AmeriThai

Miami Hotel on Soi 13, just off Sukhumvit, has a pool. Looks like they finally put up a website with some pics of the pool. Just sayin'.

http://www.thaimiami.com/en/index.html

Stable Lodge down on Soi 8 is pretty decent and also has a pool.

http://www.stablelodge.com/

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Here's to the best one ever!

Does it really take 5 hours? Lonely Planet says 6-7 hours.

Dutchscouser and LP's estimate is pretty close. Depending on the bus and how many stops it makes along the way, I seem to recall the trip takes around 7 hours or so. When we've traveled by bus, Suk to BKK, it seems like departure from downtown Sukhothsi was around 8:00 AM and pulls into BKK around 4:00 PM. I can't remember how long it takes to get to Sukhothai from BKK, but as I recall, going from Sukhothai to BKK, includes a brief stop at Phitsanolouk and another for lunch. We've also asked to be dropped off at the taxi stand along the highway by Ayutthaya, then take a tuk-tuk into town (Ayutthaya).

Hi AmeriThai

We are on the south side of the city. About a mile up from the start of the west side bypass. School is probably less than 10-minutes away and on to the Bangkok road in a couple of minutes.

Looks like we ate almost neighbours! When do you think you will be next back?

First impressions of Saraburi on our first quick visit was 'oh no' but now we are finding our way around I'm actually quite liking it. Quite a sleepy little place but has pretty much all you need. May have a different view if I was younger. Notso good if you are looking for nightclubs and bars.

Cheers

I'll send you a PM so as not to get the thread too far off track.

Hi AmeriThai,

Hope you are well.

As you can gather we are now well and truly on the ground here in Thailand. We've been here 5 or 6-weeks now most of which has been spent travelling around to get a feel for Central Thailand and as you know, find a school.

Thanks to information from TV and from your good self we were able to put a plan together in preparation for our search. We looked around Korat and visited a few schools but wasn't overly impressed. Next stop was Saraburi and once we visited SJMIS we made a decision and the rest of the plan went out of the window.

Found a house on the Saraburi bu-pass which is about 10 - 15-minutes from school and now just waiting on the arrival of our container so we can get moved in and settled.

Many thanks for your advice previously, it made a world of difference.

Cheers.

We're doing well. It sounds like things are looking up for you in terms of getting settled. What direction from Saraburi is your house located? On the south side? It's still going to be a bit of a haul to BKK, although plenty of people do it all the time. Still, considering you've found a good school for your daughter, Saraburi is a good compromise between BKK and Korat. Our place is on the NW side of Hinkong several kilometers south of the city of Saraburi and north of Nong Khae. We're looking forward to getting back over there before too long.

All the above is based on my personal recent experience. Our daughter is 9-years old and will start at SJMIS at the beginning of the next semester which is 17th January.

We have only been in Thailand about 5-weeks or so and originally wanted to settle in/around Korat. However, with schools with a proper 'English Program' being next to impossible to find outside of Bangkok we decided to settle in Saraburi purely because of this school.

Glad to hear you've decided on where to send your daughter for school. Your post above is very descriptive and helpful.

Some peaceful views of the ruins at Si Satchanalai Historical Park in the province of Sukhothai.

A photo of the cover band "Thai Beatles" at O'Reillys, and a brief YouTube clip of them doing "The Ballad of John and Yoko". They seem to be a pretty popular feature there and provide some enjoyable, nostalgic entertainment.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JufXpVVlF6RVq3ZFGEV8Rw

Speaking of ads, here's an interesting one for an "Anti-Cough Pill", although somehow the centipedes don't seem very enticing

(Found here)

http://www.alibaba.c...Cough_Pill.html

well they still must be available, my Thai wife brought (looks like) a years supply over with her to Australia. BTW ... they taste horrible

LOL! I wouldn't doubt it's pretty awful stuff to get down the gullet. I'm not sure how long this stuff has been available. The picture seems to suggest the founder dates back quite a while. I'm also not sure of the reason for the inclusion of centipedes on the packaging. That alone would be enough for me to avoid it.

We built a house in the province of Saraburi. We aren't there at the moment, and have a few relatives who stay there. They said there was plenty of water completely surrounding the property but it wasn't very deep. There's a small klong nearby. Fortunately, we had the foresight to have fill dirt brought in to raise the elevation before construction. Our house has remained high and dry. Not sure about the other neighbors though.

The wife says she needs to go in person with her ID card.

I'm moving this to general as it's not a visa question and you may get more responses there.

Correct , if she has any problem , get her to take some one who can vouch for her, that she lived in the village that she says she had. I had a simular problem and we solved it that way , also you may not be able to get her birth certificate from another province , because computer records only went back to about 1976, maybe they have changed now , hence a trip back to the place of birth.

Glad you mentioned that Thongkorn. My wife has no birth certificate because she was born at home in Sukhothai in 1950. When she was 8 or 9, her family moved to Saraburi province. When an occasion arose (for a visa) that required a record of birth, it was necessary to go to Sukhothai to obtain verification from people who knew her. Her mother, who I knew, was elderly, uneducated and couldn't remember the birth date. No one celebrates occasions like birthdays, and seldom had any need to know a date of birth, so the only date her mother could 'remember' was completely wrong. None of her brothers and sisters knew the date either. Both her mother and father have since passed away. Since she still has close relatives and longtime friends in Sukhothai, we stay in touch and visit with them from time to time. In this case, one of those people was a former school teacher who clearly remembered her and her family was able to provide a written statement which was then certified in lieu of an absent birth certificate. Evidently, this teacher had kept a record of all her former students. I'm not certain, but I think these days even home births are required be recorded with the provincial or district office within a reasonable period of time following the birth.

Evelyn Reinhardt's look at Thailand (Siam), mostly around BKK, in 1939

I saw a monk picking his nose (no offense). He was really digging for gold

I know it is a "cultural thing," but it seemed strange.

Same goes for seeing some lovely young thing stolling by who then proceeds to search for choice nose nuggets. I've never gawked long enough to see how those treasures are disposed of. Not sure I'd want to know.

^should try Narita - check out the smoking rooms, very hard to see people in it from the outside. Smoke galore.

Yeah, it does get pretty thick in the smoking rooms at Narita.

The big ear phones muffle all outside noise and you only hear what you want. They are great for those long flights as well. The ear phones will fit into the airlines speaker outlets. No more crying babies to annoy me when I want to watch a movie.

Thanks Ian. Good suggestion. As much as I try to ignore it, the constant din of the engines can also be a bit annoying, not to mention chatter and coughing of other passengers. I'm going to try one of those headsets on my next flight.

Just riding around on my motorbike for one day in Thailand is enough to provide a year's worth of adventure stories by North American standards.

Well said Ian. I agree there's seldom a dull moment to be found in Thailand.

I guess youre right... Ive never left home before so I asked the questions that seem most important to me.

Its not that I cant afford a fridge its that I reckoned I dont need one... I might be wrong in the hottest months.

Im not really bothered about safety because I felt safe in Bangkok. I saw the safety tips in the womens forum and one or two of them were about cultural differences like not sitting in the front of the taxi but most were common sense... I dont go out after dark in this country anyway.

I think you'll find you'll be wrong in every month:rolleyes:

I agree with you TM. Thailand has 3 seasons: Hot, Hotter & Hottest.

I would like to make two prediction which will not be refuted.

A. The sun will super nova

B. I won't be here when it does.

Sorry, but your first prediction is way off and clesrly wrong. The Sun doesn't have enough mass to explode as either a nova or a supernova. However, it'll eventually swell up, expelling its material with solar winds, possibly large enough to engulf the Earth. Whether it'll actually reach the orbit of Earth or not won't matter because it'll still render the planet into a barren, lifeless, uninhabitable rock before it gradually shrinks back down to become a white dwarf star. Fortunately though, long before the world becomes a celestial cinder, we'll all be gone.

http://www.universetoday.com/18795/will-the-sun-explode/

Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking? I'm going to start buying up land in Saraburi immediately. On that 7th year I'll be sittin' on beachfront property!

We've got some land in the province of Saraburi. Hadn't thought about it as beachfront property though. Hmmm. Might need to think about stocking up on beach umbrellas, inner tubes and banana boats.

Since the OP's gf likes "immature stuff", the Hello Kitty watch may be the best alternative, or maybe something featuring one of various anime characters. How about a Hello Kitty themed throw pillow, skimpy nightwear, or a wall clock? If something of gold is a 'must', then how about a pair of gold Hello Kitty earrings?

If the OP has been in LOS for a year or longer, I find it difficult to imagine he's unaware of where to find gold shops in BKK or anywhere else for that matter. If he's worried about scams, then go to one at an upscale mall.

The twice daily MK staff dance

Needs to be seen to be believed. Would be classed as a crime against humanity in the West. Thai diners pretend nothing's happening while I don't know whether to die from laughter, pity or pure shame to be watching it from outside.

Where was that located? A few years ago, we went to a restaurant where they did the same thing. I can't recall the name of the restaurant, but it was located in one of the Malls north of BKK, possibly Future Park. My son-in-law said it happens on a regular basis. I think the dancing lasted about 5 minutes or so.

Theres quite a few other restaurants and things in the area that are probably just surviving. A couple of five star Hotel which probably cater for all the peoples needs. There are a few developments happening on the other side of the river in Laos. Shopping complex maybe, but defo a casino or two.

Maybe when the new road opens via Chiang Khong to Loas and then China , it'll bring more Visitors. I'm sceptical.

Its a travesty to see such a beautiful building wasted. The place must have cost a fortune considering all the wood.

There are many, many others scattered around Thailand though as Scea points out.

maybe it wasn't such a foolish venture, maybe people just needed to spend some money for whatever reason

It's pretty amazing to build such a fine structure only to leave it empty and unused. You're right about the wood, and a lot of fine detailing as well. I've also seen plenty of empty building around Thailand. I suspect the shopping complex was planned to do well, but ended up failing from the get-go. I'm not familiar with the area, but I can't help but wonder if the location was unsuitable to attract typical mall-type businesses.

Another victim of the financial collapse/economic meltdown of a few years back.

Travellers to Chiang Mai from here will see a number of abandoned projects around the hot springs area.

I'd say that they were repossessed by financial institutions who have never worked out what to do with them.

I was told that in many cases the original company ownership is that convoluted no one really knows who they belonged to.

Not sure when it was built, but yes, the financial crunch of 96-97 might have contributed to it's failure. I'd also guess it's location might have been another factor. It's a shame to allow such an amazing building go to waste. But you're right, that sort of thing happened. I remember a few years ago in the outskirts of Bangkok seeing a few brand new high-rises, condos I think, that were completely empty.

Ah. Thats the place close to the River north of Chiang Sean and just short of the Golden Triangle.

Last time I looked I'm sure I saw activity there but its not being used for the original purpose. Maybe an import/export business.

Someone else will know for sure .

Its more a 'white Elephant' than 5 Elephants I suspect unfortunately.

Beautiful Building, what a waste

Thanks jubby. You're right, it's located right next to the river. I first came across the photo album a couple of years ago and wondered if anything has happened to the place. I can imagine an import/export business would make a good addition. From the looks of the space, it looks like a couple of restaurants would fit in, and any number of other shops. I agree, it's a stunning building.

I came across an interesting online photo album featuring the Five Chiang Shopping Complex, located at Sop Ruak, Chiang Rai. The photo collection dates back 6 years ago (2004) The new building looks excellent, but remained vacant and never opened. At the time, it was assumed it was out of the way too much to attract any businesses. Anyone know about this place? Did it ever open? Still standing? Converted to some other use? Or has it been demolished?

http://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?locid=22404&galid=14148