Big 40

I just bought a new mechanical keyboard for my computer and so I decided to pop by my blog to write something.  Wow,  haven't wrote anything for more than a year.  hahaha

I just turn 40 in August this year.  Which means my NS liability is finally over.  Didn't managed to get the final milestone but at least I can proudly say I had served my country.  It's quite surreal actually.  Most of the guys I know cleared their NS in their early 30s or even for the worst cast scenario, around 38.  Just 2 years short from the cut off point.  If not, they were just totally exempted from this whole spectacle.   A bit of mixed feeling on my last day to report to camp.  Exhilarated initially when I signed off for the very last time (the RP was staring at my laughing face when I returned my T-Pass, thinking I'm mad) but felt a bit sad too when I was taking the train home.   

I have been staying most of my time in Maesai since my last update.  Basically spending money from my stock dividends and so far I could say it's still quite comfortable.  Have to be really careful on buying things but over here, expenses are getting more expensive over here too.   I guess the everywhere is the same too.

My next adventure will be trying to get a PR in Thailand so I don't really need to go through the Visa runs every 3 months. I might document this over here if it helps but so far,  I just went to BKK to ask around and it's a bit complicated.  Will share once I have more time.  Now back to painting and building more plastic models.  :)  

My 3 month hiatus is over.

I have not disappeared or died in Thailand yet.  :P  I have not been writing anything because I just gave myself a self imposed 3 month hiatus from complaining and personal reason.   It's surprisingly not that tough as I have not been writing a lot ever since I quit my job.  There are tons of crazy things happened in both Singapore and Thailand during these 3 months that I wish I could write and blog them down for future reference but I was able to choose not to do it.

I even tried to impose myself to have limited access to facebook and twitter.  This  restricted access to the Net is not really working as I still frequent facebook on my phone to check on latest trends and news almost everyday while I waited at the school to pick up my kids.

So for the pass 3 months,  I  re-read some books, watched the latest Dr Who (which is pretty awesome), visited some tea and strawberry farms (see pic above),  became a coffee addict by getting a Nespresso machine and manual coffee grinder,  learnt to fly a small drone (Syma X5c), watched some old Chinese lectures on our ancient Chinese philosopher, self taught myself on rainbow loom charms, signed up with Ello and still waiting for their bloody reply and invite, and completed some home DIY projects.

I think I did more then the list but I guess you kinda guess I am enjoying myself over here in L.O.S.

Hiatus is over and I will try to write more but I guess nobody bothers to read blogs nowadays.  Tweets and Facebook status updates are more trendy.

May 2014. What an interesting month!

WARNING.  Long post ahead with lotsa grammatical errors. :P

A brief summary.  Besides being the month of my girl's birthday, there was a coup in Thailand that ended the political unrest.  A blogger got sued by our PM Lee in Singapore and a big debate about constructive politics between our PM Lee and opposition chief Mr Low.

1st off.  Thailand military staged it's 12th coup on the 22th May.  Bringing the 6th month of madness in control (somehow forcefully).  Although I don't really endorse the idea of such actions by the military but at least so far they have been quite fair in dealing with both parties.  The only thing I want to complain is that there are too much censorship on the media.  I guess they are worried that the anti-coup camp will stage more protests so they have these draconian laws of anti-coup messages deleted and court martials but I'm afraid this will most probably makes things worst.  I'm not going to comment too much on this whole situation as the Thai always says "Please don't comment on Thai politics if you're a foreigner.  It's complicated."  I still want to stay in LOS so the better of me to STFU  :)

Then at the Singapore end.  We have a blogger Roy Ngerng being sued by our PM Lee.  I was following this thread quite closely as it was damn entertaining.  I have to say sincerely I didn't know about Roy (even though I am SO "political"and critical of our MIW gahment) before this whole incident.  I did however, remembered that I read one of his articles that was shared by my friend in FB.  I didn't dwell too much into it as it was a link from The Real Singapore.  :P   But at that time, my conclusion was it's just a rant.  I do have some knowledge on how our CPF works and there are some good questions on certain aspects but most of them are just bit extreme on trying to get himself into trouble.  And lo and behold.  He got sued!

So the online mass kind of broke into 3 camps.
Pro MIW camp starts mocking him - this is usual and I forgive them.
Anti-gahment camp supports him totally - a usual response from them too as anything anti gahment must support mah!
Then the 3rd camp - so called pro liberals who always said that they don't take sides (but in fact they do but just do not have the guts to admit it) starts mocking him too - this is to me, a very disgusting attitude and the worst of all.  Why?  Because these are hypocrites and those who reads my blogs know I hated hypocrites.
 
Roy may not be factual I agree,  he may not be smart or an intellect like you and I.  He maybe did it for glory and fame.  But at least he dares to speak up.   Maybe he is insidious and out for blood against the FAMILEE. But ask this question.  Besides getting sued by our most powerful person in the country.  What other benefits will he get?  He will be punished, condemned and maybe even lose his job and get bankrupt so do we really need to mock him any further?  Real pro liberals should instead mock the other 2 camps, the pro MIW and anti-gahment ones.  They should not be proclaiming to be pro-liberal and make fun of Roy like "He deserves it."  "He's stupid!" "He just want to be famous!"  but instead gives sound advice to Roy like "He should be more careful on how he writes. "  " One can make his points across without name callings or getting emotional"  

My take on the whole lawsuit is that this is one of the worst PR disaster for our PM Lee as if he had been gracious and dropped the case, Roy will not be made as a Martyr in the anti-gahment camp.  It's sad actually as this whole debacle, all of us are losers.   Our PM becomes a bully,  Roy with get sued and punished for something he believes in.  And if  he is the bad guy like what other people says, he gets his limelight anyway.  We, the commoners will not get a full disclosure on what's going on in our CPF.

The last incident was the constructive politics debate in Parliament between PM Lee and WP's chief Mr Low.  I read the some of the comments in FB before watching it and people were laughing at Mr Low's Engrish... That's a bit low.  For a Mandarin educated Mr Low,  what he managed to pull off was formidable.  It might be interesting to see how PM Lee debates in Mandarin or Tamil/Hindi.  We should do that in parliament as I believe one day with our current intake of FTs, Singapore might really belongs to China/India. :P

Slides from 2013

Some friends asked me that I have not been posting photos online for quite sometime and wondered I have stopped shooting.  Well, definitely not!  Photography is still my no.1 Hobby and I just bought a A7R didn't I? :)

I am shooting less often nowadays because mainly my subjects (the kids) are bored with my camera.  Once they see I'm holding one, they would hide from me :P.  And if I managed to get them to pose, they would make silly and funny expressions in front of it without any prompts from me.  I wonder whom they learnt that from.... tehehehehe

Anyway,  I did shot quite a lot of slides last year and only managed to send them to develop recently.  Got them back yesterday and spent a day time to "copy" them to digital.  You may view them over my flicker stream under landscape 2014.

A short review on Maige TV. IPTV box

World cup is coming and although I am not a die hard soccer fan.  I do enjoy World Cup.  Luckily I am currently in Thailand which do have 22 matches free on air.  My friends in Singapore however are not so lucky.  They have to pay the most expensive World cup package to watch it on their own TV.

That's where the discussion and research on how to get World Cup at a cheaper rate started.  And I didn't found the cheapest option but an interesting one that allows us to watch various satellite and HBO cable channels over the Internet.  This is known as IPTV  (IP stands for Internet Protocol).  What it is?  It's basically something very similar to Mio TV by Singtel that uses an Internet connection to stream/broadcast a show.

There are various brands for such IPTVs and currently one of the most prominent one is by Maige TV.   This box is a device dedicated to streaming video on demand and online.  There is a local distributor for both Singapore and Thailand but I decided to be cheapo and ordered a unit via Alipexpress.

I placed an order on the 9th and only managed to receive my box on the 17th.  Shipping was by DHL and was considered fast as there was a week break for the Songkran over here.  Price I paid was $390SGD for the box, wifi adaptor and shipping in total.  $50 cheaper then the local distributors but I would recommend those with non geeky friends to get it locally.   I will get to that later.

Hardware wise.  HDML cable was included but no batteries for the remote.  The box and the remote feels cheap.  Cheap like those China made Media TV boxes.  Not necessary a bad thing but at this price point I was thinking it should be better.  Let's say we deduct the subscription and shipping cost.  The hardware will be around $200.  So 200 for such hardware is a bit errrmmmm.
 

The usb port on the side which is for the wifi-adaptor was slightly twisted on arrival.  I had a hard time inserting the USB adaptor initially but I opened the box up and used a plier to twist it back in shape.  So for those non-daredevils, please please get it from the local distributors.  At least it will be easier to get a replacement if there is a hardware fault.  But opening up the box I see a pretty decent circuit board.  Not dirt cheap components in there I will say but still relatively expensive for a $200 box.  

Video quality? Streaming was good on my fibre connection here in Maesai.  Both Wired and Wifi - N tested.  1080p HD quality for most channels and some even have Ultraclear which I find streams very well.   I have tested the device over various time and it does hangs once in a blue moon. Quite normal for IPTVs boxes.  There is a refresh button on the remote so just hit that and it will resync again.  Not occasionally but for certain channels do get it more often than others.  Live streaming of soccer was good over here though but as usual like Mio TV, there will be a slight delay compare to real cable broadcast. The new box also provides 7 days playback functionality and Video on Demand which I find it to be very useful.  Basically you can watch any shows you had missed within a 7 day period.  Video on Demand library is pretty awesome.  G.O.T, Battlestar and tons of Cantonese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese dramas are available.  Movies are updated frequently.  The kids watched a few cartoons on the box already.  Frozen was one of them :P.  The software interface is responsive and fast compared to bloody starhub cable box.   It came default in Chinese though and even though you changed the interface language to English, mos of the show listings will be in their native language.  Even for the titles in V.O.D are in Chinese for English drama.  Like those found in latest media player, firmware can be upgraded so I guess there will be improvements coming up.  The device also has an additional usb port for HDD so it can be used as a media player box too.  I have not tried that portion as the online content is more important and comprehensive for me.
For a full channel list, check it out here.  Last count was 366.

Installation was a breeze for wired connection.  Just plug an Ethernet cable (provided too) to your router, HDMI to the TV and power adaptor you're ready to go.  Once powered on, it will prompt you for activation or renewal.   I contacted the seller to activate the box for me.  Yes, it's via subscription and the 1st year subscription is included in the package.  The chap was online and it only took a 5 mins wait to get it activated.  Renewal is on offer at $100 SGD at the moment but according to the site, the usual price should be $140.  My advice is to just use it till it expires and renew afterwards.  Yes it might be more expensive later but what if they go bust?  So ignore the subscription till it ends.  Wireless however was a pain in the ass for me.  1st was the USB port issue which I managed to solved quickly.  Then I couldn't connect to my WPA enabled Wifi even after I entered my passphrase correctly numerous time.  I thought it was due to the port but it could detect my home's SSID so I guess its the encryption portion.  In the end.  I created another SSID with no WPS and serve as a single guest account on my router and it worked fine after that.  Not exactly secure but at least it works for the moment.

IPTV is relatively new.  Content providers are still willing to provide content to these newcomers as they still pay their license fee and yes, it's legal.   Beware if there are no subscription fees at all. But data carriers like Starhub and Singtel might easily sabotage these newcomers by putting a QOS on such servers.  Not likely to happen in Thailand but not too sure about SG.  If lotsa people buy this box then we might see it happen.

Overall conclusion is if you want EPL/Soccer, HBO, Discovery Channels and other major news English channel, this box has it all.  Video Quality is great.  Installation is a hassle for Wi-fi  (for me)  but otherwise not a major issue.  Would I recommend it?  Yes I would if you really enjoy watching cable TV and do not want to pay too much for all the channels.  Especially the sports one.  But not highly recommend it as the initial cost of getting the box is high.  Even worse is that the box and remote is pretty cheaply build externally and whether it will last more than 3 or 4 years is an issue.  If the entry price is not more than $300 then I would highly recommend it.

A short trip back - 2014

The long break for schools in Thailand starts from March till the 1st week of May.  That is for the majority of public schools in Thailand.  I took the family back to Singapore to visit my sis and mum again.  We hit the road on 29th March and returned on the 7th.

This round, we flew out from Chiang Mai instead of Bangkok like last year and due to financial constrains.  We didn't even stay in Chiang Mai when we returned from Singapore.  Normally, we would stay a few days either in Bangkok or Chiang Mai after our return from Singapore but we didn't.  We just took a taxi straight back to Maesai and actually for this trip, we aren't as tired as it used to be.

  It might be due to the kids are older so its now as daunting as it used to be.

This trip to SG was mostly unplanned.  Plainly just to let the kids to spend some quality time with grandma and aunt.  The road trip started with a Sam Law (Tuk Tuk)  trip to the Maesai bus station.  From there, we took the bus to Chiang Mai.  Then we switched to a Sawng Tiao (Red Pickup truck taxi) to the airport and flew out via Silkair.  It was hectic but actually quite fun as the kids get to try different sorts of transport in a single day.  Over in SG, we spent most of the time at their aunt's home.   We did however,  revisited the Sentosa Watercove Park and Jurong Bird Park.   

My sister also took some leave from her busy work schedule and brought the kids to a toy store and they bought another set of LEGOs.  So they are pretty occupied at her flat.  

Overall, I didn't get to meet up with friends on this journey.  I will be returning to SG again in early July.  Reason?  Bloody reservist again.   

Seasons - 4 sunsets with different moods.

I think I had not posted any photography related posts for quite some time.  The main reason is that I had not much of ideas lately and I can't find any outstanding photos to share with lately.  I had an artistic inspiration recently and here is the result.

The idea was to shoot a particular sunset with multiple shots and see if I could photoshopped later to have totally different moods and feelings.

Here are the 4 shots.  You can click on them to see a bigger version.  The 4 shots are titled

Spring - 春

Summer - 夏

Autumn - 秋

Winter - 冬

Which one do your prefer?  And yes,  all shots were taken on the same day at a slightly different location.  I took some time to scout around my area.

Taxi Uncle and Thai Visa (again)

Those who read my last post will know that I have been taking my Singapore Taxi License course.  Well, it's good to say that I am officially passed my TVDL (Taxi Vocational Driving License) test yesterday.  It's has been 2 years since my last test :P.

And I am quite proud to say I cleared it in 1 sitting.  Only 5 out of 40 of us in the same course cleared it in 1 sitting :P.  So yeah, I'm that good!  hehehe

Well, new Taxi Uncle still needs to wait for LTA's letter of approval/collection before can officially go sign up with a Taxi company and actually this is just my back up plan.  I still need to sort out my late father's stuff so unless I really need the money, then I will have something to fall back on.  Sorry to those friends who wanted and have offered me as a private driver but don't worry.  If that day come, you will sure hear from me. hehe.

Anyway, 1st part is the TVDL.  2nd part is about the new changes to Visa application for Immigrant 'O' like me.  Those who follow my blog will sure say : "What?  Again?!"  Yup.  Last time I applied is the need to show your confirmed air ticket.  This round,  added a few more thingies.  Your spouse's Tabian Ban, IC and passport needs to be signed by her/him.  And your spouse need to write a letter indicating the reason why you need the multiple entry visa.... Duh...

So those applying do take note.  Checklist of documents required for O visa

1) Recent photo

2) Completed form with signature

3) Recent bank statement with over 400k baht equivalent (endorsed by bank) or an ATM reciept indicating the amount in your bank.

4) Copy of your confirmed air ticket or flight

5) Copy Marriage Certificate

6) Copy of your IC and Passport with your signature

7) Copy of your spouse's IC, Passport, Tabian Ban *with her signature

8) *Letter from your wife (According to the lady, can be a printed email)

*New requirements.

Anyway, thanks to the very nice lady (whom seems to know me already) helped me out in a big way.  Let's just say the documents are all cleared and I should be collecting my visa tomorrow.  Speaking of the embassy.  The entrance has changed from the main road to the opposite side (the new main gate to the new building).  I would say it's about time that they have an air-conditioned waiting room and at least more than 1 server for the long Q of visa applicants.

And I would like to offer my sincere thanks again to the lady serving me at the embassy who helped me in a big big way.  You don't get such service definitely in Singapore context.....

The drive up North and home sweet home

After we checked out of the hotel.  We drove through patiently through the congested roads in BKK to their shophouse near Rangsit (I think).   They are into wedding cake business and they wanted to bake a cake for the kids to eat.  Wife's cousin promised her niece and nephew last time in Maesai and she will be doing it before we hit the roads in the evening.  Initially we declined but they insisted that they need to bake some cakes for the Poo Yai Ban (Village head) back in Maesai and other relatives too.  So, it's not a big hassle.

The chocolate cake tastes great and we loaded all into the truck and started off towards Nakhon Sawarn at around 7pm.  My Cousin(brother)-in-law drove the 1st leg while I was in the passenger seats.  The rest of the gang, my wife and her cousin plus 5 kids are at the back.  Her cousin have 3 boys so naturally my boys is having a hell of his time playing with them.  He's the 2nd youngest among the 4.  Cousin's youngest son is only 1+ and keeps looking for his father while we were driving.  

We stopped just outside Bangkok to fuel up and get some snacks for the road trip.  It will be a 12hr+ drive up North with breaks in-between.  At around 12am, near midnight, we've reached  Nakhon Sawarn and I took over.  It's my 1st time driving such a truck and on a strange road.  Initially I was a bit reluctant to go fast but after half an hours of getting used to the car.  I steadily increased the speed.  Driving is much more better than doing nothing in the passenger seat as it keeps me awake.  And the arderline rush of driving in the dark on an unknown road keeps me awake too.  I'm not too sure about my cousin-in-law though as he was so used to driving up North, he just went straight into his nap in the passenger seat after I took over.  I just kept driving and was thinking... man.. I need to do this in the day once in my lifetime to get to see Thailand in another way again!  Wife was a bit worried about me driving so she was awake at the back chatting with her poor cousin.  And she kept asking me if I'm tired anot.... :P  Anway, I was suppose to handover to my cousin-in-law at Lampang but I went striaght on to Phayao, giving him back his driver seat over there at around 430am.  We reached home at around 730am.  A bit faster then ususal as I was speeding at around 2 to 4am.. hehe.. Cousin-in-law is a much safer driver though.. Doing 120 at most ...

Need to plan a road trip next time.  Maybe with some friends from SG.

In the pigeon hole and Bangkok stop over

We didn't went out after the watercove park trip. Wify did went out to Tampines mall for a short shopping trip while I let the kids have some fun at the playground downstairs. Girl is a natural climber like my wife. Boy boy just go crazy with the slides. I think this is one area that is pretty cool about Singapore. We do have plenty of cool looking, safe and clean children's playground (especially in my area).  Basically whenever we are not going anywhere and staying in the flat, we would drop by the playground to let the kids stretch their arms and legs.  A flat in Singapore is small and unlike in Thailand, the kids can't shout or jump in the flat.  Well, I used too but that was the time where people are more tolerant and we are still in a kampung(village) style but not the case now.  I think its better this way too as at least I can teach the kids to be considerate of others.  Not making too much of a ruckus...

So it's a lot of cheap entertainment for my kids :P. We finally took a flight back to Bangkok on the 3rd of April. Boy started to become very chatty on the cab we took from the airport to the hotel in Petchuburi. I think it's because of the familiar Thai they are speaking. Boy do understand Chinese but he is just not like his sister, not willing to speak in Chinese. (even with me as he knows I can understand him)

He was so chatty with the cab driver, speaking of his experiences in Singapore and Thailand that wife and I were just laughing away at his illogical response to the cabbie. Girl does not loose out and shared her experiences too. Pretty entertaining for the long ride as the traffic was all jammed up. We managed to check into the hotel at 7pm and its a very family oriented hotel called Centrepoint Petchaburi. I took the executive suite which allows up to 4 adults in a room.

We settled down and since we had some food on the flight, we didn't bother too much about the dinner. I did went out and bought some McD and the kids had some french fires before we called it a day.

Initially, we planned to stay in BKK for 2 night and wanted to take the bus home but it was full. Song Krang was just around the corner so all were heading back for their new year break. Luckily wife's cousin was heading back to Maesai with her husband and kids and they have a big van like truck that could fit all of us. We had to extend one more night at the hotel as they need to settle some business on the 6th April.

We didn't go anywhere in particular in BKK. Wife was happily shopping at Pratunam next door. Kids were having fun at the hotel's play room for children or a dip at the hotel's pool. We did dropped by MBK to buy a bag for my sister the day after.

Finally checked out on the 6th. Wife's cousin picked us up at the hotel lobby and we went to his house to prepare for a roadtrip back to Maesai.

A long break

This series of journal actually started in March but I have not found the ample time to write it in full details. Most of them are in point forms and finally I have the time to complete and publish them. My long break starts on the 24th of March. I took a flight back to BKK and took the bus home. It will be a rush for me as the whole family, missus and the 2 kids will be flying back to Singapore and stay at my sister's flat for a week.

I reached home in the morning of 25th and wife fetched me from the bus station. Kids were still sleeping while I arrived. Then it's all packing and going through the normal routine of preparing the food for my dog and asking our neighbours to look after our fish :P

We called for a cab to the airport in Chiang Rai this time as it will be almost 2 weeks away from our home and it does not make sense to leave our car at the airport for that long period of time. It will be an internal budget flight from Chiang Rai to Don Meung Bangkok. Followed by an SIA fight at Suvarnabhumi. There was a 2 to go package for SIA and I splurged on the air tickets this round. The flight from Chiang Rai to BKK is a bit uneventful. Boy was a bit restless though and girl girl's ear pain is not as serious as last time. We reached Bangkok in the afternoon and took the free shuttle to the new airport.

The 2 enjoyed the free shuttle to the airport on the big bus. Looking at the tall buildings in Bangkok and the huge amount of cars and traffic plying the roads and expressway. They got into counting the colourful taxis that they saw on the road. By the time we reached Suvarnabhumi  It was around 2pm. We had lunch and managed to check in at aroung 3pm. The flight was scheduled at 6pm so we had a long wait. The 2 started getting restless and I reluctantly took out the Ipad and allowed them to watch some cartoons on it. By the time we boarded the plane. Both of them was so tired that they fell asleep immediately after the plane took off. We had some trouble waking boy up for the in flight meal... :P

Reached home around 11pm. 

A quick one.

I'm working so just a quick post while having a break. Yesterday wife got her Birth Cert for real this time and she has submitted it to her local district office.

Both PaLat has signed the documents and now we are in the queue! According to them, it will take another 1 to 3 months and if there no issues. She should get her citizenship in late December or Jan 2010.

Think we are finally solving one of our biggest problems :) Wish me luck!

Waiting games....

Remember the milestone I wrote a few weeks before? Now its back to square one for the birth certificate. Apparently we need to produce the birth certificate from the place my wife was born, which is Maesai. So now we have completed everything again for Maesai (another bloody rounds of interviews and kopi money) and waiting for the results.

It should be safe sailing this time as the Pa Lat from MaeFaLeung personally gave a call and letter to the Pa Lat of Maesai to help my wife. But the process is really damn slow and inefficient. (kind of miss Singapore's efficiency in this matter)

So more waiting games.... crossing my fingers again.

Milestone!

I have been quite anxious today as my wife was going to the Amphue today to collect her Birth cert and apply for citizenship.

I am on shift today so I could not call her that often for updates. Anyway, we had hit a milestone. My wife's birth certificate was approved and she officially has a certificate that proves her to be born in Thailand!

So at the same time, she has also applied for citizenship (with the help of her Po Long aka Grassroot leader of her district) Her particulars were updated in the computer and her request for Thai Citizenship (Khor Sian Chart)is sent to Ministry in Bangkok for final vetting and approval. Normally this should be the easiest as the birth cert part was the most difficult to get. So now we heard is that the fastest we can get some news is next Monday. Where if its all approved. She will need to go back to the Amphue again to get her photo taken and given an ID card immediately on acknowledgment.

Still anything could go wrong (sorry for bring pessimistic but I had got a lot of bad news ever since we started doing this). If everything is REALLY settled for her. Then we need to start on other things, such as changing the house deeds back to my wife's name, getting married (finally), getting her a passport (so she could finally come visit Singapore) and etc etc etc.

Its a long journey and its just starting to get interesting. :)

Efficiency

is not a word to describe the working attitude in Thailand. Especially Gahment related stuff...

Take for example my wife's birth cert. Its more than 2 weeks since we've applied for it and still we are waiting for the results. Firstly, it was due to a major event in the first week where officials from Bangkok came down to the Amphue to have some meeting and renewal of house books. (Ta Bian Bhan)

Then followed by the Queen's birthday that the Pa Lat (Head administrator) is on leave. Now there are news that there is a change in the Pa Lat. KNS... I smell something fishy already....

Anyway. I'm still crossing the fingers and hope for the best since I have not paid anything yet.

Another year passed and still waiting

I think those who follow my blog would understand the title of this post. Its 2nd of Aug and its my birthday again. It has been 6 years plus since I met my wife and we are still waiting on the status for my wife.

To refresh those who never read the beginning. My wife is born in Thailand but without a birth certificate. And worst still is that she was born near the borders at Maesai which makes things even more complicated. Her status now is actually Thai Yai (2nd class citizenship) which she is confined in the state of Chiang Rai. If she needs to get out of the state. She needs to prove her employment at her Amphue. In this case, at Mae Fa Leung. There are over ten thousands such people like her in Thailand holding this bullshit status. They were often bullied and forced to work as cheap labourer or as sexual workers. My wife is a bit lucky to meet someone in Bangkok to help her out in her store (thats where I met her).

We came back to Maesai when we had our girl and we had been trying hard ever since to sort out her citizenship. She is Thai but do not have Sian Chart (or Thai Citizenship). So we cannot get married and she cannot leave the country. My daughter and son is currently stateless too as Thai law will only grant them citizenship if they are over 12. So apparently if my wife's status is not changed. They will only get their citizenship when they reached 12.

So that's a kind of a summury of my predicament in Thailand.

NOW the good news so far. WE managed to get in touch of an EXPERT in all these sort of things and we are slowly progressing to get the citizenship for my wife. So far it looks promising but I don't want to jump to conclusion as we had a lot of such false hopes so crossing our fingers, we will be going back to the Amphue this coming Tues to Kor Sian Chart (ask for citizenship). The soothsayer wife spoke to say my son will be bringing us good luck. So cross my fingers....

Siburin Hosiptal

My daughter is born in Overbrook Hosiptal which was quite a big hospital chain in Thailand. Its the oldest private hospital in Chiang Rai. There is a gahment hospital in Maesai but I would strongly advised not to go there unless you are really broke...

This time around, we chose Siburin which is a new and growing hospital chain in Thailand. It's also in Chiang Rai so we drove there in our new car. Girl girl and my mother-in-law also came to help. We checked-in on the 16th evening as the procedure will be on the 17th morning. The standard rooms were all taken so we were give a choice to upgrade our room to the special suite for an additional of 400 baht per night or upgrade to the VIP room at 1000 baht per night. It was a no brainer so we took the special suite. The room is very clean and spacious. And I will gladly say its as good as those private hospitals in Singapore. (You can see for yourself in the pictures). There is even a fridge with mini-bar on it. You could also order food over the telephone to be delivered to your room at any hours. MAcham hotel with room service liao :P. And its not that expensive. 35 to 40 baht for a Pad Thai or fried rice.

I was expecting to spend about 40kBaht for this whole thing. I have heard that price has increased and I only paid about 28k for my daughter's procedure. So I guess in this newer and better hospital it should be more expensive. Overall, the bill is 37k baht. About $1600 SGD in a private hospital in Thailand. Its $400 plus more than what I paid for my girl but we also stay one more night. Total of 4 days 3 nights (whereas girl girl only 3 days 2 nights).

I kind of understand now why a lot of foreigners actually came to Bangkok or Chiangmai to have plastic surgeries. At this price and service, its again a no brainer. :)

Map of Maesai

View Fatboi's Maesai Map in a larger map

I got a comment asking me for a map of Maesai. Google maps is actually quite accurate but the satellite photo is a bit ourdated. :P I will add more when I go back and I plan to put some photos too.

Will also update the way to get to Maesai (the old version seems outdated). Do post any questions regarding Thailand and Maesai at leejiing@gmail.com. Will help out any brothers or sisters who are interested in the LOS.

Thai Politics

I normally refrain myself from posting about politics in Thailand as its actually quite complicated. The recent Red movement was just another part of the never ending episodes of the class divide in Thailand. The elites, the army, the middle class and the poor.

A lot of my friends were worried that I was in Thailand when the crisis was escalating during the Songkran and this year's songkran as mentioned in the Bangkok Post, shall be one to be remembered. The north where I was staying is still in its festive mood and unaffected by the tensions in Bangkok (although the constant news reports on TV does cast a shadow in the celebration)

So after the crackdown. Its a relief that everything seems to be normal for the moment but I think this recent incident does serves a good wake up call for the ruling party. They still pale in terms of support from the central rural and northern Thailand. The mistrust is there and they really need to do something about it.

Abhisit is a very intellectual guy and I do hope he can do well but he faces a big task ahead. Not from Thaksin and his red supporters but actually from the other political factions and the army actually. This recent crackdown shows he lacks full support from the Army and Police. The slow response from the Army and how he actually relied on troops called in from another province (the unit's actual influence is actually a retired general and a mentor of him) to quash the rioting crowd.

So is there a future in the LOS (Land of Smile)? Interestingly since this is going to be the place I am going to retire, will such political disturbances affect my livelihood. I have to say it really depends on where you stay. In the north where the people there are more nonchalant about all these politics, you will be fine (so long you don't proclaim yourself to be on either factions. It does effect the economy but not to such a grand scale as stated by ST (all those bullshit does not apply to Thailand) as Thailand grows its own food and does not reply on imports. SO if you are able to eat simple and not yearning of luxurious goods. Then its still a good place to retire.

Back from Thailand

Apologies for missing almost a week and such a turmoil recently in Thailand. Just reached home and washed up. Will write more but here's a shot of the Song Kran Festival in Maesai's street. Still havoc even with all these protests going on in Bangkok. :P