LarryLEB

In our condo, the North end of each room is floor-to-ceiling glass, with half of that being the typical sliding panel. These definitely do leak air. For example, when we head to bed, the purifiers in our sitting/dining/kitchen area read 001 or 002 (PM2.5). When we get up in the morning and turn them on, they (recently) have been starting at the 020 to 025 range (with the a/c off). So, the polluted air does enter around the glass panels.

That is NOT the case. We live in a 16th floor condo only 500 meters from the sea. On days like today and yesterday (right now the air "quality" rating is again the highest in Thailand at 159 µg/m³), Ko Larn can barely be seen because of the pollution. (On some days, it cannot be seen at all!) So, being near the sea does not help much, if any.

The air conditioners do not draw in air from outside. They simply cool the interior air. As I said in my original post, yesterday we opened the air purifiers and they read the PM2.5 in our condo as 30 µg/m³. Within 25 minutes, with the air con running, the reading was down to only 4.

Friendship Supermarket on Pattaya Tai or Villa Market on Second Road.

At 10:00 a.m. this morning (January 16), Pattaya's air quality was the worst in Thailand. According to IQAir, the reading was 153. From the same source, the pm2.5 concentration was 59.4 µg/m³, of which the site states: "PM2.5 concentration in Pattaya is currently 11.9 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value." We have 2 air purifiers we use in our sitting room/kitchen/dining room area (about 70 square meters). When they were opened this morning, they read the PM2.5 in that area as 30 µg/m³ they now read about 10, and will continue to decrease. At night each of our 2 bedrooms has one air purifier running and can keep the PM2.5 below 3 or 4.

Mike Lister, please note that lamloki asked the above question about what exemptions we get in our HOME country. Please read my complete post, which includes lamloki's post above!

Thanks for posting the link. To do my one-year extension of OA visa, which do I select,,, Long-Term Extension, OR Retirement Purpose?

It is one one-baht stamp for every 80 baht spent. More on certain promotions. (Last time they did the stamp thing, it was one one-baht stamp for every 50 baht spent.)

First, what a great thread! Someone mentioned Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone) with one of the all-time best musical scores by Ennio Morricone. It certainly deserves to be highly rated. So many great flicks were listed by other posters, including Mulholland Drive, The Big Lebowski, Unforgiven, True Romance, The Wages of Fear (1953). The only poster who mentioned a movie on my all-time top-10 list mentioned Les Enfants du Paradis. So difficult to choose only 3, but here goes: Grave of the Fireflies (a Studio Ghibli film, 1988, directed by Isao Takahata), Tokyo Story (1953, Yasujiro Ozu ), and Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974, Rainer Werner Fassbinder). Ozu is my favourite director of all time.

WOW! Desperate Living. We have another John Waters fan: great! Edith Massey (known to many as the "egg lady") as Queen Carlotta. That was the only feature film Waters made without the great actor/actress Divine before Divine's death in 1988.

Yes! The original Wages of Fear (directed by Clouzot). What a great choice!

30 or 35 years ago, while on holiday in Bangkok, I remember reading in the leading English-language Thai newspaper that living in Bangkok had the equivalent effect of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Additionally, the newspaper reported that, at an given point in time, over 1/3 to 1/2 of traffic police suffer from respiratory ailments. This was during the months of June, July, and August. So, serious air pollution problems in Bangkok are nothing new, but go back decades. In the recent years, the months of December through February or March have been the worst here in Pattaya. Our air purifiers get their workouts in those months. BUT, they reduce the indoor pollution levels by over 95%.

Beware the vocabulary police!

Agreed. On my last mortgage, I also had payments made WEEKLY to further reduce the interest. (Just dividing your monthly payment by 4 and paying weekly.)

I very much agree with Sheryl regarding colonoscopy. I had my first one done at BPH about five years ago (I was 65 at the time, and should have had it done much earlier!). The gastroenterologist removed a dozen or so polyps during the colonoscopy. He remarked that 2 or 3 of them would likely have become cancerous in another few years (3 or 4). In the post-colonoscopy appointment, he showed me the photos of the polyps removed. At the time, the all-in price was close to 25K Baht, so all-in currently at 19K is a great price. If you would like the name of the gastroenterologist, please PM me. Regarding your checkup, I had mine done at BPH also (about 16 months ago), and it revealed one or two conditions that needed attention (one of which was heart-related). Since then, that condition has been controlled with inexpensive medication. All in all, you are making an excellent decision!

He is actually 74 years old.

Here is another take on karma. A true story... About 10 years ago, I made a withdrawal of 100,000 Baht at a bank on Pattaya Tai. I then popped into Tukcom, and privately decided to count the money. DUH! Should have done it while in the bank! When I counted it, it came to 101,000 Baht. So, I went back to the same cashier and had her recount it. Sure enough, 101,000. I gave here the extra 1,000 with profuse thanks from her. Still with me? When I got outside again, I bought a lottery ticket with the number 101. On lottery day, the ticket won me 2,000 Baht. Total coincidence, right? But, makes you wonder ... .

MrJ2U said: "It's actually 8.5 million after deducting. Salaries, bills, etc." In this country, it's the etc which really takes a cut.

My reply: I just checked the above website for the cost of a colonoscopy. The Australian average cost was $2,165. At 23.03 THB to the Australian dollar (as of today), that works out to 49,864 Baht. I had a colonoscopy done in Pattaya at BHP in June 2022. The total cost was just under 21,000 Baht. So that is at least one procedure which is much cheaper at a private hospital here in Pattaya. I didn't use insurance, but paid cash for the procedure. This was the third colonoscopy I have had at BHP in Pattaya. The first found some pre-cancerous polyps, so money well spent.

Actually, beam them up, Scottie.

I entered Thailand on O-A in May 2011. I've been in Jomtien since then. Immigration here requires the mandatory insurance. I bought my insurance from a Thai company in a couple weeks after my arrival in 2011, so I already had it before the mandate was brought in. I will change to O sometime in the next year, so I have more decision room as the policy rates increase with age.

When I was in high school (Grades 9 - 12) in Canada, my father insisted that I add a Typing class to my curriculum. I did so for all 4 years of high school. These were the days before electric typewriters. He said it would be very helpful when I entered University. And, he was right! Brilliant! Can still touch-type today: probably 50 - 60 wpm.

In the last few months, I've had 2 molars extracted. Both extractions were complicated, and I had them done by a dental surgeon at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. Since then, the same doctor did an implant to replace one of the molars. Very happy with all the work done. PM me if you would like the name of the doctor.

I understand the poster's hankering... A few months ago, I knew I was having some dental surgery done soon, so I bought a box of Cream of Wheat at Villa Market in Pattaya. Had to eat soft foods for a few weeks.... In the past, I had declined to buy it due to the nearly 500 Baht price tag. However, it turns out that the box makes 15 or 16 very big servings (2 cups water; 6 tablespoons Cream of Wheat). At just over 30Baht per serving, the price is really not a concern. I will continue to buy it. Toss some vanilla extract (fake or real) in the water, add some protein powder after cooking, and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. To the OP, I say, GO FOR IT and order from Villa Bangkok. "You'll be glad you did!"