TheGhostWithin

RGS2001uk,

Thank you for that. I will be heading to Ayyuthaya, as I have never been there - my fiance will not take me, as she has been there and says it is too touristy for me. How exciting! Will post a report on this thread, as well as photos hopefully once I have been through if you follow this thread.

Expecting to pass through Ayyutaya some time between the 15th and 20th of July.

2 - Legal ways:

* Lease 30 years: Everybody has to know that you have NO garantee that the lease will be renewed after 30 years. After 30 years you may loose your good.

* Buy the land at the name of you thai wife, but if she is a prostitute, she will may ask 50% of the value of the house and leave.

Sorry Spellforce, but not totally correct... even IF she leave, YOU OWN NOTHING ... so forget the 50 percent. Same if your wife dies, property does not go to you, it goes straight to the family of your wife....except car etc, which is hopefully in your name BEFORE...after you will not have the chance to change the name in the book....same other way around, Thailaw

If you are not sure my fellow TV members, RENT is always kind of safer then buy.... YOU will NEVER own LAND in Thailand

If I a, not misunderstood, on the passing of a Thai spouse, the ownerahip of the property then lies with the foreign husband, for which he has a fixed periodmof time to sell the property. This often means Thais buying it off what they know to be a Farang looking to sell in a hurry, so the Thai buyer often gets very a very good purchase price.

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probably the reason for the double-standard is that Thailand is worried that since foreigners have more money than the average Thai, foreigners will wind up buying most of the countries land and most Thai's will end up having to rent from foreigners at higher rent prices than if the land was protected against foreign ownership, or buying land at higher prices.

Can you please explain to me why a Thai can buy land in the UK, but UK citizens can't buy land here?

"Will there be any land left for our Thai children?"

Rich Thais who already ownlarge swathes of land both in Thailand, and also in Australia, Uk, Usa, Canada and New Zealand are on average more wealthy than those tourists interested in purchasing a small piece of land for a garden and their own home.

The concern should be over both where the profits of the land will go (remain in the Thai economy or be remitted abroad) and if the purchase od lands by foreigners will affect food security.

It appears, that either the Thai government fears foreigners are more likely to remit profits to purhase luxury homes in the UK than rich Thais, or that rich farangs will hike the price of food denying some of the poorest access to a healthy diet.

In my opinion, the Rich families of Thailand are already doing what the Thai government is trying to prevent wealthy foreigners from doing (legally). Is this xenophobia or protectionism?

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we live in Suphanburi and gaeng som is a popular local dish so you can probably find it at points further north without probs...

I can't stand the shit meself and we almost got kicked out of our apartment in Abu Dhabi when the stink from the preparation pissed off the neighbors...

Ha ha, one could also complain about the locals food in Abu Dhabi! But that is another conversation all together - thanks for making me laugh.

Singburi sounds like it may be worth stopping by, I will be in nearby Lopburi so it will be worth it, I have a lot of time to explore and enjoy.

Thank you for your time and help.

Both towns are rather off the beaten track and both have some interesting aspects, but I'd say there is more going on in Maha Sarakham than Kalasin. This is mainly because Sarakham is a college town with a large number of students and a more lively feel about it. There are more restaurants, bars and shops. if you search you will find some old threads on both places.

The best hotels are Taksila in Maha Sarakham (nice but no pool)

http://www.taksilahotel.com/

and Rimpao in Kalasin (slightly run down but swimming pool and coyote dancers).

http://www.rimpaohotel.com/

When I'm in Thailand (about 3 months a year) I spend a lot of time in a village which is roughly halfway between the two towns - so I visit both.

Wonderful, so it sounds as though Maha Sarakham is the destination of choice. I will get my fiance to look through the Taksila website tonight, as there does not appear to be an English version and I do not read Thai.

Thanks so much for the advice. Really looking forward to seeing somewhere new and smelling the fresh air of Isaan again.

Hi RGS2001UK,

Thank you for the response. My partner is from Yala, so hence my craving for good Gaeng Som. I have a bit of a dislike for Bangkoks eating culture, which is gradually forming more of a western "snatch, grab and gulp on-the-run" culture, a little sad compared to the neumerous glasses of cha yen I used to consume with my friends passing the hours whilst eating kueay teaw moo on the sides of nameless streets. Thai eating culture is still in BKK, but not as fluid as it once was IMO. The world changes us all as time passes I guess.

I really would like to go up country, either north or north east, hence my wonder of where I would find good Gaeng Som in these parts. I have plans to head to Ubon, Surin, Roi Et, Khon Kaen, Loei, Phitsanulok, Chiang Mai and Lop Buri before re-gathering myself.

Hello Vegemite,

I have been to Isaan many times over the past 8 years, however predominantly Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Nong Khai.

Hi all,

I am going on a bit of a journey, and have a love of Gaeng Som. Though I will not be heading south on my adventure, my options are open virtually anywhere else.

Where does one find the best Gaeng Som Pla in Thailand? Corner stalls or restaurants, it does not bother me - I have a hard stomach and like it very spicy (true southern style).

Cheers

Hi all,

I have traveled a lot in Thailand, and speak Thai. I am very interested to visit new places that I have never been to, and as such am heading "off the beaten path" -- for most people.

Which is why I am here - to ask the people that have lived/resided in both Kalasin and Maha Sarakham, which is the best place to visit? I am looking at heading over from Roi Et (where a good friend and his family live), and making my way to Khon Kaen.

Which city is the best for me to visit? I prefer somewhere with a good healthy food market, where people are generally friendly to foreigners. I enjoy the people side of Thailand. Somewhere that would have some nice things to see would also be nice.

Please, take a moment to sell your case over to me. Hotel recommendations would also be very helpful, as it is new territory for me.

Thanks all, Hamish

Theblether, I completely agree with you, simply put, "who will police the police" - at least in Thailand the army to some degree ensures that the government does not get completely bias or out of control, though seemed less stringent on the democrat government. The system is broken and needs fixing, as will be said time and time again when the next round of debt ceiling talks come up in the US.

There needs to be an independent body, which can veto any act of government by initiating referendums should the public deem it important enough (through some sort of polling perhaps?) with the results being binding on the act or decision being debated.

I guess, this would create more socialist governments, but we have to decide, do we want a socialist government, a right wing government, or are we satisfied with the current state of Thai (and global) politics which caters to the highest paying bidder?

"Obviously, no experience is necessary for any government position, including that of government spokesperson and the deputies." - Why not? I am a believer that leaders must absolutely know the ins and outs of the sector they are leading.

If kids at McDonalds can have degrees, then grown leaders of factions of the Thai population should be equally over-qualified for their roles. At least some solid background experience (e.g. a minister of agriculture that has an agricultural banking and/or farm improvement background) would improve the efficiency of the government. By doing what it has always done, the government is acknowledging that the world has changed and that there is a new demand for greater efficiency in the world. however yet again (as they did prior to the Asian financial crisis) they will hide behind their capital, currency pegs and culture to avoid black swan events.

Please learn from your past, to grow your future. Get those kids out of McDonalds and into Parliament.. job swap perhaps?

"Obviously, no experience is necessary for any government position, including that of government spokesperson and the deputies." - Why not? I am a believer that leaders must absolutely know the ins and outs of the sector they are leading.

If kids at McDonalds can have degrees, then grown leaders of factions of the Thai population should be equally over-qualified for their roles. At least some solid background experience (e.g. a minister of agriculture that has an agricultural banking and/or farm improvement background) would improve the efficiency of the government. By doing what it has always done, the government is acknowledging that the world has changed and that there is a new demand for greater efficiency in the world, though yet again (as they did prior to the Asian financial crisis) the government is hiding behind its’ capital, currency pegs and cultural differences to the global population to avoid black swan events. This has proven multiple times to be a failing strategy.

Please learn from your past, to grow your future. Get those kids out of McDonalds and into Parliament.. Job-swap perhaps?

Reason for editing: correcting grammatical error(s)

Reason for editing: correcting gramatical error(s)

Does the Thai justice system (civil or criminal or both) allow for previous judgements to be made aware for the judge(s) to assist in establishing if the event did or was likely to take place?

If the system does cater for this situation, I would assume acquitting the named offender (and 27 others, who may or may not be linked to other tainted deals) would have an impact on the outcome of this case, simply by sheer momentum of the transfer of power back to T. Shinawatra? It would be interesting to see if they decide to mute previous judgements on an official level as to not affect the outcome of this case, acquit the accused of previous charges prior to the final judgement of this case (thus decreasing the chances he would be found guilty here) or uphold current charges, making it more likely that he would be found guilty.

This is Thai Politics, and considering we as foreigners are not allowed to take part at any level (god forbid if America had this policy combined with Thailand's permanent immigration polices), it does not bother me either way that things are handled. But it will be these background actions taken by the government and judicial system which will surely have a large impact in this case. We know that T. Shinawatra can and has attempted to influence individual cases in the past by political and financial influences.

Off topic a little, Who's is that ancient Jumbo at Udon Airport stood at the terminal??? was it a ONE TO GO, or an Orient Thai. will the owner be paying parking fees ??? Maybe it could be repaired at D.M....(it cannot be older than the Thai Airways Jumbo fleet.)

It belongs to, or belonged to, 1-2-Go, I remember seeing it, and seeing it, and seeing it, every year that I return, rusting a little more and a little more. Believe it or not, you could actually once read the logo on the rear dorsal wing.

Surely it could at least be used in training by the army for anti-terrorist activity, the fire department for hazard clean up, or some other constructive use? Oh well, they don't need the old, they have U D Town right? Ick!

The partner has flights booked to Hat Yai in July. The Airasia ticket simply states "Bangkok Airport" - she used to work at Suvarnabhumi, and the staff there know a change is coming but do not know when.

We travel in 3 weeks time, it is a huge hassle that there is no confirmation on the airport, as we want to book a hotel near to the airport and avoid Bangkok. I wonder if Thai Airasia know how much the rumors they are helping to create are costing them? I am sure non-Thais are thinking twice before booking.

Do your sums to most destinations, add 500 baht (the cost of travel in a taxi do DM) to the ticket price - I'm sure you will see only a few hundred baht difference in most cases between Thai Airways and Thai Airasia. This is the administrations way of bolstering domestic support for the national carrier which is backed and funded by the state, at the expense of private business (e.g. Nok Air, and curiously Bangkok Airways which has been declared a discount carrier by little miss Red Riding Hood).

Essentially giving TG an unfair advantage, being the only domestic carrier left at Suvarnabhumi. Nords and Americans won't waste their time traveling across town for a few dollars - only Thais would, as they are more price conscious. Another way to silently extract more money from tourists moving throughout the kingdom, so it seems. It would also double as an attack against Malaysian Airlines, which now consistently rates above Thai for performance, service and quality of travel (and are therefore the preferred full service carrier to TG) - MAS is a large shareholder of Airasia international, which set up Thai Airasia (a different company managed by the same body and sharing the same fleet and staff in some cases).

Government intervention to prevent free market competition is never productive nor profitable for the overall economy (only for selected individuals) in the long term. Anti-competitive big business such as which is suggested should be the way this deal should have been done would look very bad to anyone looking to invest in transit in the future in Thailand - something the country will continue to need far into the future, particularly with their goal of building a high speed route to Chiang Mai.

I met my girl through a dating site, which is no longer so popular but members would get together and have party nights, movies, or music at lumpini etc.

Udon is a different ball game, and it depends on a number of things - firstly, who are you?

You need to be realistic about who you are and what you have to offer. Are you younger, or older (young in Thailand is now 20-30 for foreigners, and getting younger every year for farang tourists)?

What is your job? This is a very important thing to many girls. This will be a major factor in finding a new GF, if that is what you really want.

What are you willing to give? In your past relationships did you take more than you gave to the relationship? If you did, you will not find a nice girl, really.

Girls in Udon will try all kinds of stuff from you, and the bad ones will find you first. You need to be straight with them, and even try writing down things she does that annoy you, to see if you can build a picture of her character - are you over reacting or is she something bad?

Ive met some really lovely ladies that work in the bars, some work in the bars between jobs. Don't judge girls there by their occupation, but rather their reaction if you asked them to stop and live with you at home - do they continue to treat you as a customer by making you pay when she is not working?

Understand, many ladies I have known (even friends) do not reveal their Thai husbands until months and months after I have known them, often I learn of their marriage through friends (I have a good network in Udon).

You need to look at yourself and understand what you want, before you try to find a girl and understand her. You wont meet a nice lady at Mr Tongs or The Office either, but you will meet fun ladies. Decide which is what you really want

Would it be of benefit to Thailand that in the presence of HM, no single person may bring in their political motivations and aspirations? Unity to me (as well as most dictionaries) is when people previously divided, accept differences and come together as a single movement for the greater good of the world around them.

With various factions of ALL political parties fighting and vying for power, whilst 111 previous members of an ousted party begin to jostle with members of the present government and some even murder each other (through proxies) and others set up entire villages supporting their movement with the ruthlessness only reminiscent of a system of control proven to fail whilst the present leader of the country is incoherent, out of touch and sees herself as so high that she does not need to attend important happenings such as this tour (which she should be, without question until the very end of the trip) and flies to Australia instead and still has yet to clarify exactly what happened at a hotel some months ago whilst she blatantly skipped internal government meetings, it is obvious that certain factions of all groups do not want unity.

Red Shirts standing in front of petrol tankers at Victory monument, Yellow Shirts blocking the airport, Crips in blue selling drugs on your street corner, or Russian Vors with star tattoos on their shoulders roaming the streets of Moscow, they are all symbols of a power used to gain absolute power over another group, rightly deserved or not. They are symbols of division, how can they work to achieve unification?

Hopefully this time, the government will not only promise, but actually deliver aid to those who have been affected, regardless of their social standing.

Hopefully the government is making good on its' promise to make Bangkok and surrounding areas flood safe too, as if they do not, insurance for flooding will become very expensive, as insurance companies learn they cannot trust government promises, and can only assume that flooding will come on a fairly regularly basis and make the price of home, business, vehicle and life insurance a very costly business. This is one way in which a government which does not make good on promises actually hurts its' people more than it helps them. Insurers are looking to take less risk these days, and with higher premiums this could be one other reason global business would rather go elsewhere.

Unless I am mistaken, the article does state Mr. Michael as the accused. I do not know him personally, he is not one of the many fun, happy and colorful characters I know in Udon. Though, his antics are commonplace with other fly by nighters that come and think they can do what they want in this small(er) city without repercussions. Not the first and sadly probably not the last.

Reason for edit: correcting my atrotious spelling via the tablet keyboard.

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Would Tang Toh Kang accept silver bullion as well? I am looking for a buyer in Thailand sometime in the next 1-2 years. Probably around November/December, there are a few market events which I want to play out before I sell. The amount of bullion is reasonable.

Are their prices in excess or at market values on bullion? Thanks

And its also full of Hookers and Ladyboys !

And Mr Tong and his staff, who never gave me any problems, but always made sure I made it home after a good night out. He does not choose his customers, they choose him. He is running a business, his objective is to make money. At least he has fun doing it. There is a reason he has had the same staff for years and years.. nasty people don't keep their staff for long.

bit of a university snob eh? Lot more to pricing than supply and demand mate...applicable perhaps with commodities and currency .. ..ask any sales and marketing type...

...suggest it is nothing to do with her education it is just the lady politicking ..think she did mention market forces ...so suggests that under all the flam she probably does know the score .......but that's not what the plebs want hear?

did not Harold Macmillan tell the Brits they never had it so good?

I should add, at this point, I stopped halfway through my university degree in accounting, because I earn more in my day job and night work, than I ever could in the frustrations of holding a degree and being an accountant. So no degree, I probably do not qualify to be in the "rank and order uniform stature" of today. But I believe (as previously mentioned by another) that leaders should lead by example, should have lost, but also should have the skills, cunning, and relentlessness to win when they have to - nice guys and girls don't win (especially in Thailand). Small amounts of price and supply are governed by sales strategies, but direction, and long term price trends are defined specifically by the supply of the product, and the price the customer is willing to pay for it - period.

As I once heard, and have always applied to Thailand, "the fish rots from the head", and until you understand that money is the only thing which can generate more money, more status, more position in Thailand, you will never understand what it takes for most Thais to show respect - it is not through the good deeds performed by that person, but how quickly they could be squashed by that person. This is reality for most Thais. Respect is commanded, not earnt, in Thailand, particularly in the ranks of the old Political guard of the Thai Rak Thai/PTP party - they are one in the same.

i would love to hear her lecture on economics.

wages are up, cost of goods are up, petrol is up but prices will fall

what university did she attend?

She attended a second class university which caters to those not able to get into one of the top tier universities but still wanting an education and a future - perfect for someone that is coming up the ranks to build a future, but not really suitable for someone coming from a financially and politically influential tyrannical clan. This has caused some to question what the reason for this selection of university was made, rather than something like Harvard in terms of her degree (economics if I recall, which Harvard excels at).

The laws of economics state that price equals demand, and that as demand falls so shall price. This can be negated by supply, of which supply equals price, and as supply falls so shall prices increase. So, Yingluck (and therefore the whole government) are stating that they are expecting either supply increases, or demand decreases to influence price - or that they intend on enforcing a price maximum (the maximum price of which the government will allow its' citizens to pay for a product or service). Price maximums rarely work in the current world environment, as black markets are quickly established to cover the shortfall in supply, until demand is completely or nearly completely satisfied.

It is very unlikely in my opinion (I spend most of my days analyzing economic, commodity and currency markets) that prices will fall, and if so, they will for a very short period of time. Consider her statement null and void - and a show of her lack of understanding of the subject of her degree from her second tier university.