Gary

That is a useless thing to do. Garmin will sell you an expensive map that is no where near as good as the native Thailand ESRI map. I know that for a fact because I was stupid enough to pay the $99 for the inferior map. That money was totally wasted because I deleted the map from my Garmin. I learned the hard way.

Here is a link to probably the best shop in Bangkok; http://www.gadgetrend.com/gps_nuvi40.php You can buy a Garmin unit for Thailand at many different shops. They will have a Thailand Street map already installed. It is best to buy from a decent shop rather than a department store because most of the time the department stores will have the Thai map version installed. A good shop will make sure the English map is installed. That Garmin model 40 for less than 4,000 baht is hard to beat. That price includes the latest Thailand map. These units work out of the box and you need to do nothi

I had a good friend who lived in Ao Nang. I always enjoyed my road trips down there. It is a long drive from Loei but there are decent stops along the way. I thought it was worth the drive. As far a the girls, if you can't find one that suits you, you are far too fussy. I haven't been down there since he moved back to the US. He always bitched about everything Thai. I told him that if he hated it here, to go back home. He did that.

I know nothing about various brands of GPS units. What I do know is that the Thai ESRI Thailand map is the best map available. Don't confuse the Garmin South East Asia map with the native Thailand map. The Garmin map sucks as do various other maps that I have tried to use. When you buy a GPS, make sure that it can use the ESRI Thailand map. I'm not a Garmin fanboy but I do have four Garmin units. There are a number of Thailand maps available but none are anywhere near as good as the made in Thailand ESRI map. ESRI is the best map but they seem to want to do their best to confuse people. Th

I see that a Thai painter got zapped in Jomtien. It didn't say if he survived or not.

I seriously doubt that you will get your asking price. 40,000 baht is the retail cost of a new Scoopy from a dealer.

I often wonder how they live as long as they do.

I live in the boonies of Loei province. Evenings in the winter get damn cold. The worst part is the windshield steaming up if you don't have a heater and defroster. My truck has neither a heater or defroster. If I'm going to be out and about late at night, I always take the car.

You may be right but anyone driving 80 km/h on Beach road is insane.

For a family, Prachuap Kirikhan and Krabi are the most beautiful places I have seen.

Have you ever seen fast moving traffic on Beach Road? On a good day it moves at maybe 10 or 15 kilometers per hour. Knowing that there are cars moving in and out of the parking places, most would avoid the right lane. Buses and baht buses would be impeding traffic in the left lane so moving traffic would be in the center lane.

Redo the sidewalk on the busness side, no parking on that side and diagonal parking on the beach side.

The best thing they could do to Beach Road is widen it another lane and put diagonal parking in the remaining space. They have redone the beach side walking area MANY times over the years and all it does is cost a lot of money, attract thieving ladyboys and other dregs of the city.

Some do. My Ford Focus has climate control. Set the digital temperature and it heats or cools as needed.

In all the years I have been in Thailand, I have NEVER heard anyone say that they came to Pattaya to visit the beach. It amazes me that some people consider Pattaya a family vacation place. Thailand is a beautiful country and there are many nice beaches and suitable places to take a family. If I still had small children, Pattaya would be the last place I would choose to take my family.

Good post. Regardless of how it is spelled, I can usually recognize where they are referring to. The precise spelling means nothing because there is NO correct translation for Thai to English or English to Thai. I get criticized for speaking pidgin English to my Thai wife. Language is meant for communication and if it is understood, that is the main purpose.

I too think it s disgusting. Freedom to do what you want is fine by me but that is still disgusting in my eyes. Take a walk down that beach and see what is going on and if you are a normal male you will be offended. Am I homophobic? Probably.

There are no guideposts or rules. Normal people treat other people like they want other people to treat them. Normal people are not cruel, do not steal, damage property or injure and kill other people.

I don't believe that religion has any effect of whether a person is good or bad. Christians and muslims have done horrific things in the name of their religions. I was born and raised a catholic and when I moved out of my parents home, I gave it up. Every person is born with a conscience and if they are a good person, they will believe in a common sense thing that it is right to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This did not come out of any religious book, it is simply common sense and should be a way of life. Unfortunately we suffer from religious zealots and sick people

Gay people can act and do as they like. As for myself, NO, I would not buy a condo to live in in a gay area. Sorry, I believe in free speech and have never been a politically correct person.

I have never bought drugs from Canada mail order, Walmart or Costco. My co-payment from my US insurance company was $20 regardless of what the drugs cost. I have never needed a prescription for any drug in Thailand nor have I been limited to a certain quantity. Once the doctor told me what to buy, I went to the drug store and bought them. My last purchase of my blood pressure medicine, Anapril, cost me 280 baht for 100 foil wrapped tablets. That's a hundred day supply.

The best advice for wannabe foreign mobsters is to NEVER take rice out of a Thai's rice bowl. I am sure that there are foreign mobsters here but they certainly pay tribute for the opportunity to operate here. Russians ripping off Russians may be tolerated but there is a cost for that. The police and politicians control the rackets and take their divvy. Rules are rules and if you want to continue breathing, you must abide by the rules. Probably the most firm rule is to never draw attention to your racket by targeting regular tourists. I'm really surprised by the jet ski scams but they are polic

I suffer from gout and forgot to take my drug supply to the US on a trip some time back. As would be expected, I suffered an attack and tried to buy colchicine from a US pharmacy. I needed a prescription. Try walking into a doctor's office in the US without being a regular patient. I ended up going to emergency at a hospital and explaining that the only thing I needed was a prescription. Most drugs in the US require a prescription and the prescription is normally only good for a 30 day supply. I don't buy a lot of drugs but what I do buy are MUCH cheaper here in Thailand. You can buy however m

I apologise to the seller in advance. This advice is for new buyers. Maybe the most important thing is to make sure that you can have the unit in your name. Secondly is to not buy a shoe box sized unit. I know that a one bedroom unit will cost you a lot more but it is well worth the extra money especially if you have a girlfriend or wife living with you. If you are a single guy and intend to live alone, you could get by with a studio. Even at that, 26 square meters is very small.

Most hospitals offer a package physical check up. In my case the cost was 4,600 baht. That covered a chest x ray, a full range of blood tests and many other tests that I had no idea what they actually were for. I have gout and was taking 300 mg of alopurinol per day. I was told that was too high of a dose. The pills are scored in the middle and the doctor told me to break them in half. I followed her instructions and have had no problems. I am a smoker and after being admonished for that, I was happy to see that the chest x ray was clear. They use ultrasound to check your circulation and check