KhunLA

That has changed considerably. ALL int'l tourist must park & provide ID info at the manned station. Didn't realize their is a form to fill out as posted above. Before, just a folder/ledger sat on a small counter, unmanned: name where from time in any ID # you want to scribble in it time out ... which nobody really bothers with since no parking on exit side of road, unless you park in the PO That's if you wrote anything on the ledger. All changed now. I actually get waved through, as I had an yellow book address on base. Amazing amphur office didn't realize the address was on base, as surely a farang can't live on base. Never used it for Imm, just the lease from our rental at the time. But all the guards recognize me & dog on lap, hard not to. Weekly visitor almost, as friends live there, on base. To add, there a 'museum' area & monuments, remembrance of the Japanese invasion & battle (short lived) that took place 8 Dec 1941. Nice to peek at, and same area, used to have large troop of Dusky Leaf Monkeys, quite cute vs their very aggressive, troublesome cousins/langurs. Not to be seen in quite some time, past couple visits over there.

News Flash: CH has no intension of invading Taiwan, IMHO Why would they ? CH & Taiwan are intertwined economically, and disrupting the present arrangement, would benefit nobody. Same as Hong Kong, Taiwan enjoys their special 'nominal administrative division' and would be foolish to rock the boat. Taiwan is & always will be, part of mainland CH...IMHO

The very few that did close because of covid, along surfside road only, have reopened, original or under new management (w/price increases), with few exceptions. Covid did not effect PKK city as other destinations, as not reliant on Int'l tourist. Getting few Chinese ? tourist buses, and they have yet to really return. Off surfside road, and nothing has changed due to covid, as it was all fairly normal & unaffected with exception of the 1st month of forced closure, with many ignoring the order. One other restaurant we did enjoy (AC'd) did close after covid, but was empty most times prior to covid, so didn't really affect it, I don't think. I was actually surprised they stayed in business at all. The 'town' appears dead on a daily basis, and only livens up on the weekend, due to domestic tourist. Who travels to 'meet expats' ? ???? I've yet to meet any, by choice, and avoid those 2 restaurants that cater to them, just for that reason. Agree, southern part of S side of bay is terribly polluted, from the pier southward, and where the tourist area/vendors are. Even the locals complained of the sewage / stench

Very little quality food, shopping, sights except the bay (karst/island) itself, which smells of sewage along the South promenade, broken in many spots. North side is getting major revamp at the moment. Lovely 6+ kms of bay to 'look' at. The beaches, Ao Prachuap (fronts the city), polluted w/fishing boats, & Ao Manao (swimmer's beach), both nice to look at, but I won't swim in it, as last 2 times my ears were underwater at Ao Manao, they got infected ... ... nuff said. Half the beach area is covered with chairs & umbrellas, charging silly price to sit, even if you order food. Notice in the posted vid, coming out of hotel to check out, very early Sunday, as stated, and yea, little traffic, but at end of vid, night, from far south end, northward, the road is nothing but parked cars in bicycle lane, as far as the eye can see. So when sitting at street level restaurant, all are except 1 at Hathong Hotel, then the view is of parked cars with scooter going by all night, and cars attempting to drive down the now 1 lane available. We don't go down there much as the restaurants, are nothing special and overpriced. Restaurant, The View (@ Hathong hotel) is nice for an afternoon munch, once the sun is on the other side of noon. The only restaurant we'll dine at, along that stretch of surf. Most times, the only customer there. One other, Rap Lom on N side, most tourist without transport won't venture to. Gets packed with Thai domestic tourist & locals. For sunset, Bay Camp Cafe, (gets packed), decent coffee & pastries, very far N side of bay, loops around facing W. Most of the farangs, living here & tourist seem to visit the 2 restaurants in the vid, serving mostly western food. Love living here, but not in town, and you do have to self entertain. Ban Krut, another hour south of Hua Hin, a much better choice for a 'beach' holiday. A beach you can actually walk on & swim in. Weekend night market along surfside road is quite nice, as is sitting surfside, along the wall, hopefully upwind, and at a space in between the storm/sewer drains. Choose wisely or endure the smell of sewage. We only go down there, surfside, at early evening, when shaded by couple hotels and leave at sunset. If living here, nothing really to do except sit & sip a beverage, which is fine. If tourist, the same from your balcony, from the few hotels that have, putting you about street level and away from the smell. Not to scare anyone from visiting, as good for 2 day R&R, but so you're not surprised or disappointed, and know what to expect. Easy access by train <1km stroll (station to surfside), but better if you self drive, as no real taxis/public transport, except renting a scooter. A few scooters with side carts, but they hang around the train station. Saying that, if arrive by van, you need to probably walk (3 kms) to surfside from Phetkasem road van depot. Ok stroll as long as not traveling heavy. Only 2 other places we dine at, not surfside: Krua Chaiwat ร้านกินเส้นประจวบ - only AC place, good Khao Soi (pork ????), call first though, iffy hrs, lots of unannounced closings.

USA couldn't deter CH even if they wanted to. Not that they do.

We have an excellent Khao Soi shop down here, and we popped in the other day. Good for once or twice a month. One of the very few Noodle Soup dishes that I like. Only a few other places we eat out at here.

Whoa ... seriously ... ???? edit: equal time, checked Philly, Pa, USA, and a lot more than I would have though. None in my hometown area. Wow ... World in Changes

I actually came here Oct 1999, to recon for retirement, on suggestion of coworker, as was running out of places to peek at N. Americas. If I didn't have weeks of timeshare to burn & worked for an airlines, that would never have happened. Simply to far for a recon or a dive trip, which it turned out to be also. And only 1 week for 1st visit. Lots of research after, (hindsight, limited) came back a year later, Sept 2000 & stayed. 6 month later retired. Retiring, or playing tourist here, SEA or Europe never interested me, prior to. Only went to Europe, because my niece lived in Sweden, and I wanted to go somewhere cold, before coming to hot TH, from hot (August) Memphis, TN, USA, having like 2 months off of work to kill.

If the one at Bkk Hosp a few years back, I concer, and fixed the BumCrap clusterFk I referred to earlier.

winning a race nobody is running in, is that really beating anyone ?

I do not, although saying that, IF, you don't say American here, you get a blank stare. 'Where from?' United States, US, USA "huh?' Only 2 have official name using 'United States'; USA & Mexico, and I don't think they get a lot of Mexicans here saying, they're from the Unites States of Mexico or United Mexican States.

I can't see me sitting on a plane, in economy, for more than 2 hrs, means I'm not going anywhere out of TH or SEA. Let alone the added 2-3 hrs, just to get on the plane, then the same on return. Nah, that ain't happenin'. Add in the hotel & car rental cost, there isn't much I'd spend that much time, hassle or money on to see. Traveled out also. Only if hitting the lottery, going & staying First Class all he way, would I bother.

Hell NO ... 20+ yrs here already, I'm done. Just too lazy to uproot. Lottery win - Might buy a condo at Krung Thep to visit the kid every month, but that's about it. Don't know where I'd settle again, if at all. Thinking nomadic myself ????

Agree & 1% is a real stretch. Tourist are just that. Very few folks uproot & retire to another country, especially from the Americas or Europe to SEA, IF not already 'working' overseas. People seem to settle with what they know, and think is safe. Just a different language takes them way out of their comfort zone for everyday living. Aside from leaving family & friends behind.

Read like they've been checked off the list already. @recom273 Thanks Was heading that way ourselves, but getting delayed probably another month. Good read ????

Sticking with the cheap/inexpensive cars available in TH, what is available for the low budget/thrifty (me) car shopper. Disregarding anti CH sentiment, as it will have parts from CH, but will need to be 'Made in TH', ICEVs, and they start at ฿600k price point, up to a silly ฿830k for top end model of the same ???? That's for some performance, without enhancement, so 4 cyl, 1.5L engine, AT. What I wouldn't buy again, drivetrain is fine, but comfort level, noise & ride not the best, especially at speed: Toyota Vios, discontuing, now Yaris. Mazda 2 Ones I've peeked at, and or test drove, and would not buy: Honda Jazz Honda City Nissan Note Nissan Almera MG3 - discontinuing ? Suzuki Swift 3 cyl or <฿600k cars, you get what you pay for. Slim pickins, and why we bought the MG ZS (ICE) in 2020 @ ฿695 for mid level model, of the 3/entry/mid/top. Now they offer 4 models, starting @ ฿689k More than enough performance and comfort, for those 3-4 hrs on Thai roads. If not having the EV version, and needing to buy something different, I'd peek at the MG line up only, for both ICE & EV. IF not MG, then I'd stick with EVs only, as a couple ฿549 to ฿830k+/-

Never been a fan of narcissists. I'll probably change by to MG... ... just for you ????

If I was to have a photo of someone worthy admiration, it would be Tesla.

Most just hop across the border. Went to Tijuana once, then other visits were Mexico City & Yucatan Peninsula, 30+ yrs ago. Only 1 tourist bar on Cozumel at the time, and no cruise ship docks.

Guess it depends what year: "Volvo Cars Main article: Volvo Cars Owned 82% by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (post Volvo Cars IPO).[14] Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquired Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Company in 2010" - wiki

Volvo ... yea, SAIC produces a few of them Volvos, as does Geely, since being the largest share holder. Thoughts on that ... ???? Along with CH producing some other brands: Honda Benz BMW VW Nissan Peugeot-Citroën Toyota GM Ford Mazda Polestar Lotus Hyundai Mitsubishi Isuzu Peugeot Stellantis/Fiat Chrysler

But you would need to know the reason why, I changed to that pic. Represents all that is wrong with the world ... you can read it to many versions of that. Like art, people see different things in an abstract painting. Let that one sink in ... that's some deep <deleted> ????

Agree, and why that, Mexico was the country I visited most for holiday. Though only 4 times, with Bahamas, a close 2nd, and 3X, 3 different islands, 3 different reasons. As can't see the point of revisiting the same destination all the time. Unless really bored where you are, which is hard to be in the USA. Easy to get bored here, damn small A$$ country ???? Can't see the point of repeat holidays to TH, but that's me. Prefer to see something different on holiday, when living in USA. Country/culture or natural environment, beach/mountain/snow, mix it up.

You got one thing correct. One thing I've learned, I'll never change the thinking of a bigot, so best to ignore. BYE BYE

Me ... Philly, PA ... Revolutionist In the company of those drafting the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution. Thomas Paine, penning 'The Common Sense' UP THE REVOLUTION