trainman34014

when i bought my house in a new moo baan i also had to pay 2 years of mainenance fees up front

Out of curiosity, does that then mean that you don't have to pay the monthly fee for two years because you've already paid it?

I think I would go along with that. If monthly fees are still due however then I think paying *anything* for two years up front sounds like financing something for someone to me, and I'm not a bank.

We paid two years up front when we bought the house but it is exactly that, 'Up Front', and you don't pay anymore monthly fees until your two years are up. Then you start with another two year up front payment.

Thanks for all the great responses people - really appreciate this.

So, Makro... Do I need to be a member or something to shop there? First stop once I get to Chiang Mai though

Yes; just go in and see the girls behind the desk to your right and ask them for a membership card. They will give you a form to fill in your local address and ( i think ) an estimate of how much you are likely to spend each month. Might ask you for I.D. Use any figure you like because you are never challenged at any time. They will give you a card and off you go.

Finally, there is quite a large gay community, perhaps attracted to the lady boys.

Just to point out, men who like ladyboy not gay.

Gay want person look like like man but ladyboy look like woman so gay man not want..

Man want ladyboy variation on heterosexual (some say deviation)

Wanting ladyboy is trait acquired after come to Thailand, not know ladyboy before come here.

Last six words not particularly true; there are certain London Pubs they frequent, which has always given me a reason to drink elsewhere!

I now know what documents are needed to obtain 1 year 'O' for person married to a Thai but short on knowledge of best route from Chiang Mai and best reasonably priced hotels that may be convenient for Thai Consul. Also anyone know if the 'Application for Visa' form that is downloadable is the same for all Visa types and, what is the current fee?

Any help appreciated.

Confirmed on the news that a third chopper has crashed. Live pic's of the crash on TV.

"The first team that arrived there had already managed to scour 60 to 70 square metres," Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

"But then it had to stop because the heavy rain made it impossible to see what was around," he said.

.......................

This is unbelievable to me, an aircraft costing Bt600 million is not fitted with a distress beacon ?

Many people have a tracking device fitted to their cars or bikes so they can be found if stolen but the military have no such devices to pinpoint a crashed helicopter ?

TIT. Do you think they are going to tell us the truth about everything? Hardly likely.

And the fact is not mentioned that the Thai overlords who run the factories where the foreigners would invest would simply hire more cheap laborers from Burma and elsewhere if the minimum wage went up.

I'm often amazed at how many Burmese workers there are who are doing jobs that obviously should be done by Thais. For example, the other day I had some tires replaced and guess what nationality the tire-changers were? I am all for helping the poor Burmese with employment. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the actual percentage of Burmese laborers compared to Thai laborers. Burmese do much of the rubber plantation work, seemingly all of the construction work, and much of the unskilled labor. Why aren't the Thais up in arms about this?

I am also, of course, all for Thais getting a decent salary. I don't see how they exist on the meager salaries they get in most cases. If the incoming party wants to help the poor, do something more to protect the workers from their Thai bosses.

I tend to agree with you. It has become far too easy for employers to bring in cheap foreign labour, and I believe it is not because they can't find Thais to work for minimum wage, but simple profiteering. This needs to change.

I have a garden man who comes once a month to cut lawn/tidy trees and flowers etc. Ha normally brings a team of 6 people, 4 of whom are Burmese. Last time he came he was 2 people short and I asked him where they were; 'problems with visa for Burmese' he said, so I asked why he can't just get a couple of Thai's to fill in the gaps. He says that Thai people don't want to work in this kind of job anymore unless they are involved in family who is running the business. Says he knows plenty of Thai's who are out of work but they are not interested. Says also that a lot of Thai's who are out of work become very idle because family supports them too easily.

I have seen Ceylon(Sri Lankan) tea in both Rimping and Tops,cannot remember

the brand but was definitely from Sri Lanka.

Word of caution bringing in tea through customs ,my daughter was very lucky

that they let her through with my supply of Yorkshire tea ,they found something

else they could levy tax on ,but said next time it would be confiscated !!

Twinnings is expensive,Liptons not strong enough ,even if you left in cup

all day,and the brand manufactured in Chiang Mai,not good enough.

kind regards Worgeordie

Don't really understand this as I bring back 500 Tea Bags every trip. Been seen by customs along with many other foods and never a word said. They are mainly looking for Bacca and Booze and show little interest in much else but I'm coming from the UK and have always got my Thai Mrs in tow. Maybe different from other places?

When I do run out I always go for the Dilmah which seems to be the nearest flavour to our Tea's.

Could have been signaling problems but the fact it was "push train" as against a "pull train" probably did not help matters.

By the term "Push Train" do you mean the Loco was at the rear pushing the carriages in front as opposed to a "Pull Train" where the loco would be in the front of the carriages?

No, sorry ,he has got it wrong . It was a Rail Motor -not Loco hauled ,to be totally clear - NO loco involved.

The correct term for this type of train is 'Diesel Multiple Unit'. It has underslung engines, so there is no 'Push or Pull'.

Could have been signaling problems but the fact it was "push train" as against a "pull train" probably did not help matters.

Push or Pull makes no difference. Safety is safety and rules must be followed in all railway practice but, there are numerous reasons I haven't got the time to go into why such things are more likely to happen in Thailand than many other countries.

By the way; I think you will find that this train was in fact a Diesel Multiple Unit and the engines are underslung so, bugger all to do with Push or Pull !

There is no such thing as a marriage visa. There is the one year extension of stay "Thai Wife" as I indicated above. It is not a visa. The non immigrant O visa you asked about is what is issued for those married (and other "other" reasons) and only allows a stay of 90 days. The extension of stay is obtained during the last 30 days of any such entry. You and wife both have to appear at Immigration with her ID/Home register and copies of many items/photos together/marriage certificate/financials and such (many posts outline exact requirements of various offices) and 30 days later you return to get the one year permitted to stay stamp.

Ok; all understood. Thanks again for all help recieved.

You would never need another visa. You would have to appear each year for new one year stay costing 1,900 baht in fee and pay for re-entry permit if traveling outside Thailand. 90 day address reports would be required but that can be done by mail at most locations. Requirement is 40k per month income or 400k in your name two months in a bank account in Thailand.

Thank Lopburi3. So that means the requirements are the same as a marriage visa, or are they one and the same thing?

Thanks lads. Something else I don't understand is about is 'Annual extension of stay' on a multiple 'O' . Does this mean that it's possible that you would never need to get a new 'O' ever again under current rules, or does it have a time limit?

Hello all

I am due for a new 'O' in September and as I am married and have house book etc I would like to renew in KL. Anybody out there who has recent experience of obtaining same from KL and could give me any tips that would be useful?

Any help appreciated.

I could afford to buy and run a Merc' but there is no way I would do it here because there is just no point in wasting that kind of dosh just to use it once a week or sometimes less. No thanks; stick to the small Jap' economy model as a matter of common sense and ride a bike for the most part. Flashing wealth of any kind will get you attention for all the wrong reasons, and that applies just about anywhere.

This is not the kind of thread one wants to read a week before moving out to CM !

I think we need to be more mindful of the fact that as relatively rich westerners, we choose to live in a country where wealth, and as a consequence of wealth, opportunities that we are used to doesn't exist for many.

I'm not condoning murder, mugging, physical assault etc, but if us westerners took the time to look at things from a Thai's perspective, and look at ourselves as Thai's see us, we might be a bit more careful about things like advertising our wealth and relative comfort.

Rubbish; Exactly like Elektrified sais above. Most foreigners are saddos on very limited means, and it shows. Loads of rich Thais around in comparison. You can probably count the number for foreigners driving a Merc or Beemer on the fingers of two hands. But whole herds of them on small mopeds.

How much is the bus to Bkk?

The 'First Class' service , which only leaves at 19.30 and 20.30, is around 650 Baht one way but you get a lot of goodies like hand cream/ extra food and drinks etc.

If Nakhonchai Air don't go there; I don't want to go ! Using Mini-Bus services is only for those with a death wish, that's why so many Thai's use them. If they can't kill themselves by Motorbike or overtaking in Cars on left hand bends, then they have to try Mini-Buses.

Wrong; I've seen the results of two family cremations in Thailand and each time all that is left is ashes and very small bone fragments which are normally collected in a china pot by the family who have to clear up the cremation site a few days after the burning. The bone fragments are normally blessed by monks just after they are recovered and then buried under a nearby tree.

It is my understanding that ashes come from pulverising the bones.. After the cremation, there are a lot of big bones.

You also forgot to mention the reason he was running like hell and wanted to get away was because he thought it was immigration chasing him. His visa had expired a year or so before his death, and taking a view similar to that which the Thai's take on foreigners, we could be callous and say 'If he hadn't of been in Britain it wouldn't have happened' !

Quote;

(But Britain is imperfect itself. I recall vividly that police there shot to pieces a South American not long ago. His crime was rushing to the underground, wearing a raincoat, and having a dark complexion. I'm sure his misbehaviour was corrected. Then too, there is Iraq with at least 100,000 innocent civilians dead, and the UK seconding the motion.)

I've seen Monopoly and Cluedo in Hang Dong market recently but have no idea if they are still there. Shop concerned was quite a way down on the right hand side walking in from the car park end.

RIP the deceased and condolences to the old lady. Thai's do appear to be peaceful people but violence always seems to be just under the surface. Similar thing happened in my wife's old village last year and hardly any publicity followed but the BiB later arrested a young man from the village who apparently grew up there and knew the victim well. He always thought he was well off and he needed money for beer so he killed him when he refused to lend him the dosh. It seems life here can be as cheap as a couple of bottles of beer.

A mini mart type of shop is going to net peanuts per month unless you own and manage a bunch of them, you can open a 7 eleven for about a million baht, but your oging to need to own several of them to make a good income.

Rubbish. We have a mini-mart shop in Nikkom (a little "town"), Southern Buriram ,near Cambodia. She makes heaps. So much so, she has just demolished her shop and is rebuilding a new 2 storey building, Purpose built as a new shop. With huge living quarters upstairs.She runs ONE shop only.

And there you have it. Not all business ventures end up failing if they are managed properly and the woman in the venture has just at least a little grey matter between her ears. I would suggest location has a lot to do with success or failure but if you own a successful Mini-Mart in a good area you better watch out for Tesco Express or 7-eleven moving in very close and screwing your venture.

Just so glad I won't be getting that bloody PT songtaew playing tinny music and shouting out the same rhetoric on the loud speakers over and over 4 times a day right outside and going up and down my tiny soi (full of people either too foreign to vote or absolute PT voters anyway) - and as a col-de-sac, we get it coming both ways!

For improvements, I think first on the list should be some decent crossing at the moat (especially at Thaipae and CM Gates) and on the Hang Dong road (both at Airport Plaza - people crossing all the time for the yellow songtaews - and down at the Ban Wan Tan turn off - lots of shops and always people and kids trying to cross and just up from a load of schools), and between Kad Suan Gal shopping mall and that block that Walen is in. In fact there are many dangerous crossing places in and around the city - and places with schools and tourist areas should be looked at asap.

Following that, push to improve basic infrastructure like the continual brown-outs every time it rains and dreadfully slow internet outside of the city centre (still within Meung). Also sort out ugly wiring, stinking klongs, rat infestation, collapsing klong bridges and statues.

CM is Thailands second city, but it is used just as a tourist site and no proper use is made of it as a real business centre etc. CM is becoming more and more ugly with decomposing half built skeletons and old concrete buildings, cables, ugly metal stalls (i.e. Night Bazaar) and the like - some money spent on making it more attractive for visitors and showing off that traditional Lana style people come here for - instead of making it look like a decomposing, forgotten and forlawn ghetto. Getting some real commercial interest in the place, bringing money into the area, with Gov incentives would help. So would some basic Gov investment in the area. The Night Bazaar could be beautiful and a real attraction once again with some thought and money - make it pedestrian only (at least in the evening - although much better use could be made of the road are with cafe's and stalls with a completely paved off area) get rid of those horrible iron chest lockers they use as stalls and tow up and down the road on mopeds! Put in wooden (or simulated wooden) Lanna style kiosks and stalls - put some specific Bazaar police in to kick out the hooky DVD and leathal weapon sellers (the other day I walked down the Night Bazaar at about 7pm with my kids and a DVD stall had a male gay pron running on a large flat screen for all to watch - not what tourists towing kids aroubnd want to see!) and keep the peace etc (use a private security firm rather than BiB's and it also gets rid of a lot of the back handers too). Get the artisdts out on the street during the summer instead of hidden in the basement of side buildings.

Clean up the chedis around the moat too - and put some multi-lingual history plaques up (Chedi blablabla built in 1849 .....etc).

How about an National or Local ENglish Language TV channel. I know people will say "Learn Thai" or "This is Thailand bla bla bla", but most countries have an English news channel and we can hardly expect business travellers and tourists to learn Thai well enough to understand Channel 7 news! It will also give the opportunity to give local and Thai news (not available on BBC World etc) and translations of Thai news stories with the same slant rather then the two nationals giving their western bent news. Would also help Thai kids learning English too as teachers could tell them to watch such and such a show and write a report etc.

I would bet a few Bucks that in four years time ( if they last that long ) not much of what you would like will have been done. Indeed; probably none of it ! Knowing the Thai populations ability to be able to focus on anything that they want for more than a few days, let alone years, I would say that this lot will most likely not be in power for more than a couple of years. The high poll turnout just shows that when Thai people want something bad they want it NOW. Now they have got what they wanted but unless the victors come up with all or most of what has been promised that is wanted NOW they will not last long.

Loads of sad fans around if they have the guts to own up ! I'm like you with crying in my beer about past glory but I'm a Southampton fan and remember the day at Wembley in 1976 when we beat MU to win the FA Cup. Still; at least we are back up to the Championship so we will meet your Forest boys in the new season.

I passed the accident when they were salvaging the bodies. Although the truck was on the wrong side of the road, I was under the impression that two of its tires were blown out and it might have become uncontrollable. The truck was in pretty good shape though. The yellow passenger pick up was new too. It came off the road and landed 5 meters or so below near a water stream. It was completely flattened. only the motor was still visible. The people must have been trapped like sardines in a can. The roof had completely collapsed. Fact is that the authorities do not give a dam_n thing. Converted Pick-up trucks are simply not suitable for transporting 15-20 people at a time. The transport Mafia will always oppose decent buses. But micro buses are the way to go.

You can bet your life that bad driving caused yet another 8 losses of life on the roads of Thailand. . It doesn't matter what type of bus,minibus,micro bus or whatever bus you wish to choose, if they are not driven properly and safely by competant drivers then this sort of thing will always be the outcome. RIP the poor souls who perished and condolences to the bereaved.