tyler2uk

I am pleased, it means my wage this month (paid in pounds to a Thai bank in baht) will increase by about 30k baht.

However do you make ends met tuky...

Only use the bike in Thailand for short journeys, anyone who has ever had an off will know what i mean, when in uk always full leathers and even then putting it over at 30mph will eat the arse out..

Two years ago in korat was heading down a small soi in the centre and this bus was heading our way, was on the back of a motocyle taxi and the guy pulled right over to the right as the bus left us no room at all. We were pushed right over to the right onto another bike who was hard to the wall and as the bus crawled past it caught the bike...

Wasnt until we pulled away again that i noticed this bloody awfull smell, wasnt until another few seconds that the pain kicked in and i realised my leg had been leaning on the other bike and had burnt my skin to a crisp

Moral of the story is...it dont matter how fast you are going, you can still get hurt

Have you got a manufacturer guarentee with the item?

And your point is cygnusx-1??????

Must of took a long time to write all that!

Chill out dude the weather is wonderful..

whilst on the subject of itchy balls (and not wanting to push this off topic)

It has reminded me i need to book up my next "sack and crack"

That's 3,000-4,000 Thai baht and not a typo? Wow, how generous! Lots of guys (Thai guys) can spend that much on one evening out with their friends.

Yes but there will be many more thais who cant actually afford to spend that much in an evening, most of the thais around where i am only earn 6,000-8,000bt per month...and yes i have seen many marriages thai-thai go for these amounts..

As i say i have also seen farang-thai marrages go for 30,000bt-40,000bt and some who dont pay a penny!!..

i payed 100,000bt. its up to other people what they pay...

Maybe as you stated it would be an insult offering such small amounts, well maybe these people just dont have the cash

I am sure everyone would like to offer large amounts of money, but the real truth is not everyone has big money..

I think some of you misunderstood my situation. I'm going to bring a fake cheque because they promised the money will be returned, so there is no need for a real cheque and no need to ever cash the cheque. I'm not trying to cheat them out of anything, nor will they be cheating me out of anything. We both know what's going on, but the guests don't.

I find this would be more insulting than anything, i mean you are now getting married to a person you are going to spend the rest of your life with and you seem to be more interseted in getting across the point that the cheque will be fake and you will get it all back...

so how you can be so judgemental of what a thai person offers is beyond me..

my balls are itchy

It's probably too late to back out.

She most likely announced to the entire village about the million on the way.

Major loss of face now if it does not happen.

We all know what can happen when they lose face and the neighbors start talking.

i agree with you skipper, If this guy has agreed to that amount and doesnt produce then there may be big problems ahead

I agree with you h90, unless there can be an explanation then it didnt happen..

The two account i gave highlight this, the thai guy with the face just could have been lucky and it sorted itself out and the thai copper may just have gone nuts or got something that just killed him.

My point is in each case is that thais automaticly think it is something else behind it all, i mean saying at this poor chaps funeral that he was cursed when maybe all it was was a brain tumor or something simular..

The older thais do have lots of storys yes but it is also interesting as when they all get together they cannot agree on what actually happened!!!!

We have a resevior near us and over the past few years about 8 kids have drowned in there..

Its deep, full of weed, and has mud on the bottom that you could loose a car in, the kids get drunk and go swimming and when the levels go down they walk in and try to get fish from the mud, its dangerous and to me its no wonder kids have trouble...

Then one day someone decided there is some sort of ghost in the water that is pulling people under!!!

Every single person believes it Many will not even walk past now for fear of being dragged in!!

Its the same with the cards, my missus believes every bit where in fact the predictions are so broad that they could fit anyones life..

In my eyes Thais are so easily guided and the more time i spend with them the less i believe anything other than reality is going on....

i paid 100,000bt.

gutted to see it all laying there before being took away, out of that her parents payed for a party all the beers etc...

i didnt get a penny back but on the flip side i didnt really ask..so i cant moan

Compared with what the costs of the party for about 200 and the grub would have been in the uk it is a small expense.

If you gal is asking for that amount you need to give it serious thought, thats a big amount..ive known of thai-thai going for 3-4000bt if any and ive seen thai-farang going for 30-40,000bt..

Its a tradition and they love a bit of face and having all that cash laid there would certainly do that..

Probably not as much though if there was a fake cheque on top

I find it really hard to believe anything that hasnt got an explanation but living up country this type of stuff is mentioned a lot..

A lad who lives close to us used to be thai police, seemed ok then one day he just turned wierd and started shouting at people. He was level headed before this but just went crazy. I personally thought he had just lost the plot but when speaking to the old lady next door to us she said he was cursed and would probably die without help

Next week the missus dragged me to sri sa ket to see a friend and when we came back this guy had died in his sleep (he was only about 29)

As we live right beside the temple we hear every funeral (which can go on for a couple of days) and as a rule if some one has died of aids or something simular it will not be mentioned as they do it all through loudspeakers..

When this guy had his funeral they just said he had a curse place on him and that is what took his life....very strange

another true story here, when me and missus are in the uk we are friendly with a thai guy who runs the local restaurant, he has been in the uk for about 10 years without going back. Anyway one day i pop in to see him and he says he feels ill in a bad way. I tell him to see a quack and to take it easy.

Next time i see him is about two months later and he has a small football size lump on his face and he looks really messed up, he goes on to tell me its some kind of tumor/cancer which is spreading and if it gets his brain he will be dead.

Not really knowing what to say he tells me he has to have an op within the next few days but he wont go because he needs to be near family (in thailand)..he didnt leave before because he was worried about his business

i tell him he is mad and he goes on to say that his g.p told him the flight would almost certainly kill him!! and that unless he had the op it would be curtains..

Anyway taking no advice he books a last minute flight and that is the last i see of him..

About 3 weeks later he turns up in town again looking like nothing is wrong, his face is ok and he looks shed loads better than before..

It turns out he went to some temple in thailand where this monk give him some sort of special blessing where they tip pales of special water with wierd fruits and spices in it down your back..

Apparently when he see his doc after he got back he said it was not possible,

I kid you not, i dont believe in anything that hasnt got an answer but after that young lad and this guy i does make me wonder..

If the girl in the opening post was in some sort of spell maybe i wouldn't believe it at face value but i reckon many thai people would....

Ive been in a house where a there was a cavity and to be honest i could tell no difference...

we didnt bother, we did however use a raised raft foundation and put vent bricks under this so air could flow under the house.

we also used gable end vents opposed to soffitt vents and put no insulation at ceiling level so the warm air can raise out of the rooms...

I personally think that if you can keep the warm air from building up in the roofspace then it wouldnt radiate down into your rooms. And the way to do that is let it escape..

We also used good shaded doors and windows and i probably think this helped a lot..

Even in the midday heat now we have no need for aircon...in fact we are thinking of taking it out..

living in issan is like living in laredo texas or fargo north dakota, why would anyone do it?

Living in a village in the middle of nowhere may be a challenge for some i agree, but there are some expats who prefer this life..you cut your own cloth.

I live just on the ouside of korat, 5 mins to the malls and 5 mins to the open fields..

Would i want to be anywhere else...no!

Why would i want to give up this stress free relaxed life for anywhere else..

Would i like to live in bangkok where the roads are a nightmare, shops are crowded, pollution is as bad as it can get and the cost of living is higher...err no thanks..

Issan is the real Thailand.

As maigo rightly said...

Quality of life is much better.

I reckon it will be a Germany-Brazil final with Brazil taking the win...

England will get knocked out in the semis

(edit...England will get knocked out in the semis ONLY if Mr Rooney is playing for the complete contest, if he pics up an injury before or during we are DOOMED, who can replace that talent?)

As you have missed the second largest province off the list i will have to vote other....

Nakhon Ratchasima

Thanks farangnoi, all advice helps...

Another reason as why she wants to live in Isaan for awhile is to do research on many small villages nearby on: Why and what make them successful as a community and how did they sustain their uniqueness throughout this past few decades. What’re some reasons why existing people are happy and didn’t want to emigrate to another place. And what’re also some reasons for others might want to immigrate there. Basically what makes a successful village

You are kidding

I can just imagine someone going to a village and asking why they are unique or why they dont emigrate.

Good luck.

Will own house and car out right. I don’t smoke or drink, no bar scene, can eat 80% thai foods + 20% farang foods, and don’t have any thai relatives to support.

Where in the same situation as that, the only difference is we do drink and we have about two or three meals out per week.

We easily get by on 30,000bt..normally less.

Its hard to put a figure on as everyone has different lifestyles.

Now if you have a house and a car, no kids and just want to get by (survive) then this figure will come down greatly.

I know of one guy who has a family with two kids and he swears he never spends more than 10,000bt a month,

Depends how you want to live.

But for me, to go to the city every second day, have a day out everyweek and a beer when i like will certainly be under 30,000bt. And this includes putting money aside for running the car.

Hope your sites work out for you Joklaweil but i fear you really will struggle..

If you were focused on say bkk, phucket, pattaya then no problems at all to build up a forum community...but korat

Now ive not spent as much time here as these other guys but what i have noticed is that many farangs come here because they dont want to interact like in other parts of Thailand..

For example if for instance i was to take a walk around either mall, tesco or big c the chances are if there is another farang there our paths will not cross eye contact will not be made and chit chat certainly will not be exchanged.

I have seen with my own eyes a farang with family in tow creeping around the isles in tescolotus just to avoid crossing paths..

Now dont get me wrong, each to thier own but it happens everywhere..now its not the case that i am going to go up to a stranger and blurt out my whole life story and bore anyone to death but this does happen.

I have seen a small gathering of German speaking guys who do meet in the Mall but the chances are if i walk past they will either stare as though the want to kill me or turn thier backs

What im trying to say here is if you are going to put effort and time into building up a community then think about who is going to join it..especially when at presnt TV offers an Issan forum..

Why dont i think the whole story has come out here....

Turns out the investigation wont be reported in full and the person doing the inquiry works there..

Very suspicious....source

He also said a top official of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) will stage the inquiry into his own organisation.

Good idea..

Corruption all around the world.

I had a suspicion the report would come out this way

Use light blue diamond brand tiles. get good gable end vents. and maybe fit soffitt vents in the overhang.

How many gable end vent and soffits depends on the roof you have of course.

don't put any insulation at ceilling level as you need heat that has risen to escape out of room and then out of the roof space.

Use reflective foil under the tiles and if you want to go the full hog you can wire each tile to the roof at the top to raise the lower edge so the heat can get out..(BUT this wont help with insects )

Also use raised raft foundations and fit vent bricks BELOW the foundation, a raised foundation will not rot and is equally strong (same as multi-story car park in design) this will allow air to flow under the house.

We now have a cool house and have no need for a A.C.

The trick is to allow the hot air that is trapped in the roofspace out because if you dont it will eventually radiate down on to you. good luck

Yes.

i think if you put your question before your statement you have answered your own question already

Poverty isnt everywhere in Thailand or even asia. But if you can have a better, cheaper life then why not!

5 min drive from cenral Korat and wouldn't want to be anywhere else

Wish I had ADSL...

Even on 2.2 Mbps its awfull..

Can normally stream anything but this has to buffer every 5 seconds which doesnt make it worth watching..

ive now let it run for 10 mins and probably seen about 30 seconds of footage.

Thanks for info Phibunmike...

I think im gonna go for the GPRS connection until i find out about the line and if we can get Adsl..

We are not far from a local internet cafe and it is so slow i just tend to go to the city...so im not thinking dial up is much good anyway...

Whatever way it will be a shock leaving lightning fast broadband in the uk...

Cheers