Back in July i took over a beach bungalow resort on Koh Chang.The low season here is lower than a snakes belly and only very recently has it started to pic up.Being new to the trade i am prepared to expect the unexpected.One trend that has already become quite common is customers leavig items behind.T-shirts, sunglasses, bar girls and last week someone forgot to collect something they had left in the safe.This morning i discovered it is an expensive looking electrical gadget thing that plays mus
3 months ago i took over the lease for a beach bungalow resort on Koh ChangIncluded in the take over were 3 dogs as this is their home.3 weeks ago as i watched the English stuff the Aussies (Mike, Gav, Dave etc not so mouthy now huh, u can keep the ashes) one of the dogs was busy becoming a mum to 6 cute puppiesThey were born and live under the kitchen.4 days agot they ventured out for the 1st time and their just getting more and more confident by the day.Cute huh
A question aimed at anyone who has bought a house in England. Do you arrange a mortgage 1st so you know what you can afford and therefore avoid wasting everyones time orDo you assume your what you can borrow and arrnage mortgage later?I have always confirmed obtainable 1st, My house sale has just fallen through 14 weeks after offer was made due to the fact the buyer was unable to get a mortgage.Stupid of me i to assume the estate agent or solicitors would have checked this Boring subject, sorry
HELP HELP HELP.When it comes to computers i am absolutley useless.Yesteday i wanted to creat a user account for someone on my laptop and really had no idea what i was doing.I have managed to completely hide my whole user account including files from the last 4 years.The user account had no name as i was only user.Now i need it back, can anyone help or advice where i can get assistance.Thanks
Having to go back to the UK next month for a few days and struggling to find any reasonable prices.Previously i have booked return flights from UK and had no problem finding deals.Can anyone recommend any good websites for flights departing from Bkk to UK.
Saturday night has two big Tf events, one of which is the triple birthday event for Pai, Smily and myself, unfortunately i wont be there.As some of you know i moved to Koh Chang last week to take over a beach bungalow resort and i now have a soooooooooo much work to do. Renovating and building new bungalows, completely rewiring the whole electrictal system and making improvements to the bar / restaurant (which could be one of the most relaxing and scenic in thailand). So my birthday is cancelled
In October of last year, 2 days after returning from a holiday in Thailand, i was made redundant.The company had to make major cutbacks due to losses in market as a result of changes to the EU structure.I had been stuck in Albania for 4 years and thouight of resigning many times.My decision of what to do next was easy, move to the country i love and see what i can do.I arrived here on january 2nd and looked for business opportunitires in Chiang Mai, Samui, Phuket and Bangkok. Bad advice, scarey
Last night i travelled back from ban bao, south Koh Chang, to Udon Thani and what a journey it was.We arrived at the bus station at 10.10 only to discover we had just missed a bus to the ferry. They only run on the hour and take 40 minutes to get to the ferry which leaves half past the hour, bloody great plan.So we missed the ferry and our connecting mini bus so had to make new plans. Waited 3 hours in Trat for a bus and then 2 hours in Chonanburi for connection.Total travel tiem 22 hours 15 min
I have recently spent 6 days working in the rice fields ploughing and planting.It was great fun and an excellent way to be accepted by the locals. However it was also long days, bloody hard work, so damn hot and scarey as hell because everyone thought it was fun to throw something at the ting tong farang's legs and scream SNAKE.In recent weeks i have also been up in the hills mushroom picking, regularly been at the road side early in the morning giving the monks Alms food, visited the local temp
I am thinking of taking a 4 day trip to Singhapore, a place i have never been before.One of the reasons i have avoided it so far is the cost.Is it possible to have a trip without breaking the bank.Flights with Tiger seem very reasonable.What about hotels and general costs as a tourist. Do Thai's need a visa for this trip? Thanks
Planning a long weekend in Laos soon and was planning to drive the car across the border.Has anyone taken a Thai registered (private) car over to Laos.Was there any problems at customs?Costs incurred for taking the vehicle, etc? Thanks macca
The last 3 days has seen the Bahgfire festival in the Udon region.Bangfire is an annual event only held in Issan region and the festival is to celebrate the coming months of the rain needed for the start of the rice season.We have a sinmilar rain festival in Manchester, called the 1sr day of summer.Its a loud, colourful and great fun event. Especailly if your the own farang amongst hundreds of Thais having fun. Never danced so bloody much in my life.The festiaval ends with the launch of the bigg
I have spent the last 18 years travelling to many countries for work.Loved the life and the new challanges, cultures and experiences it brings.Of course there are things that are missed from home. Family, friends, sunday morning paper, council tax.Another thing i really missed was not having a dog, but now i am settling in and the other night at Udon Thani market i saw something i just could not resist. Meet Cha Ron (The Destroyer)
There is an advert placed daily in the back of the Nation paper advertising cheap flights from Bkk including return to Heathrow for 20,500 baht plus taxes.I gave them a call this morning asking if there was any availibilty for a ticket in june, "no sold out"July "no sold out"August, September, October "no sold out"When is next seat available at that price "cant tell you sir" Are there any laws in Thailand regarding misleading advertisement, false information, or whatever you call it Just curious
An article from today's Nation paper, business sectionVietnam will breed 2 species of water buffalo unique to the region for export to laos and Thailand. The Vietnam news said the Phu Guy and Thash Choung breeds of buffalo are characterised by high productivity and low maintenance needs. No more sick buffalo, yippppppppppppeeeeeeee
Today Ron (I_love_somtam) takes over the running of a seedy back street Patong bar. Finally he has found his true home.To be honest it makes perfect financial sense. The money he will save on Singha and bar fines will far out weigh the monthly running costs of the bar. So he cant lose.Joking aside. Good luck Ron in the new venture. nb, few free beers coming my way :-)
I am very keen to chat to any foreigners who have registered as a business in Thailand recently.Please pm me if its ok to ask a couple of legal questions. Any help is fully appreciated. Thanks
At the beginning of February I met a very nice lady from Udon and she invited me to visit her village.Her village is about 20km outside of Udon on the road to Loei, basically in the middle of nowhere. I was the only farang in the village and every step i took was watched by many eyes.Going from Patong to this village was from one extreme to the other and a great way to relax.The time there consisted of having a big meal with friends and family, before which i had 19 pieces of thread tied around
Hope everyone had a great Songkran.I am off to Udon on Monday for a few days.Any suggestions for a hotel centrally located and around 700 baht per night Thanks
As far as i am concerned songkran is just an excuse for a load of mindless childish adults with nothing better to do than play pathetic water games and i LOVE IT Last night on bangla Road, Patong was absolutely mental.Met up with Nick (Birdwing) for his birthday bash. Dave40, JC_HKT (1 day only yeah right) I_love_somtam (thanks for looking after my gun mate 5 minutes and it was gone) Stegge, and a few friends took over the Honey new bar which is one of the 1st bars as you walk down from beach r
The wording of this article from Phuket gazette made me laugh Songkran road toll targets set
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
PHUKET: Phuket officials have declared that they want no more than three deaths, 34 accidents and 53 injuries during the Songkran holiday period from April 11 to 17
Nice to know they have a clear plan and dont be accident number 35 or your in BIG trouble
On thursday evening a 1 hour documentary is being shown on Australia network tv that may be of interest to a few.It focuses on Aussies who have been arrested in various countries including mexico, Venezuala as well as lookling at the Thai justice system.Showing twice that night at 1700 and 2100 hrs.The trailer looked interesting and a damn good reaosn why to avoid getting in trouble in those countries.
So today is the 1st day of the Don Muang re-opening. I guess it will have been chaos I have spoken to two couples who are flying back home on wednesday. One to America and the other couple to UK.Both parties were totally unaware of the fact their flight Phuket to Bkk was to Don Muang and the secone flight from new airport. In both cases they would not have had enough time to make it from one airport to the next and i am sure there will be many other similar stories.Surely, as the tickets had bee
