JensenZ

It's better to invest your money in top of the line cooling units (inverter type) than a heating system that would hardly ever be used. In Pattaya I ride motorcycles late at night to early morning. I have not worn long pants for many years and very occasionally put on a light jacket. The last time I can remember that the temperatures dropped into the teens was 2009 or 2008. Some years we don't get any cool weather at all. I hope we get some this year. It's a real treat that I look forward too. I bought a small bar heater from Lazada in 2013 as the cool period was longer than usual, but I have yet to use it. It wasn't for me, but for the wife who might complain of cold if the temperature drops below 26C. The people who live up north are lucky to have such an intense cold period.

I disagree. Giving government money, which I have no doublt it is, does not exclude the fact that he cares. Do you really think the PM has no feelings about this tragedy? Most normal humans would be very disturbed by this massacre, but you're suggesting the PM does not care about the victims. Now if I was wrong, and he was giving his own personal money away, which is possible, and he made that known, he'd have more people on this forum ridiculing him. He can't win either way. The haters are going to hate him one way or another. It would be nice if people would refrain from bashing the PM in these threads as it takes the focus away from the tradegy. I don't personally care where the money is coming from - I'm just happy they are getting assistance.

yes, and that too...

Absolutely it is a good reason. You're not a female who likes to get made up before you go out, and spend 1000 baht for a lipstick, and 2000 plus for other makeups etc so you would not understand this. She likes that she can quickly put on her clothes and go out. Before covid Thai people wore masks when they were sick. It is a new advantageous purpose for masks she discovered as a result of covid... which my neighbour found too, and probably many more. It's an advantage for me too as I don't need to wait for her to put on her face. There will never be a problem with my wife wearing a mask and entering a building. Not many security guards would consider a 40kg waif to be much of a security threat. That will never happen. That's a very far fetched scenario.

You make it sound like it's your job to inform people that they shouldn't be wearing masks. If people want to wear masks, it's their business. There are other reasons for wearing masks, and quite good ones too. I jokingly asked a neighbour in my condo building, who was wearing a mask, if she was still afraid of covid. She laughed and said: "no, I'm not wearing makeup". My wife continues to wear one for this reason too. I like it as she's quick to get ready to go out. Also, she buys top-end makeup brands, so it saves a lot of money.

Seriously? You're making a lot of assumptions here, buddy. Do you think I go to the park at 8:30 pm to ogle at women? That would be ridiculous for two reasons. 1. The park is nearly deserted at that time of night. 2. Women are hardly ever seen at that time of night. An extra reason, I have very bad eyesight and walk without my glasses as I sweat too much. Even your grandma would look fine to me. This is Pattaya. No one needs to go to a deserted park at 8 pm at night to look at women. I've seen 2 women in the park late at night in over a year of walking there. If you were looking for females you would need to be very patient. I was in the middle of a very hard 10 km walk (about 100 minutes), very sweaty and dedicated to my exercise. I go late because there are few people there and it's cooler. The track we passed on is about 2 meters wide and we were walking in opposite directions. We were as far apart as we could be on that track. Perhaps it was a mistake to mention the female, and save you the drama of twisting the story based on biased assumptions.

The first reason I stopped going to the cinema is that good movies were becoming very hard to find. If you have a big screen with a good sound system and sit close to it, what's the difference? One thing you can't do is rewind it to rewatch interesting scenes or pause it to take a break or get snacks. I can stop watching it if is a bad movie and change to another one.... and they are free as I download them. I can't think of a single advantage of going to a cinema, and I was an avid movie-goer some years ago.

I have no idea. All I know is the check was being handed to some grieving parents written in the amount of 200,000 baht. Does it really matter who wrote the check?

I think it's a given this building will never be used for anything ever again, and be torn down.

and possibly, at least in your case, never let a good thread about the PM go wasted without an opportunity to ridicule him. Why not feel some compassion and be happy the families are receiving some financial assistance in this time of need?

I agree. This is not the time to cast political rocks. They're assuming the PM has no heart and this is just a big show. I disagree. btw, one of those big checks he handed to a family was 200,000 baht.

Watching movies on my big-screen TV at home is getting more attractive by the day. Actually, I stopped going to cinemas more than 5 years ago. I wonder how long cinemas will last.

I was focused on how much he was giving and the quick response of the government and King to help out the grieving families, yet you are suggesting it's nothing but a political show. I'm pretty sure the PM was grieving as most of the rest of us were. It would have been very difficult to face these families a day after their children were slaughtered.

There was always plenty when I lived there, even with the tourists. They have more to eat when there are lots of tourists around... well, at least tastier than their regular pile of plain rice the feeders feed them. There were huge packs of dogs just around the corner. The next-door neighbour's daughter was bitten. There were more empty lots, and that means more dogs.

I think the last thing the US needs they already have - Biden.

The point I was trying to make is that against a basket of currencies, (the DXY index) all major currencies have weakened against the USD and the baht is stronger against some and holding steady against others. There's no point in them harping on about the USD exchange rate. The rest of the world is in the same boat and will continue to be as long as the Fed continues with a monthly increase in interest rates.

I've got one better LOL. There was a Thai woman wearing a mask in the park tonight at about 8:30 pm with no one around. I passed by her within a few meters - I think she panicked. I can understand this in crowded shopping malls, but this was absurd.

About 10 years ago in Pattaya, they put dozens of traffic lights at zebra crossings. People didn't stop for the red lights and they ended up turning most of them off, so there's no chance they'll stop for zebra crossings. I noticed recently they have turned some of them back on. There's only one way to cross a road in Thailand. Look both ways and cross when the road is clear. That will never change. This can be a problem for tourists from countries that drive on the right, as they are used to looking the other way when crossing roads.

The THB floats against the USD and all other major currencies. This article is nonsense. The baht is quite steady and even gaining against other major currencies. I'm getting about the same baht per AUD as I have for years. The GBP and EUR have lost ground to the baht. The DXY (USD index) is at its highest since 2001. People are buying USD due to interest rate hikes and consider it a good store of value.

I lived in Cosy Beach for over 6 years. Over that time there was only one dog that regularly chased me on one of the backstreets. Motorbike chasers are not really a problem. You can speed up and lose them, or just stop and then they stop in their tracks. It's only a game for them. Being on foot is more dangerous.

And it should be noted that in Pattaya, everyone is quite easygoing about your mask status. Thai people don't seem to care if you're wearing one or not. The only strange looks I get are from foreigners if I am wearing one.

In Pattaya, you can enter unmasked in Central, Big C, Lotus's, Friendship, and Terminal 21. Those are the only shopping malls I have visited. There has been no problem since July 1. I carry one in my pocket just in case an establishment still has a requirement. Hospitals require one (did in September, but not sure about this month).

I noticed my neighbour wearing a mask in my condo foyer yesterday. I jokingly asked her if she was still afraid of covid. She said no, I'm just not wearing makeup LOL. Pretty much everyone in the building (myself included) has had at least one bout of covid. It's pretty hard to escape covid in a condo lift if you're too lazy to use the stairs. I don't normally wear a mask myself, but I'm quite happy if everyone else still wants to. From that perspective, I'm guilty of being a mask fan.

These dogs only exist because Thai people feed them. What else would they eat if they weren't fed? There would not be enough scrap food around to feed them all. Every soi dog you see has a defacto owner who loves and cares for them. Thai people value life, so in that respect, they are very civilized. They would consider the life of their "pets", aka soi dogs, over the inconvenience caused to foreign tourists. It's the Thai people that cause the problem in the first place, but who are we to tell Thai people what they should or should not do? These animals need to be considered part of Thai culture. They are not going anywhere no matter how much foreigners complain about them.

I've been in some scary situations. The most dangerous is quiet dead-end sois that don't get a lot of through traffic. Don't ride or walk into these late at night if you don't know where you are going. Most soi dogs are placid. It's just the alpha male of the pack that causes the problems and gets all the other dogs excited.