bifftastic

You may like to add your own Google Map to your account of your adventures. We have one here pinned at the top of this page. I have one on my blog as well. By adding pictures and explanations to the locators on the map, you can add a lot to your readers experience. Just an idea.

Glad you had a good time in our neck of the woods. Will you be coming back again?

Nice idea the Google map. I think I've got the hosting sorted today as well, went for a meeting with my mate's web designer to brush my skills up and help with his new company and she's given me dreamweaver and associated software, also arranging hosting too :-)

Yes I will definitely be coming back. Short term plan (next 6 months or so) is to buy a house (fully aware of the fact that it can't be in my name and the usufruct will be in place) then add to it over the following 6 months/year whilst still working in London. Move mum up from Korat so she can be with her three daughters that have moved to Chiang Saen (the eldest married into a local family, next one down was taken in by that family when husband deserted her, next one down is my g/f) whilst exploring possibilities of various modest income streams to sustain a permanent move once all major purchases have been made (house, car, bike, computer, TV etc.) making sure that everything is all bought and paid for

I've read about and heard first hand of scams and heartache and bitterness and betrayal. Those things can happen anywhere, have happened to me on this side of the world, I suppose people tend not to write about honesty and happiness and integrity. Anyway my eyes are open to possible pitfalls.

Hey, it's a dream at the moment but what's life without dreams?

I suppose people all have their different reasons for wanting to move to Thailand, and the country has so many different realities for different people and I don't know if mine will materialise in the way I hope. But the one thing that struck me and really helped me to make my mind up was....

I forgot what day it was and what time it was.

Maybe those of you who have been fortunate enough to experience that phenomenon for a long time have had it's worth devalued a little but, here in London, I ALWAYS know what time it is and what day it is. It's a race, to get to work, to get the money, to get home, to get the dinner on, to get the week over with, to get the shopping, to get the latest gadget/car/phone etc. to get down the pub, to get wasted. Mai sanuk

When I visited the tobacco farm that Pi Sao goes to every single day of the week and works till she can hardly stay awake after dinner, she saw me looking at the mountains in the distance and smiled 'Suay mai?' Sanuk sanuk

Limbo, I may well write that book!

Sceadugenga, glad the magic is still there for you.

Cheers,

Biff

I am suprised no one mention the White Buddhist Temple !!

This is the only temple that is very different from others in Thailand and definitely should not be missed. Not having seen it as a tourist is like visited Bangkok without visiting the Grand Palace.

Basically CR is a boring place, but I like the location of the bus station which is right in the centre of town and the night market is also right there.

I must agree, the white temple (Wat Long Khun I believe?) needs to be seen.

I didn't find CR boring, although I wasn't in town long, I found it a charming little city, busy enough to blow the country cobwebs out, I liked the indoor market too (daytime) and the night bazaar was ok for a wander about, few food stalls and that, very enjoyable.

All depends what you're after, we went to a waterfall a few k's down the road from Wat Long Khun, couldn't tell you what it was called I'm afraid...I was taking directions from about 5 different Thai people all at once and just concentrating on not doing too many u-turns! but basicaslly turn left out of the Wat car park instead of right back towards CR.... after that it was a confusion of 'no not that left the other left' 'oh you mean right?' a few stops for food and many u-turns later we arrived in a beautiful park/waterfall area, it was about 1km walk up to the falls. Worth it if you like that sort of thing.

In the meantime I've added a facebook page in my profile so anyone who's interested can see some photos, also made an album here in the gallery but I duplicated some photos and not too sure how to delete them so i think I'll stop adding to that and wait till i can get the website/blog up and running

Not really 'what a Thai girl can do' but what my girl does

for me, one of the sexiest things is when she just casually pats the back of my head while I'm driving (this can often lead to quite a vicious ear tug and a declaration of 'man kieow') or, when we're walking around hand in hand, puts my hand on top of her head (yeah i know it's a little weird!) or when I catch her looking at me with a kind of half-smile. The playful stuff that isn't particularly Thai or pertaining to any culture just normal playful stuff.

Also, given the language issues (mine and hers) the depth of conversation and emotions we are still able to express.

And just being able to have a laugh and a joke and lazily enjoy each other. I find that incredibly satisfying.

Now if I could get her into a 7-11 uniform as well....

I have just come back to snow and ice and freezing winds in London having spent almost 4 weeks living with my girlfriends family in Ban Sob Kham outside Chiang Saen. There was talk of some kind of 'travelogue' amongst the discussion about improvements or changes to the Chiang Rai forum.

I'm not sure that I can put enough detail here to describe the trip and show all the photos etc. so I'm looking for web-hosting to make a blog/travelogue about my experiences.

I will let you all know when it's done and where it is hosted (within forum rules of course)

suffice it to say that the family are very hard-working and lovely people who took me in as one of their own. Built two rooms under their house for me and my girlfriend and her two children (this was cheaper than the hotels in the area and has left them with an improved house).

I enjoyed trips out in a borrowed old pick up truck with me driving and 11 people in the back, eating home-cooked food with the family every night. Spending time with two lovely children. Boat trips to a chinese casino across Mae Nam Khong in Laos, a visit to the tobacco factory to see the fruits of their labour being weighed. Watching everyone stare at me as I was taken around on the 'tractor' to walk around in the 2 or 3 foot deep Mae Nam Kok where it passes the land the family farm.

Getting heaps and heaps of good luck as the new motorsi was blessed by an apparently very important visiting monk in the local Wat

drinking the local 'brew' with many many sanuk sanuk people and being told 'bpai! bpai gin lao! bpai loei! mai lak leaw! by the missus afterwards (she didn't mean it)

I will resist the temptation to declare that this was 'the real Thailand' as Bangkok, Samui and Phuket (where i visited before) are equally real and have many different things to see/do/offer and a country as large and diverse as Thailand cannot be defined by any one area or experience.

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and was struck by the lack of pretence about my new extended family. They didn't wai and smile un-necessarily or make any obvious deviations to their normal routine (up and off to work before sunrise and home after dark 7 days a week)

but at the same time were genuine and warm and welcoming.

There is much talk on this forum of hi-so and lo-so and various class issues so i will make this comment. I am from a working class background and the people I have just stayed with, whilst undeniably different, having grown up in a culture that has evolved entirely separate from the on I grew up in, seem to have a few things in common with the people I share a background with.

They will accept you and assume you are a good person until proven otherwise. No airs and graces, call a spade a spade, smile if they're happy and not if they're not. Work hard and live happy. If they have something and think you might want some they'll share it. If they need something they'll ask.

In short, my kind of people.

hopefully the website will be up sooner rather than later although as yet I haven't found anywhere to host it :-)

and lastly, thank you all for all your advice and help over the last few months, this site has helped me enormously so far and i'm sure the very knowledgeable people herein will continue to do so.

Cheers,

Biff

Maybe outside of London, England is still England (in parts).

I think I was there for 2 days before I spoke to a native Brit.

JJ

your post reply sums it up for me, as l have had similar stuff happen, well done. It's those of us that are in or have been in the thick of it that understand what's happened to England.

Ok, I'll bite...

I can't speak for the rest of England, only London where i was born and bred. For example, a few weeks ago I was taking a late bus home from work and talking to my g/f in Thailand on the phone, she said 'I hear people talking, where you now honey?' 'on the bus babe' 'oh...not sound same you'

'no babe I'm the only English person on the bus' 'HUH??? you country or not you country?'

I tried to explain it to her but, as you can imagine, it was difficult. You can walk down Stratford High Street and the only English you will hear is from the Africans!

What has happened in my part of the world, rather than the accepted view in some people's minds that all 'these people' have kind of invaded, is the people I grew up with have all left, not necessarily to other countries, in East London they've all abandoned the areas they grew up in and moved out into the suburbs (mainly Essex).

Various reasons, poor housing, memories of tough, sometimes very violent upbringings which leads to a desire to provide something better for their children. Anyway, they've pretty much all gone, leaving these areas open to others to move into. Now, if you examine the origins of the people who replaced them you will find exactly the same reasons for their arrival.

I remember my childhood with a certain nostalgia, as I'm sure many people do, but I have to say that it was a very violent, poor and deprived area before the latest wave of immigrants. There has been immigration in East London for hundreds of years.

Now I'm sure many other communities in my country have experienced similar trends and there are many many reasons for what has happened. I don't know what the answer is, or even if there is one. It can be said that immigration into the UK has, in the past, made it more successful, but this has to be tempered with all the associated problems. The idea that some kind of 'repatriation' would somehow, magically transport us back to a wonderful world where everyone could leave their front doors unlocked, and kindly bobbies would give you a clip round the ear for scrumping is a) nonsense and not going to happen.

I know London is different in that it is an ever changing place and nothing seems to stand still or remain the same. But it's hard to hear people complaining about how it 'ain't like it used to be' when they are the ones who have abandoned their roots and buggered off to Essex!

I'm now in the position similar to someone in an imbalanced relationship.

I love my country deeply but sometimes I feel it doesn't love me back.

And what do you do when you love someone/something and they, or it, doesn't love you back? You move on, sometimes with a broken heart. Sometimes with the feeling that you're starting again. I'm sure it's the same for the people who come to England.

Life often doesn't go the way you want it to and the same can be said of your country.

Just my two penneth

A 'black whistle' is a corrupted referee that gets paid to let a team win.

Gambling has so far been taking place mainly on the English Premier League football.

That's one of the reasons of the popularity of English football.

That's why you stumble over magazines about English football in Thailand.

Add that Manchester United and Liverpool as the great super clubs win the hearts of

every real football supporter worldwide and it is no wonder that English football is popular.

English football players earn very big salaries, so they won't risk messing up for a couple

of hundred thousands. And millions of people can have a repeated close-up, even in slow motion, on the referee's decisions.

So you can't buy the results.

That makes it a good thing for bona fide gamblers.

The new organisation of the Thai Football Association is a good beginning: a premier league and two divisions.

OK, you can still buy a prominent club and move it to your town, but Chiangrai United has done it the clean way.

We got a good team together and we made it!

I think this year Muang Thong against Chonburi was the big match with a crowd of 16.000.

The average number of visitors at the home matches of CRUTD of seven to eight thousand is therefore very high.

The football fever happened in all Thailand this year and it is great that we are part of it.

Ah ok now i understand about the black whistle, yes our players aren't allowed to bet on their own teams or the opposition, if they get caught they get a ban from playing.

It's a heart warming story, a team comes from the lower leagues and fights their way up, gathering support as they go!

7 or 8,000 is great! Some Premier league teams in England only get 15 or 16,000 like Fulham or Blackburn Rovers, not all the stadiums are like Man Utd (70,000) Arsenal (60,000) Liverpool (40,000)

sorry but i just had to chuckle at your new phrase!!! excellent!

a little bit

mentally masturbative so to say.

Sorry we drifted off topic a little there

Sadly, i think i'll miss the football season as the success of Chiang Rai United is something that I enjoyed from afar!

It's a public secret that most 'whistles' were black before. If you see now how the games are

done by the flute players, you only can have the greatest admiration.

Hi Limbo,thanks for your post, It was through your posts in this forum that I first heard about Chiang Rai United, and I too hope there will be a game when i'm here (14th Jan to 7th Feb)

Just didn't understand what you meant by the above quote about whistles and flutes.

Thinking of it, where I come from a 'whistle and flute' is a suit but that's a very tenuous link to what you were saying and even more cryptic than I'd care to imagine!

I hope you can elaborate

(12 days and counting!)

Enjoy your upcoming visit and let us know how it goes. Just post it as a topic and everyone can read it at their leisure.

Thanks, I'll do that. I've been to Bangkok, Koh Samui and Phuket previously, I reckon all that's been covered many many times in many different arenas, this time there'll be the (small) building project and, hopefully a slightly different slant on a trip to Thailand which I'll be happy to post about. Including a trip to the seaside for two little girls who have never seen the sea before. (which I got some very helpful advice about from the Thailand Travel section in TV) Itinerary so far (subject to change) 1st night in Chiang Rai city, then off to Chiang Saen, few days there then fly to BKK, taxi to Bang Saen for a few days by the sea then back up to the north until Feb 7th. During my time in The Rai I hope to get out and about in the province and make a few trips to various different towns, definitely the white temple and probably over to Phayao as well. Soaking it all up as I go!

To say that I'm looking forward to it is an understatement

g/f sister has already challenged me to a drinking contest! I bring whatever I want from 'farangland' and she can drink it and not get drunk then I have to drink the local whisky, which, I imagine, will be dubious looking and not have a label on! This initially worried me slightly having heard of various family members of WAG's being drunkards but she and the rest of the family all go off to work every day to what has been variously described to me as 'farm but not really farm' and 'garden but like a farm' (I'm guessing a smallholding) where they grow tobacco, leaving g/f to work from home on her sewing machine/looking after the cats/dogs/chickens and kids when they're not at school.

Sounds like a thriving little place and from what I can hear in the background on the phone, full of laughter and life.

Apparently I'm already much in demand and will be taking up various roles, drinking partner for the sister, cooking partner for her husband, trial period as a farm hand (can't see me getting the job full-time to be honest!) trainee tractor driver (got to have a go at that!) and all round novelty. Oh yes and the kids will be helping me to learn to write Thai script!

Hi,

I'd just like to say that I for one find the CR forum helpful, if a little quiet. I ask for, and get, very helpful advice on a number of subjects on TV in general. I'm about to make my first visit to the region and will be happy to post my experiences, photos etc. should anyone be interested. I get a daily email containing new posts and read it regularly. Not sure if that qualifies me as a 'lurker' but I would be interested to see any improvements along the lines that VF suggests. As has been pointed oout much of the information people may need can be provided in TV in general as opposed to a region-specific forum. Just a pointer regarding the search facility, I've found it better to use google and add the words 'thai visa' to the search.

Thanks to everyone involved, keep up the good work.

Sadly, i think i'll miss the football season as the success of Chiang Rai United is something that I enjoyed from afar!

P.S. I did ask about some accomodation, didn't get too much help but then, as someone pointed out, if people don't have the information then it can't be provided! Turns out that it's cheaper to build another room on the house of the family I'm visiting than pay for a hotel/bungalow, so that's what we're doing

(12 days and counting!)

Comfort has been mentioned as a reason to wear these awful things and, quite rightly, been shot down (many things are comfortable and also wrong)

normally I'm quite a tolerant person, race, religion, sexual orientation, even supporting Millwall don't really bother me, or put me off a person.

But wearing big pink rubber sandals is just wrong!

stop it at once, come to your senses! surely there must be some help you can get! there must be other people out there who can share your pain and help you work through this horrendous affliction, as for crocs with socks! well, lost for words is something I'm rarely accused of but that just takes the biscuit!

Maybe, just maybe, exceptions should be made for those unfortunate enough to have these on prescription for some unimaginable foot ailment but even in those circumstances isn't amputation a realistic alternative?

I think on-the-spot fines and/or community service orders for first offenders followed by jail-time for a repeat offence would be in order.

Together we can stamp this out!

JUST SAY NO!

I hope that one day there will come a time when we can walk safely anywhere in this world of ours and say, with heads held high, Yes, there was a dark time long long ago when some of us did wear moulded rubber foot coverings, and, despite the warnings and out-crying of our brothers and sisters, we persisted, we paid money for these so-called shoes and lined the pockets of those evil enough to profit from our shame, we are deeply ashamed of that time, but equally proud that we, as a species, came together and fought against this evil and now.... THERE ARE NO MORE CROCS!

I have a dream.

What a strange thread!

Someone starts it off by saying 'I've bought a house' then other people jump on him 'oh no you haven't' ...'oh yes i have!' then others arrive, defending him and attacking the attackers.....seeing as it's pantomime season i wonder if there'll be a happy ending and a song?

now where's that pesky villain?......'BEHIND YOU!'

I got 'scratch carded' in Chaweng in May last year. An English couple, some story about a bike accident, having to pay out thousands of baht, now stuck in Chaweng and get paid for scratch cards but only if the mark (that was me) sits through the 90 minute presentation. They showed me how the cards were marked, something to do with the numbers in the corner i think, anyway, that's a fairly good method, when you 'confide' in someone that it's a bit of a scam so they feel they're being let into some kind of secret.

OK, so I sat through it, nice enough guy doing the presentation, I listened, he talked, ended up they wanted £10,000 off me! Showed me some brass plate on their wall which was meant to re-assure me they were registered with a city bank in London (as if that would make me feel better about them!)

Any way, he did his 90 minutes I didn't give him any money, they gave me some voucher thing saying i'd won a weeks free accomodation in Phuket (during which I'd need to sit through another presentation or have to pay for the hotel), dunno if the guys on the road got paid. Didn't use the voucher as when i was going to Phuket got a very nice hotel for 700 baht/night (not one of those on their 'list')

Seriously though, if you're going to pay someone for something expensive and it's something you can't actually touch and take away with you there and then, why would you pay on the spot? You'd at the very least do a google search and if it was a few grand you'd go to a lawyer, I mean you would, wouldn't you?

The product they're selling may well be worth buying and not a scam at all, I wouldn't know, can't comment on that aspect of it.

I've driven in a few countries (USA, New Zealand, France, Italy, Germany, Thailand) and regularly drive in London. My take is that whatever the local bye-laws, right of way rules etc. you need to drive with the awareness of any potential collisions and assume that other drivers WILL do the most dangerous thing possible. So when aware of another vehicle that could arrive in your lane at a slower speed than you, do what is needed to avoid it. Always check what's around you in both wing mirrors, be aware of an escape move into another lane, be prepared to slow down or speed up to create the gap you need to maintain between your vehicle and all the other road users. This awareness is difficult to maintain but, with practice, can mean you are ready to react when something happens.

Never rely on the rules of the road, only on your own driving skills.

In the situation in your diagram, if I had enough time, I would check right wing mirror, move into lane three (outside lane) quick 'toot' on the horn, and being Thailand quick flash of the lights, stick my foot down and get past them. Assuming lane three had traffic, slow down to allow them into my lane.

"yes, as i said, the regimes are on the same level of brutality, in fact the soviets were probably worse and the khmer rouge too. If you read my whole post you will see that I said that. The symbol itself (hammer and sickle) was not used to fire up hatred, I didn't say the hatred was not there. I also said it was a moot point if you were on the receiving end of either regime.

You could, equally correctly, point out the horrifying atrocities carried out under the Union flag of my own country and those facts would be undeniable but would not change what the Union flag represents, which is a political union of England Scotland and Ireland.

What is carried out under a flag does not tell you anything about what the symbols on the flag mean.

And for the record, someone different from me is still my brother/sister (ie human!)

and no, I'm not a communist. "

I disagree. I think the symbol was used for that purpose. To justify that you kill people who wear glasses (obviously capitalists) or people who can't climb a coconut tree (obviously capitalists).

Never thought you are communist (I don't know you therefore I can not assume who you are).

As I said I put both crimes on the same level.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago

Whilst no-one can disagree that communist regimes have committed awful murderous crimes, and that the hammer and sickle can be said to represent some of these regimes, the nazis specifically promoted themselves as a quasi-religious cult and the black sawastika in a white circle on a red background was used to fire up the hatred of anything other than them.

And Pol Pot and others killed their own people under the hammer and sickle symbol. And this symbol has been used to fire up the hatred among the very same people (I mean you kill your "brother" not somebody different from you). Which one is worse? For me they are on the same level.

yes, as i said, the regimes are on the same level of brutality, in fact the soviets were probably worse and the khmer rouge too. If you read my whole post you will see that I said that. The symbol itself (hammer and sickle) was not used to fire up hatred, I didn't say the hatred was not there. I also said it was a moot point if you were on the receiving end of either regime.

You could, equally correctly, point out the horrifying atrocities carried out under the Union flag of my own country and those facts would be undeniable but would not change what the Union flag represents, which is a political union of England Scotland and Ireland.

What is carried out under a flag does not tell you anything about what the symbols on the flag mean.

And for the record, someone different from me is still my brother/sister (ie human!)

and no, I'm not a communist.

biff, you said it better than I could. Thank you.

No problem

You are forgetting there are examples of small scale communism that have worked for some groups of people. The classic example is the communist origins of the Israeli kibbutzim movement. The idea of collective living and owning the means of production is not inherently evil. In practice, it seems to have potential to work for SMALL groups of people, not large states.

True. But this doesn't change the fact that the communist symbol has been used for genocides as the swastika has been used for a genocide

Thought I'd just chip in with my two penneth.

Whilst no-one can disagree that communist regimes have committed awful murderous crimes, and that the hammer and sickle can be said to represent some of these regimes, the nazis specifically promoted themselves as a quasi-religious cult and the black sawastika in a white circle on a red background was used to fire up the hatred of anything other than them. Thousands of banners in the Nurenburg rallies, draped on every building throughout the 3rd reich it remains today the single most chilling symbol that can be displayed, particularly from a European/North American perspective. Point being that the symbol itself represented the evils carried out whereas the hammer and sickle represented the 'supposed' coming together of the industrial and the rural proletariat in a struggle against their capitalist overlords. The facts remain undeniable that the soviet communist regime under Stalin, rather than elevating and liberating their workers and rural peasants exterminated them with a ruthlessness that the nazis copied, but the hammer and sickle does actually represent something else.

somewhat moot point if you were on the receiving end of either regime, as a cattle-truck trip to a gulag or a stalag would feel pretty much the same, slave labour to build the industrial capacity to wage war is the same under any banner.

Education is (always) the key, it is very disturbing to imagine school children marching about with nazi swastikas on their arms. I'm presuming (yes I know it's always dangerous) that they're seeing the buddhist connection to a symbol with an Asian historical/religious background from a very dark and bloody part of European history that they don't understand/are not taught.

if she understands the offside trap

if she understands the offside rule then 'she' probably used to be 'he'!!!

I'm not an electrician but it seems to me if the shower has been working for some time and all of a sudden problem. Then it sounds like a faulty unit and not the grounding. ??

Terrible news, condolences to the poor boys family.

I am also not an electrician but I understood that the whole point of earthing/grounding is that when there is a problem the current is sent to earth through the grounding cable as opposed to through your body. yes?

When I go to chiang rai in a couple of weeks i'll be checking the newly installed water heater for an earth,( g/f sisters son installed it) just want to double check I've got the advice given here right;

assuming there isn't an earth i need to buy some insulated cable, attach it to the heater casing (how? with a screw?), run it through the wall and attach the other end to a ground spike to a depth of around 4 feet?

Any advice much appreciated, I want to avoid the possibility of this terrible tragedy happening to any of my loved ones.

Thanks

Of the many aspects of life which are spectacularly different in Thailand compared to the East End of London where I grew up, this one is remarkably similar.

I'm 4th, the order goes as follows;

1. Children

2. Mum (Dad's no longer with us)

3. Family (sisters, brothers)

4. Me

5. Cats

6. Dogs

7. Everything else

(4 and 5 are interchangeable depending on the lunar calendar)

An on-going project this. We bought an old wooden house from about 20 kilometers away, dismantled it with the help of the villagers and brought to a 2 rai piece of land we had bought near Pak Chong. A long strip of land with a road at one end and a fair sized river at the other end. I wanted a typical stilted Asian house and that`s what we have

Really great idea! I've really enjoyed this thread, thanks to everyone for sharing, there was someone else who recycled other houses, had lots of teak, very beautiful Thai style roof gables as well, stunning! Is this a common thing in Thailand or were you the 'nutty farang' when you brought the idea up?

Thongkorn- Thank you so much for your reply. My plan is to marry me fiancee on January 18th 2010 but she will not come to UK until June 2010 as she has work commitments until then. So marrying at an Amphur office will not have a negative effect on our application for her permanent spouse visa? My fiancee seems to think that if we are married at the embassy it will be better for getting her visa. Out of interest, how easy is it to obtain a settlement visa for uk and what costs will we be looking at, excluding flights? Again thank you so much

Marrying at the Amphur will not have a negative efect on your visa application as it is the only way to get legally married in Thailand. If your marriage is legal in Thailand it is recognized as such by the UK government (you need to show them the marriage certificate). As far as I'm aware, marrying at the UK embassy would not be a legally recognized marriage as the Thai authorities would have no record of it and therefore you would not have a marriage certificate, and not be married.

Others will be able to give you sound advice about the settlement proccess.

Good luck with it all

Nice house mate! Thanks for sharing the photos

Ive edited the topic title to better reflect the discussion

cheers

by the way - I think in the 3 southern provinces the law of needing to register all phones including pre-paid is still strictly enforced

now this next part Im not too sure how it works - but apparently if you have a prepaid from elsewhere (and hence not registered in the 3 southern provinces) - the phone would not pick up signal. I cant say this is true - it sounds so overly sophisticated to me, but maybe someone more tech savvy can confirm whether this is possible? reason I was given this explanation was cos my overseas roaming prepaid phone wouldnt work in the southern province (but worked in Bangkok)

My UK sim worked in Samui and Phuket, so did the Thai sim I bought in 7-11 in Bangkok, both in my UK phone.