n8sail

Alright, so @whaleboneman is definitely not the only one who knows about my once 'hero' Khun Paween Pongsirin's history. Those were some pretty convincing crocodile tears in the Al Jazeera piece!

Well isn't that interesting. Will research more, but apparently even the most courageous have skeletons in their closets. Not allowed to post the link here due to draconian forum rules, but if you google "Paween Pongsirin koh tao murders" and click the first link you can read an article from 2014 in our most neutral and brilliant English language news organization here in Thailand. (Of course who REALLY knows what happened on Koh Tao. I suppose there is some chance the Burmese guys actually did it...) *sigh*

There was one... he got run out of the country and lives alone in Australia. Luckily so far it seems his family here is still alive. Documentary worth watching for those that haven't seen it. Nearly a tear-jerker at times. Buddha help this goodness-forsaken corruption-hole:

It is not impossible at all... Like everything here, it just takes paperwork, organization and most of all patience. Ignore the people saying you need friends in high places. That is utter cow manure. I have one friend from USA, not very wealthy, but has three half-babies, who has Thai Citizenship. My Thai, according to him, is better than his, and he says I should really apply on grounds of my employment here 'helping Thai society'. I think that's a stretch, and I've no children so cannot go that route. He got it about 10 years ago I believe. For countries 'not allowing' dual citizenship, I know several people that have 2 passports and are from such countries. The daughter of someone I work with has freakin' THREE passports, one of which includes the USA! Just don't ever show the other passports when you fly into such a country. Apparently it really doesn't matter as long as you're paying taxes where due etc. I have another friend going through PR right now. He just had to hand-carry 200,000 Baht cash (that's all they'll accept) to the office where he's applying to give to them. He has lived here 17 years, works a pretty decent engineering job, but certainly not wealthy. It has been about a year already of interviews, paperwork etc. He said the main interview was pretty easy, they are very polite and joke around with you. This friend speaks better Thai than I can, he's probably 75% fluent. At 200k baht, he thinks it's worth it if he stays another decade or so based on visa costs and time saved getting visas and 90-day reporting. Of course he still has to deal with Work Permits, no help on that side of things.

The actual Hua Hin Sailing club interview is here:

It would be a 35-40 minute drive down Rt. 7 /36 for you from Pattaya (easy drive, I commute this route every day), but if this guy is still open in Rayong, I highly recommend him for Fords. I was given his contact by the husband of a woman I work with who is a serious motor head. Had my Ford Ranger leaking air intake troubleshot and repaired in minutes, for less than 1000 baht and as a bonus the Ford dealership is just around the corner so he can get legitimate parts very quickly. There were only Ford vehicles, both trucks and cars, in his shop. Well-organized and clean shop as well. https://goo.gl/maps/MAxwAHyXXUoGxzmZ9 Thought I had his phone number, but unfortunately do not any more. There is no sign or phone number on the building unfortunately.

I flew in this past Monday morning from the USA, only flight arriving at that ungodly hour, and it was the fastest I have EVER gotten through Swampy... and I've flown here more than 30 times now. That said, I was in business class so maybe the 5th person off the plane, and baggage was out first as well. I can see how the hotel pickup would cause problems, the system is completely inane, designed by some absolute moron. I stayed in Ravindra hotel in Na Jomtien, (which was pretty unimpressive for the nearly 10,000 baht this all cost!), so I figured I should go to the counter with 'R' on it. Nope, not there. Okay... I'll just ask as there's basically no one there. That worked, and I ended up at the very last counter. Had to wait 10 minutes before the woman walked us all outside to our respective vehicles. If there were even twice as many people it would have been a total nightmare. Idiocy.

Outlet Mall at Thepprasit-Sukhumvit intersection. "Sports Stadium" store on the Northeast corner has many brands, but not always larger sizes. Over on the Western side of the complex there is Nike and Adidas 'factory stores' and I think another that has many main brands, Reebok etc. You don't mention shoe size, but as these outlet shops were once aimed at farangs, there are usually more larger sizes available there than at a Thai mall or shop. I'm 46-47 euro size and it is very difficult to find these here sometimes. Bought at least 3 pairs of running shoes at this mall over the past years. Have not tried Decathlon shoes, but they do look okay, especially the 'expert' level ones. I use their very inexpensive running shirts/shorts with good results.

Just buy a boat and actually use it. You'll have neither time nor money to even think about a child! ???? (Or car/motorcycle/some sort of conveyance) Travel and adventure has usurped any desire I had to have children. Also, my partner and I are 43, so we're getting a little old for it, especially her. Birth defect rates increase rapidly after mid-30s for women. That said, over the last 2 years of COVID BS and being stuck here in Thailand, I did consider it more than usual. I also sailed much more than usual as well, though, so that kept my mind off the dullness of being stuck in one country.

Install a filter with UV light for still water. Best 'investment' I've ever made. For soda water, where I lived in Rayong I went to the largest 'Mom and Pop' shop near my house and set up a system with them. Had to pay a couple hundred baht deposit to have two plastic crates of Singha soda water in rotation so there was always some in stock for me. I did have to pick it up in person, not delivered, so not sure that will help you. I have not yet been able to set this up in Na Jomtien where I live now, but in fairness we haven't really gone looking. I'm sure the same thing would be available though.

Master Yo's kitesurfing crossing was definitely one to be impressed by. And he did it on a twin tip board, not a foil board. I would do it on a foil, couldn't pay me enough to do it on a twin tip. It was nearly dark when he arrived in Sam Roi Yod. For what it's worth, people cross the gulf with foil boards every year now, using a 55' Italian Cranchi powerboat as support... so literally getting about 1 liter/km fuel consumption. It's all very green.... ???? I have crossed the gulf in less than 8 hours before in my 25 foot keelboat, so the e-foil 'record' is very very unimpressive. Apparently the e-foils are being made here in Thailand, there is a farang making them. I have not met him yet, but apparently a cool guy. Re: MG EP.... with "380km Range"... indeed. I'd say 320km is absolute max possible on it. I've driven mine from Jomtien to Prachuap Kiri Khan and back, you have to stop to charge once. We got it down to 17% battery on the way there before charging at a fast charger in Cha-am.

It is definitely reaching fruition, one was just launched and christened here at Ocean Marina a couple weeks ago, it tied up here for a few days before they delivered it up to Bangkok. Pretty nice boat, but utilitarian. The bright yellow color will probably help with avoiding collisions on the crowded waterways in BKK.

How are they short on water out there? It has been raining HARD at least once-twice a week for months now. Wettest 'Dry Season' I've seen in a long time. Not to mention there are basically no tourists out there. Daily population including visitors has to be 1/10th of normal times.

Yeah tourists are screwed. I have several long-time expat friends here who have gotten COVID. No one checked on them at home, no one cared. They just stayed home. But they caught it here locally, not after traveling into the country. All got at least a little sick from the OWMYBALLS variant, but nothing more. All are double or triple vaxxed. If you are far from Bangkok or whatever airport you fly into, I suspect you are also screwed. I will be doing my one-night quarantine at the resort literally right next to my condo. If negative results in the morning, I will just walk down the beach, fetch my car and go get my baggage from the resort. Easy Peasy ???? Certainly many people won't have it easy like that.

Many thanks for sharing this! First instance I've ever heard of this situation. I'm forced to go back home for a couple weeks and very nervous of being locked up on return.

Perfect, thank you!

I've searched around and can't find a thread with exactly my issue, at least recently. Apologies if there has been. I've worked here nearly 8 years now, and I'm up for my 3rd renewal of my 2 year Non-B BOI Multiple-Entry Visa, and also Work Permit. Previously, this was not complicated at least on my end as my employer here takes care of everything; I just have to follow them around, sign things, pay the fees and wait in waiting areas. However, this time my Passport expires April of 2024 and will have just under two years at the Visa Expiry date in June 2022. You can renew the BOI visa 15-90 days before the expiry date, so under normal circumstances we could just start the process just before my passport expires to get another full 2 years... or at least that's what they have said on the phone to a co-worker researching it for me. The complication is that an urgent matter has come up at my home in USA, so I must travel there and won't return until just a few days before the 2-year-to-expiry date of the passport (provided I pass my COVID nose-raping and don't go to COVID jail... clearly totally screwed if that happens). I can still enter the country just fine, but almost certainly won't have time to process a new Visa before the passport reaches its sub-two year remaining day. First question: Am I correct that the BOI office will not issue a 2 year Non-B visa in a passport with less than 2 years on it? This seems obvious to me, but TIT, stranger things happen. 2nd question: Have any USA passport holders on here gotten a new passport long before expiry of their old one recently in the USA (ie under COVID rules where appointments and wait times are sometimes very long) I will be home for about 20 days, likely not enough time to get a new passport under normal circumstances, but maybe possible with $$$ and an agency. As I understand it, provided I could somehow get a rushed new passport, I could travel with both of them and still use my old passport with existing June 2022 expiry date VISA in it to enter the country, I believe I have read this before on here. I suppose the least convenient option, but most likely to work would be to apply for only 1 year Visa, worry about getting new passport sometime in the next year, and go through the process again for new Visa next year. It is a lot of work for the applying person here at my company so I'd like to avoid this if possible. Not to mention a day or more wasted on my part. Many thanks if you've survived reading to this point, and even more thanks for any consideration or other ideas anyone has!

RIP Mr. Waseem Ahmad. That would be a poopy way to go down especially at only 40. INRE electricity generation in Thailand, actually Coal and Natural gas burning is accounting for less and less... even now most of the electricity comes from natural gas, which is for obvious reasons much cleaner than coal. Of course it still produces loads of CO2. Downside is Thailands Natural Gas reserves are only enough for about 4 more years of production at the current rate. Here's a good read for those of you that care about facts rather than just conjecture by bar-stool-dwelling septuagenarians that are stuck in the past: https://www.krungsri.com/en/research/industry/industry-outlook/Energy-Utilities/Power-Generation/IO/io-power-generation-21 From the article:

Doubt it if you like. Only reporting what I observed. Or get to an MG dealer and have a go in one. Don't take my very uninformed opinion on it.

That makes sense... there's a disproportionately higher amount of vehicles in Bangkok than anywhere else... One thing to note about the various providers: They are VARIOUS and NUMEROUS. I have no less than 5 different apps on my phone to pay for chargers. The payment part is annoying at best. Vending machines that accept paper notes and dispense change are a dime-a-dozen. I do not understand why the fancy-dancy charge points cannot do the same. At least twice we have spent more time figuring out how to pay using a faulty app than time needed charging. That was the very beginning though... for the last few months it has gotten MUCH better as the apps get the kinks worked out. Certainly they are better than the 90-day report or Test-and-Get-Fornicated apps/websites, though! ???????? I almost never use charge points. Home and work charging does 95% of my needs.

Learn to use it better then. Or better yet, read the thread before posting. Two of us have already posted links to two different sources for finding charge points in Thailand. Charge points are not listed on Google Maps native, at least not consistently. plugshare.com

Yes, mine does. 7 baht per unit though. I also put a charger at work, only 4 baht per unit there. My car came with a free 7.5 kilowatt charger that I installed at work behind a electric meter, so I just pay them based on usage.

Mostly coal here in central Thailand. Much of the Northeast is powered by excess Hydro form Laos. My girlfriend works at one of the coal-fired plants in Map Ta Phut. They bring in Aussie coal by barge and burn that. It's cleaner than the locally available coal. Also, solar is starting to catch on. There is a large solar farm east of the Dark Side, you can see it just off the Highway 7 extension. And they are starting a massive floating solar farm in Northeast. Electricity is not that clean here... but it is better to burn HUGE boilers fired with coal in concentrated areas than millions of tiny inefficient separate burners all over the place. Certainly helps with air quality if you care about that.

https://www.plugshare.com/

As Khun La said... PLENTY of <deleted> chargers in Thailand. here's the App I use to find them and plan trips: Personally I am not an environmentalist, but I am a cheapskate! I will never buy another ICE car again after buying my first EV in May last year. I am fortunate to also have a nice diesel truck that I keep for... well, truck situations. But The EV is less than half the cost to run so far. 23,500 km so far on it. Did my first service at 15,000km. The MG dealership here has a window so I could see what they were doing. My service consisted of adding washer fluid. That's it. Now in 10 years or so when the battery starts to poo the bed, I'm sure I'll be less happy. But batteries will be MUCH cheaper then. And recycling them will get better, too. Also, I challenge any of you diesel truck drivers, or civic, or fiestas to a race... the cheap little Chinese EV will literally leave you in the dust, for 300+km. Nothing keeps up with me on the road save big bikes and the odd sports car. I blew away a red-plate Audi TT coupe the other day on the almost unused highway near here... he was trying hard, too! I'm enjoying these golden times where I'm one of the few enjoying this marvel of electrical engineering. When all the Somchais figure out how cheap and fast these things are, the carnage on the roads will probably double or more.