Thomas J

1 minute ago, transam said:

Well off Thai's are buying the high-end cars, it is only us from the west that complain about the Thai tax markup, Thai's are used to it, think it's normal.

You could very well be right.  It could be just a prejudice on the part of the government to "punish" those well off enough to afford the more expensive car.  As mentioned, certain items notably labor here is hugely cheaper than the West.  Taxes here are much much lower.  However the cars but particularly the upper end models are more expensive.  A Toyota Yaris in the USA has a base price of about 521,000 THB but sells in Thailand for 549,000 so virtually the same.  However a Camry in the USA starts at just over 800.000 thb but here in Thailand it is 1.455 million.  So obviously there is a much higher tax being imposed on some models.  

21 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Not true...the vast majority of Lexus, Porches, Benzes, Lambos, and other luxury cars I see tooling around Bangkok are driven by Thais, which makes sense as there are a lot more wealthy Thais in Thailand than foreigners.

I don't know if that is true.  I have nor do you any way of establishing the percentage ownership of the expensive cars.  Even if it is true, perhaps the government here is either "thinking" that foreigners own most of them or is socialist believing if you can afford the more expensive car, you should pay through the nose.  One way or another, there are things here in Thailand that are less expensive than other parts of the world but upper end model cars are not one of them.  

13 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

Comparing Sweden to Portugal is ridiculous. Just like trying to compare the US to Italy. Doesn't make sense.

I guess we will agree to disagree.  The fact remains, Sweden's rate of infection is not materially different than those countries that chose to impose numerous covid prevention techniques.  Just like comparing Bangkok, to Udon Thani is flawed because of the population density difference comparing Sweden to Denmark and Norway is also flawed.  Denmark has a covid infection rate of 31,000 per million compared to Sweden's 48,000 per million.  So if imposing strict Covid measures was effective using neighboring countries, At best it had only a marginal effect in limiting the spread of the virus.  I still say, it is not unreasonable to look at Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, and numerous other countries and say, Swedens rate was not worse and in many comparisons better.  If there policy was so horrible their rate of infection should have been exponentially higher and it was not. 

4 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

First Class insurance, zero-percent financing, window tinting, and floor mats thrown in).

You must be buying some extra expensive window tinting and floor mats.  Zero percent financing is pretty much the case these days with near zero interest rates.  Bottom line, the lower end cars such as the Toyota Yaris, and Vios are only marginally more expensive than their U.S.A comparable models.  However the upper end including the Camry, and Accord are hugely more expensive.  The same is true of cars like the BMW and Mercedes here in Thailand.  I can only assume that the government imposes huge import taxes on cars not built here.  They also may discriminate in imposing higher taxes on the more expensive models knowing that it is likely not the local Thai's that are buying them.  Don't know but one way or another the Accords, Camry's and BMW's are not worth the price they are charged here in Thailand compared to the USA and Europe. 

12 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

People are not people. Do you know why Africa has done so much better?

Yes people are people.  I did not say that geography, temperature, population density did not have an effect but the population density of Portugal and Sweden is about the same 114 vs 111 people per KM.  Quess what they are ranked 23 and 24 in the world in terms of Covid infection rates.  Also you are foolish if you think that the Covid reporting from many African countries is at all accurate.  If you test, you find Covid.  Do you really think there is much testing in Botswana or Tanzania.  

6 minutes ago, rabas said:

Using your logic, Sweden was worse than 170+ countries with people. Clearly their system failed.

Yes however that also means that 23 other countries Failed including most of Europe and the USA.  Again you are using convoluted logic.  If what other countries did was effective their Covid rates would be dramatically lower.  They are not.  If what Sweden did was such a failure (compared to other countries) Its covid rate would be exponentially higher.  It is not.  If there is a failure it is that Masks, Quarantines, Hand Washing, Social Isolation, Contact Tracing etc. FAILED to have any statistically meaningful impact compared to Sweden.  Sweden's approach by your definition may have failed but that just means it was no different than the other countries as well. 

On 12/18/2020 at 12:41 PM, Pattaya Spotter said:

The Honda Accord sold in Thailand has always been a bit of an odd duck. People often say it is much more expensive than Accords sold in other markets.

Dont know if some of the features included in the Thai Accord are upgrades from the USA model.  I do know that the full list price of a Honda Accord in the USA is about 830,000 THB versus the lowest price of 1.475 million THB here.  Additionally in the USA you always pay something less than full list price for the car.  While there may be a few upgrades I would suggest that they are not worth the 600,000 THB difference.  

Sweden currently ranks 23rd in the world in terms of Coronavirus infections per million. Less than Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands and almost equal to Portugal,  But somehow what those countries did is correct and what Sweden did is wrong.  Maybe the only thing proved is the impossibility of measures to limit the spread of Covid.  For decades man has attempted to prevent the spread of diseases such as the Flu. How has that worked out?  9% of the world on average still gets the flu each and every year. Even assuming the hypothetical non reality that somehow a country can impose measures that brings its coronavirus infection rate to Zero.  Then what?  Maintain those measures for all eternity or until the remainder of the world also achieves zero cases.  As soon as people start circulating again, diseases start to spread. 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/?

I suspect that 3bb like many other sites restricts access to only the regions it serves.  Lazada for example I can not access if it from a non Thailand server.  You can sign up for a VPN like NORD and then select the location of the server you want to connect to.  I know for some USA sites I select one of the USA servers.  For Lazada and others in Thailand I select a server based  in Thailand. 

5 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Yes, pretty sure the card is what limits the speed. Don't get me wrong, generally I'm pretty happy for a speed around 200-250, but I guess if I'm paying for more I'm wasting my money.

If you are getting speeds of 200 - 250 you really for everyday surfing on the internet won't notice any difference if it was 500 or 750.  Internet here is cheap so the 1gb speed that 3bb offers is a bargain even if you only get the 250 speed. 

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

Yes, the PC is already showing a 5G connection, but the max speed I've seen is around 250.

As mentioned your connection speed is a combination of things.  If you are getting 250 you probably have a wireless card in the computer with a 300 MBPS adapter.  If it is a desktop the card would look like the attached.  If it is a laptop it will be a smaller card So no matter how fast 3bb and/or the router is sending the signal your computer is limited to the speed of the card it has installed.  Try a newer Iphone, connect to the 5g network wireless and then test.  You should get higher than 250.  If it is your computer card, you "can" upgrade to a faster card.  However don't expect that your wireless will ever approach to 1gb speed.  The processor CPU in your computer and your RAM will also control how much data the computer can handle at once.  Try also hooking up your computer with a wired LAN.  That should be as fast as the computer can go. 

15 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Why not scrounge,beg or buy a second hand shock absorber from a  motorcycle repair shop, cut body down keeping the  eye section  to retain the spring and cut the spring down to match  your required  length? The eye can be used to bolt it to the end of the rail ? Maybe

Yes I went to a motorcycle repair store.  He "claimed" he did not have.  I would think that those places that either repair motorcycles or make the side cars for the food carts would have but I don't know where the places that make/repair the motorcycle side cars are located. 

55 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Looking at the back of my router it has 4 LAN connections, just marked 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Those are LAN connections.  They are for hard wire from the router to your computer.  However when you go to your computer and search for wireless connections you should see something like this. Notice some of the connections are 5 and others 2.4.  You would want to select yours that is marked 5G.  That would connect your computer to the 5.0 Megahertz wireless 

 

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

You could use a coil-over shock absorber, or just a dead-stop with a rubber bumper or piece of tire.

 

I have considered the coil over shock absorber however the longer you make the shock absorber the more it extends to restricts the gate.  If the spring is only 1 to 2 cm then the gate would open except for the 1 to 2 cm.  The shock absorbers are all noticeably longer.  With the piece of tire or dead stop you have to have some way to attach to the end stop on the rail.  With a spring you can weld but no way to attach rubber. 

I have a sliding gate that its stop is against one of the roller wheels.  You have to be careful that the gate is moving slowly or it damages the roller.  I am looking to put in a gate stopper.  Typically they are a compression spring that the gate bounces against and it softens the force of the gate as it closes.  I am looking for either a complete gate closer/bumper as shown in the top photograph or just a compression spring about 2.5 to 5 cm compression spring as shown in the bottom photo and I will fashion my own home made stop.  None of the hardware stores that I have been to, Thai Wasadu, Homepro, or Baan & Beyond carry them.  I have been to one motorcycle repair location and a two local hardware stores.  None carry them.  

Any idea where these might be available in Pattaya? 

On 1/6/2021 at 2:10 PM, GrandPapillon said:

Your router should offer two wifi networks, one on the 2.4Ghz band, which you are probably connected to, and another one on the 5Ghz band,

Giddyup

This is true.  The older 2.4 Ghz band will not support the faster speeds.  Make sure your connection is to the 5 Ghz bandwith on the router.  I know on my computer I get speeds of only about 55 - 75 MBPS on the 2.4 but upwards of 500 on the 5. 

On 1/7/2021 at 2:47 AM, luckywooman said:

Hi I wanted to ask if the Thai police would help you find the person that stole from my wife’s ATM card.

The ATM's for the most part all have cameras.  However since the person using the card had the pin even if they catch the person the bank would not be liable to reimburse you.  Consider you "could" have given someone your pin then claim the card was stolen and seek to be reimbursed by the bank.  The banks policy is if you have the pin then you authorized the withdrawal.  

Now the police if they apprehend the person could charge him with theft but in terms of getting your money back that would be you trying to get the thief to return your money.  

In the future, use something like the last digits of your children's birthdates, anniversary, parents birthday, etc that you will easily remember but never put your pin on your card. 

2 hours ago, giddyup said:

I have a 3 year old Lenovo All-in-One that doesn't get anything like the speed I pay for from 3BB, so I got the techie out to test it as I assumed there was something wrong with my fibre connection. However he told me that it's impossible to get much more than the 200Mbps I'm getting now because the Lenovo isn't 5G. He showed me his laptop connected alongside my Lenovo and he was showing nearly 800Mbps on the Ookla speedtest. So if I'm going to buy a new computer I have to make sure it's 5G capable, is that correct?

Giddyup,

You are confusing 5G which is a cell phone speed with internet speed from your cable company.  Right now no cell phone companies have just began to roll out 5 G.  It will be some years before it is widely available.  When completed the 5G network will likely replace the wired broadband connections to your house due to its speed.  Until then the broadband you get from companies like 3bb will be faster. 

Now 3BB offers 1 gigabyte speed.  You will never get the full speed.  Your speed is dependent on 1. The quality of the broadband cable to your house. 2. Your router, some routers will not be capable of handling 1 gigabyte speed and fewer still can broadcast wireless the 1 gigabyte speed. 3. Your computer and its components.  That includes your wireless card, CPU processor and RAM.  Think of it this way.  The water is flowing from a river but into a hole that has only a 30 cm diameter.  The water can only flow just so fast through the restricted hole.  I would "guess" that your main limitation is the card inside your computer.  Those can be upgraded either on the main board or with an external connected to your USB.  Now if the speed is good but your processor is slow or you have too little memory it is like a highway that is jammed with too many cars.  The data is there but your computer can't process it fast enough.  To test, use your cell phone and connect to your home wi-fi and see what kind of speed you get on the phone.  My Apple is faster than my brand new Lenovo. 

Finally, you will always get the fastest speeds hooked directly from the router by hard wire versus wireless.  I get upwards of 800 MBPS hooked directly to the router and just over 400 Wireless on the same computer.  With that said, for everyday browsing anything about 100 - 200 will be pretty good and moving it to 500 or 600 MBPS you likely will not see any difference yourself. 

 

1 minute ago, Susco said:

Nope. Now foreigners can also have a Lazada wallet. Rules have changed

Susco,

Thanks for the info.  I tried a few months ago and was told no only Thai's could have it.  

Quote

Sometimes I get it, sometimes not. It's easier to get it if you have Airpay but I don't think non-Thais can sign up for that. I may dig into that a bit more, if it is possible for non-Thais to get it, that would mean much more free shipping.

I am USA but can get Airpay.  You are correct that on most coupons you have to use Airpay to get the promotion.  You have to have a phone number and send a photo of your passport.  It typically takes 24 hours to get approved for Airpay.  Though you can have Airpay for whatever reason only Thai's can have a Lazada Wallet.  Who figures.