Shipit, Jay,
The best advice I can give you is to find a Thai person to phone real estate agents and help you negotiate your rent. There's a dual price system for just about everything here and real estate is no exception. When we were looking at places here, NTB's gf warned us not to talk when she was on the phone because if they heard farang in the background they would jack up the price.
all,
I have mixed feeling about Sonkran. On one hand it's fun to run around going crazy and spraying people with water. On the other hand, I'm not interested in being blasted in the face with ice-cold water while I'm riding my motorbike and just trying to get to my tailor for a fitting. I'd feel a lot better about the holiday if it were restricted to just a few areas. One amusing thing is that two nights ago I had a katooey put a water pistol to my head and demand a kiss. I couldn't help but think of this:
All you guys were right, I caught a disease from a girl here--pinkeye. My left eye is bright red and swollen almost shut; I look like effing Quasimodo. I got some antibiotic eye drops, but it looks like it's going to be mandatory celibacy until this clears up, at least if I don't want to pay.