dddave

I was once eligible for premiums (appliances) from a Thai bank. I didn't need anything they were offering so I asked where locally was a deserving place to donate them. I was directed to a small school and residence center for autistic children in Phra Khanong, Bangkok, off Sukhumvit 71, Soi 26. They were grateful for the gifts and gave me a tour. They seemed to be trying to do a lot with very limited funds. They said they get no governmental support.

Taking notes on this tid-bit. Any more?

A friends car's air conditioning system was destroyed by rats. Her car was parked for a month while she was overseas and they proliferated inside. She tried all sorts of remedies such as moth balls and laundry detergent but finally had to use professional exterminators who used some kind of non-lethal gas to drive them out. They don't use poison because you don't want them dying deep inside the car and making it stink. Cost her almost B100K to get everything repaired.

I suspect "Time Share" may be right. A friend was working in timeshare sales in Phuket for a big name international company about that time. Not just one, but a couple of principals suddenly disappeared leaving the bank accounts dry and many deposits for the purchase of time shares never registered. She was owed a substantial amount for commissions as were other sales staff but they never got paid.

A number of years ago, a young man with some sort of immigration problem was posting directly from IDC to this forum, seeking information and advice. Surprisingly, he had been allowed to keep his phone. He reported at the time how dreadful the conditions were there and also reported there were some 3rd world internees who had been in IDC for years,having no means to pay for their deportation expenses. He was able to get out, I believe with the help of a forum member who was familiar with the legal process.

I was visiting a friend in NYC 10 years ago when a crane collapsed at a condo tower construction site half a block from her condo. One person walking on an adjacent sidewalk and the crane operator were killed. Seeing that massive boom collapsed and straddling the street was a very scary sight. Subsequent investigation revealed the entire NYC crane inspection department was on the take and faking all their reports. Many early retirements but AFAIK, nobody did jail time.

Prior to the reported Red Sea Cable sabotage I was usually getting above 300mbps, sometimes close to 400.

Not using a VPN. Just searched speed test, picked 3 and ran them. All came out very close to the same and each specified Singapore server.

With TOT in Pattaya you have to pay the year up-front, no month to month billing. IRRC, 300mbps was under B4000/12 months so somewhere a bit above B300/m

I'm paying TOT for 300 mbps service. Today I did 3 separate speed test. Download 96mbps, upload 110mbps. Unusual upload faster than download. Anybody else having a problem running YouTube smoothly? I'm aware of the supposed cable sabotage issues. Connection was via Singapore.

Just a heads-up to those with a Thai bank account originally opened at a branch in another province than Chonburi (or in another province from the one in which you are applying.) I was applying in Jomtien but I originally opened my Bangkok Bank account at a Bangkok branch. When I went to the Jomtien branch of Bangkok Bank, I was told the certification and one year transaction record had to originate at my HOME BRANCH in Bangkok, thus adding 5 working days to obtaining those documents.

I live close to Frankie's Inn and used to order from them regularly. One evening the salami on a pizza I'd ordered was clearly rancid. I called and whoever it was who answered totally blew me off...told me he was too busy to check the salami supply and made no offer of replacement. Never again. "TERRA MARE" on Jomtien Beach Rd near Soi-5 has excellent pizza including pan pizza sold by the slice. EDIT: Just realized this is an old topic but I'll leave the reply. I do wish there was an easy "DELETE" option, perhaps available within a certain time-frame of posting.

I believe there are specific criminal laws regarding "Theft of Services" such as skipping out on a restaurant or hotel tab. In the last year I remember reading a number of stories reporting the arrest of "Dine and Dash" culprits.

Edifier "Active" speakers, that is powered by their own built in amp are loved by some, including me and hated by others. I have a pair of 1280DB speakers (B3200/Lazada) in my bedroom, connected to my bedroom TV but built-in Bluetooth allows me to use my mobile as a music source. My living room TV is connected to a pair of Edifier R2000DB speakers. (B5000) I enjoy all types of music including classical and these speakers are to my ears, enormously satisfying with deep, smooth bass as well as balanced mids and highs. In my opinion, the price to performance ratio of most Edifier speakers is excellent.

For an incredible selection of used Japanese audio gear, LUCKY HOME warehouse stores, one km. from the Samrong BTS in Bangkok. There are actually 3 warehouses, open daily containing literally thousands of cameras, lenses and all sorts of Japanese goods that arrive by the container load every week but for you audio guys, there is a separate building with literally thousands of speakers, amps, pre-amps, ect, ect. There is a fully manned test-bench set-up so you can test anything you are considering buying. Prices are not dirt-cheap. They know what things are worth but there are many bargains to be had, especially if you are knowledgeable.

For local broadcast digital TV, you don't need any box if your TV has a built in digital tuner as yours almost certainly does. All you need is an antenna. Check and see what antennas neighbors in your area use. There are currently about 25 active digital broadcast channels, at least where I am in the Bangkok-Pattaya area. I don't know about Korat. There are 8 additional DLTV (DirectLearningTV) educational channels

As OP well knows, getting full custody and taking his daughter out of Thailand is improbable at best, unless the wife is venal enough that she'd accept a financial incentive. One person I know paid his Thai wife 6 million for custody. I'd suggest trying a separation. Move out and find nearby but not too nearby accommodations, getting out of the toxic and perhaps dangerous environment and also shutting down the money pipeline to family members. This might serve to also expose the true nature of the relationship with the brother. Just getting out of the relentless tension of the current situation will also give OP a bit of space to consider his own future and how best to live it.

The "Receiver" would be the digital tuner. If your TV is a "Smart" TV, it probably has it built in. Look for "channel scan". If your TV does not have a built in tuner, then you need to buy a DTV box, available in most retail electronic departments and on Lazada as well as an antenna. Usually under B500 each.

Thanks @GeorgeAlbert for sharing your obviously in-depth knowledge of the arcane inner workings of the Airline and flight industry. Your posts made for interesting and informative reading.

Utapao was built for bomb laden B52's. I seem to recall at one point it's runway was the longest in Asia. Maybe the Captain just wanted the longest runway available with good emergency infrastructure.

I used a BMax2Pro for about 4 years as a media streaming device and I would hesitate to buy BMax again. First of all, the copy of Windows Pro-10 included with mine was totally corrupted and quite obviously a cloned copy. I had to get a new copy of Win-10 and do a total reinstall. Though only a Celeron processor, it did OK as a media streamer until 4K became common but I did have overheating issues frequently. The components are pretty low end. My headphone jack and one pair of USB ports eventually failed. I replaced the BMax last year with a Ryzen-7 powered Mini PC (Chinese) so I can now play 4K video.

Perhaps maybe the vehicles stopped in front of the van, also waiting for the light? Or maybe a vehicle was making a turn in front of the van requiring the driver to stop? Note the van driver remained at the scene.

Early 2000's in Phnom Penh, I was in a very small car with a Cambodian girl driving down Norodum Blvd. She needed to make a left turn at the next intersection so pulled over into the left, oncoming lane about 100 meters before the turn: "That's just the way we do it here"

Go to "HOME", then SETTINGS icon top right, then PRIVACY. Untick "Allow others to add me by ID" On-Tick "FILTER MESSAGES" Also, review options of "EXTERNAL AP ACCESS" This will probably not stop random BOTS from finding the OP but it should cut down on unwanted contacts.

I don't understand all the hostility to beach chairs. This is a tourist beach area and most tourists don't pack along beach chairs with their luggage. Some may enjoy sitting flat on a mat on the sand but for just relaxing with a cold juice coconut and a book, lounging in a beach chair can be a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon and 50 baht all day for a sling chair and B100 for a lounger seems like a pretty fair tariff to me. In 20 years of using beach chairs off and on, I can recall maybe one or two instances of rude or overcharging vendors. Certainly there have been well publicized instances of vendors going off the rails at some person with the temerity to lay a towel down nearby but that usually is quickly posted to Facebook and dealt with, wai's and smiles all around. It does seem that at least in Pattaya and Jomtien, the supply far exceeds the demand and fewer vendors with more spacing between wouldn't be a bad idea for all concerned.