Hal65

I had an upset stomach episode that almost ended very poorly, very painful when your body starts to go haywire. It made me realize how important it is to know where the public restrooms are as I do not have a car and am mainly on foot.

If you know of some public restroom locations please mention them here. I'll start us off:

• The malls (obviously): Central Festival, Royal Garden, Harbor, Tuk Com, Mike's.
• Grocery stores: Both Friendship and Foodland have an external bathroom. Friendship's is on the east side of the store, Foodland's is west across the soi.
• Mae Sri Ruen on 3rd Rd/Klang has a restroom in the parking lot behind the restaurant.
• Most Mcdonalds have them. Thai restaurants usually do not, but I tend to frequent the ones with 50 baht meals.
• Bali Hai Pier. The closest building to it has a restroom for 5 baht. This one once saved me very late night.

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Does anyone know of a restroom close to beach road that is open at night? Paid ones are welcome.

On 4/17/2017 at 6:05 PM, BruceMangosteen said:

.50 Satang on 3rd road, just past the intersection with Soi Xyte, coming out of Soi Xyte, turn left, about 25 meters down on your left. Reasonable on color copies and laminating as well as the inexpensive reasonable copy charge(no min.). Cheers mate, might be closed the 19th but I assume open tomorrow, the 18. There is also a .50 Satang place on Theprasit, south side, just below the condos there near Sukhumvit. I've not been to this second one in several years but can guaranty the first one mentioned. 

I went to this place. they wanted 5 baht/page. I gave a <deleted> look and she said "because your document on phone, not copy" Then she went down to 2 baht. Then cut down to 1.5 as I was standing there thinking what to do. They spoke in Thai and I heard her saying 150 pages so I thought maybe that was their low end for printing files off a drive, so I took it. But then when I paid they IMMEDIATELY started laughing in a chatty way.

Times like this I wish I knew Thai. I have more to print later and not sure if I should go back, 1.5 baht isn't the worst price but still higher than I expected going in.

I saw them at Big C, I think they were on roller wheels. They seemed to blow cold although they had the benefit of pre conditioned air in the store already. I don't have the option of buying a window A/C so was wondering if these were decent for their price? Being in Pattaya I don't need to drop the temps that much most of the year.

Midnight is approaching and I'm still seeing water gun clad people roaming about on Buakao, which may influence my night negatively. A couple years ago in Bangkok I heard that the police aggresively put an end to the festivities on the 16th, not sure how things play out in Pattaya on the 20th

I haven't. What countries because those in the EU are strugging?

Thinking about this as I write, I think this is a non-influential factor since the Thai tourism numbers are climbing. So the presupposition that weak global economy = less tourism in Thailand is incorrect.

Pattaya is a tourism city but I honestly can not see it. Yet we know from the stats that millions more are visiting Thailand. Here in Pattaya the bars are empty and the girls complain about it being especially slow for the last couple years. Peak season seems to be getting small (end of December) while mid season is taking a larger share of the transitional period (Oct/Nov and Feb)

One possible explanation: there is so much new construction that the tourists are getting absorbed around more of the city.

Another: New tourism is mainly going to other parts of the country. I lean towards this explanation. 

Anyone seeing a lot more tourists in their area?

I confess to often being up at 3am to 6am and not due to waking up early, so this will be great for me (Friendship's gap hours are now covered)

Has internet been unreliable the last few days for anyone else? Mine was totally done yesterday (True cable landline). I had to buy and tether 1 day of AIS 4G. I'm guessing it's holiday consumption

The local copy place charges 30 baht per standard sheet black and white copy, not a good price for a 50-100 page guide I'd like to print out. Anyone know a more reasonable shop? I'm near Tuk com.

Do any local places sell these? I'm open to electric or crank. I want a midsize or larger desk (I have 3 monitors to put on it)

I guess they thought it wiser to hide the other 13%

This bread is damn tasty which makes me wonder how much is actually pumpkin carrot. Can someone translate the label:

http://i.imgur.com/LrVp0Ru.jpg

I actually only need the dial/valve part (my cuff is missing it). I'm in Pattaya, willing to buy here or online. Anyone know a place where it's sold?

Just had some at Five Star J in Pattaya, it was delicious. I asked them if they would sell me some frozen blocks, they smiled and said no. We talked about the lack of tempeh sellers in Pattaya and they said they have to special order through a seller in South Thailand who imports from Malaysia.

I can't go to Five Star J every day (or can I?) so will keep my eye out for other Tempeh vendors. It's the least processed soy between TVP, firm tofu and silken. Please alert me if you guys find a good source (I hear BKK has a vendor?)

12 hours ago, el jefe said:

Nah. The only thing I can't figure out is why I tried to help in the first place. I just wish I could be there when you try to coast on your fixie for the first time.

I can tell you've learned a lot through the head on the floor technique from your projection of what will surely happen. I mean, you can't learn without crashing obviously.

Actually you can. The rest of us tend to start at slow speed in parking lots. 

9 hours ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

Hal65 that first fixed gear bike is popular with teenagers and young adults. It costs more than the first bike you posted but is arguably worse. 

     A 61cm framed bike is difficult to find but it suitable for someone who is 6 foot 2 or thereabouts. Are you that tall? 

      Buying a frame and building up your own bike will cost you more than buying a complete bike if you are not a bike expert which I don't think you are from your posts. 

     Best advice find out what the best bike shops are in your area. Visit them and try some Giant, Trek , Merida in the 13000- 15000 baht range. The shop might be able to order a big size?  These will be good bikes which will be enjoyable to ride. If later you find you don't like cycling or never use it, they are easy to sell. 

Yes I'm 6'2." I'll see if any local shops have the bigger bikes.

12 hours ago, el jefe said:

I'm pretty sure a Thai will be handling delivery and you may have to deal with Thais at Customs. Your question about assembling it yourself indicates that they are better about some things than you are and that you need them. But if you really want to cut out all the Thais in your life, you'll probably need to move back to your home country.

^This guy lacks the ability to read figurative language. If we start cracking Thai jokes he'll be lost for hours (or on the phone to the police)

I'm learning a lot about how Thailand works in this thread and I've lived here 3 years already. 

Ok, importing then. Here's a 60cm fixed gear frame for $150 shipped: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/700C-48-50-51-54-58-60cm-VISP790-fixed-gear-frame-aluminium-alloy-mountain-bicycle-frame/32536670165.html

Are fixed gears simple enough to self assemble? Cutting out the Thais although would seem ideal for this project.

If this is a moderate skill (or more) project, what would a shop charge for lower end wheels, brakes, seat etc (I would be a casual rider).

Good to know about the typical frame size range. I'll see if a local shop can custom order for a reasonable price.

http://www.lazada.co.th/psb-net-z1-700c-red-888681.html

Wish Lazada would give the frame size but no luck. I'm thinking of buying it anyways as I'm a casual rider and 1-2 cm high or low wouldn't be the end of the world.

In Thailand do the 700C wheels tend to mean a bigger frame, or is this a terrible way to guesstimate the frame size?

Does anyone enjoy riding fixed gear bikes? As a casual rider I think they would be a good fit for me, being low maintenance, fairly cheap and simple.

http://www.lazada.co.th/product-details-of-tiger-city-bike-700c-7-retro-10228860.html

Reasonable price for a city bike? Or is Lazada the Walmart of Thailand?

Are there any good bike paths? Beach road seems to have too much foot traffic, and most other roads are not made for bikes. I've been thinking of doing some cycling on the East side of town or maybe Jomtien.

PS: Also looking for an idea of costs for a decent comfort/hybrid bike.

I need more space than the mini freezer area in the fridge that came with my apartment. What is the best way to get more freezer space? Only things I can think of are a bigger fridge or a standalone freezer. An ice chest may work but only in the short term and doubtful loading ice all the time would be worth it.

Injections aren't safe, oral consumption is. Without drawing this thread out I need to stay low sodium.