dddave

Staying on the meds: that's the biggest problem with drug treatment. I had a close family member who was bipolar. The meds did help decrease the mood swings but therein is the problem. Not only do the drugs prevent deep "lows", they also suppress any kind of "high". When on her meds, she could never feel excitement or great joy, her emotions were neutered. She described it is living in an emotional cocoon. Even though she knew they were necessary for her to function normally, she began to deeply resent the drugs suppression of her personality and though well aware of the consequences, began to skip doses. The eventual consequences were a suicide attempt and confinement. There is no easy way. For some people, the meds work pretty well, for others, not so much.

I Have arthritic knees. Going up and especially down stairs is always a challenge, made much more difficult in Thailand by a scarcity of properly placed handrails. Looking at the photo of the scene of the unfortunate man's fall, I see no visible handrail on the steps from which he reportedly fell. The near complete lack of any kind of liability in Thailand for such lapses does not encourage building owners to consider such necessities. Not just small businesses. I've had to negotiate long flight's of stairways with no handrails in many public buildings, especially banks which seem to feel the need for magisterial stairways leading to their portals. I hate the need for a cane but sometimes it's a lifesaver descending long staircases, especially those at various Bangkok BTS stations. Going downstairs, one is fighting gravity all the way and with nothing to hold onto, it can be a perilous journey.

By "Central", do you mean "Central Department Stores"? That's interesting as WU always had physical agencies in Robinson's Department Stores. Did Central gobble-up Robinson's when I wasn't looking? Admittedly, it was several years ago that I discovered that the WU app I had downloaded in the US could only be used in Thailand to collect funds and not send Thai Baht. I have to go to Bangkok Bank in a few days. I'll ask about whether money can be sent out of Thailand by their WU affiliated app.

Prior to coming to Thailand, excepting wine on special occasions with meals, I doubt I averaged 10 drinks a year. Just not a part of my life. Then I hit Bangkok at 60, fell in with the old Nanaplaza.com crowd and was soon finding myself counting 10+ drinks, mostly beer, most nights of the week. "Nah, I don't have a problem" said I until the night I almost stumbled into a speeding cement truck at the Nana traffic light. Started drinking mostly soda water and Coke Zero's after that. I can see how it can sneak up on people as it snuck up on me. Local bars can be a lot of fun, especially when you find yourself both handsomer and wittier with each order.

Thailand doesn't allow to send WU online. You have to send in person from a WU agent, like the Thai PO. I just signed up for WISE. I could only use my US bank account, I couldn't figure out how to use my BKB account. Does anybody transfer using wise from there Thai Bank account? Did I miss something.

Ouch!! That looks pretty grim. I do have a small B2000 "refund" in the pipeline from a fiasco of a few weeks ago when a transfer to a GCash account never became available with some ludicrous excuses like I had exceeded my monthly limit of B50,000 at the same time they were advertising discounts on transfers of B200,000+ I've never transferred more than B5000 in any month. Looks like it might be a write-off.

I help a family in the Philippines, always using Dee Money to send to their GCash account. Dee Money has been down since Wednesday for "maintainance" with no reopening date provided, now into a 5th day. Actually, Dee Money has been problematic lately with several extended delays in transfer availability, thus, I'm seeking suggestions for an alternate transfer service to the Philippines into a GCash account.

A very knowledgeable friend was telling me that the new DTV visa can be legally done in a way that can lead to a five year stay. I don't know if I have the details right so I won't guess but worth checking out. He was making the point that many visa agents have drastically cut their rates for retirement visas as many long-term expats are switching to this better method.

As long as Thailand persists in allowing 99% of heavy construction work to be done by illiterate, often migrant laborer's, supervised by like individuals with virtually no oversight, accidents like this will continue. This incident is far from being the first of this type and it won't be the last.

I feel lucky to have gotten to Bangkok and it's Sukhumvit delights when I first did, in 2002. Not only Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza (and the great NANAPLAZA.COM forum from which I still have friends) but so many other areas: Washington Sq, Clinton Plaza, Soi-33 "Artist's" bars, Queen's Park, Soi-10, Soi 7/1 along with Soi "0", under the X-Way and Soi-1 across the street. There was also, just down Soi-7, the never to be duplicated "Soi-7 Beergarten" with it's revolving inventory of hundreds of freelancers, day and night. There was a real thumping vibe along Sukhumvit then with countless mini-street bars opening around midnight and partying past dawn. It was a very special time and place.

Just ask your juristic office. In my condo, they don't want long term unused bikes in the day to day parking area and want them in the garage. Most condos have a section for long term storage as some owners will leave for 6 months or more.

Thanks for posting the outcome. Not ideal, to be sure but better than living in a hostile environment. I live off of Jomtien 2nd rd. and find it to be a convenient area. The nearby Rampho market has excellent fruits & vegetables and several shops that sell household staples. Bolt & Grab are usually readily available for shopping trips. Traffic on 2nd rd. can suck on weekends and from 4 to 8pm but is otherwise ok....just a few long rides to make U-turns. There are also several back road routes that once learned, provide easy access to Makro and Lotus's without having to drive any long distances on Sukhumvit. I also have mobility issues resulting from arthritis in my knees but find Jomtien to not be particularly taxing to get around. There is a plethora of restaurants of all types quite handy to where you are. It's conceivable that once settled, you might just say: "Why didn't I move here earlier?"

A condo owner has just as much right not to renew a lease as a leaser has not to renew but he can't just arbitrarily terminate your residency before the lease period is finished.

A Thai friend always carefully checks the seals and markings of any bottles he buys in a club. He told me refilling bottles from popular brands with cheap whiskey was big business and that even high profile clubs sometimes get fooled and sell rebottled booze. He told me he never buys JW Black because it's the most often rebottled brand.

There are several curtain shops on Trepassit Rd, not far from the Traphaya traffic light.

Most landlords have to pay an ongoing share of the rent to the agent so your landlord is likely trying to duck that monthly payment. You would have to depend on the landlord for the documents needed for your TM-30, not easy without a copy of the lease. When my condo owner started renting to me directly after my original lease expired, we still paid another agent to draw up a legal lease so I would have the document. The original agent wasn't happy but couldn't do anything about it. She had lied to him about the original rent I was paying and pocketing the difference.

Not the first time Colombian gangs specializing in housebreaking have operated here. Several have been busted in the Pattaya area over the last 10 years. Apparently, used household goods of all types get good money in S. America where import duties are extremely high. In the Pattaya cases, they had a container waiting and would fill it directly from the truck used in the burglaries. In Pattaya they would bribe housing estate guards to point out homes where the residents were away for extended periods, then clean entire homes out of whatever they could carry.

Be aware the Spanish Embassy will most likely not give you a new passport, just an emergency travel document that allows you to return to your home country, no other destination.

Any chance OPs PC was purchased in USA? I ran into this exact issue once. I purchased a new laptop in US, brought it to Thailand. Tried to connect to my home Wi-Fi and couldn't though all my other devices were connected with no problem. Long story short, the US reserves several WiFi channels for government use and all WiFi devices sold in the US have these channels locked-out. Just coincidently, when set-up, my router had selected one of those channels which are not locked out in the rest of the world. Changed the WiFi channel and all was good. Edit: Closed channels are 12, 13, 14

Late in 2023, Jomtien Immigration started requiring the TM-47 along with copies of PP front page, visa, TM-30, maybe the TM-6 as well. I just stop at a copy shop next to Immigration and have them make whatever I need.

Not 10 minutes at Jomtien but they do have a huge volume. Did my 90 day there this past Monday, arriving at 10:30am with all forms and copies prepared. Sign on the counter said 1 hour wait. Turned out to be 40 minutes. Watched as one man yelled at the counter girl for 5 minutes, really aggressively. She gave it right back. He finally stormed out waving his arms in the air, expressing his outrage at everything Thai. I wouldn't want their job.

The commotion woke me up. I live in a 10th floor condo, the balcony of which overlooks the wooded area, next to Villa Navin. There was a pool party going on at one of the villas so at first I thought the noise was from that but the shouting between police officers didn't seem like party noise. Really dense vegetation in that lot which extends from 2nd Rd to Beach Rd, bordered by Villa Navin on the South side, Soi-9 on the North. I can see how it would be very hard to find a person in there. Nothing worth a video. Couldn't really see anything but flashlights. That check-point has been going-on for the last month, usually Thursday to Sunday, around midnight to 2:30AM. The difference in motorcycle and motorbike noise is dramatic. Usually a lot of bikes screaming up and down both sides but when cops are there, quiet like the covid days.

Isn't that actually a problem worldwide? So many videos of people on roofs awaiting helicopter rescue. Even worse the videos of people with no option but to jump rather than choke or burn to death.

Nice clean look. Easy for me to read as I use a 43" TV as a monitor. Pages seem to load more quickly.

The price will also depend on whether or not OP will need a bone graft. Makes a very big difference.