CygnusX1

Would the developer VT be paying the common fee for each unsold unit? Maybe that’s why they would minimise the fee?

Interesting, but Central Festival Pattaya’s a lot closer to my Jomtien condo. If it’s anything like the size of the Bangkok Icon Siam, maybe there’ll be regular baht buses.

I’ve just paid half that for my annual VT5D fee, no mention of sinking fund. It’s a bit worrying, I’d prefer to pay more, but they’ve just redone the pool area without needing to raise any special levy, so finances don’t seem to be in too bad a shape. Both are huge bargains compared to Australia.

Just depends on whether you prefer to enjoy Pattaya nightlife regularly or proximity to Jomtien’s better beach. I like to have a long swim and beach walk every morning. The little Foodmart has an amazingly good selection of Farang food and fruit and vegetables for its size, I only go to Pattaya’s Central Festival occasionally for more exotic breakfast cereal or chocolate. Big C, Lotus and outlet mall at the end of Thepprasit Road are walkable for me. Not the huge number of restaurants as in Pattaya (main street must have the densest concentration of Indian restaurants in the world, including in India), but still a wide selection. It is strange that Jomtien doesn’t have a large shopping mall, given the huge number of condos.

Speak some very basic Thai to a Thai lady and she’ll be moderately impressed. Show her that you can read Thai, however poorly, and she’ll be as astonished as if she’d just been introduced to a talking horse.

A Thai teacher I once had said she hated Bangkok. I love the city, so much to explore that’s accessible by public transport or crazily cheap taxis.

Why do you dislike pediatricians?

Minor impact for me as I’ve already bought my condo, but I will be carefully monitoring my total days in Thailand on a spreadsheet from 2024 on, ensuring it’s less than 180 days per calendar year. Spending a bit more time in Europe and Australia as a result.

Nothing preposterous about virgin births, even with 2,000 year old technology, use your imagination.

Scratching posts to be provided for those transspecies who identify as cats?

After being back in Thailand (Bangkok) for a month, I’d hazard a very rough guess of the percentage of mask wearers at 50%. First time I caught the BTS I was worried I’d be the only one not wearing one, but curiously it seemed to be around the same percentage, or even less, as masked people on near deserted footpaths, and that was in a packed carriage. I speculate that a lot of the fearful mask wearers have opted for a safer form of transport, such as a motorbike taxi… The air quality in Bangkok has varied from pretty good to poor, but I’ve not noticed any increase in mask wearing on high PM2.5 days. I notice that posters are still trying to spread the myth that masks were widely worn pre 2020. I would have spend a total of a couple of years in Thailand back then, and seeing someone in a face mask was rare. If any of these posters can post a link to a video showing a crowded location pre 2020 with lots of people wearing masks, I might be persuaded that my memory’s severely faulty. People have a perfect right to wear masks for the rest of their lives of course, none of my business, but it doesn’t really improve the look of the place, just as in women covering their faces in fundamentalist Muslim countries. It also makes the speech of people harder to understand, especially for older listeners, making me realise that I must be unconsciously relying on lip reading a little.

But is there a rule on total length of stay each year? I can arrive in the Euro Schengen area as often as I like, but there’s a clear 90 of 180 days length of stay rule. (Your userID suggests you’re well qualified in this area!)

The Government should set rules on exactly how long visa free/short term visa holders are allowed to stay in Thailand each year. For instance, I know that I’m only allowed to stay in European countries that are in the Schengen zone no more than 90 out of every 180 days. As a frequent traveller to Europe I’m not happy about that, especially as it applies to around 27 countries, but at least there’s a clear rule to follow, and I’m not stressed when I arrive in Rome for yet another holiday.

Wow. Puts those pathetically masked small children into perspective, doesn’t it.

But the point is that, even though they might now be tax residents, they’re still bringing in all the money they’re spending from overseas (small percent of those actually earning money in Thailand excepted). It’s clearly self-evident that someone living in Thailand the whole year is using far more services than a 2 week tourist, but they’re also transferring far more money into Thailand.

Expats are bringing money into Thailand that they earned in another country, and for those receiving pensions, continuing to transfer money from a foreign government into Thailand. Surely a win for the people of Thailand. They’re like 52 week a year tourists. One week tourists also use and benefit from Thai infrastructure, but it seems generally agreed that tourism benefits a country’s economy. You seem to be claiming that unlike short term tourists, the usage of infrastructure by long term expats far outweighs the money they directly move from other countries into Thailand. You’d have to give some evidence for this, doesn’t seem logical to me.

Good point. I suppose the only worry free solution would be an implantable chip. However, if I were to wander around a city notorious for pickpockets and robbers, I’d leave my plastic in a hopefully safe location and just take cash with me.

Sure, plastic’s more convenient, but I have nightmares over losing my plastic cards or having them stolen. At best, just a huge hassle to get replacements, especially when overseas. At worst, being defrauded of thousands. Losing a few hundred bucks of cash is trivial in comparison.

I used to think the same, but my Bangkok Bank debit card had expired while I was absent from Thailand over the last 4 years. Last month, the Asoke branch took a few minutes to make a new one for me while I waited. Maybe it’s different in Thailand to banks back home in Australia.

Coincidentally, story in today’s Canberra Times, “wood-fire heaters cause up to 63 deaths in Canberra a year, study finds”. So, pure air in Canberra, as long as it’s not a still winter night. Yes, I realise that these “‘studies” are usually suspect, and that “‘up to” can mean anything.

Thanks for that! I’d previously found the modern supercars on the second floor, but would never have guessed there was also a display of classic cars on the top floor, as the higher floors seemed empty. On another note, I found my 20 minutes of imprisonment in IKEA quite informative. First time I’d ever been in one, had thought they only sold flat pack furniture. Maybe those with mobility issues should be warned first though.

One reason I’m enjoying being finally back in Thailand is that my unit in View Talay 5, Jomtien, is so much quieter than my flat in Australian suburbia. In Australia there’s almost non-stop noise during the daytime from a whole variety of machinery - chain saws, angle grinders, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers and of course the ubiquitous lawn mower. It’s wonderful that hand tools are still often used for maintenance in Thailand. Admittedly, the high floor and better design of the Thailand apartment block is also a big factor.

Yes, and all of the footbridges in central Bangkok make walking easier and more pleasant than even in the centre of Sydney, Australia, let alone Pattaya.

A well meaning scientist commands a powerful AI to do everything within its power to minimise suffering, both human and other animals. It achieves this goal by destroying all life on Earth.

I’m old enough to remember riding on Sydney’s ‘red rattlers’, with the manually operated doors usually left wide open, and us boys competing to see who’d be the first to jump off as the train slowed to arrive at a station. We somehow all happily survived. Now a single open door is treated as some kind of safety emergency, which “left passengers and netizens shocked”.