Harrywonka
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Posts posted by Harrywonka
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5 hours ago, fdsa said:
could you recommend any particular model please?
In both Pattaya and Phuket I used this model. https://www.powerbuy.co.th/en/hatari-เครื่องฟอกอากาศ-32sqm-hatari-ht-ap12filter-216364
More than one in both locations. Fair bit of info on the forums about air purifiers if you want to gen up on them.
The air filters for this model are very easy to find online and in Power Buy etc. About 900 Baht maybe I think roughly and all the Hatari purifiers I bought always seemed to come with a spare one anyway so thats a year or more sorted.
I doubled up on the recommended capacity which does really sort the air when its bad but also means you can run them at lower speeds when its not too bad, to make them quieter and still do the job.
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I lived in Pattaya for well over a decade until 2019 and have been visiting frequently since 1994. Visited Hua Hin dozens of times. Have been to 72 of the 77 provinces. Most more than once (Buriram 100 times lol)
I put up with the air pollution for the many months every year, with the aid of multiple air purifiers, but finally said enough is enough in December 2019.
I took the bus to Hua Hin en route to Phuket. (Phuket being a place I had avoided for years due to the memories of tossing a 5 Baht coin in Krabi city on Dec 24th 2004 which sent me right across to Nakhon SI Thammarat rather than Patong Beach for Christmas…)
Was going to stay in Hua Hin a while but, without the air purifiers it was hopeless.
I took an overnight bus to Surat Thani and when I woke up in the afternoon in the hotel I was amazed how much better the air looked.
Next day I took the bus to Phuket.
There was haze in the distance but compared to Pattaya/Hua Hin it was a dream.
I stayed at Patong in a 9th floor apartment from December 2019 to June 2020. Right through Covid lockdown.
Only real downside I found was the need for your own transport if you needed to get around much. Phuket taxies are expensive but as I was staying about 150 yards from the huge JungCeylon complex I had pretty much all I needed within walking distance.
There are cheap non air con buses around doing a few routes if you wish and also an air con one doing limited ones. (Maybe only one route, I never used it)
Taxis from Patong to Phuket town seemed to be about 500 Baht so hardly a problem anyway unless you need to do it a lot.
Patong was the most “pushy” part of the island but is, for obvious reasons, very quiet for the time being.
All in all, Phuket would certainly be the place to be. It is very varied in the kind of lifestyle on offer at the various locations.
Excellent health care, at a price, of course.
No idea on schools but it looks like others have anyway.
I will say,
1.As you have a child, get south asap. If you read up on the effects of air pollution on growing bodies you won’t like what you see.
2.When you find accommodation in Phuket, even though the air is usually far better than up north, buy some air purifiers. Even if only for the childs bedroom. Best investment you will ever make in your life. I use some now even though I am in the UK for a while.
When I was in Pattaya I used ones that exceeded the recommended room requirements by 100%.
On bad days, I could open my door and actually smell the pollution.
People with no purifiers couldn’t as they were used to breathing in the rubbish all the time. Sometimes it was like a kind of industrial, heavy fuel type stink. Once outside for a few minutes I didn’t notice it. It was obviously still there though…
I make videos, as a hobby, on my iPhone, so to give you a bit of an insight in what to expect, take a look at:
Some travel websites embedded it so even though its got nearly 6000 views there are only 2 “likes” as the sites had no “like” buttons.
The early bits are from December 2019 onwards. Notice the haze in the background but still far better than father north.
The actual air quality readings online were showing Phuket being hugely better than anywhere north of Chumphon.
Seriously, don’t even think about it. Get south and get south now.
If you want the name of the place where the 2 bed apartment I stayed at is let me know. It is most likely empty at the moment. It would give you a base for a while while you explore the island for your perfect home.
The owners (Indian family) speak perfect English (and Thai and Hindi come to that) and the place is very secure and within walking distance of pretty much anything you need while you explore.
As for a lot of the beaches, well, what can I say. A world better than the ones in Hua Hin etc!
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48 minutes ago, champers said:
Brighton Grand in Naklua opened about 6 weeks ago for the same reason, I believe.
After a walk around Naklua this evening showed that the few bars that are open are doing nothing whatsoever to avoid covid I imagine more quaratine hotels will be needed when the other bars eventually start opening.
I saw not one girl or customer using a mask. Business as usual.
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If arriving in Pattaya from Phuket (or anywhere else come to that) do I need to do any quarantine?
Harry
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Excellent! Thank you Agusts. I imagine that sums it up perfectly.
I was out walking today at 2pm. Yes, sure enough, Patong immigration office closed and looks like like it's been closed quite a while judging by all the dust and stuff lying about outside. Fair enough considering there is pretty much nothing for them to do at the moment.
Stuck on the door is the sign in the attached images, which confirms what it says on the immigration website.
Harry
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Much what I was thinking. So I have to sit next to a high covid risk person (taxi driver) in a metal box to go and come back from Phuket Town and pay him something like 500 Baht each way for the privilege and then mingle in with a load of other risk at immigration?
The blue busses aren't running yet are they? Sitting in the back of one of those red tuk tuk style taxi's seems the only other option.
I read on the main Thai immigration page that 90 day reports are not necessary yet but I also read Phuket immigration say it is.
Seriously, I have to be exposed to all this risk just to do some stupid 90 day thing? I am in the high risk age group (65) yet they don't seem to give a stuff.
I tried the online method. Firefox, Chrome and Safari but as expected, total rubbish.
I can't use Internet Explorer etc as I have a mac.
Harry
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Need to do 90 day report soon. Is Patong immigration open?
Harry
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Of course, if you print off that picture and take it to Numchai they may know straight awa. Make sure you have make and model details with you if you do just in case they ask.
Several things it could be, depending on make and model of fridge. May be some electrical sensor or other but each make has it's own reason for doing such things, as well as reasons common to all fridges.
UKwhitegoods may provide an answer or Numchai or suchlike.
Harry
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Google - ukwhitegoods -
Brilliant forums on there. That site helped my engineers out at times no end when I had the white goods business in UK.
You will most likely find an answer by asking on there, or you may even find it written already by someone.
Of course. Uk model numbers and Thai ones will be different I assume but you will work it out somehow.
Good luck.
Harry
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I would hazard a guess that the arrest of the lads this week will not make things any better by any means.
That's one gang of bike thieves out of action (for now anyway) but probably a few more will now realize, after seeing, or being told about, the news story, what a great opportunity for making money they have been missing by not knocking farangs off bikes and selling the expensive bikes and the farangs other possessions.
Most of them probably thought all bikes were bought in Tesco for 1200 Baht, until now.
Harry
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On front page online Pattayaone too. (Google Pattayaone) Harry
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Interesting story on front page Pattayadailynews today (Thursday 20th) re: local bike thieves. I don't think I am allowed to post a link or I would. Harry
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Hi all, I was a fridge repairman for many years in my younger days. Repaired them day in and day out. Onsite, and in our workshops. 1000's of them
The rolling over method used to work quite well sometimes on the fridges that worked off a heater element, rather than a compressor, when they had a system blockage.
Fridges are strange and temperamental creatures, so I won't rule anything out, but in general if you want to wreck a normal fridge, rolling it about without waiting for a sensible length of time before turning it on again is a fairly good way.
They will take pretty much any postion as long as you wait long enough for the compressor oil to drain back down to the compressor again before turning it on.
We even once had one standing on its head for weeks (can't remember why!) but after two days upright again we turned it on again and it went on for many years working well.
The problem comes when the oil that should be in the compressor is sitting in the pipes on the high pressure (out from compressor) side. Then it gets pumped at, I forget now, but something over 100 psi anyway, around the system.
When it hits the very small capillary tube and eventually the drier, blockages start developing, and the poor old compressor starts pumping overtime.
It may not burn out, or may do, depending on how much oil you left in the high side pipes, but it may not do it much good.
As I say, anything is possible with the temperamental things, but if you do start rolling one about, leave it turned off for at least an hour. It's very unlikely to fix it, though it seems to have done so for Andy.
We used to often transport them laying down (we made sure the high pressure pipe out from the compresor was pointing skywards, so no oil would go into it.) and tell the customer to leave it turned off for at least one hour.
In my great many years in that trade I never found any reason to say otherwise.
Harry
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Poster 4 mentioned gonorrhea being easy to cure. I wonder for how much longer. Below is from the American Centre for Disease Control (Its a major US gov agency in case you don't know)
"We're slowly losing our ability to fight gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted disease. Increasingly, gonorrhea is proving resistant to even the strongest forms of antibiotics. That means we may not be far from a time where some cases of gonorrhea can't be treated."
Good luck to all you Pattaya mongers when/if that happens. Harry
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Goodbye Glitterman. It took half the girls in Pattaya to put as many smiles on as many faces everyday as you did (though for different reasons!) and it would have taken any of us grumpy things on here a lifetime. It was a pleasure to have lived in Pattaya the same time as you. You will be missed. Harry.
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Hi all, when I said "Last year I used printouts of bank statements (British bank) to prove income at Pattaya (Jomtien) immigration" I meant I used the printouts to show the British Consulate at Jomtien to obtain proof of income letter. Things are changing at the consulate I believe, hence my question. No, I did not like the charge either. LOL. Harry
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Hi all, Last year I used printouts of bank statements (British bank) to prove income at Pattaya (Jomtien) immigration. Anyone know if printouts are ok for this year ? Things change so quickly over here! Harry
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So, assuming I moved into another apartment before I go to immigration, what then happens if I, for example, go for a weeks holiday to a hotel in Hua Hin? As the hotel is required to tell immigration of my staying there, am I still legally required to go to wherever is the nearest immigration office to Hua Hin to report my holiday also? Does seem a trifle over the top if so.
Harry
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Hi all, How long does it take to obtain the letter from Kasikorn verifying the amount in the account? (for immigration retirement extension purposes)
Is it a matter of walking in, waiting and collecting or coming back to collect another day?
Harry
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I am wondering if I should quickly move into the new condo before I visit immigration to save any possible problems. I am not quite ready yet really but if it means less problems then it can be done.
I tend to renew leases every month wherever I am, so as to minimise any time spent in any particular condo if a disco suddenly opens next door or another condo gets built next to it. I get a very good rate still as I am well known to the owners at the various places I tend to stay.
So, at immigration, is the one month condo/apartment lease any better than a receipt for a weeks stay at a hotel? Will they throw a wobbly if I show such short term rentals?
Harry
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The non "0" expires in about 12 days. If, for whatever reason, I do not get all the paperwork together by then, can I extend at Jomtien for a short while in order to remain in Thailand while I sort the retirement extension out?
Harry
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Hello all,
Going to Jomtien immigration next week. Currently on a one year non "o". Going to change to the over 50's "retirement" visa. As things would have it, I am just (as from 3 days ago) between condos at the moment, so am staying in a hotel for a couple of weeks.
Is this going to complicate things re: proof of address at the immigration office? I also need to get the British Embassy 'Proof of Income" letter in a few days and am not sure what address to get put on it.
I may, just, be able to wait for both until I get into another condo but will be touch and go. Is it worth waiting or should there be no problems?
Harry
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Hi again,
I will be travelling with a lady friend and don't especially need to be near any girly type bars.
I don't suppose we have to stay at any of those 3 anyway if any of you chaps can suggest a better one at similar price. We have no particular location in mind other than somewhere in Phuket.
Our stay will probably be from 3 to 7 days.
Harry
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Thanks for the replies chaps.
Re: Which Marriot. Good point. I'll check!
Harry
Phuket vs Hua Hin
in Phuket
Posted
And even in Phuket where the air is generally better, as well as the air purifiers, get some of this on the air con intakes. https://www.filtrete.com/3M/en_US/filtrete/products/~/Filtrete-Products/Air-Filtration/?N=4315+7568680+3294529207+3294857497&rt=r3
Air con fans move a mass of air and you will be amazed how much muck this stuff filters out.
Power Buy in JungCeylon, Patong is where I bought my Hatari purifiers by the way.