DrDave

Just bought an MG5 a couple of weeks ago, and so far I'm really impressed in the value for money. We ended up buying the top of range model as we were in a hurry and they had the color we wanted on the showroom floor. What clinched the deal for me was the discount offered (40k) which made the "X" model with all the bells and whistles only about 50k more than the "D" model I was intending to buy. We've had this car for only a couple of weeks, but my first impression is that the "iSmart" technology with its 10" touchscreen included in this model rivals that found in high-end European cars. I've been finding more and more features every day that are not mentioned in any of the sales literature. A couple of negative points, although not enough to dissuade me from buying this car: It's nearly impossible to see out the back window due to the roofline slope, so you definitely need to rely on the rear camera when backing out (there's also a 360 degree view). It's too early to make a general conclusion, but so far it appears that the gas mileage may end up being below expectations. A caveat to that is that most of the driving I've done has been under terrible conditions due to all of the road construction going on in the area. One annoyance is that the "iSmart" user manual is not available in English, so I'm sure I'm missing out on using some of the technology features. Additionally, the "iSmart" app for smartphones cannot be downloaded from either the Apple app store or Google Play to phones that are considered "out of the region". We would probably need to setup new Thai Google and Apple IDs for use in Thailand in order to download, but haven't tried that yet. Overall, when comparing this car to others in its price range (Mazda 2, Suzuki Swift, Nissan Note, etc) the MG5 came out way ahead in terms of included features important to us such as 4 wheel disc brakes, 6-way power seat, large touchscreen, technology, navigation, power sunroof, automatic headlights, airbags and horsepower. Total price was 559,000 with no charge for 1st year insurance, floor mats, window tint and registration fees.

I suppose the Thai government would have no issue with the rest of the world being "neutral" when China inevitably moves to place Thailand. under CCP control.

No need to make lease payments on all of the commercial planes leased by the Russian airlines. Putin essentially nationalized all of the airliners being leased from foreign lessors. They'll be used only on domestic routes in order to avoid seizure. Those lessors are going to have some massive write-offs.

My wife had had the "Silver" checkup package done 2 days ago at BNH hospital in Soi Convent. Unfortunately, no specials on offer so the full price was 26,900 baht for the 4 1/2 hour process. Most hospitals run promotions from time to time (discounting 40-50%) so best to check with the hospitals you may be familiar with to see what's on offer.

Link to AXA insurance: https://www.axa.co.th/en/axa-sawasdee-thailand-travel-insurance . Coverage includes 750,000THB accident/sickness (including COVID-19), 850,000THB 3rd party liability and 1,000,000THB accidental death, murder!, dismemberment. Higher/additional coverage is also available. Like nearly all insurance, it does not cover hotel quarantine costs or hospitalization that is not medically necessary.

You must buy the insurance policy first, before applying for Thailand Pass. When you apply for TP, you'll need to attach (upload) a copy of the coverage certificate as part of your application.

This guy has made one poor life choice after another his entire life, and now seems to be bitter that the US government, US taxpayers and the Thai government won't provide him the means to realize his "dream".

The NATO countries have far more skin in the game regarding trade with Russia compared to Thailand, and yet have committed to sanctions against Russia and support of the Ukrainian military, unlike Thailand.

Or force him to go work on the construction of Putin's new pipeline in Siberia.

Currently, K-Bank is not accepting rubles (neither hard currency or T/T). Bangkok Bank has a 50%+ spread between buy and sell (.24 and .38) and is not accepting T/T.

I initiated my usual 500 USD transfer today at 1AM (Thai time). Funds were received immediately from my US bank via ACH. Normally, the transfer at this time of day is instant, but this time the screen said 11 hours. 8 hours later, still not received by K-Bank.

The middle-eastern airlines may continue to fly BKK to Russia. The bigger issue for Russians might be access to funds in order to pay for flights in the event that their Russian credit and debit cards are refused.

I prefer music of any genre created by people with real vocal and instrumental skills. Listening to music from 2 or more decades ago, before the advent of auto-tune, I'm amazed at the vocal accuracy some bands had. These days, there's so much reliance on studio and production tricks like auto-tune and others. It's taken to extreme in some newer genres - I'm reminded of the rental house next door that catered to French and Algerians vacationers. They'd crank up this music than can only be described as "pop goes the weasel" played on a cheap synthesizer through multiple effects, and having vocals so highly modulated the singer could be a full step off-key and you'd never know it. I don't think any measure of actual talent was involved.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does it mean to "prime" T-Mobile international roaming? I'll be returning to Thailand shortly, and expect to have some bank transactions that will require 2FA. I'm planning to put my T-Mobile sim in a separate, cheap phone used only for receiving 2FA OTPs (assuming I'll be able to receive 2FA SMSs via T-Mobile roaming).

I had a Hayward system in a previous house, and now have a Zodiac system. The chlorine generator in the Hayward system lasted a little over 6 years. The Zodiac system in the current house is 2 years old and going strong. I never had a problem with the electronics in either system.

I normally take 10mg of melatonin, along with 50mg of diphenhydramine HCl each night. Not perfect sleep, but waking up for just a few minutes a couple of times isn't a big issue. Last night I tried a little experiment by skipping the diphenhydramine and was awake most of the night. In the past, melatonin alone hasn't done anything for me, so I'll try the diphenhydramine alone tonight and see how that works. I never had any sleep issues until mid-60s. Prior to that, I'd fall asleep within a couple of minutes of my head hitting the pillow and not wake up until morning. The exception to that was before I retired, I'd occasionally wake up in the middle of the night with an "aha" moment having formulated in my sleep a solution to some problem at work, but then easily drift back to sleep.

I bought a "Chibson" LP online from a Chinese vendor about 6 years ago, and it was delivered via Thailand Post. There was no tax or duty collected when I picked it up at the post office, however two postal employees came by the house later that day and informed me that they forgot to collect the tax owed. Somehow, they knew the actual value despite the invoice listing a significantly lower amount, and calculated the tax based upon what I had actually paid. Beautiful guitar BTW.

Blood test. Every 4 months.

Yup. 1cm : 4000cm (40m)

The scale is shown on the upper left portion of this photo. It appears to be either 1:4000 or 1:5000 (your wife should be able to make out that digit after the ":").

I agree. On my last checkup, my doctor noted that I was a bit low on vitamin D and advised me to take a vitamin D supplement of 4,000 IUs every day. No mention of Covid - just generally a good idea to not have a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D supplement pills are cheap and easy.

Nothing in Thailand will ever operate like Singapore. Corruption is so deeply embedded in all levels of the public sector, from the very bottom to the very top (and beyond). The only way to become more Singapore-like would be to have a complete purge of local and national government personnel as well as the police and military, and start over with a new no-nonsense PM, ala Lee Kuan Yew. Not gonna happen.

Yes, I believe late arrivals will generally require an extra night. All of the SHA+ hotels I've looked at offer a "2 Day Test & Go" package in addition to the 1 day package. The problem is, they're charging double the 1 day rate, even though the 2nd day doesn't include the costly airport transportation and the PCR test that's factored into the 1 day rate.

So I guess all of these newer commercial buildings that have been built with steel stud and gypsum interior partitions are doomed to failure due to termites ???? I've had 2 houses built in Thailand. The first (which contained a lot of wood flooring and furniture) I owned for over 10 years and never had a bit of termite trouble. The second, I've had for over 10 years and similarly, never a hint of termite problems. The advantages of steel/gypsum interior walls are many. You don't need to have footings under each interior wall, as only perimeter footings are required for a single monolithic concrete slab. This also makes a remodel easier, since interior non-load bearing walls can be easily removed or relocated without concern for support under the slab. Plumbing and electrical system installation are much simpler since pipes and wires are run in the wall voids and can be easily relocated. Costwise, it may be a tad more expensive for materials compared to concrete block or brick, but building a typical stud/gypsum interior wall takes virtually minutes instead of days. Cost of 3 meter steel "C" studs and U channel (for sill and top plates) in Thailand is about the same as the cost of wood studs in the US. The wall is assembled with sheet metal screws, screwed to the slab with tapcons and the gypsum is hung using fine-thread drywall screws. The big challenge is finding laborers that know how to build steel/gypsum walls. Surprisingly, many know how to install a gypsum ceiling on a steel grid, but a wall using gypsum over steel studs may confound them. This is especially true upcountry where they know only one way to build walls. I even asked about using ACB (lightweight aerated concrete blocks) and got blank stares.

I've been wondering about this too. Don't they use steel studs and gypsum board for interior partitions in high-rise office buildings?