redwood13

My mate says that BECLOMETASONE DIPROPIONATE is not readily available here and most pharmacies will substitute a chemically different drug for it when asked. It can be found here but only at very few pharmacies. Prices are the same or a bit more than in UK. Cost per month would depend on usage. My mate says he needed a lot more medication when he lived up country especially during the period when they burn the rice fields. Re the high cost of drugs for Thais, if you've read the board for any length of time you'll know the cops at least have ways of supplimenting their income. -re

Friend of mine is an asthmatic and buys inhalers here in Pattaya. What specifically are you looking to buy? He'll likely know if they're available here and best place to buy re price. -redwood

http://www.lkpattayahotel.com/mansion/location.html -redwood

There have been reports of Thai customs wanting payment of duties on imported drugs such as you describe. Thus far the drugs I buy here are very inexpensive, probably cheaper than the postage from the US. I buy my drugs in Bangkok rather than Pattaya as I find the prices are lower for what I use. For example try KS Pharmacy on Sukhumvit just W. of Robinson's Dept. Store. -redwood

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57653 See esp. posts #2 and #8. -redwood

You may be eligible for a work permit if you are SUPPORTING a Thai wife, i.e. just being married to a Thai isn't enough. Yes, you need a job before you can obtain the work permit as the WP is job specific. Thaivisa.com is a good place to reseach this if you think it might be useful to you. -redwood

Since the OP is married to a Thai he could also apply for an O visa and obtain a one year extension on the basis of supporting the Thai wife instead of retirement. Advantage being only 400,000 baht is required to be brought into Thailand and he'd be eligible for a work permit. A bit more paperwork is involved. -redwood

Re Seiko, I got pissed off at my fake Rolex' band breaking way too often and found this watch SNK587: http://roachman.com/seiko/automatic/SNK587.html at the City Chain Shop in Carrefour. It does not have the luminous dial and so is given a model number of SNK587K1. Cost was 2680 baht vs. the US$95 + shipping ( and + tax in California) for the luminous dial. -redwood

Emil this is the Northpoint condos I mentioned above. "Raimon is drafting its second Pattaya project called “Northpoint”, a 400-unit endeavour at Wong Amat beach at Nak Lua. The 13-rai site was recently acquired for Bt400 million for a two-tower residential project that may include rental apartments. Cornick said its two towers would rise 41 and 61 storeys, respectively. Their spectacular design is expected to deliver new landmarks in one of Thailand’s fastest-growing cities. ThE price per square metre should be about Bt65,000, said the developer. This includes all built-ins, kit

Couple of more visits and we'll be seeing the JAMBO OTOLARYNGOLOGIST WING of the new building. -redwood

Was going to suggest you have a look at Northshore http://www.northshorepattaya.com/ even though they are allegedly almost all sold out. In fact there are already lots of units up for resale from speculators who bought a year or so ago. And it will be very interesting to see how they fare. Northshore appears to be the most desirable new condominium in Pattaya and will certainly give you a benchmark for your further explorations. Wong Amat Beach is another site of new condo construction. BM Jack Corbett has bought a unit there and I'd think he'd be a good source of information.

I occasionally have a look at folks blogs and so far this guy's is the only one I found to be worth following. It's not specific to Thailand but to the idea of what's a guy who retires at age 37 with a few million dollars going to do for the next 40-50 years? First draft of an article: http://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/early-retirement/ And his blog is here: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/ -redwood13

A few comments: Don't be surprised if some shipping agents/freight forwarders are not interested in your business. Many will not deal with "one-off" customers shipping personal effects. We're simply too much trouble in their view as we may need a lot of hand holding to get throught the process. Use Laem Chabang rather than Port of Bangkok as your destination. Much closer to Pattaya and hence lower delivery charges. Perhaps no need to go to Singapore for audio gear. Quite a few dealers in Bangkok, especially in the Hi-Fi Centre across from the Central World Plaza (was World Tra

Thai driver's license is also handy to have for ID purposes. Went to the post office here the other day and found a notice in my box that a package had arrived from the US. The guy asked for ID, either a passport, which I didn't have with me or a Thai driver's license which I've never bothered to obtain. He ultimately accepted my Bumrungrad card BTW, package took 4 months surface mail, though judging from a date scribbled on the box I think it had been in the post office for about a month -redwood

Where's the first place an arrival is likely to light up a smoke at Don Muang? Would it be the car park? The car park which seems to be a favorite spot for customs to bust folks for excess cigarettes. Maybe just a simple case of profiling? The uncle of a friend of mine arrived from UK and got done there last week. Cost him 15K baht to make the problem go away and of course he lost the cigs. -redwood

This is a pdf of a salary survey done by a HK based recruitment company. http://www.gemini.com.hk/clients/Thailand_survey.pdf -redwood

5,000/mo. per a December 2005 price list. -redwood

This ongoing problem has been ongoing since at least 1999 when I first used EVA on-line. Their website is in fact better now than it used to be. And yes it's still unacceptable. Last time I booked BKK-LAX I just went to a travel agent after attempting to use on-line booking. -redwood

A brochure I have has Tony's at 1700 baht/mo. And here's a summary of the new FAIRTEX Sport Club and Resort on N. Pattaya Road "The leisure resort with 60 luxury rooms fronts the development and guests will have complimentary use of all facilities at the sports complex. ................. sports facilities include four outside tennis courts, five indoor badminton courts, a basketball court, four muaythai ring, two squash courts, mordern gym and aerobic floor, recreation and leisure entre with Internet and cable TV, a 25 meter by 12.5 meter swimming pool and a nursery for children..

Quoting from Bartlett's "Management of Respiratory Tract Infections" 3rd Ed. "Transmission by air does not appear to be efficient for most viruses, and even 'wet kissing' is less efficient than hand contact. Aerosol spread appears important in the transmission of influenza virus and picoronaviruses." "The usual mechanism is hand contact with an infected individual or contaminated object, followed by self-innoculation by either finger-to-nose or finger-to-eye spread." -redwood

Got that seat as a mileage upgrade on my return from the States in October Irony was that the adjacent aisle seat was occupied by a 5' 5'' Thai guy -redwood

A frequent poster on another board mentioned this site as being in his opinion one of the best for Bangkok originating departures. http://www.traveller2000.com/thailand/inte...reservation.htm Nice thing is it shows prices for multiple airlines and also to smaller city destinations. Also they have a office listed on 3rd Road here in Pattaya as well as a Bangkok office. But for EVA they're only showing pricing up to March 15 Maybe being cautious re the uncertainty of fuel surcharges?? -redwood

Recently asked on thaivisa.com Is there any self storage units in Pattaya? I don't mean big whare houses just possibly 1 cubic metre or such like to store a few items i.e cds, clothes, computer bits and bobs etc prior to making a move to sanuk city. Yes there is. Safe Independent on the ground floor of Jomtien Complex Condotel. Their phone/fax is 038-303-863 Hopefully someone will investigate and report back. -redwood

Mortgages are not usually available to foreigners who do not have a work permit. From what I've read on thaivisa.com in order to register the title deed with the land registry department you have to have an FETF (foreign exchance transaction form) which used to be called Tor Tor 3. You obtain this by making a SINGLE transfer of the equivalent of no less than US$20,000 in foreign currency from outside Thailand into your Thai bank account with the notation that it is for purchase of a condominium. And if you should sell the condo you need the FETF to be able to legally send money from the

They appear to be making rapid progress on these. http://www.ratanakorn.com/ click on "condominiums" then go to Pattaya Euro and Pattaya Centre Point and you'll see starting prices. Looks like the 20+ story building is on hold for right now?? If so probably a good idea. -redwood