dddave

As a physician friend constantly reminds me: an MRI, X-Ray or Ultrasound is only as good as the person reading and evaluating it. Don't look for the MRI, look for the Radiologist.

I'd suggest moving this to the health forum where knowledgeable replies are more likely.

Two places on Suk Soi 3/1 I'd recommend; "The Egyptian", an easy to spot glass and chrome place on the corner of Suk. 3/1 and the first left hand subsoi.

"Scheherazad", the oldest middle eastern restaurant in the area is a few shophouses past on the left side of 3/1, set back a bit. I've eaten there many times and have never had a bad meal. Great flatbread, veggies always fresh. As a general rule, local lamb tends to be tough and tasteless, goat more often than not.

Trying to find the airport in Ubon 2 days ago, my friend stopped and asked a passerby. The man took his time to give what were complicated but exact directions involving about 6 turns and they turned out to be spot on.

Many times I've been in a taxi that could not find the destination address, often complicated with sois and sub-sois. Any time they have stopped and asked at a moto-taxi stand, good directions were always provided.

I spent most of my working life on the road and found when you ask directions, you take your chances, no matter where it is. Certainly not singular to Thailand.

I'd check Lazada, good selection and discounts

The problem with buying Air Conditioners from Lazada is they do not provide installation services which can cost a bundle if one must arrange through an independent contractor. Most major retailers in Bangkok include installation in the price.

"Hello Dah..Dee!!, You will not believe what has transpired...I was set upon by infidel non-believers the moment I set foot in this sinful place...Please send me more money...many contemptuous Western Union money lenders are available.......!!!

If you mean a renewal of a retirement extension, it can be accomplished in a day.

I renewed mine last week; arriving at 1pm and departing about 4:30 but that was an especially slow day for some reason.

Check the seller's rating before you buy.

With AliExpress, what is the minimum sellers rating you'd find acceptable?

I accidentally discovered some home made crispy snacks that actually taste good and are easy to make.

I use a "Halogen Oven", sometimes called a "Turbo Oven", sold at most local department stores: B1000-B1500

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=halogen+oven&biw=1093&bih=514&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyv6yFmcfLAhVQGI4KHdPBDtcQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=GQ_Yum_o1GN7PM%3A

I take leafy, green vegetables such as Kale (Ka Nah locally), Bok Choi or Spinach, give it a light spray of olive oil from a spray can and roast it in the oven on high heat, near the top element for about 8-10 minutes, checking frequently. The leaves crisp up and seem to have enough natural salt content to be very tasty and satisfying. They do need to be eaten quite soon. Moist air makes them soggy pretty quickly.

A few months ago, the New York Times had a recipe for roasted cauliflower that looked simple and intriguing. I used to hate the stuff but have recently found it to be tastier than I remembered. In this recipe, you just spray on a touch of olive oil and roast the entire head at about 400f (200c) for about 30 minutes. place it on the bottom of the pot or a lower oven rack, away from the heat source. It should turn a nice golden brown and is delicious served hot with a meal or cooled and the florets eaten as a snack.

I have been experimenting with potato sticks; whole potato cut into very thin strips...like wooden matches. I have found that they first need to be washed in water, then plunged into boiling water for a minute or 2, then into ice water, cooling them quickly. Then drained and onto a kitchen towel and patted very dry. I spread them evenly on a round mesh rack in my roaster, close to the heat and cook them on high for 5 to 10 minutes. tasty even without added salt.

A very pleasant and reasonably priced coffee shop sits at a most unlikely site: the corner of Sukhumvit Rd and Suk. Soi-7, below the Nana BTS, on the other side of the intersection from the BTS escalator.

It is run by one of the Royal projects. The coffee shop is on the ground floor and above are areas where regional handcrafts are sold.

All the usual varieties of coffee and tea drinks are sold, my hot latte was B50, about half the price of other area coffee shops. There is an outside seating area overlooking Sukhumvit and an air conditioned inside area with 4 or 5 tables.

Many of you have probably walked by this shop many times and never noticed it as it has minimal signage.

A very pleasant shelter from the heat and noise of Sukhumvit.

Kudos for getting back with a user report following your OP; interesting read.

Battery lasts long (sometimes I have 2 days between charging, but at night I put it on airplane mode so nobody can disturb my sleep), which can be attributed to higher capacity, possibly better electronics that need less energy than 2 years ago, and new battery.

Most Android phones have a "Sleep" or "Do Not Disturb" mode wherein you can set the phone to automatically turn off and then back on again during sleep times, for instance mine is set to sleep from 2am till 6am.

There have been several articles in the online tech press in the last few weeks criticizing Asus for issuing yet another update loaded with additional bloatware. They just don't seem to get it and are really chipping away at the positive reputation they built when first introducing the Zenphone line.

I had battery problems with 2 mid-priced ONDA tablets. In both instances, after 2 years use, the batteries outgassed and puffed up so much they split the cases. This seems to happen often with cheap batteries. BTW, they were totally inactive at the time, stored on a shelf.

Cheap Chinese tablets rarely get updated and even when they do, the updates can be problematic. Often, manufacturers websites are entirely in Chinese.

I did buy a Chuwi 8" Android tablet ($90) for my gf about 2 years ago. she uses is almost 100% for games and it has held up. Just need to clear junk files periodically.

TECLAST tablets are inexpensive, widely sold and seem to get a lot of good user feedback. Several of their models have both Android and Windows.

If you are "Googling" tablets, you will get a much larger selection if you use "9.7" rather than "10" as that is the more popular metric dimension.

I also have a 9.7 inch Onda Dual Boot tablet and agree with you about the very poor battery. Have had it less tahn a year, but even when it's running with the charger connected, the battery still runs down....

The chargers Onda provides are very poor quality and that may be part of your problem. If yours has a standard micro-USB connector, try another charger. Harder to do if yours is one of the models that has a round pin connector, tough to find matching chargers.

As I mentioned, do be careful when you put the tablet away for any extended period of time. In all the incidences of battery outgassing I have known, it has occurred when the device has been inactive. Fortunately, in all these cases, the battery containment envelope held so no gasses escaped but the force of the expansion was strong enough to split the tablet case and stretch out the leather case containing it.

Dealers will usually give no more than half the market value...in your case, maybe a bit more as the S-6 is a high demand phone. Beware of Craigslist...90% of responses will be scammers.

The "Buy-Sell" section of this forum wouldn't be a bad place to start.

I had battery problems with 2 mid-priced ONDA tablets. In both instances, after 2 years use, the batteries outgassed and puffed up so much they split the cases. This seems to happen often with cheap batteries. BTW, they were totally inactive at the time, stored on a shelf.

Cheap Chinese tablets rarely get updated and even when they do, the updates can be problematic. Often, manufacturers websites are entirely in Chinese.

I did buy a Chuwi 8" Android tablet ($90) for my gf about 2 years ago. she uses is almost 100% for games and it has held up. Just need to clear junk files periodically.

TECLAST tablets are inexpensive, widely sold and seem to get a lot of good user feedback. Several of their models have both Android and Windows.

If you are "Googling" tablets, you will get a much larger selection if you use "9.7" rather than "10" as that is the more popular metric dimension.

I renewed my retirement extension at CW yesterday and no proof of residence was asked for, nor has it ever been asked for in my 8 years renewing the extension. I am also from the USA.

In an earlier post I wrote that service was particularly slow yesterday.

Just took me more than 2 hours to get through this topic. Some really interesting links there.

Thanks to all who shared them.

For the past four years, I have always been able to complete the renewal of both my retirement extension and multi-entry permit in a single afternoon; usually arriving at Chang Wattana as the lunch break finishes, all documents, forms and copies completed and in hand. I have always finished renewing both documents no later than 3:45.

I got a queue number of L130 at 1:05pm...the slip said 45 customers ahead of me, # 85 was the next up when I sat down.

"L" section, for whatever reason was processing no more than 10 numbers an hour and at 4pm, were only at 115. At that point, they did sort of an "All hands on deck" and started wisking people through at a much faster clip; got to me at 4:30 and I was out by 4:45, way too late to start the multi-entry permit, the queue issuing desk had closed at 3:45. For the first time I will have to make a return trip to do it.

Slowest I have ever seen it there, surprising as it was a Tuesday in the middle of the month, usually a less busy time.

Maybe it was the curse of the "Ides of March."

In the basement level of the Immigration building at Chang Wattana, there is a walk-in service center for the Consumer Protection division. If you really want to pursue your case, it might be worth a visit. Make sure you have all your documentation in order.

I bought an Oppo android smart phone, excellent except for one thing, it would not pick up wifi at my house, my smaller Samsung, no problem.

My Asus tablet and my Asus laptop, again no problem, my wife and son in laws Samsung smartphones, no problem, my previous Samsung

no problem, but my Oppo, big problem, just will not do it. It now justs sits in one of my drawers.

https://www.androidpit.com/improve-wi-fi-signal-on-android

Try a few of these suggestions with the Oppo.

I have no idea of the cost of a display replacement but I can highly recommend "Pro Corner Computer Repair", Fortune Tower, 3rd level along the back aisle. The Manager speaks excellent English and is very reputable. His name is Nick.

Closed Sundays.

Not an expert but I copy/pasted it into Google translate and got "Hua <deleted> Chan" "I'm not eating it"

I don't know if that is for both words or just one. I tried them separately and still got the same response.

MBK is a shark tank. One almost always ends up paying more there than at other outlets. You really need to know the device you are buying and what the baseline price is.

2nd the suggestion to use Google Doc's...seamless. Very easy to put away and then work again at a later date. Very straightforward interface.

I can't be specific but I read somewhere in the past few days about a major international cable being damaged and that there would be disruptions while it was being repaired. Sorry not to have more details.

Found it: on this forum actually

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/901163-sinet-warns-of-underwater-cable-damage-slow-internet/

Sadly, had those details been omitted, the "TV True Detective Squad" would have undoubtedly unleashed their predictable torrent of accusations targeting the wife.

"Siam Society", just down Asok from the BTS/MRT entrance. many ongoing cultural events, usually to a high standard.

Walk different areas or Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown...endlessly fascinating,

Pick up free copies of "BK" Magazine and check the Arts/Lifestyle pages of the Bangkok Post...ongoing listings for a very lively arts and music scene.