ericjt

I spent 50 years in the motor trade in Australia, buying and selling new and used cars with some very big motor dealers, and being a motor dealer with my own dealership, I know a lot about the importing of used cars from other countries, Australia went through this and now dealers can only import used cars that are sold new in Australia, the problems with importing used cars from another country and a model or type of car that is not sold in the country is many, the main one is parts, if the imported car has an accident or needs a replacement part, no dealer in that country will carry parts for a car not sold new in that country, to get parts from an overseas country is a huge problem some times taking months or not getting parts at all,

the imported car would bought overseas for lot less than a similar type of car, size and age, that could be bought for in the country it is being imported to, if you try to sell the imported car the dealers will pay less than they can buy another one from overseas, that means a huge loss if you sell the car, making the car almost unsaleable,

another big problem is stolen cars or Cut & Shut cars, Cut & Shut is when two cars are damaged, one with a front end and one with a rear end damage, the two are cut in half and the two good ends put together to make one car, insurance in Australia is very difficult to get on imported second hand cars, don't know about about here,

most people would not know what they were buying with a used car, most people think they know about cars because just owning a car makes them experts but that is far from the facts.

I would not buy a second hand car that is not sold new in any country, there are a lot more problems but this just a few.

Great post, Merlen. Very informative.

This car here, the last I purchased from Japan bought as a gift for my mother, cost just 9000 baht at auction. What would it cost plated on the roads of Chiang Mai?

You bought that car for around $300 USD "at auction" "from Japan"?

How do those auctions work, Fishenough?

Can you tell us a little more about where they are held? How to get info about upcoming auctions? Any special qualifications to attend? And how you arranged for shipping and delivery to your mom?

Thanks!

We had a great stay at the Anantara Resort in Hua Hin last year. Paid around 2500 Baht/night, I think, for 3 people. It was their cheapest room on a special, and it included a GREAT buffet breakfast. Now it looks like the prices start at around 4000 Baht/night, but if you can afford it, it's worth the price. It was the nicest, friendliest, best resort I've stayed at. Great playroom/daycare for our little daughter, great food, great pool, great service, on the beach, etc. When we go back to Hua Hin, we'll check Anantara first.

http://thailand-usa.com/thailand-usa-relations-remain-strong-through-worst-flood-in-a-century

And about turning down help from the US Navy? Does anyone know anything more about why?

Good link. Very helpful and informative. Thanks!

Yes it is going to take a lot of hard work and posative attitude to clear up all the mess, I just hope for the people's sake there is no western attitude to add to the disaster.

Care to remind us what is western attitude?

Usually us, westerner, we use to plan ahead, we also to prepare contingency plans (as it is obvious we are only humans, so prone to errors and forgetting stuffs when planning).

We also usually do not hide behind fake statements (that Iwil not call total BS, because I would like to keep it polite).

Most of important, when we are humbled by a natural castastrophe, we do accept that fact and we do ask/beg for foreign expertises (recent examples would be New Orleans for USA, and the cyclone that crossed european France in 2000, that for 2 of the most 'arrogant' countries of the world)

I would tend to believe some western attitudes would have reduce the scope of the actual flood (that is nowhere a natural castastrophe by itslef, but a human failure if not even a human deed); and would certainly help in mitigating it in the present and near future.

Even us french would be glad and thankfull if such flood was hitting us (let say such phenomena might happend in the French RIviera , in the city of Nice specifically) and the US Navy was proposing a aircraft carrier for help.

Hey Sting --

Gotta disagree about the US and contingency planning.

New Orleans and Katrina was a disaster, govt response was ineffective, lots of spin in the reporting, and New Orleans still hasn't recovered. Hope France did better in 2000. Katrina was no surprise, either. Hurricanes have been hitting New Orleans forever.

And about turning down help from the US Navy? Does anyone know anything more about why?

There is a "cheap" hotel on Soi 1, about 200 m from the back entrance to Bumrungrad hospital. Unfortunately I can't think ot the name. Has a/c, pool and car parking. I'll try to find the name for you.

The name of the hotel is the Golden Palace, Tel 02 252 5115. Cheapest room is B 1,100

Thanks a lot Spaniel. This seems to be the place. Thanks again.

I think you're thinking of the Sara Inn. I stayed there. No frills, but room was clean, bed comfortable, and price a little over 1000 Baht. Good luck.

Thanks Foreman -- We live in Pong Yeang and unfortunately, from what I can tell, Maxnet (3BB) has not run any new lines out our way. So their service is still the same bad old Maxnet service and we are pretty well stuck with Ji-Net. Since I wrote this Ji-Net or somebody did something and although we still can't get more than 2MB download, it's pretty stable and suffices for the present. As for 3G, I'm sure you've seen the latest stories. I guess nobody should be holding their breath for 3G any time soon, right? Thanks again -- et

I live in Tambon Rimtai of Mae Rim and was a loyal, multi-year customer of JI-net delivered over TT&T. I even successfully negotiated a price decrease with them because, as the OP states, ISP pricing has plummeted. Even with this lowered pricing, we were still forking over THB 4,000 every month for special subscriber service (limited to 5 users).

But early this year, we began to see a serious ersoion in the quality of our JI connection...it was constantly flickering in and out. JI-net wasn't the culprit; TT&T had decided to discontinue support for its ADSL service where we live. Along came 3BB (Maxnet) with brand new wiring throughout our area, and best yet, they didn't need to tie up our phone line to deliver their broadband service. Instead, 3BB routed lines carrying their ADSL service that were independent of the telephone system. We happen to have a TOT main telephony line, which works fine. I was using the old TT&T line to handle my ASDL connection over Jasmine; plus I had a fax machine connected over the same TT&T carrier. As explained, TT&T dropped its ADSL service. This original TT&T line now handles my separate home office telephony and fax services. 3BB, with its independent ADSL line, handles only my broadband service. In effect, we have three hook-ups delivered by three companies. There is no overload nor outtages, except on a temporary emergency basis.

I decided to order 3BBs fixed IP service at an additional rate (5Mbps down/1.024 up). This costs more than their dynamic IP address plans, but I need the improved QOS to do my job. It costs THB 3,103 monthly, of which my company reimburses me the lion's share. We started this service in early March and so far it has been perfect...there are occasional line problems along the FO trunk which gets rountine and non-routine maintenance but all in all I cannot complain.

Had 3BB not come into provide fresh service, I may have ultimately considered 3G AIS, but I heard it is extremely slow and spotty where we live. IPSTAR satellite coverage is available, but I have not heard good things about it either, particularly during bad weather. For now, I am very pleased with 3BB. The only worry I have is the likelihood of oversubscribing in our area. Even with a fixed IP, I have experienced some slowdowns on international connections during peak periods when all subscribers are on line and drawing down bandwidth.

Good luck with your particular situation.

I guess unless a person has used "all" the ISP's on the poll, he can't really give a good answer.

When I first arrived Thailand I signed up for a TOT 2Mb Goldcyber package...it was terrible in terms of international speed and disconnects...I canceled after 6 weeks. I then switched to a JI-NET (now JasNet) 2Mb plan, specifically BizConnext (a SME type plan) which was the only plan available on my TOT line...it worked great, good international speed, great service, but cost 1890 Baht/mo (includes VAT)...after about 15 months I wanted a higher speed and wanted to pay less since internet prices had come down a lot....couldn't get JI-NET to come down in their price...they did have a 4Mb plan now for my area but it was also pricey (2800 baht) compared to other plans like from TOT, True, etc. I'm on a TOT line and my choices are pretty much TOT, JI-NET, and probably a few others who are pricey. So I decided to give TOT a try again under their new plans. Fastest TOT speed available to my location/moobaan here in western Bangkok is 4Mb/512Kb at 590 baht/mo...so far, after about 3 months, it has been working fine. So, my first experience with TOT was bad...my second experience with TOT has been good (so far).

Thanks, Pib. I guess I'll see if I can get a TOT line and see what they're offering here. Cheers --

The problem is that at any given moment a given ISP will be the best in a given area BUT at the next moment it well be the worst.. There is not one ISP that is 100% or even 75% good. Talk with people in your area not 30 to 1000 km away for their experience can will be totally different from your area.

Good advice. Sounds like you've been through it, gotlost.

Cheers --

I TRIED TO EDIT MY ORIGINAL POST, BUT THERE WAS ALREADY A REPLY, WHICH FROZE THE ORIGINAL. SO I'LL PUT THE EDITED AND CLARIFIED POST HERE. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS BALONEY THAT TT&T PULLING???

We live in Pong Yang, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai -- about 35 KM northeast of the city and I think our phone lines are from TT&T, even though our bills are from TOT. I just found out that TOT bills for both TOT and TT&T, so we might have either one. I'm checking now. True lines would be much better, but True lines don't come out this far yet. That's what True said when I called them. So I'm pretty sure we have TT&T, and if we do, we've got a problem.

With TT&T lines, our ISP says, the fastest speed they can give us is 2 Mbps. And we pay almost 2000 Baht/month for that. It's not a line quality problem. It's a competition problem. TT&T, apparently, since the start of the year is refusing to let any third party ISP increase any individual customer's speed. The only change a third party ISP can make with an individual customer is to cancel! Do you believe that sh-t? And from what I'm reading and hearing about TT&T - Maxnet service, I don't think I want to go anywhere near it.

[Our ISP gives us great service, BTW, whenever and however they can. It's Ji-Net or Jasmine Net, and if you're thinking of switching ISP's, let me know. I'll introduce you through one of the people we work with at Ji-Net. That way you'll have somebody to talk to and I know you'll like the service.]

TOT? I'm checking to see which company we actually have. I've also written to Ji-Net and asked them about it. Maybe we can get TOT lines if it would make a difference, but I think they're pulling the same cr_p as TT&T. We'll see what Ji-Net says when they answer my last email.

Satellite? I looked at the TOT satellite web page and the speeds are lower and prices higher than we're paying now.

Wireless? I hear AIS is offering 3G, but one friend says it's great and another says to stay away -- lots of interruptions, busy signals, dropouts, etc.

Leased line? I've even written to TOT about a leased line; and Ji-Net is checking to see about a leased line or a corporate account for us. Apparently they have more flexibility with corporate accounts, but the prices are higher.

CAT-CDMA? I'll see how far we are from one of their towers and what kind of service we might be able to get. Thanks for the suggestion, Gotlost.

OK, pant, pant, pant. Have I covered everything? Or is there any other kind and wise soul out there who might be able to suggest something else?

Thanks again --

CAT CDMA and True. I.m on AIS 3G and its hit and miss. Seriously thinking of going over to CAT CDMA. Check and see how far the CAT tower is, if less than 5 km should be OK>

Thanks, gotlost. Appreciate the quick reply. I'll check.

Cheers --

Hi --

We live in Pong Yang, Mae Rim, Chiang Mai -- about 35 KM northeast of the city. True lines don't come out this far, only TOT. That's what True said when I called them, anyhow. And to be clear, we might have either TOT lines or TT&T lines. TOT bills for both companies. I think we have TT&T, but that always confused me because I never saw a bill from TT&T. Now I understand. TOT bills for both companies.

Anyhow, getting back to the story -- With TT&T lines, our ISP says, the fastest speed they can give us is 2 Mbps. And we pay almost 2000 Baht/month for that. It's not a line quality problem. It's a competition problem. TT&T, apparently, since the start of the year is refusing to let any third party ISP increase any individual customer's speed. The only change a third party ISP can make is to cancel! Do you believe that sh_t? And from what I'm reading about TT&T - Maxnet service, I don't think I want to go anywhere near it. Any suggestions?

[Our ISP gives us great service, BTW, whenever and however they can. It's Ji-Net or Jasmine Net, and if you're thinking of switching ISP's, let me know. I'll introduce you through one of the people we work with at Ji-Net. That way you'll have somebody to talk to and I know you'll like the service.]

Satellite? I looked at the TOT satellite web page and the speeds are lower and prices higher than we're paying now.

Wireless? I hear AIS is offering 3G, but one friend says it's great and another says to stay away -- lots of interruptions, busy signals, dropouts, etc.

I've even written to TOT about a leased line; and Ji-Net is checking to see about a leased line or a corporate account for us. Apparently they have more flexibility with corporate accounts, but the prices are higher.

OK, pant, pant, pant. Have I covered everything? Or is there any kind and wise soul out there who might be able to suggest something else we might try?

Thanks --

1. Switch to Ji-Net. I can give you a contact there. They won't hassle you.

2. Try a VPN network with a proxy server.

3. Try encoding your torrent downloads. There's a setting on your torrent client program to do that.

PM me if you want to switch.

Cheers --

H Dan --

I've seen all the posts and I guess expats in CM do have a reputation for being frugal, but all I know is Prem School seems to be doing very well, and they charge the heck out of their customers. Starting up? Can't say. Comments are probably right. You might have to start slowly and build a reputation, but once you have one, the money seems to be there. I don't know where all the kids are coming from, but they all seem to be finding their way to Prem, and Prem raises its prices between 2% and 4% per year.

We'd be most interested in helping you start a Montessori School here and having our daughter attend. Please let us know how your project is progressing. I've also sent you a PM.

Thanks --

Eric Taylor

[email protected]

089-576-0686

I said this before, and I can say it again. This is not the end of story.

Thailand needs a real change. In internal policies. The upper classes naturally want to retain control, but can not. The lower classes can not afford to continue putting up with social injustice. The gap between the tiny minority and vast majority is too big, too obvious and can not be masked by traditional methods used in the past.

Calls for Democracy are futile. This country is not ready for it.

Calls for hard line are futile. A lot of blood will be spilt. But this will not bring the change.

Calls for yet another military coup are futile. Thais had too many, with no change in sight.

I am neither 'red', nor 'yellow'.

I do not have the solution. It is up to Thais.

But I hope not to see another Revolution in any country. They are too costly. And everybody loses. Big way!

Does your list of failed revolutions include the American revolution?

Our daughter's teacher for Little Explorers (Ages 2-3) at Prem School (just north of Chiang Mai) was called away for personal reasons yesterday and the next term starts on April 19th. So Prem School is seeking a replacement Little Explorers teacher immediately.

We spoke with Anita Veitch, Deputy Principal for the Junior School, and asked about qualifications. Anita said (as I understood her) that they were primarily interested in a person who spoke good English, had experience with small children, and enjoyed working with them.

Experience with small children would ideally involve some kind of teaching or day-care, Anita said, but it could also be parenting. Teaching credentials are not essential, although something like an ESL (Teaching English As A Second Language) certificate would be a plus.

I think this is an unusual opportunity for someone to join the faculty of one of the top international schools in Thailand. If you are interested, please contact Anita directly at Prem Tinsulanonda International School and mention this post. She is aware of it. Her phone is +66-(0)82-180-9194. The school's web site is www.premcenter.org.

If Anita's contact information gets edited out and you need it, please PM me and I'll PM it back to you.

Hope this post finds its way to the right person --

Cheers --

ericjt

The CM Immigration Office recently put a "take-a-ticket" system in for retirement, marriage, religious, and other visa renewals falling into that category. They limit tickets (ie, people they will see that day) to 40 per day for those kinds of visas -- 20 tickets during the morning and 20 in the afternoon. But they give out all 40 tickets on a first-come-first-served basis when the office opens in the morning. Once those 40 tickets are gone, they don't give out any more until the next day.

If you get one of the first 20 tickets, you will be seen in the AM. If you get one of the second 20 tickets, you will be seen in the PM, after lunch. And if you get one of the high number tickets, you can count on waiting most of the day. I say that because some people who don't get one of the 40 tickets for that day choose to wait and hope that another ticket becomes available. And if you're not there when they call your number, your spot can go to one of those other people who are waiting -- sort of like lining up and waiting "standby" for a full flight.

The result is that you need to get there early and queue up, making every effort to get one of the first 20 tickets. I think the office makes exceptions for visas that are about to expire or other hardship cases, but exceptions are at the discretion of the people working in the Immigration office.

For me, when my visa comes up for renewal, if this system is still in place, I'll gather up all the necessary documents/photos while I still have around 20 days before expiration and plan on being there by about 7:30 AM. That might be a little extreme, but it should limit my renewal to just one morning and keep the process as hassle free as possible.

Hope this is helpful --

Rules and customs for coming here and doing business can be quite different from rules and customs in your home country. Taxation of corporations is different, too.

For example, many Thai corporations pay tax whether they make a profit or not. That is one of the reasons the authorities frown on "shelf corporations".

And you're already off to a shaky start with a lawyer charging you 110,000 Baht for setting up a corporation. That is way above the 30,000 to 40,000 Baht which is the going rate.

You say the price is OK because you feel your lawyer is "professionally sound", but I used to practice law, and IMO, "professionally sound" lawyers don't overcharge their clients.

Tombkk asked what kind of business you want to start. That was a good question. If you want to tell us more about your idea, you might find some of our replies and ideas (many based on painful experience) can be helpful.

Anyhow, good luck --

1. Open multi currency accounts here in Thailand and at home if you can. Then ...

2. Talk with your bankers here and there. Ask and negotiate what conversion rate you will be charged. Then use the most favorable rate, whether it's here in Thailand or from your bank at home.

3. Transferring foreign currencies to your own foreign currency account here in Thailand gives you an edge in negotiating with your Thai bank, since you can hold your funds in your home currency (say USD) and only convert to Thai Baht once you've agreed on a conversion rate. The same applies to your bank at home if you can open a Thai Baht account there.

4. But if you simply TT a foreign currency to your Thai Baht only bank account in Thailand, your Thai bank will have quite a bit of room to pick a rate that is more favorable to them than to you.

5. Foreign currency exchange websites also seem like a good idea, but I haven't tried one yet.

6. Forex rates are constantly moving (sometimes a lot in one day) so you should not simply wire foreign currencies to a Thai bank and leave it to them to pick a conversion rate. Set yourself up with multi currency accounts (at least here in Thailand) so that you can hold foreign currencies here until you and your bank have agreed on a conversion rate. Then the exchange can take place immediately between your own accounts at your Thai bank.

I don't know how Ji-Net does it, but I have 2MB service with them and have not seen any changes. After almost 5 years with them I am happy with their domestic and international service.

I haven't heard anyone mention Ji-Net (Jasmine Company). They don't have a lot of market share and they cost more than MaxNet and True, but they give great service, their international speed is the same as their Thai speed, and when there is a problem, they react quickly.

I've used them for almost 5 years in Chiang Mai (actually around 40 KM outside CM) and have been very happy with their service. Right now we have 2MB/512KB service and we actually get those speeds most of the time -- day or night, domestic or international.

I have a program that graphs my up and down speeds continuously, so I have a pretty good idea what we're getting most of the time, and Ji-Net is good. My neighbor recently switched to them and he's happy, too.

Ji-Net still has to depend on TOT for the ADSL lines and that means blackouts and other problems every now and then, but from what I've read above, I'd urge some of you to try Ji-Net. Khun Jakrapan there heads customer service and he would be a good place to start.

Mention my name (or Sukanya Asa) if you would, please. That should get you a slightly lower price and me a gold star or two. Our account is in the name of Sukanya Asa.

Thanks and good luck --

Sukanya Asa

Eric Taylor

A single English teacher is not as good as a proper pre-school / kindergarten with all the programs and infrastructure. A very good bilingual kindergarten costs about 7000 baht / month.

Your concerns about air clarity and temperature are not very valid. (Unless perhaps the school is downtown next to a main road, but in that case safety from traffic would still be the bigger concern).

Hi Winnie --

First, I'd appreciate the name of the school you feel is good and costs 7000 Baht/month. If we haven't already considered it for our daughter, I'd like to visit it and check it out.

Regarding your other comments --

I agree that a "proper" pre school might not be as good as a single English teacher, but we've visited a number of pre-schools and kidnergartens and I wouldn't describe many of them as "proper". Most were overcrowded and/or dirty and/or lax about watching the children. Our daughter is in a school now 2 days a week that we think is relatively proper, but it's still around 8 degrees celsius hotter than were we live and close to the exhaust fumes from Superhighway 11. When it's hot and smokey in Chiang Mai, we keep her home. Neither my wife nor I would want to be there (un-airconditioned) on those days, and we don't think our daughter should.

Which brings me to what you say about my concerns about "air clarity and temperatures" not being "very valid". Why do you say that? Are you expressing a personal opinion? If that's the case, you're entitled to your opinions and I won't debate them with you. But as to the validity of my concerns, I'd suggest you Google "Chiang Mai" and "air quality" and "respiratory diseases".

Even the government admits that the levels of smoke and other pollutants reaches dangerous levels in CM city from around December through April. One report even has graphs showing the average levels of pollution for the different months of the year. And there are several other studies about occurrences of respiratory diseases being abnormally high in the CM area.

If you can point me to research that goes the other way, I'll be glad to consider it, but for right now, I think the data we've already researched is pretty clear and it matches our personal feelings. My wife is Thai and basically likes heat, but when it's hot and smoky in the city, she can't wait to get home where it's a little cleaner and cooler. Our 2 year old daughter can't express those kinds of preferences yet, but we think she would if she could.

OK, so enough debating about air and heat. I agree with you that a school with programs and infrastructure could probably be better than a school with just one teacher. And although we might start out with just one teacher, I have a feeling our little program could grow quickly. As and if it does, we could add programs and infrastructure and we'd still have the advantages of low costs and high parent involvement -- since our "school" would be operating in their homes and right under their noses. That would give each of us parents a good chance to see what was going one, get involved, and make suggestions for improvements.

If any of what I've said seems reasonable, and/or if you would like to be included in any futuree discussions, please PM me your email address.

Thanks --

ericjt

We talked about a similar idea with a few other couples (San Sai - Mae Rim area). The idea would be a play-based group but we were hoping to get someone to work in Thai with the kids. We're mostly farang couples and plan to send our kids to international schools which is why we were looking for the Thai language. I have a 1 and 3 year old.

However; if you live North of Chiang Mai, you should check out Prem's programs.

There is a free parent-run play group Friday mornings which includes a music and library/story time.

They also have a new kindergarten program for 2 years and up. I think that it's either Thai or English but I'm not exactly sure.

Hi earl --

Great ideas, especially the free Friday morning parent run playgroup. Seems like the rest of what we need might not quite be the same, though.

We are a mixed Thai-Farang couple and affording a school like Prem would be difficult for us. So our daughter will probably end up in a mainly Thai school, which means we're not worried about her learning Thai. We're concerned that she learn enough English so that she and I can continue to communicate even after she moves her first language over to Thai. We'd also like her to learn at least a little Chinese for obvious reasons.

The ages of your children are perfect -- our daughter is 2 years and 1 month old -- and a play-based school would be fine for at least the next few years. Is there any flexibility on the language considerations -- either for you or for any of the other couples you've spoken with?

I'll definitly check into Prem's programs. Prem is just down the road from us. And if you or any of the other couples you know would like to stay in touch on this subject, please PM me your email addresses.

Thanks again for the information --

ericjt

It's just the germ of an idea, but we already know one teaching couple who have expressed interest. If we could find 4 or 5 other families who were interested, maybe we could pool our resources and put together something that would be good for all of us?

If you're out there, please let us hear from you.

Thanks --

ericjt

We would be interested, but not for approx. a year (our Thai/farang son is 10 months old). If your idea continues to grow we would definitely be interested in keeping in touch. We live in San Sai.

Hi Venturalaw --

Sorry for the delay in replying. For some reason I have not been getting email notices of replies to my post. I thought nobody was interested, but it seems there are several replies.

If your son could perhaps start at around 18 months, then maybe you could join us a little sooner than a year. I think we're going to have to be a bit flexible on ages and make provisions for both younger and older children if this is going to work -- at least to get it off the ground at the start.

You can check the rest of this thread and see that several people have expressed interest, and we aren't even up and running yet. I have a feeling that if we can get the first 2 or 3 families together and get started, this could grow into something good for all of us.

Please send me your email, if you're interested, so I can make up an email group and we can all communicate easily.

Thanks --

Hi,

I had the same idea, except we were in Ngao, Lampang province, near Phayao. In the end we went to Bangkok and my daughters (5 & 3) are in an English school there, but I still think about how we could go and live in the north again and get decent English tuition.

I even considered paying for an English teacher at the local school, but I wasn't convinced it would be enough.

Good Luck!

Hi Manjara --

Sorry for the delay in replying. For some reason I have not been getting email notices of replies to my post. I thought nobody was interested, but it seems there are several replies.

If moving is still possible, you can check the rest of this thread and see that several people have expressed interest, and we aren't even up and running yet. I have a feeling that if we can get the first 2 or 3 families together and get started, this could grow into something good for all of us.

Please send me your email so I can make up and email group and we can all communicate easily.

Thanks --

ericjt