sushi5734

I don't see a problem with having to show proof of insurance when you turn up at the airport, if you don't have any you buy it there, it would probably be expensive but as long as people have advance notice I don't see the problem.

I'm also surprised that its not a requirement for renewing a visa for expats, it should be.

If you work in a government school you can join the government health scheme for 750 baht a month, the school pays another 750 baht, this gives full access to all public hospitals. Why not implement something like this for retired expats starting at 18000 baht a year for full health care, raising according to age, pre existing conditions etc. seems very good value to me.

sushi5734, on 11 Mar 2013 - 15:56, said:

Does seem bizarre that Thais seem to look up to Adolf Hitler when it's fairly likely, he would have probably sent them to the gas chamber given half the chance. I've been into several rich Thai households with large portraits of the fuehrer hanging pride of place in the living room...I just don't get it =[yes strange, my neighbor put the german flag with swastica out, together with the Thai flag and the yellow one.

And he is a studied person....strange....

"sent them to the gas chamber" is a bit exaggerated. He thought the Germans are superior but he had no problems with Japanese, Tibet, North Indian, Croatians were Arian....He actually used the racism for populism, but everyone who supported him was immediately a good race. Russian and Serbian: Bad Slavic. Ukraine, Croatian good one. If Thais would have helped him, he would quickly find out that they are in fact a lost German tribe :-))))

I think even he would have found it a stretch to find the racial superiority in the mish mash of Thai genetics.

The Japanese did horrendous things in the Philippines and China, which if the Thais had resisted more, would no doubt have happened here. Thais are ethnically Chinese not since Aryan master race.

Not that Thailand has ever been occupied of course =P

Does seem bizarre that Thais seem to look up to Adolf Hitler when it's fairly likely, he would have probably sent them to the gas chamber given half the chance. I've been into several rich Thai households with large portraits of the fuehrer hanging pride of place in the living room...I just don't get it =[

It does seem absurd that the government says the maximum it can pay foreign teachers is 30k a month, yet you need a minimum of 40k a month for a marriage visa, because that's the minimum you need to support yourself and your wife.

It's completely reasonable that we should be able to support ourselves, why isn't that the same for a foreign woman married to a Thai man?!

@arthurwait you were right - did you end up buying one?

I like the V50 but it runs on benzene or I guess it must take E10 gasohol now that benzene is on the way out?

Actually I'm wrong it's the S60 that has a B and S spec, the V60 as you said is just one spec

B spec S60 1,899,000

S spec S60 2,169,000

V60 2,269,000

Something that may be of interest to someone, my local VW dealer (Korat) is selling the mark 6 golf GTI for 1.9 million baht, down from 2.6 million baht, strangely enough they don't seem to be doing the 1.4 tsi golf anymore, maybe they're getting ready for the mk 7?

I have a recent volvo brochure they have two versions of the v60 and s60, the S spec is the top of the range, the B spec lacks some of the safety kit, adaptive cruise control, the front radar passenger sensor etc. I couldn't find exact details as the Volvo website isn't great and I don't live near a dealership. I'll post a picture or details if I manage to find the brochure.

I did mine with my passport and work permit plus the ID of seller takes a few hours but fairly straight forward.

If you're rich enough to afford it, probably on your own private race track =P

Other than the safety aspect, the thing that attracts me to the s60/v60 is that they run on E85, which is just over 20 baht a litre at the moment, everything seems to be shifting towards gasohol based fuels, so I reckon (guessing) this has to be cheapest in the long run?

Haha Jesus wept they must have 3 workers in the factory!!

Ahh well that's a shame I really like the new mondeo.

I'm really struggling with my next car choice!

Apparently they will start making the mondeo in Vietnam in 2013 so those prices might fall considerably, as it should fall under the ASEAN free trade agreement. I had a mondeo 2.0 TDCi as a work car for a couple of years it was a really nice comfortable functional car a real work horse, a bit of plain perhaps but the new one looks beautiful. Looking at the whole ford range they all seem well equipped with safety extras airbags, curtains etc. I wish a few more manufactures would grow a conscience and add these standard features to their models, for me it's a massive selling point when I'm shopping for a car.

I've also been looking at the Volvo s60 / v60 they are lovely but it's 2.3 million baht for a v60 with decent spec :/

Is the ford mondeo confirmed for the Thai market? I really like look of that and if the ecoboost engines also make it over it will be very good alternative to the accord or Camry.

One thing that totally puzzles me is the lack of diesel engines across the range for all manufactures, I see the focus might be getting a diesel but the golf, civic, Mitsubishi all go for petrol engines with no diesel option.

The pajero seems to look completely different depending on which part of the world you are from, not sure about the triton. I think the front end of both the current triton/pajero in thailand is looking a little dated now but not sure I want them to bolt on the front of a lancer.

The fortuner needs a dam_n good overhaul, particularly the interior, very plasticky the clock looks like it came from a 1980's its supposed to be a premium suv and it certainly didn't feel like that, but I've been impressed with the design of some of the newer Toyota models, so they should get it right this time.

Unfortunately most Thai schools are not willing to put in the effort to properly recruit for foreign teachers, even less are willing to pay the appropriate wage. I keep on seeing job adverts asking for Native English speakers with a degree in education and experience paying 30k a month, what planet are they on!? Despite this many teachers here are committed to their work, but this is negated by the appallingly inadequate education system, which is completely unwilling to accept and advice or criticism .....in fact it's positively hostile towards it.

The awful truth is that most schools aren't really interested in putting in the effort, that is required to produce fluent or even vaguely competent English speakers, they only want to be seen to be doing something. Its the same as in every other field, which is why Thailand is going to be raped by more developed countries in ASEAN

In my experience the bad teachers are a minority but they do exist, some people come here to live a holiday lifestyle and can't do anything other than teach English.....badly, they generally p!ss all of their money up the wall every month and then complain about how badly they're paid!! I wouldn't want to make too much of a generalisation but most of these teachers end up teaching English to classes of 60 students, 1 hour a week per class, minimal preparation, personally that would drive me insane.

I have been treated with nothing other than the upmost respect and reverence by the parents and other members of the community, I work hard and I'm genuinely committed to the academic progress and welfare of my students, I don't go to school stinking of booze, I certainly don't drink and drive, I dress smartly and I try as best I can to act in a manner becoming of a teacher entrusted with the care of young children. As a result, I have a nice lifestyle, I have a new house, a car and money in the bank

I recently went a local hospital where several of the parents are doctors/surgeons, I was treated like royalty, to the point where I actually started to feel a bit embarrassed.

I like to let my hair down and have a few beers but I make sure it's well away from school and the kids and I make sure I'm not teaching the next day.

The ern6 was down 50k here in Korat a week or two ago as was the 250 ninja.

I think a lot of people are very wary of using cards to pay because absolutely nowhere checks the signatures for a debit or credit card purchase, most places give you the card back at the same time as they give you the slip to sign!!! I don't know if it's a case of not wanting to appear to question the customer and make them lose face or just laziness but it's just not done here at all!! Thailand has big problems with card fraud maybe if they did something about that, people would use cards to pay for more transactions.

I would recommend living elsewhere in Thailand less crime and you'll get much more for your money. I don't mind Pattaya for a visit but everyone I know that lives in Pattaya has been the victim of crime of some kind or another. One friend was broken into twice within a month, nearly every email from thaivisa involves the untimely death of a foreigner in Pattaya. Unfortunately tourist resorts will always attract large numbers of thieves, scammers and other criminals. A condo would offer the best security but not exactly ideal if you have kids or want a garden.

Yep I'd definitely want a solid guarantee on their installation, if it were a 5-10 year old car I wouldn't be quite so wary but taking a brand new 1.3 million baht car to them would make my bottom twitch quite a bit!!

It's all hypothetical at the moment as I've still not made up my mind what car I want to go for and I'm minded to wait until ASEAN shakes the car market up a bit!!

The problem with all of these fuel types is that they all seem to be reliant on one form of government subside or another and trying to predict what any government in this country is going to do is impossible!!

I was wondering if anyone on here has had a conversion done? I've just watched a video on YouTube by a company in Bangkok called hongtong gas who seemed to carry out a pretty professional conversion. I really like the pajero and according to the video they got 370 km from 772 bahts worth of gas just over 2 baht a km!! Obviously I'd prefer a factory installation but there doesn't seem to be anything available for the vehicles I like.

I'm trying to decide what car to go for next and the range of fuels available doesn't make things easy E85, E20, E10, LPG, ngv, cng, diesel, I'm bloody glad the petrol pumps aren't self service here it would take me 10 minutes to find the right fuel!!

I'd be interested to hear what experiences people's have had with LPG, regardless of car make and model.

I assume LPG is widely available?

Lots of people slagging ikea off here, but can anyone actually tell me where they can buy a decent comfortable sofa in Thailand for 15k with a 10 guarantee? I'd be very interested to know where!!

I've bought stuff from winner/concept in the past yes its cheap but it's absolutely awful you'll get 1-2 years out of their sofas if you're lucky and to top it off, awful customer service!!

I've bough quite a bit of ikea furniture over the years and I've had absolutely no problems!! We've recently bought quite a bit of furniture from Ikea and it's very good quality the sofas have a 10 year guarantee kitchens 25 years! yes they do sell some cheaper flimsy but they are dirt cheap and not really intended to last a lifetime. I looked in SB furniture at sofas for a comparison and the nearest to what ended up buying from ikea at 25k, was 80000฿ and when I asked about a guarantee the sales assistant looked at me with a blank expression, which changed to annoyance and sulking when I laboured the point!!

Yes I'm sure there are some very expensive import shops out there that sell fantastically expensive furniture, but you will not find anything in the same price range as Ikea that is anywhere near the quality for contemporary furniture.

The restaurant and food store are very good, now my freezer is full of meatballs!!

I agree the 100k rebate scheme is pushing car sales through the roof, people can't resist the deal yep it's 100k off which is a great deal but if you weren't going to buy a car in the first place and probably cant afford it, then you're not really saving money!!

I've lost count of the number of Thai friends and acquaintances who have really struggled to make their car payments, quite a few end up trying to get someone to 'rent' the car i.e. have use of the and make the payments until they can afford to again!! I'm no expert economist but I'd say Thailand's credit market is going to burst its bubble for all the same reasons it did in the west......Greed, lack of patience and Stupidity!!

It seems to me that the vast majority of men who come here exist almost exclusively within certain areas of Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok, they get a big ego boost from having a slim girl half their age on their arm, good luck to them I say but unfortunately their egos don't let them see it for what it is. I'm sure there are plenty of guys out there who have found happy marriages/relationships with bars but there are countless others who end up penniless going home with their tail between their legs.

There are plenty of educated, professional decent women out there who would love to meet a Foriegn man but they don't hang out in farang bars or on walking street and they're certainly not going to drop their knickers on a first date or probably even within the first 6 months!! They probably won't want to cook, clean and bring you chilled beer 24/7 like some kind of live in slave as they will have their own job...............in short they will be a normal woman!!

You are the expert bro... and apparently in your world, "normal women" don't put out until 6 months later?.. oh boy.

So many experts on Thai Visa on the subject of women. It is hard to keep up.

I didn't profess to be an expert just my opinion!!

The time frame was arbitrary I was merely pointing out that nice women aren't easy, I should have elaborated....most professional, educated, nice respectable Thai women are unlikely to put out just because you've bought them a few drinks. I've seen farangs approach professional English speaking friends of mine who have their own car, house and careers with beautiful pick up lines such as "how much to take you home!" or "how much bar fine? I pay!"

Most nice Thai women are very reserved initially and are unlikely to put out as quickly as a western woman and certainly aren't going to entertain a one night stand!

I know guys who've dated a woman for a few months and finished with the relationship because they weren't getting any, only to complain when the next girl cheats on them or tries to use them as a walking ATM!!

All I'm saying is that if someone is looking for a nice women, then maybe they look somewhere other than the red light areas of Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket and don't treat women like a piece of meat!

However if you're looking for a brass who keeps her fags and lighter in her cleavage and speaks English with American, British, German, Australian, Nigerian, French mix accent then........fill yer boots and your wallet!!

It seems to me that the vast majority of men who come here exist almost exclusively within certain areas of Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok, they get a big ego boost from having a slim girl half their age on their arm, good luck to them I say but unfortunately their egos don't let them see it for what it is. I'm sure there are plenty of guys out there who have found happy marriages/relationships with bars but there are countless others who end up penniless going home with their tail between their legs.

There are plenty of educated, professional decent women out there who would love to meet a Foriegn man but they don't hang out in farang bars or on walking street and they're certainly not going to drop their knickers on a first date or probably even within the first 6 months!! They probably won't want to cook, clean and bring you chilled beer 24/7 like some kind of live in slave as they will have their own job...............in short they will be a normal woman!!