nss70

Good Thai restaurants in falangland are few and far between.

When we lived in the south of the UK we found just 2. One in Guildford and the other in Eastleigh.

The rest were mostly poor to passable, London seemed to have the worst. Some new ones were ok for while and dropped in quality pretty quickly. All the ones we tried were run by Thais and had Thai cooks.

I think the main problem is most places westernise their food to fit western tastes (they think) and/or concentrate on fancy presentation to justify stupid prices. Therefore, anyone who likes actual Thai food is most likely going to find it too sweet, too mild, too bland etc.

Maybe the tellers at the branches used are less capable than the branch I use.

I've changed both my passport and phone number with Bangkok Bank, both took a single visit and IIRC about 4 forms to fill in. They cancelled my bank book on both occasions and issued a new one on the spot.

Entire process was approx. 30mins each time.

I have to say wifey's English improved massively over a very short period of time but she does seem a natural (she could speak three asian languages and so so English when we met) with languages as is our daughter. I did not speak to her in pigeon English, ever and discouraged her from using it.

I am bilingual (NOT a natural it took me many years)  but not with Thai, I'm not generally encouraged to use it and find it tough to remember new vocabulary and those devilish tones but still try to improve beyond my current, fairly pitiful standard.

I've asked to be moved before when my "neighbour" was nearly half over my seat. The stewardess obliged quite happily.

If some one is wider than the seat they have booked then they should pay for two. On the flip side airlines should also have, as already proposed in this thread, a few extra wide seats for extra wide people. They can charge whatever premium they deem necessary.

^^^^^^^

Quite agree!

Had my Lloyds Spain account become Santander and my Nationwide UK account.

Service and charges were appalling at both. Shut them down PDQ and satisfied with the replacements.

The problem is caused by humans and then exacerbated.....by humans.

I don't like the fact that some locals feed the legions of cats here but at least their hearts are in the right place. The cold view would be don't feed them, let them hunt for themselves (keep the rats in check & WHY) and food levels will adjust their numbers as nature intended. Unfortunately us humans have already messed up natures ways so it's only us to blame. Add to that a skewed view, I for example, do have this cold view to cats but not to dogs, "awwwww da pwiddy leeedle puppy", which is grossly unfair of course and unhelpful.

Some people take it on themselves to help and neuter these animals in a small effort to genuinely help. I have just donated to one such person in order to continue/increase their efforts, I don't have the heart to do it myself but am happy to encourage those who do.

Come on OP, it's not the animals fault but there are ways we can all help the situation.

I agree on the cheaper models for all domestic appliances but if they're something special a repair is worthwhile.

Correct, same for commercial ovens. Only a problem with these if you get corrosion spots.

Having seen this actually happen on a couple of occasions I'll be erring on the side of safety. The gap involved in one case was approx. 1cm (arcing points clearly burned) and the other more.

All by the by though. I just want to track down the touch up paint.

Cheers.

The problem occurs when the potential of arcing from one point of bare metal to another is possible. If bare metal points are on the same surface it shouldn't matter. However, if an ARC or shortcut of energy can be made from one surface to another because of both having bare metal points this can be problematic.

It's the same as a metal spoon being ok in a mw but a fork is not.

It's on the inside and bared metal will lead to arcing inside the cavity until the oven simply fails or exits life in a more explosive manner.

NEVER use a microwave that has chipped or flaked away paint on the internal surfaces of the oven cavity. It can be very dangerous.

We  have a decent microwave that we don't want to bin for the sake of a couple of flaked off paint spots.

Does anyone know where I can get said paint in Thailand. Mail order is fine or somewhere abroad that will send to Thailand.

TIA

46 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

 

Because these low budget places really have little to no web presence and the like's of Agoda have little interest in their 10 - 15% commission on such small amounts.   

Apart from some new start ups 15% is the minimum charged, rising to 35% if the hotel signs up for preferred ranking.

Cheap hotels really can't afford to be signed on with the big boys of the internet.

For smaller hotels (<50 rooms?) Call direct and cut out the middle man.

My son has just been a month ago, showing an outward bound flight but not funds, although he had that too if it had been asked for.

Seem to help in semi open spaces, porch, varander, balconies. If you're not a smoker you will object to their smell and I wouldn't use them in an enclosed space.

On 30/12/2017 at 9:08 AM, theguyfromanotherforum said:

What hotel lets you pay as you go? It's not a phone service. If you didn't pay for the days you will be staying already then buh bye.

Completely agree. A hotel will take the assured payment any day over a maybe. It's just normal business sense, especially in high season.

If you want the room for x amount of time, pay for it up front (normal procedure) and it's yours.

I have an ancient Dell Inspiron (originally xp now w7) laptop that I gave the ssd treatment to several years ago and maxed out the ram to 2gb.

It's still running very snappily today although it's one heavy beast by today's standards.....christmas is nearly here though!

Ok thanks. Thats what we are hoping for.

New complication!

My son has re-entered Thailand on his 60 day SETV but we've just noticed he has been stamped for 30 days at Suv. airport.

A visit to immigration in Patong came up with zero as they advised a border run to correct it which will obviously expire the visa.

We're going to the main Phuket office tomorrow to see if they can fix it or if indeed the visa trumps the stamp by entry date alone?

Any pointers before we go are appreciated.

On 10/12/2017 at 4:17 PM, carlyai said:

Hi, lucky escape. I just checked mine, mostly plastic. Is it like this one?

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

Had a black one on the same design, doubted its effectiveness and discarded it after detecting a slight burning smell from it.

Re pan fires, a damp towel/blanket is the best way to douse.

We would have to make the Thai birth certificate to apply for the passport anyway so may as well do the both.

According to the  consulates website (London) we must all be there in person for the application appointment so we'll put this off until our next trip to the UK in May/June next year and renew his tourist visas in the meantime.

As said above he'll dodge the draft as long as he's not in the blue book.

All good stuff, cheers guys.

Now that is a very useful post samran.

I shall investigate this immediately as it could be an extremely easy answer to his problem.

Cheers

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Thanks to both of you for your answers, both useful information.

For this time I guess a tourist 60+30 is the best way to go. Giving us time to rethink, possibly on the ed visa as above.

Any up to date preference on consulate for easiest application with the least demanding requirements?