dddave

I've noticed Lazada seems to have upped it's security policies in the last few months. I get far more requests for two-step verification these days than I used to, especially when shipping to a 3rd party address.

I had a friend who lived there for 3 or four years, probably around 10 years ago and he liked it. I visited often and there was never a problem. It was often noisy but he never had any negative issues with other residents, Thai or otherwise. The condo's are very small, 29 s/m IIRC. The hallways are dark and dingy, cleaned maybe twice a month. The pool was useable at that time. He usually had it to himself on weekdays, weekends there would sometimes be kids playing in it. It was a bit of a hike to get to the baht bus on Pattaya Klang but he had a motorbike so not an issue for him. His motorbike was never messed with but a few others were stolen from there from time to time. Somebody who had bought and renovated one of the condo units at Narin posted on this forum last year. He had tried to make it look like a luxury unit and was expecting to get silly money for it, like B700K. I never saw a follow-up.

That must be a big problem as more "National Carriers" go belly-up. I have no idea how they decide which to use as an alternate. As far as I know, United was the last US carrier to have regular flights to Thailand and that ended about 8 years ago.

When I lived in Bangkok, the Big-C on Rama-4 had an Australian running the meat department and his advice on steaks was always spot on. My price range was not over B1500kg but he'd always point me to the best within that range. I'd get 3 or 4 250-300g steaks and they'd always be tender and tasty. One day I went in and he was gone and the whole department was turned around. That was the end of it. Now I get most of my steaks from online sellers, nice cuts, reasonable prices.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing ten years of economic turmoil, the US was flooded with Russian "Dot.com brides" The internet was full of websites advertising young women eager to get out of Russia any way they could and a lot of guys bought brides "off the rack". Unsurprisingly, most of the marriages were short lived. Some went back to Russia, most found other "sponsors".

Perhaps someone skilled at searching old ThaiVisa archives can find an approximately 10 year old topic wherein a young man was tossed into IDC-Bangkok for some strange reason. He was able to retain his phone and was posting on TV looking for advice and help. It went on for quite a few days and he described the conditions at IDC clearly.

Depending on the charges, flights home for deportees are supposed to be only on the deportee's home country national carrier.

Some exit the bus at the Sukhumvit stop, just before the bus station and take a baht bus or motorbike from there. Less waiting and more realistic fares. There is also a bus that runs from Suvarnabhumi airport to Jomtien Bus Station at the Foodmart supermarket. Baht bus from there is B10 in either direction.

I wonder if a system of automatic battery exchange will evolve. Park on the spots and all done mechanically. Two minutes, in & out.

At my nearby Family Mart in Jomtien, all the popular brands of whole milk were unavailable but the nameless brand with the black & white cow markings on the label was plentiful in 2 L size jugs. I wonder if perhaps there is some kind of "job action" going on?

I live just off Jomtien beach and indeed, it is another level of quiet and open space with a wide variety of dining and entertainment options.. As to convenient access to Pattaya, I took the Baht bus yesterday from Jomtien beach Rd and was at the South Pattaya intersection within 15 minutes. The worst of the construction along Trappahya Rd is finally completed, The endless project on Pattaya 2nd Rd shown no signs of any kind of progress but once past that, clear sailing.

It's really getting kind of silly how many guys are hustling on YouTube, trying to support themselves in Pattaya with claims of special knowledge and all the secrets of living in Thailand. Watch twenty different videos, get twenty different takes on everything from the cost and tricks of getting visas to getting girls, good and otherwise, cheap but deluxe hotels, condos, meals and baht buses. More guys seem to be walking around soi Buakhao with cameras on sticks than there are Viagra vendors. I actually listened as one explained that in his one month in Pattaya, he had learned all there was to know and his video was all anybody needed to watch..."Oh, and please donate to my Patreon so I can continue to share my wisdom"...

I thought most of the whole milk sold in Thailand was re-constituted to be spoil resistant and not fresh from cows.

Both NADAYANA and HANG MASSIVE play beautifully meditative music on an instrument called a "Hang" or "HandPan", almost a marimba type of tone. Very relaxing.

When I was at the age you are now, 70+ looked like the end of the world, life not worth living. Now that I just turned 80 (Those ticks of the clock do add-up) it's an entirely different perspective. I still have decent health and enjoy friends and activities as much as I ever did. I am fortunate that I didn't blow all my money my 1st 10 years in Thailand and have enough to live with reasonable comfort. Assuming you won't get to where I am now could be one of the biggest mistakes you could make. Start making allowances for the possibility.

Sunday shouldn't be bad as the majority of passengers are returning to Bangkok, not departing as they would be Friday and Saturday.

If you want one of the really comfortable VIP buses, best to book online. It also depends on when you plan to travel. Anything around a major holiday should be booked in advance. Most weekdays, you can buy as a walk-in.

On the topic of inexpensive laser printers, 10 years ago I bought a Fuji-Xerox print-copy-scan/fax laser printer that was on promotion at IT City for B2000. It has never failed me. Maybe 10 pages a month with an occasional 30+ copy job. It has no problem with non-OEM toner cartridges and is quite speedy. No wi-fi but for the money, an incredible and durable bargain.

My 10 year old HP Pavilion is still operating without issue. Only time opened was to upgrade to an SSD.

Perhaps try for 6 months on a multiple entry tourist visa. Travel from place to place; Southern beach cities, Northern mountain cities and Bangkok-Pattaya. If one suits you, try that location for another 6 months. One thing you have is time. By the end of that year, you will have a pretty good idea if Thailand long term suits you.

Recently, I let my niece order the pizza from Pizza Company. What arrived had these awful "crab sticks" wrapped into the crust. Totally revolting. I made do with a sandwich.

The sad reality is that most such places are now swarming with "influencer" wanna-be's vying to be the first to tell the world and bring the Chinese busloads. The province of Pitsanulok has some surprisingly beautiful areas. Already popular among Thais but not too many international tourists, yet.

I don't have them bookmarked but there are a number of videos showing the hand forging of huge iron and steel machinery parts in Chinese foundries using century old methods.

I have never had this happen on You Tube. I've had it happen on other sites but never consistently.

I like playing YT music videos, sometimes more than an hour in duration while I do other things. Recently, YT has begun pausing the video after about 45 minutes, no explanation. This on both my LR & BR TV's. Anybody else experiencing this? Did I accidently activate some hidden setting? Just plain You Tube. I don't subscribe to any of the paid versions. I do use an ad-blocker. They recently announced new anti ad-blocker measures. Perhaps connected to that.