richard_smith237

15 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

On 6/14/2024 at 1:40 PM, richard_smith237 said:

But... Its not about food, cleanliness etc...    so the insults aimed at the Op are unwarranted as the ants also seem to be attracted to 'some' electrical items. 

I'm not sure about that Richard.  Ants, like every other creature, need food.  They won't stay anywhere for long if there's no food source. They will however, travel a relatively long distace for that food.

 

If I don't keep my work surfaces absolutely spotless and seal all sources of food, I get plagued with the damn things.  Sometimes you have to look around to find their food source - I have to keep my sugar in a sealed plastic box because ants can get into my normal sugar jar. Its amazing how they get into some things. I also have to shake the crumbs out of my toaster after every use.

 

I also find that the type of surface cleaner used helps get rid of them faster. I can't find the one I want so I make my own - 70% water and 30% nearest thing I can find to bleach in (Thailand).  It obviously leaves some residue behind that the ants don't like because they rarely come back after I've cleaned with that.

 

The ants may have been living in your router but they will have been eating somewhere.

It's happened to me twice... (once in the UK too)...     An electrical appliance attracted Ants - they weren't 'living' in there, they'd died in there...   

... there were no 'trails' to potential food sources, crumbs etc.

I have read theories that certain ants, such as 'crazy ants' are attracted to certain electromagnetic frequencies - i.e. the frequencies of some specific electrical items interfere with their navigation and attract the ants.

The additional possibility is that a 'scout ant' entered the electrical item, got fried, other ants followed the scent trail they leave behind when navigating and too got fried.

On 6/7/2024 at 6:08 PM, DrJoy said:

My friend renewed his DL with Yellow book and Pink card (not sure which office)

On the back it states that he is restricted to leave the province without permission from the authority (near the address area)

This is a common misconception: 

The statment on the back of the Pink ID card: 

"The person named on the card is prohibited from leaving the card issuing area. Except for those who have alien identification card or person who has received written permission"

What this means is anyone without 'alien identification' cannot leave the area of issue (Amphur area)... 

Most people have a Passport and this is considered 'Alien Identification' and superseedes the Pink ID card (and geographical restrictions on the validity of that card). 

On the back of the Thai Driving Licence itself (IF obtained with Yellow Book & Pink ID) the restrictions state:

"in the case of driving outside of the area, use it together with permission to leave the area"

The permission to leave the area is your Passport. 

7 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Pay what? Was not the food you ordered and paid for delivered to you? If they deliver the food, it´s paid for, otherwise it´s not possible to order. The system will not send the order to the restaurant if not paid. Unless you opt for pay at delivery, but then the delivery guy will either not give you the foo or beat you up if you not pay.

I think its obviously an 'app glitch'....    and as with a lot of 'online' services, getting past the 'chat-bot' phase can frustrating experience especially if the 'glitch' is a little more 'outside the lines' than the regular issues.

In this case the Jing had already paid (digital payment), but the app was also requesting a second (same) payment the next day when he wished to use the Grab App again.

He's made a second payment to get past that step - now all he has to due is submit a 'dual payment' claim and grab will identify and resolve the issue.

... the rest is just Jing being a bit of a drama queen thats all - its a readily resolvable issue. 

46 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

It doesn't seem to say that at all. Not carrying cash does not mean that your only other alternative is a phone.

 

Also, phones rarely die for reasons other than the battery running out of juice, at least in my experience. I've owned various different mobile phones over a period of twenty years or more. I've never had one die on me and I've never had one run out of battery. I always make sure to keep my phone charged up, especially if I'm going out - it's not that difficult.

.... the 'running out of battery' argument is one of the most commonly used by those who are 'anti-digital-payment'.... 

... It really doesn't matter what peoples preference is, if someone prefers cash, thats completely their choice unless a shop is digital-payment only, in which case I would support the person complaining about not having a 'cash-payment' option...  

... What I am arguing against is not that one payment method is better than the any other, but against the silliness and often outright stupidity of the arguments used by those against 'digital-payment' as another option as if cash is the only viable option - these arguments are often flawed at a very basic level. 

5 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Stupid statement. Phones DO die, for battery, or other lesser reasons. Thus, for someone to say "they never carry cash" -- would seem to seem to say they haven't considered alternative -- and possibly necessary -- options.

Agreed... Phones die.. BUT, suggesting thats as a reason not to use digital payment just incase their phone dies would be the daft statement....   IF your phone dies, you'd have to go and do the dishes...  (as below) - as pointed out, anyone with a brain carries more than one alternative. 

1 hour ago, JimGant said:

Ah, burp, just finished a nice, expensive meal. Take your bill to the cashier, turn on your phone, and -- whoops, battery's dead. No cash? I guess you get a free meal -- or go to the kitchen to wash dishes.

These debates always take on a bipolar & binary argument when in reality the best solution is to have more than one payment option available and maintain a degree of flexibility.

- Credit Card

- Debit Card

- PromptPay (QR Code)

- Apple Pay / Google Wallet

- True Wallet

- Cash

Even with all the above at hand - I'm using a Credit Card most of the time (because we get points)... 

I used cash last week in a taxi...    cash accounts for about 10% (probably less) of my transactions in Thailand - I hardly have need for it but don't want it done away with - this isn't an 'either or argument' for and against cash / digital payment, rather the argument stands that Digital Payment is also a very good convenient and simple option, but there are some who use broken logic to argue that.

20 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

 I understand this too - it's annoying - but is it worth 10 hours of your time?  sometimes it just isn't

Agreed....   its not worth 10 hours of time - but its not just the 'money'...  its resolving an issue which could happen again.

I think there is a fairly simple resolution - the Op has just not found it yet and is starting to get dramatic. 

He just needs to file a 'dual payment' complaint and the rest will be resolved within a few days.

The potential issue of course is that this happens again, so this is why it is best to secure the resolution rather than ignore it.

Can you file for duplicate charges ?

https://help.grab.com/passenger/en-th/115005685907

(this is an online form).

Alternatively - get through on their accident line, they may not be able to help you directly, but if you get someone helpful at the other end they may be able to put you though to a dispute contact.

7 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

It's annoying, but it's less than $10 - don't sweat the small stuff

I'd agree - but it's the stuff like this which 'needs to be sweated' - no one wants to pay for something they didn't receive - I too would be looking to contact a call centre or file a dispute for this extra charge.

2 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

35 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Ah, burp, just finished a nice, expensive meal. Take your bill to the cashier, turn on your phone, and -- whoops, battery's dead. No cash? I guess you get a free meal -- or go to the kitchen to wash dishes.

Yeah is will be impossible to find a charger in the restaurant, to have a live phone again in a minute time + still pay too. Aside from still having a wallet with real cards (the same as that you can use inside google or apple wallet wireless).

This was just someone trying to shoe-horn in an argument without thinking critically - most of the anti-digital payment arguments take this form and are devoid of critical logic in considering alternative options to their myopic 'whatiffery'... 

Just now, ChaiyaTH said:

So is there anyone who can simply say, Yes i used google wallet or apple wallet with a non-thai visa or mastercard in 7/11 and it works? I am pretty sure they simply don't even know that it is possible but it should be possible as the 7/11 machine shows wireless payments with mastercard or visa too, just the fact there is a minimum.

They are always busy where i live so i never insisted to try, just wonder if anyone already did. In Vietnam it works fine for me and that is super useful there.

IF you can 'tap and go' with a regular Credit Card or Debit Card from overseas - then you can 'Tap and Go' with Apple Pay or Google Wallet (linked to a Credit Card or Debit Card from overseas).

The issue of course is that the request to use Apple Pay or Google Pay with your phone may draw the default "cannot" response as the staff may not be familiar with such payment.

I have Apple Pay on my phone but have never tried to use it in Thailand because its only linked to overseas cards and I have plenty of local payment options - but I do not see any reason it would not work. 

25 minutes ago, JimGant said:

On 5/15/2024 at 12:18 PM, george said:

I am not carrying cash. Never ever been a problem.

Ah, burp, just finished a nice, expensive meal. Take your bill to the cashier, turn on your phone, and -- whoops, battery's dead. No cash? I guess you get a free meal -- or go to the kitchen to wash dishes.

Or just deal with the issue as any other human with a brain would....  pay with a card....  

31 minutes ago, Dirk Z said:

VISA alerted me that my card had been wrongfully used before I even noticed myself. They canceled the card, sent me a new one and refunded the money (around 100 euros). It was used for Uber in Dubai. Credit cards are skimmed all the time and the details are for sale on the dark web. We all know about this, but card companies have fraud detection in place and know how to deal with this. Just relax, no need to get so worked up about this.

100% this....    SOP... 

3 minutes ago, harryviking said:

Lol! As a rather "paranoid" person when it comes to credit-cards, I have managed without one for over 20 years! I always manages to pay "whatever" through different more safe ways!

Love these sorts of posts...  'managed without one'...  I wonder the extent of inconvenience you have caused yourself by 'going without'... i.e. booking holidays, flights, rental cars, online shopping...  etc etc... 

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

I've gone rear hub geared motor, no extra strain on the chain, derailleur or crank, it has its own internal gearing.

Thats good - seems like a solid set up. 

On 6/15/2024 at 1:21 PM, scubascuba3 said:

I've never had fraud on my card using Lazada or AliExpress but i never save credit card details, may help

That could be the issue (if the fraud I have encountered a couple of times is actually from Lazada and Shopee), as I do indeed keep the card details 'saved' with them...  But I still need an OTP to complete the payment. 

Anyway - Wife gets stung more than I do....    But, its not quite the horrific drama its being made out to be by GG.

Regarding bike size...  I'm also 182cm and ride a 29'er....  so think the size of bike you have is about right.

... the inner-tube blowing at 30psi... it could have been many possibilities.

- Old 'rubber' (i.e. an inner tube that had been in storage for a few years.

- Faulty inner-tube with a weak spot.

- poor installation, with a pinch point against the rim etc.

I blew my Son's inner-tube on his mountain bike... that also went at about 30psi... 

But his bike was a couple of years old and had sat there with deflated tyres for about 6 months, so I put it down to degraded rubber (everything degrades so quickly here).

Did you have to upgrade the cranks-set at all ??

I've ridden eBikes in Grizedale (Lake District, UK), while towing my Son (then a toddler) with 'kiddie-trailer'...  the power upgrade was awesome - and I was able to pass my friend (an avid mountain-biker) up the steep inclines... Great fun..

But... the extra power through the cogs and chain reported adds a lot of extra wear and tear and they need to be able to handle the extra power - I'd be worried of a 'lower quality' crank-set wore more readily then on a ride while a decent distance from base some teeth would shear... 

I suppose thats something that could be checked for wear and tear regularly.

Well... its hiking, its not like walking on a flat footpath, thus from time to time tourists or anyone else will roll and ankle, tear ligaments, twist a knee, rip and ACL / PCL etc...     but when far away from 'mobile assistance' these rescue teams are essential - Props to them and good on Thailand for having them at the ready. 

I didn't see anything in the report suggesting the tourist was doing anything silly, such as taking a 'selfie' on the edge of a very slippery and wet area... (which is often the case).

2 hours ago, Maybole said:

I do not use an Iphone.

  
Who cares? You are not the op, nor are you your person I responded to. 

But, in lieu of anyone else making a gargantuan boomer comment - if you want to get by, learn to get by. 

In your case [Maypole] semaphore is now also considered an outdated means of communication.

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Just wondering when someone is going to post about Thai women who marry old fat lying drinking smelling poor western men, and get stuck with them coming!

As much as there is questionable Thai women western men marry, there is flipped side to it as well!

 

 

Is yer missys a forum member ? She’s free to contribute!!! 🤣

(apologies - you left that door wide open. !) 

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

When i reported my credit card fraud the bank didn't really care who might have done it, only a big issue for the victim, just move on and forget about it and don't save credit card details online

I don't think it matters where... I've tried to be careful but still got stung. 

It used to happen a lot in Malaysia... when using 'paper credit card' transactions (before they were all digital) there was a 50% chance of fraud then I reckon. 

These days, most my mine comes down to one or two of Thailands 'online shopping' sites - I that seemed to fit a pattern. 

Then we go for a year with nothing...    I'm guessing its staff within on of those 'ecosystems'  who is able to get hold of the data and sell it...  So, which ever website we are using, it ultimately comes down to the level of access an individia; member of staff gets to a 'data set' and is able to sell it on.

I think its a lot more common than many up us like to admit.