Darrel

Call me over-suspicious, but i don't trust anything about this.

Call me old-fashioned but I think that when you are in a third-world country (or even at home these days, for that matter) you should be suspicious of any financial dealing involving more than the cost of a modest meal. I know I do and so far I am satisfied with my judgment.

The OP didnt mention lower Sukhumvit nor did he said something about 11 pm. He might be in Korat and the noise he is talking about goes till 2 am?! Who knows?

Actually we do know. He quite clearly said both (the time is in the title) but for some reason edits have been made.

When Thailand no longer wants the tourist dollar.

The really nice thing about the influx of Russians is that they make me look generous and rich, instead of the kineow I am.

Probably bad news for Pattaya though as the people who spend real money (single males after a good time, expats, richer farang families) will probably rather not go anywhere that's full of Russians. And the Russians will leave the second they think they can get the same holiday for 10B less elsewhere (Cambodia, Vietnam etc.).

I might classify this as an entry-level Android phone, with ~ 2 year old HW specs. Certainly a nice model. Can you buy these in Thailand? I honestly can't find any local reference to this model, with either the ZTE or Orange tag.

Somewhat better spec than that, I think, though it is indeed a cheap model. Most of the smartphone enthusiasts rave about the value for money saying how much better it is than many other more expensive phones, and I think mine is pretty decent also. It does just about everything I need for a price that wouldnt bother me if it was lost, stolen or eaten by a Soi dog.

The phone is available without contract in the UK for 4500B (equiv.) from Orange and Argos, and it is also widely available throughout Europe and much of the rest of the world either branded or unbranded. The UK seems to have the cheapest prices though. I have not seen it here but I dont go to phone shops anyway. From what I do see here all phones seem to be very expensive compared to mine.

Whilst 11pm certainly isnt late for Pattaya it would be too late for me. I have been careful to select places to live here that have no current noise pollution and no real chance of developing any. I will continue to do this until I become deaf.

If by some misfortune I was living somewhere that became noisy I would try to complain but would be quite happy to leave without notice if the complaints got nowhere (which I suspect they would).

Thailand is nowhere near as good as it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. But where is? I am very glad that I was able to spend long periods of time every year in SE Asia several decades ago because it really was so much nicer then than it is now.

I like it here because it is cheap, the food is spicy (I hardly ever eat farang food now and I dont miss it at all) and I never need to wear more than shorts and a t-shirt. On the other hand, the nanny state is much more evident here than it used to be, it is not as cheap as it used to be and it would be nice if it was 5°C cooler most of the year (though it suits me just to put the aircon on).

When I stop living here it will probably be to go to some other SE Asian country that is cheaper but has developed enough to have decent internet connections. Not sure when that will be but probably under 10 years. Hopefully I will be stone dead long before they all get too expensive (which they will one day) and before they all develop the nanny state habit (which they will do soon also).

Would one of you knowledgeable UK types help an American interested in watching more UK TV online from here abroad???

All the main free UK TV channels have a "watch again" service that replays the bulk of their output for free. To use it you need to have a UK IP address. Just go to any UK TV listings website to see which the main free UK channels are.

The pay channels mostly have a similar system though of course you need to be a subscriber.

The price for this is 9900 Baht, which is not bad at all. But what can the more expensive models (was looking at a HTC that cost over 20000 Baht) do that this one can't?

Let's take the question a step further: what can any of them do that the Orange San Francisco (aka ZTE Blade) cant do for 4500B (GBP equivalent)?

Regarding the O visa requirements - I think that a fixed deposit can be used - at the end of the day the funds are available at short notice because the contract can be broken - fact is that there is a penalty incurred in accessing them - which disadvantages the account holder, but is not of any consequence to the immigration office.

Precisely. Assuming that the Immigration Officer understands the nature of the deposit it is clearly valid for this purpose as the money is immediately available. But it is the Officer who has to understand this. AFAIK in Jomtien they do understand it.

Either way I will be doing this very soon. If Immigration dont allow the deposit I will just withdraw it and put it in a savings account, and too bad for the lost interest.

the idyllic seaside resort of Pattaya

Sounds nice. How do I get there from the Pattaya I'm in?

You misunderstand. I use iPlayer all the time (the website, not the rather naff desktop application) for both radio and TV (video works just fine from here). I have nothing against the BBC charging a fee for use of the iPlayer website by people overseas but I dont want to be obliged to use some nasty app that doesnt work properly with my Home Theatre if I want to pay the BBC, rather than just carry on with a VPN for free.

The article in the Mail (not the most reputable of sources) indicates that it is an app rather than via the website. If true it would be another of an apparently endless string of planning cock-ups by the BBC management relating to modern technology. Hopefully not even they would be stupid enough to limit it to iPad users.

Life is short. It doesnt matter what you paid for this condo: sell it now if you can or just walk away from it if you cant. Otherwise sooner or later it will kill you and sadly no one will either know or care.

Like most asians the Thais are a very noisy lot. It may be genetic. I dont think that any Thai would take a complaint about noise seriously unless it extended well into the early hours so I doubt there's much hope complaining about 11pm. In fact even to me 11pm seems positively reasonable by Pattaya standards.

Double-glazing might be effective. I would put this into any condo that I refitted, without question. The cheap standard windows one sees in nearly all condos are useless against both noise and heat.

Funny, you would think that they would be into soaking in mineral baths.

I remember 30 years ago in the Philippines walking about 10km on foot to a volcanic hot spring that was just like an Epsom salts bath. Felt wonderful, after which I had to trek 10km back to the main road again by which time I was totally knackered and wished I'd just stayed at home!

You could boil eggs and heat up noodles in the spring for lunch too.

I have the same True SIM which I bought specifically because of the 1 year validity (I receive many calls but never make any, and am still on my original 50B top-up after 3 months). My SIM cost me 99B with 10B credit from a 7/11.

It does say quite clearly in the English instructions that the validity is extended to 365 days once you make your first top-up. If you dont make a top-up (even of just 50B) the SIM will expire after 3 months. Not sure if it can be reactivated.

As soon as I made my initial top-up I got an SMS saying that the validity had been extended to 365 days.

That would depend on the individual brand/model of the router. Test it by pulling the phone lead out.

Also any brief power outage would reboot the unit which would also reset the stats.

Well, you will also have a modem. No modem : no internet connection. A router is NOT a modem. A modem/router is a modem (and a router). From your description the modem is in fact your Dlink, so it is a modem/router or maybe just a modem.

Give us the model number of the Dlink and the number of ethernet sockets on the back. The model number of the Linksys would be useful also.

The reason that it isnt working is probably that you have two routers connected together: you cant do this without adjusting the setup.

Maybe asking for magnesium sulfate would have more luck?

Soi Buakow is a great place to visit if you want to see fat old expats in their cut-off t-shirts drinking gallons of cheap bear chang draft. ewwwwww

Possibly so, but in the "posher" parts of town you just find fat tourists drinking somewhat more expensive beer.

And of course in other parts of town its just pale russians negotiating the price of a 20B banana pancake with a vendor, mostly with a beer can in one hand, a cigarette in the other and a carrier bag under each arm.

Great post; well noted. Which sub-sois in particular would you recommend, and where is the DayNight area? Is that just when you cross South Pattaya Road at the southern end of SBK? (Isn't that a T intersection near Tuk Com or am I now hopelessly lost? (Speaking of lost, Soi Bua Khao is not a bad place to be lost in. ) )

Sorry, I'm an old-timer! Tuk Com is just the new name for the DayNight department store which is what it used to be called. At the time it was the biggest or second biggest department store in town (Mike was the other one: cant remember which came first though I remember both of them opening) and as such gave its name to the area. The name was shared with the hotel of course.

So yes, cross South Road at the end of Soi Buakow after the Tuesday/Friday market and then you have a half-dozen sois at the back of Tuk Com that are also full of atmosphere. What's now the covered market area on Soi Buakow opposite the Tuesday/Friday market used to be a giant disco for Thais called Grand Hall.

As for the Sois off Buakow, most of them are interesting to walk down. Soi Diana, Soi Honey, Soi Chayapoon, Soi Lengkee are the obvious ones. The market near the back of Made in Thailand, opposite Diana Estate, is also good.

Your ADSL connection has probably dropped since you have been using it and the stats have reset themselves.

I find that the connection where I am drops several times a day.

We still dont know if the OP has a modem and a router or a modem/router. Until we know that we will get nowhere.

The simple act of giving the router's model number, instead of just saying "router", would have told us.

Agree that Qatar is the best

They are good for baggage allowances. Everything else seemed pretty average to me.