JSixpack

6 minutes ago, SpeakeasyThai said:

So with the polluted sea and the night life happenings everything is just fine and dandy.

Polluted sea had a BIG effect here. Clearly somebody had been out swimming. But there could be more--much more.

In all news threads reporting any negative incident, it's best to go ahead and get it ALL out there ASAP to avoid piecemeal repetitions that leave out most of the good stuff. Here ya go:

6 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Isn't there a regular service for 1/3rd the price for Thais?

Evidence suggests that SRT doesn't segregate Thais into the cheap non-aircon cars and reserve the aircon for farangs, who'd never travel 2nd class of course. Guess some here think that's how it should work, but no. Farangs can ride in the cheap cars as well. For example:

I seem to recall Thais traveling in first-class carriages on trains elsewhere in Thailand, like from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Maybe just my imagination . . . .

38 minutes ago, mok199 said:

dude if you go to any mall in pattaya you will see buisnesses closed and boarded up...

Hot air. I don't think you know of any buisnesses  "boarded up" in Central. Where exactly? And you'd need to see 37 of them before it means anything serious. Besides, in any mall tenants come and go all the time. Mall I grew up near, one of the wealthiest in the USA (still doing great), has none of the original tenants left and at any time some spaces could be vacant or undergoing change. Duh.

As perspective you might view this list of closed and replaced businesses in Las Vegas:

http://www.vegas4visitors.com/closed.htm

Going DOWNHILL! So why would you think an expectation of "they will come"--but at some point didn't--is just a Thai thing?

It's only on TVF that a change of tenants portends delicious DOOM, probably because No Change is one of the rules of TVF Poster Economics, and our economists love comforting themselves and pleasing the peanut gallery with portentous pronouncements from the barstool that "confirm" Thai incompetence and stupidity.

But your point is irrelevant and inapplicable anyway. SRT announced the service as a mere "trial," with no necessary expectation that "they will come," and a trial marketing of the service (to the target market, Thais mainly) represents perfectly good business sense--in the real world.

2 hours ago, mok199 said:

thailands famous''build it and they will come '' philosophy...

Merely TVF Barstool Economists' famous ignorance, in this case of "trial marketing." Good thing most have no money to invest and lose in the real world. Pensions are wonderful.

Fasting diets reduce important risk factor for cardiovascular disease

New report, likes 5:2 better than just calorie restriction.

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Isn't there a regular service for 1/3rd the price for Thais?

Different times and not air-conditioned. And this train is a bit faster. Can Thais pay more for aircon, or are we invoking the Only Farangs Have Money rule of TVF Poster Economics?

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Amusing that a special tourist train devoid of tourists is deemed a roaring success.

How do you know the train was devoid of tourists?

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A good service that stopped more regularly (near my place) had frequency and ran somewhat faster is what is needed.

How about a limo that arrives at your place whenever you like (within 5 min of ordering) and a special VIP convoy to stop traffic as it speeds you to Pattaya or BKK, arrival in 30 min.?

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And some efficient feeder mechanism into central Pattaya rather than the taxi mafia!

Actually a shuttle bus is planned. OH NO. Narrative all messed up.

2 hours ago, mikebell said:

It's just an excuse for delivering lambs to the slaughter at the hands of Pattaya's illegal; extortionate; infamous; police-condoned; meterless taximeters.

Then why is a shuttle bus planned? Sorry--ruined your day I know.

14 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

And this. They are claiming that the train is already booked up for the rest of this month. Do you think it might then have occurred to them that that might mean they need to run more than one train a day? Nah. That's joined up thinking, also something the Thais don't do.

Do you think it might occur to you that

• the SRT Deputy Governor has already said that they can increase frequencies and add extra carriages IF the services proves popular?
• they know how many more potential riders inquired after the trains were fully booked?
• the first inaugural weekends are too early to establish that increasing frequency and adding carriages will justify the cost? If a mall proved popular at its opening, then our ace TVF Economists would immediately sneer that it means nothing for the future.

Nah. That's unbiased thinking, something farangs don't do. We need that bigotry to feel superior. Hee hee.

1 hour ago, chama said:

It seems in many cases the Thai tourist industry thinks foreigners are just lining up to go to these places just because the business has offered to take their money. No need to provide any benefit to the tourist. 

Where did you see any intention to promote the train specifically to "foreigners?" We've so enjoyed setting up this straw man.

Pattaya is very much about domestic tourism these days as well, though TAT: TVF refuses to concede the fact 'cause it messes up the narrative.

Meanwhile the train was fully booked and is until the end of the month. So far, so good.

Foreigners seem to manage to find their way to Pattaya without needing the train. I doubt SRT and TAT really think they'd be much interested in this service as configured. Bullet train, yes. But it's there for all tourists and even non-tourists--I mean, it hits a lot of non-tourist stops along the way, too. And it's only for 6 months--during the upcoming hot and rainy seasons, not peak times for foreign tourists at all.

Re: benefit, those who bought tickets expected the benefit of being transported to Pattaya on the train for B170. Did they not receive that benefit? Looks like they did according to the OP.

47 minutes ago, dontoearth said:

     Actually I didn't make a date and don't see anything in my profile about joining the forum.  I believe I joined in mid-2016.

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My estimate that it would take 5 months was pretty ridiculous.

I understand. Everyone's different but I think in terms of a year or two. Friend of mine's made good progress in a year but he's got another one to go because he can't be consistent. I must say his overweight Thai wife is a bad influence he finds hard to resist. He started off very optimistic, too. Sometimes it's tough to resist friends and family who don't share your dedication.

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I no longer take any of these medications and my medical test show that I do not need them.  The diet and exercise has cured the diseases that so many doctors make their living from in terms of prescribing lifetime meds and then getting endless patient visits from the side effects for which they presscribe more meds.

Great, innit? When somebody questions my "masochistic" habits (eating a burger w/o the bread, just having a salad, etc.) I reply I'm glad I'm feeling great, not a kilo overweight (most of the time!), and don't need any meds--and want to keep things that way as long as possible.

I also think that my keeping mentally and physically fit (within reason), an edge, has helped me avoid accidents over the years when riding a motorbike, esp around Pattaya, a challenging environment to say the least.

5 hours ago, topt said:

I have seen hiking/hill walking type footwear in the sports shop in Central (Merrel towards the back on the left) and definitely in the sports shop in The Outlet Mall - brands like Merrel, Columbia and North Face from memory.

Bought a pair there myself. There's also a Timberland shop in The Outlet Mall.

27 minutes ago, Lamkyong said:

am i surprised at the lack of tourists?? NO   what with the latest/ongoing  reports of   poor conditions of

filth on beaches/muggings/theft/traffic accidents/general ripoffs  etc etc

it is no wonder  that any sensible  quality tourists would  see this as a useful /convenient mode of transport  to what seems to be a hell hole   well yes we all know  what Pattaya is really  good for  

but i dont think this needs a dedicated  train service

Here's the cheese, man:

Anything new to add?

On 3/18/2018 at 9:22 AM, dontoearth said:

    I thought I should give an update as I am now at 185 lbs US pounds.  Down from 226 lbs when I joined the forum!  My blood pressure reading this am was below normal.  :)   I have been doing all sorts of measurements and health diagnostics as I work on my bodyfat problem.  I still need to bring my bodyfat down and muscle mass up. And for those that hate the BMI I need to bring the BMI score down slightly.  It applies to fat old men such as myself.  I find it useful.  The olympic athletes and bodybulders overly tall etc. on the forum can exempt themselves.  It is not a meaningful measure for them.

     I still think I am headed down to 174 US pounds and would like that weight composition to be more muscle mass and less bodyfat yet.  I will work on this until about June when I head home for the states.  This year I will be joning a gym and continuing some kind of lifting as the cardio I choose last year helped me maintain my exact weight loss WHILE IT ALLOWED FOR ME TO ADD 9 lbs of body fat.  So less cardio for my off period.

      I continue to skip breakfast for my IF program and will probably lengthen my fasting period to some full days over the next month or two.  I find the hunger is only a passing thing and a cup of black coffee or a bottle of water and it just disappears.  Hunger does not need to be fed chips, fried chicken and donuts!  LOL.  I am not willing to do portion control or calorie counting.  It did not help me in the 15-20 year struggle as I gained too much weight.  It in fact for me it was a big distraction from solving any of my health problems. 

       Too each his own and I hope some of the forum members are making progress with whatever they have chosen as their methods.

Good enthusiasm, should see you through to the end, and thereafter you'll be able to maintain, knowing what it would be like to have to lose again. But after you're into the lifestyle, as you seem to be now, it's not so difficult and you can enjoy the occasional splurge. Just better all around not to get fat in the first place, can't be emphasized enough.

Though most forum members surely made a note in their calendars as to "when you joined the forum," you might give the date anyway. You mean 2012?

New hotness: TVF Poster Ping OCD (TVFPPOCD). Seeing a lot of cases lately. First thing for you Pingers to do is to change your DNS to the fastest, which you can discover via this utility:

https://www.sordum.org/7952/dns-jumper-v2-1/

On 3/16/2018 at 10:37 AM, KittenKong said:

 So it all boils down to the management and committee of a building wanting to do it, and negotiating with the supplier.

And your willingness to pay. Might well be a charge for the cable to your unit.

41 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Not quite.

Nowadays many (or some) websites do not allow the ping response anymore.

Might be a result from one of the potentially worst server leaks in all time ("heartbleed").

 

Example

Can you ping this?:

ping www.de-cix.net

I can't.

Can you open it in the browser?

http://www.de-cix.net

I can.

 

BTW: de-cix now peaking over 6 Tbit/s !

https://www.de-cix.net/en/locations/germany/frankfurt/statistics

 

 

 

OP should probably ping his fave sites while he can access them and see if it currently works for them or not. There's always a next time. 

19 hours ago, Moti24 said:

That'll be the nail for the coffin!

For Phuket. Well, Phuket's loss is merely Pattaya's gain. We don't no need no stinkin' wristbands here.

19 hours ago, Tony45 said:

The resort I have loved since 1995 has changed and is now not for me.

But Pattaya is, got the mod cons plus a bit of 1995 left here and there. You'll love the broken pavements. Waitin' fer ya w/ open legs, man. When's your arrival?

https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

2 hours ago, metisdead said:

A troll post has been removed:

 

 

As THE NATION wrote the article, perhaps you can contact them regarding re-writing the article, here is their contact details:

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/Contact/Contact_nation

I fear they would merely share your sense of humor.

20 minutes ago, robblok said:

 

IMHO ordering the right parts is harder then the actual assembly.

15 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

11000 thb endoscopy in public hospital ?

 

But you cannot do it when you want, only a doctor can decide that you need it, and I guess that they do not decide it often.

An endoscopy can be considered part of preventative care and requested as such, as w/ a colonoscopy:

"The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) recommends screening patients with multiple risk factors associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma for Barrett's esophagus [34]. Risk factors considered by the AGA include:

●Age 50 years or older

●Male sex

●White race

●Chronic GERD

●Hiatal hernia

●Elevated body mass index

●Intra-abdominal distribution of body fat"

Looks like "male" and "fat" should do it.  Hey--that you? However, if you don't have multiple factors and they detect you're just a hypochondriac then your chances of getting one in a public hospital would, I imagine, diminish. But private hospital--only the wallet's the limit, eh.

1 hour ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...read between the lines and see how vile some of these individuals are...

 

..are we brave of foolish thinking we can 'bridge the gap'...'surmount differences'...

 

...ask the woman busted for washing dead coral she purchased from a Thai who has probably been doing it for years...

 

 

The cool thing about other countries is that they have no vile individuals.

6 minutes ago, Hal65 said:

I would think a car with no lights is much more dangerous. I once saw a motorcycle around that time, also near tuk com. Must have been going 60 km/h and no lights. I could hear it but it took a second of focusing to see it. That guy is going to have a very expensive episode at some point.

 

Bikes are at least slow and off to the side. Except of course, when they're not (as in my case)

Presumably if you were driving a car you'd turn on the lights, unless no-lights-at-night is just a thing w/ you. Or if riding in one you might suggest the driver to turn on the lights if he hasn't.

Most bikes turn on their lights automatically whenever you start them, though our pedants may mention some exceptions. Avoid the latter.

On 3/14/2018 at 9:41 AM, robblok said:

I have build countless computers professionally and as a advanced user. Its real hard to get the price real low. I always found the only reason to build a computer myself was to make sure I had the right specifications for what I wanted to use it for and to put in quality parts. It was not to save money because many of the pre builds could be cheaper but with worse components.

Exactly. I want known-good quality stuff: notably I want a high quality power supply, mainboard, and case. Good case will easily last through multiple builds, run cool, have easily cleaned fan filters, and be pleasant to work with. I like everything I have and feel good about it. And it's 100% reliable. If I had some Acer, it'd work but I'd always be thinking it's really a piece of crap.

I'd add maintainability and upgradeability. Proprietary PCs often use proprietary parts & connectors. Off-the-shelf easily found and any shop can make repairs as needed. 

Quote

In Thailand I have even (when i was in a rush) just bought the components and let an IT shop assemble it. IMHO the guys are quite good at it. Unlike many people I do trust Thais, and after its build they show you all the components and go in the bios and computer to show everything works and the components are there.

Right. I'll let them do it out of boredom from having done quite a few. It's Leggo, innit? Maybe watch, check it all out before I sign off. Take it home and maybe improve the cable management or wait until I need to go into the case next time and do something. Most of the time though I'm not building an entire machine but just upgrading an old one. Not worth carrying the case anywhere.

58 minutes ago, Hal65 said:

 

There are a couple interesting implication from this post:

 

1) Cars/motorbikes are safe at night

2) Bicycles are more dangerous than cars

 

Not saying I disagree but it would be interesitng to know if either of these is true. I've aeen an accident in Bangkok, and heard the noise of one in Pattaya. For 4 years that's a lot events.

Everything is relative. But you're seriously thinking that riding a bicycle w/ no lights in Pattaya in the middle of the night is as safe as riding a car on the same route? Not to say motorbike--at least it would have lights. 

Better stick to taxis and baht buses man. Go to bed early.

2 hours ago, Mattd said:

Sorry, but we are going to have to agree to disagree, I still stick to my statement that you are purchasing a product activation key that was most likely licensed elsewhere, it is and not and never will be licensed for the machine you activate it on.

This from the Win 10 license agreement:

 

  Authorized Software and Activation. You are authorized to use this software only if you are properly licensed and the software has been properly activated with a genuine product key or by other authorized method. When you connect to the Internet while using the software, the software will automatically contact Microsoft or its affiliate to conduct activation to associate it with a certain device. You can also activate the software manually by Internet or telephone. In either case, transmission of certain information will occur, and Internet, telephone and SMS service charges may apply. During activation (or reactivation that may be triggered by changes to your device’s components), the software may determine that the installed instance of the software is counterfeit, improperly licensed or includes unauthorized changes. If activation fails, the software will attempt to repair itself by replacing any tampered Microsoft software with genuine Microsoft software. You may also receive reminders to obtain a proper license for the software. Successful activation does not confirm that the software is genuine or properly licensed.

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/windows-10-oem-keylicense-off-ebay/a90bf3c5-e7c7-45ee-959c-6c5415af4b7d

I think we'll just need to agree that there's just no way you'll be able to overcome the bizarre fixation on "activation key." There're no sellers of "activation keys" and no buyers. Nor is an "activation key" "licensed" in any way. No such thing exists. It's not in the portion of the license agreement you quoted. Therefore there's no such thing as "licensing elsewhere" of an "activation key." That is imaginary. Your reference isn't to official M'soft policy but to an opinion by an employee who's hedging w/ "probably." Do you read the M'soft tech support forums often? 'Nuff said.

As you can't understand the process of Windows installation and activation, you aren't qualified to discuss the matter of keys sold online by third-party vendors.

Hence I would advise members interested in purchasing online product keys cheaply to pay no attention to your confused posts on the subject. Is an online license worth USD15? Yep, members can decide for themselves.

After ignoring my other points--you're welcome to the education; find that download link yet?--you've conveniently misinterpreted the significance of the terms of the license agreement. The product keys sold cheaply by reputable vendors on the net are genuine keys and your using one of them does constitute a proper use of the license--strictly speaking--and so your copy will be properly activated when it contacts M'soft. That your copy is subject to the same rule as the copy for which you paid your THB3900 means doesn't mean your copy isn't properly licensed.

And so far out of the thousands of product keys sold cheaply online for the past few years nobody has reported any serious problems. As noted, M'soft wouldn't wish to do that. It's even been lax w/ upgrades of pirated Win 7 copies. M'soft really wants you to use Win 10 for obvious reasons.

So, we done? That was fun.