Greenside

There is an English speaking liaison on the staff at Rajaveh if you ever need help. Otherwise all the medical staff we have ever dealt with have had good or at the very least workable English. A lot of renovation there in recent times and the prices are not as low as they used to be (I'd say much the same as Sriphat for outpatients) but less than RAM or BKK. A long overdue multistory car park is nearing completion at the rear and in the meantime they have a very efficient Golf Cart shuttle running.

Ermm.. have you been to Panthip Plaza recently? Virtually all of it is empty, even the ground floor which was packed with tiny stalls selling phone accessories and the like. About the only rent paying tenants are Big C and the other shops that have frontage onto (what was) the Night Market. All the computer shops have moved to the area on the moat around the corner from RAM.

It has been in need of some serious renovation for years. Some was done, notably in the basement near the food court but the building is old and on many levels a major fire trap. CPN has the two most successful malls in town and I doubt KSK was contributing anything to their bottom line. Sad for those with shops and staff but the site is so valuable it won't stay undeveloped for long.

Thanks, I've passed the info onto him.

My 21 year old stepson just got a small electric bike for use in and around Chiang Mai. I gave up bikes years ago when Index was about the only brand available and my impression was that they were more or less considered compliance accessories to avoid fines. A lightweight helmet came with the bike, but it's clear that something better is required. Suggestions for a decent quality open or full face helmet comfortable and safe enough for urban use under about 60kph would be much appreciated. The budget is about 2000 baht.

Brilliant, Sophon! Man Faced Stink Bug it is - Thanks a lot.

Hi Crossy, this fellow was having a meal in our garden here in Vieng Kum Kam. I've found several pictures online that are almost like it but none really close.

Any ideas gratefully received...

The transport department on Hang Dong Road has a waiting time of about a month to take the test and (if you pass) get a license. Some private places have a shorter wait time for the test but they can't issue the actual license. These are still not convenient for my stepson's situation and the ideal would be to take the test privately and then go to the Transport dept to get the actual license. Perhaps not surprisingly, the commercial test places say you have to do it all through them even though the couple we spoke to aren't able to produce the plastic card itself but as far as I know, if you've got the right bits of paper to show you've done the video, colour blindness and reaction tests etc. you should be able to do the rest at Hang Dong road without weeks of waiting. Help and advice much appreciated!

Used the new 90 Day Report system for the first time today: excellent and completely painless - submitted the form at 15:00 and got the approval at 17:00 with the part to keep in my passport as an attachment. At last.....

So said the DTAC customer support operator this evening when I called to report a call my wife received today. At about 3:30 this afternoon she answered a call which purported to be from the main Post Office in Bangkok saying that her number was on a package of nine suspected fake passports addressed to a Myanmar name in Chiang Rai and asking what she knew about it. They then started to request personal details from her and pretended to connect the call to a police officer at which point she ended it as quickly as possible (probably because by this time I was leaping up and down in front of her making wrap signals). The call was in Thai but I could tell the way it was heading and have no doubt that before long some payment would be required to make the "problem" go away. The caller ID confirmed that it was a scam, and a pretty inept one at that since the number was unfeasibly long and from a non existent country code: +69716833614317 (mods: it's ok, it doesn't connect to anything). I have only posted here to share the DTAC warning that all mobile operators were seeing a lot of scam calls at the moment. Report them to your service provider who should pass it onto the police as even if you avoid becoming a victim, it's still a rather unsettling experience especially for older people. Coincidentally, yesterday I saw a new Mark Rober You Tube video following up the famous Glitter Bomb series where he exposed the the US end of what turns out to be a huge network of scam call centres working with apparent impunity. The latest episode involves targeting four of the call centres and bringing the whole network much unwelcome attention. He ends by asking viewers to share it, in particular with people they consider vulnerable to this kind of heartless robbery that seems to have become an international 24/7 business. See Glitter Bomb Payback here

The PEA in Nong Hoi used to have a hazardous waste point, but I've not used it since they renovated the building as there are two within about five minutes of our house. Local Amphurs do seem to provide them and I see the one I visit most is well used and emptied regularly.

Yes, of particular note:

I took the Ora Good Cat for a test drive this week and loved it. The build quality was satisfyingly solid and it felt great to drive. The showroom told me that orders were closing at midnight that day and I put it down to a sales tactic but sure enough GWM shows that orders are suspended temporarily. I don't do long journeys and the 400 model would suit us perfectly (if only I could afford it).

By the way, there's an application for windows and OSX called dashcamviewer which is brilliant for reviewing videos - the free version works fine but is a little limited in that you can only queue two videos at a time That sounds like a small inconvenience but when you may have an SD card with 100 three minute files it quickly gets tiresome to keep dragging the next pair in. Well worth the cost of the Plus version in my experience.

Roojai (and probably some other insurers) will make you pay a penalty if you can't produce the video from your camera if needed as part of a claim. Makes sense as they only offer the discount to minimise their claims liability and it's a useful incentive for users to regularly check that their setup is working reliably. I'd add the GPS is a must since that's what is used for recording speed which is critical information in the majority of incidents.

The most useful place for DashCam info is dashcamtalk.com which has detailed excellent reviews, including samples in many cases and a comparison tool. If you are looking for front and rear coverage, this one is very good . We have the front only version installed in two cars but I'd upgrade to the dual camera set if I had to buy again. Being able to review the video (and do settings) on a phone is a really worthwhile feature and well worth the extra expense. I couldn't find a dealer in Chiang Mai but Dashcamthailand (that's their LINE ID, btw) in BKK proved to be a reliable supplier. In Chiang Mai, Amnuay motorair did a very professional and quick job doing a hardwire install.

Very busy there today by all accounts.

Airport Plaza is also running a walk-in offering AZ or Pfizer on the 2nd floor next to Uniqlo with the booking area in the car park close by. Was there today at 1:30 and got a Pfizer booster in 10 minutes + recovery period. Very well organised. I don't know the opening times or how long they will be there, but there is also this one if the location works better for you. Vaccinations for children are also on offer elsewhere.

It was an email in (mostly) Thai saying the application was approved with a link to the check status page.

Three second approval! Just did my 90 day report online and the Approved email was in my inbox quicker than it took me to close the Chrome Immigration tab. Any faster and we'd be in the Twilight Zone.... ????

Talked this morning to someone at Rajaveh Hospital where I had 2 AZ jabs, the last being in mid September. She said that they were expecting to offer boosters but didn't have a start date.

Yep, the guy's an idiot. I overlooked the hillbilly style but the moment (about 90 seconds in) he described Tesla cars as <deleted>cans I couldn't stay.

I don't see why you wouldn't combine charging with selling gas while there's still a significant demand for it. Existing forecourts are going to have to change their business model in some way as the revenue from selling petrol and diesel declines and, judging by the area devoted to retail shops, restaurants and parking (I even noted a nail bar at one new site) it feels to me as if the developers have already seen the writing on the wall and are betting that tenants will pay a premium rent for a supply of potentially hungry, thirsty or just curious travelers with even 20 minutes to kill. I'm just a bit disappointed that they aren't going a bit further and showing the public that the charging infrastructure is on the way. At the dawn of commercial aviation, you probably wouldn't have dreamed that airports would turn out to depend on retail for a large part of their profits.

Don't take it so literally. I linked to one of the most advanced facilities in the UK and of course this won't work here as things stand, but the demand is building and make no mistake it will come before too long. In the last year PTT has built about half a dozen huge gas station/retail developments here in Chiang Mai with no sign of a charging point which is disappointing, not to say short sighted in the extreme. I can only hope that they've installed some as yet hidden infrastructure ready to meet demand when it becomes obvious. The fact that these gas stations have lots of retail space and parking makes them a natural candidate for a charging station.