Dean1953

I've never tried to disguise my identity I use my first name and use my last name in my email address, so it may take a dedicated IThotshot all of 15 seconds to find my full name and address.

Does that include surgery?

Try Craigslist;Thailand

Looking at the thai husgvarna's web site, it says the late Ian Bannerman. I thought I had received an email from him about a year ago. Anyone know how and when he died? It says two westerners bought the business form his widow. Hopefully, it will be run as well as Ian ran it.

http://www.huskymowersthailand.com/ I've used this Aussie gent for both a husqvarna lawn mower and weed eater

The Thai consulate in Chicago closes for all thai and U.S. holidays. It must be a good gig if you can bribe enough government officials to get a job there. Its too bad that they can't change their telephone announcement to say they were closed for a thai holiday.

I paid for tickets r/t bkk-cnx for our family of 6 in July for 690 per person, one way. I declined all charges (family can ship luggage by train cheap), even the seat assignments, once I saw I would be charged 10% for the use of my Visa credit card (from a U.S. bank). Since I spent around $250 total, They charged $25 for the privilege of using my card. Its still a good deal. `

An update on my wall and my neighbor's trees. According to my wife, as she talks daily with her friend who is the caretaker for our house while we are in the U.S., the neighbor has either cut the trees down or, more likely, has trimmed the trees. I am still looking on Craigslist at backpack leaf blowers to buy and bring over with me in July. I would have to find a real bargain, as I doubt if the caretaker, who has hearing problems, will use a leaf blower. More important, the wall has moved enough to affect my sprinkler system. The plastic piping (the input and the four output pipes) are attached to the wall and no longer work (that all I could get out of my wife). The pipes were repaired for 400 baht. Someone that builds security, block walls came by and said he would, for 2,000 baht, re-enforce the dirt under the wall with more dirt. This would not straighten the wall and, most likely, would be a temporary solution. For 20,000 baht, he would cut the wall in half between each posts (there are approximately 10 posts on that wall) and put some sort of metal beam which would keep the wall straight. I try not to think about the last option, which would be removing the existing wall and digging deeper and building a new wall. The property is on one rai, so the wall would cover the length of one side. I would prefer to have the wall temporarily supported until I get there in July and deal with the problem on site. I am considering offering my neighbor 10,000 baht to have the existing wall torn down half way and building a wall behind it, on his property. I don't think that I have ever mentioned in this thread that my neighbor has 2 rai and uses it to farm and has put 2 shacks on the property for rent. He doesn't live on the property. Anyway, that where I am as of today.

Maybe more information will be out by this summer, when I and my family will be at our house in Bosang. I may not have to rebuild my leaning perimeter wall after all.

I live between Ton Pao and Bosang, close to the temple in Ton Pao. If they decide to run the road through my teak house, I hope that they give me time to dismantle it.

I guess that I'm old fashioned, in that I have installed and re-finished in person hardwood floors for the last 33 years. I tell people the truth, not what they want to hear or what will sell the job, and expect that my craftsmanship will sell itself. I have never had to use advertising for my business and I have always been booked up at least 4 weeks in advance. If this company is going to succeed, it will be from work of mouth, not from advice from a PR company or a consultant.

That is my point also and perhaps I didn`t explain properly?

My meaning is, give the customers what they want, what they would expect to hear and expect to see in a cheery way., a service that is tailor made for them, all on the level of course.

I do know that in Chiang Mai there has for years been a desperate need for a decent real estate agent that property sellers, buyers and renters can trust and have faith in. Unfortunately it appears that this is still yet to happen.

If you mean give customers the knowledge about a subject to make an informed decision, then we are in agreement. If a customer wants, in the case of my business, a type of flooring that will not last, I tell them that and not install it and hear that, in 5 years, the floor has to be removed. What the customer wants and what he needs can be two different things.

I guess that I'm old fashioned, in that I have installed and re-finished in person hardwood floors for the last 33 years. I tell people the truth, not what they want to hear or what will sell the job, and expect that my craftsmanship will sell itself. I have never had to use advertising for my business and I have always been booked up at least 4 weeks in advance. If this company is going to succeed, it will be from work of mouth, not from advice from a PR company or a consultant.

Let me put your concerns to rest. Just look at my thread "friendly neighbor" to see where I'm coming from. I doubt if I'll ever start another thread here.

I'm looking forward to talking with you about renting my house near Bosang. I had contacted you earlier but my wife and kids decided to spent May through August at the house before coming back to the U.S. I didn't think that you came off as rude but,, to avoid the comments of several posters who have nothing better to do than stick their noses into matters that they were not asked about, many people that start threads now preface their comments with "constructive comments only." Anyway, its results that count, not how pretty a website is, and if I can get results on your website, I don't care if there are naked girls doing a photo spread of every house.

My problem was the size of the suitcase, not the weight (which was 20 Kilos). The bus company offered to split up the contents into two boxes, but that would not do me much good checking in at Northwest Airlines with 4 boxes. Since you are bringing the suitcases to CM, it is less of a problem (if you don't mind losing the suitcases).

I would check with the bus company in advance whether there is a size restriction on baggage. Seven years ago, I decided to take a bus from CM to Bangkok instead of the train, to catch my flight to the U.S. The bus company would not take my large bags. After several minutes of arguing, I decided not to fly back the next day and used the return airline ticket at a later date.

When I don't want to waste time on a 13 hour train trip between Chiang Mai and Bangkok, I fly either Nok air or Air Asia but check my luggage the day before at the train station, to have them ship the luggage that night. I can then pick up the luggage the next day, in your case at the CM train station. Very easy to do.

Unless I'm drinking the national drink of a particular country, I stay with beer. I've never had to send one back.

I guess that I mis interpreted the unofficial thai driving rules a couple of years ago. Double and triple parking often occurs driving around the mote, just past thai pei gate (sp). A car was parked in the lane that I was driving in. So, as thai drivers do on the haighway to pass when cars are still coming from the other direction, I took half of the lane next to me and was able to pass. The cab driver took offense to that (the traffic was not heavy and he could have easily moved over a full lane) and got up next to me and started honking. I wouldn't acknowledge him, so he takes his car and acts like he is going to come over into my lane and crash into my car. He does pull back after making his point. I'm glad that my wife and infant son were in the car, as a certain amount of road rage came over me and I undoubtedly would have retaliated.

I bring sheets with me on trips to our house in Bosang. There are five beds, so buying at Central would be somewhat expensive, and I try to keep enough sheets for each bed and a spare for each bed. For my trip this summer, I just bought two sets of 1600 count egyptian sheets for $20 a piece, on sale. Its too bad that my wife doesn't like using the top sheet. Is that common in Thailand?

I can get a 60 tourist visa. The thai Embassy told me that it has to be done through the Chicago consulate, as I live in Kansas City which has had no consulate since the last one closed 2 years ago. This also makes it a pain to renew my wife's 3 kids thai passports, as it has to be done in person through the Chicago consulate. The Chicago consulate comes to KC once a year, in early April. As my wife and 3 kids want to go to Thailand for the summer and want to leave as soon as school is out around June 1, this poses a problem. The consulate won't expedite the passports and my wife's passport came back from the consulate the middle of this past June, over 2 months after she applied for it at the yearly consulate visit in KC in early April. I'm not going to spend $500-600 to fly them to Chicago to get their passports renewed. Anyway, concerning the 60 day tourist visa, it would cost me twice the 1,000 baht overstay fine to have it issued. I'm willing to take my chances with the airline and thai immigration.

I'll be arriving at BKK next June 29, for a 32 day stay from the U.S., around 11:20 PM. If I wait until after 12:00 AM, will immigration officers stamp me as arriving on June 30?

If you want to relocate your business in Burma, I'd buy malaria drugs in Thailand and not Burma. It turns out that Thailand is concerned about an outbreak of malaria near its border with Burma. The Burmese government has been diluting the malaria drugs for years and have caused a super virus to develop that is resistant to many malaria drugs. Do you really want to trust the Burmese government to do the right thing for its citizens?

Thanks for the link for the hotel in Inchon. That 12-14 hour layover on the way back was a concern. Forme, having to buy 4 tickets, price is a concern. As of now, for flights leaving on June 4, returning August 8, ther is a difference of $170 per person (depending on flying into BKK or CNX). I can get them a hotel room in Bangkok for $50-60 and the train to Chiang Mai would be around $20 per person. They can get some shopping done while in Bangkok (which they want to do at some point). I'm using Delta FF miles to go over for July and that was a no brainer. There are too many fees involved in using the mileage to go on Korean air, around $500 and 160,000 miles. My ticket from Kansas City to BKK was 80,000 miles and $86.00 in taxes.

I'm checking on flights from either MCI (Kansas City) or LAX to either BKK or CNX for my wife and 3 children for next summer. The cheapest that I found from LAX to CNX was on Korean Air for around $1,320. LAX to BKK was around $1,150, also going through Korea. I'm going to wait until after the holidays to see if prices go down.