ChiangMaiFun

he has been a very lucky fella! yes he's lost a lot but he's 'gone' and he's avoided a prison term - I'm assuming he even avoided Court?

ignore this post - it may be incorrect - the fact is he is in the US - I assume he'll be blacklisted but an associate of his suggested maybe not - but this is probably wishful thinking - we await the facts

edit: new info

Bob is in the US according to a reliable source - but I cannot verify it

I have an LED 55 inch TV on my wall and now want to put it on the stand they supplied (which I have) but now I realise they took away the bracket that fits the TV to the stand (they probably took it away in the box).

Any ideas where I can buy one?

"I know people who knew Bob and they say he was short of cash"

"Word on the grapevine"

Mod's where are you

I didn't mention 'grapevine' I know ok? that's all I'm willing to say

Word on the grapevine is Bob has been deported and blacklisted already, no charges will be brought in the US. His wife has been released without charge also.

Sadly Spanky's will not be re-opening for business.

If that is true, then Bob is one hell of a lucky guy. I would imagine that freedom cost him dearly! That's good news about his wife as well.

If it's true Bob has been really lucky - he can't have bought his way out as Bob did not have any money. I guess he'll never be coming back so his marriage is shot I guess - what a foolish thing to do.

How do you know that Bob did not have any money?

I would say that his marriage is shot, yes.

Certainly it was foolish.

I know people who knew Bob and they say he was short of cash - anyway he 'may' have got away with it fairly lightly if this is true.

Word on the grapevine is Bob has been deported and blacklisted already, no charges will be brought in the US. His wife has been released without charge also.

Sadly Spanky's will not be re-opening for business.

If that is true, then Bob is one hell of a lucky guy. I would imagine that freedom cost him dearly! That's good news about his wife as well.

If it's true Bob has been really lucky - he can't have bought his way out as Bob did not have any money. I guess he'll never be coming back so his marriage is shot I guess - what a foolish thing to do.

Well, I don't think there are any bars anywhere that don't have PFP girls later on at night. It's perhaps about the percentage. Do however note that sometimes those women also just go for fun, not necessarily for professional reasons.

As recent as last Friday Fabrique didn't charge a cover charge to get in. High prices for beer though; perhaps the key is to bring in a bottle.

It's probably a good idea to start a glossary at this stage so we don't get caught up in jargon and abbreviations, and remain understandable to all:

PFP -- Personal Finance Planner.

haha yes I know - I actually go out to meet 'respectable' girls not 'professionals' and it's sometimes a disappointment when I think I'm doing really well with a nice gal and she 'reveals' she needs 'help' and 'support' or the family's Buffalo (no offence Winne) is sick *sigh*

Well, I don't think there are any bars anywhere that don't have PFP girls later on at night. It's perhaps about the percentage. Do however note that sometimes those women also just go for fun, not necessarily for professional reasons.

As recent as last Friday Fabrique didn't charge a cover charge to get in. High prices for beer though; perhaps the key is to bring in a bottle.

It's probably a good idea to start a glossary at this stage so we don't get caught up in jargon and abbreviations, and remain understandable to all:

PFP -- Personal Finance Planner.

I meant 'People For Pims' we were talking about 'respectable' right? tally ho!

I hear Hotshot mentioned an awful lot. Apparently many bar staff prefer it as an after hours place over Spicy. (primarily for legitimate reasons it seems, that it's more fun and less seedy.)

Another contender: Fabrique. (Not sure that's how it's spelled.. I see it written Fabric or Febric as well)

You may need to define 'working girl' however. Staff from tourist bars may well prefer different places to those gainfully employed at karaokes, restaurants and massage estabishments.

Fabrique is not on the list I believe - for farangs there's a charge to get in and many of us don't go there - it's also full of young Thai guys hugging a bottle of 100 Pipers between 10 of them so I'd be very surprised if any PFP girls went there - Hotshot I have come across a few from the bars in Loi Khroh so I'm guessing they are not there for the music. Spicy is streets ahead of anything else in the seedy stakes. I don't think there are ANY bars in the Nimman area that have PFP girls unless anyone can correct me?

Is all of this development in the Nimmen area increasing property prices or not? Three bars have no opened up right near me in my street in Nummen, and I feel as if it will hurt the property value since you can hear the noise from three different venues at some times. When are these places required to close? Some of them seem to "close" (sort of) around 12:30 AM, but the sometimes still have music. Sometimes loud music.

I believe its not - the noise is lowering prices - they have a great opportunity to make a swish area and pave some of Nimman and what do they do? blast everyone with loud music - if any buyers/renters come at night and hear that they leave.

These parents prefer their daughters to have unwanted pregnancies then?

My ex wife (Thai, 30) went to clubs around Nimanhemen with Thai girlfriends from time to time. I used to say that in the UK men often saw nightclubs etc as pick-up joints. She assured me that in Thailand it doesn't work that way. A group of women/girls/ladies can go out and have fun and that is quite normal. Monkey is apparently a favourite and I've forgotten the names of others.

Monkey is second only to Spicy as the after hours venue for working girls without a customer.

Not in any way respectable.

Tell me more. I'm surprised.

Having been to Monkey countless times I have never come across a working girl there - never. I understood 'Discovery' (I have not been) is second to Spicy for working girls? I guess I'll have to check it out for research purposes. What about Hotshot?

Exactly why does Thailand always reject outside help/moderation? like elections, for example, inviting skilled help would be an advantage and would impress many - to understand 'you don't have all the answers' is a gift not a weakness.

Retirement can be boring but I tend to split it up - I live in a house weekdays and a studio room in the city weekends - also I travel 3/4 times a years - often outside Thailand. It's lovely after those stressful years meeting deadlines all the time - to do 'nothing' is an art too! don't think too much when you're older you will crave the stillness.

They are NOT real BluRays but copied - don't be fooled by the Chinese packaging which is superb

skybreeze condo? probably the most popular condo in Chiang Mai (49% farang owned)

www.skybreezecondo.com

The noise is deafening - any chance of Nimman going 'upscale' has to deal with this problem first - from that huge area off canal road

No1 bar, as you keep telling us, it's totally respectable.

But how about the the live music and eating places near Chang Puak, about 5 places in the same soy.

drive around the moat, turn out at Chang Puak gate, first traffic lights turn left, drive until the TOPs signpost.

Just after passing the signpost on the right, big unpaved dirt path and parking area surrounded by Thai eating places with loads of live music.

No.1 bar? you mean the girls aren't PFP? I must have been dreaming

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I thought the only power of attorney to sell by holding a Usufruct, is if your wife dies and she has left you the house in her Thai will, which must then be sold within one year of inheritance by law.

As I said, I'm not certain, but this is my impression and I'd be happy to know otherwise.

No that's not quite right - well it's right if the person giving the Usufruct dies yes - but the Thai can sign a power of attorney to sell (i.e. to another Thai proxy) - that's no problem - so if you wanted to sell you find a Thai friend or agent and sign the property to them to sell for you - I would recommend a quality real estate agent to 'hold' it for you for a short time (the time it takes to transfer at the land office - you get the money obviously).

I live in Bavwangtan... Been using TOT for the past 3+ yrs... and no problem until about 4-5 months ago when I upgraded to 6Mb service (same cost as my previous 2Mb service, so why not, a promotional thing that only put me in a new annual contract). Before the upgrade the service was primo, no interruptions, and satisfactory speeds. Now TOT has recently throttled back those downloading torrents (which I have found a way to get around), and interruptions of service so bad it ticks me off (but those interruptions are really short in duration and are more of a nuisance.) DLing torrents using a 6mB service I can top off at approx 450Kb/s speed. I had a Thai friend call TOT months ago to ask about the repeated disruption of service and the reply he got was that they are doing some major upgrades to their entire CM system (I would guess for the increased speed people are wanting these days) and that is their reasoning for the service being intermittent at times. I figure, oh well, live with it for awhile and see what happens as Thais can be a little slow at completing something (for example the roadwork at the back way out of Banwangtan to hit the ring road.... been taking a long time and is still going).

BTW, as someone else pointed out, Banwangtan can be a nice place to live....only if we could get rid of all the dogs running around and barking constantly.

Yes it is a problem - but as much a farang as Thai - my next door neighbour has one of those stupid little yapping things (his wife is Thai) which barks at the slightest provocation - they go out and leave it to roam around. That's the problem no sense of respecting others peace and quiet - if the Thais didn't feed them they would disappear but it's not exclusive to Banwangtan!

Thanks both.

My wife spoke to Maxnet the other day and they said that Wang Tan is in their roll-out plans and they hope to have installed the necessary infrastructure within the next month or two. Whether this implies 'months of Sundays' is anyone's guess..!

Any updates? I've just bought a house in Ban Wang Tan and need internet

How does one buy a house or do you mean condominium?

Through a Thai with a lifetime Usufruct and a 'power of attorney' to sell

Deport him with no jail time and no possibility of returning. That would be punishment enough and would cost Thailand nothing.

These are not really hard drugs, but the quantities that he was arrested with are rather shocking.

I agree - but if he got deportation he's one hell of a lucky guy - I guess they would arrest him in the US? anyway what a risk he took

I must say I really like Ban Wang Tan - bit surprised at having to pay for the pool but it's a great, broad place and I love it (once I can find my way around)

Thanks both.

My wife spoke to Maxnet the other day and they said that Wang Tan is in their roll-out plans and they hope to have installed the necessary infrastructure within the next month or two. Whether this implies 'months of Sundays' is anyone's guess..!

Any updates? I've just bought a house in Ban Wang Tan and need internet