Safety and Danger in Thailand
REMEMBER! THAILAND IS NOT DISNEYLAND. NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD OF ‘SAFETY FIRST’ SO YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF. A 25 year old Canadian was riding a zipline at Flight of the Gibbon in Chiang Mai on Saturday when his safety harness broke and he plummeted 50 meters to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene. […]
Snakes in Thailand
Snakes in Thailand: Dangerous and Timid Vern Lovic, Thailand’s snake expert, wrote me this explanation of his new book, Keep Snakes Out!: Probably no other animal that is frequently found in a home scares people as much as snakes! Here in Thailand, we have a serious snake problem. Recently my friend confronted a king cobra climbing his front door. […]
Landlords in Thailand
Have You Heard the Thai Saying about Landlords in Thailand? “Thai landlords will suck blood from a turd”. Pungent and, as I learned last week, to the point. A dear friend (not a client) who labored long and hard to make his Thai restaurant a success (#1 on TripAdvisor – hard to pull off) was recently […]
Making a Thai Will
I’m Making a Thai Will after my first client died suddenly. He had not made a Thai will and I was called on to help sort out a remarkably complicated situation that involved a girlfriend (whom everyone, including the deceased client and his relatives, wanted to receive a lion’s share of the estate), three banks, the […]
What to Bring to Thailand
What to Bring to Thailand When You Move Bed Linens. Thai linens are pretty awful, for some reason. The towels are bearable, but the sheets are rough and uncomfortable. Even though China makes most of the world’s linens, there are no decent sheets imported to Thailand. So bring your own sheets and remember that Thai Mattress sizes are different from […]
Best Books About Thailand
Here are the best books about Thailand to delight and distract you: A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads Southeast Asia can fall between the two stools of China and India, overlooked or viewed merely as a reflection of either or both of these two major historical, political and commercial entities. It is, says Anthony Reid […]
We Get Mail – From Retirees in Thailand
Mail From Retirees in Thailand Dear Neil and Bruce, I know that you guys would have heard me talk of my love of Thailand many times. But I got a reminder in the last 2 days which I thought I should relate. Monday morning I was catching a sawngthaeo from Mae Jo to Chiang Mai for […]
Thai Immigration Visits Me
What Happens When Thai Immigration Visits Me? The USA and the UK are relaxed about foreigners but, when Thai Immigration visits me I find that’s not true in Thailand. Your registered Thai address turns out to be more important than some people think. Chonburi immigration is the first province to start insisting that resident farangs stay where they’ve registered […]
Find a Mate in Thailand
Want to find a mate in Thailand? A French client recently wrote to ask about a very promising relationship he’s commenced with a Thai woman. He concluded his letter with the question, “Are there any major pitfalls I should be looking for?” Here’s my answer: Dear Francois, In addition to the pitfalls inherent in all relationships, you […]
Consider Retirement in Thailand
Time to consider retirement in Thailand? A personal take By Patrick Meriwhether I have been visiting Thailand as a tourist for over twenty years. I shall briefly consider whether retirement at fifty is worth it and, if so, why Thailand. By retirement, I do not mean literally “retiring” from life. Let’s call it “semi-retirement”. Life at fifty […]
Making Money In Thailand
What About Making Money in Thailand? A British friend who’s making money in Thailand by managing Chiang Mai’s swankest private hotel told me he’s “a slave to TripAdvisor”: as soon as he wakes he checks TripAdvisor. A bad review can wreck months of hard work. You, too, can be such a slave… May 10, 2016: Several of […]
Markets in Chiang Mai
Every day, dawn until dusk, Chiang Mai is bustling with a variety of markets squeezed onto sidewalks, set up under rows of tents, or spread out under huge pavilions. Here’s a look at some of the most popular wholesale, fresh food, secondhand, walking street markets in Chiang Mai: Sompet Market This market is best known for […]
Lying Cheating and Stealing in Thailand
Is There Lying Cheating and Stealing in Thailand? Lying, cheating and stealing are not confined to Thailand. They’re universal human behaviors and the older I get the less they bother me. But lying, cheating and stealing have a cultural flavor in Thailand that’s worth examining because we’re all going to encounter it sooner or later, […]
Top 10 Thailand blogs
What are the Top 10 Thailand blogs? These top Thailand blogs are insiders’ look at places you don’t get from news outlets. These Thailand blogs are mainly written by long-term expats living here in the Land of Smiles and cover just about everything from the world of Thai food to learning how to speak the five Thai […]
Moving to Thailand from Australia
Tips for Australians Moving to Thailand David writes: “If you have bank a/c or Govt. approved retirement fund in Australia with a surrender value of at least Bt 800,000 in $A you can get a retirement visa at the Thai Embassy in Canberra. I have had a Thai Retirement Visa issued in Aus and have never […]