pgrahmm

It's been years.... I'm a member of the CM Expats club....I went to meetings that had a speaker or topic I found useful... It was an interesting mix from the quiet folks to the ones hunting out perspective clients glad handing & passing out business cards....Then there were guys who had their gals dressed to the 9's, obviously proud to show them off while strutting around...... Everybody showed up, found the same places they always say - with seemingly the same people they did every time....As soon as the meeting adjourned it looked like somebody yelled fire. Very few lingering conversations - boom - gone..... They tried a NYE party which we went to.... Basically, the farang men seemed to be getting quietly plastered while their women sat at the table all dressed to party & looked bored to death.....Not fun or lively, after about 90 minutes I left..... The real value to me seemed to be the interest groups....Where hobbyists, computer geeks, chess players, farang women, etc. had set their own groups meetings an agendas = this was a good spinoff of the expats....I basically just quit driving in from 50k away after a year or so and haven't really thought about it much since.....

I'm experiencing the same thing BoA to BKK....They initially say an hour....The there's a screen messsge citing 3 days, (BoA shows the transaction completed almost immediately) <<Wise then sends an email saying it's taking longer to receive the money - apologizing for the delay of up to 3 days>> Then in about 3 or 4 days depending on weekends they email that they've received the money, they have to exchange currency & will forward = this takes one to three more days..... I use to transfer at the end of a month = usually 1 hour to 2 days, which was ok..... It's taking 5 to 7 days now.....

Wasn't the OP's post about needing clothing for a graduation? I addressed that with a possibility..... Yeah - 2nd part was probably less relevant than your post..... Uncertain though, you've set that bar pretty high..😆

My oldest Thai daughter's Uni graduation is coming soon..... She ordered the robe online & asked me to take her to the local market (I didn't know why) where she bought a blouse & other items needed..... She is a go getter and proudly used her own money from a job she went out and found of her own volition..... This is the easy one = Daughter #2 doesn't believe she should have to lift a finger to do, expect, or get anything - she's going to have a rude awakening..... She's the more gifted of the 2 & life will be harder if she doesn't harness/channel her efforts.....

Not sure if they are voting for inches, the longevity, or the overall performance.... A little pounding sand in the wrong place & they will be VERY uncomfortable for awhile - especially her.... I grew up a half hour drive from the northern California coast......

Long forever....The OP's pics are not favorable to the short haired version..... It's hard to find alluring looking women featuring short hair.....Ugh......

Nope - Napa, Ca....The price was proudly posted right at the outside freezer door - the small bag was $5.95.... We spent the first night in the RV storage lot with no hookups available & had to keep the foodstuffs that we bought overnight .... I agree the price was way too high.....

In the US I went into a Circle K to get some water, snacks, etc...m At checkout the counter had a basket like scanner that you placed the items in (including an $11 bag of ice).....It gave an amount and I went give the money to the "cashier"....They said no and pointed down under the counter to a bill machine that took the $$$ and dispensed the correct change....There were swipe/slots at the counter top for card payments..... They also were not allowed to touch or bag the vended products.... Basically, 2-3 people manning a checkout counter that were not allowed, by policy, to do much of anything..... It was my first purchase after arrival on the trip....After that, cards were the primary method of payment while I learned to check myself out almost everywhere we went..... I think, only 2 ATM withdrawals during our 4 months there....

It's like an electronic mosquito.....Every time you swat it away it lands again.... The annoyance factor is huge.....

My wife handles the Thai traditional way of merit.... I help & assist people as a situation might dictate.... Since I rescued a Bangkaew soi dog in our MuBaan a few years back I've kind of become the surrogate father to a few (about 6) of the others.... All great animals that others have basically thrown away.... With just a little bit of individual attention there is not a bad dog in the bunch.... I'll help with their daily needs + administer their rabies shots, etc as I've earned their trust.... While we were gone for 4 months our daughters and neighbors took an active interest & carried on with their care....I was glad for that.... Not sure it's Merit worthy.....

My guess would be yes, they would....

During one visit to the Philippines, (Bacolod), a member of my then GF's family was a contractor - he was eager to show me some of his work..... One visit was to a school.....We parked and walked through the school trailed by a school full of students.....They would stare at me, but not come close....Being 6'4" I thought it was my height so I hunkered down to not be imposing.....No change..... Being unsure why I asked the teacher....Her response was it was my blue eyes = they had never seen blue eyes before....After getting into the car I rolled down the window and there they were, faces pushed through & against a wrought iron fence to get a glimpse of me....I waved, so did they, as we left.... Somewhere, I still have a picture I snapped of one little boy's face, & knuckles as he wedged his little brown face into a fence opening to take a last look.... A fond memory, to be sure....

That leaves room for truckloads of trash & clippings.....We had a house with a vacant lot of about 2 Rai on the other side of our 7ft wall = it basically became the nearest handy dumping ground.....

Try these people...100% Egyptian cotton from their own mill....They supply most of the 4-5* hotels in CM (per them).....Both sides of the business card..... However, this was before COVID & I have not been to Baan Tawai since..... The sheets have lasted many years with minimal wear.....

Migration????

Anek bike is huge & well regarded....They are off the Canal road.... They sell many bikes.... Having boxes should not be a problem....

We just flew into CNX via TPE from the US.... No forms or announcements made..... We did hand our boarding pass to the immigration officer after arrival.... The following day I tried to report my arrival at the CM Immigration, which was overloaded busy..... We got shuttled around like a ping pong ball in a dryer.....Nobody seemed to know what to do.... My wife asked the officer in charge of the TM30 office who told us if no address change = not needed & sent us on our way..... All of the other times we've flown in I used the immigration satellite office within 24 hours of return and (unless they were playing video games) something was entered into their system.....I don't remember if they stamped the passport or not.....

Ditto - I second this....

I'll follow sports & scan headlines, investigating what piques my interest.... I don't have to worry about finding negative news from my country Aseannow excels in glorifying & "reporting" all the bad it can find..... With 200 countries around the world they have a difficult time balancing the scales.....

Great - we fly out in a few days....🛫✈️

Thanks CH Back-atcha

Pervasive in CA....We flew into SFO.... After getting our RV/car road ready we stayed at a nice RV park for a week..... Directly outside the high RV park stone walls was a homeless camp....An old RV, parked cars, lean-to roofs against the wall....While running errands for that week, every frontage road or dead end street offered the same..... Destitute people at busy intersections with their signs & hands out..... Driving through the state, as I looked around there were people under underpasses, tent encampments, lines of occupied old RV's noticed near the urban areas.... This is the first time we didn't visit San Francisco based on reports....During our last visit there we visited the Palace of Fine Arts & about 30% of the parking lot was broken glass from the smash & grab thefts..... Traveling across the US to Texas I thought about boondocking, however, the small clusters of people I saw seemed dirty, unkempt, hardened by life, and weary.....Not a safe place to take a Thai wife imo....They weren't "homeless", more like a nomadic tribe traveling banded together.... From casual observation it's everywhere, but at it's worst on the west coast of the US.... We've moved our home base away from the only state I've ever called home..... I'll miss the topography and natural wonders of the west...