The first edition of Crab Festival at Cha-am will be held on February 12 to 20, at the viewpoint (junction of Narathip road and beach road). You can expect the same kind of festivities as during the Kin Hoy etc. Festival, with plenty of food stalls and also concerts every night with guest stars like I zax, Syam, Wit hyper, Suda Srilamduan, Sunaree Radseema, Asia, and on the 15th my favorite one, Lung Kai !
Lung Kai :
Suda Srilamduan :
Welcome to the latest edition of Language Corner, the easy to understand guide to speaking functional Thai, brought to you by Insight English Cha-Am and Onlychaam.com.
In the last two editions, we learnt about numbers going up to 1,000. In today’s edition we take a look at numbers that can be used when negotiating the price of something.
Here are the numbers in Thai:
10 = sip
11 = sip et
100 = nung roi
101 = nung roi nung
1,000 = nung pan
1,001 = nung pan nung
10,000 = nung muun
100,000 = nung saan
1,000,000 = nung laan
Prices are very important in our everyday lives – especially in a country where many things can be bought for a lot less if you are any good at haggling. The following dialogue shows a conversation between, the seller (kon-kaai) and the buyer (kon-suu) at a phone shop.
Kon-kaai: Doo muu-tuu roon nai dee ka? (What mobile model are you looking for?)
Kon-suu: Nokia N900 raa-kaa tao-rai? (How much is the Nokia N900?)
Kon-kaai: Gaao pan jet roi hok sip baht ka. (9,760 Baht.)
Kon-suu: Lot noi dai mai? (Can you give me a discount?)
Kon-kaai: Gaao pan haa roi baht la gun ka. (Ok, 9,500 Baht.)
Kon-suu: Kop-kun krap. (Thank you.)
Vocabulary:
Doo = Look
(Too-ra-sap) muu-tuu = Mobile (phone)
Roon = Model
Nai = Which
Raa-kaa = Price
Tao-rai = How much
Lot = Reduce
Noi = A little bit
Dai mai = Can you/he/she…
Language Corner is brought to you by Insight English Language School.
For Thai and English classes contact 032 – 470 681 or www.insightenglish-huahin.com and for on-line study visit www.insightlife.com
Happy New Year everyone, sawatdee pimay krap! 
It’s been almost three years now that onlychaam has been online, and we still have a lot to do to improve the site and make it even more useful to all people who chose Cha-am as a holiday destination or as a place to live. Let’s hope we will find the time in 2011 to implement a few of our projects, like translating the site in other languages or publishing interviews of expats.
You will have noticed that I chose a bottle of cider to illustrate this message. This cider is produced in Cha-am by the Full Moon Winery, and it’s a first in Thailand. They only sell wholesale for the moment, mostly to Pattaya and Phuket, but we will keep you informed as soon as the bottles are on the shelves somewhere in Cha-am. I checked for you and it tastes good!
Happy New year once again, and let us know about your good resolutions for 2011… :-)
Here are a few pictures taken today at Hua Hin Vintage Car Parade. I was in a rush and didn’t stay long, I just stopped by on my way back to Cha-am. I hadn’t even brought my camera with me, so I had to use my wife’s phone (yes, the expensive one, well at least it takes pretty good pictures).
Our local Immigration office has moved since November 29. It is now located on Khunkhlong road, on the other side of the railway. To get there from Cha-am, go to Hua Hin and make a U-turn somewhere between Hua Hin Hospital (on your right) and Index Living Mall (on your left). Then turn left in soi 10 (there is a sign that says “Immigration 500 m”, actually it is a bit farther). Go straight until you cross the railway (be very careful at this crossing) then turn left and drive along the canal for 600 or 700 m. The Immigration office will be on your left, next to 3 Girls Restaurant.
40 vintage cars will take part in the 8th edition of the Hua Hin Vintage Car Parade, from December 17th to 19th. Friday evening the cars will be at Market Village, and Saturday afternoon at the Sofitel. Please click here to download the program of the week-end.
If the girls of soi Bus Station know you by your name and you know most of the regular punters and every bar manager, then maybe it’s time for a change. Of course Pattaya springs to mind, and it’s now possible to go there by boat! A ferry link has just been opened from Hua Hin to Pattaya (and back, no hope to get stuck there). The trip on board of a high speed catamaran takes 3 hours and 15 minutes, the cost is 2,950 baht for a round trip. More info here.
While in Pattaya, please make sure you don’t rent a jetski, as there are tourists getting scammed everyday and the police are on the scammers’ side.
Back to Hua Hin, I have been told that Hua Hin Immigration office had moved again, not far from where they were but on the other side of the railway. Can anyone please confirm and give us the exact location?
Maybe it’s just another rumour, but it seems that it’s now possible again to obtain re-entry permits at Suvarnabhumi airport. There used to be an office issuing these permits at the airport, but they closed it and you had to get it at your local Immigration office. For those who don’t know, you need a re-entry permit when you have a single entry visa and you need to travel abroad during the period of validity of your visa. Anyway, let’s hope it will become official news.
The signs says it all… 
I paid (pun intended, it was quite expensive!) my first visit to the Bangkok Hospital in Hua Hin. Not that I was that keen on trying it, but my 4 y.o. boy had fever, so my wife and I thought we could take him there instead of Phetcharat hospital. While I was filling in his registration form, he was taken care of by two lovely nurses who undressed him, washed him with a wet towel and massaged him gently. Any loving mother or father would want to be sick instead of their child, if it were possible, you know what I mean? Well I had that feeling quite strongly then!!
Anyway, after two hours there, a blood test and an injection, the bill came and it was quite high (around 4,000 baht). We will be refunded through our insurance, but if you don’t have one, you might prefer a cheaper place. And if you have the kind of insurance that pays the hospital directly, make sure they accept it (it seems that all agreements are not finalized yet).
Last but not least, only the emergency service is opened as of now. The hospital should open fully in April 2554… (that is 2011, don’t panic!)
Great news for all Cha-am and Hua Hin residents: a brand new Bangkok Hospital has opened in Hua Hin. It is located on Phetkasem road, near soi 94, on the right side when going south in the direction of Pranburi. For Chaamers who know nothing much about Hua Hin but Market Village, well it’s the same U-turn.
It was high time Hua Hin had a modern and decent hospital. The public hospital has been modernized and is not bad at all, but it’s… public. Sao Paulo is private, but they are said to be better at relieving you from your money than from whatever you are suffering from, so they probably won’t be able to stand the competition.
As for me, I will be happy to drive to Hua Hin instead of Phetchaburi. The road to Phetchaburi is bumpy and road works have been taken place for what seems like ages, whereas the road to Hua Hin is smooth and the traffic usually light on this branch of Phetkasem.
Welcome to the latest edition of Language Corner, the easy to understand guide to speaking functional Thai, brought to you by Insight English Cha-Am and Onlychaam.com.
In today’s edition we look at asking for someone’s telephone number, and explaining that we have lost something.
Thai people say they have lost something by using the following structure:
- Pom tam + (lost object) + haai
- Pom tam gun-jae haai = I lost my keys.
- Pom tam (too-ra-sap) muu-tuu haai = I lost my mobile (phone).
What is your telephone number?
David: Bur (too-ra-sap) muu-tuu kong kun bur a-rai krap? (What is your mobile phone number?)
Parichat: Kun mee laew. (You already have it!)
David: Pom roo, dtae pom tam (too-ra-sap) muu-tuu haai krap. (I know, but I lost my mobile.)
Parichat: Jing-ror ka? (Really!)
David: Jing krap. (Yes.)
Parichat: Ok, bur (too-ra-sap) muu-tuu kong chan bur 084-881-8396. (Ok, my mobile (phone) number is 084-881-8396.)
David: Kop-kun krap. (Thanks.)
Vocabulary:
Bur = Number
(Too-ra-sap) muu-tuu = Mobile (phone)
Mee = Have
Laew = Already
Roo = Know
Dtae = But
Jing-ror = Really?
Kong chan/pom = My
Kong kun = Your
Language Corner is brought to you by Insight English Language School.
For Thai and English classes contact 032 – 470 681 or www.insightenglish-huahin.com and for on-line study visit www.insightlife.com