dddave

When my friend was hit by a car and died last year, his brother ran into multiple roadblocks accessing his BKB account. First and worst, there was no written Thai will which immediately makes it much tougher on everybody (get on it, guys if you care about your local loved ones). Getting access not only to the bank account but also insurance proceeds paid by the drivers insurance company was a nightmare. He had to get copies of not only his own, but of all his siblings birth certs. and get statements from each that he was the sole person to collect the funds. He had to petition a Thai court to be recognized as the executor. It is now into the 2nd year and still not all resolved. He is making his 3rd trip here soon, hopefully to finalize it all. Nothing can be done casually after you are gone. Get legal advice if your estate is divided between your home country and here in Thailand. A simple will just doesn't cut it.

The coastal area around Prachuap Khiri Khan, Pranbury, Chumpon usually has the lowest pollution scores but that doesn't mean they don't also have their bad days when the winds carry it.

Actually, I'd file this under "Happy News"

Vietnamese pickpocket gangs used to come to Thailand whenever there was a big concert, like the Modanna concert 10 years ago and work the jammed-in concert crowd. I remember the police busted about a dozen of them.

Is an METV limited to 2 entries or an unlimited number of entries for it's duration?

I had a similar 60s kebab experience while stationed in Morocco while I was in the US Navy. Street vendors sold lamb skewers cooked over local charcoal, wrapped in a flatbread with various chopped herbs, tomato and spicy sauce, perhaps what is now sold as "Harissa" 1 Dirham,, at that time, 5 to a dollar so 20 Cents. Also had an attempted coup: The then King piloted his own 727. While he was returning from France to Morocco, some Moroccan Air Force malcontents tried to shoot his plane down. A lot of people in the passenger section were killed. The King was a quick thinker. he got on the radio and said: "OK, The bastard's dead, you can stop shooting." The rebels believed it and broke-off the attack. They were all shot the next day. Funny story: During an orientation lecture when I first arrived, the lecturer was discussing buying meat and produce at local markets. "Don't ever buy hanging meat with no flies on it!! Only buy hanging meat with fly's" He went on to explain: "Vendors know Americans hate fly's so they spray the meat with DDT"

A friend is currently wheelchair bound and we were discussing how useless so many of the ramps are. At best, they are often way too steep for a wheelchair user to ascend without somebody also pushing from behind. Also not unusual for them to have turns and bends to narrow to negotiate. The BTS in Bangkok is notorious for this with the access ramps for the elevators.

Yesterdays news reported a very serious motorbike collision on Pratumnak-5 a few nights ago. One guy was really badly messed-up. Bikes speeding on P-5 seem to have no awareness of how long it takes to stop when going downhill.

I had to uninstall an ad-blocker for my BKB app to function properly after an update late last year.

That's the problem. It's usually the boneheads that "survive with minor injuries", unlike the hapless victims in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Rest assured, OP Your largesse has not gone un-noticed and the good luck you so richly deserve is in transit from the China clearing office of such rewards. You will be notified of the delivery date once the good luck clears customs. The donation box tally crew appreciate your cash contributions though they did find the bags of .25 satang coins somewhat annoying. Paper money usually gets quicker results. (Please note: NOT the Chinese burning paper money)

Last night, about 10pm, on my motorbike, I turned South onto on Jomtien Beach Road from Soi-7. As always, before turning I stopped and looked both ways, checking to my right one more time before pulling out. There were no visible vehicles approaching. As I pulled onto Beach Rd, a sudden loud exhaust blast and a speeding, black Motorcycle literally brushed by me...The &$%#& idiot was back on one wheel, front wheel and headlight pointing to the sky, racing down Beach Rd, passing every vehicle without regard for oncoming traffic, remaining one wheeled. I see idiocy every day in some form on local roadways but this Bozo took the prize for imbecile of the year. He nearly rammed me and if he'd lost control at that speed with that big a bike, could easily have maimed or killed anybody walking or riding nearby. No matter how careful one tries to be, they'll always the chance a moron such as this will appear out of the shadows.

I often see Ultralight and Paraglider aircraft flying over Jomtien Beach, usually around dusk. The paragliders are frequently in a formation of 3. As it gets darker, they usually head in the direction of Huai Yai. I believe there is a field for small aircraft around there. Over my 20+ years in the area, I recall here have been several fatal crashes of personal aircraft. They may look simple and benign but a single mistake or misjudgment can be very costly, but then again, the same can be said for cars, motorbikes and motorcycles, even bicycles.

A woman friend engaged Bolt to take her to Don Muang from Jomtien and agreed to the price. The driver picked her up and everything seemed OK until he exited the highway onto a side road. When she asked what was going on, the driver told her they were going to meet his friend and the friend would take her to DMK in his car. She made clear that no way would she switch cars and immediately began recording the conversation on her mobile. The driver got angry and threatened to leave her roadside but fortunately, she was fluent enough in Thai to make clear she was calling the Police. The driver relented and agreed to continue on to Don Muang but she didn't trust him and had him take her to N. Pattaya. She was flying out of Thailand so did not have time to pursue the incident with Bolt or the Police but it's clear that there are risks using ride services.

I buy all my veggies at Rhampo Market. Usually fresher than Makro and the supermarkets, reasonable prices. Chicken and meats at Makro. I figure the rapid turnover of product in the bins makes freshness more likely. One of the poultry dealers at Rampho is somewhat arbitrary with his prices and does try to overcharge if he thinks he can get away with it. I do not like the open market on Soi Wat Boon Kanchana. Does not seem as clean and cared for to me. The vendors there seem to practice dual pricing as there are many Russian shoppers from nearby condo's.

I'm no great fan of Starbucks but it's not just about the coffee there. Starbuck's are usually spacious and well appointed with enough fairly wide-spaced seating to sit and have a conversation with a friend or associate for however long you want to stay. I agree Amazon's coffee is pretty good for half the price but seating is pretty sparce and hard to come by: the one close to my residence has one table with 2 chairs and a counter with 4 stools, hardly a place to hang-out. My point is that at a Starbuck's, you are paying for a lot more than the coffee, you are paying for the ambiance.

LAZADA has a lot of varieties. I bought this one, really sturdy. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/aibg-djd-i3346014941-s12408513796.html?

That area is a very dense condo area with probably 10 foreigners for every Thai, mostly Russians so don't expect many cheap Thai places. "Coffee Be Original" on Soi Wat Boon has excellent Thai food as well as western at reasonable prices. There are several seafood restaurants just South of the traffic light that are OK and reasonably prices. I live close by and most casual Thai restaurants are found in side sois off Soi Wat Boon. If you care for good bratwurst, the German bar at the corner of Soi 10 and 2nd rd. is very good.

I take that bus frequently and that is the only additional BKK to Jomtien stop I've experienced. i have never experienced them picking up passengers at any other stop BKK bound after departing Jomtien.

Netflix certification allows 4K and HDR which is immaterial if using older 720 P TV's. You might also consider a mini-pc. There are windows-11 mini PCs with great specs for watching TV and normal internet browsing, YouTube and Netflix. For example this mini-pc from Lazada would work very well. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/geekom-mini-pc-mini-air11-se-intel-celeron-n4020c-nuc-11-mini-computers-with-fan-coolingup-to-28ghz-6gb-lpddr4128g-ssd-desktop-windows-11-pro-support-4k-uhddual-wifibt42gigabit-ethernet-i4871547293-s20400690342.html? Actually, with your older TVs, you could probably get by with some of the even cheaper used office mini-pc's with VGA graphics. and windows 10. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/acer-veriton-n4640g-i5-gen6-mini-pc-i4831860551-s20788104352.html?

It has never occurred to me to check my condo router for being used by others in my building. How does one go about it?

Unless he has millions of Baht to grease many hands, his only option is to book a flight out of the country, check-in, go through security and hopefully be allowed to pay the overstay fine of B20,000 and accept a 10 year ban. There were reports recently at Phuket Airport of overstayers being arrested before they got to Immigration, perhaps tipped-off by a check-in employee but I have never heard of that at BKK. What your friend needs to realize is that he could face an indeterminate incarceration in an IDC if arrested and they are very unpleasant places.

This is 2nd hand. A friend with similar issues, paralyzing back spasms, sciatica and meralgia was being told by several orthopedic doctors that surgery was the only option. He kept digging and somehow found a Physical Therapist who was what one would call a minimalist. She worked with him on a variety of exercises: strength, flexibility, motion, resting. Her focus was always finding the minimum amount of exercise that provided relief. Everything was done slowly and easy and not getting aggressive about the number of reps or testing the limits of motion. She stressed allowing and encouraging long term healing of joints, bones, tendons, muscles. Not to aggravate then further but to just do the minimum to keep them flexible and maintain strength and motion. He said it was actually difficult to maintain such a minimalist program as it was in his nature to push himself but it seemed to work so he kept up with her and was amazed at how successfully it turned out. His back spasms meralgia and sciatica attacks went away and have never come back. He was able to totally avoid surgery. This was nearly 10 years ago and AFAIK, he's still doing well. I guess this kind of follows the "less is more" school of medicine but worth thinking about.

10 years ago, Pattaya Police busted a Colombian gang doing the same thing. Household goods have a huge resale value in South America. The gang would pull up to a house in a truck, tell security and the neighbors that the family was moving and clean the house out. The load would go straight to a container and then to S. America when it was filled.

OP here. Too late to edit the original post. My friends condition has rapidly deteriorated in the last 24 hours and at home care is no longer possible. Thanks.