TravelerEastWest

Chiang Mai is pretty small, so it is probably worth just dropping your luggage at your hotel.

Dont miss the night safari, it is definately better for kids with more animals, less distance to walk and lots on. It is getting very busy at night, so better to try the afternoon times.Iain

Thank you, but the kids really want to see the Pandas and our hotel is outside of Chiang Mai perhaps 30 minutes south of the airport so it is not an easy option.

Perhaps we will also go see the night safari - sounds like fun.

Chaing Mai Zoo Luggage drop off possible?

I will take a plane to Chiang Mai on a Sunday and go directly to the Zoo with 2 small kids - before we check in to our hotel.

1) Do they have a place to leave a couple of back packs while we visit the Zoo at the entrance?

2) What is the easiest way to go from the airport to the zoo?

Thank you for the warnings - very interesting.

If my children went there it would be as day students so the distance is a factor to be considered...

.

American Pacific International School

I have seen dozens of school threads that briefly mention American Pacific International School but not much more.

Any current experiences good or bad?

Thank you!

The real question is not why do they do this as the answer is simply poor management... instead what is the better alternative?

Thai Air is typically more expensive, Nok was more recently when I priced a trip for a family of 4 and AirAsia was about the same but has a bad reputation for service and no kids play area as Bangkok Airways does.

I remember American airlines causing me a whole series of problems on a flight and when I called them they couldn't care less of course they are currently going bankrupt..

1) Bangkok Air for the flights - by far the best airline BKK to Chiang Mai.

2) Lai Thai or Top North Guesthouse both have pools and both come in at under 1000Baht a room (I assume that's what you meant by not needing luxury).

3) It depends on which schools you're visiting. American Pacific and Prem (sorry, can never remember its new name) are both a long way out of town in opposite directions. If these are on the list, a lot more expensive, if not, then a passing Song Taew would come in under 1000B. Personally, I'd rent a car and find my way around. Air Conditioned taxis in Chiang Mai are very expensive. There are a few ads on ThaiVisa classifieds that advertise daily rates plus fuel with a driver.

Best of luck!

Naboo,

Thank you - I will take a look at the two guest houses. I meant whatever is clean and safe with two large beds in a room.

PTIS (Prem) looks like a very nice school but too far out. We have a small craft business with workers who need to have apartments and a Big C and market etc nearby as well as lots of songtaews and small Thai schools for their kids.

American Pacific has a kindergarten campus which is not as far out i think that looks very nice.

3BB premium is available in Mae Rim, which is a good bit out from the city center, but that may not be true of every place.

KayCee,

Good to know - thank you.

Mae Rim is probably farther than we can consider so places closer in should be good.

BKK to Chaing Mai Jan 1st to 5th - advice please

Traveling to Chaing Mai with my wife and two small kids from Bangkok to look the area over for a possible move in June.

A friend suggested Nok air and one other airline whose name I have forgotten.

I am looking for suggestions:

1) Airline

2) Clean safe family hotels - luxury not needed. 5 days 4 nights

3) I will be looking at 3 or 4 schools for the kids so should i rent a taxi for the day? Where and how much would this cost? I also will want to look at housing rentals somewhere near the school we pick.

I am excited about this trip we have lived in Bangkok for a number of years and it is time for this move....

I will be very thankful for any suggestions.

Yes, I have it. 3BB has pretty good coverage, almost like TOT. I am in a moo baan 5km from the city center.

There's also: TOT Fiber 2U in select areas. I am waiting for mine to check it out. And True high speed cable at up to 100Mbps. True cable - and True DSL too - is only available very close to the city center though.

At 20 minutes outside the city you'll just have to check whether it's available before you move there.

Nikster,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful response.

I am not familiar with TOT Fiber 2U so I will have to research it. I have no problem with paying above 3000 per month if that is what I need to be able to move outside the city center. Perhaps near the CM university the connections may be good - just guessing.

I will rent a house first while I look around the different areas as I will need to balance internet access with a good international school for two small kids and perhaps a nice view.

3b Premium Service is it available In Chaing Mai? I am wondering but teh city center and say 20 minutes outside the city in the hills somwhere beautiful.

I currently live in Bangkok and my 3B premium service with 5 down and 1 up and a dedicated IP works great for internet surfing - VOIP Vonage calls and uploading photos to a website I pay around 3000 per month and am happy.

Next year I plan to move to Chaing Mai - exactly where is undecided....

US Embassy checked with them yesterday and most officers are still working at Suan Plu so I would go there where it is dry. Chiang Wattana is still a lake but now passable for cars but am sure no taxi will take you there.

Actually not that wet and taxis had no problems - both ours and others.

I was at Chang Wattana today for my visa extension and there was only one officer taking care of us - although he did a good job and was working hard.

My paperwork only took about 5 minutes.

He told us that on Monday the officers that went to SuanPlu will return to Chang Wattana - I am not sure if he meant all the officers

Cheang Wattana is open, but you can also use Suan Plu. The choice is yours.

Mario2008,

Thank you very much for your quick response!

I prefer Chaeng Wattana unless the nearby area is flooded.

One more thought is the way to Chaeng Wattana dry or do we need to take an Army truck from the road?

Bangkok Immigration Update please

My wife and I will be going today or tomorrow by taxi to extend my non O visa - usually at Chaengwattana.

Is Chaengwattana open?

Or should we go to Suanplu?

Thank you!

Does anyone of our online reporters have any news about Ramkhamheang soi 50 to 60

Thanks in advance.

I am not sure about those streets but near Ragamangala stadium (which is 5 minutes down the road) it is dry and a taxi driver told me an hour ago that Ramkamhaeng is fine so far today.

http://flood.gistda.or.th/

Great map!

What do the colors mean?

WHOOPS. I was just telling my girlfriend about this after I sent my post, and she asked me why I don't just go to our local Post Office tomorrow or Monday, with my passport, pay, sign and wait for my package.

I must have forgotten these different postal stations know each other.

Sorry for the (hopefully) unneeded panic.

Tom

You may even get lucky and not have to wait. The post office for our zip code always has the package waiting. (after payment...)

Sunbelt,

Thank you for your earlier reply:

"In general, a company must show, in their accounts, either gross revenue or net profit equivalent to and not less than the the foreign employees salary to obtain an extension of non-b visa. However, while it is not law, Labor Officers may also require that the company achieve a profit in order to renew a work permit.

If the company is active but not making a profit the officer may give a 6 month profit with a check on profitability at the 6 month mark or they may go ahead and give the one year work permit.

Again, it is all up to the officer's discretion"

I was unable to continue posting in the thread so I started a new one.

I do not need to extend my visa through my work as I am married to a Thai woman and have an O visa.

1) So does your above information change at all if a visa extension is not needed - only a work permit extension?

2) Can the VAT account of a company that sponsors the visa be closed after 3 years? (Assuming the company income is below 1.8 million baht.)

I too have suffered from migraines all my life. I have not had much luck finding a decent neurologist in Thailand including in the larger hospitals or especially in the ER that I tried one time. So, I continue to take the medication I was prescribed in the US. They seem reluctant to give you or even have the proper pain medication for migraines. I use Zolmig 10mg tabs that is of course a prescription drug, however, can be purchased over the counter here in Thailand. It works, but are expensive. I still recommend you try and find a decent neurologist to find the cause of the headaches which many times is anxiety or depression and hopefully prescribe a pain med that works for you. .

Zomig is a miracle drug sadly it no longer seems to be available in Bangkok.

Do you know where it can be found?

Is a company profit needed for work permit renewal?

For example if a company in the first 3 years has net losses but plenty of cash for all expenses and there is only one workpermit for the foreign director is that OK?

At what point if ever is a company profit required for the work permit to still be renewed?

Note all VAT and wage withholding etc are being paid in this example and will continue to be paid.

Look near your office for a small CPA firm, typically in a home office or small building.

You should be able to find a CPA that will charge around 10,000 baht for your financial statements and annual audit tax returns and book keeping will be extra.

I got it to work by selecting different fonts some seemed to work better than others.

How to use Thai fonts with Word?

I have a new iMac with Lion and when I switch to Thai it works in Finder, Dreamweaver, Excel and Open office everywhere except Word. (New version of word for the Mac)

When I open a new Word document and select a Thai font (which I see in the list of fonts) it seems like it types in Thai for a split second and then changes to empty squares.

I am sure the answer is a simple one like check a unicode box or something like that but I am not sure.

Does anyone know what I should do?

correct if i am wrong, respectively if legislation has changed. two decades ago, when we were interested to buy some building land in Hawaii there was no freehold land available. all was 99 years lease.

I used to live in Hawaii and I have never heard of a law such as you mention.

You can buy a Fee simple or lease hold interest in Hawaii with leaseholds being less expensive naturally. leaseholds in Hawaii are for different lengths of time not only 99 years.

Gee some of you are harsh.

The guy is merely telling a story of what can happen when things don't go as planned and your comfortable retirement becomes less comfortable.

OP, you have bravely opened yourself up to all sorts of derogatory comments but I, for one, thank you for reminding me that no matter how well I may plan things that sometimes things out of my control can have a severe detrimental impact on future plans.

Good luck to you and I hope all turns out well.

Wallaby - very well said. The OP did not ask for advice - but in this forum he knows he will get it before he posted. I echo others in that you need to hold steady on the car as it will hurt your financial health which in turn will hurt everything else. Best of luck to you!

The discussion on budgets is relative. If you have a simple but comfortable house with new airconditioning (important as inverter ACs save money and new ones are quiet and clean etc..) 2 adults and 2 kids - with kids in a private Thai school you are looking at at least 80,000 baht per month - living a simple life - no car rarely eating out etc..

If you add a car and overseas vacations and so on which is fairly normal for a middle class life your budget very roughly will double or more.

Add in a top International school in Bangkok and as others have stated you are far above 200,000 baht per month. If you have more than 2 kids quite far above 200,000 per month.