brummiebob

That's even less than what the Thais gets deducted from their salary for the 'free' healtcare, even if you have to wait three to six hours to see a doctor, that's a good deal

I know many of us can't/won't get credit cards but there's alternatives.

Many debit cards/atm cards can be used as a credit card too, I've used KBank's debit card number for many online shopping place that doesn't accept debit cards.

KBank also offers a virtual credit card called K-Web Shopping Card that's tied to a debit card/account, and this card number will be recognized as a proper credit card, and even has credit card facilities like charge dispute that affords you more protection than just using debit card alone.

granted, when buying things like flight tickets or hotels that will require you to present the actual card when checking-in you won't be able to since the card is virtual. But in my uses so far, I haven't got into trouble booking hotels with the virtual card yet.

Bangkok Bank debit card's supposed to be able to be used in this manner also; but I haven't found them to be 100% accepted at the places that I use

I know how it works, a couple of Thai Bath place on Ratchada even has them on the menu, but when it's sold at the pharmacies and such it's in such a small bottle. And the non-PG videos I've seen seems to use heaps of them.

Does it wash off easier than lube though?

I think the staff tried to communicate that there will be no free pair with the second pair, but comes out as no free pair at all, not even the one that came with the first one

What's the difference between the NuRu jel and KY jelly? does it relaxes the muscle for massage?

Serious question, I'd only seen Nuru Jelly in spa with happy endings

Best one I had was at Mata Hari, but it's a bit pricey

Having experienced both, I'd say the Thai schools(the middle class ones, not cheap government ones like Pattaya School 1-5) are good for making connections with real people, your kids will get to be friends with the Thai Middle class, with parents that have their own business or are in high-paying job, but the curriculum will suck the life out of the kid, but your kids will have friends and connections that will set her up for life in Thailand, and being a foreigner in Thai school is still quite rare, so she'll be quite popular, but might be stereotyped as the token Farang.

International school are a bit lax in content academically compared to Thai schools, but Thai schools only focus on rote learning, if your kids goes to international school, she will be behind the Thais in Maths and Science, but only in textbook stuff. Thai schools don't teach how to think, creativity and how to solve problems. Thai school will discipline the life out of any child.

best bet would be both, start your child on Thai school, there are many with bi-tri lingual program which costs almost the same as international school now, but you will be friends with thai middle class families, if it works out stays but send your child to university overseas, of if it doesn't sends her to international high-school after she finishes primary school

Assumption school in Sri Racha is very good ,our son went there , its a catholic school but 98% of the pupils are Bhuddist ,its equally as good if not better thab Regents which i feel is vastly overpriced ,

That's a boys school is it not? or has it become co-educational now

the question is where's the original expiry date? the one in Thai can't be from the manufacturer, maybe it's on the plastic wrappping of the actual product?

I've witness staff scraping off expiry date and put on their own label in Pattaya Supermarkets too

I live on Srinakharin and am eagerly awaiting the yellow line (monorail?) from Lard Prao to Pak Nam

It used to be that every overpass on the road leaves room in the middle for pylons either to construct either an express way/skytrains but recent developments like an underpass at UdomSuk intersection and the road widening, installing drains in the middle of the road had me worried,

if the yellow line were to go ahead, the cost to relocate these infrastructure or needing to purchase private land to construct around these obstacle could make the whole thing financially unfeasible.

After the master plan being adhere to for the past decade, with everyone leaving room for future expansion, the whole thing seems to have been chucked out the window in the last few years.

I have experienced this with my staff, they are expecting what comes out of the white man's mouth to be English, and are unprepared for the Thai that comes out of your mouth, I would repeat what my customers just asked the staff in Thai and their eyes would widen, yes deer, he was asking you in Thai.

And sorry if I reply back to you in English, but really, there are some of you who would be better to stick to English, sometimes you dumb down the language to the level of 'me tarzan, you jane' and it is unbearable to decipher.

I had a similar experience when I went to Australia (I look Thai) I went into a McDonald's in some redneck part of the country and ask for a McChicken, the staff keep insisting that they only sell burgers and not Mexican Foods, may be they thought I'm a lost Japanese tourist or something. When I'm on the phone usually there would be no problem, but in person when for some, when they see me speak perfect English, would have some reaction, some would condescendingly comment on 'oh, you speak pretty good English' as if I am a speaking dog or something.

Just a quick update. I returned to this same shop again for a couple of bits on the way home.. Was only buying 3 items and yet again was charged more than the label price for one of the items. This time I was watching as the items were scanned and pointed it out before paying. The item was then reduced to the sticker price.

It was only a small amount but this has happened to me both times I have shopped at this place in the last few days.

It really makes me wonder how often this happens, and how many customers actually notice it. I admit it wasn't a large amount of money, however it's the principle.

Either keep an eye on the computer at the checkout or check your receipts!

I think there's only a couple of place in Pattaya that still does price sticker on the products, most Big, International chains just have price on the shelves these days

There is secure parking for motorbikes next to the terminal. 30 baht per day. If you are facing the entrance to the Pattaya Bus Terminal on Pattaya Nua, it's just to the left. Drive in and go toward the back. I've used several times and it's a nice choice.

I was there yesterday and the parking facility is gone, there are some sort of construction going on, maybe I've missed the entrance or something, but I could't see the way in to the for pay carpark anymore, could anyone around there confirm?

I've used the parking guy in the past and it was good

Don't park inside the terminal though, you will be towed away and you have to pick your car up from the police pound in Jomtien

Does anyone happen to know if there is a way underneath the expressway? So if I would ride my motorcycle down until the last soi before the expressway, and then turn left and later to the right to cut underneath and come back on sukhumvit somewhere before nana?

It's called Petchburi Road, you make a left at the big intersection where the UK embassy used to be, then take a right, there you can go under the expressway and on to the back of NaNa.

Actually if you dismount and push your bike through on the sidewalk, this is technically legal too, but count on the boys in brown to start manufacture or look for faults to do with your vehicle. I've seen the Thais do it when coming upon checkpoints while riding against traffic or without helmets and get away with it by getting out of the bike and start pushing.

My wife stands on one side of the scanner, and I stand on the other. I noticed that stores like Macro will try to scan several items simultaneously, without putting anything in the bag. I do not even know how they keep track of what has been scanned, and what has not. It would be a simple matter to scan something twice. In the meantime, there is an older lady trying to get our attention (misdirection?) so that we do not scrutinize the cashier. I have never once been given anything free by mistake, but it often happens that we pay twice for something.

Because there are no bags at Makro? (Unless you specifically buys them of course)

And they also have receipts checker when you leave, which is another can of worms altogether

This is the only sign in the Highway Code that means 'Free Left Turn' Yes, there's never accompanied by English,

Unless you see this sign, it means you must stop. Yes, the other cars behind you will honk, but he won't pay your fine should you turn left into the arms of a waiting policeman

other sign like 'no waiting red' or other such nonsence used in Pattaya has no legal standing except to even further confuse us with the police's limited English

For whole computers and mobile phones, not so much,

But for accessories or parts, things are a lot cheaper at Pantip in Pratu Nam Bangkok, even for chains like Banana IT or IT City, not just moms and pops store, and I find this to be true when comparing price between stores in Bangkok too, even Pantip in Bang Kapi or IT Mall in Ratchada is priced 5-10% higher than Pantip Pratunam.

But if you value convenience, buy it whereever you can visit, I find going to Pantip Pratu Nam quite a trouble going through all the traffic and having to pay for Parking on top of it all, let alone navigating the maze of the little shops being haggled to buy porn on the way up the myraid levels.

I've seen songtaew bus in Bangkok where the bottom part of the seats back are completely covered, that would solve the drive by snatching of bags from under the seat problem

this reservoir right in Bangkok behind Seacon Sq. on Srinakharin Road

has plenty of watersport from sailing to windsurfing, and it's run by Bangkok City hall, which is cheap compared to private business

Plastic Pellet BB guns are available at most market, despite being technically illegal

Anything heavier then 80gsm is unreasonably expensive for just photocopying, if you want to print something, sure. It's available in small packs at the stationery Sipaban too, but it only comes in small packs, not the full reams like the standard A4s. If all else fails, big computer stores usually stock 'photo paper' that's heavier and more absorbent too

BBC iPlayer seems worth the hassle of VPN or proxy

Has anyone taken the Bangna Trad road to Bangkok without using the Buraphawithi expressway recently?

I know there are roadworks that basically makes the whole roads unpassable in sections, but since that's been going on for a good part of the year now, has the situation improved?

I am not a cheap charlie, but it's the only direct road to Bangkok that's available to motorcycles, the other way would be to take a detour to Cha-Choensao or pretend to not know the law and take the Highway 7 Motorway and paty 1,000 baht fine at the tolls (and might not be able to go all the way)

its on True

same as True advertises the SyFy, Bio, Crime and Universal channels which True subscribers don't get

Doesn't make sense to me. Why advertise a channel they don't have? Or am I missing something?

True/CTH don't make these ads,(and are not responsible for the endless repeats either) they come from the channel themselves which are shown all over SEAsia

They just get the feeds from Fox/Universal, which, during the breaks shows ads for other channels, unfortunately true don't carry the Universal/Syfy channel, the ads is probably shown on the Diva(Hallmark) which comes from Universal.

It used to be that the local cable channel gets most of the Universal Channel, but sometime you'll see ads for something that's on AXN or Starworld which is on True

Now CTH gets Fox channels too which overlaps with true a bit.

It used to be that due to the law, True can't show ads since they are 'Pay TV' and they have to blank out the ad breaks and show public service announcement instead.

How can you specify tor to only use exit in the UK? I thought it's pretty much random where you ended up