jacko

Now we have all seen those guys drinking Chang infront of the 7-11. Maybe me in a year or two...... But for those of us who don't go out as much as we used to, but still love a cold beer after tilac has cooked a nice spicy meal, (that sure has developed a beer only thirst)...what is our tipple of choice? Heinekin is good, but overpriced..... Singha isn't that good and hence also overpriced..... Chang makes me throw up now and again, I think there is some quality control issue. Tiger sends me daft if I drink one or 2 above the norm..... I found Leo tolerable at restaurants, but when I can get it I have developed a taste for Archa....picture of a pony or horse on the label. About 280 baht/case, 12x640cc bottles. I hope beer Lao becomes readily available soon. Oh and I put ice cubes in it so what do I know about taste?

I would hardly call them demeaning.......just a day out with duty free included. Retirement visa allows you to stay 1 year, but you have to 'register' every 3 months, a visit to the immigration dept or you can do it on-line. O Visa lasts 3 months... 'crim on the run'...... You could apply for permanent residency or citizenship! Not so easy. Better still make a trip to Cambodia and stay.. have some fun there for a few days. I had a very nice stay in Laos too. A long weekend in Singapore....

I am going to sound a bit of a whiner here but....... Do I have to go to Hull? I have been outside of the UK now so long that I would never request any of my old friends to supply such a committment. I suppose my mother might! Thanks for feedback.

Laziness perhaps. I always felt that I would be bullshitting to get an O visa. Not married here...... category O...visit friends or relatives....No does not apply. category B....business, nope. Having to prove some financial status, hate having to tell anybody anything in UK. Whenever I get the form in UK, the tourist visa requires very little, the Non-Imm seems more complex, my time in the UK is limited, and normally return trip is booked. I would appreciate advice on this..... Retirement would be next logical step on.

Not sure if this is a serious question but I will answer as if it was. She wanted to work, more for something to fill time than the monetary need. Not so easy to find as she does not have qualifications and at 32 is 'getting on' in Thai terms. Part time jobs are scarce as hen's teeth. She had interviews at supermarkets, one place called back, but I answered the phone and that put paid to that...have farang means not need job. The reality was that any job she got would be paying only about 4000 baht, she would be working 6 days/week/48 hours. I thought it a waste of time for 4k, also that taking care of home and me on top was too much, and we would have to buy/rent another motorcycle to get her there (we live other side of Sukhumvit). Now she is looking at some schooling!

And here.... Pattaya Expats Club

Saudia used to allow you to have a bottle but that was if you boarded outside the Kingdom...they would give you mixers and dispose of your empties. Wouldn't fancy wandering around in Riyadh airport as a transit passenger with a couple of bottles of scotch in my carry-on. I was told that the Kuwait customs would let you bring a bottle into the country when I was working there and doing a visa run to Bahrain. But bring 2...he keeps one, you keep the other....he took both without so much as a word! Yes Kuwait and Saudia flights are 'dry'.....the other Arabian Penninsular countries airlines are certainly not. Is Sharjah still dry?

That is certainly cheap.........don't know how they do it? Hate transit in the Middle East though, used to work there, travelled a lot, seems to get under my skin now.

Can't speak for Soi Buakou, don't get around there much but yes they are common. Tsutaya chain are in a few places, Big C and Carrefour Malls. There is another chain called ...shit the daft cow has took the card..sorry..will add later. You have to 'join' and the price is more if you want DVDs. She is back...where else would you keep the membership card but under the motorcycle seat?....VIDEO EZY...web page is useless. They don't change their selection too quick...

Well I only had a couple of glasses so far but please don't make me drag this out. I am planning to get as plastered as you. Something electrical is rated at say 2kw....not 2 kw per hour.....if you use it for 1,000.000 hours it is still using 2 kw...if you use it for 0.5 seconds, it is still 2kw. A KW is a measurement of power not energy. Your electric bill is based on the average power multiplied by the time (a month actually)...they could use kilowatt-months, kilowatt-days...I am trying to say it is kilowatts multiplied by time (or integrated over time), not per which means divided by time. Oh sod it, I am going to have a dump and another beer, I am too analy retentive! My apologies.

A very valid thought too.....I would be thinking 'stay away from these cheats!' Subtle inclusion of a link I was going to post too!

You need only say 0.75 to 2.0 KW.......adding per hour does not make sense. A kilowatt is an 'instantaneous' measurement of power and not time related......it is the current times the voltage. The cost is related to the power multiplied by how long you use it.....let us say you run a 2 kw device for 2 hours, that is 4 Kilowatt-hours. If you are paying 3.5 baht per KWH, let us say you sleep 8 hours with an AC using 1.5 KW on average.....8x1.5 kwhx3.5 baht/kwh=42 baht. Not worth sweating over and you got the cost right! Apologies for being a know all.......but having some major electric cost discussion over in members area! My first electric bill!

Well no answers so I guess you should ask Western Union yourself.

Hagley Road.....that takes me back, used to live off there when I was student at Univ B'ham in '75.......what a dump! Mahan Air has been coming up on a few searches Biz class from Manchester. I don't think Tehran will be a good transit since they stopped the dancing Mullahs show.

I think we can do something between your return and my departure. PM me. Tirac wants me to make you an offer on one of your bikes!

Thanks for link to map. Was it you that posted about some of the ST places East of Sukhumvit a while ago? Yes I have looked around over here, but tried only 1 place to eat. I am up for it before I go to UK...Tilac off to her village next week.....I need to take care of house so cannot go.....yeah right. So got a free week, name a place up Soi Siam CC on your map. Be nice to go out for a beer and not worry about getting back over that crazy highway.

Bloody well done Torrenova. This link explains the mysterious ways of PEA, and how my bill works out. What a great way to tax the rich, electricity costs go up depending on consumption....by 65% per kwh for >400 kwh. If you use less than 5 kwh...it is free! I need to find a neighbour consuming under 150 KWH/month, run a cable from his house and pay his bill along with mine and save money! I have unplugged my water cooler after catching tilac filling pans for cooking with chilled water!

Do you really mean videos? Sony or VHS...... DVD rental places are all over...well VCD, seems to still have a grip.

Just 51, and live up Soi Siam CC about a km. 2000 baht/month would save me a grand...I am interested but GF wants us to buy one. I have a UK trip in 4 weeks and might contact U when I return. Multiple Tourist visa....trip to Cambodia, one entry and 60 more days, cost 2k. Extension for 30 days, save 1 entry but 1900 baht. Visa only has a life of 6 months......as I go back to UK soon I will just get another, cost £25/entry. Border run makes more financial sense......get me some duty free too! Visa Info....thanks to Pattaya Expats Club

Tourist visas are valid for 60 days. Multiple....2 or 3 entries. Second hand bikes are a risk here....the local people change components. Mileage cannot be trusted. I shall shop around. Owen, Gary's post put some numbers to your points, the Expats club does offer insurance, have the leaflet by me now. A lot cheaper than BUPA but these policies are hard to compare.....The Expats one is a deal. Afraid I fly biz class and flights look about the same price from UK as from Thailand - more consolidators. Not extracting anything from my 'portfolio' yet, but inflation IS

Well I don't keep notes...what are you an accountant? Yes I go back to the UK about 2 maybe 3 times a year, but I could hardly call that an expense of 'living' in Thailand. My visa runs (Cambodia border) are about 2000 every 2 months. Get a retirement visa and that is reduced. Internet, included in mobile costs, subsidised by someone with an unsecured wi-fi nearby. 40baht / hour in a cafe..... Taxi to Bangkok for shopping.....for what? I live near Pattaya. Computer upgrades? Just bought this one ! I always had a company one until I quit, then was in internet cafes for a while. I hope this one will do better than 2 years. 2k/month would cover that. Health Insurance..paying as needed at the moment but am looking into that right now. Looks like 60k p.a will be needed. Unsure whether to get a Thailand based one or a worldwide plan. Some of the other numbers may be high as I 'know what I spend' and would guess that it is a shade less than the 55k pcm I come up with here. Also looking to buy a motorcycle to save on the rental.....depreciation on vehicles here is slow unless you crash it...then it gets fast.

House Rent 15k M/cycle rent 3k Electric 3k Water pennies Cable 500 baht Spending money to Tilac 12k Meals Out 3-4k my(or our) nights out 12k Food/gas/mobile/etc 6k I have rented a furnished house on a 6 month basis, other side of Sukhumvit....to give it a try.

Well cooking facilities were a must for me, but Thai food seems easy, we have 2 burners connected to a bottle of gas...and everything seems to get made in a wok. A rice cooker is essential! Yes, potatoes are above average cost, but they are not Thai food, I ask tilac to buy a few for me to bake as I need the change from rice. She seems unable to get her head around the concept of a single meal without it. Juice, she buys tangerines at 20 baht/kilo, freshly squeezed. Pineapples are a bargain too lately. I get my weekly stodge fix......pie and chips at The Vic or Sportsman etc.......you have to exercise your teeth now and again. Not sure if I am financially challenged, I can live off my interest with this lifestyle, but I sure am getting a Cheap Charlie reputation on this board. Staying in has been easier with the World Cup, she likes to watch a Thai soap, I will play on the computer or read....so an internet link is necessary, as is cable or satellite.

Yes I recall my hotel bill in Houston being inflated by the cost of some new stadium too. I do not say it doesn't goes on in plenty, I just feel it is sneaky and underhand. I can see a tax on cigarettes being used to fund health care, or anti-smoking campaigns, or a car related tax being use to fund road improvements. But a stadium, that will be utilized by an extremely profitable NFL team, should not have to be paid for by 'out of towners'. Anyhow, which idiot expects taxes to be fair? This one!

Since I stopped using hotels, laundries and to some degree restaurants...(and to a greater degree short time places and Go-Gos, apart from one or two nights out a week), money goes much further. Find a tilac who likes to cook and make house.......... She does laundry and ironing in the morning........ Pops off on the motorcycle at 4pm with her basket to the market to shop for tonights meal. For two of us she rarely spends above 140 baht on vegetables, meat, shrimp whatever and turns out a great meal. I thought I would do my bit, so bought a barbecue, a fresh whole fish would be nice some days and beyond our current cooking facilities. I am partial to a Sabu fish, a mackerel. Last time I had one of those it was at one of the Walking Street, over the sea, restaurants....they only had a couple of fish, rather small, so I took both of them. I think it was about 1000 baht for them cooked. Today, one fish of about 14 inch, maybe 1 1/2lbs turned out very well done 'on the barbie in tin foil'. She had bought it at Carrefour...how much.....27 baht. I am quite full and content right now, I will open one of my large bottles of cold beer.....23 baht. When you are older and less demanding of life, you can afford it.