goodpoint

Take a look at this site's Thai Food Tour. It lists a couple of dozen Thai dishes and recommends restaurants to sample them at in Bangkok.

Chequebin - East Asian Restaurant Reviews - Bangkok Food Tour with 15 dishes to try at recommended restaurants,

I love Kow Soi Gai

The service was never free. Never. The home bank levies the charge at around 4%. On a 5000 baht withdrawal, this lifts the total charge to 7%.

Not all home banks....

The ‘home bank’ fee is /was always in the spread. The buy/Sell, the baht/Yen etc. It is usually a staggering 3-6 % (staggeriing because in the electronic transaction age this is 99% clear profit to home bank + presumably a nice fee to the offshore bank - Thai banks already receiving.

Giving it more thought a 150 B charge on a 20,000 withdrawal is less than one percent. Not serious. But notification is important, a key issue, as it can deter some customers from withdrawing small amounts - because they don't like carrying lots of cash with them.

There is no notifacation the charge will be applied. In other countries there is. This is deceptive.

The service was never free. Never. The home bank levies the charge at around 4%. On a 5000 baht withdrawal, this lifts the total charge to 7%.

Visa levies the charge on the merchant. If merchant levies a charge it notifies customer in advance.

I have to be suspect that the initial views expressed above reflect the baking industry. But then again recent bank management illustraes how much harm banks are capable of inflicting on themselves and others..

Anyone know of any swimming pools on top of shopping centres or anywhere else that are near the northern BTS stations (Mor Chit, Vic Mon, Siam)? I like to have the occasional swim only so it’s not worth paying club fees. The pool at Bangkapi Mall is just too far away. Any closer that any of you knowledgeable people may know?

I will have a few days off - J1 to J3 - and would love to get north for a few cool days or at least nights. I am interested in almost anything and love escaping Bangkok. Is Chaing Mai too far and probably too crowded/booked out? What other suggestions have you got to enjoy a read and a bit of nature or a smallish town? Any trips appreciated.

I would like to receive ABC Asia Pacific TV.

I live in the Aree area of Bangkok. So far, I have not found any cable outfits that provide this TV channel to or in this area. If anyone knows differently I and some others would love to know who the companies are.

If not, what are the set-up costs and advantages and negatives of installing a dish on the roof? I am informed that I need a 3 metre dish to receive PAS2 satellite.

Do you think it may get other channels too?

So far I have run into a series of dead ends. So any advice that can point me forward will be great.

Any info on bus trips to the town close to Surin Island for snorkelling in particular.

When I check the net all that comes up are the expensive ones that run out from Phuket....live aboards etc. Some Thai people I have spoken with have done it simply by bussing it from Bangkok and arriving at the port (dont know its name) and then literally spending 24 hours out on the island and returning mid afternoon by boat and to BKK by 1 AM.

I have heard that Pattaya has some good sausages - bratwursts etc but I do not know of any. Has anyone a recommendation of a good place to try.

Is it possible to buy a condominium in say Bangkok and then to rent it out?

I tend to think property here and in KL is going to continue skywards for an extended period. I am willing to bear the financial risk in any case. The thing that has stopped me so far is the legal risk or uncertainty on the titles and ongoing fees, and the risk of not being able to get the money out when I sell.

I am also considering buying a place because I live here and would quite like to live in a nice modern quiet new place with a pool and a couple of really efficient airconditioners.

Is it legally safe?

Who can you recommend I go to for some rock solid legal advice?