topic was covered in the Ladies Forum but all the gals seem to be from Bangkok.

I have should length blond hair that I get highlighted every 5 weeks or so. The highlighting is with 3 colours and foils. I'd like to continue with this type of colouring, but I don't know where or who to go to in Chiang Mai. Also, I'd like a recommendation for a good stylist in Chiang Mai. I'm also considering price as a factor.

Any recommendations would be helpful.

Thanks

We were in Pattaya recently and while the courses are good, they are far from the hotels and the night spots. As plan to be in Thailand next month, we are considering other options where the golf courses would be not too far from the hotels/night spots. Any recommendations please..will Hua Hin or Chiang Mai be fun or any other alternatives and if so, names of hotels/golf courses will be much appreciated..Cheers

We've golfed in Chiang Mai quite a bit - we had Tee-Off Golf Services arrange all the golfing for us - they transport you to the golf courses and even arrange hotels as well. Found them to be very reasonable. Otherwise you could stay at some of the hotels at the golf courses, but they are also outside of the city. Good golf courses in Chiang Mai and quite a few of them too. We golfed this year in Chiang Rai, but had a rental car so stayed in the city and drove to Santibury. Really nice golf course but "stuffy".

Hmmm.... doesn't sound like the kind of acquaintance I would choose to keep. and herein lies the rub, you end up socializing with people that you would never have at home merely because of the fact that you are all foreigners in Thailand.

Only solution is to raise your standards, be polite but be firm that you will not socialize with people who treat you like dirt. I am sure your husband loves and respects you enough to feel the same.

Thanks everyone for some words of encouragement and kindness. I agree that not socializing with people like that is the answer but the fact that we are in a foreign land looking to make friends, having neighbours and people you've met that you may or may not want to socialize with but sometimes its not avoidable. [ Part of the problem right now is that my husband is a person who likes a regular routine - he's always lived in the same city, he's been at the same job for over 20 years, he likes his coffee from a certain coffee shop everyday, etc. etc., and this move to Thailand is totally out of his "regular routine" (obviously), and he feels that he doesn't have any friends here and is willing to take on anyone that comes along. He's never had to experience having to change schools and city and start all over again, I'm pretty sure he has some friends since the first time he could talk. ] And the problem is that I'll have to socialize with them too because I certainly don't want to leave him alone with these guys and let them get into who-knows-what kind of trouble.

I suppose it'll all work out in the end. I've had enough moving experiences to realize that there are people out there that you'll get along with and some you won't, so you'll just have to work it out for yourself.

I have actually managed to make a few of my own friends - and they are Thai women. One is married to a Thai man and the other is a self-made single business woman. Both are pretty wonderful women and have never given me any grief - for the past 5 years they have been good friends. Maybe because I'm not a young woman in her 20's or 30's, I find that most Thai women, whatever age, are friendly and/or respectful. If, for instance, the 7-11 girl is a bit sharp, I totally understand that she's probably had to deal with a lot of tourists for the past 12-14 hours and she's tired and sick of rude and noisy tourists, and she just wants to go home. I haven't worked in the tourist industry in any capacity, but I can only imagine how tiring and annoying dealing with a lot of foreigners on a daily basis it can be.

Other than the odd farang man, I'm feeling real good about Thailand as a whole.

"You know are in Thailand when some Western men look at you with contempt, purely because you are a white Western female (sorry, but thats true). (But, at the same time, i know some really lovely Western men who are real gentlemen..and have had some nice simple interactions, such as men holding open a door for me. Always return the gesture with a smile and a thank you. )." Quote from Eeek in another thread

During my trips to Thailand when I have seen white women, I have never thought of them with contempt, what I have wondered though is life "tougher" for them than a white guys. How are they treated by the Thais? How are they treated by other ex-pats? What unique things does an ex-pat lady face here?

I really hope that no one know one finds this question offensive, I have always been curious. My gut tells me that the ladies would probably face more challenges in Thailand than men, call me a chauvanist if you will, and I think highly of them.

Hi everyone

This is my first post - I read Thaivisa all the time, but haven't had enough gumption to reply to any of the posts. But, this one sort of hits home with me so here goes. My farang husband and I (I'm farang too) have been enjoying visiting Thailand for about 8 years now. In a couple of years we will be retiring to the north of thailand - for the most part, we are both really excited about that. We spend about 2 months/year there now. We've decided to live in a small village outside of the city, and its a very pleasant place to live. Our Thai neighbours and farang neighbours are all pretty nice people. We've found, me especially, that when we visit the city or go to restaurants, etc. etc. as a couple, everything goes smoothly and we haven't run into a purposely rude person yet - whether Thai or farang. As a matter of fact I've found the Thai women friendly and helpful, whether I'm with my husband or I'm on my own.

I, on the other hand have experienced a number of stressful situations when I'm either alone or encourter some farang men. Some of our farang neighbours and others that we've met, seem to resent my presence - for the most part they try to get my husband to go out with them at night to bars or other places downtown, and have succeeded a couple of times when I wasn't around. I'm not impressed with this - its not the same as a group or a few men going out to a bar in our homelands, and we all know that.

I've also found that if we run into some farang man that we know, generally, I get mostly ignored - I'm not included in the conversations with them and they'll even go as far as to order a beverage for my husband but totally leave me out. My husband isn't necessarily at fault for any of this and will often speak up and say "***" would like blah blah to drink as well, and often will try to include me in the conversation. I'm not saying all farang men are like this, but there are quite a few that think that any man that lives in Thailand should have the freedom of lifestyle that they have - living with a young, cute, mostly sweet Thai girl that they boss around and use for sex and as a servant. They don't understand that a man and a women could actually move there, live with their western spouse, and be happy.

The reasons why we are moving there has a lot to do with the Thai culture, people, weather, cost of living, etc. etc. and I'm trying not to let these people get to me, but I can see its going to be a practice in patience and perhaps a lot of smiling? And maybe its just the few farang men that I've met there - I'm sure they aren't all like that.

As a leasee, we don't pay month/yearly rent - we paid for the property upfront then the builder and us went to the land registraty office and legalized the lease agreement for the next 30 years. The "tax" isn't very onerous for us, but it just doesn't seem fair that even though we paid in full the price of the land, we now have to pay their tax on it. And apparently "farangs" are the ones being targeted, not the Thais in our same complex. The sub-district contacted the builder directly to collect these taxes from us and the other farangs in the village.

I would guess that the reason only farangs are being asked to pay this tax is because this is a business tax. The Thai's aren't leasing the land. They own the land directly. You were not allowed to buy the land, so you have a lease. I would suspect that the builder didn't anticipate having to pay this tax, or this tax has been recently increased which is why the builder is asking you to pay it for them. They would have preferred to not be the owner of the land, but in order to sell to farang, they used the 30 year lease method as a way of selling their development to farang. Does this make sense?

That makes perfect sense, and it is what I had figured out to be the reason. I guess I'm just being stupid about this whole thing because I figured that since we paid the full amount for the land, even though we're just leasing the property, that the leasor should be responsible to pay this tax. When and if the government decides to charge "property taxes" - the leasor will probably pass that onto us as well.

Pearlgirl,

If I understand you right then you're the renter of the land upon which you built a house. The builder is the landlord as far as the government is concerned. Landlord gets the income so he pays the tax. The 12.5% tax on rental income is not new.

Don't pay. What's next asking you to pay his personal income tax on profits made building your house for you? That's about what this amounts to. It is not your fault he is an idiot who didn't do basic tax planning. Tough titty for him.

But don't feel bad, it is still a great deal for him as you probably did as most farangs and paid full value for the land, which he still owns, and then set up a fake lease agreement to skirt landownership laws.

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And I'm with cmsally, this new tax is terrible and so is the timing given where the economy is headed.

This country is full of small family owned shop house businesses. Many don't make a large profit already and also serve as the family home. A 50-100k+ new tax bill is astronomical for them. Many won't be able to pay and who will buy except for the small circle of super rich that still have access to credit and can sit on non-productive properties until the next boom cycle. They won't be offering a fair market price. And what is to stop a connected person from using their influence to have the valuation of a property they covet set extraordinarily high in order to help the process along?

More taxes and regulation that's the solution. Some farangs are so...I'll be polite and say naive.

Another way for the rich to evict the poor and middle class sitting on nice pieces of property.

As a leasee, we don't pay month/yearly rent - we paid for the property upfront then the builder and us went to the land registraty office and legalized the lease agreement for the next 30 years. The "tax" isn't very onerous for us, but it just doesn't seem fair that even though we paid in full the price of the land, we now have to pay their tax on it. And apparently "farangs" are the ones being targeted, not the Thais in our same complex. The sub-district contacted the builder directly to collect these taxes from us and the other farangs in the village.

When a new tax starts, that means the government wants/needs "more" money; and more taxes "does not" necessarily mean more services. Just because some other countries have a certain tax does not make it automatically right/needed in another country. Each country's tax system is different and can be like comparing apples and oranges.

Quite right I think basically the issue here is to get more money.

You also need to take a look at which organisation is collecting what and what percentage they are keeping and what percentage they are sending to central govt agencies.

By saying that local govt is responsible for collection so they will be self supporting - which branch of local govt are we talking about? Are they going to be keeping just this tax or all taxes (incl. that they presently keep or percentages). Do they relinquish other taxes and just keep this land tax and receive nothing back from central govt.

Unless you see the absolute breakdown it could be that local govt is left with less than before with the new tax to make up the difference. In which case where does the money come from to bolster services; it has gone into central govt pockets. Local govt has the same (maybe more or less depending on its ability to collect) or as much as it can squeeze out of land tax. It also has less ability to bargain with central govt. If this is it's money earner there will be an onus to make sure land valuations stay high and criteria to collect tax remains as all encompassing as possible.

When a new tax starts, that means the government wants/needs "more" money; and more taxes "does not" necessarily mean more services. Just because some other countries have a certain tax does not make it automatically right/needed in another country. Each country's tax system is different and can be like comparing apples and oranges.

Quite right I think basically the issue here is to get more money.

You also need to take a look at which organisation is collecting what and what percentage they are keeping and what percentage they are sending to central govt agencies.

By saying that local govt is responsible for collection so they will be self supporting - which branch of local govt are we talking about? Are they going to be keeping just this tax or all taxes (incl. that they presently keep or percentages). Do they relinquish other taxes and just keep this land tax and receive nothing back from central govt.

Unless you see the absolute breakdown it could be that local govt is left with less than before with the new tax to make up the difference. In which case where does the money come from to bolster services; it has gone into central govt pockets. Local govt has the same (maybe more or less depending on its ability to collect) or as much as it can squeeze out of land tax. It also has less ability to bargain with central govt. If this is it's money earner there will be an onus to make sure land valuations stay high and criteria to collect tax remains as all encompassing as possible.

Thanks all. I now have a number of options to consider and all of them helpful. And of course, I agree with anyone who says AC stinks, for more than this reason. I would rather travel an extra pile of hours versus fly with AC.

I just came over from Canada (Vancouver) to Phuket with two dogs, one in the cabin with me and one in the hold - they are two small Yorkshire Terriers.

Two flights only on Korean Air - YVR-ICN (2 hour layover) ICN-HKT.

Cost for each was $320 CAD.

Hi

I'll be taking my shizu with me next year to Chiang Mai. When you flew to Phuket, were you able to transfer the dogs yourself to the next loading area or did the airlines take care of it? I've been reading a lot of information and they make it sound very complicated. Aside from all the shots he'll need, the special crate, etc. - I've been having a lot of trouble finding out which airlines will allow dogs even in the baggage compartment - my dog is too fat to bring into the passenger area. Any info. you can give me would be great. Thanks