spacebass

And in the Netherlands it costs 10 Euros to cut a small diamond in the East 1Eu.

I have bought 4 rings from a lady who has a stall in Carrefour upstairs near Bangkok bank, though sometimes she moves around. She makes all her rings herself from the gold blanks fitting the stones. I bought a kind of spiral gold ring with six diamonds on it from her for 20,000bht (half price sale as now) when I was in Chiang Mai we went to the big jewellry factory and I asked there how much to make me one of these rings if I bought ten pieces, (bit of a mind to take to UK) they said 59,000bht each!!! So go check her out she most definitely will not rip you off, her rings speak for themselves they all sparkle big!! Right now a little bit quiet so could get a good deal!

air asia are in the business of selling dreams, The flight costs x amount in advert, twice as much to buy..... you book to fly on a specific plane that may well not fly (or the next one) if it does not have enough passengers (hence 5 hour delay)........ and internet web site tells you you have made a booking having taken all your C.C. details and then you actually haven't got one. Still cheap as chips so if time and uncertainty does not matter to you, get into it. Personally i will try and act my age next time and book something a bit more sensible.

One of the requirements is evidence of residency, this should be a letter from Immigration in Pattaya, though I have heard that people have done it by showing their Chanute, so if you went to Pattaya immigration on Soi 6 Beach road Jomtien, who are know to be helpful, with evidence of your residence in Thailand maybe they would write you a letter, I can't see why driving licences should be restricted to certain geographical areas, but then I am not Thai!!

I don't know what can be done from afar, but there is a lady who sits in the parade of shops opposite the licencing dept, and in my experience you roll up there give her everything you need which she checks and more or less does everything unless you are required to say take some test or other. I am sure she charges a lot less that 3000bht. Asv in all things I think you would actually have to be there.

And on the website it says there is a store in Lotus Pattaya but does not say which one

I just bought some specs for my lady in Rayong though I live in Pattaya and I would imagine same applies. Firstly I expect it depends on the nature of some prescriptions as to how much the lenses cost but in this modern apparently chain store in Rayong in big C the deal was e.g. 100% titanium frames 2000bht + lenses 800bht. Plenty of designer frames around 3000bht plus 800 bht for lenses, plenty of package deals from 899bht to 1399bht including lenses. I bought a 1399 package for the lady had the arms that are a little bit sprung if you push them outwards (I believe a sign of quality), look good and designery. Eye test free. No ripoff all prices clearly marked. www.btv.co.th =Better vision.

So 2 x Boeing 747 never arrived at Bangkok airport at the same time?

I would definitely not try to save a few bob on the price of visa if it allows you to avoid visa runs , they are a pain in the butt.

Yeah I have used cambodia Inter , works Ok, walk in Nisan says '1900bht' you say 'whoa I didn't pay that last time' he says 'how much you pay?' You could say '1600', you may get it. I have paid 1,600, but many people on the same bus pay a lot more could have booked at hotel etc. I do pay 1,700 currently however. I think 1,700 no too bad with the price of gas rocketing. Last time I went the bus went down towards Trat instead of Poipet made a change and crossing much easier and quicker with cheap fags and kamagra etc and singha 20 bht!!.

If you are a man of class forget a 7 hr stopover, it is a nightmare (based on 4hrs in Bahrain which is more civilised than Abui Dhabi very smoky) you could easily spend GBP20 in 7 hrs passing the time. A short wait on the way out leaves more room for missing the connection and maybe an overnight stay (as happenned to me with Gulf Air, when Heathrow ATC broke down for 4 hours!) This has nothing to do with Etihad or Gulf air it has to do with stopovers and comfort. It is well worth GBP100 extra to fly direct if you have the dosh IMHO.

The idea that this is the start of some kind of blanket vendetta against Farangs owning property in Thailand is clearly without any justification, and the result of wooly thinking by its proponents. This is only the enforcement of a law that clearly states that Farangs are forbidden to own land in Thailand. Farangs have been taking the piss and using farang legal logic to circumvent this clearly stated law. It is known as a loophole in the west. Now the Thais have decided to close this loophole and why not? It illustrates the contempt the farang have for the Thai legal system (and Thai society?) more than any bad attitude Thais may or may not have towards farang. On the other hand it is also very clearly stated in Thai law the Farang can own subject to certain criteria condo apartments. As it is possible that Thai people (when you get beyond the Estate agent 'class') may have more logical thought process and greater respect for Thai law than their farang counterparts, demonstrated by the recent proper enforcement of clear existing law, the farang who owns their condo completely as per Thai law should have nothing whatsoever to fear from a government whose actions are driven only by existing clear laws, as the condo ownership law is.

Sentiments move markets and whichever way you cut this one it is very sentimental

Patty Steve, If the farang allocation in a condo has been taken up, then one of the options of buying into that condo is the 30 year lease, ( along with the questionable company route). So the 30 year lease can be utilised in condo 'purchase'. Space

Somewhere on this board or Thai visa someone kindly left the info that if you are an Egg C.C. holder you can get a substantial cashback on using selected lounges. Seemed very worthwhile. Do a search.

If there is any prejudice against a particular group, it will not be because of the colour of their skin as o.p. keeps saying it will because of the previous experience of that groups behaviour, as per Arabs above, i.e. it will not be racial prejudice. Otherwise it is just down to baht.

Ladyboys are not for gay men.

If you refer too many happy campers yuo will lose your reason to be happy!

Nisan Manager at Cambodia Inter, 010035095, 261/5 Soi Buakhao, tells me go and get cheapest deal, bring to me I discount. Bought my last Gulf Air return from him no problems, but remember the cheapest will be the worst, likely, Kuwait air 6 hour wait for connection in Kuwait! Not good whan its happenning, thats why its cheap.

5* Airline Check:http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/seats.htm

Gabor, The Tor Tor document does not enable you to but another condo with the same money, you still have to export it when you sell and bring it back in, which the Tor Tor document allows you to do, though I have read this sometimes still problematic.

The money has to be transferred from outside Thailand and has to be in GBP. Things are not very straight forward here if you go outside the ' normal ' way of doing things and variable as well you can't count on what you think is going to happen, happenning (in Farang terms). E.g. when I was in Thailand about to buy a condo , it took an hour long meeting with bank manager with my Thai lawyer to persuade him to allow the lawyer to have access to the funds I was going back to the UK to send to pay for it and effect the transfer in my absence. I do not think bringing it with you is on, how would you bring it? Many mediums will probably take quite a long time to clear and cash would not be accepted. The normal way of doing this would be to send the money via a swift transfer a couple of days about GBP20 (as you probably did with the deposit). Maybe you could contact Bangkok Bank in London and see if they will open you an account in Pattaya, might want to see your visa. Or you could set up a swift transfer and fill in a transfer form signed up and phone back the bank details when you have opened an acount here. To register the condo in your name and give you proof that you brought the money in (so you can maybe take it out one day) you have to get a certificate from the bank to prove the money originated abroad, the fact that you have sent 40% of the money to someone elses account is a complication as you will have to get this certificate from someone elses bank, I don't know how that works. This certificate is issued for amounts over US$20,000 so your splitting the price 60/40 might have a bearing on that. You can get a letter from the bank certifying the money originated abroad which will put it in your name but you will lose the reexport of the money facility without the certificate. Though I am sure there are ways round this. E&OE (!!!)

If you want the condo in your name you must send it to your bank account with 'Buy condominium' as reason for transfer on Swift transfer form. Then you get a form from the bank when you collect the money that certifies it originated abroad which you take to the land office when you get the Chanute put into your name. It is now called something like an 'International transfer certificate' it used to be called a Tor Tor 3 which is now obsolete. The money must be transferred in GBP for conversion at the Thai receiving bank. I do not think you are likely to get a better rate from a GB bank anyway. It has been strongly advised against transferring into developers accounts direct anyway, for obvious reasons. Do not do this. The whole process in Thailand is dead simple the biggest problem I had was when I walked into Nationwide to do the transfer with flexaccount debit card etc and they made me go away and come back with two forms of photo ID!!

Plus being a government run organisation, I am told by the local internet cafe girl that you need to find out who to bung to get a result. I couldn't use my TOT line for internet for two months after a downpour it was so noisy and phoning or visiting did not resolve the problem although they did seem very pleasant at the office.( Just imagine how many lines they have to fix everytime it rains!). I now have a TT&T line

Went to have a look round Kiang Talay Pratamak Hill Friday, went to check out the pool area, big notice up ' No Prostitutes allowed in pool, owners or residents liable to pay for water to be changed Thai Baht 50,000. Unusual attitude and especially remedy.