[The Isaan and the rest of the world.]

Trying not to be cynical, but 'my' adopted family and all other locals I know have only a little or no knowledge of world events nor any geographical perspectives. Most are not even aware of what's happening in the next village. I don't have a 6 month reserve but same as Hummin wrote, we can cut many corners if necessary and almost live off the land.

[Phanom Phrai]

6 hours ago, Aha15 said:

I Also am pretty sure there is a Dutchman living in At Samat. Don't know if he is reading this forum, but he lives on a perfect spot to arrange a meeting with 4 or more Dutchmen.

Wow, Didn't see that in a long time

Thanks for that. 4 Dutchmen eh? That's really a rare site. At out previous home for 18 years I had a few Dutch friends. My best mate returned to the Netherlands the same week we moved here. At Satmat is around 25 km from us so a little far to make arrangements.

[Phanom Phrai]

On 3/11/2024 at 8:27 PM, Andycoops said:

The Phanom Phrai you mention is about 30 minutes drive from my village in Roi Et.

I am nearer to Suwannaphum.

Let me know when you are around to arrange a meet up, if you are still interested.

Cheers

Thanks for your reply Andy. At the moment we have a lot of garden work in progress which we need to finish before taking a weeks driving holiday starting on Sunday. I will send you a personal email on our return and maybe meet up.

[Phanom Phrai]

6 hours ago, Aha15 said:

Hello Yosib,

 

I never heard about the place you mention.

 

But there are more foreigners in and around P.P. I know because I lived there for some 10 years. Now I moved to Roi et city.

 

I know there are some in P.P., but also 1 in Ban Kham Hai and There was 1 for sure in Ban Non Sila, but don't know if he is still there. Both near your place.

 

And until 2 years ago I know at Amazon at the PTT station at the right when you enter P.P. from Roi et used to come some foreigners once a week every Friday morning. I'm not 100% sure of the day and I don't know if they still do, but you can easily ask there. (They came in for a coffee, not for a beer. 🙂 )

 

I hope this information can help you a little bit. And when you come to Roi Et city you're always welcome to come and have a chat.

Thanks Aha, that's the best info I've received so far. As I remember, the guy I met briefly also mentioned they sometimes meet up for coffee so things are now clicking into place. Until a few weeks ago, I used to meet up with another Aussie guy for coffee a few km back along the road to Roi Et but he has moved away. Plus 2 other Brits but they are only around every few months as they are both still working. There are no others until nearer PP. Ban Kham Hai also rings a bell and the guy I met maybe lives there. I'll probably call in at the Amazon place next Friday. We actually live 12 km the opposite direction from PP but only 15 minutes now the roads have been improved -- slightly.

Thanks for the invite to Roi Et. We'll be there in 2 weeks, but as soon as I get my Visa extension business completed, we'll be off on a 4 day break towards Loei Province.

[Phanom Phrai]

9 hours ago, Barnet1900 said:

Bet you weren't expecting those replies! 

 

I know Roiet pretty well and there are lots of expats living there.

 

The lake itself has a few restaurants that have regular meetups with such folk.

 

The place you're possibly looking for is a place that serves up decent foreign food. The lady who runs it is very nice.

I can't remember exactly where it is but I recall going through the town in the direction of Kalasin but it's literally 1 minute outside of the main tow area. You turn right onto the river road and it's up there on the left. I can't recall its name.

 

There's also a place called the Riverside Bar on TripAdvisor. It might be that OR they might be the same place. I can't remember the name, only the location.

 

7 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Learn to speak Thai.

Thanks for your reply BARNET. I was asked by another guy to add the Province --- so I did. I know all those bars in Roi Et but unfortunately they are about 55km from my village and I'm not looking for an all night session as they finished years ago. My alcohol intake is somewhat restricted by a variety of medical issues and the place I'm talking about is only 15 minutes from me. I know the Riverside and I heard they have quite a following by many Nationalities. I was looking for an hour or so once a month locally chatting in English.

After 23 years living in Isaan I have enough Thai language to get by, but any conversation with Thai village folk is rather limited and not the same as having a crack with other foreigners about world issues etc. 

 

Contrary to others thinking I need empathy or sympathy, we have a beautiful new house with plenty of space inside and out to sit with a can of beer watching the sunset which I can continue to do alone or occasionally with others.

[Phanom Phrai]

3 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I'm not trying to be a party pooper so don't think I am ,but....what is so special about this Aussie guy you need to sit with him & drink alcohol?

 

Of course I avoid people like this , as soon as they want to turn a park by a river in Thailand to another alcohol Induced park I'm out of there 

 

Aussies are trouble and I should know I'm one 

Its difficult for me to reply to your comments without getting personal. However, it's not the fact that the guy was Australian but more that he spoke English. My 10 minutes chat with him was the only English conversation I'd had since our New Year's party which was coincidentally with another Aussie. I am the only foreigner for miles and just to sit down with others for an hour or so would be a real treat even without alcohol. Incidentally, I've met and chatted with more Aussies in my 3 years in this area than any other nationality and they've all been fine. Unfortunately, the two guys I got to know best are no longer around.

In my 24 years living here I've never met 2 foreigners who live the same so my motto is best to live and let live.

[Phanom Phrai]

14 hours ago, Andycoops said:

There are many places called by that name. Suggest you state what province your in.

 

I usually ignore ignorant farangs who think that everyone knows where they will be without asking if they know the area...

And confirm times and location.

Thanks for your input although I can't find another. The Phanom Phrai I mean is in Roi Et Province maybe 12 km from Yasothon. I doubt that this added information will produce any results as 55 members read my original posting within the first few hours then it sort of fizzled out.

That said, I was pleased yesterday when someone added a 'thumbs up'

[Phanom Phrai]

Yesterday I met an Aussie guy in Phanom Phrai who told me that a few expats meet up for a beer on Friday evenings ''near the river". Just follow your nose for about 3 km and it's there maybe near a market -- he said? Anyhoo, me and the wife drove down there and couldn't find anywhere so if any member can give me directions I'd like to take a run down there on Friday just for a chat.

 

Thanks

[D Max running cold]

40 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

35 to 40 what.. Degrees ?

How are you measuring this ?

per cent --- my per cent symbol didn't work on my laptop so I improvised

 

[D Max running cold]

Belts changed by my man at COCKPIT some time ago and yes, when we were all younger, a lot of us would do our own basic maintenance. Unfortunately old age and bad knees prevent me from doing a lot of even mundane tasks and I need to depend on others.

I don't know what type of fan it is but others have played around down there when it blew its radiator and a n other messed up with the a/c. Which reminds me, even the National Chain of 'specialists' Denso in Yasothon shared the old Isuzu engine myth.

I always believed cold engines consumed more fuel but hey ho, we are off to Roi Et in a few weeks so may ask up there. 

 

Thanks for your inputs

[D Max running cold]

Phanom Phrai -- Roi Et Province

 

[D Max running cold]

Not been to an Isuzu dealer for around 14 years since the warranty expired because of their poor service and mis diagnostic on two occasions. For years I had a regular COCKPIT mechanic who took care of the car for years and checked everything at service time. Unfortunately he left then we also moved areas. The last 2 services, suspension refurb, split pipe and all maintenance have been done by a local garage and I think their work is better than the Thailand average. 

The engine has been running cold for around 3 months and i have asked that particular garage plus 2 others in my area who said the same. Apart from the odd time, I have been the only driver of the car throughout it's long life and it serves us well. Other than this irritating fault, the car runs great.

[Visa Agents]

I have sent you you a personal email

[D Max running cold]

I have taken my 130,000km 3.0 litre Isuzu to 3 local mechanics to ask why the old bus is running cold (according to the dashboard gauge). They all said that this model always runs cold as it gets older an explanation which totally baffles me. It probably reaches 35 - 40 0/0 but never higher. Otherwise the old bus runs exceptionally well as I've always had it serviced and sorted every year since new.

Has anyone else been given this strange explanation or knows if it's a thermostat or other problem.

 

Thanks in advance

[Breakers Yard Roi Et]

I've passed a car parts breakers in Roi Et dozens of times over the years but now when I need a few bits, I can't find it. We'll be passing through Roi Et next at the end of this week so can anybody please give me a Google maps location of such a place anywhere in that area.

[Calling the UK]

11 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Having a tizzy because I asked if Skype is still a thing?? I haven't used Skype for probably 8 years so it was a genuine question as I thought it had been beaten into submission by Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet etc.

Anyway, if you use AIS you can use the 003 prefix (rather than 001) to get cheaper international calls. 159 baht gets you 40 minutes of call time to the UK.

https://www.ais.th/003/en/

DTAC do a similar thing with 004 but they don't say what the rates are.

https://www.dtac.co.th/en/idd.html

I didnt ask for my posting because of your question, but because the moderators removed an inflammatory one from 'Scott'

Incidentally, I did use the DTAC 004 prefix but still needed the 001 before that. 

It's repetition but I have used all the systems suggested but, for a variety of reasons, these days I don't have or don't use them all --- only LINE and emails and sometimes with one person, a little on Facebook.

Thanks all the same.

[Calling the UK]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:18 PM, josephbloggs said:

Is Skype still a thing?

Thanks for even more comments, but, as I am satisfied with how I finally completed my business, could the moderators please close this topic. It also appears that inevitably someone has taken time to write inflammatory comments --- so I'm done.

[Calling the UK]

25 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

www.mytello.com is what i use, very cheap have a lookie.

Thanks for that-- and I did. 3thb/min for landline is far cheaper than the link I used. Wish I had known that before buying 600 baht of DTAC cards. Either way, in the unlikely event that I should ever need to call the UK again, I will certainly keep your link and use mytello. 

[Calling the UK]

Thanks for all the responses. I last called the UK maybe 10 years ago using SKYPE and have only used LINE for everything for the past 4. Since then I have had no need to call the UK, but this time it was essential that I contacted two specific  Government Offices who only use land lines for communication and refused to take the required information using emails. Maybe different for other Government departments. I cannot remember how long it is since I bought a phone card and didn't even know how to load it.

However, I eventually connected using the prefix 001 before 44. Apparently this is necessary when calling from a mobile to a UK landline, but it was extremely expensive. This method may be not be the best, but it worked for me and my issues have now been resolved.

Hopefully others in my situation may benefit from this information in the future.

[Calling the UK]

Yes I have Skype, LINE, Facebook and 3 emails but the Government offices I need to call do not use any other contacts but by phone. I can't really share more than that on an open forum. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

[Calling the UK]

I was using the same mobile and number I used last week

[Calling the UK]

Did anyone else have problems calling the UK yesterday (Tuesday)?

I tried for an hour to call 4 different official numbers in the UK and everytime I only got "no such number'' or number unavailable. 

These were all numbers I had called before so I dunno what was happening.

[UK Pension Life Certificate]

Being retired from UK  Government Service, I used to sign for fellow Brits and none was ever declined. However, a month ago when mine arrived at our new address, I noticed some significant changes from previous forms and having  only lived in this isolated area for 18 months, I didn't know who ask. So off to my ttb bank where they instantly refused point blank even though I've had the account for 20 years.

Right out of the blue, my missus suggested driving 65km to Roi Et Immigration where they willingly obliged, naturally, for a small donation. The Officer concerned was a Lieutenant Colonel no less so it should be OK.

I have information they are tightening up on these forms so signing your own may cause future problems.

18 months ago a 74 year old friend of mine received his first as he had never told them he was here. Wrong advice from the wrong person who said they would never find out -- until they stopped his pension. The guy is now back in Blighty living in a Salvation Army Hostel or similar trying to pay back 7 years of over payments.

 

[Gates in Yasothon]

Does anyone know of a local gate/fence maker from Yasothon to Phanom Phrai. Wood and metal combination would be my first choice but not essential. I've tried browsing the web but no luck so far.

Any information or recommendations would be appreciated. 

[Roi Et at New Year]

Pre-Covid we visited the huge New Years Market, fair, carnival behind Roi Et General Hospital. Can any locals tell me if it will be re-opened this year as we'll be in the vicinity and would like enjoy it again.