nivram4491

There is no "political maturity" in a country with a feudal system, where one half simply has to accept, what the other hand them gracefully.

Before political maturity, social maturity has to arise and they are a million miles away from that!

Nice to see an intelligent comment on Thai Visa relating to the current political situation.

Thailand is slowly emerging from a feudal society. It is still relatively easy for demagogic political figures to stir up the masses, who allow themselves to be used as political pawns, as that is a characteristic of a feudal society.

What this is all about is power! If power cannot be achieved through the ballot box then perhaps it can be achieved by creating chaos.

Normally to listen to Test Cricket from Australia on the ABC you would go to ABC Grandstand Sport but this year there is no link available. However, there is a link to both the ABC Radio broadcast and the BBC Radio broadcast on the Cricket Australia site. Various Problems Notwithstanding the link is:

http://www.cricket.com.au/live/audio-stream

It doesn't always work.

@Tallguy.. I used the MLB speed test and got the following..

This is my speed using the MLB.com test for my 13Mb/1Mb 3BB connection in Hang Dong.

Where exactly in Hang Dong District is there new fiber optics 3BB service?

Heading south on the Irrigation Canal Road (Route 121), the Hang Dong District boundary begins at Yummy Pizza, Night Safari, etc.

I'm unable to reach 3BB by phone, but I'm eager to know how far south these fiber optics lines are being strung. Please advise.

I just came back from 3BB at Big C Hang Dong. I asked the ladies if fiber is available where I live and after a lot of checking they said yes. In fact it won't be available until the first of the new year. They say they have to check with Bangkok to confirm availability. I live in a mooban just off Hang Dong Road between Kad Farang and Chiang Mai.

They say that the promotion of 1200 Baht per month expires at the end of this month but all you have to do is express an interest before November 30 to get the promotion price. I asked how long the promotion price would last and they promised at least a year.

The cost involved is 2000 Baht for the modem and 1200 + 84 (tax) Baht for the first month.

I'm sorry I can't tell you the availability in the Canal Road area. The best thing to do is go into a 3BB shop to inquire. If you are not a 3BB customer already, the GPS coordinates of your house would probably help.

Will someone please explain about the small change not being returned at Gecko.

You give the waitress 150 Baht for a 135 Baht bill. She disappears with the money and you don't see her again. After waiting 5 or 10 minutes you decide it is not worth making a fuss about and leave but you don't forget. This has only happened to me in the day time when it is not at all busy and the waitress is able to make herself scarce for some time because there are few other customers to serve.

Yeah like that, or she just simply doesn't give any change. You have to ask for your change or you don't get it. I've never been in the daytime but it happens in the evenings also...

Funny how the topic has never sprung up before today, people are usually quick to post that sort of thing.

I guess that's the way some people deal with things, by not dealing with them. Passive aggression comes to mind.

The reason I used to go to Gekko Garden frequently was that I really enjoyed the spaghetti with meatballs. Around the time I was left waiting for my change I noticed that I could buy a huge bag of tomatoes for 60 Baht in the main Chiang Mai market. A kilo of pork from the supermarket and a few spices and I was able to make my own spaghetti with meatballs and for around 200 Baht I was able to make 4 to 5 servings. To my biased taste my spaghetti with meatballs was more delicious and had the added benefit that when my two step daughters came to visit I had a quick meal in the freezer for them which they declared as "aroi mahk"

I don't know if my reaction falls under "passive aggression". However, if I hadn't been short changed I probably wouldn't have bothered trying to make my own. As it turned out, being short changed was a blessing in disguise.

Will someone please explain about the small change not being returned at Gecko.

You give the waitress 150 Baht for a 135 Baht bill. She disappears with the money and you don't see her again. After waiting 5 or 10 minutes you decide it is not worth making a fuss about and leave but you don't forget. This has only happened to me in the day time when it is not at all busy and the waitress is able to make herself scarce for some time because there are few other customers to serve.

I got a call from 3BB regarding their promotion for FTTx at 1200 Baht per month for 30M/3M. I am on the 900 Baht per month plan at the moment with fairly consistent speeds of 12-15M/.6-.8M. I have used it for almost 2 years with no problems.

I was very surprised at the promotion call because I didn't think fiber would be available where I live (between Hang Dong and Chiang Mai) for a long time. I haven't checked yet if fiber is really available at my location.

What does it really mean? Is it actually fiber into the home? Is there any increase in international speeds with this plan?

I would really value comments from anyone using this service. The step up from 900 to 1200 Baht is not great but I would expect a faster stable system. If the speeds are only fast sometimes and not faster for international data I prefer to stay with what I currently have.

Stopped going here after several times not getting small change returned after paying the bill.

The international buffett on sunday was quite bad, give it a miss.

I had the same problem with small change not being returned. That changed me from a fairly frequent customer to a rare customer. I suppose the proper thing to do is to talk to the boss but most people don't want to make a big issue out of a few baht. At the same time most people don't like other people deciding whether a tip is left or not.

I disagree about the Sunday buffet. I think it is still quite good for the price of 200 Baht. It is quite amazing that the price hasn't gone up in a long time. The price of every other buffet that I know about gets increased on a regular basis.

One thing that bothers me is whether an enrollee is restricted to receive its benefits at ONLY the amphur hospital where the enrollee resides. As I have posted elsewhere that some amphur hospitals are poorly equipped and, mostly, lack motivated and conscientious personnelswith common sense.

My understanding is that you can enroll in a hospital outside your amphur but once you have enrolled, that is the hospital you have to use. The hospital you choose cannot be a top tier hospital like Suan Dok.

My step daughter has a Samsung notebook. One key stopped working. Is there a recommended shop in Chiang Mai that could fix the faulty key.

I know an easy solution is to use an external keyboard (which I personally prefer) but she was not overly impressed with that solution.

Indeed eBay as I doubt you will find it here. But 20-30 days by post? I just got a package from Australia. Took about 9 days to get here. You could also find it in Bangkok and order it on-line.

It depends how much you want to pay. Since I have much more time than money I go for the cheaper price.

The two items shown below both originate in China, but one is shipped from Australia and the other is shipped from China. The total price (adaptor plus postage) from Australia is $10.90 AUD while the one shipped from China has a total price of $1.29. The one from Australia takes 9-10 days and the one from China can take up to 30 days.

Click on each of the thumbnails below to compare

Shipped from Australia

Shipped from China

I spent quite some time a few months ago searching for such a cable in Chiang Mai but didn't find one. What I ended up doing was going to eBay Australia to order an adapter which was sent from Hong Kong with free postage. With the adapter you can then use a normal toslink cable which are freely available in Chiang Mai.

It takes a long time to arrive here by post. I just ordered another 2 adapters from eBay Australia yesterday so if you want to buy one from me I can sell it as it was to be a spare. However, it will probably take 20 to 30 days to get here.

I have an ACER 4740G laptop. It has an HDMI port and is labelled as Dolby Home Theater. It can output digital audio S/PDIF. I want to be able to watch videos on a 41" LCD TV but listen to the sound from speakers connected to the computer through S/PDIF.

Can anyone recommend a good speaker system to use? I live in Chiang Mai. Where would I be able to buy such a speaker system?

I know the women in the photo and see her groups at the market all the time. Needless to say that nothing she cooks is authentic. All recipes and even the names of things are changed for a tourist market. Don't learn Thai cooking from anyone but Khun Yai

Why Yai? Where Yai?

a complete repaint job for 30,000 Baht in an eye catching yellow color.

My girl friend absolutely loves the car, which is quite unusual, because most Thais turn their noses up at any thing that isn't new.

She loves the colour mate; not the car.

Thais seem to prefer the most hideous of colours, as you see orange painted walls; bright blue roof panels, l green boundary walls.................and my favourite monstrosity that lime green Nissan March.

....and then you see them with old men............just goes to show they have no taste whatsoever.

Hey mate. Are you jealous of my eye catching old Benz? Do you want to be the only eye catcher out there?

Dont get surprised when/if migration tell you are not wellcome to the country....ever

Somewhat over the top in my opinion.

About two and a half years ago I was hired on a short term contract to provide English training for the workers in a large provincial court complex in a provincial city. When I was discussing the work involved I was talking with a number of higher ups - including 2 judges. I mentioned to them that I was in Thailand on a retirement visa so it was impossible for me to get a WP and to work legally.

The response from the judges was "mai pen rai" and I did about 30 hours of training for which I received an excellent hourly rate.

I suspect most people who get caught in the WP trap have been snitched on by some jealous people.

I also lived on a farm in a small Thai village and the locals used to admire me because I wasn't afraid of doing manual labor on the farm. I also suspect that many Thais have a sixth sense to pick up the attitude of farangs who feel they are superior to the local people. If you do feel superior to the Thais, they will know about it, and you are much more likely to have problems.

My advice is to take your time, if at all possible. I waited for about two and a half years, until the right car, at the right price, came a long.

I found the car in the City Life online classifieds and as soon as I saw it, even though it was in a rather sorry state due to a lot of rust, I knew that that was the one, because the rest of the car was in great shape. The car is a classic 2300 E Benz and I paid 80,000 Baht for it. I got the rust taken out and a complete repaint job for 30,000 Baht in an eye catching yellow color. The total is now up to around 115,000 Baht but for that I got a Benz with a Toyota J1, 2500 cc engine and a Toyota auto transmission. The car has a lot more zip than an unmodified 2300 E Benz. It runs on LPG with a 96 Liter LPG tank in the boot, so it is relatively cheap to run, but still has a long range because of the big LPG tank. The car has a great stereo system with a DVD player with screen and an mp3 player input and even has a TV which works great. The car has central locking which works and manual windows, which I prefer to power windows. It is a much stronger car than what is built these days.

My girl friend absolutely loves the car, which is quite unusual, because most Thais turn their noses up at any thing that isn't new.

So don't listen to all the responders who will tell you never, absolutely never buy a used car from a Thai person, because you are sure to be cheated. A sweeping generalization that I have heard a lot about. However, be very careful with the paper work. Do not hand over any money util the car is registered in your name in the road tax office.

You have to know what is a good car or not, what is a good deal or not, and be prepared to wait. Buying anything in a great hurry will likely have a bad ending.

Just did one (more) today to buy a new car. At Samui Immigration they just ask you to write your adress on a pice of paper and give your passport and a photo (some Immigrations have a photo service). I took my Yellow HouseBook to show, but they didn't care (neither last time and the time before), but procedure may be different at other Immigrations. About one hour later I picked up a letter with my photo certifing my adress, Visa, my retirement extension, entry date, passport issue date and valid date.

I have never needed a residence certificate from immigration to buy a used car because I have a Yellow House book.

Regular readers of Thai Visa witness a lot of criticism. Here is a wonderful quote from Ajahn Brahm, a world famous Buddhist monk from Australia. A very wise and funny man.

"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes, that way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

I have a step daughter attending Mae Fah Luang University and so have had a regular flour based pizza at this shop. It was delicious. I can't remember the price but think it was very reasonable. The owner said he had a pizza shop in Chiang Mai at one time.

i may have missed it, but i won't see anyone listing health insurance in their budgets.

Info please. I intend retiring in CM early next year. I don't think budget will be an issue. My income will be 70,000 baht per month with substantial investment in Aussie fund. My concern is health insurance. I'm 64, turn 65 in late October. I've been with BUPA Australia for an eternity. One broker I've contacted intimated about 153,000 baht per year premium for one provider, not BUPA. I'm in top table with my current BUPA plan but don't pay anywhere neat this amount. Is the 153,000 mentioned a realistic amount over there ? I know health insurance is expensive for expats but that sounds super expensive to me. Am thinking of putting a substantial sum in a separate bank account for medicals, maybe 200,000 baht or so, & just forget it until needed. What do some of you guys do for insurance ? Would really appreciate any comments on this. BTW, I'll be in CM for a couple of weeks later this month. I could join a fund prior to my 65 birthday if that would assist my plight.

Thanks to all in anticipation of your informative replies.

Malt.

Health insurance in Thailand for expats more than 65 years old is not affordable. If you are in good health at 65 there is a fairly high probability that you will not have had a major health problem by the time you reach 70. If you start with an account set aside for health emergencies (200,000 Baht may be on the low side) the important point is to keep adding to the fund every month. You can have a very good life in Chiang Mai for 50,000 Baht per month. The difference in lifestyle between 50,000 per month and 70,000 Baht per month is quite small in my opinion. If you add 20,000 Baht every month to your health fund and manage to stay healthy until you are 70 the initial inadequate amount of 200,000 Baht will have grown to almost 1.5 million Baht without interest. It is probably preferable to keep your personal health fund account in your home country. After you reach 70 you can use the 1.5 million fund for hospital treatment and the monthly 20,000 Baht to pay for personal care if required.

I think this is a much better strategy than buying health insurance which can be increased and cancelled at any time.

Accident insurance is a totally different proposition. It is possible to get good cover at a reasonable price but it requires shopping around.

I have a cheap electric mower and it works great if you use it regularly and don't let the grass get too long. However, I only have around 20 square meters of grass to cut. If you let the grass grow too long the electric motor will get stopped if you are not very careful which could easily lead to motor burnout.

For a larger area I think a petrol powered lawn mower is much better. Petrol powered mowers are very expensive for what they are. The much more powerful, but cruder and much more dangerous, Thai grass cutting machines seem to be cheaper than petrol powered lawn mowers.