Andrew Dwyer

To make things clearer BYD change the name of some of their cars for different markets ???? https://carnewschina.com/2023/07/24/byd-song-plus-to-sell-internationally-as-seal-u-to-hit-the-market-this-year/ Ah yes, clear as custard !

Applied 9pm last night, approved 8 am today, took 11 hours, i’ll take that, sure beats the 13 days last time !!

Yes , that’s why I recommended applying soon after entering. I believe 1, or more IO’s, request 21 days of exempt stay , not 100 % sure of that but it is always good to prepare well in advance where immigration offices are concerned .

You can indeed enter visa exempt ( 30 days ) and apply for an O visa ( 90 days ) which can in turn be extended ( the permission to stay not the visa ) for 1 year based on retirement or marriage. The 30 days is sufficient to apply for the O visa , but best to apply a few days after entering the country, as said above a 30 days extension of your visa exempt stay is available if required.

Following the BYD theme : Those waiting for the arrival of the Seal here in Thailand might be wondering what is happening ? Well , BYD are never one to stand still and let success come to them, seems like they are searching for more variations and won’t be satisfied until they have the ideal car for everyone ! The Seal being a prime example: BYD Seal ( EV ) BYD Seal DM -i ( PHEV ) BYD Seal U ( EV ) Not content with the Seal sedan EV they now have a similar shaped PHEV and a SUV ( EV) version. Personally i like the SUV version, a larger than the Atto 3 with a more “ saner “ interior would go down well if it came here i think.

The Great Raid , “ Set in the Philippines in 1945 towards the end of WWII, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci and Captain Robert Prince, the 6th Ranger Battalion undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, they intend to liberate over 500 American Soldiers from the notorious Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp in the most audacious rescue ever. “ Liked this true story , despite its 6.6 IMDb rating 22 July : ” The true story of the aftermath of Norway's deadliest terrorist attack. On 22 July 2011, 77 people were killed when a far-right extremist detonated a car bomb in Oslo before carrying out a mass shooting at a leadership camp for teens. 22 July uses the lens of one survivor's physical and emotional journey to portray the country's path to healing and reconciliation.“ Another true story movie which I thought very good.

2 x immigration police home visit , both for 1st extension of stay based on retirement. 1st, 5 years ago, 1st extension of stay from OA visa based on retirement - a couple of officers checked passport , couple of photos with passport and outside with house number. 2nd, last year, 1st extension of stay from an O visa based on retirement - 1 officer and a trainee to take the photos. Same as above only an additional photo of me sitting on my bed alone. I asked him for what purpose did the photo of me on the bed serve ?, he gave an embarrassed shrug. Quick and painless.

Bought a bag of the bite size reduced in Lotus’s a couple of weeks ago , looked like someone had been sitting on them , the kids still ate them though ….. so did i . Now on the Maltesers bite size from the reduced section in Big C , the kids love em !! ……. so do i ????. and yes I am from Yorkshire !

No full fat in Lotus’s Ayutthaya for a couple of days now, only the Lactose free stuff. Found some in my local 7/11 but they don’t stock my favourite Chokchai ☹️

Was happy when i found The Blacklist , a series with good reviews and plenty of episodes to keep me occupied. But it soon became obvious that the whole series was going to be repetitive with more outlandish stories every week. Keen was annoying and James Spader didn’t cut it as the mastermind imho. I know others will like this series but it reminds me of Person of Interest, initially it starts well but gets old very quickly, the storyline is predictable, the victim being the villain. Sorry ????

Ora Grand Cat , or is it Lightning Cat ? have lost track, spotted on a stealth tour of Thailand. This car got a little forgotten with the BYD Seal, MG X Power and Cyberstar, Neta S, Volvo X30 and Tesla waiting in the wings. Seems like the days of an unveiling and delivery of new car being relatively close together are long gone. Maybe just giving us time to save up the money ?

While the amount of support/votes he got from the Thai people shows they are ready for change he will always have a hard time changing the lèse majesté law especially as the Senators were put in place to protect laws such as this. Power to the people, not to the dinosaurs with their greed and aversion to any change.

Apologies, I read somewhere that on an EV more energy is used for cooling the battery and restricts the air conditioning effectivity . Seems like this is not the case, unless BYD did not take this into account.

Not an owner but I did stalk the FB Atto 3 groups for a while as I was convinced i would buy one. In the end I have compromised with a HEV for the longer trips and will buy a BYD Dolphin shortly for more local stuff. Good reviews all round for the Atto 3, the only major complaints being: Poor quality tyres ( although these may have been updated now). Poor air conditioning ( seems like an EV issue). The usual warning bells and whistles popular now on more safety equipped cars. As said above, home charging is essential for an EV and preferably a TOU meter for the cheaper overnight rate, or even more preferably …. solar. Some others you might consider: Neta V 549k BYD Dolphin 699/869k MG4. 869/969k MG EP 771k MG ES. 9xxk Ora Good Cat 828/959k Out of these the MG EP Estate might interest you as you mentioned shuttling kids around, at 771k it is excellent value but might be tough to find now as being superseded by the updated MG ES.

You should receive an email almost immediately stating your application has been received. The approval email can come quickly or not. I would get mine approved in around 20 hours but last time took 13 days .

Yup, mine has been steadily going downhill since we moved in 5 years ago, with the water supply being reduced drastically at the weekends. I recently upgraded my storage from 700 to 1500 litres but the problem now is such a low pressure it cannot get up into the tank !! 200 houses affected. The prime suspect is a new moobahn being constructed nearby .

Ayutthaya IO was exactly as you stated, the small lobby would be full of people waiting to get their docs checked before you get a queue number and sometimes after a while waiting they would collect all the 90 days passports and docs to speed it up. Now they have a separate window for 90 days only, 5 minutes tops !! Of course online is the best way to go but it’s a bit hit and miss here, took 13 days to approve even though I had appeared in person after 1 week pending.

Actually having water related issues of a different kind now Owl. Had 5 days without city water, on day 3 a truck came and gave us around 500 litres. Now the water pressure is so low it cannot make it up to the tank !!, tried a hosepipe from the meter straight to the tank ( more direct route, my underground pipe has a few 90° elbows in it) but no joy ! Anything above waist height and it runs out of steam/water !!, unless we siphon it into some plastic dustbins for showering. The water situation was never great here but now I feel like we have gone back 50 years overnight. I hear Phuket has been rationing water recently, I wonder if the same is happening here. Nobody seems to know what is happening, moobahn head honcho is about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.

Here in Ayutthaya, the rainfall is not excessive but the danger comes from the river, actually 2 rivers as here is where the Chao Phraya and Pasak converge heading down to BKK. The flooding here mainly comes from the dams releasing water upstream, combined with the rain, and bursting the banks. Of course it’s the poor , building on the cheap low lying land who suffer the most. When we see trucks driving round selling those plastic moulded flat bottom boats, most commonly blue , we know things are going to get damp real quick !!

Yup, I have some Peacock fan friends back home and although disappointed at the Premier failure are looking forwards to some good games in the championship but they need a good manager first. That Big Sam fiasco was as absurd as the PM race here !! The alternatives aren’t so great, Bradford City or Park Avenue !!

@Robin Call the number on the back of your U.K. cc card and call early morning here to get a quick response. Had a few of those security blocks as I have a U.K. cc card but use it rarely.

Yup, she could have been your true soul mate and with a view of Elland Road as well !!, although that’s not much of a plus these days ????

There’s also a switch to “ view signature “ on and off which I didn’t realise existed, now see a few posters have a signature !

Many retain some allegiance with their home country, a bank account an address ( usually a family member ) or a house/apartment etc usually rented out. A bad relationship, lack of tolerance for the food/people/weather can cause depression and many find themselves returning to their home country. Of course, many have success here also and find happiness but it is always advisable to keep a plan B ( return home ) available if possible.

Maybe she has misplaced the arsenic ?? Sorry Owl, only jesting ????