taiping

I don't have any hassles living in Pattaya -- I realized a long time ago the place is a seedy dump.

I bought a new PC and found that ACRONIS did not work on it, defeating the whole purpose of the program.

So I've gone back to using GHOST - my own start-up CD with the basic GHOST 11 only, not with all the rubbish extras.

I know very few farang here, but of those . . .

- 1 died of lung cancer (smoker).

- 1 died from heart attack after having osteoporosis and loosing a lot of weight (suspicious).

- 1 murdered by Thai wife (seriously!).

Maybe others from booze but I've not heard from them in years.

Never had that problem whether it be family members or any other Thai person, mind you I try not to go to places with large farang population

You nailed it, Sabaidee Mai.

Treat Thais with respect and - with very few exceptions - that's the way they will treat you.

Farangs are a different breed; many more seem to be arrogant and clueless here in Thailand.

Hope you do not forget to wai the taxi drivers and the hookers

Actually, I found that waiing to the hookers yields considerable "benefits," but I seldom do to the taxi drivers because they are always going on about some guy called "Rod Tid."

Article 44 was enacted so the general could make sweeping changes to usher in the "New Thailand" It has nothing to do with students drinking and racing. It's just a good opportunity to make changes that will produce the end result he wants. He is determined to change the face and reputation of Thailand. With article 44 he has absolute authoritarian power. His mentor, the founding Prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Lew. Lee used his authoritarian rule to helped Singapore to transition from a developing country to one of the most developed in the world, transforming it into a thriving international business hub. This is what Prayut is doing. He wants Thailand to be the "hub" of Asean. To do that he must make swift changes. Alcohol consumption, road accidents and human trafficking, just to name a few, must be addressed. Wrong or right history will be the judge.

I don't need history to judge -- the man is intellectually challenged.

This is great news! Now perhaps the drunken louts will return to taking their holidays in Spain, and the alcoholic old perverts will have to eek out their pensions in Wetherspoons!

As an alcoholic old pervert, what is "Wetherspoons." Should I be going there?

Use M-Discs (www.mdisc.com) which are supposed to last 1,000 years.

The latest Blu-Ray 100 GB M-Discs work fine.

Strange story - why would someone in the process of buying a condo give a lifetime Usufruct to you for a "partial payment"?

I bought my condo in Thailand with a Usufruct in 1983, before a farang could legally buy a condo. The law was changed in around 1992, allowing foreigners to buy condos (up to 49% of total ownership), when the condo owner/developer transferred the title deed to my name.

But to do this I had to bring in foreign currency again to register the title at the Land Department. In other words, I had to bring in the funds twice, firstly to buy the condo on the Usufruct, and then to transfer the title deed. Fortunately, I had sufficient funds available to do this.

At the time I did not consult a lawyer, but I did rewrite parts of the Usufruct Agreement to be more to my liking, and the condo developer agreed with the changes.

I think you should think long and hard on all the possible pitfalls of your friend's proposal and consult a lawyer.

There are generally so many problems with condo management in Thailand that I don't recommend buying a condo here, even with the title deed.

Sit down with pen and paper and list all the expenses (health, food, clothing, education, etc) -- you will be horrified at the total cost.

Find out the cost of private schools to avoid future heart attacks when you receive the bill.

At 69, I'm paying 150,000 a year at a local private university for my daughter's degree in worthlessness.

Herbal remedies certainly can and do work. The traditional Thai herbal remedy is called Kwao Kreua Kao - the scientific name is Pueraria mirifica. It is very effective at balancing and regulating female hormones. If she is Thai - your wife will surely know about it. I know several women who have used it successfully. It is easily available at many pharmacy shops or shops that sell herbal products

Agree totally. My wife is using with amazing results, not only for her menospausal problems. She had small breast and the product also enlarge it, and her libido. She is on her late 40s and had not period. Menstruation comes back after 6 months of the product use, and together with an increase in her energy and disposition. .Later she found out that the product have a variety called Butea Superba to resolve older men problems, like urination, incontinency, and libido. Works on myself too! It is a lot of info online, and many sellers, but the best product is found here, because it is original from Thailand.

I had not heard of Butea Superba before, but this clinical trial seems to show it's effective for ED . . .

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12937809

I just paid 10k bond to bangkok bank for 10k limit credit card. Anyone can do this. Im not a millionaire...

That's not a proper 'credit' card. It sounds more like a pre paid card that they issue to children in the western countries. Like a gift card.

No, this is a "proper credit card" (VISA), which can be used for online purchases. I elected to pay off the entire amount due every month, the same as any other credit card I've used, to avoid paying interest charges. Payments are debited from my BB savings account, not the fixed deposit account, which is only for a bank guarantee. The fixed deposit is the amount of the credit limit (in my case 100,000 baht).

I don't have a work permit, am retired and have a CC with Bangkok Bank. I've just locked up 100,000Baht in a savings account and have that credit limit. Maybe try them. You might have to try several different branches.

Yes, I can confirm this is correct. I have no work permit, no declared income, retirement Visa, and BB gave me a CC as long as I opened a fixed deposit account for the amount of the CC credit limit. I also chose 100,000 baht but it could be more or less. Also, if you have more than (I think) 3-million baht (or equivalent) with BB they will give you a "Platinum Leader" CC with no annual fee.

Suggest getting a copy of the 2014 Standard Caralogue Of Thai Coins by Veerachai Smitasin (0-2233-7337, 081-4069725 according to the book cover).

If you like you could send me the coin details and I'll look them up for you.

Or you can go to http://www.ngccoin.com/ and look up the value online.

For example, the first coin you mentioned at http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/thailand-5-baht-y-111-2520-2522-cuid-54900-duid-148585

I'm interested in Thai gold coins rather than the run of the mill issues.

Yes, I converted my Swiss Francs to Danish Krone recently at Bangkok Bank, betting on the same thing.

I see lottery tickets are being sold today at 120 baht on Thong Lo.

Good goin' PM.

On my last visit to Pattaya I had the misfortune of staying at a hotel which had as guests a group of very foul mouthed and loud British young men in the mould of football hooligans who thought nothing of shoutng and screeming obscenities and banging doors throughout the night. As a Brit I sometimes feel ashamed of my fellow countrymen, although I hesitate to include the word "men."

"No!"

I have sent hundreds of packages overseas over many years using Thailand Post, by normal unregistered air mail, economy air mail (SAL), and EMS, and it is VERY reliable. This is from Bangkok - I cannot vouch for other places in Thailand.

I have also received hundreds of packages and again Thailand post cannot be faulted. A couple of problems years ago were caused by USPS in the USA. But it's a very small percentage of all packages received.

I hear that Thailand Post is unreliable in other areas.

Am not super enthusiastic about this - I've seen them replace the sleepers on existing track and it's done with primitive tools and brute force.

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Bring your money to Thailand. Buy gold.

Since the beginning of December 2014 it's gained 10%.

Do you actually buy gold bars ? and if so where do you keep them ? if you invested say a couple of million baht that's a lot of gold bars.

Not really -- Current Thai 96.5% gold price is about 19,200 baht per baht weight. So a 10 baht weight bar costs 192,000 baht.

2-million baht would be 10.4 bars of 10 baht weight gold bars. That's not much volume.

If you think Hua Hin doesn't have a "seedy go go whorebar" scene you're walking around with your eyes closed!

I live in Hua Hin and if there is a go go bar I have yet to find it. Guess I better try opening my eyes !

Perhaps the point he was trying to make was the difference between a "seedy go go whorebar" scene and a seedy whorebar scene, without the go-go.

Can't see much difference myself, except the obvious.

thank you taiping. Also, i see a sign in thai at a goldshop inside a Tesco Lotus. The sign said to "rest your gold there"

Is that safe?

I like physical too but i think i will go with the online gold at a thai bank. If a "soviet style" arrived. I will deal with it then.

I don't know about the Tesco Lotus offer.

Normally, to get the best price, you have to sell physical gold back to the gold shop or gold dealer you bought it from. For that reason I prefer to deal with the well known and long established gold shops, not the small mum and pop gold shops.

For a semi-physical solution, there are also several gold funds listed on the SET, and some of them invest in physical gold. But the trade in them is thin, so it might not be easy to sell easily when you decide to do so.

Again physical in own possession is best, except it's not feasible for some people.

hey guys, when you are talking about buying golds. Does that means that i have to literally take the gold back to my condo from the goldshop??

What do you think about buying gold fund at a thai bank?? is that the same or when hell comes, the paper gold fund also vanishes?

Some of the Thai gold funds invest in physical gold (e.g. Thanachart Bank TGoldBullion H [hedged] and UH [unhedged]), while others invest in a gold ETF such as GLD (e.g. Krungsi Asset Mngt K-Gold fund). If and when hell freezes over I expect the physical gold fund is more likely to survive than "paper gold" such as GLD. You also have to pay the fund management fees which in the case of K-Gold are 1.12% pa. I guess Thanachart is similar. But funds are easier to sell online, during business hours.

Holding physical gold has the advantage that there are no management fees to pay, but there's a risk from theft, unless you insure against loss.

But with interest rates at record lows everywhere, and the precarious state of the world economy, I think it's prudent to have at least part of your assets in gold/silver.

gdaya folks,

im a gold believer thus i invested quiet a bit in numismmatic gold coins which returned 10 % , as to line out such as

pandas, 20 us gold coins , south america like el salvdor graded by pscg and thai coins.

thereto term depossits nzd $ just 10.000 for 5 % presenttly www.anz.co.nz

cheers roobaa01

Where can I buy gold coins in Thailand?

i.e. Krugerrands, Pandas, Maple Leafs, Eagles.

I buy Thai 96.5% gold bars and 99.99% gold bars, but gold coins?