Polar Bear

As far as I can see, it's not licenced for over 60s because there's no data, not because it's contraindicated. There's also no data on people with chronic illnesses. But then, they don't even have data on boosters yet, so I suppose it will all come through eventually.

That was the Dengvaxia vaccine, which was for kids that had been previously infected. This will be the Qdenga, which is for adults whether they have been previously infected or not. I don't know enough about it to say whether it's a good idea, but there does seem to be a lot of people going down with Dengue in Bangkok at the moment.

I've used Mr Bag Fix for repairs. Probably not the cheapest option but it was convenient and the work was good. You can get email them for an estimate. I'd try @LS24's DIY options first though. Also, sometimes the telescopic tubes get slightly crushed during baggage handling, which stops the inner tube sliding freely. You can sometimes just squeeze it with pliers on the opposite sides and pop it back into shape.

Maybe this is what the app update is about. How does facial rec work on web platforms instead of phone apps? Does it rely on a webcam?

http://fixchair.com/index.php/office-chair-price If you are in Bangkok, Fix Chair will recover it for about 1,000 THB. I've used them for a few repairs.

You would be better looking for a therapist that offers CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). There are a lot who work online over Zoom or whatever now. Most people with mild anxiety can get a handle on it after about 6 x 30 min sessions, but you usually see improvement before that.

SCB already has a 50k limit for transactions without face recognition. As far as I know, it just means they are just improving the facial rec abilities of the app. I haven't been to the branch to sign up for facial rec, so I have to keep transactions below 50k now. Maybe the update will let us self-register, though I probably still won't. I thought that was a Thai requirement. Is it actually just something SCB has implemented?

Taiwan may be an option for DIY. A short flight, the quarantine isn't too onerous (a week or so I think), and it's generally quite dog-friendly. But it would need a lot of research to be sure.

I haven't used them myself, but https://relo4paws.com/ often gets recommended. I believe there are also companies that specialise in this based in Singapore. FWIW a year or so ago, a colleague took her dog back to Australia and the best quote she got was $15,000 AUD. She did it herself instead, going from Thailand to Malaysia. But I don't think Malaysia is on the list anymore.

I honestly don't know. Natwest closed my UK account when they found out I was living overseas, so I'm very careful not to let UK banks know now. I use a VPN to connect, and if I have to use a SIM, I turn off my Thai one and use my UK one (Tesco Mobile, if it matters). That's probably overkill, but I'm not really sure what these 'security checks' are, and I don't want to draw attention to my setup.

It's my UK bank that occasionally (a few times a year) insists I connect via mobile data, and that's what I do. Enable roaming, make the connection, turn it off again, and that seems to keep them happy for a while.

You can receive an OTP on another phone and just type it into the app manually, but a lot of smartphones won't work without a SIM card anymore, and even if it does, the app may require you to connect using the SIM sometimes, rather than wifi, as a security measure.

You can either lose over a year on your passport or 3 months on the visa. Either option will work. Do whichever is more convenient for you.

Your passport is valid until the expiry date, including the extra months. However, the Schengen area (and possibly other countries, but the EU is the only place I'm aware of), will only accept it for the first 10 years. If you aren't traveling to or through a Schengen country, it doesn't matter, and you can use it until 2025. If you need it for the EU, it effectively expires in July 2014. This has only become an issue since Brexit. Any new passports issued will only be for 10 years, and there won't be any extra months added in future.

Over the years, I've had two cable fires after being assured unlabelled 125v cables were definitely rated for 240v. I would never risk it again.

There is an individual breaker switch for it indoors (an actual switch, not just the breaker box). Will that turn the outdoor part off as well, or is it more likely to have its own electrical supply? I couldn't see an obvious connection, but I don't know how to tell if the outdoor box has been isolated if the part inside has been turned off.

I'll look for the spray. Do you have any recommendations or are they all much the same? We leave the windows open in the mornings with a fan, and then switch to AC around midday. The water just drips out of the bottom of the unit outside. All 3 of them do that. There are what look like condensate pipes, but the plumbing for them is so utterly ridiculous that I doubt they ever worked. (I put potted plants under the drip to stop algae growing.)

I know my way around central heating and basic plumbing, but I have very little experience with air con prior to coming to Thailand, so I'm still trying to figure this out. We have three air con units, and the one downstairs sometimes smells musty. I clean the removable filters inside regularly. We get them professionally cleaned every 6 months (landlord pays once, we pay once). Sometimes when they are due to be cleaned, one of the units upstairs gets a little musty, but that clears up as soon as it's done. The one downstairs, which we use most, is less predictable. It was cleaned about 2.5 months ago, and it already smells musty, and worse than ever. The box outside (condenser coil?) gets covered with dirt and dust quickly, within a few weeks of being cleaned. I brush what I can off the box outside, but I can't reach it easily. Can I just hose it down to clear more of the dust off? Google says you can, but it sounds like a terrible idea to be spraying water at an electrical unit. ???? Should I be getting them professionally cleaned more regularly? Is there anything else I can do in terms of routine cleaning and maintenance? Or is just the inevitable result of running air con in a dirty polluted city?

I've never used it, but it's there as an option when I order. If you click on it, it brings up a list of locations. https://www.lazada.co.th/helpcenter/whats-the-collection-point.html?spm=a2o4m.helpcenter-topic.articles-list.1.629d68d1B6CujO

Where are you ordering from? Lazada has collection points and you get 3 days to pick up your stuff, with Shopee I think it's 5 days. Kerry also has self pickup options.

I agreed to pay 2 months deposit but had the contract changed to say that one month would be used for the final months rent, and the other for damages etc. My landlord was fine with it, and was probably expecting me to bail on the last month's rent anyway, this just made it official.

I use Dental Hospital Bangkok near Habito Mall, Sukhumvit 77. http://www.dentalhospitalbangkok.com/ It was 25k THB to have a broken crown removed, the old root canal drilled out, a new filling, and a new ceramic crown, including x-rays and so on. That's only a little cheaper than it would have cost at a private dentist in the UK, so I'm sure there are cheaper options around, but I was happy with it. And they make the crowns on-site, so it's fast. You aren't waiting days for them to send off for it.

We've had mixed success in the UK with a 2 year licence, but were able to renew from 2>5 after 14 months to get a Thai IDP. (The UK didn't care about the IDP, but Thai DLT won't issue an IDP on a 2 year, only a 5 year, so we used that as the reason to renew early.) We did use an agent for it (see my previous post), but maybe it's just as easy to renew early if you DIY. Keep a copy of your 2 year licence. (If you have the app with the digital version, you can easily get a screenshot). They keep the 2 year when you renew, and then the UK rentals say you haven't had your licence for at least 12 months, but if you have the copy of the 2 year to show it was a renewal, they'll accept it. That's was my experience anyway.

As far as I know, the tests are the same, but obviously the site layouts will be different. The actual driving skills are really basic. From what I recall it's: Pull away from the kerb and stop at a line Drive between two rows of cones and reverse out again Parallel park between cones ending up roughly in the center of the space (i.e., not right up the ass of where the car in front would be), but it's a big space. Park back up next to the kerb, but again, the distance is ridiculous, you can be 30 cm away or something. The signage between the test stations wasn't always clear, but if you have watched other people go round, you can figure it out. There are videos online of people saying which test they were doing using a remote, but he didn't have that. As far as I know, you have to use their car and it's manual. I don't know if they have any provisions for people who can only drive an automatic. Most of the fails are obvious, clipping the kerb or a pole, not being close enough to the kerb and so on, but also if you slow down too much or stop at the wrong time (i.e. when pulling up to the line or when driving between the poles) that's a fail. If your bumper (not your wheels) cross a line, that's a fail. If you change gear too many times when parallel parking, that's also a fail. The other thing to be aware of is the theory test. You get 50 random questions and you have to get 45 (I think?) correct. The problem here is that the English version has been run through Google translate and a lot of the questions are just nonsense. It's a mixture of luck and trial and error. If you fail, make a note of the answers as best you can in case it comes up again next time. But sometimes that doesn't help. (Like the question where the 4 possible answers are car, car, car and cars, and you have to guess the right 'car'.) There was one about a temperature warning light and the answers were things like, broken, not working, no function, but I can't remember now which one they wanted. @Moonlover suggested using a driving school instead, and that would be worth looking into. I can't imagine it being expensive, and it is probably a lot less hassle.

I've only seen the news reports. They didn't really give a motive beyond her being an angry, high, 17 year old in a volatile relationship who was fighting with her boyfriend while she was driving. It seems like it was just chance she survived.