Just1Voice

I agree with all the above, and would only add that you learn to truly appreciate the Thai people. Despite the government and all their turmoils, the people themselves are warm, friendly and very accepting, especially to those who treat them the same, and who they see are trying to learn their language. My Thai language skills are limited for now (but improve daily), but you would be amazed at the difference it makes when you can speak even a little Thai, and show a touch of humility and respect when talking to them. It will also get you better prices on things in many of the markets that tourists frequent.

I live about 18k to the east of the city itself (on the way to San Kamphang), and I love it here, as does every other foreigner I know. If you need help finding someplace to live, or want to know where to get the best deals on things, send me a PM and my wife & I will be happy to help you.

Sure, I know what you mean. See what the translation company says. If you'd like, I can provide you with a list of Thai publishers who frequently publish translations of foreign literature. That way you could send them manuscripts. There are hundreds of publishers, but a list of the ones commonly in this business is another option to start from.

Thanks, Rikker, that would be appreciated. I got a response from one company in BKK. 400,000 baht just to translate it. That's a tad bit more than I am willing or prepared to pay.

You can send me an email or PM with the list and I'll start working on that. Fortunately, I have the entire manuscript on computer (as well as backups), so I can send it that way.

Thanks

The novel in already in print and available for sale in the U.S., as well as online, but understanding that if I hope to have any sales here in Thailand, the book has to be available in Thai as well as English. My Thai step-son, who teaches advanced Thai language on the university level, talked to me about this and stated that a "word for word" translation is not what is needed, and that the translator must be able to also translate the "feeling" of the words, otherwise the book would die from boredom. He's right.

I have been directed to a company in BKK that specializes only in English/Thai translations, interpreters, etc, and have contacted them, sending them a copy of the manuscript for perusal and pricing.

What some may find strange is that this is not about the potential money I could make from sales here in Thailand, but more about a sense of pride for my family. I think can best be understood by the comment my wife made to me last night as we went to bed. She said that Peter, her son, told her he would be so proud to be able to go into a book store, point to my novel and tell his friends: "This is one of my Pah's novels". And yesterday my wife took my advance copy around to show all our neighbors, with a grin plastered on her face that an electric hand sander couldn't have removed. It's not about money, it's about family and the pride they can get from it.

Ok, folks, here's the deal. I just received my advanced copy of my sci-fi novel from my publisher. And, yeah, I feel like a proud pappa, but I think that's allowed.

What I would like to find is someone who could translate it from English to Thai. This would require that the person be FLUENT in English due to some of the scientific and technical terms in the book, so your average translator is of no use to me.

If anyone knows of someone like this, or where I could find someone of this caliber, I would definitely appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks.

Ok, let’s see.

1) Blatant double-tiered pricing.

2) Rip-offs starting from the moment you arrive at the airport with the metered taxi drivers refusing to use their meters, and quoting prices that are 2-3 times higher than what it should cost.

3) No recourse to go to the airport police, because they are in on it.

4) You can’t walk the beaches at night for fear of being mugged, raped and/or killed.

5) You can’t walk down the street with your family without being propositioned by sex workers, or hassled by those trying to sell you illegal/counterfeit good.

6) Cut the tourist visa from 30 days to 15, but raise the price.

7) Hold 300,000 travelers hostage at the airport, and call it fun.

8) Proclaim to the world that “equal justice” will be the norm, but fail to put on trial anyone in Yellow who was part of that takeover.

9) Declare to the world that no boat people were ever mistreated, despite the fact that there were pictures of it in every major international news paper in the world, but later claim that “maybe something like that happened”.

10) Completely absolve those involved in the killing of 78 protestors.

11) Disallow a foreigner to own even 1 rai of land to have a house on, and then state that foreigners who buy property through the LEGAL SPOUSE can have it confiscated by the state.

12) Hold responsible any foreigner involved in an accident or dispute, despite clear evidence to the opposite.

13) Instead of lowering prices to encourage travelers on Thai Air, raise the prices on those who still use the airlines to make up the difference.

14) And whenever anything goes wrong, blame the foreigners.

Yeah, and they scratch their heads and wonder why tourism is down in Thailand, but is actually up in Vietnam and Malaysia.

Ok, after reading the responses from everyone, I hopped on the bike and drove down to the local immigration office and read the posting that says it's a max of 5,000 baht fine, plus 200 baht a day for not reporting. I did some quick math and pretty much swore all the way home.

But once back home I told my wife to call the Immigration Officer who came to our house initially to verify residence, etc, as he had told her that if she ever had a problem or needed anything, to call him. She calls and explains to him that no one had told me about the 90 day reporting and he told her DO NOT go to Immigration and speak to them, as they would hit me with 2,000 baht a day, but to meet him at the office across the street this morning.

When we got there, he was telling the head man that my wife was his sister, and that someone had probably just forgotten to tell me about the 90 day reporting, as it was very busy the day I got my extension, and that I was a good man, good husband and good father, and shouldn't be punished because of a small error.

The guy bought the story, called across the street and told them to change the information in the computers so there wouldn't be any problems later on, and to issue me a new 90 day permit. Me and wife went back across the street, gave them the passport and less than 5 minutes later we had it back with the proper paperwork.

All that's good, but I want to say THANKS to all of you who were quick to point this out to me, otherwise it could have created some major headaches later on.

Hi just to post a warning about what to expect when you get rid of thieving staff

An senior Englishman who I know ,that lives up at Lake Mabprachan had an ex-employee attack his live in TGF and then he was also attacked.

the injuries sustained by the Thai lady in question were severe to say the least a 3 day coma and so far a week long hospital visit where she is still under care

The farang suffered an 8" gash to his forearm.

The suspect being much taller than the average Thai by a long way(6') and also much broader, is 99.9% certain to be an ex-employee that was employed as a gardener that unfortunately has settled in the local area (less than 700 metres away!)and has been hassling the senior citizen from the moment the employment ended.

**personal details removed***

BE WARNED THESE ARE NOT NICE PEOPLE AND THEY WILL ATTACK YOU IF YOU EMPLOY THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IS IT WORTH RISKING YOUR LIFE EMPLOYING THESE SCUM!

This sounds like another post I read where a very large Thai male was seen on 2 occasions beating the hel_l out of smaller farang. I wonder if it's the same guy?

Lived in Phoenix before moving here, and to me the weather is about the same. Only wore a windbreaker a few times during the day, but you will definitely need a warmer coat at night if you're on a motorbike. I usually went with a windbreaker with a sweater underneath and was fine. I always laugh at the Thai who are running around wearing heavy quilted parkas.

Humm, ok, this is interesting. It's too late to day to go to Immigration, so I'll go first thing in the morning, but I swear when they gave me the Non-O Marriage Visa, NOTHING was said about reporting every 90 days. My wife was there with me and they would have told her. The ONLY thing that was said was "See you December 3", and that was it.

Well, guess it's off to Immigration tomorrow and see what happens.

Thanks Guys.

Curious...what are the differences in the "new model" CBR? I have been looking/contempating buying a new CBR (have one already and like it) and asked the question about new model being released and the answer was no?? That was about 2/3 weeks ago.

From what I was able to understand through my wife's translation, which wasn't the best, the new model gets better gas mileage, and that the somehow "tweeked" it to get a little better performance out of it. But don't quote me on this. But the dealer where I bought mine wasn't the only one who told me to hold off and wait for the new model, which they said would be "better", but were unable to explain why. All I know is that I love this one and plan to keep it for a long time. I also thoroughly recommend it as "the bike" for Thailand. Small enough to weave in and out of traffic, but big enough, and powerful enough, to pucker your back side when you're on the highway and twist the throttle and see how brave you are.

I live in Chiang Mai, am married to a Thai, I'm 60, surpass the minimum income requirements, and have a Non-0 Marriage Visa. Immigration office here is C.M. is very helpful, and once it was approved, they smiled and told me "See you December 3".

I actually prefer the marriage visa as there's no "reporting every 90 days" as there is with a retirement visa. Do it once a year and that's it.

Pictures please

Here you go.

The CBR looks good with the matching helmet, except for the totally fruity looking box on the back. Don't get me wrong, I understand the purpose of it, but I think I would always choose to use some soft saddle bags or a backpack before I would ever bruise the otherwise great looks of the CBR with something so,...so..ugly, to put it nicely.

Somebody had to tell you. I'm sure you were wondering if anybody would say anything. Now I've said what you already knew.

Your argument in support of the Airblade and especially based on the color scheme, I don't get it. Doesn't stand out to me the same way.

I bet that Yamaha X1R was a good little ride with some advantages over the CBR. Like the seat and lower profile, as well as the more upright seating position.

The new Yamaha Nouvo Elegance seems to be a superior scooter all around to me. With maybe the exception of the lack of fuel injection. Which should be rectified soon enough. For my stronger ride I think I will opt for the new Tiger 250 RS, and the New Nouvo Elegance possibly as well.

So many nice little bikes. Somehow I have a feeling I will end up with several of them once I have a place to keep them.

With all that said, I am a Honda lover. They just got beat out for my top choices this time around.

I respect your opinion, but should let you know that you're in a minority of 1 in regards to the box on the back. Yeah, I had some reservations about it at first, but everyone who has seen it up close loves it and thinks it's a great idea, INCLUDING the police in BoSang, who said they are going to talk to their supervisor about getting boxes put on the back of their new CBR's.

As for the Air Blade, yeah, the Elegance is faster, but in my opinion the Air Blade has a better ride, especially on bumps. Basically that's my wife's bike, but when we go someplace together we usually take it (or the car if it's raining), as the seat is more comfortable for her than the CBR. And I've yet to see an Elegance with a paint scheme that even comes close to looking as good as the Air Blade.

The X1R was, and is, a great little bike. My son loves it. But let's face it, it really can't compare to the CBR when it comes to performance.

I bought both a new Air Blade with F/I and a new CBR 150 at the dealer on Mahidol Rd. What surprised me is that the CBR I was looking at was last year's model and the sales rep actually told me I should wait for the new model, which would be out in about a month, as it had some improvements over the one I was looking at. We bought the Air Blade and 2 weeks later he called at 8:30 in the morning to tell my wife they just got a new black one in, if I was still interested. I was. We went, I loved it and bought it on the spot. I have a feeling that because I paid cash for both, they threw in a bunch of "freebies" for both bikes that would have cost a couple of thousand baht if I had bought them separately. I've added boxes on the back of both, as well a some dragon decals, so both of them stand out from anything else around.

Anyway, my suggestion is that you go there and talk to them about helping find a used one. But make sure you can speak Thai, or take someone with you who can translate, because they don't speak English.

I had opened a joint account with my wife, and for about 3 months the direct deposits from VA and SS were not a problem. Then I received a phone call from my local branch and was asked to come see them. At that time they explained the "deposit only" account, with no internet access, no ATM card, and personal appearance. I thought it was stupid, but they explained that those were the "conditions" set by the U.S. Gvt. I came home and contacted the VA, and sure enough, that's the way it is.

There is an exception to the rule of you appearing in person each month, though. If you are sick, or hospitalized, notify the bank and they will actually send someone from the bank to verify it, as well as bring the withdraw/deposit forms for you to sign. While I don't like the system, I can see the reasons for it, and the people at my local branch are very accommodating and friendly, and seem to go out of their way to help in any way they can.

Pictures please

Here you go.

One option you might want to consider is something I mentioned in my original post, and that's the Yamaha X1R. 135cc, clutch, and will run circles around both the Air Blade and the Elegance. And while this is more in line with a "sport bike", the ride is very good, although you do notice the bumps a little more due to the stiffer suspension.

I've included a "stock" photo, which is identical to the one I had, then gave my wife's son. The only difference is that I added a box to the back for storage.

Cant run circles with a beer in my left hand anyway. Thats why it needs to be auto

Yeah, that's real smart thing to do on a motorbike. Do you also have a sign somewhere on it that says "Run over me cause I'm stupid!" ???

Once you learn how to ride and shift, you'll love the CBR. I have a brand new one and wouldn't trade it for any other bike made. But, to keep the wife happy, I also bought her a new Air Blade, which she loves, so we're both happy.

- Last year we traded my wife's older Yamaha Elegance for the Yamaha 135cc X1R, which was fun to ride. But a couple of months ago I bought a brand new Air Blade for my wife with the red/white "Phoenix" paint scheme. Beautiful bike, and a good one for her, or when the two of us want to go someplace. Even with both of us on it, we can still cruse at 100 kph without trouble. A week later I bought a brand new Honda CBR 150 for myself. Wife loves it, but isn't crazy about riding the pillion because it's narrow and hard on her cute little butt. As for me, I love it! I'm only 5'9", and 150 lbs, so it's a perfect "fit" for me. Extremely fast, great at passing slower traffic, even when I'm already doing 100 kph, and very comfortable. It will weave in/out of city traffic almost as easy as the Air Blade, but really comes into it's own once you hit the highway and twist the throttle.

If you know where the Kad Suan Keaw Mall is. Just east of it, passed the stoplight on the left side of the street (Manee Nopparat) you'll find Computer City. It's a large building with a number of individual sales & repair shops inside. If nothing there satisfies you, just walk a little farther east and there are two more major computer sales centers. This is where I go to buy any new computer I need, as well as repairs, upgrades, software, etc. There is a bit of a language problem as very few speak any English, so if you can take someone with you who can translate, you'll be able to get pretty much whatever you want or need.

One option you might want to consider is something I mentioned in my original post, and that's the Yamaha X1R. 135cc, clutch, and will run circles around both the Air Blade and the Elegance. And while this is more in line with a "sport bike", the ride is very good, although you do notice the bumps a little more due to the stiffer suspension.

I've included a "stock" photo, which is identical to the one I had, then gave my wife's son. The only difference is that I added a box to the back for storage.

My neighbor needs to rent out a 10-year old house he just bought. We're about 10 km east of the superhighway, near Bosang and Sankampaeng. Modern home, western style, in big walled and gated lot. Three toilets; two with hot water and air cons in the bedroom. Small, tiled indoor kitcen with big covered area for Thai cooking. Maybe 220 sq. meters inside. Owner will partially furnish at tenant's request.

I think 25K baht/month is high and 12K is too low,

There seems to be a huge amount of properties up for rent/sale in CM since the financial crisis struck so it might not be that easy to rent - I'd put it on the market for around 20k but open to negotiation.

This house in Thanaporn Lake Homes by any chance?

I've lived in Chiang Mai for about 2 years now and love it here. My wife & I have a very nice home east of the city near BoSang in a relatively new development. I have told all my friend back in the states that if they want to come to Thailand, come to C.M. Bangkok is nothing more than an Asian version of N.Y., Chicago, and L.A. The "tourist spots" such as Phuket, etc., are overpriced, overdone and basically ripoffs, and if they want to truly experience Thailand, the only place to come is C.M.

Welcome to the jewel of Thailand

I'm considering purchasing either a Honda Airblade or a Yamaha Nouvo Elegance (135). I decided to rent each bike for 2 days and see which I preferred. It might seem obvious that the more expensive Nouvo with a significantly larger engine would run away with it. The results were closer than I expected. If I were buying a new bike, no question I'd pay the extra for the Nouvo. However, I can get a "full spec" second hand Airblade with only 2,600 Km and a 2 year warranty from a reputable shop for 40,000 baht. That makes the Yamaha with mags about 15,000 baht more expensive. Thus the reason for my comparison. I'm not a professional rider or reviewer. Most of what I'm putting here is just my opinion. It is also important to note that both bikes were rentals. They both had about 5,300 Km, but I have no idea when they were last serviced.

There is already a thread (112156) comparing the Airblade to the Nouvo with a 115cc engine, but it has little information on the 135cc model and has gotten off topic.

Here is a link with information about the Airblade: http://www.aphonda.co.th/2006/promotion/page85.asp?id=758. I can't find any good Nouvo information in English, but even if you can't read Thai you can check out the pictures here: http://www.yamaha-motor.co.th/Product/?ProductID=62.

Performance - Yamaha

Obviously the Nouvo with a 135cc engine is going to outperform the 108cc engine in the Honda. They are both water cooled. The funny thing is, though, the difference wasn't as much as I expected. The Airblade easily hit 90 Km/hr and some. The Nouvo easily made 100 Km/hr before I backed off. It's clear that the Nouvo isn't working nearly as hard to get there. Also, cruising at 80 Km/hr it seemed like the Honda was working at it while the Nouvo was quiet, smooth, and had plenty in reserve.

Safety - Honda

I found the headlights on both bikes to be excellent. I'd say they were about even. The Nouvo seems to have better focused light whereas the Airblade has an odd reflected pattern that I'm sure you learn to ignore after a while. I think the Airblade probably lit up more of the road. The mags on the Nouvo will accept tubeless tires. One shop said it ships with tubeless another said it ships with tubes but you can replace the tires. I'm not sure which is true, but I've read that tubeless tires are a bit safer since there is less chance of rapid loss of pressure (something that hasn't happened to me in 7 years of riding). The reason I give the advantage to the Airblade for safety, though, is the brakes. I wasn't blown away by the Combi-Brake. I expected to be able to stop using just the left brake handle. While you can do that for normal braking, if you want to stop fast, you need to use both handles. Although I didn't do any actual stopping distance tests the Honda seemed to have noticeably better braking.

Convenience - Yamaha

The parking brake on the Airblade seems like a good idea. The kickstand sensor, though, is a pain in the neck. Fortunately it is easy to disable. The Nouvo has enough space under the seat to store a full-face motorcycle helmet. That's a huge plus in my book. The Airblade has lots of under-seat storage too (enough to hold 4 1.25 liter bottles) but it just isn't tall enough for a full-face helmet. The Nouvo also has a hook on the front pillar to hold your shopping bags which the Airblade lacks (probably because the gas tank is in the way). That said, you don't have to lift the seat to refill the Airblade. Since I only fill up about once a week but I go shopping several times a week (I like fresh food) this works out very much in the Nouvo's favor.

Comfort - push

The Nouvo seat was a bit more comfortable for me. I think the foot rests worked out better for me on the Honda. I really expected the Nouvo to win for ride with 2" larger wheels but I preferred the Airblade on bumpy roads. At speed, though, there is no question the Nouvo rode better.

Resale - Honda

I've been told several times that Thais prefer Honda and that the resale will be better on the Airblade. I've never seen a used Nouvo Elegance for sale, so I can't compare this myself.

Warranty - Yamaha

Both come with a 3 year warranty, but the Yamaha has a 5 year warranty on the engine. My Thai isn't good enough to understand what might or might not be covered.

Dashboard - Yamaha

The Honda instruments are easy to read and do the job but look like cheap back-lit blue plastic. The Yamaha, though, just looks elegant. The needles are clearly visible in the blue on blue color scheme. The digital odometer is nice. The big advantage here, though, is that the Yamaha has a water temperature gauge.

Appearance - Honda

Things like styling are down to the individual. I like the looks of the Nouvo, but I prefer the Airblade (especially the Phoenix Edition in red).

Honda has already announced a new version of the Airblade with fuel injection (the Click with FI is here already). I've also been told by a Yamaha dealer that the Nouvo will be getting fuel injection (probably next year) but that it will be expensive.

When I first moved to Thailand my wife had a 5 yr old Nouvo Elegance that still looked good and ran great, but we decided to trade it for a new one. But when we went to the dealer I saw a 135cc X-1-R that I fell in love with, so we ended up getting that instead. My wife liked riding it, and would come home laughing about how she had been doing 110-120 kph just going to the store. That was July of last year.

About 3 months ago I went to pay off the air-con and tv at a major store here in C.M., which also has a Honda dealership, and I saw the CBR 150. Came home and told my wife she had to see it. We go back and are checking it out when I spot a brand new Air-Blade. It was the Phoenix model with the beautiful red/white paint job. When she saw it she fell in love with it. I put a deposit down on it and told them I would be back on Friday (that was Tues) to get it.

When we went back on Friday, at first they wanted to keep the bike for another week, as it was only 1 of 4 in C.M. with that paint scheme, but I told them that if they didn't let me have it right now, I wanted my deposit back and I'd go buy an Elegance. Ten minutes later we had the Air-Blade.

I agree that the Elegance is going to be quicker overall, but with the fuel injection on the Air-Blade, it's a surprisingly quick bike that will reach 100kph with little problem when riding alone, but with both of us on it ninety seems to be top end for it. Although I have noticed that in cooler weather the 100 is reached without much problem with us both on it.

We both love it and the way it rides, and with the box on the back, combined with the storage space under the seat, it's convenient for those quick trips to the market when you need to get a few things, but not enough to take the car.

We gave the X-1-R to her son, who is a teacher at Techno Asia, and he loves it. Oh, btw, the guy told me not to buy the CBR I was looking at, as the new model would be out in about a month. He said he would call me when they got one. He called, I went, saw a beautiful black one, paid cash for it and got a pretty good discount since I also paid off the Air-Blade at the same time.

Both the Air-Blade and the Elegance have their good/bad points, so I think it pretty much comes down to a simple personal preference. While the Elegance is going to out perform the Air-Blade, I can tell you that the one we bought, with the slight modifications I've made to it, get's 20 times the looks as any Elegance you can find.

I recently read an article about a 10 yr old boy in Chiang Mai who has come forward in hopes of finding his Japanese father. There seems to be a "trend" developing here of half-Thai, half-Japanese children now surfacing in hopes of finding the men who fathered them and then left.

But the part of the article that really caught my attention was that his mother is Shan, therefore he is "stateless". If I understand this correctly it means he is not a Thai citizen, has no legal rights, can not attend school because he can't provide any documentation, which basically makes him "invisible" to the rest of Thai society.

I really don't understand how this can be happening in this day and age. In the U.S., regardless of where your parents are from, if you are born on U.S. soil, that automatically makes you an American citizen. Although I'm not positive (and I'm sure Ian could help me out here), but I think the same applies to England, and most other countries of the world as well. But not in Thailand.

If you do some research, as I did, you'll find the Shan are Tai Yai, speak a language similar to Thai, and come from the same geographic regions of Central China as the Tai came from. But even with the common denominators of genetic linkage, apparently the Thai feel the Shan are not worthy of recognition, but that it's ok to use them for cheap labor and other things, without giving them any basic rights.

If your parents are Ethnic Chinese, live in Thailand, and you are born here, you're Thai. If your mother is Thai and your father farang, but you are born here, you're Thai. But if your mother is Shon, you don't exist.

Shame on you, Thailand.