sanukcanuck

Hilly or Pete, Right now I'm in the same situation, trying to buy a 52 inch Plasma or LCD, but haven't had much luck around Pattaya. Big C is a rip off, obviously, with bad selection, but I'm stuck as to where else to go. I'd be eternally in your debt if you could send the name of the shop in Naklua, and any directions, so I can look at the same Samsung LCD model you picked up. If you don't want to share with the board, you can PM me directly at sanukcanuck@gmail.com. Much appreciated, SC

Bangkapiboy, I've PM'd you, and thanks for your help. This sounds like the answers to some sleepless nights. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm sure this must be a very, very common thing, since I was far from the naive investor, but still got caught up in the sale and figured it would all come out right in the end. But there must be quite the side business on providing this sort of service, since I know for a fact that I didn't deserve getting mislead and was only taken for a ride for the sheer sake of the quick sale. Anyone with experience in my situation please PM me privately and I'd be forever in your debt. SC

Hey all, So I just finished my payments for my new condo at the View Talay Residence, the one across the road from the new Immigration office. Got it all done and paid for, and what is the first thing I hear when checking on the title deed transfer? Umm, well, you didn't do your transfer in Thai baht, but actually exchanged it into Thai baht in the UK before it got here, so you don't have a Thor Thor 3 form. Ok, so I admit it's partly my fault for not doing the research beforehand. But I was aware of the Thor Thor 3, and knew that I needed it, but when i asked the sales guy, he just said no worries. We'll work that out later, it's not a problem. It's something that we can deal with at the ownership transfer. Well, obviously not. Now that I'm done with the payments, they say that I can't put it in my name and the only option is to put it in a company name. Now I know the problems lately with farang companies owning property, and I figured it was a simple deal since farangs can own condo's in their name, minus the land underneath. So now I figure the only option is to pay them again with a full transfer of the full amount, and have them refund the original money back to me. That way we are square and no one owes no one nothing. Of course I'm not stupid enough to do a straight transfer from overseas again to their bank account, and trust them to refund my original 2.5 mill plus baht back. So I want to open an account with a Thai bank from overseas, wire the money in foreign funds to my account, get the Thor Thor 3 (I think it's got another name now i've heard), and when I show up there in Feb I can just meet with the property company and get them to wire my cash back to my local Thai account, and then wire them domestically the full funds. That way they get the cash with the Thor Thor 3 form, I get my original cash back, and we can sign the ownership over with no issues into my own name. This is my plan, I think it's a good one. But if anyone can think otherwise, or a better way please let me know. But more importantly, if anyone can tell me exactly how to open a Thai bank account from overseas, and the best/easiest one to open. And any other experiences similiar to this which may help me out would be most appreciated. PS. Before buying a condo make sure you do your research. I thankfully didn't get stiffed by these guys, but it was a lot of tense weeks and months between phone calls and emails before I got confirmation that my cash didn't disappear into cyberspace, forever to be lost... Thanks... SC

Softrabbit, Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. I'll check out SB furniture when I get there. I'm pretty much just doing a cash and grab, so a 20% discout sounds great. I'll check out the electronics place as well and see if the discount is on offer. If you can PM me I'd like to get some more detailed info. I'm only in town for a week like I said so any personal experience you had would make my time there shopping go a lot quicker and leave some more time for more enjoyable experiences. That said, I'm actually looking forward to doing this shopping thing and kitting my place out. Beats shopping for the GFE. Cheers, SC

I will be landing in LOS second week of Jan and need to pretty much outfit my place in the span of about six days, before I have to head off again. Since I can only swing about two trips a year, it will be quite a while until I can get back again, so would like to get my new condo totally kitted out and looking like someone lives there before I leave. So can anyone offer me some much needed advice of where best to find quality furniture for a reasonable price. I'd like good, top quality furniture (eg: four post bed, leather couches, oak tables) but not in a rip off store. I'll pay good money for good furniture, as long as I don't get ripped off. Also, I'm looking to outfit with a full entertainment system, so any suggestions on where to buy electronic goods would be appreciated as well. Cheers, SC

Hey Blue, Just curious about your pic from your younger, Vanilla Ice, hairstyle days. Not coming down on you for your unfortunate choice of haircuts, I used to have a mean mullet myself. But judging from the late eighties/early nineties style highschool photo, you are probably around my age. Which prompts the question. What the hell are doing being an expat, when I'm still stuck here plugging away trying to make the dream a reality? I'd curse you out, but I need you to keep sending pics. Anyways, all the best to ya. You're making this life of mindless work a little easier with real time (almost) pics of where I'd rather be. SC

Really? I personally don't see the term whore as having any negative connotations. There have been whores since time immemorial, and I think they're a whole lot better people than most of the people I know. If someone takes offence then pretty much all I gotta say is slowly remove the stick out of your ass and place your saviour complex on the nearest shelf. I thought I'd be getting hate mail from the americans on the board, to be honest. Nothing like a canadian desecrating the mighty yankee military creed. But hey, we're brothers in arms right?

Really? I personally don't see the term whore as having any negative connotations. There have been whores since time immemorial, and I think they're a whole lot better people than most of the people I know. If someone takes offence then pretty much all I gotta say is slowly remove the stick out of your ass and place your saviour complex on the nearest shelf. I thought I'd be getting hate mail from the americans on the board, to be honest. Nothing like a canadian desecrating the mighty yankee military creed. But hey, we're brothers in arms right?

So it's Friday night and work is done for the day, and the week is finally over. Breathe a big sigh of relief and no more useless hours counting down the clock and trying to stay focused on an inane job which has significance to others, but none whatsoever to me. So what are my big plans on this Friday night? Head out and catch the happy hour and sit back with some nubile little shape on stage washing away the fog which has settled over my brain these past five days? Maybe grab a light dinner by the seaside and let the warm tropical wind blow away the cobwebs of this bloody mind-numbing five days. Hmm, nope. How about crawl home in the rain, struggle with the rest of the mindless drones of the afterwork crowd on the Tube, and stop in at Blockbuster for some mindnumbing entertainment to forget the mindnumbing workweek and numb the mind just that little bit more. So I just wrapped up the latest Hoo-Ah US Marines movie to roll out of Hollywood, JarHead. To be honest it was entertaining and took the mind off work and did the job and does what movies are supposed to... take you to another place. But I guess everyone takes out of things what hits closest to home, and this flick, like most Viet war movies I guess, had that one theme that hits pretty close to home for me, and probably most guys here. Sit back and imagine for a moment, it's not a far stretch from reality. Story: You leave home, your life, everything safe and normal and find yourself in a training camp, listening to a drill seargent and towing the line... then stuck on a plane and shipped overseas to some strange, far off land. It's hot and foreign and the food is weird, and everything is completely different from what you knew back home. At first you miss home, and look at the picture of your girlfriend and imagine what's going on right now back where you came from. It's all so confusing and strange and exciting and you want to go back, but you know inside that even if you do it won't quite be the same, but still. Then all of a sudden, it's over. And you do go back. And it's not the same as before, and it's not quite as easy, cause you know there's something back there which is different, and maybe not better, but still different and not quite as stifling and mundane and a little bit soul-crushing that you kinda feel that you need to escape. To escape back to that hot smelly place that at first seemed strange, but now seems comforting. And you try to talk about this to someone, those other people who used to be friendly. Your friends. Now just not quite so common, in common with you, now that you've changed. Adapted. Maybe gone a little off the rail I guess, but still not the same as everyone you knew before. Which is fine cause you can still go into work, and play as if you're interested in the little day to day office politics, life politics, getting a twenty vs thirty year mortgage, and pretty much just holding it together. Maybe I'm the only one here feeling a little like a shell-shocked Viet war Vet that doesn't quite belong in this civil society that we live in, but that was my summation of the movie JarHead, or at least what I took out of it, with my own little personal connection to the whole theme thrown in. And I give it two thumbs up. But maybe the point I guess is that I think that us SEA rejects all have a lot in common with the common Marine JarHead. Or the old Vietnam vet headcases coming back to a country which didn't quite seem the same as the one they left. And wasn't too accomodating to someone who no longer fits into the neat little package of submission and towing the line that we're all supposed to take. You can find Vietnam service men all over Thailand who couldn't hack it back in the Great Wasteland that is the West. And you can find a hell of a lot of disillusioned punters in the West who live for their twice yearly trips and feel the same way. So even though all I did this week was attack a keyboard with all of my heart and soul. And stared out the window at the dreary, rainy, miserable skies of England. I still say Hoo-ah!! I am a Marine. This is my Creed. My 'Whore': The Creed of a US Marine This is my 'whore'. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My 'whore' is my best friend. 'She' is my life. I must master 'her' as I must master my life. My 'whore', without me, is useless. Without my 'whore', I am useless. I must fire my 'whore' true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will... My 'whore' and myself know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit... My 'whore' is human, even as I, because 'she' is my life. Thus, I will learn 'her' as a brother. I will learn 'her' weaknesses, 'her' strength, 'her' parts, 'her' accessories, 'her' sights and 'her' barrel. I will ever guard 'her' against the ravages of weather and damage as I will ever guard my legs, my arms, my eyes and my heart against damage. I will keep my 'whore' clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will... Before God, I swear this creed. My 'whore' and myself are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is 'Canada's' and there is no enemy, but peace! Apologies to any Americans or Marines out there. I took some liberty with the text. So to all my punting brothers in arms. Hoo-ah!!! Till we meet on the battle-grounds of Pattaya. SC