Eneukman

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My Garmin GPS gives me the speed limit on some roads. Driving along Sukhumwit in Pattaya, it is 80 km / hr whilst once outside Pattaya it becomes 110 km / hr. If I turn off Sukhumwit (either direction) no limit is shown so I assume the limit is therefore 60 km / hr? I've been driving along Route 3 at around 100 km / hr when I notice that my Garmin is showing my speed in red as the speed limit has become 80 km / hr yet no sign to warn me that the limit has become lower.

Thailand really needs to adapt the system in the UK and put up proper speed limit signs on all roads so that everyone knows how fast they can drive legally.

Alan

we went to LOS to bee more free than in EU,

now you want they make also in LOS monkeys of us ??

Considering Thailand has the 2nd highest number of fatalities in road traffic accidents in the world, I think that showing the speed limit everywhere AND enforcing it would be a good idea.

Alan

Done this before.

Better you fly in to Singapore in the morning and fly out on the evening. Forget messing about trying to get a cheap hotel and cheap taxi. There's no such thing in Singapore.

Hotels may be expensive in Singapore but last time I was there, I found taxis to be relatively cheap compared to everything else in the city. The train service is also inexpensive so if you don't want to spend a night in the country, take an early flight and then use the train to see a little of Singapore.

Alan

Restore to earlier date is

But at most they would have been on the C drive for 5-10 mins. They were kept on an external drive.

I've lost files using the same process as you. A further option is to download this programme - http://www.wondershare.net/ad/data-recovery/?gclid=CLT40PKAp8UCFVUTjgod-JgAlA and select "complete file search" and then select ALL drives. I've recovered files in the past that were lost in similar circumstances though I doubt whether you'll be able to recover everything that's been lost.

Alan

My Garmin GPS gives me the speed limit on some roads. Driving along Sukhumwit in Pattaya, it is 80 km / hr whilst once outside Pattaya it becomes 110 km / hr. If I turn off Sukhumwit (either direction) no limit is shown so I assume the limit is therefore 60 km / hr? I've been driving along Route 3 at around 100 km / hr when I notice that my Garmin is showing my speed in red as the speed limit has become 80 km / hr yet no sign to warn me that the limit has become lower.

Thailand really needs to adapt the system in the UK and put up proper speed limit signs on all roads so that everyone knows how fast they can drive legally.

Alan

I have to go through the same process soon. The embassy's web site tells you what they will accept as proof of address - https://www.gov.uk/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand

What I find annoying about the appointment system is that appointments are only available between 8.00 am and 10.30 pm..

Alan

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She feeds me good, no complaints.

Same here as my expanding waist line will confirm!

Alan

I have a friend who is happy in VT.2 C-D on Thrappaya.............

Apparently good management, enforced rules, and standby generators...(don't fancy 15 lots of steps).

View Talay 2A is closest to Thappraya Rd. View Talay 2B sits behind the A building.

I have heard that those older buildings are not as good.

As someone else has pointed out I got the number wrong.... it is VT5 C,D.

(They all look the same)

Pretty much across the rd fromVT2 then? ....Road meaning Thrappaya/Jomtiem 2nd Rd.

Coming from Jomtiem towards Pattaya its on the left just before the Threppasit junction.

Yes, VT 5 is more or less across the road from VT 2.

Alan

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I live in View Talay 2A could not be happier just moved into a double unit from a single costs 20k a month , good management , great pool and handy shops/massage/laundry/barber on ground floor

I've lived in the same building for the last 10 years - 7 as an owner. The pool is one of the largest in Pattaya and is certainly better than the pools in the newer View Talay buildings.

I lived (renting) in condos in Jomtien for six years before the noise finally drove me out. YMMV if you're lucky.

Not really much of a problem with noise in View Talay 2A at night.

I lived in VT2 for a while and its in a great location and only a few minutes walk to the beach, restaurants and bars.

The building is very well run with many of the juristic persons being farang. Best to get a unit on the Pattaya side as

its a lot cooler. Plenty of parking too which many of the newer buildings don't have. Only of interest if you wanted to

buy but the maintenance is very low compared to many of the newer buildings, Its around 15 Baht per square meter.

Except in the summer when the Pattaya side is hotter than the Jomtien side but that's only about 4 months out of the year. The maintenance fee in View Talay 2A is 3,600 baht per unit but there is also a variable secondary fee as 3,600 baht is totally inadequate to run the building. The secondary fee for this year was 6,500 baht.

Alan

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I'm in part agreement with the OP.

There's a guy who lives near me in Hua Hin is 68 and has a 6 month old daughter.

I'm not saying that if you're older you can't be a great dad, but people should consider how fair it is on the child when the father is so old.

I lost one of my parents when I was ten years old, not because of old age, but nonetheless for any child to lose one of their parents is a truly traumatic experience and having a child in your 60s obviously dramatically increases the risk of your son or daughter growing up without a dad for a large part of their childhood.

There's more to it than simply being able to financially support your child.

it's OK to say you've got money in the bank but fatherhood is much more than that.

Since this topic is about fathering children, one important thing to consider: how will your child feel in a family where Dad is so much older than Mum? Could it result in bullying at school or in the neighbourhood? Emotional damage? Feeling like he or she belongs to a weird family?

My dad was 50 (and mum 40) when I was born, can't say anyone ever commented on his age to me.

I didn't really think about my friends fathers ages either, didn't really think about their dads at all.

Nor did any of the bullies.

When you're a kid, over 30 is old, no need to think any more about it.

What is going on with all these guys fantasizing about other peoples fathers ages?

It's a non-event!

My dad was 54 and my mum 41 when I was born. They had both died before my 17th birthday. For as long as I could remember, my dad was in poor health. So all you older guys thinking of having children when you're in your 50's or older, think of what your children will miss out on if you take ill - a cousin died from a heart attack when in his late 40's though he had no children.

Alan

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Optima one of the best!

Run by an English lad.

Thanks for that suggestion. I'll take a closer look at their web site later,

Hi. Do you really need a condo management company ?

In my condo we stopped a few years back with such companies.
Our manager is now a salaried employee of the condo.
We use a software for accounting and an accountant office for yearly legal appraisal.
The condo has never been managed so well

This is certainly a possibility, but it relies on finding a good person to be that manager. The advantage of a management company is that even if the on-site manager is incompetent (or worse) the management company should provide some sort of buffer against problems, and can parachute replacement personnel in if necessary. That buffer also serves to protect the unpaid and unloved committee; without a management company the committee (and the JPM) becomes directly responsible for everything. As a committee member I would need to consider this.

If there is no management company then the committee needs to be very careful about putting checks and balances in place regarding the accounts and expenditure. And not all committees are competent enough to do this, or even want to spend the time on it.

You also need to take account of the legal advice and general specialised knowledge that a (decent) management company can bring. Legal issues are important and if you get the procedures wrong there can be untold hell to pay.

The size of the building is also an important consideration for such a system. I can see it working in a building with a few 10s of units where everyone knows each other and which is largely owner-occupied, but maybe not so well in one with 1000 units, many rented out by absentee landlords with multiple properties.

I also am extremely tempted to employ such a manager in our building (and I go one step further in that I would like it to be a farang) but the trick is finding one and ensuring that it all wont go completely to pot when the committee membership changes. Our building already puts all its cash-flow through specialised condo accounting software, and an external yearly audit is, of course, already obligatory (and I have grave doubts about the value of a standard Thai audit).

I doubt not having a management company would work where I live as we have close to 900 units, many of which are currently rented out illegally on a short term basis. For some unknown reason at the last AGM, co-owners voted to limit the size of the committee to 3, which for a building this size is too small. Fortunately, we do seem to have a committee that is trying to run the building properly.

I too have grave doubts about the standard of a Thai audit especially as some figures presented at one AGM simply didn't add up to the total,shown in the accounts. As our financial and fee years are different, the accrual basis of accounting (a system designed by accountants to ensure that only other accountants can understand it) has to be used. The first year this had to be used some of the figures in the accounts were total garbage. I'm not an accountant but have a financial background with a working knowledge of how accruals should be worked out.

Alan

I live in a condo in Jomtien.. I'm not impressed with our current management company (Real Management Company) and whilst I want to suggest to the committee that the company should be replaced, I would like to be able to suggest alternative companies. Can I ask those of you who live in a condo in the Pattaya area (hence the reason for posting this here) which management company runs your building?

We did employ QPM before but they were removed by the previous committee so I think there would be some opposition to bringing them back.

Thanks,

Alan

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The main problem isn't security, it's short-term tenants //
These days many residents are just there for a couple of weeks //

Is that authorised ?
I mean, some condominium have clear rules like 2 months or 3 months as minimal rent duration.

I think that the Condominium Act also has a rule on this point,
to forbid any owner to use his condominium units as an hotel,
but I can't find reference to this "rule" ? Anyone who knows about it ?

I had a new Will prepared by a lawyer a while ago and I asked her a few questions about condo law. She confirmed that, as already said above, short term rentals are only permitted on floors designated as being for commercial purposes and then only if the owner has a hotel licence. On all other floors, the minimum rental period is 1 month - something that has never been enforced where I live. I suspect it will be extremely difficult to enforce this now though it could perhaps be introduced over a period of time.

Alan

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Make it one day only ... alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

And restrict it to designated areas only with fixed start and finish times (say 10.00 am to 7.00 pm).

Alan

This doesn't happen in the 7 - Eleven stores near me. I tend to leave any satang coins lying around the condo though they do eventually disappear. Over the almost 10 years that I've lived here, the total "lost" in satang coins is almost certainly less than 100 baht - not worth caring about.

Alan

I had a similar experience to "quandow: when I did my annual extension in August of last year though I use the money in the bank to support my application. If anything, the total time I required was even quicker. I live in Jomtien so going back the next day to collect my passport isn't a big issue. I usually then go back the following day to get a multiple-entry re-entry permit though I seldom make maximum advantage of it; it just saves me having to go back at some time when it's not convenient to get a single-entry permit.

Alan

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IMO . . .. 99% of the time a farang should not wai. They don't know how, they don't know when, they don't know whom should wai whom. End result is that they come off looking like clowns. Farang waiing a farang? A child? Service people? You got to be kidding.

You should be the one to wai the FIL if you are not going to offer a handshake. Of course you can do both but the handshake is what foreigners do, the wai is what Thai people do.

That's my view as well; I do, however wai anyone my girlfriend tells me to wai - namely her mother, her father, her aunts and her uncles. Her brother, (he's 17 or 18 years younger than I am always shakes my hand when we meet. If we go to a temple, I follow what she does as best I can.

Alan

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I've just checked the settings and they are indeed set to the fastest route. However, I would not have thought that there would be much difference in time between going and coming back. Also, when I turn right at a set of traffic lights rather than going straight ahead, the expected arrival time changes to a minute or two earlier.

Alan

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Did you check if there were youtube demonstration video's. I would be lost without sat nav.. but it has big drawbacks here in Thailand.

One of the biggest is that because there is no rule how thai is written with English characters you often cant find streets and such.

In general I just pick a location in google maps and use those coordinates on my gps.

I don't know how good you are at remembering the way (im bad) so after I have been somewhere i just save it in the GPS and then next time you can use it.

Can't really help the OP much as I have a Garmin GPS. As already noted, a major problem is the many different ways of transcribing Thai into the Roman alphabet. For example, Garmin transcribes Jomtien as Chom Tian. Now, if you didn't know that how would you work that out?

Using co-ordinates from Google maps sounds like a good idea but I also now save a location to my GPS once I've reached my destination so I can find it again without any problems.

Alan

Can anyone experienced Garmin user explain this, please?

When I go to my girlfriend's sister's house (from Pattaya to Ban Chang) it (correctly) takes us "cross-country" but on the way back it wants to keep us on route 3. Why the different routes for the same journey albeit in reverese?

Alan

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I had a Tenant here in Krabi up until a Month ago. Although not London he flew Kiev/Bangkok/Kiev and said the flight was very good. I also flew Bangkok/Kuala Lumpur/London. on Malaysian. Oh that new Airbus A380 of theirs was perfect in every way. It was a full aircraft with many passengers originating from Melbourne. Wonderful food and service taking economy to a new high level!

I flew Malaysian to Amsterdam via Kuala Lumpur a few years ago and they were very good. Granted, I was flying business class (my knees can't take being cramped in economy on long haul flights). The only downside was flying between Amsterdam and Edinburgh with KLM. Both flights were delayed - a regular occurrence whenever I've flown between the two cities!

Alan

It's possible that the electric company made a mistake with the meter reading. That happened to me when I got a bill that was very low one month. The next month it was quite a bit higher though about normal when the 2 months were averaged out.

My electric bill this month will be higher as we have just bought a washing machine though its usage has so far been minimal. Also, the aircon units in the living room and bedroom have been switched on for a short time on a few occasions.

Alan

Just one more plus to my move to TH.

Tiny Thai ladies always tell me my best friend is too big.

Better still, I believe them!

Amazing Thailand.

I get told the same - though I believe Thai men aren't exactly well-endowed in that department.

Alan

A related question about an extension based on marriage. I'm getting married later this year and know about the need to have a photo taken showing the number of your house. However, I live in a condo, so should I decide to go down this route in future, would I need a photo of both of us outside the condo as well as one outside the door to my unit?

Alan

Just a photo at the door of your condo showing the number.

Thanks, Joe.

Alan

A related question about an extension based on marriage. I'm getting married later this year and know about the need to have a photo taken showing the number of your house. However, I live in a condo, so should I decide to go down this route in future, would I need a photo of both of us outside the condo as well as one outside the door to my unit?

Alan