jaideeguy

Just to make my situation more clear........i have been living in LOS for 6+ years on retirement visa, have sufficient income to support and educate in the best schools my two kids, their [deadbeat] father is totally out of the picture [like i said, he abandoned both the first born and my wife and may be hard to reach, but his name is on the birth cirtificate as father of the oldest boy].

and my immediate goal is to simply go thru the legal thai adoption procedures and give them my family name........then eventually i will apply for US passports for them.

i just want to leave my kids with as many open doors [or options] as i can. that's simply what any responsible parent should offer their children.

So, does anyone out there in 'thai-visa land' have any recent experience with thai/falang adoption?? i know that i'm not the only one that wants to do this.......

thanks in advance.....

First, thanks for your info 'old man' .........much more constructive and informative than that rude 'english noodles' idiot!!

'How can you adopt them if there Father is still around?

Not trying to piss on your fire mate but what gives you the right?'

FYI, english.....i should get the right by supporting, housing clothing, loving and educating them for the last 5 yrs when he abandoned my wife immediately after the first was born because secretly had another family. Like most thai men, they love to plant the seed, but let others grow the tree. just another 'deadbeat father' who would by law have to pay in western countries.

Hey English, this forum is supposed to be an information source and helpful to the expat community....so please take your insults to another forum...

I've been to two attourneys, went to my consulate {US}inquired with countless friends and have found lots of conflicting [and dated] info and was wondering if any forum members can advise me on the LATEST legal procedures regarding the adoption of our two thai children [ages 6 and 8] that i have been raising as my own for the last 5 yrs. Our 5yr marriage is legally registered with the wife's local amphor and i would like to give them my family name and later register them with my embassy and get them US passports for their future.

i've been told to start procedings thru the local amphor, the local municipal hall, and even bkk [that being my last choice, because i live in Chiang Mai].

I might mention that the oldest maintains his biological [deadbeat] father's name and the youngest has my wife's maiden name. my wife assumed my legal family name.

i've also gotten several different versions of what is required of me. one list had a total of 18 documents that i had to provide, most translated and noterised by my embassy [@ $30/stamp].

anyone out there that has actually done this recently, as i hear that there are new regulations that streamline the process from 2 yrs to less than 6 mo??

i love these two children as my own and i am 'papa' to them........just want to make it legal!!

Anyone know where I can get phone book Chiang Mai, white and yellow pages in english

Call 1188 for talking yellow pages in English

1188.....is that a free call or pay. been here 7 yrs and never heard of it. wife does most of my looking/translating in thai phone book, but even so, thais have a totally different way of organizing their reference books. takes her 10 minutes to find the simplest thing.

thanks for the tip!!

thankx alot you guys for the info [and banter]. i'll inform annette that someone out there is thinking about her. they are in and out alot, but mostly home in the morning and evening, so that is the best time to call.

aloha.....

Yea, thanks Larry for straghtning my location out.....seemed obvious when i posted on CM forum and mentioned bo sang/ doi saket.....or maybe i should have said 'bor sang /doy saket' instead. anyway, hopefully someone can help this poor old lady that is in distress over her pc.

My Brittish neighbors have a pc that has been in and out of the shop too many times and 'they' just can't get it fixed. crashes/ blue screen of death over and over again on their relatively new pc with windows xp. if there is anyone in the bo sang/doi saket area that can help them, please contact them directly [annette at 053-840-457] or me thru this forum.

thanks in advance.....

I'm trying to convince my 87 yr old father to come over to CM to recover and hopefully stay and am trying to find a competent, professional live in caregiver who has had some schooling or experience. he is recovering from a broken hip but in a couple of months time, he should be able to walk with a cane or walker. would prefer someone who speaks some english. does anyone out there know of any caregiver courses or schools in the CM area?? or could refer me to someone who could meet my requirements?? good pay and living conditions offered by me and my Thai/American family

I'm trying to convince my 87 yr old father to come over to CM to recover and hopefully stay and am trying to find a competent, professional live in caregiver who has had some schooling or experience. he is recovering from a broken hip but in a couple of months time, he should be able to walk with a cane or walker. would prefer someone who speaks some english. does anyone out there know of any caregiver courses or schools in the CM area?? or could refer me to someone who could meet my requirements?? good pay and living conditions offered by me and my Thai/American family.

For those interested in the 'sunlabob' units, i finally got a reply from my 2 or 3 inquiries sent a month ago. it is from a bkk company and as you can see the prices are quite a bit higher than estimated prices quoted earlier on this topic, but still less than local prices.

would appreciate any comments and if there are others interested, let's get together on a group order for discount. pm me if you are interested....

the following is what i received........

Dear Jack,

We are the Sunlabob dependence in Thailand. We got your enquiry referring solar heaters from Andy. Especially for this purpose we recommend the easy to install vacuum tube collectors with insulated storage tank in three different sizes as follows:

160 l Tank for up to 4 Person = 460 USD

200 l Tank for up to 6 Person = 540 USD

240 l Tank for up to 8 Person = 580 USD

Transportation would be about 700 THB per collector to Chiang Mai area.

For an order of 10 collectors and more, the price can be reduced by 10 %. Transportation costs are more economic for several units together.

Referring to your questions as follows:

1] weights of your various units **** 20 – 25 kg empty

2] can they be connected to water main line, or to water pump?? ***** yes, for the intake. Installed on the roof, no further pump is required.

3] is there a pressure relief valve to protect the unit? **** yes

4] our ground water [well] is quite hard and we do get a mineral [calcium?] build up...will that be a problem. **** yes, in the tank sometime, depending on the pH. It would be advisable to reduce calcium before intake.

5] and most importantly, price of unit [delivered to Chiang Mai] and cost of instalation?? **** The prices above are without installation. Installation can be done by our Lao Team. It would be economically, if several units would be installed almost the same time – reducing travel costs

If you would like to see the collector before buying, you could do so in Bangkok.

I hope, this offer attracts you.

Best regards

Magnus

ENVIMA (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

1023 TPS Building, 4th Floor

Pattanakarn Road, Suan Luang

Bangkok 10250

Tel: +66 2 717 8114

Fax: +66 2 717 8115

Mobile: +66 1 920 9708

http://www.envima.com and http://www.ggre-sea.com

Any agreements or information submitted by ENVIMA Co. Ltd. via e-mail are only binding if confirmed in writing

Thanks for the replies folks. Have to admit I'm surprised no one on this forum appears to have stayed up there. Perhaps after a visit I'll understand why.

Hey Andy,

I stayed up there about 3 yrs ago with my family and had a good time. First impression of the tourist trap shop/guest houses there turned me off and we were almost going to return down the hill, but went into the Royal compound and inquired about acomodation and much to our surprise, they had these nice bungalos with bath attached. clean, quiet and only 800bt. but i heard that the amari took over management, so you might want to call ahead to confirm that they don't have amari prices. good luck and let us know what you find out......

j

Me too, i'm still waiting for reply and even tried to call their number with no success. who-ever succeds in making contact should be cautious as we may be dealing with a 'fly by night' operation. judging from the response to this topic, there are quite a few others of us [up north] looking for the same item..... a reasonably priced, efficient, reliable solar water heater and we all know a little about the realities of the technology and know that it can be produced and instaled at a reasonable price, not the rip-off prices that the few comercial outlets in CM that mostly deal with overpriced old technology units and naive buyers that don't know the score. if nothing comes of this effort, i'll build my own unit as i once did for small bhatt and will share the simple technique and principals of solar water heating with this forum.

also bare in mind that we are living close to the equator [19degrees in CM] and don't really need super-efficiency that they need in the extreme latitudes.

but, i'm too old to be climbing up on the roof for instalation and can afford to hire someone to do the grunt work.

let's all stay in touch thru this forum and maybe somewone will come thru with a ready made unit at a fair price, instalation and guarantee......

keep on searching!!!!

Yea, i think it's a great idea as anyone who has been here a while should agree that the worse social plobrem that LOS has is alcohol abuse, especially with the 'masses' where alcohol is too cheap and available everywhere. what the powers should be cracking down on is the corner whiskey shop that you find in any moo ban all over the country. i've been here only 7 yrs, but have seen too many lives and families ruined because of alcohol abuse.

But, having said that....maybe the best way to tackle the plobrem is to TAX THE hel_l OUT OF BEER AND WHISKEY and wage war against the moonshiners, like 'HE' did against the drug plobrem......

my 2 bhatt.....

jd

And, i forgot the biggest eyesore and traffic mess that has existed for at least 7 yrs since i've been here.........Thapae road, where all the tourists get their first impression of CM.

I sent an inquiry off to SUNLABOB shortly after this thread was started and haven’t heard back from them yet either. Checked out their website which seems legit and have talked this up to a few friends in CM that are interested if we can get some info [prices, specs details etc]. Meanwhile we are checking out more direct connections with China and Maylasia which may reply. Keep me posted and I will do the same via this forum or p m me. Someone could make some money here, but I’ll just settle for a fair price and good product.

Hey, I've got a better idea!!!!

Why not just finish the projects that are almost at a standstill on the super-hiway, first ring road??? You know the ones that are slowing traffic and creating hazards with detours......

My experiences with Ram1 over the past 7 yrs have been mostly good, with fast, cheap, friendly service. I have learned to take any doctor [Asian and western alike] with a grain of salt and do the research myself, especially when it comes to drugs.....google it. retired here, I have resigned myself to the Thai medical system....where else in the world can you see a specialist for under $5 and actually not be rushed. and have all those beautiful nurses pampering you.

As far as medicine, even with their 10% discount card, you will pay much more than a local pharmacy on the 'outside', where you can discount up to 40%. Ram is famous for high drug costs!!

mobil69,

had a hard time PM-ing you, so i have to make this public, but hopefully something good will come out of it.....

thanks mob, i and a few friends would be extremely interested, if the price is right and some kind of warantee and hopefully instalation is available. i could do it myself, but would prefer to have the vendors do it so as not to cause any problems in the future re the warantee.

please keep me posted....

jd

Looks like the price in China [previously quoted at $120] has jumped a bit, but maybe not when you factor in shipping, customs and profit. I'm still interested and maybe can round up a few other friends and bring the price down more. but will they install and guarantee??? PM me if you want to discuss details.

thanks for your efforts.

jd

Yea, it's up and running, meaning you can play a few rounds. Did a drive thru last weekend and was quite impressed at how fast the development has developed. MONEY BUYS SPEED!!! very nice landscaping, lots to be done yet, but it is moving along. beautiful views over rolling hills and they are advertising 150 talang waa lots with 'lana style houses' starting at 5.8m bhatt. definately for the rich cats from bkk to come up for a quiet weekend of golf and ?? and if the 'proposed' mae-on airport does become a reality, then it will be only a 10 minute drive for them [in their benz].

also lots of other development in the area, probably friends of 'the boss'.

I'm posting this for a friend in need of some kind of marriage/ alcohol related counseling. it's a thai/falang marraige where the thai woman goes on these binge drunks and drinks until she pukes and passes out. it's devestating my falang friend, who doesn't understand 'sanook' [as his Thai wife describes it] their marriage will be on the rocks if they don't get some professional english/thai speaking counseling help. any recomendations or am i posting in the wrong area??

thanks in advance.......jd

Again.....thanks Bambi, you have given me some new hope for what i thought was a hopeless situation. you are not only beautiful, but smart as well............rare combo...

will keep you informed if you like.

JD

Thanks Bambi , for your quick reply. sorry, but i can't provide you with a decent foto of my lab at this time. her condition seems to be in remission having just gone thru the treatment [anti biotics, anti histamines and steroids]. her hair has grown back over the leision and she looks ok for now, but i know it will return within a couple of weeks if i don't keep the ubc dish around her neck. with the cone, she may be ok for a month, but she will eventually find some place on her neck to scratch until she bleeds then infection. the leisions mostly appear around her neck area, behind her ears. [she has also been checked for ear mites.]

i googled 'Malassezia' and learned a little about yeast infections. it's funny that none of the CM vets even suggested that, but it sounds like that could be her problem. i'll research that more and will try anything i can to cure her, but as you know, steroids can 'cure' anything for a while, but they weaken the dog and can make them crazy and unpredictable.

and yes....she does have flakey, scaley scalp and does stink one day after a wash

a couple of questions.....

so, are you a vet up here in CM?? or BKK??

and is that you in the foto......if so, wow!!

Yes, she was tested for sarcoptic mange by at least 3 vets and no parasites were found. also, she was given the anti flea, tic vaccine....so we can rule out mange as a cause. i've seen at least 5 vets here and all they can come up with is an [maybe] alergy of some kind, but my theory is that she simply is the product of inbreeding and will have this skin problem until the end. she is not a happy dog, and the meds [anti biotics, steroids etc] will stop working at some point, then she will suffer more. i just want to end her suffering.......

A year ago I bought a Labrador puppy from a local pet shop here in CM [which I will mention later in this posting] and she was cursed with skin problems from the start. In this last year, I have seen almost every vet in the CM area and no permenant cures. The best they can do is pump her full of antibiotics, anti histamines and steroids. Temporary fix and tens of thousands of bhatt in meds and dr’s visits. She has also spends 90% of her life with a plastic ubc dish collar on her neck to keep her from scratching herself bloody. I am truly at wit’s end and see that her quality of life is not up to standards.

In the west, we would ‘put her out of her misery’ with a simple injection, but here in this Buddhist country, it’s not that simple. So far…impossible to find a vet that will do the trick.

So, I would like to request if any one out there has any suggestions for either a cure to the skin problems or a vet [or private canine hitman?] for the ‘final’ solution.

For anyone shopping for a dog in the CM area, I would never recommend the shop that I got my labrador from as they and their breeding practices are the cause of this dog’s misery. I got her from the shop on the ground floor of Airport Plaza [named 'RAK SAK’ meaning love animals]. They also have a couple of other outlets, one on the super hiway between carefour and makro. Not very humane, ETHICAL or professional to breed [and sell] dogs that have been inbred as I’m sure my dog has been.