Chaichara

Sapparest is wise. I suspect, like me, a retired pool professional. Too much backwashing seems to be a tradition here in Thailand and many (if not most) pool firms recommend doing it once a week or after every vacuuming session. The wasted water helps boost their sales of chlorine and chemicals. Unless one is using a pool filter to filter a murky koi fish pond, it actually takes quite a while - sometimes weeks - for the pressure to build up whichever media is used. AFM is more than double the price here than the far superior Zelbrite - which they conveniently didn't include in their 'research'. I swear by Zelbrite. I've been using the same load since before most expats had pools built in Thailand! (Disclaimer, I'm not a shill for the product or the people who sell it. I'm just a very old, very long-term customer of what I belive to be one of the most trustworthy pool firms in the country. Tough luck if they are not in you area and you have to buy online) ????

Sapparest provides some of the most intelligent answers on this forum. In my former days as a pool engineer, D.E. filters were all the rage and naturally one brand monopolised the market. In terms of filtration, they were highly efficient. The filter grids of the better brands were all made by the same OEM and are interchangable. However, D.E. was always messy and maintenance intensive, not to mention the recommended yearly total disassembly to check on the grids that often require replacing. Then came Zelbrite. A media which together with a new, quality brand sand filter, is far less expensive and far outstrips the performance of D.E., and is almost totally maintenance free except for occasional backwashing. (and no, I'm not a shill for the product, or even for the people who sell it - just a happy pool owner using it for 17 years and perfectly happy with my local pool company who built the pool and still give me the best service.)

It's not possible for a genuine registered business with a proper infrastructure (shop front, sales staff, presentable vehicles, etc) declaring their sales for taxes and VAT, to build a pool for around ฿14,000.00 per m2 and make a livable GP on it.

That's an interesting comment. I have friends who run a very busy online store that offers products and services for expats. They say they are amazed at the arrogance and unreasonable demands made by their customers.

I can understand the concerns of expats wishing to get some reliable information. I'll never understand however why Thai Visa forums in all the 15 years I've followed them (I don't post much) are so full of conjecture, misinformation, and general BS, much of which causes people to worry unnecessarily even more. No appointment, no waiting, walk-in vaccinations in the government clinics in the remotest sub-districts with a choice of at least 3 vaccines, and absolutely free. No visas required (the staff don't even know what one is), just a passport or national ID card for filling out the certificate. I was first quoted ฿2,500.00 per jab at Bangkok Hospital, and to queue for an hour. Why not take a nice drive out of the city to a quiet little town or tambon like I did. If you don't want a situation like the UK's total chaos - OK, so they are one of the most vaccinated countries in the world, but they have one of the highest mortality rates per capita, but what an administrative mess - get yourselves done today.

Yes, it is. I renewed my retirement visa yesterday. There was no mention of insurance. I'm still curious to know what would happen if I left the country (for example for one day to Laos over the nearby friendship bridge) and return the same day. Fortunately I do have medical insurance (who would want to stay in a public Thai hospital?), although it doesn't cover as much as ฿3mio. At my age it's already very expensive.

It might take a while for Bangkok and Pattaya to become active again in their traditional hospitality industry. The world's biggest brothels for sex tourism - whether it's up-market Asoke and Patpong, down-market Banglamphu, or the seedier sois in the near suburbs of Lat Phrao, Talingchan, or the near neigbour province of Chonburi, sex for sale in Siam is still going to suffer a drought of dollars for some time to come. First, the world's airlines need to take their planes (stil 80%bstood down) out of mothballs in a new 'normal' where homeworking and Zoom have seriously and probably permanently dented the revenue earning business travel which brought more bucks for the operators than the backpackers did. Flying will never be as cheap as it once was. Tough too for the grandma in Manchester who wants to visit her grandchildren in Melbourne. Time for Thailand to wake up to create and engage in real work rather than the easy-sleazy selling of booze and what's inside a katoey's knickers and whoring in Phuket for the lazy extended family in Isan. For those who need it, there is plenty of booze and flesh for sale and gawping in De Wallen, the Reeperbahn, Pigalle, and Soho without the fuss of visas, airports and long flights.

I remember pay phones in our UK town where you picked up the phone and waited for the operator to say "Number please". Then when she had connected, you put three pennies in and pressed button A. Eisenhower was POTUS and Clement Attlee was UK PM. I might be old, but I never forget to renew my visa.