Eneukman

omg - I'm going to KL next month for a couple of days. For motorbikes, Saigon (I believe the locals still prefer to call it Saigon rather than Ho Chi Min) has to be one of the worst cities in the world. Looking out my hotel window (double glazed and I could still hear the bloody traffic noise ) at around 6.00 in the evening, I estimated that around 150 motor bikes were passing in ONE direction every minute. The Lonely Planet guide book reckons that there are at least a million motor bikes in Saigon. I beg to differ. There are at least a million motor bikes on the road at any one moment in time! Alan

Guy sounds like a total to me. Alan

Very spicy is pet maak. In spoken Thai NO word ends in the letter "R" (ร). It does arise in written Thai but would be pronounced "N" in spoken Thai. The girls may be asking for the food to really spicy i.e, pet maak maak. I've never heard of food being described as pet aroy. Pet means spicy and aroy means delicious so I suspect that someone is saying that food that is spicy is delicious. Alan

In Pattaya it lasts from 13th April to 19th April with the 19th being total mayhem. I have just had these dates confirmed by my travel agent who is booking me a holiday in Malaysia from 12th to 20th April inclusive. Alan

I take pills to keep my blood pressure under control. When I was in the UK, I took bendrofluazide and atenolol. Bendrofluazide is not available in Thailand but a doctor I spoke to gave me a prescription for Dichlotride. I get the 50mg version (not sure if there are others) and cut them in two. Cost is 3 baht per tablet. In stead of atenolol, I was given prenolol 50 mg pills. Again, I cut them in half. Cost is 2 1/2 baht per tablet. I get the pills from the pharmacy next to Tim's Beer Bar which also sells generic Cialis at a very good price. Last time I went the price was 600 baht for a pack of 4 though I think a price rise may be imminent. Alan

I've found this on-line dictionary helpful - if you can type in Thai, you can also enter Thai words and get the English meaning. - http://www.thai-language.com/dict/ Edit in - Just noticed that the initial post gives the main page for this site. The link I've given takes you straight to the dictionary page. Alan

I've noticed that as well - yet most of them seem able to identify between the Thai characters, which I need to look closely at to see which it is e.g ช ซ ค ด. It's fine if the font size is relatively large I tend to find that te font size used in written Thai tends to be on the small side. Alan

I hereby nominate this guy for this years prestigeous Darwin Awards. I heard a similar story (same one - surely there can't be 2 people stupid enough to fire a taser at themselves ) at a meeting of the Pattaya Ex-Pats Club a couple of weeks ago. Alan

I got my non-Immigrant O visa in Hull with no hassles whatsoever. I did telephone the Glasgow Consul and was told in no uncertain terms by their Mrs. Wishart ("I have been doing this job for 25 years so I know all the rules") that the ONLY way to obtain a retirement visa was to obtain it in the UK. She stated that it was impossible to get it in Thailand. I don't know how she got that idea into her head - maybe that was the rule at some time in the distant past but it certainly is not the case now. The rules seem to change all the time and I think I would rather go for the non-Immigrant O visa rather than the 60 day tourist visa. I have heard some talk about making it easier for us farangs who have retired in Thailand (probably also to give them less work ) but being Thailand, nothing will happen for a few years. Alan

That's exactly why I refuse to get on the back of a motorbike in Pattaya full stop. A few more I've seen. 15. It is in order to drive on the wrong side of the road. 16. Weaving from lane to lane is perfectly acceptable. 17. Brakes are to be used sparingly and only applied when absolutely necessary. 18. There is nothing wrong with having 5 people on one motorbike. 19. You are allowed to turn round and kiss your girlfriend whilst moving in a forwards direction. 20. The spot you are standing on in the middle of the road whilst waiting for a break in the traffic doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the motor cyclist who is coming up on the wrong side of the road and who is going to move over to the correct side of the road at the very place you are standing regardless of the fact that you were there first. Alan

And I thought I was a cynical bastard. Alan

As a very rough guide, I spent between September last year and the end of February this year just over half a million baht. OK, this includeds the cost of my retirement visa, multi re-entry permit (6,000 baht combined), a hard drive video camera (28,000 baht), flight and visa to Vietnam later this month (17,000 baht), travel and contents insurance (12,000 baht), medical expenses for an eye infection (5,000 baht). Split these costs over a 12 month period rather than 6 months and my monthly expenditure comes out at just under 80,000 baht. My expenditure could be reduced if I were to move into a small studio condo, but I prefer the extra space I have. However, space isn't so important for shorter stays. I think you're wise opting for a 3 month stay rather than a 6 month one unless you can get the extra cash required. If you're only coming for a 3 month stay, a single entry non-Immigrant O visa should be sufficient, which can be extended for, I think, up to 30 days if required. Whatever you do though, DO NOT OVERSTAY YOUR VISA. Alan

I've been here for almost 9 months and would agree that £3,000 isn't nearly enough for a 6 month stay. I budget for 80,000 baht per month of which 20,000 baht goes on rent. You will certainly be able to find somewhere less expensive than that. My own thoughts are that at closer to £6,000 would be the minumum required. If you are coming for 6 months, get a multiple entry nonImmigrant O visa before you come as this will mean you will only have to do one visa run after 90 days. The Royal Thai Consul in Hull are very helpful. Also, apply to join the members' area if you havem't already done so as no bar girl talk in this part of the board. Alan

I'm managing to keep myself occuppied as well though the idea of taking up bowling etc is to ensure that I have a variety of activities to ensure that I don't get bored in the longer term with a routine that doesn't have sufficient variety. A week tonight and I'll be in Ho Chi Min City, or Saigon as I believe the locals prefer to call it. Alan

The most important point when you retire, at whatever age (in my case, 50) is to keep yourself occuppied (and I don't mean exercising your right arm sitting in a bar! I'm going to try and take up lawn bowls, perhaps playing 2 or 3 afternoons a week. I seem to recall that the Pattaya Sports Club organises ten pin bowling on a Friday afternoon so I'll give that a try as well. In addition, I need to try and continue improving my language skills. It is also important to live within your means over the long term. During the 2005/2006 tax year, my expenditure has been considerably higher than my income but I was always aware that this would be the case. In the 2006/2007 tax year, my income should be comfortably higher than my expenditure. Alan

On the driving licence front it will, I am told, save a lot of hassle if you obtain an International Drivers Licence in your home country first. I obtained mine from the RAC. Posted the application on Monday morning. Got the International one on Wednesday morning. One question on UK driving licences. I seem to recall reading something somewhere that said you should return your licence to the DVLC in Swansea if you moved abroad to live on a permanent basis. Has anyone actually done this? Or did you do what I did, change your address to a relation's address? Alan

Tel, I used Britannia Shipping but I would suggest you look up shipping agents in Yellow Pages and ask two or three of them to give you a quote. I would also recommend arranging a door to door service, which will save you a lot of hassle. If you're sending your effects etc by sea, the cost is based on the volume. I think if it goes by air, the cost will be based on weight. I think the duty on hi-fi equipment and your PC could be quite high. I bought a laptop a number of months before I moved out and simply brought it in with me as part of my hand luggage. Alan

Owen, My plan is to continue renting for the time being. I get the feeling that there are just too many new developments going up and that something has to give at some point. I am sceptical about the ability of the infrastructure to cope with all this new housing though hopefully I will be proved wrong here. Prices in the main area are also in the high side and whlst many people have made a lot of money (on paper at least), I would not be surprised if prices were to start going down at some point in the future. I don't know yet where I'll be living on a more permanent basis. This could be anywhere from Udon Thani to Korat to Buriram etc depending on where the girl I invite to move in with me comes from. One thing for certain though, it won't be in her village. As far as the murder in View Talay 2B goes, I haven't heard a thing about it here. Some residents are trying to organise a meeting of residents to discuss security etc though. I must put my name down for that. There was also a way you could get into the buildings area without going past the security guards but I see that a fence preventing that has just been put up. Alan Alan

Ronnie Barker actually wrote a fair number of the sketches for the Two Ronnies himself under a pseudonym. He didn't use his own name because he didn't want Ronnie Corbett to agree to go with the sketch purely because he had written it. A much missed comic genius. Alan

Thaksin's planning on doing a bunk to some other country so he's talking the value of the baht up so he'll get more foreign currency for his billions of baht. Alan

Yes, the girl I spoke to spoke very good English. I was quite impressed with them I was told that my goods would arrive Tuesday morning at 9.00 am. They were at my door at ten to nine. Back in the UK, it would have been they'll be there sometime between 8.00 am and 4.00 pm and would reluctantly amend it to between 8.00 am and noon if you were lucky! Alan

I moved out here last year and arranged for a shipping agent to ship over a load of CD's, photographs, books etc. When everything was collected, the rules allowed me ONE shipment free of duty but in the intervening period the rules changed and it seems that you can now only bring in that one shipment duty free if you have a work permit. The agents in Bangkok seemed to be on the ball and they suggested that I should "offer" to pay duty of 4,000 baht. This would get everything through Customs quickly without the need for any of the boxes to be opened. Officially, there is no such thing as requests for "tea money". In reality? I wonder how much of the 4,000 baht I paid ended up in the government's coffers? Alan

Just to add to Sunny Valentine's reply, you will also need photocopies of your bank passbook, medical certificate and letter from the bank. There is a small shop next to Immigration and they will copy everything you need for you. The cost for the retirement visa is 1,900 baht. As you may know, if you want to leave the country for a holiday, you will need to have a re-entry permit or your retirement visa will be invalidated. For this, you need copies of the relevant pages of your passport, one photograph and a completed application form. A multiple re-entry permit costs 3,800 baht. I went to Immigration at about 10.30 and was told to go back after 3.00 pm the same afternoon to pick up my passport. Once you have your retirement visa, you MUST report your address to Immigration every 90 days. When you receive your visa, you will be told when you next have to report. All you have to do is complete a simple form and present it along wih your passport at Immigration. This should take no more than 5 or 10 minutes. If you leave the country, the 90 day period will start from when you re-enter Thailand. As Sunny Valentine said, go to Immigration 3 or 4 weeks before your initial 90 days are up, your first retirement visa will be backdated to the date you last enetered Thailand so effectively it will only be valid for 10 months. Future visas will then be valid for 12 months. Alan

The guy who was stopped after exiting Customs was a member here. I suspect that Customs were giving him every opportunity to stop and declare the excess cigarettes. The position is quite clear. There is a limit on the amount you can bring in duty free. Bring any more than that in without declaring them is defined as smuggling. Smuggling is a criminal offence and if caught you will be treated as a criminal. If you chance your luck and get caught, don't start complaining about a spoilt holiday or about the size of the fine. Alan

I've flown BA many times and never had a problem with hand luggage, which was frequently overweight. I did once see someone being stopped on the way to board the plane and have their hand luggage weighed. There is more likely to be a problem on internal flights. I was waiting on my flight to Edinburgh and announcements were being made that because the flight was full, only one item of hand luggage would be allowed on board. On my last flights to and from Heathrow, I had my usual hand luggage as well as my lap top - though what some people take into the cabin is ridiculous! Alan