DJH77

Last night there was a Mukdahan Chamber of Commerce Meeting in which the Airport Proposal was on the agenda. There are still some business people pushing for the Airport to be in Mukdahan. I havn't heard what the results of the discussion were as yet but when I get the info I will pass it on to you all. My big Question is where in Muk you can put an airport. Once you head inland the terrain becomes very hilly with a couple of small mountains also to be avoided. Obviously there must be a reasonably flat area somewhere but how far from the city, and don't forget the noise of the Aircraft so it's need to be a good distance out. The Lao Air flights to Savannakhet when landing usually come in heading north alone the centre of the Mekong River and make a right turn for their approach to Savannakhet Airport. No real noise problem to Mukdahan City and as we don't see much in the way of planes here it is a nice sight from my house on the rivers edge only about 1kl from their right turn.

In Thailand Airports must be 25Kl from any Border with another Country, So Mukdahan is out. There have been many, On again Off again reports about Leong Nok Tah's old airstrip from the Vietnam war being opened but I think it would have to be extended somewhat to cater for big jets. Anyway it'snly a 1 hour drive to Nakhon Phanom Airport which has a reasonable service.

One hour is a little optimistic, Google Maps show it as one hour and thirty seven minutes with no traffic. The few times I have gone to That Phanom, from Mukdahan it has taken about an hour.

An hour to That Phanom, George you must have gone by Tuk Tuk.

In Thailand Airports must be 25Kl from any Border with another Country, So Mukdahan is out. There have been many, On again Off again reports about Leong Nok Tah's old airstrip from the Vietnam war being opened but I think it would have to be extended somewhat to cater for big jets. Anyway it'snly a 1 hour drive to Nakhon Phanom Airport which has a reasonable service.

There was a shop at the northern end of the indo china market that had rods and reels, I presume it is still there. Ask around that area.

Forget the Budget and put on Michelin Latitude Cross.

It's Simple, You go to various dealers and see who will give you the Best Trade in Price on your old car for the New Car. From there you decide who you will buy from and do your deal. They will pay out the finance on the old car and if there is any Residual you can have it in Cash or use it as part or full Deposit on the new one, depending on the amount. But a bit of Advice on your choice of Make. Buy a Pajero, Not the MUX. The Pajero Drives Better, Handles a lot better with a lot more ride Comfort as it has independant rear suspension not a Pick up Chassie. I recently did a few hundred K's in a MUX and to me there was no comparison to the Pajero and mine is 4 plus years old and done 160,000 K's. The MUX had a tendancy to skip around at the rear end on corners with a few bumps and in the wet this could be a tragerty. It was a bit like a 10 year old Toyota Sports Rider in it's handleing. Good Luck.

Have a look at QUICKFIRE BBQ's, in Udon, They are very good and you will find their ad on this site at Issan where you started, talk to DOC,

The Best food in Mukdahan is at Mukdahan Manors - Song Fung Khong Restaurant referred to by many as Mr Dons, The menu is on the website, WWW.mukdahan-manor.com Check it out. For Mekong River Fish etc try Narin Restaurant a few 100 mtrs down from Makro on the same side. Night time entertainment is based around the Mukdahan Tower.

This is a very strange accident as I watch this video, and I tend to go with Warpspeed, there wasn't a great deal of time but a slight bit of right hand wheel would have saved them I think. Defencive driving is mandatory in this country as you know the opposition, that's what I refer to them as, has no idea how to handle a car that gets out of shape so you must be on your guard at all times, there seem to be very little moisture on the road and the driver of the car out of control loosing the rear end has left his boot into it and on gaining traction speared across the centre line, the evasive move is to head for where they came from and hope you make it, I am very sorry for the family involved as they were completely innocent in this terrible accident, but as Warp said driver training may have saved them

Route 1) on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/w8VYI

(the way from Pattaya to road 331 is a bit tricky to find, but definitely the best)

 

Route 2) on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/y8iXf

(don't miss the Saraburi bypass)

   The easy way to 331. Drive from Pattaya towards Rayong and turn left to go to Phoenix Golf Course. When you get to Phoenix just keep going until you get to the T intersection at the end of the road, not far. Then turn left and you are on your way. 331,304 and onto highway 2 to Udon. Very simple and should take less that 9 hours, closer to 8 i think. I go this way to Mukdahan but have to turn off Highway 2 onto 207 to cut across country to Muk, it takes me about 7.5 hours to Mukdahan but to Udon is easier as it is straight up Highway 2.

 

The Bridge shuts at 10pm but on the Lao side the Visa Office closes at about 6pm usually so if you don't already have a visa for Lao i would not leave the  Mukdahan side after about 4.30 or 5 pm.to ensure you don't get stuck on the Lao side and have to return to Mukdahan until the next morning. Also i am not sure but the bus you talk about from Ubon probably links up at Mukdahan Bus Station with the Mukdahan - Savannakhet bus to go over. I have never seen any bus with Ubon - Savannakhet on it going over the bridge. Also i have never seen more than 20 people at the Thai Consulate quewed up to apply for a visa in the past 10 years, so if there are 600 as mentioned on a previous post there must be an awful lot of people getting caught out by the clamp down on visas. 

 

There is no link up of buses. You get off what ever bus you are using to get to Mukdahan and then buy a ticket for the bus over the bridge to Savannakhet.

 

I was there last week. Far more people than 20.

 

Nothing to do with people getting caught out either, as 90% of people were Laos people applying for Thai visas. I only saw about 8 westerners.

 

Interesting that the Loas people still have to get a visa to come to Thailand but Thais are allowed to go to Laos without. Will be even more interesting at the end of the year when ASEAN is fully implemented.
 

 

Lao people can come over without a visa but can only stay 2 nights i think. If they stay longer they must pay 500 baht overstay per day. Many of these Lao people come by boat, not over the bridge, straight into the Indo-China Market. There are still Cargo boats that run across the river as well as passenger boats which only Thai and Lao people can use. Foreigners must go via the bridge ever since it opened.

There is a shop in Mukdahan where you can get it, but where are you in Thailand. There must be a million shops in Bangkok.

You can bring a Lao registered car into Thailand but i think it must return to Lao within 30 days. If you want to import a Lao car into Thailand you must pay the applicable duty the same as if it came from the USA. A Thai gentleman recently bought in a 2008 Mustang that he had since new in Lao as he was working there. The duty was 1.4 Million Baht as worked out by Customs in Mukdahan.

The Bridge shuts at 10pm but on the Lao side the Visa Office closes at about 6pm usually so if you don't already have a visa for Lao i would not leave the  Mukdahan side after about 4.30 or 5 pm.to ensure you don't get stuck on the Lao side and have to return to Mukdahan until the next morning. Also i am not sure but the bus you talk about from Ubon probably links up at Mukdahan Bus Station with the Mukdahan - Savannakhet bus to go over. I have never seen any bus with Ubon - Savannakhet on it going over the bridge. Also i have never seen more than 20 people at the Thai Consulate quewed up to apply for a visa in the past 10 years, so if there are 600 as mentioned on a previous post there must be an awful lot of people getting caught out by the clamp down on visas. 

The best place to stay in Mukdahan for foreigners is Mukdahan Manor B&B, Check it out on Tripadvisor for a reference. You may be pushing it to go straight to Laos from the plane, getting down to Mukdahan and over the border will take probably 3 hours. I would stay the first night in Mukdahan and take the first bus from the bus station around 8am the next morning, get to the Thai Consulate around 10am. Be prepared to stay overnight in Savannakhet as the normal procedure is that you cannot pick up your passport until the day after you apply for your visa and at around 2pm in the afternoon. Depending on your flight deparanother night in Lao or Mukdahan. Good Luck.

Land and house prices within Mukdahan City Limits have increased dramatically over the past 10 years. For instance, the price of 1 Nan - 400 sq mtrs is now around 600,000 bah in residential areas. Land on the Mekong River Front that was 1 million baht, 10 years ago is now between 5 to 8 million per Rai, depending on the location. As you are 40kl out of Mukdahan City, but you don't say where it is difficult to put a price on it but out in the villages i would say that it is only worth what someone is willing to pay if there have been no sales in the area recently for you to go by. I would check with the head of the village as he should have a good idea if anything has sold over the past couple of years and this would give you something to go by..

It is best to get muti entry permit when you get retirement visa That way you can come and go as you please and it don't cancel retirement visa. but you still must report every 90 days.

When you have a Retirement Visa with a Multiple Entry Permit, every time you leave Thailand and go to another country, say Laos for instance, on return, even if it is the same day your entry stamp will be for 1 year from that day. Instead of reporting every 90 days at a Thai Immigration office with photo copies of this and that you can simply leave the country and on return your Arrival card that you are given, which is the other half of the Departure Card you filled in on exit from Thailand acts as a 90 day report as the details you fill in show your address etc. I still renew my Visa on the correct date each year but in actual fact if you Departed Thailand, say 2 days prior to the Visa Expiry date and returned the next day you are given 1 year from that day. So the Visa can actually last 2 years but your Multiple Entry Permit will expire on it's due date so you have 90 days in which to renew your visa from the date of re-entry. The Visa gets you into the country but from then on the Arrival Stamp and the Date inserted by the Immigration Officer take presidence. It has never made sence to me but that is how it works.

When my future wife and i went to the Sheriffs office to get the Marriage License, the Sheriff handed me a form for me to complete and i had to list everything i Owened Prior to the wedding. I told the Sheriff that i would have to take this home to fill it out as there was a lot to be listed. The Sheriff replied that it didn't have to be that comprehensive, just put in the main things, but i insisted that it would take me some time to list it all and took it home to make sure that i left nothing out. The next day i returned to the Sheriffs office to hand in the completed list and the Sheriff informed me that if we were to seperate in the future, Nothing on this list could be claimed by my Wife as it was all mine prior to the wedding, this included my Thai Company which included the land on which my house was built and all the inclusions in the house that i had listed and also my car. This document was apparently included in the Marriage Documents as the Sheriff attended the wedding and completed everything for us so there would be no confusion or complaints at a later date if things didn't work out. I happy to say that 7 years later all is still great with the wife and i. I have never heard of this happening to any other foreigner in my Province when they applied to get married, and i have been here for 12 years. So there are laws to protect Foreigners it seems but they are not usually told of this when they apply. Obviosly it saves time and paper work if nothing is said.

I have some questions regarding obtaining a Non Imm O spouse (marriage) multiple entry from Thai consulate in Savannakhet.

Maybe some members can answer.

1) Is there a bus from Ubonratchathani city bus terminal all the way to Savannakhet (via Mukdahan)?

If so, what is the earliest time it leaves Ubon, how long is the trip, how much is the fare, when is the last bus back/leaving Savannakhet/Mukdahan to Ubon?

2) I already got a Kor Ror 2 (marriage registration, not certificate) at an amphur in Bangkok a week ago.

But I plan to get a new visa (visa, not extention) late this month, June.

The Kor Ror 2 will then be 1.5 months old: will it still be accepted?

3) Apart from original marriage certificate and Kor Ror 2 and signed copy of Thai wife's ID card, I plan to also bring along

(and will only show when requested by consulate staff) original bankbook, original work permit,

original and copy of personal income tax receipt for 2013 tax filling, copy of the income tax declaration from 2013

(to show I can comply with the at least THB 50K monthly income requirement).

The bankbook will be at least showing transactions from 14th April until, I guess, the day prior to application at consulate,

but far under a balance of THB 400K.

My question: will this be enough if asked more than the marriage documents and ID document?

4) What is the expectation that the Thai consulate will still be where it was last year April 2013?

Thanks!

NO Bus from bon to Laos, you must change busses at Mukdahan Bus Station and if you are flying in you should check out Nakon Phanom flights as it is closer to Mukdahan. If you want to stay in Mukdahan, check out Mukdahan Manor, the restaurant there is the best for western food. www.mukdahan-manor.com As for the rest of your questions i can't help you i'm sorry.

Forget the Cost and buy the best, Michelin Latitude Cross. Go to the Michelin Site to find your nearest Michelin Outlet. Your life may depend on it.

Have a look at ROVER Mowers on the internet, they have an outlet in Bangkok off Ring Road 9. Very good Quality machines and good service as well i found. I had 1 motor rebuilt by them a few years ago, no problems.

These pictures are very similar to what happened at the New Mukdahan Store only weeks after it opened a year or so ago. Here to people were killed and it was only a storm with strong winds. They obviously have a design problem or the builder has cut corners to save money in the construction. I went and looked at the Mukdahan store the day after it collapsed and could not believe what flimsy supports there were for the high facad wall above the entrance to tha building, no wonder it blew over.

In Mukdahan they issue plates with English Letters for cars going to Lao. These plates are attached as you leave Thailand and must be removed when you re-enter Thailand. You are not supposed to drive in Thailand with these english lettered plates. If you do not have these plates on in Laos you may be stopped by Lao Police and made to pay a small fine. But the Majority of cars going across to Lao Do Not Have these Plates, only the Normal Thai Plates. On my Car i have Thai Plates plus a set of Queensland, Australian Plates, Personalised Plates with my Initials in English and i have never been stopped by the Lao Police. I think they don't worry about it to much.

If your heading for Mukdahan, The Mukdahan Manor B&B has the Full Truevision Platinum TV Package to each room. Friday is the Anzac Test Match.

That's nice if it's full of fuel and starts to leak, a bomb under your seat kev.