nattydread

i turned up around 3pm to be confronted by an ID card check and an airport like security scanner and plastic trays in which to deposit my valuables in to be pawed over by some thai security guard,who were they expecting? Osama Bin Laden and a pickup full of taliban?......after negotiating the homeland security measures and then being told that the queue for the food meant a minimum one hour standing wait in the blistering sun i had a quick look around the field and decided that i had no intention of spending the afternoon here and made for the gate..being a khee nee o Brit i confronted the guy who had taken my money and told him i was extremly disappointed at what i had paid 700 baht for (2 people) and would like a refund.........he duly obliged and off we went to an airconditioned restaurant with a seat near the window and spent the 700 baht on a very nice meal...........if they plan on doing this event next year then a lot more thought and organisation needs to go into the planning,then maybe i will give it another try

theres a nouvo elegance for sale on the classifieds for 39,000 baht..........its being sold by an english guy who runs Tonys Big Bikes rental shop in CM.........i have had the pleasure of meeting him and renting a bike off him ...he and his buisness buddy seem honest and straight forward guys.........the nouvo is his own personal machine and looks in A1 condition.........u might even get a few K discount if u wave the readies under his nose

http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/automotives-vehicles/motorcycles/2008-yamaha-nouvo-elegance-for-sale-57380.html

that one near sat walking street is definately a chop shop, be careful. cheers for the advice guys, guess ill have to wait till after songkran to buy one now, oh well.

Just out of curiosity, what's your definition of a chop shop? Wouldn't it be hard to get the bike's green book and get it registered if it had been stolen?

I really dunno about that. But I bought my Honda Wave there, and was quite happy with it. Been to Sapathong market on Saturday twice and couldn't see a real difference in the price between this shop and the market. So then I def. prefer from the shop as you know where to take it as anything goes wrong. Like been said before the guy speaks good english and whenever I go there it's always busy with mostly Thai customers, I dunno but for me that's a reassuring thing.

I also found that the difference between a good 2th hand bike and a new one is rather small and its personal interpertation if it's worth the difference. If you wanna buy a new one, go to any Honda dealer in town. I had a look at their shop in the sunday walking street (Ratchadamnoen) but I was pissed off by the fact that all the prices of a new Honda bike in CM are like 3000 - 4000 k more then BKK (I downloaded the 2010 Honda pricelist) and they simply say that's for transport.

I obviously instantly applied for the job of transporting bikes from BKK to Chiang Mai, as you put 20 bikes on a truck to make quite a decent living so it seems .

Anyways, see if it is worth the small difference to actually buy a 2th hand.

EDIT: BTW had no problem with registring the bike or the check or the greenbook, all was well.

I should add that this chop shop claims to guarantee their bikes against major problems for a year after purchase. I take this with a grain of salt as there's nothing in writing. However, a couple weeks after purchasing my bike I brought it back because the tire had a very slow leak and there was something funny with the headlights. They replaced the headlight bulb and put a brand new tire on free of charge.

Also, they handled basic insurance, the inspection, and registered the bike in my name for about 1200b (400b, 100b, 700b). Maybe a little pricey, but I didn't have to do a thing.

i bought a bike today and changed the green book to my name with the tilacs help..........260 baht

thanks for the offer Mr Howto but i am in Chiang Mai

i am looking for a cheap guitar for up to 4000 baht but in the music shops i am confronted by an array of makes i have never heard of..............any advice on the pros and cons of the various cheapies and what to look for when buying ?..........i am a virtual newbie to guitars.....thanks for any help

Just get a certified letter from the British Consulate detailing where you live.

went there today and the theiving sods wanted 2300 baht for a letter confirming my address.............i decided to chance my arm and went with my g/f to the transport office and fortunately they accepted my chonburi immigration residence document and the letter from the farang landlord in CM as proof of where i reside

thanks to all who posted

Just get a certified letter from the British Consulate detailing where you live.

Toss the Pattaya thing in the trash, ditto your rent agreement.

Thai Dr Lisc will be a help.

What kind of visa are you on?

type o multi entry visa

will the consulate provide me a letter confirming where i am staying at present and what will be the cost?

the bike is in a thai name and this person is available to visit the transport office with me......not sure why some posters are linking it to a farang owner

i also have a thai motorbike licence if that helps LOL...........is the problem going to be the residence certificate is addressed in Pattaya or the condo receipt is just for one month and is not official looking?

I am planning on buying a cheap runaround Yamaha Nouvo MX from a m/c hire shop in Chiang Mai.............i have a copy of my passport and visa stamp........a typed and signed letter from a farang who is renting me a condo for the next month...........a residence certificate that was obtained whilst i was staying in Pattaya..............the thai guy selling me the bike has advised me to go to the British consulate in CM to get a letter from them stating i am living in Cm then he will swop the green book into my name................is what he is suggesting correct and is there anything else i should be aware of before handing over the cash?

its a 3.5 year old bike with 14000 km on the clock for 24k baht.......i have checked it over myself and also had it appraised at another shop so i am taking plunge with it.......LOL

thanks for any advice

i am looking for a secondhand Honda Wave but everything i look at is either overpriced junk thats had the clock turned back or the owner wants almost the same price as he paid for it when it was new a couple of years ago............so now i am thinking of buying new so would like some advice on.......

where to buy that will honour any makers guarantee and service schedule

cheapest price in town and how to broker a good deal from the shop

any advice on which model of wave to go for

i am still open to any offers of a secondhand one if any TV member has a late model low mileage Wave for 20k ish

i am looking to spend a couple of thousand baht on a used accoustic guitar .......can anyone recommend a shop or has any TV member got anything that might suit.......thanks

anybody know of any hotels in chiang mai that will allow u to just turn up as a non resident and use their swimming pool (for a small fee of course)....i am looking for somewhere in the Huay Kaew Rd area in particular..........thanks

must have......

swimming pool,

gym,

internet in room

basic kitchen facilities a plus

thanks

guy in his 50s......non smoker....non drinker....looking for a nice condo to rent for 3 months maybe longer........looking for riverside/hillside 4 or similar........need pool..gym......tv and internet..........looking to rent from about the middle of june........thanks

On Bangkok Airways you can get up to 30 kg allowance if you signup for their Frequent Flier program and if you use web check-in (they give you a 5kg luggage allowance bonus for each of those things and allow you 20kg without FF and web check-in). Bought a ticket on-line from them recently for BKK-CNX and the total fair was 1915 Baht.

thanks for that..have just signed up fo the flyer bonus and get an extra 10kg totalling 30kg for the hold and 5kg to take on the plane.....the ticket price was less too at 1915 baht

went into a travel agents in Pattaya today and was quoted a reasonable 2300 baht for a one way ticket to CM......however the weight limit is 15 kg in the hold and 5 kg hand luggage..........i have 30 kg to go in the hole but they want 400 baht a kg extra that adds up to another 6000 baht making 8300 baht in total which is totally outrageous in my opinion.................apart from getting on a bus has anyone got any other ideas or airline suggestions that would help......thanks

Check the side walls of the tyre, in my experience the correct max pressures are always listed there.

My guess will be in the order of around 35PSI in the rear and 32PSI in the front would probably do the trick, if in fact the standard tyres (original equipment) is fitted to the bike.

If the bike is fitted with aftermarket skinny tyres that changes somewhat.

have tried google to no avail

i dont think the max tyre pressure on the sidewall of the tyre bears any correlation to what the optimum tyre pressure should be

(30 yrs riding bikes)

i am renting one at present but would like to check the tyre pressures...can anyone tell me what they are supposed to be....i am a 90kg rider........thanks

heres an interesting site

http://freebeerforyorky.com/driving.html

Is the socket in a dry spot?

the socket is about 2 feet off the floor so should be ok but i will quiz her about the location being dry.............apparently when the electrician came around to size up the job he recommended cutting the earth rod down to 1 metre for easy installation LOL..........but by then i had instilled into her the importance of installing the whole 1.8 metres of it..........the poor little mite (all of 40kg) has been on her knees digging a big hole to sink the rod as the ground has a lot of stone in it........bless her

Thinking that it's sorted & knowing that it's sorted are 2 entirely different things.

Good luck.

u are so right...........she has been out to the local electric shop and bought all the bits i told her to and the "electrician" was due around today but telephoned to say he couldnt come due to the death of his cousin........lets hope the guy didnt die from electric shock due to faulty wiring

when the washing machine was delivered and "installed" by Powerbuy,their "electrician" decided that this was the correct way to take a spur off the main cable to the washing machine socket.........it would be really funny if it wasnt so dangerous

Natty - in post 25 we see that you have a special kind of a circuit breaker. It has a ground fault interrupt built in. I like those - that plus your grounded chassis should be fine for a while. Just confirm the 2 pin socket is in a sheltered place which CAN NOT see rain - cuz it's mounted (possibly) unecessarily low.

I can post some pictures of some little goodys I installed lately for hot water heater.

she has now used the ELCB /GRCI from homepro and a 2.4m ground rod and clamp ....i gave her this wiring diagram now so i think its now sorted..........thanks to everyone who took the time to post

wiring_pic.bmp

Natty, is that the only 'fuse box' in the house?? If so, be afraid, be very afraid!

The thingy with the buttons is a starter, likely with overload protection (it should have a rating in Amps on it), it does NOT provide RCD functionality.

If I were you I'd get a whole house RCD installed, local sparks understand Safe-T-Cut as a local brand and know (mostly) how to install them.

thanks again Crossy...........i have told her to buy the RCD adaptor..ground rod...earth wire so at least they will be protected from electric shock from the washing machine......thats as far as it goes for me LOL

she cant locate an RCD adaptor that plugs into the socket......at Homepro they have this ELCB unit which i think is probably a better idea anyway..she tells me its an........Earth leakage circuit breaker sensitive current 15 ma court 30 a 200-240 v

would this be suitable and is the circuit diagram i have drawn the correct way for Somachai to wire it in...........thanks again Crossy

Wiring_Diagram.bmp

Natty, is that the only 'fuse box' in the house?? If so, be afraid, be very afraid!

The thingy with the buttons is a starter, likely with overload protection (it should have a rating in Amps on it), it does NOT provide RCD functionality.

If I were you I'd get a whole house RCD installed, local sparks understand Safe-T-Cut as a local brand and know (mostly) how to install them.

thanks again Crossy...........i have told her to buy the RCD adaptor..ground rod...earth wire so at least they will be protected from electric shock from the washing machine......thats as far as it goes for me LOL