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The first months, my LL rounded up the amount to the nearest 100 THB. After moving in on the 12th, an identical bill for the whole next month opened my eyes to the rip off.

 

Back home, no LL is allowed to charge about double the actual cost on utilities. 

 

With a battle for the SD (security deposit) coming up, I thought I'd ask you all 

 

Cheers!

... which cannot be topped up.

 

Just great!

 

Does anyone else have had this issue? 

Several bikers went down due to an old man cycling a Riksha style tricycle with a bench for passengers. 

It was dark and raining and the man had neither lights nor cats' eyes on his vehicle.

 

He disappeared pdq, as is customary.

 

You all have seen those "homemade" sidecars and countless older bikes without license plates?

 

Anything goes? Would this sum it up?

 

• Don't have a driving license / no insurance / no lights? Mai pen rai!
• The road-worthiness of a vehicle will be optional.
• These Rishas are a menace, causing lots of traffic jams in my small town.

Anyone can operate a public transport service? No need to have lights or cats' eyes, is that the law?

Just wondering as several bikers are nursing their injuries.

Can't fly to Bangkok for this... Does anyone know a notary in Chiang Mai with an official seal or some alternative which works? (I heard of an "online notary service")

 

Cheers!

No genuine business uses Western Union for payments. I tried to convince a woman in Mong Cai, Vietnam that her (unknown) relatives wouldn't be sending her a treasure "via London". 

 

It looks like the perp is shown sitting in the background with his hands cuffed? Enough said.

On 10/14/2016 at 3:35 PM, BruceMangosteen said:

Was just told, perhaps incorrectly as the source was "facebook", that Government offices will be closed for seven days starting with today. This included Government schools. They claimed it was an official announcement. However, a quick survey of Thai people indicated that was wrong. Some Government schools do in fact start the second term on October 17th, Monday. 

Huh? I worked today and haven't heard of any days off this week!! (At a tertiary institution run by the government)

On 10/3/2016 at 6:51 AM, allane said:

Yes, if you want a Work Permit, and/or your employer wants you to have one. If you want to complete the Thai Culture Course, so that you will not be dependent on two year waivers, you must not only have a university degree, but an education degree, to be allowed to that.

I know 2 people who circumvented the official rules. One has a degree from a university which no longer exists (he is very old). And to avoid hassle like Krusapha waivers, he seems to have taked the government employer into changing the job description. Voila, no TCT approval needed. And because of an O Visa, he won't show up at Immigration to report the job. (Not sure if that's illegal?)

 

#2 is a guy who never went to university, period. He's making 25 k up North, working for an agency. To protect a confidence, I won't say more. But there must be thousands like him!

First, you will need to find out the model #. SETTINGS is a good starting point.

Once you know the model, you can do a search on Ebay for special glass for your model. I bought 2 tablet computers with cracked screens and want to replace those as well.

 

In the mean time, you might cover the cracked glass with a plastic folie?

What's up, everybody?

 

I need a sim card for a tablet. Just for situations without wifi. 500 MB should suffice?

Apologies for asking a silly question, but you guys might know a deal and I'd rather ask than drive a long way to check the offers at a shopping mall.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Chris

@ OP, are you saying that some stranger ran at you, throwing punches? Was he foaming at the mouth? A psycho? A drunk? A schidzo?

Just wondering!

Why on earth would you let hired help or anyone overcharge you 80 Baht?!?

Get "sucker" tattooed on your forehead, in Thai. Sorry, that was a joke. - But I would treat it as a small issue and smile and still get it corrected. That would likely put an end to these shenanigans.

@1phish2phish

Well, I've handle recruitment for schools and received long-winded cover letters. Don't get me wrong, some were from highly motivated teachers. But knowing the HoD, they wouldn't make it. Truth be told, many won't bother reading applications. They skim.

Errm, can one buy mineral water in bulk? The local 7-11 doesn't carry MINERE's 6 liter bottle... Had leg cramps until

I switched to mineral water.

In the teaching forum is a thread about low salaries in Chiang Mai: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/917591-why-are-teaching-salaries-in-chiang-mai-so-low/ My friend keeps looking and I know of local schools who haven't managed to fill some vacancies. Lamphun anyone @ 25 k, contract till the end of February?

Well, many are drowning in debt. The other day, I bought a repossessed motorcycle. Someone failed to manage the payments of perhaps less than 2,000 Baht in the first few months.

Got a new car? Now work to pay for the car!

Folks on low incomes having Apple products.

But then, middle class Americaans are often in a precarious situation as well: http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/desperate-straits-the-secret-financial-crisis-of-middle-class-americans/

Well, the Spark losing about 16,000 Baht in its first year. While it's just 9,500 Baht more depreciation for an additional 10 years. 1,000 Baht a year is unreal. Wouldn't you agree?

Why is it unreal ?

Well, today I bought a 10 months old SPark (tax & insurance paid till 7/2017) with less than 4,800 km for 22 k. Compare that to 13.5 k for a Spark which is 10 years older.

Seems a lot of people get their financed bikes reposessed...

Well, the Spark losing about 16,000 Baht in its first year. While it's just 9,500 Baht more depreciation for an additional 10 years. 1,000 Baht a year is unreal. Wouldn't you agree?

Seconding others who feel sorry for your predicament.

I've met outstanding Thai teachers. And they were earning about 40% of what some guy from Ghana with a 540 TOEIC score was making (not counting the free house, while she was staying in some dorm in town). Bet her TOEIC score was >300 pointns higher. She was from Chula... Alas, national origin seems to answer who is good or bad.

That's so weird.

The other day, I came across an ad ruling out Blacks.

Care to share your experience last month?

Would you hand in your resignation n o w and hope for the best?

Schools want applicants to be available and in the country. Then you could say that you are here and able to start right away. (There has been a lot of openings one month after the start of the new term. And I know of desperate schools who haven't even advertised yet. With many never ever advertising on www.ajarn.com etc. )

Does your present job suck?

Won't you have to down shift your life style?

@Binden. Usually, there will be a notice period for changes to the contract.

Q: were you paid for those 3 months' holidays? Perhaps you will have to take the non-payment into account when you state that you have been earning "100 g". (An amount I can only dream of. And AFAIK, most chalkies here would be lusting after your main job @ 60 k).

You get, what you negotiate. I would bottle up emotions and strike a deal at a lower wage. The director may not want to lose you. And I doubt you would be able to find a similar deal anywhere!!

Don't rub it in - some are working full-time at 25 k. But then, there is more to a job than the salary. Location? Freedom? Paperwork like 7-page lesson plans?

There is something decidedly odd.

1. Yamaha Spark, new @ 38,800 (drum brake). @ 42,xxx with disk brake and perhaps some other upgrade
2. a 2015 model? @ 23,000
3. an 11 years old model with 54,000 km? @ 13,500
4. a very old Honda Dream? @9,800

Some people think buyers will be queuing for their used Honda Wave 110s @ 40,000.

A neighbor failed to rent his condo @ 18,000. Instead of adjusting the rent, he left it vacant for like 5 long years!

Surely, the dealers only buy at attractive prices. But today's visit at Chiang Mai's used bike market was not much different than looking at a car dealer's lot.

There are desperate calls from schools needing help with placing ads etc. And then there are teachers who cannot land a job? (I'm talking about the usual 25-30 k Baht government jobs)

How is this different this year versus previous years?

Many schools will start the coming Monday? Some want to save money by not advertising until early June

LostinIsaan posted a job but that hasn't worked out. Can we conclude that the market has improved for those who needn't worry about a TOEIC score of 600 etc.?

Why is the government rejecting all these eager buyers?

Even 40 million THB is a lot of rice. I think they should focus on selling and stop dreaming of "G2G" mega deals. As just another layer would be added, while some companies would be u s i n g the rice.

If Thai companies can make a profit as middle men, then this screams inefficiencies @ this ridiculous process. Henceforth, the taxpayers pay the price for pompous officials messing about. 25 year old traders would do a better job! Sell rice, collect the payment, move on to the next deal.

There is something really weird here. I've seen huge commercial buildings. 80% finished. Take the one opposite the Secretary of Defense's building.
Instead of completing the office building, they can recoup exactly nothing, nada. And the years go by... And with motorcycles, a 12 year old one with 54,000 km @ 13,500 THB while a 2 year old one with 11,000 km can be bought @ 23,000 THB. Which is the better deal?!???

TBH, I can't claim that my own interpretation of this article coincides with the author's intentions.

• Why use paper checks for high value payments? The rest of the world uses wire payments for a reason!
• The market works best - just allow it to work. (No, government committees and Byzantine rules and red tape is not needed. The only criteria should be a minimum quantity and passing the "screening" regarding the ability to pay for the rice.
• It's a perishable good, degrading by the year.
• The government works s l o w l y. Remember the 4 bn THB available to buy tablet computers for kids? They got the cash. Then the years went buy. All they ever procured were a few hundred tablets of questionable quality. But they spent countless millions mishandling that purchase. ** In the private sector, a company acting this way would go bust pdq, pretty darn quickly!!

Guys, do pay extra for EMS and tracking from abroad.

Something's up - after using the Thailand Post countless times, suddenly there is this spike in theft. A friend never had issues for 5 long years but now, several uninsured packages from Europe "disappeared" as well.

Can you confirm this bad trend?

Chris