wpcoe

8 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

Massive storm here in Patts this afternoon, power went out twice which was a bit of a bummer but now 18.45 hrs, nice and cool 29 degrees, yesterday indoors was registering 33.5 so a nice change 

And, where I live in Jomtien we heard all the thunder, but not a drop of rain fell.  Luckily, the power stayed on the whole time, too.  I had wondered just where the storm was.  My condo faces south so I suspected it must have been north ... in Pattaya.

Do Grab Car drivers get harassed by local taxi mokes like the Uber drivers were?  It was getting very difficult to get an Uber at Tesco Lotus South Pattaya toward the end.  If the Grab Car drivers are harassed, what about Grab Taxi?

On 4/24/2018 at 10:45 AM, Oztruckie said:

Was advised by the lady in the TM 30 reporting office regarding such,she checked the dates when I left and arrived back in Thailand,13 days you away for,no need file tm30 report,only do if go outside Thailand more than 14 days,and I'm condo owner occupier in Pattaya.

 

...aaaand there we have it:  My opening post didn't stay valid for even 24 hours.

I was clearly told on Monday afternoon that regardless how long I stay out, there was no need to file new TM.30 unless moving to new address and/or getting new extension.  The very next morning, Oztruckie was told there's also a 14-day stay parameter.  <sigh...>

That's a Buddhist statue?

I don't think he's a troll, but I do wonder if his perspective needs to be adjusted.  He seems highly focused in getting some high-powered pain relief when IMHO he should be focused on finding the root cause of the pain and THEN getting the appropriate meds, if meds are even necessary.  There may be some way to treat the root cause (and hence the pain) and live pain free.

He paid B27k to a visa agency for convenience in sorting his immigration status/papers, but won't spend (probably far) less to see Dr. Wicharn at BNH for a serious health issue?  I don't condemn him for using a visa agency, because he obviously sees value in that service, but why oh why does he not view highly recommended, competent doctors equally valuable?

1 hour ago, soisanuk said:

The Pattaya City Expats Club has noted in their Newsletter that they have received several recent reports (late March and in April) from Expats returning from overseas trip and have long stay retirement extensions that Immigration (Jomtien) have told them if returning to their previous address, which has been reported in the past, they need not file a new TM.30 on their return - this being from Immigration Officers at Information and other desks including Desk 10 (which handles the TM.30 filing).

That is a potential problem of all these anecdotal reports (including mine.)  The statement by the PCEC is true as far as it goes, but according to the TM.30 room yesterday it's not the ENTIRE policy.  i.e. True that you do not need to report if returning to your previous address, BUT ADDITIONALLY you apparently need to file a new TM.30 when you are granted a new extension.

(soisanuk:  I'm not picking on you.  I'm just using that PCEC newsletter as an example.)

Agreed, which is why I date-stamped the post.  I triple-checked with her about the new extension requirement, and she was clear it was a (current) requirement.

One possible bit of corroboration on that point was that last November when I had returned from a previous overseas trip, the gals at the lobby desk told me I needed to update my TM.30 since is was over a year old.  I was subsequently (within a couple minutes) told by Immigrations Officers at the side of the lobby that I didn't need to file a new TM.30 if I were returning to the same address.  Since the line for the TM.30 room was out the front door and into the parking lot and I was still jet-lagged, I just went home.

I just posted a new thread where I was told by the TM.30 folks that if you're on a retirement extension and living in your own condo you need to file a new TM.30 when you get a new extension and/or if you move to a new address.  No need to report after an absence of any length.

Upon return from my previous overseas trip last November, the gals at the desk in the lobby said I needed to file a new TM.30 because mine was too old, but the Immigrations officers on the side of the lobby told me that if I were still living at the same address I didn't need to file a new TM.30.  I thought they were offering information at odds with each other, but it appears each was telling the truth ... each told one half of the policy.

I had a TM.30 in my passport from 2016 for the same address where I live now (my own Jomtien condo) and I returned late Thursday night from a 10-day overseas trip, so wasn't sure if I needed to file a new TM.30 or not.  So, with nothing on the agenda for this afternoon I strolled over the Cholburi Immigrations on Soi 5 with a completed TM.30 form to see.

IF you own your own condo and live in it, and

IF you are on a retirement extension, and

IF you report to Cholburi (Jomtien) Immigrations:

once you have filed a TM.30, you only need to file a new TM.30 IF:

- you move to a new address, or

- receive a new extension

I do NOT know what applies to renters, or folks on other types of extensions or visas.  She wanted to be clear that I lived in my own condo and what my Immigrations status was, so there may be other variations for other living situations and/or visas/extensions.

I was pleased that even though my TM.30 was from 2016, and I had subsequently received new retirement extensions in January 2017 and January 2018, that she didn't issue any fine.

And, again this was as of 23-April-2018 at 2:30pm, in the TM.30 room on Jomtien Soi 5.

@Basil B:  All it took was one premature return home on the 19th to teach me to wait until *late* evening arrival on the 19th, too.  Luckily my driver was a Pattaya fellow and he knew which back roads to minimize delays.  Minimize, but not eliminate, of course.  I think it only took 2.5 hours, but my neighborhood was still in full Songkran mode, so still, I should have waited.

Also, wasn't it the Yellow Shirts that closed the airport?

I hadn't heard of 5htp, so thanks for bringing it up.  During a google search for 5htp, I found an interesting product combining melatonin and 5htp.  Back some twenty years ago when I had sleep issues I used to take a capsule of combined melatonin and valerian, which worked better together than either one did separately for me.  I wonder if 5htp+melatonin would be similar?

Also, in your first sentence, did you mean (5 htp helps to get more seratonin)?

Without "joining" a "group," any idea what the costs are/will be?

Gotta love the Google link algorithms.  Just now at the bottom of this thread:

For anyone complaining about the cold last weekend, I did my annual Songkran Exodus and landed in New York City on Tuesday at noon to 3°C temps!  Today's 15° C seemed balmy in comparison.  (Last year, same dates, it was in the 20's and 30's.)

At least it was a modern Apple "Lightning" cable.   Had it been the old iPhone4-style, yikes:

Three sections?  Booking desk?  Did the public taxi queue get rid of the ticket machines?

8 hours ago, HLover said:

Is it cold in that police station?

7 hours ago, siamcrut said:

Nice nipples

At first glance I thought the female complainant was bra-less at the police station. 

9 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

I got another one for you. 

 I have to catheter 4 times a day because I cannot pass urine. For the last 3 years I have gone to a hospital in Khon Kaen to get my medical supplies,cotton balls.alcoho;,povodine,gel, normal seline.

  My wife suggested we get everything at the local hospital. So off we went to the local hospital. The doctor said ok we can do it  for you  what do you need . We told him he ordered it. 

  When we went to the pharmacy area we were told they do not have alcohol,or gel and only one bottle of povidine.  This is a hospital with out supplies so I think it is more commen than we think.

 Now I understand why the musician Bodyslam ran across Thailand for the hospitals.

40 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

Sorry, do I write in Chinese language???? My mistake.

Now I try my limited Irish English: Why you are not  doing catheterizing by yourself with your own hands with a catheter you bought in a pharmacy ???

Or let your wife do it if you're suffering from Parkinson???

I think you (sawadee1947) might have misunderstood (lovelomsak)?  He does appear to be doing it himself at home -- he simply  went to the local hospital to get the supplies.

Interesting twist on the Uber-Grab merge:  https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Uber-Grab-deal-likely-breaks-competition-rules-Singapore -- Singapore (at least temporarily) has an injunction against the takeover.

16 hours ago, DMC1 said:

Guys any recent reviews for “Big Kahuna”?

I looked at their FB page and there’s nothing below 5 star rating apart from a 1 star which looks like a joke from a friend.

Looks perfect for a good old pig out....

I've eaten there several times with various sandwiches and my favorite, their calzone.  It's a good place for a "good old pig out" since the portions are generous.  Some might flinch at the prices -- it's not a balloon chaser's paradise -- but I don't mind as I feel there is good quality and value for the price.

Oh, and they seem to be still adding to the menu, so be sure to read through it even if you've been there before.

The overseas bandwidth and the ISPs' willingness to let users have full access to it are probably at the root.  On that VDSL package you have, 3BB  used to offer an "Inter" supplement for B200/month specifically to offer higher access to that overseas bandwidth, and hence accelerate overseas data speeds.  They have since stopped offering that "Inter" supplement, so users are left with is a sub-par experience with overseas speeds.

Just read an article about Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS servers and thought I'd ask here for opinions about it, since there seems to be a great deal of knowledge among the users about all things related to internet access.

I pinged 1.1.1.1 and the response time indicates they have local servers and/or mirror sites in Thailand.

Just curious:  Do you know why it's not available in the US?  Was it banned, or just not enough interest/demand?