In Korat for a bit longer... [live trip report]

[thongchai]

Lovely looking property , glad it's all going ok, will be in sukhumvit for a couple of nights around the 29 July if you fancy a beer, meeting a few couples there , regards

[caller]

Excuse spelling and other errors in previous posts.

So continuing with the house, the inside has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The three double bedrooms aren't huge but spacious enough, although we might use one of the spares for extra clothes storage. Have to see how we get on. Immediate priorities are the kitchen and master bedroom and to replace the showers in both bathrooms. Other work, like completely refurbishing the bathrooms will take place in due course.

I'm also toying with the idea of putting wooden doors in where the sliding doors currently are - any views on that?

Anyway, here's a couple more views of the house and the communal pool, which also has a nice covered area for eating or just staying out of the sun, it's also where the management office and gym is, plus another couple of rooms which appear empty.

Side view:



At an angle. Pity about the pylons, but that's how it is.



The pool:



And here's a few shots of how the inside looks at the moment:

The kitchen and dining area - lots of unused space to utilize, especially the other side of the door from the units. Floor to ceiling storage might go in there. There's also a storage cupboard outside, built onto the side of the house, but no-one knows what's happened to the key, so no idea what's in there.





The main living area as it currently is. All the furniture is from IKEA apparently.





And finally, the master bedroom. The bed has a stupidly large frame around the mattress, so that will go. Maybe to the largest of the other bedrooms?



- - - - - - - u p d a t e d - - - - - - -

Lovely looking property , glad it's all going ok, will be in sukhumvit for a couple of nights around the 29 July if you fancy a beer, meeting a few couples there , regards

Sounds good Andy, but will have to confirm nearer the time as July is when the house should finally be ours!

[Flip]

Pylons.....yep, I don't understand why they are still installing overhead electricity supplies. I heard that the authorities are to begin moving some supplies underground in Bangkok (sounds like fun ) and thought the penny had finally dropped but I still see pylons on new developments.

[caller]

Well, we've been in Bangkok for 2-weeks now. And whilst the other half is busy toiling and sweating in one of those nasty work places, I'm becoming acquainted with the good sized pool. Well someone has to and I'm up to 40 lengths non-stop now!

Thonglor is regarded as a good area, although I can't tell you what is or isn't as everywhere at this end of 'upper' Sukhumvit - we're off of Soi55 - all looks the same to me. The only thing you do notice is that some of the restaurants, bars and shops clearly cater for the more wealthy Thais or Japanese. There are a large number of places catering for the Japanese here. A bonus is that a villa market and TOPS are only a few minutes walk away, even picked up some Waitrose kippers the other day. And I've been taken aback by the sheer volume of farangs here. A quick bit of research on the net identified that Thonglor is a favoured area for farangs and their families.

Ironically, the only thing I'm struggling with is finding somewhere open early evening that sells simple Thai food. Those that do, finish before 5pm. Although there is a place with a limited menu on the ground floor of the condo itself.

Our condo is 50sqm in size and has 1.5 bedrooms. We're on the 8th floor in Tower A, Tower B is on the other side of the multi-storey car park, which the pool and fitness centre sit on top of - very handily at the some level as our floor. The fitness centre was a bit of a disappointment though, in the sense that I assumed it was gratis to residents, it's not. But I've signed up for three months as by then, I plan to be be spending more time in Hua Hin.

We've already replaced the mattress on the bed and we're planning to buy a small sofa from the sale at IKEA, along with a kitchen 'island' type stand to hold the microwave, toaster and a small convection oven I want to buy, as well as a couple of rugs, thus putting our stamp on it a little. And it's pretty cool in here, determined by the side of the building we're on and often manage without aircon.

On the flip side, I'm having to pay 2.5k baht per month for a 2nd parking space for my truck, which was needed to bring a lot of our stuff down. I think in future when I move to Hua Hin and travel back to Bkk that I will leave the truck and come back by bus, as it's not as if I'll be lugging clothes back and forth with me. The airport bus from Hua Hun is widely used by expats to get to Bkk and I'll think I'll try that first.

And I still have lots to post on Korat, but at the moment, I'm getting out and about far more than I ever did in Korat, so when the novelty dies down.

So all is good so far, meanwhile the purchase of the house is dragging on slowly......

[sisaket]

Are you anywhere near the round condo tower ? I forget the name ... Mae Varee just round the corner on 55 from the BTS has excellent Sticky Rice and Mango
You can also get Mini Buses to Hua Hin from Victory Monument .... dropping off/picking up at Hua Hin Market Village .
We went to Hua Hin a couple of weeks back (not by bus) to meet our friends from OZ , really enjoyed it , had not been for over 10 yrs .

[caller]

Are you anywhere near the round condo tower ? I forget the name

Quite near, about a 10 minute leisurely walk further away from the BTS on the same side of the road.

I caught a mini-bus once from Hua Hin back to Bangkok. Once being the operative word - never again!

From the airport I can get the train to Ramkhanhaeng and it's a 50 baht taxi ride from there. For a different reason, I did it today!

[Big AL]

Caller,

How long does it take Hua Hin to BKK by minibus? Why would you never do it again?

Thanks.

[holty]

bell travel do a good service from suvarnabhumi airport to Hua Hin
269 thb

http://www.belltravelservice.com/

[caller]

Caller,

How long does it take Hua Hin to BKK by minibus? Why would you never do it again?

Thanks.

It will all depend on how suicidal your driver is feeling. I think that answers both questions!

[caller]

bell travel do a good service from suvarnabhumi airport to Hua Hin
269 thb

http://www.belltravelservice.com/

Thanks. That might well be the service I was referring to, but I'll look into it and it's handy to have the web link.

[caller]

Well the condo continues to take shape as we put our stamp on it and the purchase of the house has finally been completed - it felt like a marathon. Here are the papers to prove it!



The lady selling was very good, but maybe a bit flamboyant. First, it transpired she didn't own the house outright, but with her husband, who she'd split from, so she had to 'buy' him out before she could sell it to me and mine. Then, as she was in Spain, she was told the various documents would have to posted to her for them to be authenticated by a notary. On hearing that, she decided to fly to Thailand instead - to Samui! So the solicitors had to send the papers there, where they still needed the notary's input. So it took time, but all came good in the end.

I went down to Hua Hin on Wednesday to collect the above papers and keys and to check again that everything was in order for us to stay there for a few days from this Saturday. It is, after I cleaned the fridge which was in a bit of a bad state and the loos as well. One shower works perfectly, the other needs some attention. So we'll take some new bedding down and start getting everything ready. I can't wait.

As an aside, I visited Chachoengsao earlier today, to visit an impossibly busy temple and what I can only describe as a Buddhist themed pleasure park, where every effort was made to part you from your money. It's also known as Wat Saman Ratttanaram and is the one featuring the reclining pink Ganesha - anyone else been - thoughts? I'll post some pics tomorrow.

[caller]

Roll up, roll up, welcome to the Thai version of Buddhism in all it's superstitious glory. Welcome to Wat Saman Ratttanaram, Buddha's very own playground, where the more money you donate, the better the chance of all your lucky wishes coming true!

They must be doing something right - it certainly attracts the punters! Loads of sale's persons everywhere. Number of monks seen = 1. And he looked like a tattooed thug. Maybe I'm a bit long in the tooth for this sort of stuff now?

Anyway, here's a few pics:

Hordes of people, market stalls everywhere



The garish pink Ganesha, with souvenir shop built underneath.






And in front, two small 'chang's', where you pay to make your wishes into their ears! Be prepared for large crowds and long queues.



Onto the next stall where I watched the officials take down the garlands and then return them to the front where more people were queueing to pay for the privilege of re-using them.



Or simply donate cash.



Toss your coins into the silver bowl to make your dreams come true! Most missed but kept on trying. No goldfish awarded as a prize for hitting the target. Lots of coins waiting collection though.

[caller]

Get your lucky lottery tickets!



Or take a river cruise.



But keep donating money!







The theme park in all it's glory!

[caller]

But don't look too closely or you'll see how tired it all is.



Still, this little fella looked at home here:



Amongst all the cuddly toys and other dolls for sale.






There was always the market for a diversion from all the dross:



Still, all the above is just a cynics viewpoint. My other half loved nearly all of it, and told me all she had wished for at the various places where she had paid for the privilege to do so. It takes about an hour to get there from Bangkok if anyone is interested in visiting. But Chachoengsao has much more to offer than this place. It was a centre of faith and has many interesting places and temples to visit. We'll visit again to visit the other Ganesha temple and no doubt revisit Wat Sothonwararam Worawihan. You'll need a car to get around all the various sites and go early to avoid the worst of the crowds!

[sisaket]

I used to go to Chachoengsao quite alot many moons ago but i never went to the Ganesha Temple , but been to Wat Sothon a good few times , avoid weekends if possible , I was always advised to take a boat trip on the river , but never did .
Great photos BTW ...