phetphet

I know that there is an extended holiday over Songkran, but does anyone know which date Samui Immigration Office will reopen? My 90 day report is due today. Would have done it last week, but for some reason I missed my reminder. TIA

Don't step on the Taxi Mafia's toes. They even shoot one another.

I was wondering to myself the other day what the life of the battery packs in EVs is, and cost to replace them. Only because I recently read that insurance costs for these vehicles is soaring in the UK. The roads here in Samui are often flooded and drivers here tend to just plough through the waters. I would be very nervous doing that with a large battery powerpack under the floor of my car. I will stick with my ICE for now.

I had a similar problem in my bathroom. Was like a disco at night with the fluorescent tube flashing. Also BTicino switches. Someone investigated for me and said the switches were faulty. He changed them and no more flashing.

You would think the pilot would have returned to Bangkok for the safety of the passengers, at the very least for the aircrew member to be treated for his suspected broken nose. Can't have been nice flying twelve hours like that.

I think they raised the late flight curfew time a couple of years ago from 21:00 to 22:30. I suppose they will want to raise it again to fit in more flights. Not good for those living near the airport, or under the flight path. Still…Money talks.

Thanks guys. I finally got it working. Not sure what fixed it, but after clearing caches again and fitting a new Ethernet cable, I got Youtube working. Netflix is loading to 25% then saying there might be a network problem, but seeing as I am using a VPN to view U.K. TV, that might be a bottleneck somewhere.

Been watching tv via apps on my Nvidia Shield box and VPN. 3BB internet. Amazon Prime still working Ok, but today Netflix won’t load and YouTube opens, then after a few seconds shuts down. See attached video of YouTube to see what I mean. IMG_4107.mov I have tried clearing the cache on both apps. Anyone have an idea what might be causing this? TIA

I read an article a few months ago (can’t find the link) that insurance companies were working on flexible policies for EV’s that would increase or decrease insurance rates depending on where and what time of day the car was being driven. This would be done through charging stations.

Roseacea?

Xiaomi, which seems to be a good quality Chinese brand has PM2.5 Detector on Lazada. See attached photo. Others too. I have one of their Mi 4 air purifiers in my bedroom. Don’t know how much of a difference it makes, but the filters is trapping dust. It is a HEPA filter so is probably filtering out the really small particulates. Smog is probably coming up from Indonesia.

Post Covid, Bangrak has changed drastically. What was until 2019 a fairly quieter, more laid back area has become a gridlocked nightmare, with cars and minivans parked all along both sides of the road. Almost impossible to find a parking space. I think business owners saw that while Chaweng was dead, a ghost town, Bangrak seemed to potter along due to many expats living there. So they started investing there. Now it is full of the usual cannabis shops, massage parlours, small bars, and beach clubs. Plus of course all the piers for boats heading to the other islands. More tourists, and an influx of long term stayers brings more traffic. Chaweng and the ring road near the Fisherman’s Village are always jammed. Choengmon seems to be the only quiet place on this side of the island now. Wait until they build their often mentioned bridge from the mainland and then the true traffic hell will arrive. On the subject of motorbike accidents. (I too had one.) I was talking to my doctor at Bangkok Hospital. After saying he must be really busy, with it being high season, he told me surprisingly “No. Not as much as before. I was doing around four operations a day, but not so much at the moment.” I wonder if that is due to the lack of Chinese tourists.

Did you just send your passport to the Passport Office or make a prior appointment to visit and hand it over?

They could have probably bought those annoying ones, second hand ones from Tops. Not seen or heard them for a while. Pain the the ****.

Just got my retirement extension renewal today. So another year until January 2025. I also realised that my UK passport expires in April 2025. This got me thinking about when would be the best time to renew. I recall something about a passport needing six months validity for travel, and maybe this applies to renewing or applying for visas. Bearing this in mind, and the time it might take to renew, Would it be best to do this around September 2024? Or could I leave it until after my next retirement extension in January 2025? TIA.

I renewed my retirement extension last week on the 11th. Told to come back on the 18th. Looks like those days of just waiting for it are long gone. Over 50 pages of paper handed over, including copies of all stamped pages in passport, medical certificates, maps etc. There has to be a better way. Even got sent away for not having 12 month bank statement. I had asked the bank teller for twelve months and she had only given me a 3 months one. My fault for not checking I suppose.

For anyone banking at the branch on the ring road, opposite the T junction from Thai International Hospital. I was told by staff today that it will be closing on 24th January. Everything will be moved to the branch in Central Festival.

Seeing as immigration are asking for updated TM.30, this might be of interest to some. I went and renewed mine on Monday at the Immigration Crime Suppression Unit in Choengmon. There was only one officer present, and the whole yard outside was full of Burmese doing whatever they do. I went inside, sat and waited. Was called to desk in about five minutes, and out in another five.

If I recall correctly, I used an app on my computer called Vuescan, to scan both sides from printer scanner, and saved them as files. I then printed them, but used the “Print as double sided document” or words to that effect. i did the same for TM.8. Pretty sure they are still there, but as I said. I broke my screen.

You should be able to scan them and then use the settings on your printer to print a two sided sheet. It’s what I did last year. Unfortunately my computer screen is broken at the moment so I cannot see if I still have them, and had to go to immigration myself.

I got all the forms yesterday, but couldn’t find the list of requirements and staff didn’t understand what I wanted. Also. Can anyone explain what no.13 on that list is? Documents order of Royal Thai Police. Are they asking for something? Or is it just stating an order? TIA I will go to Choengmon Immigration today to try and get an updated TM.30.

Has anyone got an up to list of all latest requirements to renew extension based on retirement? I went to immigration this morning to pick up TM.7 and TM.8, tried asking, but couldn’t get any joy. Just “copy passport”, “copy visa”. Reading on here recent new requirements of new TM.30 report and photos showing accommodation address. Trying to save myself being turned away. TIA

Most probably came to avoid problems associated with the war against Ukraine, liked the vibe and the sunshine and decided to stay. With large numbers of their compatriots around them doing the same thing, it probably feels like ‘Little Russia.” Some are opening businesses, some just wealthy, and others working online. Probably a criminal element as well. But that’s the same for all nationalities. They have as much right as the rest of us to be here, and I don’t doubt there are many nice ones. Unfortunately for me, I got some bad ones. They were evicted for constant noise problems and ignoring many polite requests to quieten things down. Drove me and my neighbours mad for months. Another Russian family two doors away are as quiet as mice.

Does anyone know where I can get a Mitsubishi pedestal fan serviced and the plug cable replaced here on the island please? I am situated in Bangrak, TIA

He was never worried one little bit about going away. Not one grey hair on his head.😊