Stray

Before joining Thai Elite I read many, many threads on this site to gauge the pros and cons. Like everyone, rich or poor, 500k is not money that can be just 'thrown' away.

When reading all of the negative responses on the programme, written by non-members of Thai Elite, I had to ask myself several questions:

• Are these non-members writing negative things about Thai Elite, out of the goodness of their own heart, in order to protect potential members? Apart from several remarkable individuals (on other topics), I would have to say that is not the case.
• Are these non-members writing negative things about Thai Elite as they are members of some secretive rival organization? I'm unaware of a rival so, again, I would have to discount that question.
• Are these non-members former members who have quit the programme due to some major problems? My own personal research didn't find any instances of this. Several people had quit the programme and sold their membership due to a change in their personal situation. Nothing about irreconcilable differences with Thai Elite.
• Finally, how many of the non-members used terms such as 'think' and 'my friend' or 'someone I heard about' when writing negatively about the programme?

I joined the programme several months ago. I was in another country and the entire process was done online. Payment was made by telegraphic transfer. Unbeknownst to me, due to currency fluctuations, I paid more than 500k for membership. Thai Elite informed me of that and refunded the excess into my bank account.

Now, for a negative experience from a Thai Elite member. On one trip back into Thailand, the Thai Elite escort met me at the sky-bridge and apologetically informed me that the golf cart was unavailable to take me to the fast-track immigration counter. The reason was that there was construction work at the airport and they couldn't fit the golf cart down the corridor, past the construction barricades.

Not the fault of Thai Elite but, upon reflection, I should quit my membership due to this 'extremely negative experience'.

I cannot comment whether the following is a perk/service of the programme but has occurred on the one occasion I had an economy flight booked for me, by a third party. When I arrived at the airport, I told the Thai Elite escort that I was on an economy flight. I was told that it was no problem and was escorted to the business class check-in counter. Again, I don't know if this is a common practice but I was more than pleased with that.

Bottom line. Do your research. Do you have options of other visas? Can you comfortably pay the fee? Ask members of the programme what they think of the service. Ask non-members why they are so against the service. Make a decision based on the results of your research.

Is it really important about having a 'top poster' list, or 'popular poster' list?

Read the threads that interest you. Read or post topics to learn/research something. Make comments wherever you feel. Ignore posters that annoy you (there is a function for this, on the site). Most of all, have fun.

To me, and me alone, my online popularity is not a factor in my life and I cannot begin to understand the levels of importance that some apply to their online persona (suicide from online bullying is an extreme of this).

Why did I visit this topic? I put it down to a curiosity of trying to understand the importance of a person's need for online acceptance and popularity.

By the way, when you work on the electric, please note: putting your fingers into 110 Volt is most of the time harmless....OK, you can still kill yourself but most of the time you survive.

220 is way more dangerous......More likely to kill you.

The 3 phase version which you may have in your house has 380-400 Volt and it is a real killer..

It's the current you've got to watch out for, not the voltage.

Anyone who tells you that it's okay to stick your fingers into any sort of electrical outlet is seriously taking the piss. They also won't be paying your laundry/medical/funeral expenses.

While skin does have some resistance to electrical current, perspiration will ensure that resistance is very low.

Three phase being supplied within the house/condo? Must be some house! Can I go 'round and plug an extension lead in for my industrial welder? Anyway, don't worry about three phase sockets. You'd be flat out trying to plug your single phase appliances into one of those.

three-phase connections are not necessarily for "some house". in my home country Germany all homes (no matter what size) built after 1972 (not sure about the year) are supplied with 220/380 and the same applies to my house in Thailand because the potential max load of just my aircons is ~170 amps. and i am talking of running not starting amps.

and YES! you can come and plug in a three-phase extension cord in the one 3-ph socket i installed in case it will be needed in future.

170 amp!!! That is some serious load for a 'house'.

To put things into perspective. A typical, low voltage (230VAC, 50Hz), single phase supply to a house in Australia, is 100 amp. (Three phase (415VAC, 50Hz) is also available to non-commercial dwellings and is rated at 63 amp.) This is for a standard, non-commercial, dwelling. Higher loads can be supplied but, first, the supply company must determine if the local distribution network can handle such a high load.

Hmmm . . . might be time some of the Thailand dwellers considered alternatives to their requirements for such enormous amounts of power in their houses.

Hot water power requirements can be greatly reduced by installing solar systems (piping on the roof which is heated by the sun) and using gas back-up (or electrical back-up, if you wish).

Air-conditioning can be reduced by the installation of ceiling insulation, window insulation, wall insulation, ventilation systems etc. (all are readily available in Thailand, even in the remote regions).

As for excessive power tools, are all of these power tools in use at the one time? Are you talking about a house or a quiet, little commercial venture being conducted in the back garage?

I live on a farm which has three houses, a shop (which constantly runs four commercial refrigerators, an ice-cream fridge, a deep freeze, lighting and a small internet café) and a workshop/garage. Thirteen people live on the property and we only have a single phase power supply. That is why I am very surprised that other people, living in Thailand, have the need for a three-phase supply to their domestic dwelling.

In response to Naam's offer, thanks but I would really like to avoid running an extension lead from Germany, to Thailand. That would be silly. At any rate, I don't have need for your three-phase outlet in Thailand as my three-phase welder was donated to a workshop in the village (I have nowhere to plug it in, at my place), in return for lower rates on repairs to farm equipment.

Yes they do make forex, although if they are done like many agricultural exports they are transfer priced out of Singapore or Hong Kong to pay "marketing offices" and so, may not reflect their true value once washed around inside the companies.

At least that's what it was like when in was in agribusiness.

At the end of the day, if the farmers aren't profitable, it is unsustainable.

And the solution to unsustainable farming is what?

By the way, when you work on the electric, please note: putting your fingers into 110 Volt is most of the time harmless....OK, you can still kill yourself but most of the time you survive.

220 is way more dangerous......More likely to kill you.

The 3 phase version which you may have in your house has 380-400 Volt and it is a real killer..

It's the current you've got to watch out for, not the voltage.

Anyone who tells you that it's okay to stick your fingers into any sort of electrical outlet is seriously taking the piss. They also won't be paying your laundry/medical/funeral expenses.

While skin does have some resistance to electrical current, perspiration will ensure that resistance is very low.

Three phase being supplied within the house/condo? Must be some house! Can I go 'round and plug an extension lead in for my industrial welder? Anyway, don't worry about three phase sockets. You'd be flat out trying to plug your single phase appliances into one of those.

I have 3 phase installed in my house.

May I ask what is the purpose of having 3 phase installed in your house, in Thailand?

It is a holdout then. Australia and quite a few countries used 60hz for many years however about 20 years ago they changed everything to the internationally more accepted 50hz. That was about the same time as they dropped the voltage gfrom 250/260 to 230/240.

It was probabl about the same time as they upped the price for giving you less.

Australia changed to 60hz about 20 years ago?

Are you sure about that?

When I did my electrical apprenticeship ('84 - '87), we were taught that domestic/industrial Australian supply was 240/415VAC at 50 Hz.

To go back, even further, our Sanyo colour television, purchased in time to watch the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, has a label on the back, "240VAC, 50Hz". I am 100% positive that we didn't plug it into a 250/260V, 60Hz socket or we wouldn't have had a house full of kids watching Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner, in colour.

Yes, I agree. As a teenager in the 60's I clearly recall 240v was the standard.

It "MAY" have been 260v in the past, but I doubt it. If so it was much longer than 20 years ago.

n 2000, Australia converted to 230 V as the nominal standard with a tolerance of +10%/−6%.,^[10] this superseding the old 240 V standard, AS2926-1987.^[11] As in the UK, 240 V is within the allowable limits and "240 volt" is a synonym for mains in Australian and British English. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity

note also

Prior to this, AS2926 applied the same voltage range in Australia as the UK: 240/415 V ±6%. When the 230/400 V compromise was reached, it was decided to widen the voltage tolerance such that all existing tolerances would be included. Accordingly, the standard became 230/400 V ±10%

and

Accordingly, despite the existence of AS60038, a DNSP can elect to declare its nominal voltage as being 240 V and state that the voltage range is 240 V±10% (216-264 V). Some states regulate the low voltage, while others allow DNSPs to make their own declaration of voltage. http://www.electricalsolutions.net.au/content/business-and-management/article/is-it-time-to-genuinely-adopt-23-v-as-our-distribution-voltage--25053451

I agree 20 years ago is a bit short but as you get older years shorten and 40 years can seem like 20.

You will see that the range in Australia now can top at 264V

Currently the voltage applied at the transformer is 250 volts assuming that there will be drops between it and the customer due to load and distance but low load and short distance can occur.

When I sat in classrooms at the School of Signals I remember it being stressed that the voltage at transformers in Australia was at the top end of the range to allow for the long distribution. Most were round 260v. (sorry it is more than 20 years ago I did not sleep through those lectures...more like 50)

THe thing is Australia has dropped its effective voltage to help with inernationalisation but as the second source quoted indicates it still has a problem with decreased component life due to voltages being at the top to the range.

Harry, as you state, the variation in those voltages (stated) is not a problem. But the differences between the frequencies is.

For the OP, as a (very) general rule of thumb, for consumer supplies, 110/120VAC is at 60Hz. 220/240VAC is at 50Hz.

The above is the danger of buying electrical appliances on the net, particularly from US based companies.

There are numerous threads on Thaivisa by our friends from across the pond who have seen the Thai (220V) outlet and plugged in a US (115V) appliance resulting in smoke and tears.

BTW the Philippines also has US style outlets and is 220V but 60Hz, I believe the only country that has the 220V 60Hz standard.

It is a holdout then. Australia and quite a few countries used 60hz for many years however about 20 years ago they changed everything to the internationally more accepted 50hz. That was about the same time as they dropped the voltage gfrom 250/260 to 230/240.

It was probabl about the same time as they upped the price for giving you less.

Australia changed to 60hz about 20 years ago?

Are you sure about that?

When I did my electrical apprenticeship ('84 - '87), we were taught that domestic/industrial Australian supply was 240/415VAC at 50 Hz.

To go back, even further, our Sanyo colour television, purchased in time to watch the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, has a label on the back, "240VAC, 50Hz". I am 100% positive that we didn't plug it into a 250/260V, 60Hz socket or we wouldn't have had a house full of kids watching Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner, in colour.

You read wrong, Australia changed to 50Hz

No, I didn't read wrong. I typed it wrong!

What I meant to say was, "Australia changed from 60Hz about 20 years ago?"

My point being, if you could have taken the time to read the rest of my post, is that Australia was already supplied with power at 50Hz more than 20 years ago!

The fact is, Australia utilised the 40Hz system. The last state to convert from 40Hz, to 50Hz, was Western Australia, in 1958.

Rice farmers do already grow other crops, during the dry season.

Rice is the staple for this continent (not just for this country). With ever increasing cities which are encroaching more and more onto agricultural land and ever increasing populations which are demanding MORE rice, where is the sense in 'weaning some farmers off rice'?

Further, with the growth problems I've mentioned above, where will this crop be grown and who will grow it?

If you are married to, or live with, a Southeast Asian, I'm sure you must have heard them say that they are hungry because they haven't eaten any rice today. Regardless of the quantity of other foods they have consumed. So, it's not just a matter of saying they can just change their dietary habits and that will solve the problems.

Yes, there are rice varieties that require less water. There is even 'dry' rice which requires minimal water. I haven't done any research on it but who eats it?

An example of rice, not being rice, was when the US was trying to alleviate hunger issues in South Vietnam. They were importing (into South Vietnam) a variety of rice that the villagers refused to eat and were feeding to their pigs. The point being, the villagers would rather go hungry than to eat a variety of rice that they were not familiar with.

This is not a US bash, so please do not take it as such. It is just an example of a foreign country not understanding the local dietary habits.

(To a lesser extent, this is no different to the 'beef bacon' or 'turkey bacon' that they used to try and pass off to us at breakfast time, when I worked in muslim countries. Okay, we used to eat it but it wasn't a good substitute and it was fantastic to get home and dine on the real thing.)

Yes, something must be done to alleviate water shortages. Yes, something must be done to ensure future food security. There is no simple solution to these complex, inteconnected issues which are fast becoming insurmountable.

Further, to your point about 'weaning farmers off rice', this is not working so well in countries such as Indonesia. The annual 'slash and burn' of forests and jungles, to clear land for palm oil (and other 'high return' crops), is affecting at least two other countries (Malaysia and Singapore) with air pollution. Not to mention the decimation of the local flora and fauna.

Okay, I'm getting off point but, again, there is no easy solution.

Thailand exports a huge volume of its production. It has more than enough to feed the people, just maybe a bit less to feed the wallets of the exporters.

Yes, Thailand does export a huge volume of it's production as Thai rice is considered a quality product.

Now, I assume, this exported rice is being eaten by the people in the countries that they export to.

So, the solution is just to get the countries, that import Thai rice, to grown their own rice? Thailand could then concentrate on growing 'just enough rice' to support it's own requirements, with no thought to future food security (storing excess) and no thought to international trade?

Your issue was whether Thailand has enough land/food to support urban development.

With such a huge surplus, obviously yes. Fact is the farmers don't make much profit on it, so yes bring on the trade as much as possible.

Thailand can't concern itself with the world's development however, but safe to say they have plenty of rice. Just not much money for it.

Fact is, there are far too many small hold farmers growing too much unprofitable rice. The market is nuts when 30% of production is exported and yet farmers aren't profitable. Too much money consumed by middle men and exporters is the problem.

The govt could subsidise the domestic volume and all excess volume to be paid at market price. But alas, the rice barons like their suppliers fragmented and weak. It isn't going to change any time soon.

To respond to your first statement, I allude to an entire continent, not just Thailand. This is not just a national problem and each country must work at doing their part. Again, future proofing food security and working on ways to do this with the resources on hand and the unpredictable climate.

In order to understand your comment on export, a couple of questions. Rice exports are just run by individuals for their own personal profit? These exports don't bring foreign currency into the country, attract taxes, balance out trade on imports?

Yes, there are many small hold farmers (my family is one of them). Yes, many are losing money, hand over fist, but why is that?

From my personal experience:

When I first moved in with the missus and her family, we constantly had door-to-door salesmen trying to flog off fertilisers, pesticides, farming equipment etc., etc., etc. Each of these slick sales people had lots of glossy brochures, facts, figures, testimonials on how good their products were. They also had a myriad of ways that these items could be purchased on some form of credit (buy now, pay later).

Many of these products sounded fantastic (even to me) but began to lose their appeal when questions were asked. Have you tested our land/produce to determine whether these products are required? Are these products safe? Would you put it on your children's food? If these products don't work, will you agree to a contract which states there is no payment?

The problem was, loss of profits due to unnecessary expenditure. Solution? Education.

In 2013, we had a good rice crop. Enough for personal consumption with plenty remaining for future plantings. (Food security.)

Last year, there was a lot of talk about a poor monsoon season. We opted to plant a smaller crop. With the failure of last year's wet season, we lost the entire crop. This year, we didn't plant any rice (for the same reason). The result is that we won't have enough to last us into the middle of next year and will have none for planting (still using the remainder of the 2013 crop).

The problems were/are, not having a large enough crop in 2013, climatic conditions through 2014/2015, not having farming methods in place to alleviate the 2014/2015 conditions.

Solutions?

We are working on several.

We have sacrificed some land to put in a water catchment area and rain water tanks. We have also diverted our waste water (not sewerage), from the families houses, into this catchment area, via a simple filtration system. The idea is to try and safeguard against future drought conditions.

We are also working on several soil conditioning methods and landscaping to try and conserve water but also to maintain a higher moisture level during the dry season. Again, in an attempt to alleviate water requirements.

Finally, we are going to have to buy rice in order to meet our immediate consumption needs and future planting needs. (Our buying of rice is our form of 'importing'.)

Sure, we are going to make (have made) a lot of mistakes but, once we find sustainable solutions to our problems, we will be sharing this with our neighbours. Along with talk of a 'co-operative' scheme, this may assist them in being able to make better use of what they have.

Getting off topic but, for me, this is a personal topic.

Please note, when I use the terms 'we', 'my', 'our', or any other such personal descriptors, I am fully aware that foreigners cannot own land, cannot partake in any form of (farming) work, 'cannot make money in Thailand', 'cannot educate Isaan people', blah, blah, blah. I have used these terms to simplify my message.

Long past time for a strategy to wean some farmers off rice and onto some other crop options. But I doubt it'll be a top priority for governments, or for the rice farmers.

Rice farmers do already grow other crops, during the dry season.

Rice is the staple for this continent (not just for this country). With ever increasing cities which are encroaching more and more onto agricultural land and ever increasing populations which are demanding MORE rice, where is the sense in 'weaning some farmers off rice'?

Further, with the growth problems I've mentioned above, where will this crop be grown and who will grow it?

If you are married to, or live with, a Southeast Asian, I'm sure you must have heard them say that they are hungry because they haven't eaten any rice today. Regardless of the quantity of other foods they have consumed. So, it's not just a matter of saying they can just change their dietary habits and that will solve the problems.

Yes, there are rice varieties that require less water. There is even 'dry' rice which requires minimal water. I haven't done any research on it but who eats it?

An example of rice, not being rice, was when the US was trying to alleviate hunger issues in South Vietnam. They were importing (into South Vietnam) a variety of rice that the villagers refused to eat and were feeding to their pigs. The point being, the villagers would rather go hungry than to eat a variety of rice that they were not familiar with.

This is not a US bash, so please do not take it as such. It is just an example of a foreign country not understanding the local dietary habits.

(To a lesser extent, this is no different to the 'beef bacon' or 'turkey bacon' that they used to try and pass off to us at breakfast time, when I worked in muslim countries. Okay, we used to eat it but it wasn't a good substitute and it was fantastic to get home and dine on the real thing.)

Yes, something must be done to alleviate water shortages. Yes, something must be done to ensure future food security. There is no simple solution to these complex, inteconnected issues which are fast becoming insurmountable.

Further, to your point about 'weaning farmers off rice', this is not working so well in countries such as Indonesia. The annual 'slash and burn' of forests and jungles, to clear land for palm oil (and other 'high return' crops), is affecting at least two other countries (Malaysia and Singapore) with air pollution. Not to mention the decimation of the local flora and fauna.

Okay, I'm getting off point but, again, there is no easy solution.

Thailand exports a huge volume of its production. It has more than enough to feed the people, just maybe a bit less to feed the wallets of the exporters.

Yes, Thailand does export a huge volume of it's production as Thai rice is considered a quality product.

Now, I assume, this exported rice is being eaten by the people in the countries that they export to.

So, the solution is just to get the countries, that import Thai rice, to grown their own rice? Thailand could then concentrate on growing 'just enough rice' to support it's own requirements, with no thought to future food security (storing excess) and no thought to international trade?

Long past time for a strategy to wean some farmers off rice and onto some other crop options. But I doubt it'll be a top priority for governments, or for the rice farmers.

Rice farmers do already grow other crops, during the dry season.

Rice is the staple for this continent (not just for this country). With ever increasing cities which are encroaching more and more onto agricultural land and ever increasing populations which are demanding MORE rice, where is the sense in 'weaning some farmers off rice'?

Further, with the growth problems I've mentioned above, where will this crop be grown and who will grow it?

If you are married to, or live with, a Southeast Asian, I'm sure you must have heard them say that they are hungry because they haven't eaten any rice today (regardless of the quantity of other foods they have consumed). So, it's not just a matter of saying they can just change their dietary habits and that will solve the problems.

Yes, there are rice varieties that require less water. There is even 'dry' rice which requires minimal water. I haven't done any research on it but who eats it?

An example of rice, not being rice, was when the US was trying to alleviate hunger issues in South Vietnam. They were importing (into South Vietnam) a variety of rice that the villagers refused to eat and were feeding to their pigs. The point being, the villagers would rather go hungry than to eat a variety of rice that they were not familiar with.

This is not a US bash, so please do not take it as such. It is just an example of a foreign country not understanding the local dietary habits.

(To a lesser extent, this is no different to the 'beef bacon' or 'turkey bacon' that they used to try and pass off to us at breakfast time, when I worked in muslim countries. Okay, we used to eat it but it wasn't a good substitute and it was fantastic to get home and dine on the real thing.)

Yes, something must be done to alleviate water shortages. Yes, something must be done to ensure future food security. There is no simple solution to these complex, inteconnected issues which are fast becoming insurmountable.

Further, to your point about 'weaning farmers off rice', this is not working so well in countries such as Indonesia. The annual 'slash and burn' of forests and jungles, to clear land for palm oil (and other 'high return' crops), is affecting at least two other countries (Malaysia and Singapore) with air pollution. Not to mention the decimation of the local flora and fauna.

Okay, I'm getting off point but, again, there is no easy solution.

Hi

Question for OP, does she buy you anything for your birthday and have a party, cake etc ? Does she give you a kiss in the morning and tell you she loves you. Does she ever leave you any notes with kisses or .... Basically does she truly love you ? That's the first question.

I was with a Thai girl 14 years and for a part of that lived up country. We never really had big fights but we spent very little time together. Her family and friends were her number one concern and I was a bit of an after thought. Towards the end sex was maybe twice a year as I was not interested and she didn't push the issue. During the summer months most farang in area were gone and I found myself alone most of the time or taking trips to Pattaya. After looking into the mirror for a few months in the morning talking to myself and asking why am I here, I left. She was heartbroken but I never felt better. Without going into detail, she held me back for 14 years. The reason I stayed so long was that she loved me but even love is not enough sometimes. She never really contributed to anything, it was her and me not us.

If you are not happy now I can't see it getting any better. I mean can you truly see the path ? If she really loves you I understand you sticking around and trying, as I did same, but even then I think a move or at lease break is needed to regroup. If kids were involved it would be perhaps a little different.

Buying cakes etc isn't a country Thai person thing. That is a silly thing to expect as well as many of your other comments no offense. That is having western expectations of a person from a 1000% different culture. A Bangkok younger girl might do it as she has been brought up in that world. Affection yes. She is much more giving in that respect than most Thais. Our relationship itself is generally warm, close. She's not aloof or brooding. Sex is genuine and plentiful It's mainly the anger outbursts and self centeredness. As hard as it is for another to understand...the good times are incredible and for most of the time. But the lows are even more intense. What I don't get with many village Thais is their attitude to life, money, others. For eg someone here....dirt poor may have some luck and get some money first time in their life. They throw an 80k party and it's all gone and they're broke again. A real cavalier easy come easy go attitude same as many Thai women have with their farang men. Obviously a hot 25 yo gogo girl knows there's another white buffalo around the corner but older ladies with no support or prospects? My mates with a 45 year old lady and she's nothing spesh. She's moody, angry, brooding and controlling much of the time. He gives her 30k a month allowance and pays for everything else. He's a super nice guy and treats her well. She tells him to fork off nearly every other day or she walks out. Where's the survival instinct? I think these people like living hard and hand to mouth

Buying cakes etc isn't a country Thai person thing???

So, why do they have festive cake shops in country villages? Why do they have cake at the birthday parties, I've been to, at the neighbouring homesteads along the local highway? They even know enough to take some of the cake and smear it on the face of the person having the birthday before taking photos.

According to you, this has been a 3 year relationship. I don't think the problems are with your girlfriend/wife.

Please stop generalising about the saving/spending habits and mood swings of Isaan women. That says more about you and the people/places you hang out.

Could they diversify into a crop that does not need so much water .Back in my home Country ,farmers have several crops which they rotate ,around the farm .

They do this already, during the dry season.

As far as rotating crops is concerned, it's very difficult when you have small acreage (rai-age?). Most/all of the available land is taken up by the crop in order to get the highest yield possible on the limited space.

"The educational sector won't be able to produce graduates with sharp analytical thinking and creativity."

The good news is that Thailand won't have to worry about a brain drain to neighboring countries. And no one in the ASEAN Community will care about an education in Thailand.

Similar articles appear irregularly in the Thanh Nien Daily and Sunday papers, in Vietnam, about their own education system.

When I lived over there, I thought that the concept of rote learning (and unquestioning acceptance) was confined to that country due to the reluctance of questioning authority, brought about by communist (and previous French) rule. Many students also fostered the fear of standing out and bringing attention to themselves, hence, they would quietly sit in the classroom and 'unthinkingly' absorb what the teacher dealt out.

The same situation was apparent when I started training personnel in our industry. When I stated that any of the staff could bring forward their own ideas of how a task could be performed, the response was always the same, "You are the boss. You tell us how to do it and we will do it the same."

The fear of authority is slowly changing (as can be seen from articles and videos of Vietnamese citizens standing up against police) and so is the attitude of being 'part of the crowd' (customising vehicles is one example of this).

The OP subject is not just confined to Thailand and seems to be the situation in several of the ASEAN countries.

Oh wise one, since when is doing a 30 day visa run illegal? It's a loophole that's allows people to stay here. But not illegal as far as i know.

A retirement visa cost has no relevance to people under 50, and you forgot to add the 800,000 baht you must have in the bank.

5 year visa! So you want something that does not exist, while telling people to go home who are following the law that does exist?

Thailand Elite Visa gives you five years.

Cambodia gives you a residence visa for B12,500 a year . The basic elite card comes in at B500,000 for five years. Cambodia is a 1/4/ of the price.

Can you post a link to the "residence visa". Thanks.

How does a 1 year Cambodian visa help you to stay in Thailand?

Think I'll stick to the 5 year PE visa which does allow me to stay in/visit Thailand.

Thanks for that, I may have the location wrong, Jebel Ali vs Al Ain, the former sounds correct - also, DEWA used to be Dubal, I did the fallback planning for them mid. 1980's when their water intake got bombed during the Iran/Iraq war. But back on topic:

Yes, "reliable: sources tell us it'll all be OK by year end and not to panic, personally, I'm into panic on this one.

No worries chiang mai. It's good to have a sensible discussion with a member(s) and not have to bail out due to flaming, trolling, accusations and innuendo.

And, a correction in my post.

When I said that onshore desalination plants were 'power hungry', I should have said that they are 'resource hungry'. As it is fuel that is required to run the heating, not electricity.

Bore holes/wells are running dry in our area. Some of the neighbours, who can afford it, are having to drill deeper to get water. Us included. I've also just finished having rain gutters installed around the house and will be getting rain water tanks put in.

Might be too little, too late, for this year but the dry conditions are serving as a 'wake up call' for me to start storing and conserving water. No matter if the dry conditions don't continue. Nothing wrong with 'future proofing' while it's affordable. I can't imagine the cost of water management systems if everyone is forced to start installing them.

could be a tip to any budding entrepreneurs, small business start-ups . . .

If the water does ever run dry we can just desalinate the sea water. Think of the kind of systems they have available on oceangoing boats.

On the offshore drilling rigs that I have worked/lived on, fresh water often had to be delivered as the desalination plant(s) couldn't keep up with the rig's fresh water requirements.

Desalination systems are a 'power-hungry' system. Guess everyone could turn off their air-conditioners so the power would be available to run several desalination plants in Thailand.

This is the second year running that there hasn't been enough rain for people in our area to get their rice crops in.

Yes, but combining a desalination plant as a part of another manufacturing business is cost effective. Dubal in Dubai did this many years ago, they established a water desalination plant on the back of an aluminum smelting operation, the desal. plant in Al Ain now supplies over one third of Dubai's drinking water at zero direct cost.

Producing the heat is why desalination systems require so much power. Heat produced by the smelter, you mentioned, is supplied to the desalination plant, thus reducing the plant's power needs but it doesn't eliminate the requirement for power. Only reduces it.

However, the majority of Dubai's fresh water is produced at the DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) desalination plants at Jebel Ali. These plants use gas to heat the water (and can also be run on diesel, if required). Rather than a 'zero direct cost', a fuel surcharge (to run these plants and the new ones coming online) is included in DEWA's water and power bills.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, perhaps people in Thailand can turn off their air-conditioners to alleviate the power problems. But, with no water flowing through the hydroelectric schemes, the problems seem to be compounding.

No worries, I read somewhere, in this thread, that all of our water problems will be solved by/in January.

scary idea that this moron was carrying a weapon.

I wonder how many unregistered guns are in circulation.

My message is....don't count on a gentlemans fight ever downhere it is eighter 'wack with a pack' or gunned down.

Careful now - you might wake up the Gun Lobby here. They will tell you that if the girlfriend had legally owned an assault rifle (and carried it around with her) he would not have dared...so it is really her own fault for not protecting herself.

Forget the snidy about the gun lobby; you saying she bears no responsibility just because she is the victim ? She knew about his temper and his gun yet she kept at him. She knew what she should be expecting when she got him that wound up. She could have tried to cool thing down before they got out of hand.

Are you for real?

Are you saying she got what was coming to her?!?

If you have family, particularly young children, I fear for the safety of your family and the upbringing of your children when you have an attitude like that. Perhaps your school headmaster should have administered some fatal beatings to cure you (and the rest of humanity) of this attitude.

Besides that, according to the article, he shot her because she was out of there!

The above is the danger of buying electrical appliances on the net, particularly from US based companies.

There are numerous threads on Thaivisa by our friends from across the pond who have seen the Thai (220V) outlet and plugged in a US (115V) appliance resulting in smoke and tears.

BTW the Philippines also has US style outlets and is 220V but 60Hz, I believe the only country that has the 220V 60Hz standard.

It is a holdout then. Australia and quite a few countries used 60hz for many years however about 20 years ago they changed everything to the internationally more accepted 50hz. That was about the same time as they dropped the voltage gfrom 250/260 to 230/240.

It was probabl about the same time as they upped the price for giving you less.

Australia changed to 60hz about 20 years ago?

Are you sure about that?

When I did my electrical apprenticeship ('84 - '87), we were taught that domestic/industrial Australian supply was 240/415VAC at 50 Hz.

To go back, even further, our Sanyo colour television, purchased in time to watch the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, has a label on the back, "240VAC, 50Hz". I am 100% positive that we didn't plug it into a 250/260V, 60Hz socket or we wouldn't have had a house full of kids watching Bugs Bunny and The Road Runner, in colour.

What is quite interesting is the in depth knowlege some TV members have of prisions

And the SAS, CIA and of course SEAL operations.

Just a little bit of trivia but of all the foreign prisoners being held in foreign prisons around the world, Australians make up the highest percentage by far. Something to do with national heritage.

Australian immigration asked me if I had a criminal conviction. I replied, "I didn't know it was still a requirement."

On a serious note, it won't make up for the loss but good to see the co-operation between the Thai and Australian authorities and good to see justice served.

Is this location Mike's Bar or the front of Mike's Shopping Centre?

basically the area on the beach side with the wooden balcony, not sure where Mikes Bar came from but guess its as good as anything

Since you mentioned "Mikes/mikes" in posts #1, #6 (twice), #19 and #27, it was an assumption, by me, that you were referring to Mike's Bar.

So, can you elucidate on what you mean when you keep writing "Mikes/mikes"?

Best trick by newspapers/magazines, when running a dodgy article, is to keep the details vague. Dodgy articles are run by newspapers and magazines to see what other publications are picking up their copy.

Lies can be unveiled when the liar starts adding unnecessary/specific points to details in a story in an attempt to make it sound more plausible.

Wasn't aware of this, Pib.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Updates from more than one place now turned off!

If the water does ever run dry we can just desalinate the sea water. Think of the kind of systems they have available on oceangoing boats.

On the offshore drilling rigs that I have worked/lived on, fresh water often had to be delivered as the desalination plant(s) couldn't keep up with the rig's fresh water requirements.

Desalination systems are a 'power-hungry' system. Guess everyone could turn off their air-conditioners so the power would be available to run several desalination plants in Thailand.

This is the second year running that there hasn't been enough rain for people in our area to get their rice crops in.

Go to Vietnam ladies there are nice .

itsmylife, after visiting beaches along the coast of Vietnam, can't say I'm particularly impressed. If you can find a quiet location that isn't covered in rubbish, you'll soon be chased off the beach by all the touts that materialise, from nowhere, trying to sell you something.

Beaches adjacent to resorts can be nice but, more often than not, you'll have to be staying at the resort or a customer of the bar/restaurant, within the resort.

Anyway, Simon, once you sell up and relax, you might see the local beach in a whole new light and decide to stay. Giving up the stress of running the business may be just the tonic you need.

....one can pay at any 7/11...so why pay anyone in the street...

Depends on how far away the place is where you can pay bills.

Out our way, PEA have always come to issue the bill and collect the money.

What if your not home then surely they leave your bill in the designated plastic box on your wall which every house in Thailand seems to have.

Don't tell me you sit home waiting for the electric bill every month come on.

No I don't sit at home waiting for the electricity bill though as I am retired I am home most of the time anyway. I know the two ladies who come around with the electricity bill anyway, and the guy who brings the water bill plus the guy who brings the trash collection bill.

If there is nobody home the leave the bills with the neighbours. We do the same for our neighbours.

It's amazing how wonderful life is in a friendly neighbourhood. However, that can only happen if you take some time out and take the minimal steps required to build up a rapport with your neighbours.

billd766, as you rightly point out, the fake bill collectors would find it very difficult to operate, out our way, as the PEA personnel who deliver and collect the bills are well known. If a new bill collector calls, they are with one of the 'regular' crew.

As I stated in my last post, there is always someone at home, at our place. As it is an outdoor existence, if they're not working on the farm (out the back), in the open-air shop (in the front), at school or having a snooze, they're on the front stoop socialising with the neighbours. At night, when we do go inside to sleep, the dogs alert us to someone coming down the front driveway.