henrik2000

Hello, perhaps i (repeat tourist) would like to store a bicycle in Jomtien (preferred) or Pattaya for 1 to 2 years, for a fee. Are there any reasonable official offers for that? Or private offers? I see official storage offers for Pattaya that seem to charge more than 200 Baht per day or are just a document safe. Both is not feasible. I could take off the bicycle’s front wheel to make it more compact, and if need be, I could also take off handlebar and back wheel. Together with the bicycle I want to leave a small plastic bag with things like beach towel, beach mat, bicycle parts, small travel stuff. I would take pictures of everything that I leave with the keeper. I'm happy if everything is covered with plastic or other material, but I don't have that material. Right now I am in Jomtien and I could hand in the bicycle around February 10th, 2024. If a private person would store it for me, say in the garden shed, I would suggest this agreement: I pay upfront for storage until February 10, 2026 (longer time span would be nice, but perhaps too much to ask for) If i retrieve the bicycle after one year, not 2 years, the keeper may keep the money paid for the second year or best would be he returns the extra money or I may return the bicycle for another storage span after my holiday If I don't pick up the bicycle until the last day, February 10, 2026, the keeper can have the bicycle and things for himself, I have no more claim The keeper must be available by mail, line and or phone most days The bicycle must be available for pickup most days (certainly I will only need the bicycle in the cool season, next cool season 2024-25 or second next cool season, 2025-2026; certainly not in any April or July) The keeper is free to browse my stuff for any illegal or degradable content in my presence or when I'm away; I'm happy to present every single item upon handing it in If I return and the bicycle is damaged or gone, I don't know what to do or what to agree upon Are there reasonable official or private offers for this wish? Any ideas? Thanks! Backgrounds: My bicycle maybe worth only 3,000 or 5,000 Baht on the second hand market, but it has been modified considerably to my taste and for me personally it's worth much more, even if not for the general public. It seems difficult to sell. The alternative seems to be to dump it at Bali Hai pier (legal?). I have no hotel contact in Jomtien or Pattaya. Local friends have no space. Currently I stay in Jomtien in a friend's condo. He is not around and not reachable. The condo's laundry shop lady, who seems to know everything, suggested I wrap the bicycle in plastic and then lock it to a lamp post on the condo’s outdoor parking lot. I will certainly not do that, it's bad for me, for the bicycle and for the other inmates. She didn't have a suggestion for storage in the underground parking or elsewhere. Thanks!

Yes, but I like some people watching, have no parking problems with a bicycle and am not looking for deep relaxation necessarily. Beach pics above were taken at Nang Rong Beach near Nang Ram Beach on Saturday noon.

Hi all, thanks for some very good suggestions! From your suggestions, so far I did Day 1: Wat Yan and nearby attractions Day 2: Nang Ram Beach, Nang Rong Beach Other suggestions are still on the TDL, even if at Nang Rong Beach my front disc brake fell apart. Arriving at both destinations was very pleasant and I was quite stunned with the initial impressions, thankful for both suggestions, happy to be there and relax and just look and have a coffee with the scenery. Around Wat Yan it was nicely quaint and provincial as I like it, and the roads there indeed partly feel like a bicycle park. Other things there irked me to the bones, even if nothing new (see pic). Going there wasn't half as fun, either through the wastelands or down highways. I use a very bicycle-friendly OSM-based GPS app that finds smallest roads and field tracks and I fine-tune the route suggestions and consult the satellite pic; still if you think, “the road is the destination”, I guess the Pattaya hinterland is not ideal, at least not to the South. But I knew that, from taxi trips, car trips etc, and it was still good to arrive at the destinations proper, and it was nice to bicycle in early morning with the sea breeze in my hair. And at least, right next to the monstrous highway, the Kilometer 10 Market has khanom krok, a rarity in Chonburi (see pic; also found on Buakhao market). From Nang Ram Beach I also wanted to go to Hat Yao Beach and to Nam Sai beach: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YLRC3rz5x534XHdm9 But military wouldn't let me. On the official turn off from rd 3126 to Nam Sai Beach, a soldier told me in no uncertain terms that foreigners aren't allowed (I speak enough Thai for that). So I had to cycle into Nang Ram Beach, Nang Rong Beach, where on the map there is a back road into Nam Sai Beach and another soldier there told me again I wasn't wanted. And I forgot to bring my Kalashnikov. On the other hand, where a poster told me that I as a foreigner had to pay 50 THB entry fee, I was waved in with a shrug and no demand. They had short a discussion among themselves first, obviously for them a bicyclist was a totally new and strange encounter (just as for street dogs). Many foreigners review Hat Yao Beach and Nam Sai Beach on Google Maps. How did they get there? They don't even mention problems getting there. A general Google search didn't bring a solution. Also going to the Nang Ram area by bicycle seems to involve a lot of completely unavoidable very big roads (unlike to Wat Yan). Those big roads were not totally terrible in my experience, and there were comfortable slow lanes well usable, still it's noisy and ugly. I want to stress that I find most car drivers and even truck drivers quite considerate regarding bicyclists (ever tried India, Vietnam or Italy?). This is not true for downtown Pattaya and Jomtien, but for most other areas I cycled. Dangerous in my experience: Motorcycles using the highway in the wrong direction Young men and school kids on motorcycles Foreigners on motorcycles in holiday party spots Many motorcycles also have the indicator uselessly on, sometimes for kilometers and end.

Thanks, I just cycled there. Not sure how you mean it, but I found the distance easy to do, but the roads are perhaps not terribly dangerous, but utterly dull, noisy and ugly. It seems that for around 10 of 45 km you are forced to take the very big roads. More about it in my next post.

Thanks, sounds very interesting.

High Scuba and BBKo, thanks for really nice suggestions so far. I will look at them and maybe report back if\when I have been there. Thanks again!

Hello, would you recommend any day trips from Jomtien into real, down to earth Thailand to places that local Thais or maybe Thai tourists frequent? I could go by my sturdy own bicycle, Bolt\Grab taxi or bus. Have no car. Speak enough Thai to get around halfway. Travel time one way should not be more than 1 hour or so. I have looked at Chonburi town, but it seems too far from Jomtien, and attractions for me were not immediately obvious. Would love to go by bicycle and could start at 6:30 a.m., but no destination seems to offer a pleasant bicycle trip. Things I would enjoy: promenading in the park or on water’s edge casual dining (not upmarket) on water’s edge specialty food or coffee live music restaurants with lukthung\morlam or pleaua-chiwit (not rock) (transport back to Jomtien for instance by Bolt taxi must be guaranteed) real markets with fun snacks (not walking street dinner markets) maybe a nice beach, but no priority nice agriculture, especially young rice fields (not super monotonous) Not so interesting for me: museum (except if in fine old building) shopping malls, cute vintage stuff typical Thai downtowns highly industrialized dams girlie bars etc Nong Nooch (been there, terrible); water parks Any idea comes to mind? Thank you! Irrelevant background: I just spent two delightful months in small town Thailand with rental car and bicycle. Back in Jomtien, everything comes as a shock and the traffic and the driving styles seem murderous. I do have to stick it out in Jomtien for a little more, but a day trip into small town Thailand would be nice.

Thanks, interesting hint. It may be the case though that they are comparable with European values, which is my neck of the woods. I have to find out about it. I guess good bed sheets could only have competitive prices in Thailand if they are made right there.

... and explicitly excluded in OP.

Here are some specialist requests for - brand recommendations - shop recommendations in Pattaya or (preferred) Jomtien, even if Bangkok would be much better. Online ordering within Thailand is possible if useful. Bedsheets striped white in white In the hotels I enjoy the striped white in white bedsheets, and I would like to buy them in Thailand, if they are considerably cheaper and of good quality, especially 100% cotton, organic, and preferably Egyptian cotton. If Thailand bed sheets offer no big advantage over what you get in the west, I would prefer to buy later in the West, to keep my fly-home luggage smaller. Colours could be white and or totally undyed natural. Organic undyed\unbleached cotton very welcome. It could be packed ready to use or tailor-made. Actually, bespoke might be an advantage because the mattress at home is unusually high. I have 12 days before I fly back to the West. I would need: Fitted sheet (contour sheet, with rubber band) 200 x 160 x 25 cm (unusually *high* mattress) 2 pillow cases 40x80 cm cover duvet not necessarily Smart sandals, flip flops I believe Thai guys mostly wear closed shoes like sneakers or cotton tennis shoes, if they don't want to look completely casual, for example in restaurants, live music pubs or when out shopping (not to mention functions and office jobs). I also wear closed shoes sometimes, but I don't find them exactly convenient. I wonder if there is something like a half or ¾ closed sandal that looks not totally like poolside attire, adventurist or orthopedic, but slightly more smart and at least semi-acceptable in environments where Thai guys would wear closed shoes, like a restaurant. I would also like flip flops that look smarter and more fun than the usual job, but not clunky, childish or croc-ish. I used to have great ones from a small manufacturer in the Philippines. So here I ask you again for brand recommendations and for shop recommendations. Again, I would need a shop in Jomtien (preferred) or Pattaya, and I don't come to Bangkok. So far I have no better ideas than browsing the sports shops in Central mall, Pattaya.If the things are available for roughly the same price or a bit more in the West, I'd prefer to buy in the west. Online shopping within Thailand might not be an option with footwear and limited time. Thanks for your experience!

O wow, thanks for great insights with text and images! Let's next talk about flower garlands, but not yet.

Thanks, you cleared up some questions that baffled me. I've seen discarded spirit houses also in backyards of wats, always around a tree. I wonder if there are ceremonies to put up or unemploy a spirit house. You explain also why the spirit houses i see in the fields always have a ladder.

Hi all, thanks for more very interesting insight! Yes, this has been my impression too. Personally I would add: Be clean-cut, except you're doing farm work. Oh, they look really Lanna! I see, one of them has a ladder, one has none. In the ghost houses I see on the rice fields, they always have a letter. Are they for spirits that can't fly?

Hi all, thanks again for all suggestions. The 2014 workhorse laptop which seemed dead for good is running smoothly again! I got a PM from forum member Serenity Now, who said his thread post here had been removed for some criticism. So thankful that he still wrote in with a PM. His main instruction (quote): so take out the battery hold the power button solid down for minimum 30 seconds then try to power up win 10 sometimes puts the laptop to sleep and no power or anything shows so try the 30 second trick And I couldn't believe my eyes when the laptop fired up as if nothing had ever been. According to Serenity Now it's an ill-guided Windows behaviour in certain situations, and as said, even the light for “connected to charger” didn't work anymore - not because of hardware trouble, but because of Windows locking something seriously off. I can't at all explain the details, but the laptop has been at work for 12 hours now, including some rebooting. Glad I tried this, against my own belief. I might still go to Wattana and PC2U with some very small problems, just to see who the good guys are you may need as a traveling no-nerd hack.

Denim and JTS, thanks for more insights! When you do so, do you show the highly respectful behaviour shown by Thai people? Do you take care to keep your head below the monk's head? Or do you hand them the things like you would hand them to any other guy?

Thanks, interesting observations. As an outsider, I had thought it might be different.

Hello, soon I want to sell my used mountain bike in Pattaya or Jomtien. I learned already in this forum that I can advertise on Craigslist, Bahtsold, and Facebook. Do any other online platforms come to mind? (I can only write English, not to Thai). What's more, are there notice-boards maybe in bars or supermarkets in Jomtien (preferred) or Pattaya where I can pin a paper with my offer and LINE ID or phone number? Detail-questions: On the paper ad, would you give your LINE ID, e-mail and\or Thai phone number? I am not happy about posting a phone number, because I don't like sudden calls from strangers. I don't use WhatsApp. For the paper ad, would clean handwriting be enough, or do you advise me to type and print? Then I would have to find a shop that prints my PDF. (Printing might allow me to include small pictures of the bicycle, in colour or black and white.) Any other practical advice from your experience selling used stuff in Jomtien, Pattaya? PS This posting here is not to sell the mountain bike. It's only about where to post the ad.

Hello, if you are a a non-Buddhism-practicing household in small town Thailand (Thai household members also not practicing Buddhism), how do you deal with - alms for monks - spirit house? Do you just don't do these things? Or do you follow the custom partly anyway; if yes, why? What are your thoughts around this? -- Irrelevant background: -- I bicycled a lot through rural and small town Thailand as a tourist, often at 6 a.m. already, seeing the monks' alms rounds, and I dreamed a lot about moving there, and these questions came up, silly as they may sound. Thanks for your real life experience! So sorry if question annoying.

Hi all, thanks for some hints including prices at PC repair shops!

Hello, can you recommend a shop for Asus laptop repair, beyond what is said on Google Maps? A shop that has spare parts and some English language on their hands? (I do speak basic Thai.) It's an AsusPro laptop from 2014 with a fantastic keyboard (for me anyway) and extra components for me (more RAM, more HDD). It's used mainly for job-related Office work, not for games or graphics, and it would have been fine for another few years. I will be in Jomtien for around 12 days, and a service shop could keep the broken laptop for a few days, if there is a chance for a repair. The laptop has already been examined by small upcountry PC shops who said it might be dead for good and anyway they didn't have the parts. Backgrounds: In the half dark of my room/mind I had tried to insert a CINCH plug into the wrong laptop sockets (network, USB, HDMI, I don't know, but not the charger socket I think; I tried softly of course, but I guess I caused a short circuit, I did not use any mechanical force). The laptop, that had been on, suddenly went totally blank, not even the light for a connected charger was on anymore. The charger itself is okay, it was tested OK with a voltmeter by the shop upcountry and its green light is on. The cinch plug came from a USB loudspeaker that had been turned on; the AsusPro laptop doesn't have a reliable Bluetooth signal, so I connected the Bluetooth speaker with a cinch cable (which worked well when inserted properly). Thanks for your real life experiences with Asus service shops in Pattaya!

Hi all, thanks for more interesting input including calculations and passport stamps we rarely get to see. "Leniency" is a lovely word in an official document.

Hi all, thanks for more good clarification and pictures to boot! Yes it's a very interesting and less discussed way to get up to 7 days on top. But in the last 10 days of my stay I will be in the Pattaya area and for the life of me I don't want to deal with the immigration and the queues there (I had seen them on a different trip and walked right back out; even if other board members go there regularly). I just got my 30 days visa extension from Mae Sot (Tak) immigration which was a peaceful, uncrowded place (Myanmaris go to a different part of the building), and a little later I will be in Khamphaeng Phet, but I reckon I can't get my 7 days allowance to leave right now, a month before actually wanting to leave.

Hi all, thanks for good advice! Now i know the price for overstaying including the stamp in the passport. But how long is the ban resulting from 1 - 2 days of overstay? Is it really 5 years? I would quite like to come back within ten months. Thanks again!

Hello, what happens when I overstay one or two days on a tourist visa? I have 2 months TR tourist visa + 1 month extension in country to a total of 3 months tourist time. It might be most convenient for me to stay one or two days longer than allowed. Will there be a fine, a racket, is it done more often by tourists? I'll leave via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport. A visa run or any other exit point is no option. Thanks!

There are several movies and novels about older moneyed women picking up younger guys on vacation. One such movie is How Stella Got her Groove Back with Whoopi Goldberg as the cougar. I believe it is based on a female journalist’s real life report that ended very differently from the movie's ending, but maybe only after the movie had been filmed. There's also the book Dany LaFerrière, How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired. Somehow I believe it has been filmed with that pouty blonde Western actress whose name I can't remember, staged on some tropical island resort and for some reason I believe South was in the movie title but googling with my foggy memory doesn't bring clear results.