DaLa

I had several 'red' coloured vehicles in the Uk in the 90's and they suffered from dulling of the gloss finish. I understood at the time for it to be a paint defect and no amount of 'T' cut or polish corrected it. I haven't noticed that problem on red coloured cars here. Now back to the the heat problem. The darker the colour the more heat an object absorbs. Thus black absorbs all wavelengths of light and reflects none. White reflects all wavelengths and thus absorbs the least heat. I have black vehicles and white vehicles; they are under cover and have aircon thus I don't notice a great deal of difference. If anything it's the efficiency of the air con that makes most difference. On the 3 occasions I used air con in my car in the UK it would take an age compared to the air con here. My most efficient a/c was in a Mitsubishi which may have just been due to the company also being a major supplier of air con generally.

Starting to move my furniture upstairs this afternoon.

Mask on whilst travelling on public transport, off whilst in the park, on walking in the street and to cap it all OFF in the bars and restaurants. I defy anyone to explain the logic behind this to me. Worse still is the apparent acceptance to conform without question.

'Streamlined' ? It's not only because there are 171,476 words in the English dictionary and only 2,864 words in the Thai dictionary that 'streamlined' is not easily understood here. If the amount of work undertaken by banks/immigration/land and transport offices and even sales assistants in this country was made more efficient there would be another 10 million unemployed in this country.

I was very surprised to learn 'The Sound of Music' wasn't based in Australia. And I had never heard a voice like Julie Andrews before so that was no give away either.

Futile effort to revive the market. They might be building them , and they may have been selling 7,000-8000 units a year back in 2012. Meanwhile , of the 5997 units for sale at the Energy Cha Am, 5990 still remain for sale.

KhunLa's map would be your best guide after disclosing where in Bangkok you need to commute. I live in Nonthaburi as we have a business both there and at Chatuchak. I wouldn't be living there if my business was in Lat Krabang. I also agree with BangkokAlan that all the services you require are available immediately outside Bangkok itself. In the case of Nonthaburi that also includes its own (very welcoming, efficient and stress free) immigration. Your request for 'quiet' depends on the type of housing you choose. My Moo Bahn is just over the Chao Phraya off a main 12 lane highway but there's no traffic noise, I rarely bump into any of my neighbours, no bars or restaurants on the Moo Bahn blasting out music until the small hours. The only noise that I 'suffer' is the 7 AM TiChi grunts on the nearby park. I'm sure you can find all that on the side of town that is closest to your work.

OK, the consensus here is that the police/politicians/authorities/owners are all to blame and we live in a lawless/corrupt country where life is cheap. We know that , it’s the same rhetoric whenever there is an incident. Can’t we also consider that the general public including some of us are just as guilty of burying our heads in the sand when it comes to safety here. I spent many years in the steel and construction industries, I look for problems and out of a sense of wellbeing I try to avoid them. Did anyone notice during the Covid ‘crisis’ that ‘security’ changed. No longer were our bags being checked for explosives or weapons, instead all the emphasis was on our temperature. I have shops in a multi storey building at Chatuchak and again due to covid they found it necessary to place chains and locks around several of the exits. And no one questioned it, the doors remained locked and thus useless until we were all told that it was now safe for them to be open again. Yep for sure I’m a boring old guy that checks out my surroundings when I’m in a building, that’s partly how I got old. RIP to the deceased and my thoughts too for the horrific injuries some of the survivors have sustained.

When you say 'authorised person', I presume the documents requiring a witness advise whom they consider to be appropriate. You need to clarify that point first as in a lot of cases anyone can witness a document. They don't have to be a particular nationality or profession. You may well find that a local multiple partner law firm will be acceptable. If in doubt, make enquiries and then ask the organisation requiring the documents to confirm that whomever you chose is acceptable.

Don't worry too much , I have it on good authority that there won't be another flood similar to the on in 2011 for another 50 Years. At the time I expressed concerns regarding buying a house in Nonthaburi and the joint owner ( I mean sole owner of course) told me this was a once in a lifetime occurrence. I asked how I would cope in 50 years time with such a flood , and she told me again not to worry, ' You won't live that long'. I was stunned to know she was both a meteorologist and doctor.

I bought my first VHS back in 1980, £400 which was over a months salary back then. I'm not a hoarder but can't bear to throw out some things, so I found this in my lockup and brought it out here. There were also a few tapes , one of which was Schindlers List that I had never got around to watching so I fired the machine up and loaded the tape. A little long but generally a great film. Only disappointed that the machine or tape was damaged as it only played in B&W. Back on subject, I also have around 60-70 DVD's, 90% of which are music concerts. They cost a fortune at the time , but absolutely worth it and I still get a lot of pleasure from watching them. I bought a DVD read/write add on for my AppleMac that plugs into the USB port for around 1000 baht. Decent enough video and sound quality.

Cha Am. Good mix of nationalities and thus services for non-Thai. Great expanse (10km+) of beach, which is accessible and varies from very busy to very quiet depending on which part you visit. Cheap rents and plenty of options (mainly low rise). A local government hospital and private hospitals 30 minutes away in Hua Hin or Phetchaburi. Golf courses and open scenic areas (Kaeng Krachan national park). Technically it also has part of an airport presently serving .....well no where really, but when flights land they land in Cha Am and then the terminal is in Hua HIn. Close to Bangkok (around 3 hours) for BKK airport, specialist hospitals and business that requires a visit to the capital. In the last few years there have been 3 supermarkets built locally with some attempt at stocking provisions for non Thai. Obviously plenty of 7-1's etc, a very busy Wednesday market by the (new) train station ( 3 hours to Bangkok but shortly to be shortened to 2 hours 59 minutes) and finally a few girlie bars, barely enough to warrant an area that could be noted for nightlife as they all left for the farm 2 years ago.

I took £10k ( actually more) and paid it into a building society. They froze the account, however I complained and sent them my business documentation including my VAT registration. They apologised (sort of) and paid me compensation.

I'm going to be checking a few things with my wife in the next few days. His description of his new lady friend sounds much too familiar for my liking.

Absolutely agree. I run a business here and pay my (UK) invoices at the bank here by letting them change Baht to Sterling. An even better exchange rate is cash at Superich. The spread between buying and selling is minimal and there are no bank charges at either end. You can take back sizeable amounts , however you have to declare it at the UK airport before you pass through customs.

Brown to match the house. Seriously though it has to be oil based. I've never tried water based exterior and I would think you have to create a key for water based rather than the oil based which I have applied just after a wipe down to clean off any dirt.

Those typhoon tea bags give me wind for some unknown reason.

Maybe: 'what goes on a the temple, stays at the temple'.

When you say 'concrete under the tiles' do you really mean the adhesive (cement based) that he has used to 'stick' the tiles down. If so then it depends on the adhesive he has used . Rapid set can be as little as 3 hours so all is ok. Problem in this country is reading whats on the bag of adhesive and don't even think about asking anyone in Thaiwatsadoo. The concrete sub floor (what the house is built on) needs 28 days for each inch of depth , however I've laid tiles on 'drying' concrete before, just takes a little longer for everything to dry out.

Superficial cracks, just needs a bit of pointing.