Electrical Home Appliances

[raybona]

Hi there, wondering where to buy appliances like deepfrier, cofeemaker, toaster etc.

We would like to do our shopping under one roof, so is Carrefour the right option, or do you have any other ideas, where we can get a better deal and also get our grocerieshopping, meat, veg, you name it!

Renting a fully furnished house, does it come with cable TV, or do we need to buy a sattelite dish?

Also, we need som specialized medicines, which is freely available here in Goa, but how dous it work out over there, do you need prescription for everything, or just go and buy it, and how would you compare the medicine prices compared to other places?

Thats all for now folks,

Thanks,

Ray & Jane

[tipsy]

Hi there, wondering where to buy appliances like deepfrier, cofeemaker, toaster etc.

We would like to do our shopping under one roof, so is Carrefour the right option, or do you have any other ideas, where we can get a better deal and also get our grocerieshopping, meat, veg, you name it!

Renting a fully furnished house, does it come with cable TV, or do we need to buy a sattelite dish?

Also, we need som specialized medicines, which is freely available here in Goa, but how dous it work out over there, do you need prescription for everything, or just go and buy it, and how would you compare the medicine prices compared to other places?

Thats all for now folks,

Thanks,

Ray & Jane

You also have Tesco Lotus, Big C, Makro supermarkets in which you can but everything under one roof. You then have Rimping and tops supermarket that sell international food items. And then you have the places like Central that are department stores with clothing etc. There are also a lot of fresh markets scattered around that may work out cheaper on veg

Cable - You will probally need to install it yourself. There are two options in Chiang Mai depending on your location. WeTv, this is cable and costs around 350 a month, when I signed up it aso had free installation. Not great but has a few english channels. The most popular option is TrueVisions (UBC) google them and you wil find their site. Installation at the moment is costing 3500 and monthly costs up to 2000.

You will find the drugs are roughly the same prices as Goa and you can just go and buy the things you need without problem 99% of the time, and even still a prescription is very easily come by if worse comes to worse

[Steve2UK]

In terms of hardware and groceries under one roof - you essentially have a choice between Carrefour and Tesco Lotus; arguably Carrefour has a better range in both respects. That said, if you're shopping around for the hardware, it's worth looking in Nihom Panich & Saha Panich - also Central & Robinson department stores. Vegetables will always be cheaper at local markets and not difficult to buy even with little or no Thai language skills.

Cable TV (WETV in Chiang Mai) is limited to the area in or relatively close to the city - so it depends how far out you'll be. Check out http://www.wetv.co.th/en_area.php If outside the cable service area, your choice comes down to True - UBC as was - satellite package subscriptions http://www.truevisionstv.com/index.aspx (in which case you pay for the installation, rent the dish/decoder and subscribe to whichever True package takes your fancy)........ or buy your own larger dish and get it installed with whatever arrangement/package you decide on (do a search for satellite on this sub-forum and you'll get an idea of the possibilities/limitations of this route). Luck of the draw as to whether a vacant house has any TV service already wired or not - you would normally be responsible for the costs of connection and monthly fee. And I think both WETV and True need the written authorisation of the house owner to get things started - just a formality.

Medicines - depends what they are. Most antibiotics are available from any pharmacy for the asking. Tranquiliser-type drugs (valium etc) require a doctor's prescription. More esoteric/specialist drugs would probably also be mostly prescription-only. I can't comment on the relative costs other than to say that Thai-produced brands and generics are significantly cheaper than western imports (Bayer, Schering, Eli Lilly etc).