Tapster

Thanks for the info. 

Wow! Shame about the umbrellas and seating. It was nice sitting by the water. 

We'll visit again soon and see how things look. 

I didn't know that those places had closed and reopened. We haven't been down there for about six months. 

Did all the restaurants close? 

Aren't they separate businesses? 

Why did they close? 

We often went to the furthest South one, run by Deng (?) and his wife. Friendly guy and decent food. 

The next one is run by a lady who is a lot of fun, definitely more sociable than Deng. The food's about the same but she has better umbrellas! 

This is sometimes useful for local restaurant news:

We rented in Rawai for seven months in 2014.

We paid a substantial deposit of almost 100,000.00 THB through a well-respected local agency.....can I mention it?......yes, because I have nothing to gain by it:

https://www.houseinphuket.com/

The lady's name is Wellta.

We got our entire deposit back, with no deductions at all.

We had a large house with pool, for 50k THB a month.

Incidentally, I would never pay that much now, knowing more about what's available and what it's worth. Definitely drive round to find the sort of area you like, then drive/walk/look around. There may well be somewhere nice for much less than your budget.

Good luck

It's a great shame that the forum has taken the downturn it has. 

Not all Forums do that, by a long way. I've been on many where everyone's friendly and respectful, with witty banter and no flaming or trolling. Amazing but true!

Does Thailand have that affect on some people; making them unhappy with their way of life and the culture of the country they're living in? Increasingly jaded cynicism.

You know, I think that Thailand is great in a lot of ways but there are enough obstacles to a happy and successful , fully integrated life for a foreigner, that I can see it "doing yer head in", if you're inclined that way in the first place.

As soon as I've recovered from a recent bout of Dengue fever, I'll get on to the bike repair.

Thanks all, for the advice,.

@happyas

You've only posted 84 times and a worryingly high percentage of those seem to be nitpicking.

Chill, man!

@Klom332

The extreme South of the island is well worth investigating. 

Chalong/Kata/Rawai/Nai Harn. 

Convenient for good shops, bars and restaurants and several beaches to the South and West (and less exciting ones, but still picturesque, to the East). 

Chalong - less of a holiday atmosphere, feels more inland. Lots of housing available. 

Kata - the most touristy area in the South. Lots of holidaymakers. Good beaches, restaurants and bars. 

Rawai and Nai Harn - a little touristy but with many quiet areas. Good beaches and restaurants and bars. 

In fact everywhere here has good restaurants and bars! 

@madmax2

At which of these workshops did you see a big bike? 

@happyas

A good point!

*chuckle*

Yes, it's electronic ignition, even though the engine is from the early 90's.

17 minutes ago, happyas said:

OP..just take it to the recommended shop as advised on this thread

Yes, but three places have been recommended. Do you know anywhere near Rawai that's good for so-called big bikes?

Thank you everyone. 

I'm going to check out these places ASAP........or are these both the same place? We shall see! 

I didn't think your post was offensive. Maybe you intended it to be so, hence the Freudian slip.

Anyway, domestic cats definitely don't kill on full stomachs.

Maybe other types of cat do, but not those I'm talking about in my OP.

I'll forgive you for not knowing that, because you're obviously not a cat lover.

I'm going shopping now, so that's all from me.

I bought orange-indicator silica gel (reversible by placing in oven at 105 Celsius).

Here are the contact details. I'm sure you can buy a smaller amount than the ten kilos I wanted.

On 23 July 2015 at 11:28, <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Tapster,

Thank you for your order. Your order id is '12270'
Detail of your order
 

No.	Product code	Name	Unit price	Quantity	Total Price
1	10007	Silica Gel Orange	150 Baht	10	1500 Baht
Net price :	1500 Baht
Fee for delivery by ThaiPost					255 Baht
Total price :					1755 Baht

@KarenBravo and @Ijustcashier

My OP asked about my cats. These are domestic cats (Felis catus), not feral cats, nor wild cats, nor big cats.

In my many years of experience with domestic cats, they don't over eat

My OP asked about my cats. These are domestic cats (Felis catus), not feral cats, nor wild cats, nor big cats.

In my many years of experience with domestic cats, they don't overeat. They do kill for fun and that's an unfortunate side of their character. However, they don't overeat, so my comment is correct.

I'm not asking about bloated lions after a buffalo kill, so your comments are at least not relevant and maybe unhelpful.

Oh, and if I may, please don't quote me 

"CattleDog Publishing - The Legacy of Dr. Sophia Yin"

Because that ain't science!

@KarenBravo

That's silly!

Cats are predators but they certainly stop when they're full.

If you can't get into the spirit of my OP,  please just don't post.

I was looking for advice, not negative and unhelpful comments.

That's 'riposte' 

*looking for reposte smiley*

Yes, this is my concern. 

Major let-down at the Hogfather!

A.)  I was on my own and had the combo; what should have been pulled pork was diced pork off-cuts, looking and tasting nothing like pulled pork. 

B.) I saw the "chef" put tin foil on the bbq and then warm up non-specific pork products in it. 

My only experience of real Texan bbq is being sent away because we didn't arrive in time and it was all gone.

I suppose you can't expect a Thai "USA BBQ" operation to cook everything as the customer arrives, but it's a bit of a con to warm up pre-cooked meat, isn't it? 

I have enjoyed two of my three visits, and the range of beers is good, and expensive. 

Comments? 

I can't fix this myself.......tried: replaced HT leads and cleaned plugs. 

I just want to get my Honda 700cc twin running again. 

Please help! 

Yes, I love those octopuses and cuttlefish. 

They're a lot of fun! 

But, the creature? 

What is it? 

@Panda13

So true, but he might rip up the furniture!

BTW, what in the name of the gods is the abomination pictured on your profile.

I hope it's not your offspring!

Yes, we did a liveaboard to Burma only three weeks ago.

It was rubbish!

Fishing boats everywhere and heard dynamite at least twice.

Fished out, and no big things (mantas, sharks, whale sharks)!

Boring, boring , boring........and ******* expensive!!!

Never again!       

Great!

Thanks for the link.