Eneukman

The Residence Gardens is a good hotel - air con, 2 pools, seperate bedroom, tv in both living room and bedroom. It's a short distance from Walking Street but baht buses pass the door all the time.

Just testing - colour Maybe I ain't using it correctly, but it just seems to offer suggestions and doesn't actually correct the spelling for you? It did come up with both the British and American spelling of colour but totally failed to identify that I had deliberately misspelled testing. (spelling of the test words corrected manually) I have a spell checker on Firefox, which seems to be more user friendly so I'll stick to it. Alan

My TOT broadband service was down yet again yesterday afternoon. What we really need is a direct fax number for TOT's managing director and flood him with complaints a few minutes apart. I don't know whether the media (Pattaya Mail/Pattaya People Weekly etc) would want to become involved or not. I tried accessing the site Jack provided a link to via Firefox and AOL and both times simply got a blank page. With Firefix, I was blocked from getting into Bargirls.com but got in ok with AOL. I was speaking to my brother on the phone on Sunday using Skype (he was using his landline in Scotland) and his voice was breaking up something awful yet mine was fine at his end. Alan

I'm using TOT broadband, which isn't exactly reliable but I have noticed the same problem. It seems to be particularly bad when trying to post a reply. I think Secrets uses the same software so it would seem to be a problem with InVision's software, if anything. Alan

To be pedantic for a moment Having said that what you and I call a retirement visa is actually merely an extension to your non-Immigrant O visaa. You can apply for a 1 year extension to your non-Immigrant O visa at any time in the month before your current permission to stay expires. You will need the following - Medical certificate - 80 baht or so depending on which clinic you go to 800,000 baht in the bank (or letter from your embassy stating that you have monthly pension income of 65,000 baht per month), letter from bank to verify that and to confirm that the funds originated from outwith Thailand - 100 to 200 baht Completed application form Various photocopies - the adjacent photocopying shop will copy everything you need 2 photographs 1,900 baht for the fee Once you have the extension (it will be back dated to 1 year after you last entered Thailand), you must then obtain a re-entry permit if you plan on leaving Thailand for any reason or you will have to start the whole process from scratch again. Cost of this is 1,000 baht for a single entry permit or 3,800 baht for a multiple entry permit. I don't think there's anything to be gained by waiting so long as you will not be working once you have obtained the visa. Alan

That prices seems to be quite good. One important point to bear in mind is to ensure that whichever company you choose gives you a door to door service. Otherwise, you may have to go to Bangkok and get the goods out of the Customs Warehouse yourself. Insurance will be extra and can add on quite a bit as that will be based on value. I simply looked up Yellow Pages and invited 2 firms to come and give me a quote. The agents in Bangkok told me the day before that they would deliver my goods at 9.00 the following morning. They turned up at 8.50. Now if that had been the UK, it would have been some time between 8.00 and 1.00. Cost is based on weight if shipping by air and by volume if shipping by sea. Unless you have a work permit, you will have to pay some import duty on the goods. The rules used to allow holders of a retirement visa to have one shipment of goods duty free but the rules changed whilst my goods were in transit!!!! The agents in Bangkok agreed the amount of duty with Customs in Bangok though I didn't receive a receipt for this. Alan

My landlord arranged the installation of my broadband connection for me - with TOT!!! They are bloody useless and the service has been down at least three times in the last 10 days or so. My modem is meant to be 512/256 but my down load speed can be slower than dial up or at times 700 kbs. Currently it's 432/316. A 2nd test has produced almost identical results. Alan

You can only get a multi-entry non-Immigrant O visa in your home country. From what I've heard, it's getting harder to obtain even a single entry non-Immigrant O visa in neighbouring countries. Penang will, I believe, issue a tourist visa which is valid for 60 days (extendable for I think 15 days). After that you wold have to go back to Penang and obtain a new tourist visa. There have also been rumours that the authorities here are planning a clampdown on the number of successive 30 day permits you can get. (Note - what you get on arrival in Thailand is not a visa, but rather permission to stay in the country for 30 days.) This has been talked about for some time but one day, they might just decide to implement it. TiT!!!! Alan

If you're planning on coming for a year and are under 50, obtain a multi-entry non-Immigrant O visa from the Thai Consulate in Norway. The cost is something like £90. You will need a letter of guarantee from a relative or a friend guaranteeing to pay the cost of your repatriation should you run out of money. The Consulate in Hull just wanted to know that I had a letter of guarantee and didn't do any background checks. That was just as well as he almost certainly wouldn't be able to come up with the money. You need to enter Thailand within 90 days of the visa being granted. The expiry date will be 1 year after the visa was issued. Every 90 days you will need to do a visa run (it can be extended at the Immigration Office on Jomtien Beach Road Soi 5 for up to 30 days for a few of 1,900 baht). A few days BEFORE your visa finally expires, leave the country and come back in. You will then be granted permission to stay for a further 90 days (plus a 30 day extension). This will give you up to a 16 month stay on one visa. Renting. Most places will request a 2 month deposit. The monthly rent is then paid monthly in advance. Note that many places may have a minimum 6 month term for rentals. There's no need to register with any authority. Those of us who have a retirement visa have to notify our address to Immigration every 90 days but this won't apply to you. Also, check out the Thai visa site - www.thaivisa.com for further advice. Good luck whatever you do. Alan

I seldom speak to the driver before getting on a baht bus. In the main, I'm aware of whether I'm likely to be seen to be chartering the bus or not and invariably if the driver thinks I'm chartering he will say 100 baht (or whatever) before pulling off. On the few occasions I do charter a bus, he damn well takes me to the door of my condo. Last night, I flagged down a passing bus and not being 100% certain that he was stopping for me, I asked him "Jomtien mai". He nodded his head so my bar fine and I got on. No problem paying 20 baht when we got to my condo. He did actually pick up one further passenger on the way. Note that I just said Jomtien as opposed to View Talay. If I had said View Talay, he could have interpreted that as being a charter and charged accordingly. Alan

Quite simple, really. It's called the high season because it's the time of year when the largest number of people come to town. Just now, there are far fewer people in town so this is the low season (it's also the start of the rainy season). In my opinion, the best time of year to visit Pattaya (if there is such a thing) is late November. The rainy season is all but over and the tourist numbers have yet to build up to a peak. Alan

Unfortunately, the British Embassy do not add pages to your passport. . If it's getting full, your only option is to obtain a new passport and if you obtain it in Bangkok, it's period of validity will be 10 years from the date of issue. Alan

One of the owners of Pattaya International Hospital has stated at the Pattaya Ex-Pats Club that the overall quality of the water in Pattaya is good. I have started using tap water to rinse my mouth out after brusing my teeth and so far have suffered no ill effects. Not having my own transport, I just buy a 6 litre bottle whenever I need to top up my supply. Alan

November's an ideal time to come. Before I made the move, most of my visits were during the last 2 weeks of November. The rainy season has all but passed. You may get the odd torrential thunderstorm but nothing too drastic. Also, the humidity level goes down so you're not sweating as much. Alan

This is Thailand. Alan

The bakers' have assured me that the spelling will be corrected within a couple of days. Alan

I think I've posted he this before a couple of years ago but what the hell Ethel Ethel is a bit of a demon in her wheelchair, and loves to charge around the nursing home, taking corners on one wheel and getting up to maximum speed on the long corridors. Because the poor woman is one sandwich short of a picnic, the other residents tolerate her, and some of the males actually join in. One day, Ethel was speeding up one corridor when a door opened and Kooky Clarence stepped out with his arm outstretched. "STOP!", he said in a firm voice. "Have you got a licence for that thing?" Ethel fished around in her handbag and pulled out a Kit-Kat wrapper and held it up to him. "OK" he said, and away Ethel sped down the hall. As she took the corner near the TV lounge on one wheel, Weird Harold popped out in front of her and shouted, "STOP! Have you got proof of insurance?" Ethel dug into her handbag, pulled out a beer coaster and held it up to him. Harold nodded and said, "Carry on, ma'am." As Ethel neared the final corridor before the front door, Craggy Craig stepped out in front of her, stark naked, holding a very sizeable erection in his hand. “Oh, no" said Ethel, "Not the breathalyser again!" Alan

Everyone has got it wrong here. There are 72 virgins - BUT they are all MALE. Alan

Basically, it's better to wait until you get here before changing your money. The best way to get a rate close to the true market rate is to open a flex account with the Nationwide Building Society. They don't charge you for withdrawing funds from ATM's abroad plus they give you an exchange rate not too remote from the true rate. Even with a Nationwide ATM, I would recommend bringing travellers cheques as a back up. Alan

Not a clue, but I suspect the final handkerchief was already in situ before she started. Alan

Thanks cyber - Having part of my balance "locked in" wouldn't be a problem. The renewal dates of my credit and debit cards are out of synch with my debit card expiring 7 months after my credit card. My Thai credit card would really only be used to cover this period or as a back up in the event of an emergency. Alan

One of the disadvantages of living in Paradise is that the UK banks won't send your new credit/debit cards in the post to Thailand. Therefore, a visit home is required unless a friend or family member is coming over. I have a retirement visa (strictly an extension of a non-Immigrant O visa) valid until August 2007. Does anyone know whether I can get a credit card from Bangkok Bank based on this. A limit of 200,000 baht or maybe 250,000 baht would be sufficient. Thanks, Alan