bkksteve123

Keep in mind, that area (Chang Khlan) is prone to flooding. If you have vehicles to park, I would avoid.

Sounds like you and your wife are in agreement: no free money for relatives. Which is great! So what's the problem?

6 hours ago, ukrules said:

The fees aren't the problem, it's the paperwork and financial audit that's the problem.

 

Agreed. I doubt many people are discouraged to travel here because of the fee itself. It's the hassle of applying for a visa, preparing the paper work and spending an afternoon applying for a visa at an embassy, and another trip to pick it up. Sure, if you live right next to the embassy no problem, but most people don't.

For example, my parents are retired, and would like to spend 45-60 days here in early 2023, but they will not bother getting a TR or going for an extension at immigration, so they plan to keep it under 30 days.

To boost arrivals and spending they should make the visa exempt stamp 90 days.

44 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

I haven't looked at the bill in a while but isn't 5 baht already about average? 

Not far off. I think around 4.5 THB per unit is the average for me. So can expect a 10-15% increase. Not the end of the world

The high humidity makes it feel colder than when it's 16C in Europe.

I live about 15km from you towards CM and lately the mornings have felt very chilly. No heating inside also makes it not so pleasant to get up from bed and shower. The usual shorts and t-shirt outsit is simply not enough until around 10am.

I'm enjoying it though!

In Chiang Mai I heard fireworks for the past 2 weeks, finally it stopped (I don't mind, but the dogs were driving me nuts)

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Thai’s do tend to ask silly, clumsy and outright silly questions - its not because they are being judgemental, its just because in many cases they do not think before asking... its often harmless and quite amusing, especially when handled well...

 

IF a person (*Thai or otherwise) was silly enough to ask me if I have covid... I’d answer something like, yes, but only in the mornings !!!! 

 

Just like when all the aunties asked when we are going to have children (when my Wife and I got married), my Answer was usually something along the lines of 9am next Saturday. 

 

 

-----

 

Mask wearing indoors in public is fine...  be curious, walk to your table in a restaurant then take off the mask after being seated (put mask in pocket, not on the table).

Mask wearing in a busy outdoor market, 7-11, supermarket etc.. of course - thats common sense.

Mask wearing when riding a bicycle - no, not when exercising or outdoors in a quiet area (and definitely not when doing hard exercise). 

 

Theres an intelligent balance and while some people do not possess the common sense to apply an intelligent balance, most people do and are not judgemental to those exercising discretion and common sense. 

 

i.e. I do not wear a mask in my car with my Wife and Son... thats just silly - its one those regulations which is just too silly to be concerned with.

I do not wear a mask on my motorcycle when wearing a full face helmet.

I wear a mask on my motorcycle when wearing an open face helmet, but have it pulled down to my chin, so that my breath doest fog up the visor - its there just incase some BiB decides he’s going to chance things at the traffic lights. 

 

 

Very sensible and I agree with this. I have the same mask policy as you i.e. full face helmet = no mask, plastic bucket on head = mask on chin, exercise/jogging in a quiet area = no mask.

Here's an idea: only open bars where staff are fully vaccinated, and only allow fully vaccinated customers to enter. Is this not what you've been working towards the past 1.5 years? If you're not willing to do that now, what hope is there that we ever return to normalcy? There has to be some middleground for entertainment venues as has been for other sectors.

COVID will be here for the foreseeable future. It's not much worse than other diseases and vaccination rates are getting high enough in Thailand. I think we've all had enough at this point, it's exhausting. People scared of catching COVID and dying from it, please, do not go to high risk events or bars. Let the rest of us live our lives.

Did the drive thru last week at Immigration next to airport. All you need is your passport, no copies needed.

You drive your car or scooter next to the drive thru booth, they hand you the form to fill out. You drive away and fill out the form, then drive back to the same booth and hand in passport + form.

All in all takes about 20 seconds if you have the form already filled, if not, do as above and takes 5 mins at most.

The local goverment officials would love to open the bars and get the money rolling in again, but they are not allowed to by the CCSA.

Maybe 1st of December, but I suspect it will be babysteps i.e. restaurants first, then extend hours, then bars can open.

December probably, unless there's a new outbreak of youknowwhat....it's possible that restaurants can start serving sooner than that (mid-November), but I feel like the government is not in a rush to allow it.

Thai girl. Met in a bar. Works as a masseuse. That right there are three huge red flags!

Kidding aside, sorry to hear about your situation. There's really not much you can do unfortunately, unless she wants you to take custody of your daughter. But she would most likely rather use your daughter to milk money from you in the future. That's the only leverage she has, and she sounds like a real piece of <deleted>.

9 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

 

I tend to agree, however, it's been reported that there have been no significant reductions in rents, despite a recovery possibly being slow, and taking years.  

 

Why would an investor pay full rent to a Thai landlord who has their head up their a**, and before Pattaya has bounced back from covid, which will most likely take years, not months?  

 

I can't see investors rushing in whilst the amount of tourism can not service pre covid rents.  

That true. Some gave discounts, many did not. I suspect the greedy landlords (who do not understand opportunity cost) are holding out, expecting the same old offers to come in as soon as Thailand reopens. They will be disappointed, maybe they will face reality and let the market tell them what it's worth, or just stubbornly keep it unoccupied ????

7 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

What's so great about it?

 

 

Who's going to invest money into derelict places, so they can open with a new name / concept? 

 

The "opening" you are thinking of will take place slowly, over years, not just because borders have opened.  

What's great about the Darkside? That's very subjective, but not nearly as dependent on tourism as central Pattaya.

As for the opening, yes I agree that it's going to be slow and take years even after borders are open. My point is that many places have closed and the owners have lost their life savings. This presents an opportunity for new people/investors to buy up places at big discounts when they see potential in the market = new owners, new concept.

I used to live in Lake Green Condo (in the picture) back when Bangkok was still fun! 

I would not be surprised if several Bangkok condos experience the same fate as in FL within 10-15 years. Hopefully they are able to find the issues and evacuate or fix it in time.

16 hours ago, chilly07 said:

Chonburi is in a deep red zone. Why would you want to carry Wuflu Indian mutation to other provinces? Best to stay where you are!

Useless comment from a Trump supporter.

6 minutes ago, Harry Om said:

https://www.facebook.com/covid.int.cm

Thank you!

Hi,

Plan to move from Chonburi to a house in Hang Dong, Chiang Mai at the end of August.

Would anyone be able to point me to a reliable source regarding current restrictions/rules for entering Chiang Mai? I realize the situation may change, but would like to get an understanding of what the worst case scenario is so I can prepare for it.

Also if anyone has done a similar move recently, would be great to hear about your experience.

I will contact the local authorities in Hang Dong before my move.

Thanks!

/S

Seems very cheap. Do you have a link?

In the Pattaya rea you can get an okay house with parking etc. for around 10k. A nicer house with a private pool will be 20-40k.

Location will play a big part.

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

You stay in Bangkok......

No, I live in Pattaya since August last year

21 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Opening the bars for who?

For me!

11 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Without customers from Bangkok they won't make much of profit!

Well it was something of a joke. The locals/expats can only support a few bars in central Pattaya, but surely that's better than nothing?!

I live in the darkside and we don't see many tourists here, it makes little difference if people visit from BKK. The bars are supported by local expats.

Nobody knows when the bars will open.