Johnlkuk

A good rule maybe, but I ended up buying from the smaller 7-11 which is even nearer, being dead opposite the school gates! I guess that rule didn't apply to already established businesses at the time it was introduced. Clever. If you say the toasting machines are there then I'll visit one more time to try and get a toasty.

Then you haven't been to this particular branch on Arunotai. My neighbour sent me out on another errand yesterday: 2 bottles of Singha and a packet of cigarettes. I revisited the same branch to double-check behind the counter (still no visible toasters), then proceeded to the fridge for his beers. What? No beer, anywhere. Surely it's here somewhere. So I asked the girl, but she said "no alcohol" and pointed down the road to the next 7-11 (opposite the school), which indeed did have beer. So, this branch is surely destined to go out of business soon. No toasties, and no alcohol.

Spread the outside of the sandwich with marge/butter and put the filling inside. Don't overload the filling or you're looking at spillage and bigger cleanup. It's how I always make toasted sandwiches. Isn't that the norm?

Guess I'll have to go back in there and look behind the counter again.....

Also, just to clarify. I do have all the ingredients and machinery to make my own cheese toasties at home, but as I was just popping out for milk, I asked my neighbour and he needed some lunch. Finding good (and affordable) bread, cheese and butter/margerine/spread seems to be a fine art here, so these convenient toasties could be a good answer, although I would prefer to make my own.

Thanks everyone. Who would have thought such a subject would get such a response. The 7-11 that I visited (soi Arunotai) had the various sandwiches, hence the photo I took, but not the toasting machines. I'll just have to find a branch that has both so I can then finally see what all the fuss is about. The food was always a big attraction for me to come to Thailand, but I would never have guessed cheese toasties were such a part of the culture here. At least for so many expats. Unless of course it's the Thais that lap them up too?

I've read several times on AN about these and how good they are, so yesterday was my mission to buy a couple: one for my elderly neighbour for his lunch, and one for me as a long overdue tickoff from my (quite lame) bucket list. I went to the largest branch in my area, yet was met by puzzled looks when I tried to order "cheese toasties". I reworded it as best I could, "hot cheese sandwich", "cheese/bread", etc, but the puzzled looks kept coming back at me. I looked around desperately for a poster, or advert displaying anything, but there was nothing. So, are these only available from certain branches? Or, do you pick one out of the fridge, then ask them to microwave them? I didn't see any kind of toasting machine behind the counter, so microwaving wouldn't make it a "toasty" at all. The closest I found in the fridge were these:

Frailty should not be an issue. Yes, that's what I figured. Plus it could be classed as ageism maybe if he is otherwise "healthy".

That's good to know it is possible at the airport. Thanks for sharing.

Edit.

So I'm asking for my neighbour, who's 94 years old and possibly about to fly back to end his days with his family in the US. His daughter says she will fly out here, then escorts him back, but there are concerns as to whether the airline will let him fly due to his frailty. As far as I know she hasn't booked anything yet, possibly due also to the new war in the Me (although they are West Coast of the US and their route probably won't be affected). I have googled, and it says fit to Fly are for pregnant women over so many weeks, for those who've just has major surgery, and for those with chronic illness. He doesn't fit into any of those categories, but we guess the Airlines could still request one. So the question isn't whether he will be asked for one, but where in Pattaya could he get one? I'm just trying to help out prior to his daughter arriving, which was supposed to be 'within the week'.

Likewise, I couldn't find one too, whereas they had a good little noodle soup kiosk before the refit.

Thanks again to scuba for the recommendation earlier in this thread. I went along to Dr. Apichai on 3rd Road this evening and learnt I had an infection of the outer ear. He had a bit of a poke around in my ear (and hit a nerve a couple of times) but he wasn't in there vacuuming otherwise I'm sure it would feel less blocked right now. Some antibiotic eardrops, painkillers, anti-inflammatory pills, and a course of Ciprofloxacin antibiotics, and I was charged 1180 baht, which was well affordable, especially if the treatment does the trick. If anyone else decides to use this doctor, take heed of the Google reviews and turn up early. There was at least 20 others there, but as I got there an hour before he opened I was number 3 in the queue.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. As its quite painful and it's been going on for probably a week or so, I'm thinking I should just go specialist rather than guessing internal/external or infection or not etc. As it's a regular issue I suffer I usually have a supply of these drops so I can self medicate as soon as I feel a problem starting, but this time they haven't worked. Thanks for that scuba, I've looked him up and he's quite local so I'll drop in tomorrow. It says the clinic is open 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

Thanks. Have you actually had it done here? I read sometime ago syringing is not something they do back in the UK anymore, but I'm not even sure if that's true. That's why I wonder if it's possible here. I can only assume it's my ear shape causing this as its been a long standing problem for me.