mrjohn

Have you not got a couple of old army overcoats you can throw over the bed.

Thanks for that idea but it’s just the sort of thing I did when I was about 18 or 19.

I like to think of myself as a little more sophisticated now!

And here I am in Jomtien wondering if I will ever be able to turn my aircon off this cool season?

That’s precisely why I moved away from the sea, 5 or 6 years ago.

3 to 400 m above sea level is a much better climate for me.

The cold season is nearly upon us and our bedroom can get pretty chilly. So I am thinking of investing in a duvet. Would anybody recommend the Makro ones as they seem to be just about the only option nearby or should I make a trip to the big city?

Has anyone received one recently, if so how long did it take?

My debit card expires at the end of this month. I called Nationwide and they said it had been sent out on the 8^th October.

Apparently, they send it by ordinary mail, which seems ridiculous to me.

Any advice on how long I should wait before I start to panic would be gratefully received.

If you think you need milk to make bread, maybe you need to think again.

I see nobody has replied to your question, possibly because it has been asked once or twice before.

Firstly, I have never seen fresh yeast in Thailand.

This doesn’t mean it can’t be found but you are wasting your time looking for it. There is no difference between fresh and dried yeast if used properly. And dried yeast is widely available.

Salt can kill yeast but only if you add far too much.

The normal amount of salt in any bread recipe will just give it flavour.

Salt also acts as a retardant, slowing down the action of the yeast.

Long, slow fermentation improves the quality of bread and is what allows it to stand apart from the factory made product.

Had similar problem recently, turned out to be the power unit. New one 590Bht!

Why not make your own, it’s easy enough and it tastes better.

Just boil up some pork or chicken bones with a little salt for a couple of hours and strain it off. This is a basic stock.

I usually freeze mine in small quantities and take it out when needed.

To make gravy from the stock, add any seasonings (garlic, onion, herbs or such like) and thicken it with cornflour.

If you really must have a brown colour, add a teaspoon or 2 of dark soy.

Soya flour.

You don’t say what you want to use it for.

There is some stuff called (from memory) “Instant soymilk” which is soya flour by any other name. As far as I know it is 100% soya flour.

It comes in a yellow cardboard packet and is widely available. Try looking in the cereals and baby foods or cake making sections.

Hope this helps

You’re right Djayz. Horapha is indeed Thai sweet basil and the Italian one you’re looking for is a different plant altogether.

Having said that, they look very similar but the aroma and flavour are very different.Additionally, the Thai version has a slightly thicker leaf and, to my mind, a coarser flavour.

As far as cooking is concerned, they are definitely not interchangeable. Thai basil in a tomato sauce with pasta just does not work. Similarly Italian Basil doesn’t have the requisite punch to accompany Thai food.

The short answer to your original question is that there is no Thai name for Italian sweet basil, although “horapha farang” would seem appropriate.

We have 2 or 3 Italian basil plants growing nicely at the moment and my wife has been struck by the different aroma they give off, therefore she has named them “horapha hom” meaning scented basil.

Hope this helps

Most Makros have ready peeled shallots (hom deng) in vacuum seeled bags. They make excellent pickled onions without the inconvenience of peeling them!

Houseworth (ceramic burners) less than 1000 bht from Amorn, a liitle more expensive from Makro.

Have been using one every day for three years.

This is a good way to see what is going on and "wet" will happen:

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/500hPa/overlay=total_precipitable_water/orthographic=95.58,13.41,1046

Wow! Thanks for that link.

Just as well we didn't have such stuff back in the 60s, I would have sat and watched it for hours.... and hours.... and hours.... and......................

For anyone interested:TMS live commentary available on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQQiNKJSJlc

Has anyone been there recently? The last time I was there, back in January, it looked like it was about to close down. Half the shops had gone and those that were left had very little stock.

One of the smallholders said that they were renegotiating their lease.

I have to go to Khorat this week, so does anyone know if IT Plaza is back to normal or closed down altogether.

Any information gratefully received.

"Take the UK for example where the learning of Welsh, Cornish etc is encouraged."

True. But this is a relatively recent trend, it’s not that long ago that Welsh children were forbidden from speaking their own language in school.

I don’t think anyone should get too excited about anything the UK police are going to come up with. This is from The Guardian:

……The rights group Reprieve wrote to the Met requesting that it hand over any relevant information.

However, the Met’s legal services team wrote back to say the force did not hold any details of the case. Its letter to Reprieve said: “The Thai authorities permitted the UK police officers to have observer status only in relation to limited parts of the Royal Thai police’s investigation, and the UK police officers did not provide any advice or assistance with that investigation.

Most telling is the final paragraph:

“They did not take possession of any physical evidence, forensic evidence, exhibits, interviews or statements. The Royal Thai police provided an interpreter who verbally translated documents that formed limited parts of the prosecution case.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/23/police-thai-inquiry-britons-murder

All a bit of a waste of time really.........

Many Thanks

"New version released yesterday and seems to be working properly."

New version of what?

Perhaps you would be good enough to supply a link.

The best things (ie flat breads) to "go with a curry" are these:

I have been using a makeup brush (about 75 bht) from Tesco Lotus for about 2 years. Does a fine job.

I originally bought two, because I didn't think they would last long, and have only just started using the second one.

Quite good article on BBC website today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29262496

apologies if mentioned elsewhere.

Makro usually has them.........

The only issue I have with the 3BB Router is the fact that my download speeds on the two other machines around the house are painfully slow.

I put this down to the fact that they are very old machines, which I use mostly for watching downloaded TV.

Does anybody know if I would see a significant improvement if I were to buy a new Router, e.g. the D-Link, DSL-2750E which is well within my budget?

I’ve been using the router that 3BB supplied for nearly 4 years and haven’t really noticed any problems.

In what way would my Internet experience be enhanced by spending around 2000 Bht on another router?

In normal domestic use? Not at all.

I use a more sophisticated router because I need to do more complex things with it, but that's all. If I didn't need to do those things I would not have one.

It would be helpful if you could expand on this.

What exactly are more complex things your router does that the standard one issued with 3BB doesn’t do?

You see, whenever this topic crops up (and it seems to crop up frequently), the advice is always, "don’t use the one supplied by the ISP."

I would just like somebody to spell out to me what the advantages of a more sophisticated router are.