dddave

My condo building just had a thankfully minor fire in a unit. It was caused by a rice cooker left unattended using a 7-11 style extension cord. The outlet portion of the extension cord first melted, then set fire to a rug is was sitting on. A lot of smoke but caught before major flames erupted. Good thing a neighbor had a sharp nose because no smoke alarms were tripped. Now signs in all the lifts warning about substandard extension cords...like there was any standard in the first place. I use all industrial grade ex. cords I buy at Thai Watsadu.

I have 2 Xiaomi air purifiers, one in living room and one in the bedroom. They seem to do a pretty good job. I buy filters once a year through Lazada, under B1000 each which I consider reasonable for a years use. The only time I hear them is when I am cooking and they detect the additional smoke in the air. They automatically go on high speed until the smoke clears. Both were bought through Lazada. Under B4000 each.

The structure of the condo is finished, just interior finishing going on now. There is a new project just starting nearby: groundwork for the Monorail projected to open in 5 years. As far as breakfast goes, several decent restaurants very close by: Wombat Kiwi Bar and restaurant, an excellent Dutch place next to that. Both have great breakfast options. Both just at the end of soi 9. I live in Jomtien beach Condo, overlooking that area.

Thank you! I've been trying and failing to remember his name. To say he was a "character" does not do him justice. "Wild man" comes closer.

This place is very nice, good location. https://www.jomtienbeachpenthouses.com/

Cambodia and Laos both have for many years charged more when paying for visas in Thai Baht rather than US$

Friends stayed at THE GRAND JOMTIEN PALACE, at the corner of Beach Rd and Soi Wat Boon Kanchana and liked it very much. Lots of food nearby, right on songtao route. Rated 3 star. If they are interested, suggest they try to book direct and ask for front rooms looking out on the water.

Google says Huawei safe mode is F8.

I was actually wrong, 3 hours work, not 5. Still, a bargain, especially when you consider she does his laundry.

There is actually a shortage for that type of labor going on. Hotels and restaurants are paying increasingly higher wages and clamoring for the government to allow more Myanmar and Cambodian workers to enter the workforce. Most referrals on Pattaya Facebook groups are minimum B500/day though more frequently it's by unit size: Studios under 40 s/m, B500, up from there. A friend found a cleaner by asking one of his buildings maintenance staff for a referral, still costs him B500 for about 5 hours work.

Probably less than half the flights arriving at Suvarnabhumi are right on schedule which makes immigration queues very difficult to predict. Two 15 minute late flights along with a on time arrival can suddenly fill the immigration hall that 5 minutes before was half empty. There are 2 main immigration areas for international flights, one servicing gates A thru D and the other gates D thru G. If the immigration area you come to first is backed-up, look for a TV monitor at the base of the ramp that shows both areas. If the other area is uncrowded, keep walking in the same direction about 3 or 4 minutes and you will come upon it.

Has anybody reading this ever been a patient in a Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital ward rather than a private or semi-private room? Would you share your experience? Positives? Negatives? A friend was hit by a car in Pattaya and is currently in BPH ICU. I am helping his family gather information to aid in decision making down the long road ahead of him. Insurance resources are limited and lowering the cost of long term care will become an issue at some point. It may happen that at some point, a private or semi private room may be too expensive for long term care. (Please stay on topic. I've heard way too many rants about Thai drivers: the driver who ran the red light at the pedestrian crossing was not Thai, BTW. He was British)

I always get this confused. If I go to a local exchange kiosk and give them Dollars for Thai Baht, am I "Buying" or "Selling"? Then, would the converse be if I give Thai Baht, wanting Dollars in exchange?

I was able to see 1/2 the course from my balcony, including the straightaway. Fun to watch. They do get some speed up on the straightaway.

Over a dozen 90 day reports at Jomtien over the last several years and I have never been asked for any document besides my passport. When handed the passport they do a cursory check for the notice from the last 90 day report to make sure you are within the due date frame. I have never noticed them checking the TM 30 at that point however the passport is out of sight when the stamping is done so maybe checked at that time.

At Jomtien Immigration, there is a separate 90 day report area on the right side immediately as you enter from Soi 5. No need to wait in the Immigration line. When I last did my 90 day at Jomtien 2 weeks ago, no documents were required. Just hand them your pp and they give you a number. You then wait 15-20 minutes, they call that number and you are on your way. Perhaps the TM45 mentioned is required for the 1st report? The copy shops next to Immigration on soi 5 can give you any form for B5.

I think the realities of living in Thailand impact case/form factor choices. Many members here live in smaller condo/apartment units where space is at a premium. A tower unit usually requires a dedicated computer workspace in a fixed location. Mini-computers like NUCs and monitors are easy to put on small portable desks or stands which are easier to tuck away when not in use.. With the rise of video streaming, NUCs can also fit comfortably close to the TV, negating the need for long HDMI cables running across floors.

"Freezes to death" is a hugely misleading term. "Hypothermia" can happen at 15C. Many climbers have died on low mountains when caught in cold rain and no rain gear. There have even been cases where people have died in rooms where the AC had been turned too low, especially among the elderly who's perception of temperature can become very confused. Basically, if one gets cold enough that they are shaking uncontrollably, that person is on the cusp of hypothermia.

I suggest you go to the Reddit forum "r/buildapc" Really helpful information provided by knowledgeable responders. Tell them what you want and they will provide you with the best configurations. There is also a very helpful tool that tells you the compatibility of various components along with price comparisons. When I built my first PC several years ago this site was incredibly helpful and I ended up with a great PC for my needs for surprisingly little money, under B20K https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/

I've noticed that most of the delivery services seem to be increasingly using contractors with motorbikes to deliver packages, even larger ones. I see these grossly overloaded bikes all over the city now. I suspect the overextended drivers don't bother going to out of the way delivery locations that take too much time and effort. They just mark those parcels as undeliverable: nobody home.

Most municipalities have some form of restrictions, regulating the use of barbed wire near public property. Have a Thai speaker check with the Amphur, usually an agricultural office.

I really looked into "All in One's" a few years ago and found that generally you are getting out of date components, low level specs and poor, difficult to maintain hardware for a price much higher than you can spend for a decent mini-PC like the NUC which others have mentioned and I ended up buying. Very decent monitors, certainly better than most offered by AiOs are available for under B3000. A very decent NUC configuration can be had for B10,000, good enough for most routine computer uses and streaming. Speakers on AiOs are universally terrible. Many speaker alternatives available. Many AiO's offered only wired mouse and keyboards. Wireless Logitech keyboard/mouse combos less than B1000. A NUC based system will be more versatile, have more ports and be much higher quality than any AiO for a similar price.

People who study such things have noted that a lot of aquatic species that had become scarce in local tourist area waters have thrived during the tourist hiatus with a number of species that had disappeared now being seen again.

Washington Sq. bar owners knew for years that their days were numbered. Finally, all their leases were terminated and they were told to get out, however the family that owned and wanted to develop that land (Not sure if Thai or Indian) were in the midst of a rancorous feud between the three controlling siblings so nothing happened and continued not happening for nearly 2 more years. Many of the bars just kept opening every day with nobody collecting any rent because that would have legitimized their presence thus they had a pretty good final few years. Eventually, buildings started being torn down piecemeal until the Washington Sq. area looked like a current Ukrainian city, some bars still standing, many others reduced to sad rubble.. The deeply lamented "Silver Dollar" and "Hairy Pie Bar" were among the last to go.

I think Thailand would be most grateful if Joe would shut-up about the whole thing and not remind the Russians about Thailand's role in the Bout sting. Russia was very unhappy, especially after the first courts acquittal of Bout was overturned by the Supreme Court. Several very lucrative trade deals were scrapped in retaliation. Thailand would prefer everybody just forget about the whole thing.