London Lowf

No.

I would imagine that you'll hear before I do as you are far more chatty with the locals than I am - I'm always scared that they'll start touting for LDs if I say more than "San Miguel mai manow" to them! I thought that the pole dancer said something about Tiger re-opening as a bar complex in six months, but I might have misheard - I often do with my poor hearing and the Bangla backing track! I'll try to ask a few (male) people over the next few days.....

Yes indeed. I'm glad that you realise that my post was not intended as a criticism but more an illustration of our differing attitudes towards LDs as even I have now been going to Bangla long enough to have acquaintances going back several years. And I'm sure you realise that the pole dancer comment was a quip - I'm well aware of your attitude toward her from previous posts, but surely you have some sympathy now that she has lost the gig in Tiger? (Yes, I'm still joking!)

Volenti non fit injuria! If I ever bought two rounds of LDs for four bar workers in exchange for an hour's chat then I would consider myself well and truly fleeced - but I am obviously far less affluent than you are (or just plain mean!) PS: I hope you included the pole dancer!

For the same reason that no-one ever talks about gallons/100 m. How about speed? Do you say mph/kph, or hours per 100 miles or km? It's just convention.

I thought those had been abolished. I've noticed this year that no motos seem to have them, and my brand new bike certainly doesn't - but maybe that's just two-wheelers?

So, no need to take a paper copy? I always thought this was the case as I've never needed a paper TM30 to do a TR extension.

An interesting thing that I've noticed about bars - when the owner bails out due to, for example, a big rent hike, they often take their chattels and branded stuff with them and spring up in a new location with the same signage. This happens frequently on Bangla (your Smiley Bar, etc.) and I used to go to Offshore Bar years ago when it was much further down Nanai towards Banzaan, and I also believe that Ting Tong has moved, albeit not very far. Now that I stay in Kamala I have noticed that there is one bar in particular that has changed locations three times in the last four years.

So, basically gambling. Casino profit margin is based on irrefutable mathematical odds, but they do sometimes have a losing night and do not lose sleep over it - the odds will come back to them. I worked in that business* world-wide for twelve tears and only ever knew of one casino that gave back their licence as they could not make money - but I'm sure there were rats to be smelt there! * Hence my attitude towards "insurance".

Yes, but the problem for many of us is that we had free/subsidised health insurance while we were in employment and then, just as that is no longer on the table and you look for alternatives, no-one is interested!

True!

Thus far I've escaped that one but some of the others would have been life-changing if not detected early - pick two! Luckily, I'm reasonably secure (albeit not rich) and I have zero dependants and so I can blow my net worth if push comes to shove. One thing I consider - I've had the best meal, best sex, best game of squash, best workout, best cycle ride, best swim that I'm ever going to have and I am content with the life that I've led and the way that I've treated those around me. I'd like to hang around for another ten years (my father was 93 last week) but I had a NDE about fourteen years ago and, as a direct result of that, I have no fear of death.

I have just turned 70 and take six meds a day - what are my chances of getting covered. By the way, all of my pre-existing conditions are fully controlled by these pills and are of no consequence to my day-to-day living - but I'd still have to declare them. I did a dummy quotation about a year ago in which I didn't declare anything and the premiums were still shocking. Self-insurance is the only option for people like me.

Same here, although a little younger. And I suspect, the same for many retired ex-pats/long termers.

I sometimes look at things from an unusual perpective..... Insurance is gambling - the underwriter/actuary has calculated the chances of you making a claim and offers you a premium that they reckon will make them money - they are a business, after all. By paying the premium you are effectively punting on the fact that they got their figures wrong and that your chances of getting sick are higher than they think - that's the only way you can "win". By self-insuring you are denying the insurance industry their profits - but also taking a chance. However, the odds ARE in your favour. (In much the same way, the odds of winning the lottery are stacked against you, but people still do it and some do win)

Well, at the risk of upsetting the Dr I'll reply.... As I've already mentioned (probably on another thread) , I got a Residence Certificate au Phuket Town a couple of weeks ago to register a new moto. Cost was B300 with a thirty-minute wait, or free if I wanted to collect it a week later. Apart from the usual passport copies, all they wanted was a printed TM30. I'm on a TR60 visa.

Well, pardon me for breathing!

The more threads I read about immigration hassles the more pleased I am that I chose Phuket as my second home. I know many on here detest the place and that's their prerogative, but I've always found that the immigration offices (all three of them) seem to be efficient and consistent in their interpretation of the rules. Maybe that's because there are so many "customers" here?

It wasn't that long ago that I used to barfine from the Bangla bars - not the Go-gos - and the rate was always B500+B2,000. Having said that, there was a very pale straight-off-the-plane guy in the bar opposite to me last night and he was getting well and truly fleeced by about four girls but seemed quite happy about the attention. He went off with one of the "dancers" and I would imagine got a very poor deal but probably didn't care. (There are dozens of very mediocre Thai girls in London at B6,000/hour)

I needed one to register a moto at Phuket and was asked for B300 - when I (politely) stated that I thought it was free she said that it was if I wanted to come back in seven days to collect it. Can't really argue with that!

Thanks for the clarification stevenl - a shame the OP story wasn't so precise. I've used that kiosk several times without any problems - but maybe that's because I'm a solo traveller and rent a limo rather than a shuttle and so am not as commercially viable for a detour.

So, which is it? The photo looks like the kiosk I use just to the right as you exit international baggage reclaim/customs.

I spoke too soon - now that they have resumed the major works on "Third Road" central Patong is worse than peak season with Rat-U-Tit and Nanai now being the main through routes. Luckily, I was heading for a (fantastic) pizza at Da Moreno on Nanai and so I missed the worse of it and managed to circle round to beach road and Bangla afterwards without any problem.

They left a light on last night, so a better photo.......

Well, luckily there are so few routes through Patong that finding an alternative is easy. However, yesterday afternoon a lot of people (myself included) ignored the "Road closed" signs hoping to be able to squeeze through on the scooter like the last time they closed this road, but no joy!