Kaoboi Bebobp

We have 3BB over here in my Darkside complex. Speeds were appalling. Or rather no speeds. I resorted again to my DTAC personal hotspot, which was showing 20+ mb/s. Have to say there's never been a single spot of trouble when using DTAC. However, I use it only as a backup since it would be very costly to stream YouTube videos etc.

I still infuriates me that there is NO major supermarket on the darkside; despite all of the construction going on, from the damn tunnel, to the "Grand Canyon" hole in Soi Siam CC, to the motocross track that used to be Patanakarn Road, to the major drain projects on Nernplubwarn and Nongprue Road. It is virtually an all day project to do any significant amount of shopping from here now. Yet the damn "entrepreneurs" fail to recognize the potential gold mine of a supermarket for the exploding population base over here - especially now! What the hell is wrong with them?

Hopefully that new shopping mall thing being built on Soi Khao Noi will have a supermarket.

Where is that? There seems to be an abandoned project on Khao Noi beside the Mini Big C, which is on Khao Noi (Boonsampan) when it turns southward. It comes before Murphy's Pub when you're going outbound. The project looks untouched for months.

And yes, it's an absolutely miserable journey to get to the other side for the supermarkets. I tend to cross over mid- to late-evening for shopping. Recently I had to pull over when the highway cops were checking licences. Twice in 5 days, and they block the u-turn below Khao Noi, forcing you to go all the way to Tai and retrace your route to get to Klang. Aggravating.

I'll soon be moving from the Darkside to behind Big C Extra. So the Max Value takeout food appeals (was a regular at a Bangkok outlet) as does the (future) ice rink. I'm going to buy some skates back home (that'd be Canada) and take up skating again for some exercise. Hope it'll have some decent skating room.

Overall, the new mall sounds serviceable.

Gave up after 1 minute. I have no patience for endless pretty promo photos and fancy graphics when I am looking for meaty information.

The beaches on the gulf side are in pretty bad shape with regards to trash. A lot is washed out via the rivers and because it's a bay, it floats around forever. Go a few miles off shore and it's crazy what you see in the water. Terrible.

The sea side is much better as a lot gets swept out to the open ocean.

I'm a beach nut and have been to a majority of them between the Cambodian border and Nakhon Si Thamarat, and between Ranong and Koh Lanta. The closer you are to the Chao Praya river, the worse they are.

Somewhat illustrative of most Thais' careless attitude about garbage. One day on the Bangkok Saen Saep klong taxi, I watched a woman on her canal-side "veranda" holding a plastic bag and food clamshell and then just tossing it into the water. She caught my long, hard stare. No doubt that floated to a Thai beach.

Now, there are also many Thais who do the right thing and pitch garbage into the containers. But it all falls apart when the garbage collection companies "dispose" of the refuse any way they can right under the noses of authorities. They just don't get it. Oh, and we won't talk about those who openly burn volatile refuse in their backyards and on sidewalks . . .

Yes, even Thais are saying it first. You know it's hot when rivulets of sweat begin their course while having a ciggie on the balcony and it's 0900. And I turned on the a/c afterward.

If you're happy buying meats and veg at the local markets, then you can go to (what I call) the Railway Market, at Nern Pub Wan and Railway Bypass Road.

For really good meats (all frozen but high quality), I visit the Prime Meats outlet on Nern Pub Wan. It's really hard to describe where it is though. Eastbound on NPW, it's about 1.4 km from the Pizza Hut, which comes after the Pizza Company. When you are near, you will pass under the high-tension electrical wires and towers, then a small sub-soi, lefthand side. There are two signs directly over NPW for Dariva Place. Just after the sub-soi corner is a shophouse row, first unit is Prime's. You usually see a small delivery truck parked. Prime is written on the window decal. You have to press the outdoor bell button for service.

For almost everything though, I still tend to slug it across Sukhumvit to Friendship, Foodland and Big C Extra.

In my recent intense search for a rental condo, I saw loads of available units online and in person. One agent (who is terrific) showed me 4 units, all of which had been taken off the market because there are no buyers. They sure as heck hadn't had a resident in a long long time, with rusty water coming out of the taps. And rents have come down considerably. One unit had been listed at 28,000 previously but was going for 22,000/mo after being on the sale market for a year. It was a beautifully wood-finished 100+ sq metre 2-bedroom in a nice central quiet location. You couldn't get this for 28K in Bangkok, more like 35K-45K. Too big for me, by the way. The cleaning!

Was the Italian place at what is now a big blank space on Arunothai? Looks like a new, big development going in.

A TWO-year? When I got mine, the first licence was for only 1 year.

Thank you. One great mystery explained. LOL

From Siem Reap you can fly Bassaka Air to PP for $25 to $55 one-way. Then 6-hour bus from PP to HCMC. Or fly Vietnam Air. Expensive.

This thread came back at a perfect time. I'm in Siem Reap and tomorrow returning to Thailand where I will stay. Four trips to SR in the last 15 months and I just could not pull the trigger on moving to Cambodia for pretty much all the reasons listed above over the last half year or so. I lived in PP before, by the way, but would not live there now because it's gone out of control. (Would you want try to go to the airport when the Boo Young project and Lion Mall project come onstream on Russian Blvd.? No way, even with the new flyover.)

Individually, I like the Khmer people and I like the fact foreigners can work on their businesses first-hand because you get a much better experience at bars, restaurants and other businesses owned by barangs. In Thailand this is almost impossible. There are many great restaurants in SR and PP.

If I left Thailand, I would be giving up a lot of positive things: better infrastructure, somewhat cleaner environment, impressive variety and quality of food and meal ingredients, dependable, inexpensive and better quality accommodation, better banking services (ATM money transfers and easy transfer between banks), and no matter your experiences, a clear and wide ranging visa system that does take care of retirees (whereas in Cambodia, still no one knows if an Ordinary visa holder has to get a work permit).

Here's what happened to me in the first 3 hours in SR: 1. My pre-booked top-end taxi was damaged in the afternoon by a fleeing drunk motorcycle driver who t-boned the car while it was parked downtown and it had to be taken out of service. BTW, same price as a tuktuk! 2. The immigration officer who processed me found a loose receipt in my passport and literally flipped it at me in the air. By a fluke, the paper landed on his counter. When I checked my stamp, as I always do, I couldn't find the "in" stamp. Then I found he skipped four blank pages, stamped it upside down and in the middle of a blank page. I questioned him but he said "no problem". They're a quietly surly bunch. (Later a Khmer native told me how when she arrived one time, she heard an officer say very rude and disgusting things in Khmer to a tourist). 3. My booked hotel double room did not have a fridge and in fact no rooms had fridges in the entire hotel, including my planned upgrade $30/night "Deluxe" room. I stayed one night but the TV remote didn't work, the mosquitoes had a party, there was nowhere to put my laptop or butt for some internet therapy, my late afternoon coffee and other empty meal plates on the entrance terrace were still there when I got home at 10 pm despite countless staff passing toward the front desk.

Last, it's stinking hot in SR at the best of times. But none of the bars I visited bothered to chill the beer glass, except one (Silk Gardens), before serving, including one serving in which the glass had clearly just come out of the warm rinse water.

This is Cambodia. But it's not for me.

They've probably already copied the stamp in China and Made in Thailand products are rolling off the assembly lines.

Hmmm, over here on the Darkside, had a couple of momentary outages 0900 or so. More accurately, my computer blanked out twice. Don't know if it's related to a general outage.

Same at the Pattaya Klang exit from Suk. Northbound at night it's blinding.

Is the Vietnam Embassy / Consulate in Bangkok easy to get to via MRT or BTS?

BTS Chitlom station. Get off on the even-soi side. Walk down Wireless Road. Viet embassy across the street from the massive US embassy.

Panda Rider send me an email for now modular Airoh all colors and all size out of stock...

I think I'll take my modular Airoh from Europe

A warning. I've had an Airoh modular. It is really really heavy, heavier than a full-face helmet. I gave up on it after a couple of months.

GT Rider on Google maps

Is it this shop HERE ?

Yes.

Sorry, just saw your location question. GT sells Shark, Bilmola (I had two, the first one I successfully tested on asphalt) and Arai, I think. But it's been 1.5 years since I went in there.

And there's a good selection of quality helmets at GT Rider on Pattaya Tai at the corner of Soi 8, north side of street.

I was suggesting YES coffee in Big C Xtra earlier in this thread. Unfortunately I have some bad news, the owners just sold their business to someone else, I believe Thai muslims. They use a different coffee machine and now the coffee tastes just like any other 'below average' coffee in Thailand.

The YES sign is still up but will be replaced with another company sign within 3 months according to the new owners.

Now I'm trying to find out where the old owners have relocated , they wouldnt tell me.

If you want good coffee now at Big C , go upstairs and pay 60 baht at the other coffee place.

Good luck finding a seat up there. They should expand.

So, the coffee is good at this small cafe on the 2nd floor? Several years ago I was not impressed but then it's hard to find a good strong Americano that isn't watered down. But this cafe is always busy so I suppose this is a good sign.

YES Coffee was pretty good but I did notice recently the coffee has gone downhill and I did see new staff running the counter a month or two ago.

INCORRECT.......Friendship is always cheaper then big.

Kraft Mayo BigC 111, Friendship 89

Oberti can of olives Big C 95 , Friendship 68 i can go on and on, Once Carefour was bought out all Big C did was a raise there prices.

And when Villa starts an advert, within 2 days Friendship either matches or beats there price.

Great thread, OP. Thanks for all the work.

Each of us buys different sets of things, you really can't buy everything in one stop and we each live close to one market so tend to shop there. Living on the Darkside, on Nern Pub Wan, nothing is close.

That said, everything (but one item) I used to buy at Foodland is cheaper at Friendship -- at times 5-20 baht cheaper an item. I only "discovered" Friendship about six months ago. So my ranking goes: Friendship (nearly everything I want), Big C Extra (some meat), Foodland (it's handier for an item or two). I rarely go to Villa or Lotus or TOPS.

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The military guy with the assault rifle reflects very bad planning. RTP could have such firepower on standby but kept them in a covered vehicle and out of camera shot. But the image looks so bad.

I think the RTP is acting on security orders, which were passed on to the RTP by a security boss Jan. 29 (as per news item) after receiving the U.S. warning. There will be more ID checks, for sure.

I would suggest to the commenter laughing at the idea of tourists reconsidering their Thailand travel plans due to a demand they carry their passports is a situation that signals a very real issue because it implies civil security problems. Not good for tourism.

As for diversions to Cambodia: In the last 15 months, I've visited Siem Reap 3 times and Phnom Penh 4-5 times. Everyone I met is a former tourist/expat resident who has chosen to dismiss Thailand entirely or cut short their visits and moved on to Cambodia. As stated by some, there is not just one reason but many, including visa troubles. But both cities are teeming with foreigners who have said their goodbyes to Thailand.

Where do you actually live?

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An hour and a half to Swampy airport or several more hours to DMK.

My Initial question was:

Since the ban day is on the 22th.

Will the club in Walking street close the night from the 21th to the 22th. OR close the night from the 22th to the 23th?

At 11:30 pm the 21st, they will start closing and generally want booze off the table by midnight. Even the odd bar that could be depended on to continue serving behind closed doors have stopped doing this as the police/military make their rounds. No exceptions these days.

The next night some places may start serving around 11 pm the 22nd, but that's inviting trouble and so they may not even resume service until safely after midnight.

Hmmm.....another nail in the tourism coffin I suspect

This cracks me up. Millions of tourists frantically looking for a substitute country on the miniscule chance they may have to show a passport... W O N T Happen

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As I've already stated, I've already decided to divert 10 people to Cambodia in September instead of Thailand. While this isn't the only reason, it's the icing on the cake.

Thailand is just rubbish at the moment, and if they want to treat tourists like children or criminals, good luck with that.

They won't be doing it to me.

The military guy with the assault rifle reflects very bad planning. RTP could have such firepower on standby but kept them in a covered vehicle and out of camera shot. But the image looks so bad.

I think the RTP is acting on security orders, which were passed on to the RTP by a security boss Jan. 29 (as per news item) after receiving the U.S. warning. There will be more ID checks, for sure.

I would suggest to the commenter laughing at the idea of tourists reconsidering their Thailand travel plans due to a demand they carry their passports is a situation that signals a very real issue because it implies civil security problems. Not good for tourism.

As for diversions to Cambodia: In the last 15 months, I've visited Siem Reap 3 times and Phnom Penh 4-5 times. Everyone I met is a former tourist/expat resident who has chosen to dismiss Thailand entirely or cut short their visits and moved on to Cambodia. As stated by some, there is not just one reason but many, including visa troubles. But both cities are teeming with foreigners who have said their goodbyes to Thailand.