dddave

Just got an Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro 32g. So far very good. Better than my old Lenovo K910L. Faster.. more responsive.. 7,995 baht from Lazada with a free bumper case and glass screen thingy.

I hope you report again in a few weeks. I'll be curious to know how you like the MIUI interface Xiaomi uses to make it resemble Apple's IOS.

The difficulty I have found is overriding a native app...Music Player for instance, I prefer the Google music player app but MIUI makes it impossible (as far as I can tell) to permanently make it the default over it's own music player app. It always seems to revert to the native app at next start-up. Same true for the photo gallery app.

I've had my Xiaomi Note 2 for 6 months now..no problems, great battery life.

Pratunam. Bayoke. And market around it. Bobae market is full of lowest of the low quality clothes but dirt cheap

While I agree BoBey street market quality is poor, there are much higher quality goods available at the BoBey Wholesale Market, below the Prince Hotel.

A remote bungalow on a quiet beach like some on Koh Makh.

Best wishes.

My GF's moo ban in Khon Kaen used to have several large looms and they wove narrow, baby style blankets but all the yarn they used was imported, synthetic blend. Now closed down as they could not compete with the Chinese products flooding local markets.

I just read in BK Magazine about a trendy shop in Bangkok's Thong Lo district that sell's men's and women's shirts made from 100% domestic Thai cotton...B2000+++ each.

According to this website, Thailand only produces 02% of it's cotton needs, imports the rest.

http://www.cottonguide.org/cotton-guide/market-profiles-the-structure-and-characteristic-of-the-thai-cotton-market-a-macro-view/

I would also try Bobae market, reputed to have over 1300 stalls, also sellers on the street leading to Bobae towers, the place is huge, easily on a par (if not bigger) with Pratunam.

I would add that the heavy street action starts at 3am and is pretty much done by 8am.

I have said before on this forum, the most difficult part's of exporting garments from Thailand is consistent supply of a particular style or material as most everything is made in limited lots, consistency of sizes; especially western sizes as Thai sizes run small and verification of the type of material used; often mislabeled.

Dumb as it sounds, as kids, friends and I thought it was great fun to squat with our thumbs tucked behind our knees and take 20 deep breaths. We'd then stand quickly, put our thumbs in our mouths and blow.....this would usually cause up to pass out for 3 or four seconds. We thought it hilarious.

Not easy to survive childhood.

Heavy, unaccustomed exercise can do weird things. When I was in my early 30's, a friend invited me to play racquetball for the first time at his club. I was not in good physical shape and he was a skilled player. He ran me all over the court and I was exhausted by the time we finished playing.

The club had a hot whirlpool bath and we entered it. After about 5 minutes I began to feel really strange and my friend became very alarmed when my face literally fell...like I'd suddenly aged 30 years...similar to Bell's Palsy. I had difficulty speaking, was also somewhat disoriented and needed assistance getting out of the tub. My friend drove me to a nearby hospital and I was given the usual work-up and held over night. By morning, my symptoms had disappeared and my face returned to normal. The Doctors said I had probably suffered a mini stroke and urged I get follow up testing but I had no health insurance at the time so I just let it go. Fortunately for me, it never happened again.

I forget the name but there is an apartment complex about 50 meters from the Thong Lo BTS (Even Soi side of Suk.) that has banners advertising B10,000/mo. You can see it standing on the BTS platform.

I know they add extras on for fridge and TV, & high elect rate so using ac would be expensive but for a month not bad if you are careful. Lots of good street food close by so no real need for fridge.

The Omni Condo and the Nana Condo, both on Soi 4 rent by the month...15,000 and up.

Twenty guys will now post that they are undesirable because they are full of "Arabs" but friends who have stayed there have had no problems.

The 3 main providers in Thailand, True, AIS and DTAC all have 24/7 kiosks at Suvarnabhumi Airport and all 3 sell special "Tourist packages" with internet and 3/4G, usually free Wi-Fi in shopping areas as well.

If you have plans to stay in a rural area, then check in advance with your hosts and find which service provides the best local signal as rural areas can have spotty coverage. Most urban and resort areas are well covered by all 3 providers.

30 Ah capacity? really? I seriously doubt this.

That's the capacity of a small car's battery. Even with the latest Li-Ion technologies, such a battery would be the size (and the weight) of a brick.

Some of these power banks are advertised with completely unrealistic capacities on internet shops...

The fact that that it consistently powers a 10" tablet for 8+ contiguous hours with power to spare is a pretty fair indication that it's power rating is not far off.

Hardly the size of a brick: 9oz, (250g), a bit larger than a king size pack of cigarettes.

I've used a 30,000 mAh generic powerbank purchased from Lazada for less than B500 for two years and it has been dependable with no problems. I fly a lot and use it as a back-up for a 10" tablet I use for viewing TV series up to 8 hours at a time. I have found that although most modern airplanes have USB power ports, they are not well maintained and are often out of service or so loose that the connection is intermittent.

Actually, if I were buying a power bank today for the same use, I would buy no larger than a 20,000 mAh unit. Airlines and airport security are paying closer attention to power banks and I have been asked several times at security screenings to remove my 30K unit for inspection. It has never been confiscated but I think that size could become borderline in the near future. Even with 8 to 10 hours use powering my 10" tablet, I have never fully drained the 30K unit and I think 15 to 20K will probably do the job.

Don't know about the i-phone specifically but there were a number of stories in the tech press a few months ago that a standard "Reset" didn't do the job completely.

Link please.

But the only thing you can access on a NON-Jailbroken iPhone from a PC is the DCIM (Camera files) location, and then it would still be difficult to "un-erase" them.

https://www.androidpit.com/why-a-factory-reset-doesn-t-wipe-all-your-data

Here is a link to one of the articles I referred to, specifically about Android, not IOS.

"You maybe aware that the post office is used for posting stuff. Not sure how many postmen or woman are taught to wrap and pack items of value."

Every Thai Post office I've been to has a dedicated parcel wrapping window with a variety of sturdy cartons available. Any parcel I have had packed by them was properly done and arrived at it's destination intact. If you do have a delicate or particularly valuable item, then indeed you should pack it yourself.

At Fortune in Bangkok, try "Memory House" a reputable shop on the 2nd level directly opposite the Samsung Service Center.

Don't know about the i-phone specifically but there were a number of stories in the tech press a few months ago that a standard "Reset" didn't do the job completely.

Some imports on Lazada...

http://www.lazada.co.th/xiaomi/?q=ziaomi%20mi%205

Looks like the least expensive 820 phone out there?

Close to the same: http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_356972.html

These will probably start getting discounted pretty soon when the "MaxPro" hits the market.

Not bad phones.

I know 2 people with Cubot phones though not that particular model who have found them to be reliable and generally like them. Cubot has been around for a while.

I've bought several Doogees as gifts and they have also been reliable and durable.

I agree that for best selection and good prices, Fortune City. Also easy to get to as it is above the Rama 9 MRT station.

The big malls like Siam Paragon have "Power Mall" or sometimes "Power Buy" all well stocked with a variety of models at very competitive prices despite their mall locations. In all these stores, only the higher end model laptops come with Windows installed.

Have you studied up on the increasingly popular "Chromebooks". Very inexpensive but internet access is necessary. Not many of these sold in Thailand but if you like the 12" size and easy portability, worth looking for elsewhere.

I find Western drivers far more "territorial" than Thais in terms of what space in front of their vehicle they consider to be theirs and that anybody who encroaches into that space is "Cutting them off." Thais seem to be less possessive of the space around their cars.

Of course, there have been exceptions and shootings have occurred over a horn toot or a light flash....or just a look.

You guys have one of those amphibious cars by any chance?....Lots of road flood delays reported on the Thai news.

Thai Post office has the service you want; furniture, motorcyles, etc. They will inspect, quote, wrap, take away, deliver to the house / storage at the destination.

May need to contact a much bigger PO to set it up, seems small local POs not fully aware of this.

I've heard of many folks using this and happy with the service, at reasonable rates.

Good luck.

Wow! I've lived in Bangkok 10+ years and never heard of this Post office service. Great information.

I need to send some stuff I allowed a friend to store in my place "for a few months" two years ago to a home in Korat. This service might be the perfect way.

Near where I live in Phra Khanong, next to On Nut, there is an older town house development with rentals in the high teens to lower twenties last time I checked a few years ago. These are mostly four story units about one km down Suk. 71.

Nana Square is the mall like structure on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 3/4 at the stoplight. There is a Burger King and Carls Jr. there so look for the signs.

Fed Ex is on the ground floor, back, left corner as you enter from Sukhumvit. It is just about 1/2 way between the Ploen Chit and Nana BTS stations on the way to Asok.

If the OP wants to have fun with friends back home, why not buy some of the clear candies like lollipops with bugs embedded. Probably easier to pack and carry, they don't spoil and less likely to cause a problem at customs.

I brought a bunch back home once and handed them out as joke gifts...the scorpion lollipops made a particularly strong impression, kids went bananas for them.

My mom had hammer toes and hot foot baths helped alleviate the pain and reduced cramping but didn't cure them.

I wonder if regular foot massage would be useful. So inexpensive in Thailand, maybe worth a try.

DMSO is an industrial solvent that became a brief fad treatment for Arthritis and joint pain in the 1980's. I remember adds by bootleg sellers posted all over the city. It was quickly discredited as it's side effects became apparent. I haven't seen it mentioned for years.