digbeth

Didn't know they can be used for floors too!

Can they take the weight? or was it laid over concrete?

Try Conwood or Shera wood. Great stuff

The concrete Shera wood and there are many other brands now stands up well to weather and essentially thermite proof, they do come in pre-cut round ended shapes for fences as well, easy to pain and cost about 20-30 baht per plank, comes in plain or wood textured too.

but they are quite brittle compared to woods, can't be used to carry much loads, so the fence would have to have steel beams or rods between concrete pillars for the plank to be screwed on to

this is the typical use, see some of the pre-cut shapes available,

the planks can be worked on just like wood, you can saw them to shapes or orient them however you like

I don't think the yoof of Britain are aware of Pattaya, or even there aren't any attraction for the younger British crowds here in Pattaya

Every bank and/or employee makes up their own rules. If one says no, go to another. I went to a branch of Bangkok Bank near Pantip Plaza simply to get a new passbook as the one I had was full. Simple you'd think, but no. The clerk told me I had to go to my own branch on Silom. It was too late to do it that day and meant a long trip into the city again the next day so I argued. Eventually one of the bosses was consulted, and after he was unable to explain WHY he couldn't issue the book he did. As so often in Thailand you just have to argue and refuse to take the bullshit they throw at you. It usually works. Banks like to be difficult, like public servants, the world over.

Normally you can't close an account at another branch than the one you opened it, but you can withdraw your money, leave a few bahts and by time the bank will close the account (after a few notification letters).

I had accounts with SCB, Kasikorn and Bangkok bank is the only one that anything involving the passbook (replacing, adding pages to, getting replacement atm cards) needs to happen at 'your' local branch. I suppose the logic is that the hardcopy of the matching signature on the passbook is kept on file there.

I also notice that Bangkok bank is the only bank that when issuing a new passbook, the manager/cashier will fold over the bank book in multiple place and sign their signature along the edges to prevent forgeries. In this day and age of computers and online systems, for a crook to attempt to get cash out from a teller how far could one get with a forged bank book anyway? It must be a relic from the past.

Also, in Bangkok at least, only a few of their bigger branches are set up to handle 'international' stuff like money exchange and international transfers, it's really inconvenient when your local branch has to send you to their bigger branch for some transaction.

I've seen in many of their bangkok locations renovate and rebranded as "Saint Etoille" by Yamazaki and emerging from the renovation with more high-end goods, but the cheap stuff stayed the same price so stay hopeful

The address is the Major Cinema box office at the Avenue complex on Second Road, between Central and South Pattaya road, it's an open -air 'community' mall where Villa Market is, look for a McDonald's on the right as you approach from South Pattaya

Yes, you can book and get tickets through the Cinema box office, they're the same company. the movie theater staff might not have knowledge of what shows is on or available through the system, but eventually they can issue you a ticket.

As for at Tesco Lotus, you'd have to make your bookings at the website, and go to Tesco to pay, and pick up your ticket at the venue or have them delivered by post, it's more for people without credit cards, as if you could book yourself online, you could have paid by credit card online also.

Other than that, the nearest proper ThaiTicket Major office is in Central Bangna, they'd have the proper merchandise for the shows that you purchase like credit-card type ticket/pass and lanyard and maybe programme

I wouldn't consider Preecha in Ban Amphur overpriced considering what the places in walking street are charging,

also are they still putting up the price on Fridays and weekends for the Bangkok crowds? Used to be a local tip of only going to seafood places on weekdays

now how about topics where people complain about how close together are bars and pubs in Pattaya, any takers?

In most smaller petrol station, if they don't have automated air machine wher you do it yourself, there would be a compressed air tanks where the attendants are and they'd wheel around serving customers if you asked them, it is customary to tip them 20-40 baht of course

saw some in Thai Wassadu building supply store

It's north of Chaiyapruk junction on northbound side Sukhumvit

In my research in to this about 4-5 years back, it used to be that there's a threshold of takings per day, 60,000baht back then that would trigger an expansion or setting up shops next door or across the road.

If the shop was run by a franchisee, the franchisee would have first refusal to cough up the cash to buy/rent the premise and invest in the equipment and shop fittings, if the franchisee there was unable or unwilling, then corporate would either set it up themselves or find someone who would.

There are many tricks employed by corporate that cost the franchisee all the time too, from forcing renovations every couple of years, adding new tills of just rearranging the layout of the store. And there are many conditions that could lead them to buy the store back off the franchisee's hand like not passing certain standards too often.

The road around Bang Phra reservoir in SriRacha isn't too far for a day trip from Pattaya

A bit further out in Chantaburi there's this scenic road that's quite an attraction

Depends on what you enjoy more the scene or the curves in the road to play on your bike? There are plenty of roads around 331 highway that cross back and forth with Sukhumvit around Pattaya that's quite curvy and moderately enjoyable on a bike

there are stacks of them in Tesco's on North Pattaya, there are panasonic branded, I can't remember the price sorry

Strange thing is that there are 2025s everywhere, in Foodland too, only 2025s but energizers branded.

If you can help it, don't buy in 7-11, from my experience in buying other sizes of lithium battery as they are more expensive than other place, the very same panasonic brand I bough is 20 baht cheaper in Family Mart just down the road of all places.

the big tear of strips like in KhunBENQ's picture is a bit cheaper if you can find places that sell them, I used to get them from Klong Thom electronics market in Bangkok but the ones I found in tescos are individually blister packed

Theoretically if you are connecting thru hdmi, NTSC/PAL shouldn't be an issue as the HDMI specification can handle both 50/60 framerate and output from True HD box should be at either 720p or 1080i, so the resolution is pretty standard and modern TV should be able to handle these okay, maybe PAL resolution of 576 throws the TV off?

Did you try connecting local DVD players and see if it'll work?

Often there is a third guy on motorbikes trailing behind, even if you managed to caught them in the act and stop the car and strip-searched them, your wallet'd be gone.

Too bad the lady is not attractive, otherwise I'd be off to get 3-4 cheap wallets from the market right away

The airport option... about the parking, the long term carpark is really inconvenient, you have to park out in the sun, and the shuttle bus service to the terminals are infrequent and doesn't quite reach the carpark, security looks very lacking plus the cost ended up not that much cheaper than parking at the main building unless you are leaving your car there for multiple days.

Granted, the main carpark building attached to the terminal does get quite packed and you can find cars jam packed or other idiot parkers blocking your cars on your return, depend on the hours really,

other option is the Novotel Airport hotel, free parking with validation at the check-in counter, you can walk to the terminal or they have shuttle service to and from the main terminal all the time.

As for the actual BTS option, the BiTEC exhibition centre at the start of the BangNa road connects to the BTS station, or if you turn left from BangNa into Sukhumvit, one stop down is the Bearing BTS Station there are pay for carparks just down the road for park-and-ride commuters, but I'm not sure how much that cost compared to the BiTec Centre

So the issue is that the service charge is now a separate item on the bill and that confuses some people

(pictures from Thai social medias)

What exactly is they advertising or is it in Thai?

because there is a new registration requirement where if they haven't got your ID details the first time when you first open the service, you are required to go visit their shop with an ID and they will sort you out, otherwise if you don't bring them your ID, your number will be cut off at the end of the month

in which case if they tried to remind you of that, that is probably the only time it is acceptable to interject into your calls like that.

I've only find case where I had outstanding balance and they connect me to the call centre instead

For shops like supermarkets, the law is that you're supposed to advertise the price inclusive of VATs

but I think hotels, bars and restaurants is exempt from this rule...

normally in the menu there will be small prints whether the price is inclusive of the VAT and the service charge,

even big chains restaurants like Fuji do add the 10% service charge and 7%VAT afterwards,

I alway make a point to not tip whenever they already decides to add the service charge, especially in big national chains that looks like they'd already be paying decent wage, it's not like the US where restaurants don't pay their staff enough, forcing them to depend on the tip.

in posh places like hotels and fine dining restaurants and when drinks is involved, when the service charge exceeds 3-400 baht, that is too much, tip any waiter 2-300 hundred baht and you'd already made their day, maybe they'd collect all the tips and divide them between each other at the end of the shift, but that's not my concern, I'd made the gesture of tipping, and in case of really exceptional service, a few hundred baht more..

I do know that in hotels and restaurants that collect the 10% in the bill the employee will receive their share with their pay packet one or twice a month,(or in some case, not at all) so, to tip in cash is always better for the employee in that they get home with the cash that night.

So for places that serve middle-class Thais that may or maynot tip like Fuji or Sizzlers, maybe having the 10% is better for the employee, but for patrons it reeks of deceptive pricing, hiding away the price to reduce the sticker shock.

And for fine-dining restaurants, the patrons is probably prepared to tip generously anyway, putting the 10% on the bill just seems cheap, but when the restaurant is in a hotel, they do this anyway... in which case what do you do, when the bill is 5-6000 baht or more and you've already paid the 10% which works out to at least 500 baht... I felt like a cheap charlie when I collect all the small change from the tray sometime, but hey, tipping you (the waiter)300 baht would be quite generous already, but your restaurant just fleeced me for 500!

Saw some in supermarkets around town, only the 'punk' IPA and one other thing I can't remember.

Haven't seen other of their stuff like the punkin in Bangkok either, maybe the importers only bring in just a couple variety

some people seem to confuse bail with bribe, but granted/ even when you do show up for courts later, that bail money is never seen again, so it seem appropriate to call it bribe

For ThaiTicketMajor, the Major Cinema Boxoffice at the Avenue Complex on 2nd Road, where Villa Market is, also can make bookings and (I think) issue tickets.

Otherwise the nearest official TTM office is in Central Bangna

Homepro does have 3M branded compressed air cans, quite expensive though, I seem to recall it costing a lot more than the WD40s type oils and such in the same shelf, causing me to give it a pass

that picture from googlestreetview was taken during the roadworks, so now it looks quite a bit different, but the turnoff is in the same area, with the hill on the right and just as the road about to bend right

the 361 is known locally as the Chonburi By-Pass, so maybe you can tell your driver that, and that you want to go to Bangkok the Bang Na way, not the Motorway route

Some maps haven't updated the fact that the 361 turn off used to be the default option if you continue on the 7 from Pattaya, but now the highway 7 continues on to the paid section and goes to the Airport and enters Bangkok's expressway that way

Going to Lumbhini/Rama IV of course is simpler if you enters the expressway from Bangna, just make sure to get down from the Buraphawithi expressway just after the end to enter into the expressway and not continue on, otherwise you'll be taken to Ramindra all the way north east of Bangkok