johntou

Was it a shaggy dog?

I am trying to find a supplier of clay for making ceramics.

I have been to Silpaban in Pattaya, but they have air-dried clay and I am looking for clay to be fired in a kiln.

I have tried asking at a pottery workshop, but they wouldn't sell me any. (Perhaps they thought I was planning to go into competition...)

So, does anybody know of a craft supplies shop which sells clay in Pattaya or Rayong, or further afield, if necessary? Maybe Bangkok?

I have tried a Google search, but with no luck so far.

Thank you for any replies.

Also be warned the last time a friend of mine did this he was told by HGK that they can only accept payment by using a credit card and he only uses debit cards so he had to get his brother in the UK to pay on his behalf. It may have changed since but best to check it out if you don't have a CC.

You can also pay by bankers draft.

Thanks to all for your replies. I will certainly follow up your suggestions.

I have decided to buy a new watch, but the only shops I can find so far are opticians who also sell watches. I was hoping to find a jewellery shop with a range of watches. (Or maybe the opticians are just as good...?).

Does anybody know of a shop in the area of Rayong or Pattaya where I can view a range of watches?

I am not looking for something at Rolex prices, but I am prepared to pay out for good design and reliability from a known brand.

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.

Hi Ima. Thank you for your informative reply. I will follow your advice, beginning with a 15 day entry, to give myself some breathing space. Thanks again.

My first 30 day Thai tourist visa is about to expire. I have been told I can go to the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, and get a 60 day tourist visa for Thailand. Is this possible? How long will it take to get it?

If I go across the border into Laos, and back into Thailand, it appears I will get a 15 day tourist visa. Is it true that I can do this many times, or is there a limit on this?

To return to the op, it seems to be generally assumed that many posters on this forum are quite old. In my experience, old people are usually quite miserable and cynical. (The 'look at those shoes', 'bloody noisy music, you can't hear the words' mentality). It could be down to age demographics.

All this cobblers about having to have a return ticket to get a visa on entry is just that...cobblers ! If you arrive on a one way ticket you will still get a 30 day tourist visa and they won't even ask to see any tickets whatsoever. I know this to be true because I did it several times when I used to come here some years back. If you want to extend you can go to immigration and get longer for 1,900 Baht. After that it's up to you what you want to do and you can buy a ticket to leave the country in any direction you want to. You can then return on a single ticket and start the process all over again. Too many people hand out bum information when they've never actually done things for themselves.

There was a guy in front of me at the airline check-in desk a couple of years ago who had booked a one-way ticket to Thailand online. The woman at the desk told him he couldn't board due to his one-way ticket. He tried to quibble, but was told that he couldn't board, and to go from the desk. While I was waiting for my details to be processed, he came back, and tried again to debate the issue. The woman told him, 'This conversation finish, please go', not in a friendly fashion. A true story to throw in to the mix.

Itś likely that most of those who agree with you no longer live in Thailand.

The last time I saw one I was with my g/f in a graveyard. It was so romantic...

Hello mallyrd. I've just read some online reviews of this restaurant, and seen some pics. We shall certainly go there. Thank you for your recommendation.

As I said, I want to go out to dinner in my suit. We would like to go to a restaurant where we wouldn't feel out of place in our best clothes. Good food, candles, matching cutlery, a clean white tablecloth, china plates, you get the idea. We have tried several hotel restaurants, but have yet to find one where the food is edible. If anybody has any suggestions, preferably within 50 km of Rayong, please let me know.

It's just a Thai word for westerner, polite or the way it is said has nothing much to do with it, it's just a dialect thing.

It's not a Thai word for a westerner, it's a Thai word for a white person.

By the way, it is spelled LINNEN! You illiterates. Not lining or linen. If you are going to complain about something, at least learn how to spell it.

[stereotype rant mode/]

It's spelt linen in English. I think linnen is the German spelling. Perhaps you should check your 'facts' before ranting.

Anyway, as with other posters, I wear them about the house, because they're cool and comfortable. Outside, no.

Since my previous post, I have checked out the chilled section in Tops supermarket. They have a wealth of tofu, different brands and varieties. Most of them do not contain egg or fish, and are better for that, IMO. I have stocked up our fridge, and we are enjoying cooking our way through them. Just had miso soup with silken tofu. Delicious!

We were in a restaurant about a month ago, and a man who was part of a tour group was patiently explaining his meal requirements to the waiter. "I would like my soup first, then 5 or 10 minutes later, I want my main meal. When I have finished that, I want my desert. Ok?" The waiter, appearing to be understandably confused, as that is not the easiest English to understand, said "Ok", and walked off. 10 minutes later, the main meal arrived. ("Oh, for Christ's sake!") 2 minutes after that, the desert. We left before the soup appeared...

We buy ours in 7/11. Most grocery shops sell it, in the chilled section, near the cheese slices etc.

We prefer the CP brand, as it appears to have less water, so spits less when cooked. It is shaped like a sausage, and can be cut into 1cm slices, and fried, and turned, in quite hot oil until a bit brown on both sides. Serve with stir-fried veg and rice, and enjoy. This is one of my favourite meals.

There is also another type available at markets, which comes in a block roughly 5cm x 7cm and 2cm deep. This block can be cut into chunks, to taste, then fried as above, and served with Mae Pranom dipping for chicken, (as it says on the bottle...), which is a sweet chili dipping sauce available in grocery stores. Dip and enjoy.

Google is your friend for nutritional information, and lots more recipe ideas.

I found a Pomodoro restaurant on the ground floor of Siam Paragon last week. Mmm, best pizza I've had in Thailand. Not perfect, but quite delicious. I could eat one right now.

and the nation, and most other newspapers...... untill they pay the staff to check it will happen again and again ,,,, but how much would it cost a englih techer to check????

Isn't there a saying about people in glass houses shouldn't call a kettle black?

I am finding this a very interesting thread.

I am not aware that I notice the nationanality/skin colour of people as I go about my business. Maybe I'm too preoccupied/self-obsessed...

When I am out shopping, I don't think, There's a Thai, There's a whitey, There's a black person, or decide who I acknowledge from such a superficial viewpoint. (I"m not sure where black people fit in within the Thai system of racial labelling. Are they considered farangs?)

So if I pass you by on the street, or are close to you in a shop, and don't acknowledge you, please don't take it personally. I just haven't noticed your skin colour.

Miracle fruit is the papaya. It contains the digestive enzyme pepsin(ase). When you consume sugar, you are also consuming asbestos. All sugar is contaminated with microscopic asbestos fibres, (from old conveyor belts?) The fibres are ingested by your defensive CD14 white blood cells, (WBC) where they release iron. This iron is then is converted into another form, and leaves the inside of the cell, only to coat the surface of the WBC. This inactivates the WBC which then can no longer absorb, digest (kill) virus, bacteria, parasites, detox dyes, heavy metals etc. Another way you can dissolve this coating is with MSM, (methyl-sulphomene-sulphate) supplements. Moral to this story eat ZERO sugar, and eat lotsa papaya. That is why I have a laugh when people come up with this... Thai food is healthy nonsense. Nearly all prepared Thai food contains added sugar, and added MSG (E621) a neurotoxin Quite often restaurant food is microwaved to thaw the frozen produce or heat rapidly, this introducing carcinogenic glycolitic compounds into the food, that alter your blood chemistry, and destroys ALL vitamins. My restaurant order. No PONGCHUROD, (Thai for MSG), NO sugar, NO microwave. You wanna live dont you? Well if you dont care, thats up to you. I care. Others may also. Live long and prosper. Spock.[/i]

It's logic, Spock, but not as we know it...

Perhaps some are just following the maxim, Don't talk to strangers.

What I find suprising is the amount of people who have come here from whichever country they originate, to moan , grumble, criticise, nitpick and gripe on forums, apparently for hours most days. If they are housebound, manically-depressed alcoholics, they have my sympathy, but if they are not, why not switch off the computer, go outside and enjoy life? To be in a fulfilling relationship, to pass your time productively, with positive thoughts, works wonders for creating a better feeling about the place in which you live, wherever you are. This thought always comes to me whenever I read posts from people saying how crap things are.

What a dubious gadget! So, if a burglar is in your house, they can use one of these to jam your phone so you cannot get help. What if there is an emergency in an adjoining classroom, and nobody can summon help on their cell because you don't like some of your students using their phone while you are teaching? Think again.