HermesHermes

Oriole Residence. See my review from last week. Very detailed assessment.

I am sure this question has been asked a thousand times but I tried five searches using obvious words and entirely different subjects came up, so... I couldn't get a straight answer from the telephone agent at Thai Air - going to Nepal which has generous visa on arrival policies for citizens of my country (Vanada). Nepal doesn't care, at least in practice. Does TG? Strangely return fares are very similar to two one-ways, so I figure if TG makes a fuss I will buy a return ticket on the spot. I have had other airlines at YVR tell me that I needed an onward/return ticket for Cambodia despite never having been asked. I showed them my passport - 'I have entered Cambodia ten times on this passport alone, and I have never been asked'. "Yes, but the rule is...' Result? Had to sign. form that if I am refused entry I will pay my way to fly somewhere else. I have had some countries and even airlines say that the ticket had to be to my home country not another country. It seems too be not just discretionary but also there is a lot of misunderstandings. On a related subject there seems to be some disconnect between what telephone staff are told and what the recordings say while one is waiting. Apparently for economy fares if you reschedule (besides the different in fare, if any) one has to pay THB 3000 if rescheduled more than 24 hours in advance and 5000 is less than 24 hours. The agent on the phone actually told me the opposite so I echoed the more likely rule and she verified. But a male recording said that as of Jan. 1 the fee to reschedule is THB1000. Doesn't add up. Is this instead, as well, on blue moons, what? I got a few hard facts such as it is THB380 more to book online, and that the 25 kg luggage limit can be two different bags (or three or ten, she didn't say). And of course, the price one sees on Google Flights never match even the minus 380 fee.

I don't understand why VFS even exists (or equivalents such as BLS in Malaysia and Canada). It seems like the government of India (and other countries too) must be very busy if they can't function in their official capacities, instead having to contract out their services to citizens and foreigners who want to visit. I used to go into the Consulate, have a face to face conversation with the receptionist and often the vice-representative, have a quick personal interview, etc. OK, that was the 1970s and 1980s. Now not only is much of the process done online, there is an added layer of delays and costs of going through such monopoly agencies. Is this becoming universal? I'll bet that Russia, China and USA do their own work.

This is exactly the brand of dish soap I used, even from the same hand-friendly shaped container (available at convenience stores). Fail. But thanks for the idea. Next step is to soak it in vineagar. Then wash it a *ninth* time in professional decreasing soap (if I can find any, my mom n' pop hardware store in Khao Sarn has none). Or indeed, your kind suggestion of 'Simply Green'. Bangkok Co-op sells 'Vanish' stain remover (Thai labelling too) and I was astounded at the price - THB200 for a small tub. Of course there must be suitable local products. I could ask at Home Pro, although it's a major expedition to get to from this backpacker area.

Goal: wash out a horrible residual aroma from 'Sonex' (off-brand WD40 sold in Thailand) from a synthetic fabric messenger bag. I jumped from the frying pan into the fire! ' Sonex' spray was very effective (along with manual scraping) to remove bubble gum. Now my favourite bag has a disgusting insecticide aroma. I have washed it eight times in frothy dish liquid soap. In my hotel I have no hot water, and local laundresses won't take on the task. I suppose I could use a coin-operated laundromat at but I suspect they don't even offer truly hot water. - Ammonia? - Vinegar? - Decreasing soap (what brand)? This is really two questions... 1. What works good enough/you can find it cheap at any supermarket? 2. What is the best best but you have to get it at a specialty store and/or pay through the nose. I have no time to order through Lazada. Leaving country soon. Oven degreaser on non-wipeable surface I fear will create new problems.

Am I imagining this? I can think of several substances that could kill you if you take enough *. But consumer and health authorities just make buying it poor value and inefficient. For example, Benzyl benzoate lotion (25%) an insecticide, which is very effective topically for scabies, is not made a not criminal act to posess or sell it, just a PITA to buy in sensible quantities. So, what do people do? They buy ten small bottles. This practice is, of course, not unique to Thailand. Likewise cough syrup with tincture of opium. Again, very effective (perhaps due more to the licorice). It seems that the harm reduction philosophy is exemplified in cannabis but not for pharmaceuticals or food. I would actually be happy to see labelling laws such as any prepared food item with more than 8% sugar in it to have a red dot on the package. Would save a lot of time scanning shelves instead of reading fine print. What is done in India for vegetarian products is a green dot. Whatever is important to Thais could be coded - less than three food additives? * "In dose, everything is poison" Paracelsus

Looking for the most up to date and accurate public transit app for Bangkok. Ideally it includes BTS, MRT, buses, ferries, canal boats, trains and more Google maps is not reliable, neither is Via. I spend a lot of time (especially late at night) waiting for buses that no longer exist or maybe never existed. The ticket sellers on buses are frequently giving me advice on how to get from point A to point B that contradict what my apps say. Examples... "Bus X doesn't operate after Y o'clock" "Bus C used to go via D road, but now goes via E road" " Number of bus F is now G" There must be six different colours of buses, companies and types. Plus all those smoky window air-con vans I see operating that are popular with wealthier Thais. Plus the songthaews (baht buses) for working Thais. I know they exist because I see them operating, sometimes to full capacity. Oh, and I forgot the orange-vested motorcycle taxis. I am not aware of any app that monitors where they congregate and standard fares. I am trying to get the comprehensive picture of every way to get around Bangkok other than by taxi. Is there even an integrated system? Sure beats Manila and Jakarta (even Chiang Mai), I can say this much in praise. But Taipei and Istanbul appear to be better organized and efficient than Bangkok. A matter of tax funding perhaps. I don't mind 'no information available' but I get a lot of incorrect information: much worse. How does one keep track? Taxis are no longer cheap and the metro area is really spread out. Nancy Chandler's bus map - us Cheap Charlies need something more current and user-friendly. I appreciate many things about Bangkok, but when I have to go anywhere beyond my own neighbourhood, it's daunting. Worse than Tokyo. Perhaps someone has integrated everything into an integrated app. Just buses would be a good start. They are cheap. In fact, I quite enjoy riding the cheap open-air red buses with wooden floors. The driver and ticket collectors can be quite the characters. I do not miss the maniac drivers of the small green buses.

Actually for some purposes, it does: eligibility to open and maintain stock brokerage accounts, apply for certain visas, etc. Since one can have email address alias why cannot one have telephone aliases? It seems to have something to do with different licenses to do financial transactions, residency, etc. Free market is a myth. There are many national markets. Trade and money is intimately tied in with governments. Not saying I like this, but it is what it is.

Thanks. I am skeptical of using bank cards any more than I have to.

Perhaps. Whenever I do financial transactions I get notices (well, sometimes...) "suspicious transaction!" Like everyone stays home or is supposed to. I view governments like landlords, if you don't like the terms or rent, then move (or in my case, wander).

Several Fintecs, bank accounts in three countries, stock broker - it adds up in account maintenance. And I intend to expand more. I would rather have one number that I can use with everyone and anywhere. This works with email, why is telecommunications so balkanized by countries?

Are you saying that the SIM need not be paid up to date, just in the phone? And re: 'how many countries do you need?' I am an almost non-stop traveller. In a typical six months I will be in 5-8 countries, mostly but not all in Asia. It becomes a juggling act of physical SIMs. I would rather have one internationally usable number. My shoes work in every country, why not my phone?

I'll save the complicated explanations for later. Is there a way to get changing phone numbers in many countries for short or long term use, at reasonable price and no hassle? I mean so that financial institution in country A can reach me in country B. I am a Canadian and the prices for basic plans (let alone roaming) are, on my pension anyway, bloody expensive. I travel six months per year. I just buy a new SIM wherever I am. It used to be doable. But for about 2 years banking has become problematic. Others companies too, but mostly banks - OTPs and other hysterical security measures of jumping through hoops. They have to recognize the device, have the number on file, yada yada. It's a major headache for me. I can't even log in on my laptop and get my OTP or push code on my other much more mobile device. I've had similar problem with Amazon. Right now I have to deal with Wise - send them a photo of me holding my passport, wait a few days. this techno-police never ends and I am getting fed up. I just want simple and international, so I can be anywhere and be able to bank and shop without wasting time satisfying businesses security fears. Ideally, what I'd like is anonymous phone numbers that can be customised for use on any country. But I am willing to compromise and just have privacy. Or at least utility and flexibility. I don't understand why banks don't just use physical tokens or fingerprint recognition or some such. I hate being tied down to a computer-phone. But this is the trend - you can't function without being tied at the hip to a smartphone. I think that there are considerable downsides from a personal freedoms and political perspective, but for now my concern is more prosaic - what works for being a roamer that is cheap. It has to be liw stress. I can't be reregistering a phone number every country I visit, with four different banks. Email is dead. But, I like email. There are what seems like six million messaging apps.

I too have no idea what I am being charged. Actually, what happens is that it sort of still works. What do I mean by this? Well, about a quarter of the time it refuses to let me past the turnstile. I go to the kiosk. The person does something. Then it works. The only time it was a problem was when I asked for it to work properly, 'this card works only some of the time, can I replace it?' If I let it hobble along semi-functioning nobody asks me to do anything special.

I stopped going to Hua Chiew Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital over ten years ago because of a big jump in prices (at least for foreigners). I find the equivalent TCM hospital in KL much better value and there are no language issues.Both have two 'wings' - standard allopathic and herbal/moxib./acupuncture. For institutions or clinics are there better value places in Bangkok? I don't mean necessarily cheaper, just good bang for your buck. I observed today that there is a traditional Thai medicine institution right nextdoor to Hua Chiew. It looks to be the poor cousin. I miss the smell of simmering herbs and roots in a brown clay pot.