JackGats

There we go again. I was planning a 4-night visit to Angkor day after tomorrow. I am cancelling, as it is not certain I will be allowed back into Thailand.

So my Bangkok Bank Mastercard also needs to be switched on? I managed to pay one single Agoda booking with it, after which it never worked again on Agoda. My name doesn't appear on the card either. I assume that is what is meant by "unnamed".

I don't see more sexy girls cooking street food (or collecting laundry). The sexier the girl, the less willing she will be to do menial jobs. Try to propose your regular bar girl to earn a couple of hundreds more by cleaning your condo. She will take offence.

Yes I know. Trump derangement syndrome has spilled over to other right-wing leader since Trump is gone.

Saw Palmetto can mess up your testosterone from what I've read. Works a bit like finasteride. I took a stinging nettle root extract for a few months earlier last year. It coincided with an improvement of my symptoms but correlation is not causation. I was suffering from inflammation rather than enlargement.

Misleading title from the fakestream press. The Brazilians elected a convinced thief by a narrow majority as president. Not much to expect.

เอาเปรียบคนอื่น = to take advantage of another person

Of course online learning is efficient. For me it is the only way. If you are a beginner, try beginning with the channel "Thai growth expert" on Youtube: If you are an "advanced beginner" or at an intermediate level, this guy ("Kru Arty") and another one (Kru Jerry) also have lessons based on pictures in another Youtube channel called "Comprehensible Thai". Comprehensible Thai also features other teachers, Arty and Jerry are just my two favourites. The channel has something for every taste and every level. Remember: if you can understand Thai from the internet, you're set to be able to understand Thai in the street. Talking is another matter, but repeating what you hear ("shadowing") while paying attention to your own voice is the way to go.

Even in a Western country it would be your word against hers, and she is a women and you are but a man.

One reason to do incalls. I think fining the guest is standard in hotels. Blood stains are difficult to remove. I suspect for forensic reasons blood removal agents are not included in readily available soaps. Menstruation is the one thing that gets me in a tantrum with girls. I understand the strong muslim taboo against women having sex during or close to their period. The muslims are not the retarded fools they're often made out to be. They have laws to protect men against female crime.

I thought this kind of predicament would be typical of the EU (because of EU compliance regulations). I now see the UK is even worse in this respect. I find it incredible that a UK bank should question your status when you are in fact paying taxes in the UK. I mean would they (the UK or the bank) be happier if you didn't pay taxes in the UK? If you have a savings account or a broker's account, you could show the bank the Thai withholding tax on interests or dividends. I asked my broker to link my dividend slips to my Thai TIN but he gave me the typical Thai answer "no need to do that". As though I would be asking if there were no need.

Next referendum: rejoin the EU and join the Eurozone.

Minimal wages are the worst job-killers in any economy. Wages should vary according to supply and demand and nothing else.

There we go again. You see, for most people Covid is a thing of the past (maybe thanks to the vaccines or without them, who cares). But for antivaxxers, Covid will never end, they will go on and on about it until the cows come home.

500 baht ever other day? VT6 cleaning cost 300 baht/hour if my memory served me right. And was unavailable when the cleaning ladies went back to Burma for a fortnight. Weekly is not enough in Central Pattaya. I remember my balcony getting covered in soot within 48 hours after cleaning.

It all depends whether you ride a bike. If you do the sky is the limit. If you don't you need to pay for a central location. VT6 prices mean nothing if you don't know on which side the condo is. If it's on the Naklua side the view is depressing, with the Hilton and the Central festival mall. Plus, from 11am on you live with the noise caused by the Central Festival aircon machines on the roof. The VT6 pool is too cold during the colder months (not enough sun exposure, pool not in contact with the ground). This year I decided not to rent any condo. I go from hotel to hotel and take sightseeing trips outside Pattaya from time to time. Some people tell me I'm wasting a lot of money paying hotel rates instead of renting long time. But unlike in a hotel, in a condo I need to pay extra for, and worry about, cleaning. Changing places frequently makes up somewhat for not riding a bike in terms of seeing different places.

I've also wondered what would happen if an uninsured driver hits me as a pedestrian or if I get wounded as a passenger in a bus or songtaew. With every health insurance claim my Cigna foreign insurance asks "was it an accident? yes or no". Supposing it was, my insurance would never be able to recover any costs from the Thai side that's sure. I foresee possible nightmares there, with my insurance requiring me to provide police reports or to litigate against the other party, or maybe alleging I had no business riding in an uninsured, unofficial jalopy such as a songtaew.

Careful there, you get quoted a price that doesn't include the tolls !

I got an inDrive in BKK. I proposed 105 baht from Sukhumvit 11 to Ekkamai. I got a 150-baht couter-proposal, which I accepted.

Just an update. My online reporting has been rejected. Only the agency will work for me I'm afraid. Point taken. I'll never bother to deal with immigration any more if not through my visa agency.

In most countries in the world such bribe-taking would not even raise an eyebrow. What does this say about the EU or EU countries?

OK. I did it from the hotel where I stay. So it hinges on the hotel doing their job of reporting guests as they check-in.

Much, much worse in Bangkok. I couldn't get a single Bolt to come to this area (Sukhumvit Soi 11). And not a single taxi here accepts to use the meter. A taxi I bargained down to 100 Baht to bring me to the Makkasan Airport Link maliciously dropped me in the middle of nowhere (a fish market). I had to pay a tuk-tuk 350 Baht to get me out of there. The hotel has a shuttle tuk-tuk to Nana BTS but surprise surprise, the shuttle is "out of order" they said. The hotel has a "transport service" but this only serves to add another scamming layer (I was quoted 2500 Baht for a death trap minivan one-way ride to Hua-Hin!). Bangkok will never see me again, not even for a single day, if I can help it.

Automatic is a safety feature. It's something less you need to pay attention to while driving.

Ok, I thought the rule was if it's a first reporting with respect to the original visa, not with respect to the latest extension. If the latter is the case, online reporting is nothing for me as I never stay long enough in one year to have more than one reporting on the same extension.