Kinnock

I've found the Google Maps motorcycle setting to be very unreliable - often trying to take me on to the Expressways.

Yes, there are some Expressway entrance roads that also lead to normal (non-toll) roads, but usually the non-toll road will also be shown on a green sign amongst all the blue signage.  But it can be a lottery. 

There's also the blue sign entrances to the elevated Expressways with the huge 'No motorcycle' signs painted on the roadway, but some of them lead to a convenient U-turn, whereas others only go onto the Expressway.

I try to remember which is which when driving the car, then avoid the wrong ones when on the bike.

There used to be a ThaiVisa bar just off lower Sukhumvit, and there were regular meet-ups.  

I went a couple of times, but without the common interest of say, a business meeting or a sports club or hobby gathering, the conversations are awkward.

Just because you happen to be strangers in a strange land, doesn't mean you're friends.

11 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

According to what I read they were initially described as Scotsmen and then later as Cameroonians? Was the witness colourblind?

Perhaps a translation error.  Maybe the witness said they were Brigadoonians? 

8 minutes ago, daejung said:

 

Foreigner is not a race... No "race" discrimination

But marathons are a race 😀

There's been several big running events in Chonburi that specifically mentioned the top international runners taking part (won by a Kenyan I think). 

And this weekend in Bangsaen is an international Iron Man competition.  So I guess it depends on the aims of the sponsor rather than any racism.

27 minutes ago, AndyAndyAndy said:

Acer is garbage. If its working notebook go for Dell or Lenovo. But it won't be 5000 baht as Acer.

The discussion was about Asus rather than Acer.  At work we have large numbers of auditors travelling with their laptops daily, and both Lenovo and Dell had a very poor reliability record, whereas in our experience Asus was the most reliable.

We never tried the cheap Chinese OEM laptops mentooned in the OP as their spec would not meet the IT departments requirements.

On 2/15/2024 at 6:25 PM, Yellowtail said:

Watched "Madam Webb" in 4DX today, I thought the movie was pretty bad, and I forgot how much I hate 4DX.

Madame Web (2024) - IMDb

Thanks .... saves me some cash - will wait for streaming, shouldn't be long.

I think the best recent Spiderman movie is the animated Into the Spider verse.

And over at Disney+ I tried to watch The Marvels .... couldn't even get half way through - looks like they tried to aim a movie at teenage girls, and missed.

Not sure you need to buy equipment from UK?  I bought a consumer unit with ELCB from Homepro, and it included fitting.  The guy from Homepro removed the ancient unit with ceramic fuses and fitted the new one.

The condo maintenance manager checked the installation after fitting, and said it was OK.  That was about 6 months ago, and I'm still here 😄

I had a (cheap Chinese) air fryer short out last month due to over heating and the unit tripped, so it seems to work.  Also used a plug-in socket tester and that indicated it was OK.  

On 2/13/2024 at 12:27 PM, John Drake said:

 

Almost all the 80s films and miniseries were in some way critical of the empire. Even in the Far Pavilions, Ben Cross stopped and gave a sermon against colonialism in the middle of the series. William Holden did likewise in The Seventh Dawn (and indirectly in Bridge on the River Kwai). About the only films overtly cheering for the empire is the above mentioned The Planter's Wife (made in the 50s) and films like North West Frontier (also made in the 50s). The criticism today has become much hotter. Maybe because Hindu nationalism is now stretching its wings.

Post colonial guilt ... an early form of Wokeness.  

Modern India, or should we call it Borat, has benefitted from the Empire days, although most wouldn't admit that.  "What have the English ever done for us"?

I"ve avoided expat gatherings for years because of the expats.

You either get the corporate 'Masters of the Universe' with their permanently pregnant wives breeding at the company's expense, or the 'financial advisors' trying to grab a part of people's pensions.

The only slight positives were the moderately attractive Thai girls from the relocation companies and the sponsored hotel snacks 

Maybe a female Banded Leg Orb Weaver? 

Impressive looking beast!  

On 2/12/2024 at 6:37 PM, recom273 said:

I can confirm that The Beekeeper is as bad as mentioned. Avoid at all costs, the fight scenes are more like brawls.

Is it even worse than Meg 2 The Stench?  That was so bad it wasn't even funny, and to add to the cringe it had a heavy dose of Chinese State Propaganda.

That's a very annoying situation.

I use Skype to phone them, as I'm always left listening to hold messages for 30 minutes or more.  Skype can connect to UK freephone numbers, and if a normal number, the cost is much lower than making a mobile call.

I'm surprised you're paying tax on your Gov pension,  is this because other income takes you over the limit?  Are you filing an annual tax return?

Is your pension paid direct into a Thai bank account?

If the employee is from China, it's a good bet the owner is also from the land of the overturning tour boats.

But as owning the business (and the cub) is technically illegal, he's probably off trying to find a Thai fall guy.

1 hour ago, Baht Simpson said:

I think long hair can look rather fetching on the right person.

That's the other viewpoint of the photo I posted earlier 😆

20 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I think what they mean is the rubber hose pipe has gone soft becoz of the oil, and will swell when under pressure and hot, that will need new hose pipes, its a non fix situation with them.

Still don't understand that one.  Do you have an oil leak from the cam cover that's causing the water hose to be soaked in oil?  Or do they mean oil in the water effecting the hose from inside?

Either way, it's the oil leak that's the key issue, not the hose.  Hoses are easy and cheap to replace, but why is the oil there.

Maybe it's the translation, but this explanation does not sound logical to me ....

"radiator leaking, oil is mixed with coolant which is cause pipe to swell. oil flowing inside pipe, the coolant is sludge. "

There's several points where oil and water can mix, the headgasket being the most common, the water pump is another possibility, or internal corrosion in the cooling galleries.  But you can also lose water through leaking hoses, radiator or pump, and you can lose oil through a simple gasket leak.

The key issue is if there's evidence of oil and water mixing rather than simple, separate oil and water leaks.

The classic sign of a steamy exhaust is easier to spot in cold countries, harder to spot in Thailand.  So the best diagnosis is emulsion 'yoghurt' in the oil.  Easy to spot if you remove the oil filler cap or dipstick (in serious cases) and also if you drain the oil.

An oily haze and smell when you remove the radiator cap is another sign (the real radiator cap, not the expansion rank cap ... but be careful removing it if the engine is hot ... ask me how I know).  Some newer engines may not have an easily accessed radiator cap.

If no emulsion in the oil, probably just leaky hoses and gaskets.  Cheaper job, but still needs some dismantling.

39 minutes ago, up2you2 said:

Have indeed, when I made my home 15 years ago spoilt for choice, now very limited indeed.

As mentioned in the reply above - the big home improvement stores.  Megahome and Thaiwatsadu have a wide range of window seals - I bought some similar to your photo for dust proofing and sound reduction.  Available in white and brown.

Some of the scooter dealers are not really bike shops - they are just fronts for loan companies who 'sell' bikes just to get the loan business.  So if you want to pay cash they are not interested and hike the price.

You can normally spot the debt pushers as they have all the bike brands in stock rather than being dedicated to one .... even if they have a Honda sign on the shop front they have new Yamaha bikes on show.  Probably no proper workshop either.

A real dealer will add a bit for tax and plates, but only around 3000 THB on list.  Sometimes with a new model they will charge more until the hype dies down.

I've given up reporting scams on Facebook, all you get is an auto-note reply in about 30 seconds saying it does not go against their policies.

I belong to a motorcycle group on FB and 3 or 4 times a week there's some scammer posting parts for sale using photos from an old post. 

A reverse image search on Google Lens will find the original photos, and the Group Mods are good at banning the scammers, but then a new one will appear a few days later.

6 hours ago, Robert Paulson said:

Fb is in on the scam

Yes, many of the most persistent scams on FB are 'Sponsored' ads, so there's no incentive for FB to remove them, as they'd lose revenue.

Mae Hong Son .... we're they buried with their motorbikes?

Being prehistoric times, perhaps an AJS or an early version of a Supercub?

2 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Where was it held at? Online it looked like it was on Suk near Pattaya Klang

Eastern National Sports Arena