dimitriv

The Waze app is very good for driving. Search for Waze in the app store.

Google has problems with companies and locations. Especially if they quit and the listing stays. This is not only in Thailand.

If big objects moved in Google maps there is probably a problem with your GPS.

7 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

<deleted> are you on about? Thong Lor is radically cheaper than any place in New York. I live between Asoke and Thong Lor, that's not a suburb.

 

I lived and worked in Manhatten before coming to Thailand - the price difference is enormous, commuting 2 hours from New Jersey to NYC is also very normal just to save money... People life with roommates because they don't have enough cash for their own apartment there. 

 

I paid 3 grand for a Studio in the upper eastside, 40 minutes with subway to wallstreet, i can easily find a 200 sqm apartment for that price here.

 

You are again comparing Manhattan with Bangkok. It is not a fair comparison.

Prices in Bangkok are similar than what you pay for something comparable in Europe. And I am pretty sure the same goes for many places in the US.

My 1 year rental contract ends after a year. Extending it requires a new contract, where both parties have to agree. If your contract is the same it is not up to you to decide that you will not leave.

15 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Find me a big apartment in any european capital for the same price i pay here in BKK....impossible. 

The same i paid for a Studio with 30 sqm in Manhatten is what i pay for a penthouse in Sukhumvit...

 

Please don't compare Manhattan with Sukhumvit.

I am looking for a new condo in Bangkok. Bangkok is big. The BTS is expanding. Where do you have to live to say that you live in Bangkok? If you have to travel 60 minutes to go to the center of BKK you are living in a suburb and not in Bangkok. 90% of the people I know who say that they live in BKK actually live in a subsurb.

I see that most prices outside the center (suburbs) are comparable with what I would pay in the center of a medium size European city. 

1 hour ago, Jooss said:

Prices seem high for foreigners because of the exchange rate ! For who has baht as income, prices are only impacted by inflation.

Is that really so?  Sure the exchange rate has a big influence for some products. But not for other products. Imported products should get cheaper. But you still pay 2 or 3 times more for many imported products compared to my home country.

On 10/16/2019 at 11:59 AM, Foghorn said:

You can go to the juvenile court with your girlfriend and child ,with all their ids and ask to legitimize the child ,takes about 1 month ,lawyer not needed ,costs about 600 baht and then another 50 baht ,it’s very easy to do ,the lawyer would only fill in the form for you and charge about 10:000 for that . The juvenile courts are very friendly and helpful ,worth going and speaking to them . Your girlfriend has to approve it .

Can someone confirm this?

I am trying to do this now. But they say you need a lawyer, and the whole process would take about 4 months ...

It only took 1 hour. And when looking at the photos there were maybe 1000 people, maybe more. You cannot call it large scale protests. 

Could it have consequences if you participate in protests as a foreigner? I feel a moral responsibility. Complaining on a forum is useless if you are not willing to contribute on the streets.

10 hours ago, brokenbone said:

a cappuccino machine weighs in at 100.000 baht,

 

My coffee machine was a little bit more than 1000 Baht, and makes very nice coffee.

I think it is best to keep a European bank account. Especially for smaller amounts of money international bank transfers are expensive.

1 hour ago, OZinPattaya said:

Their websites says 24/7. I'm trying the listed overseas # 66026455555. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. 

On my card I see 

0-2645-5555

0-2645-1333

Don't you have to remove the leading zero for international calls ?

>> Yes, I've been trying to call Bangkok Bank from Vietnam but can't get through. I get a message in Thai, then it hangs up. Maybe they are closed right now, do not have 24 hour service?

Maybe that message says: "This number does not exist" ?

43 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

seem to bite night time when you are asleep, mosquito frame across the window doesn't appear to stop them.

 

Also no sign of them the next day

Are you sure you are talking about mosquitoes?

Bedbugs maybe?  ????

11 hours ago, Coremouse said:

If you search "私了"( it means "let's have a private discussion" by rioters ) there're thousands of those bullying & murdering videos on the internet. 

 

Are there ways to verify this ?  I mean, without relying on Chinese state propaganda?  China has only 1 goal, which makes this news unreliable. I am sure that if this is true there are better sources to verify this.

On 12/1/2019 at 7:30 AM, HidyHo said:

You're quoting an article that's over 1 1/2 year old.  Yes there are certain country/region specific differences but it's always getting better.  There are plenty of contents (old and recently-released) on local Netflix.  When I moved out to SE Asia on 2012, I was using VPN to access USA Netflix.  I can't remember the last time I had to do that, anymore.

There is still a very big difference between US Netflix and Netflix in other countries. But probably the difference between the UK Netflix and the Thai Netflix is small.  

21 hours ago, Frankie072 said:

Thai economic statistics are false. In reality the Thai economy is very weak with much higher unemployment than is being reported, so people are hanging onto their money.

I never really understood this. Official unemployment is just 1% ?   And they worry about foreigners working in Thailand.

Happens in Brussels too. I always leave my liquids in my check in luggage.

I also always travel with a small knife.  I do so for years already and got caught only once, in Hong Kong.

Brussels airport, Frankfurt, Dortmund, New York (JFK), Abu Dhabi, Dubai and many more don't see it if you take a knife in your luggage. I do put it between camera equipment. But terrorists could do the same.

On 11/28/2019 at 6:11 AM, ubonjoe said:

How did immigration get your email address. I have never had to put it on anything I have done at immigration.

Have you done online 90 day reports or registered to do TM30 reports online?

TM6 has a field for email, and I am pretty sure the form for a 1 month extension also asks for this.

On 11/24/2019 at 4:19 AM, Ex Machina said:

There's some good PC laptops - thinkpads, some gaming laptops, Dell XPS higher end models. But ... they also cost just as much as Macs. Surprise, surprise ????

 

 

Let's stick to facts:

Apple Macbook,  most expensive model, I paid 3800 Euro, survived 1 year. Apple support was a nightmare.

Asus, no way to determine the exact model now, I paid 1100 Euro, 2 1/2 years old, 10 hours a day intensive use, usually stays on in the night too.

On 11/26/2019 at 8:18 PM, Traubert said:

Sigh, how many times? WeChat does not delete your messages or prevent them reaching their destination. If you post too many provocative or contentious messages containing alarm words, exactly the same as in the west, you will be flagged for attention. I perhaps didn't explain that so well and that's why you're like a dog with a bone. Or a Jack Russell trying to boff someone's leg.

 

I lived in China 13 years, I'll be only too pleased to debate life in China with you anytime but like a lot you are western educated and either will not or cannot come to terms with the rise and success of China and keenly absorb every negative fact you are fed and regurgitate them at every opportunity, be they true or not. 

 

I have used WeChat for the last eight years, What'sApp for the last six, Line, the same, Viber for three years. I can find little difference between any of them. Yes WeChat isn't encrypted but is that noticeable to the user? How would you propose to monitor the several billion messages sent every hour in all sorts of different languages?

Yes. Wechat deletes messages mentioning words like Tiananmen square and other words the Chinese government doesn't like. It can also prevent messages from arriving at the recipient. There is no chat app in the west doing something similar. Also because most chat programs in the west are encrypted. Something that does not happen with Wechat, because encryption is not allowed in China.

It seems you do not want to understand the difference between China and the west   "exactly the same as in the west"  It is really very different.  China is so afraid of uprisings that they want to monitor everything, and try to prevent people to organize, criticize the government etc. So, that is why encryption is not allowed, and your messages are being filtered.

>> Yes WeChat isn't encrypted but is that noticeable to the user? 

No you will not notice this as long as you do not go against government rules.

>> How would you propose to monitor the several billion messages sent every hour in all sorts of different languages?

It is called automation, AI etc. Things go fast. It is not that hard to do.

On 11/26/2019 at 5:29 AM, Expat Brad said:

I see you are a believer. A believer of US Propaganda that is. America will do anything to keep it's finacial grip on the world. Not just over China but, any other country that could depose them for that matter.

Can you give examples of the US trying to bring down China?  Without clear examples it's just an opinion and not a fact.

2 hours ago, Tayaout said:

I worked for a short time in Germany and everyone including foreigner have to be registered at the local town hall. However it's a one time thing. 

Exactly. Everybody has to be registered somewhere. Citizens, foreigners moving into the country. And if you move to another address you also have to give them an update. Which is important else you will miss the mail from the tax authorities and tickets for speeding. But there is nothing that looks like what happens in Thailand.

2 hours ago, Traubert said:

Really you are stretching it now because of desperation. Send a message with the word 'jihad' in it, send another with 'crusade' in it and yet another with 'infidel' in it.

 

Are you telling me that won't attract attention?

 

I'm all for debate but arguing for the sake of arguing doesn't interest me. If your case is that all social media isn't monitored around the world, perhaps you need to think again. Chinese social media is no less restrictive than any other. That's my point and until you can stop the bluster and prove or at least cite a case proving the opposite. we're done.

 

Fact: Wechat censors your private messages. Messages with things the government doesn't like are deleted, or stay visible for you but the recepient will never get it.

Fact: This will never happen with Whatsapp because it is end to end encrypted. Nobody can read your messages and you can discuss whatever you want. 

And now I have to prove anything to you?

>> Chinese social media is no less restrictive than any other.

Can you give me one example of western social media where your messages are monitored and controlled by a government who deletes messages they do not like?  Can you give me just 1 example?  

You call me desperate. But it seems you have no arguments, no facts. I am very much in shock that someone can defend China, can defend their crimes, their censorship, their violations of human rights. Unbelievable that someone with access to the right information can do that.