nivram4491

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.

In Ban Tung Seo, about 6 km past Sanpatong going to Doi Inthanon, there are two excellent barbers on either side of the street just past the traffic lights. Price for a haircut and shave 35 - 40 Baht.

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.

Sorry, 13.5 is correct. I always assumed the number related to mm, but I can't say for sure.

The numbers are a pressure rating in kiloPascals/cm2 or similar.

The green pipe is called PEX, uses special fittings and is for hot water.

PEX tubing cannot be used in applications exposed to sunlight, as it degrades fairly rapidly.

How much hot water do you need ?

simply lay a roll of black pipe on the roof........ little more expensive use UPVC pipes, make a frame of say 4 pipes, fit on roof or clip to wall, paint black...... better to buy a 'tap and dye' set so you have screwed in joints and not relies on the glue holding only.. pay for itself in a month......... could also do the same but in the loft under the roof get hot up there and will give warm water and no sun damage............ just a cheap idea.

I am trying to find information on UPVC but so far have not found anything relating to hot water use. For hot water CPVC (chlorinated poly vinyl chloride) is recommended.

Does anyone know where one can buy CPVC in Chiang Mai?

I would like to know about threading joints. Is this for plastic pipes? Please tell me more.

See http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/650938-im-looking-for-folk-music-singers-and-players/

Can anyone please tell me which soi Success Pizza is in.

It's not on a soi. If you come from the west side of the Ping River across the old iron bridge, turn left onto the Chiang Mai Lamphun Road. The Ping River is on your left. Dukes is approximately 100 meters from the iron bridge on your right. Success Pizza is a further 50 m (approx) on your right. Google map coordinates approximately 18.785727,99.005178

I had the schnitzel with mushroom sauce today. Great value for 120 Baht.

for those of us that don't know where the UN Iris Pub is at, the Google map coordinates would be....?

The Google map coordinates of the UN Irish Pub are 18.790562,98.991537.

I need the following recycled items for a project I am working on:

20 Liter plastic paint buckets with plastic lids

Rectangular styrofoam boxes either with lids or without

IBC's (Intermediate Bulk Containers used for shipping liquids) See the image below

I know there are a lot of recycle places around but I am looking for an organized one where the items I am looking for are readily accessible.

I have one circuit in which the main bedroom air con is located which breaks a few minutes after closing it at the distribution box. Strangely enough when the air con is on it runs OK but after the air con stops the circuit breaks after a few minutes. Does anyone know a knowledgeable electrician in Chiang Mai?

Thats really is unfortunate.

I wonder if we could get a second opinion.

I think he is being kept alive by various machines as he is very obviously brain dead.

I think you would be an expert on being brain dead

True we were having lunch together....

Is Thaksin really as charming as he seems to be? People don't get to his position without being charming and charismatic. Canada had a prime minister who was the same... Pierre Eliot Trudeau.

A friend met Thaksin in Dubai. He said hello and asked to have his picture taken with Khun Thaksin. He now has the photo on his cell phone which I can verify because he showed it to me. According to my friend Thaksin was very friendly and quite charming.

I haven't used the aircon yet and I've been in Chiang Mai for 5 months. I just run an inexpensive fan and leave the screen door open. I have the fan blowing over me at night and it keeps what few mosquitos there are away. I only sleep with just a sheet over me. I gave up the blanket over a month ago. But, it WILL be nice to get back to the west coast of Canada in a month. I'm not hanging around for songkran.

I don't like aircon and I don't like a fan blowing over me when I try to sleep. To keep the house from heating up to much during the day keep all doors and windows closed to keep the hot air out.

At night when trying to sleep what I do is put a fan in the window beside my bed but blowing air outside through the window. This creates a flow of cool air flowing in through the other open windows in the room across my bed. It's a bit like aircon but much gentler and much cheaper. It only works because of the cool nights we have in Chiang Mai.

I think it is difficult to find mp3 players because mobile phones more or less have taken on the role.

I bought an i-mobile phone for less than 1,000 Baht and the mp3 player in it is quite good and the sound is great. The camera is very basic but does the job in emergency situations. My main complaint about it is that there is no direct connection from the phone to a computer, You have to remove the memory card to connect the memory to a computer.

For any Canadian curling fans the Brier is being televised on TSN. The site is supposed to have geographic limitation on it but I am watching it without a VPN. If you have a good internet connection the service is great. Curling is a game made for TV.

http://video.tsn.ca/?dl=curling-matchesondemand/latest/1/0/131690/video/61

Mix one tablespoon of boric acid to half a cup of sugar, then add one cup of water. You will probably have to really work at getting the boric acid to dissolve, as it is hydrophobic...non-water loving. Keep mixing until you get it all mixed, then place it in bottle caps (if you have no pets or children that can get in it) and let a bit drip around where ever you put the mix. The ants will come and eat and eat and eat, and then take some back to the nest for the queen. In about 2 to 3 weeks, you will notice...no ants. This really works, it is what I used and it has been about 6 months now, and still no ants. PP

Totally agree that this concoction really does work. It's not instantaneous and is not supposed to be. Eventually the queen gets poisoned and the ants disappear.

I think Hang Dong Golf Course is the best value for money course in Chiang Mai. It is only a 9 hole course but there is a lot of variety and lots of water trouble. However, for this reason it gets very crowded. It is worth getting up early for to start as the sun appears in the early morning. A most enjoyable round of golf if you can start before the crowd arrives,

Keep in mind that Amazon.com sells the stuff and will ship... as do 20 other on-line resources. If you can't find it locally, you can always have it sent.

I am going to be in Bangkok all day on Monday. I don't know Bangkok very well at all. Would anyone have any suggestions of places in central Bangkok to check out for the elusive Shoe Goo?

P.S. I'm on the 'Quest to find ShooGoo Challenge, also--maybe first finder gets a prize?

I tried Tops at Airport Plaza today in my search for Shoe Goo but again could not find it.