funlovinkid

I've been noticing recently that the website for Bangkok Bank (Bualuang iBanking) very often just keeps me hanging.  I try to initiate a simple activity (like check for new messages), and thereafter, any activity I initiate just produces a message at the top of the page saying "Loading...", with the spinning wheel icon.  At this point, the website doesn't respond to any inputs.  I can delete the browser tab, and then open a new one and connect to their site, but then I'm immediately reconnected to my earlier process on their server, which is still hanging.  So when this happens, my only recourse is to wait some period of time (an hour or more) before logging in again.

This has happened to me many, many times, and not just nights or weekends, but during regular daytime banking hours.  And I know it has nothing to do with my computer or network, because everything else functions normally, including access to other websites.  I can't believe this company pretends to be a bank.  What a POS.  For what it's worth, their website has been hanging on me during the entire time I've spent composing this message.  Anybody else experience the same thing with their website?

As an afterthought, I noticed that this was happening in my Firefox browser, so I decided to use Chrome instead, and I was able to immediately login and access my accounts.  Browser incompatibility?  In the distant past, I've experienced websites from major Thai companies having the inability to accommodate different browsers, but in 2019?  Really?

On 5/24/2019 at 10:03 AM, BritManToo said:

Why?

All the dirt going in is supposed to be caught by the filters ....... that's what they're for.

Not sure if this is true for all refrigerators, but mine is a closed system, which means that there are no external cooling fins which can collect dirt - unlike the external compressor/condenser unit for an AC system.  The fridge apparently is designed to use the surface area of the sides and back of the refrigerator box to transfer heat into the room, rather than utilizing cooling fins.

And, as far as the internal/evaporator AC unit that you refer to above, yes, the removable filters are designed to trap the larger particles, but anything smaller (like fine dust particles) will accumulate inside the metal cooling fins, which need to be cleaned periodically.  During the smoky season (Feb-June), I typically cover my internal AC filters with disposable 3M Filtrete filter material to capture the finer stuff so that it doesn't contaminate the metal fins in the evaporator unit.

5 hours ago, RocketDog said:

AC units are fundamentally pretty simple devices with limited, and usually obvious, failure modes. Hence the large number of 'professionals' available here. It's just not rocket surgery.

 

And yes, before anyone asks, I am a rocket surgeon but on TV I play a down and out expat in Thailand.

I think you're referring to rocket science, not rocket surgery, which doesn't make any sense.  Brain surgeon?

6 hours ago, ifmu said:

if i understood your post correctly then your bill went up 

BUT

what is your cost for each kilowatt ... did your per kw go up also ?

Not to my knowledge - if you read the original post, it's the usage that has increased by roughly 50%, from 580 units on average, to 892 units in the most recent bill.

22 hours ago, lagavulin1 said:

Don't forget the fridge is the second highest user. That surely worked harder too. Everytime you open the door you flood it with air at 35C or whatever. How are your door seals? 

Thanks for the feedback.  My fridge is newish, a decent brand as well, and the door/freezer seals look perfect.  But I did happen to have it jammed in among a lot of other stuff, with insufficient clearance on the sides and back, so I rearranged some stuff to give it a lot more clearance for cooling purposes.  That, and I'm scheduled for an exterior AC compressor clean, so we'll see if the bill drops next month.

On 5/24/2019 at 9:55 AM, norbra said:

Just a thought, Have you cross checked your invoice details against your meter KWH readings?

Thanks for the thought, I appreciate it.  Yeah, it matches.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Just as an update here, I've had the new battery in the phone for over a month now, and the phone is back to its old self.  No problems whatsoever, and the new battery holds up all day, regardless of how much I use the phone, or for what purpose.

Bottom line: although my phone is happily behaving normally now, in the 3 times I visited the Samsung Service Center, I'm extremely disappointed that they never bothered to check the battery performance, or even to ask me if the battery had ever been replaced.  This was something I had to ascertain myself.  In that regard, they proved more of a hindrance than a help.  I began to smell something fishy when the pretty female rep went to great lengths in a conversation with me about "sensible" alternatives to the "expensive" 7300 Baht battery + motherboard proposal that she was peddling (in other words, buy a new phone).  Whatever they were talking about with regard to the Wi-Fi download problem was probably unrelated.

Thanks for all the feedback.  After considering the replies above, and the fact that the phone wasn't crashing while it was connected to a power source, I concluded that it just needed a new battery (at the time of the problem, the battery was still the original one).  Samsung said they wouldn't guarantee the phone after the battery replacement unless the motherboard was also replaced, but I told them to go ahead anyway.  I was OK to spend the 1900 Baht on a new battery, but wasn't interested in the 7300 Baht cost for both the battery and the motherboard together.  Long story short, it looks like it was in fact a battery problem, which unfortunately coincided with the February software update, leading me to conclude that the update was the source of the problem.  The phone was completely charged to 100% overnight last night, and as of this afternoon, no problems.

Not sure what the purpose was of all the chatter from them about the Wi-Fi speed during update downloads, as I did hear the same story both from the repair center in Pattaya, and a tech rep at Samsung Customer Support in Bangkok.  It's my impression that that problem, whatever it is, hasn't affected me.

13 hours ago, uhuh said:

S7 edge, android 8.0.0, last update not so long ago (maybe same as yours?), no problems

Thank you for that, I really appreciate it.  As an update here, I went back to the Samsung repair shop a few days ago, and they installed the latest version of Android 8.0.0 (Kernel version March 13) - but the phone still regularly crashes, and the battery still drains very quickly.  As a result, now they're telling me that the phone requires a new battery and mother board (to the tune of around 7300 Baht), so it's possible that my version of mother board is incompatible with Android 8.0.0.  The first time I went in to the Samsung repair shop, the first question they asked me was, "where did you buy it?", which I found interesting, because this suggests that multiple versions of hardware for this same phone model number were sold throughout Thailand, and that maybe only some of this hardware is having a problem with Android 8.0.  I have since discovered that the phone now will never crash, as long as it's connected to an external power source, which does suggest some sort of hardware problem.  My model number is SM-G935FD, which is listed as intended for SE Asia and India.

May I ask where you bought yours, and do you have the same model number?

I bought a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge from Tukcom Pattaya roughly 3 years ago, and until recently it has been functioning spectacularly.  Unfortunately, it's been having serious problems since I recently upgraded the software (it's running Android 8.0.0).  Now, the battery drains very rapidly, and the phone crashes and requires rebooting, typically several times a day.

I initially performed the software upgrade (about 6 weeks ago) via Wi-Fi, and thereafter, it would crash and wouldn't even do a hard restart (holding the power button, home button, and volume down button simultaneously).  So I went to the Samsung service center, and they said they would reinstall the same version of Android, but directly from a computer, rather than via a Wi-Fi connection, which they said was the original source of the problem.  The only other option was to have them upgrade to an even newer version of Android, but they said this would delete all the data on my phone, so I opted for a reinstall of the existing 8.0.0 version.  After this, the phone was always rebootable, but the battery still drains rapidly, and the phone crashes several times a day.  This upgrade at the Samsung Service Center occurred about a month ago.

Now, I'm receiving another notification on my phone saying that a newer upgrade is available.  So I called the Samsung Service Center, and they tell me that even this version might be problematic if I download and install it via Wi-Fi, and it would be best if I came to the service center instead to have them upgrade it for me - but this will still delete all the data on my phone.  The caution I received from them is that sometimes the upgrade via Wi-Fi works fine, but sometimes not, and the surest course of action would be to have them perform the upgrade.  Unfortunately, I'm a bit hesitant to lose all the data on my phone, as I'm pretty sure some of the app data has to be backed up individually, which requires going through each specific app and determining how to perform the backup.  What a pain in the butt.

In my conversation with them, they tell me that the problem is specific to Samsung phones in Thailand.  After three years of spectacular performance from my phone, I'm beginning to get pretty pissed off at Samsung for their suddenly terrible product.  There have got to be zillions of Galaxy S7 Edge phones by now in this country.  Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Many thanks in advance for any feedback.

9 minutes ago, SidJames said:

That plot was posted about a long while ago, it's around 20 rai & eventually it was/is going to be turned in something.

Traffic on Thappraya & Jomtien will be a proper nightmare not forgetting that the market on 2nd rd (Rompo?) is evicting everyone in March 2019 as their leases are up & it is supposedly also being redeveloped.

 

I wasn't aware of the plans for Rompo Market, thanks for passing that along.

Living in the Jomtien Beach area as I do, most of the locals around here are aware of the road construction along Dongtan Beach, which is changing what used to be a brick pathway into a true concrete roadway.  At the moment, the southern end of the construction is finished (where Dongtan Beach meets Jomtien Beach, at the police station).  But the northern portion is still unfinished, and currently under construction to finish the roadway up to the government building where the sea rescue boats are stored.  In walking along the construction area last night, I encountered a large opening in the wall along the path which is the entrance to what may turn out to be a huge construction project.  Inside the wall, a temporary office/guard house has been constructed, and some other stuff indicating the beginning of a construction project.

This particular piece of property is huge, spanning completely to Thappraya Road.  Based on a quick look at Google maps, it's the last large piece of undeveloped property in the area.  I can't help but wonder if something major is in the works (like a Central shopping mall).  Attached are some pics.  In the satellite map photo, the blue dot represents the location of the entrance opening through the wall described above.  The other pics show the temporary office and some of the equipment inside the wall.

It's possible that all this is intended simply to be used for the road/sidewalk construction currently under way - but I can't help but wonder.  Does anyone know anything about this?  I couldn't find anything here on TV, or Google either, for that matter.  If a major construction project is planned for this land, it could seriously affect the living conditions and quality of life in this beach area.

I have an end table that I would like to have refinished (see photo), but I'm not sure who in the area is capable of doing quality work. The table was made from madrone wood, and is structurally perfect, but the finish is pretty beat up. Has anyone had a good experience with a woodworking shop around Pattaya?

Thanks for any input.

I bought a Toyota Vios in Chiang Mai back in 2011, but I've since moved to Chonburi province.  I believe I'm obligated to change my mailing address of record with the Department of Land Transportation, but I don't see any reason to get new license plates for the car, unless it's required for some reason.

I went to the DLT near Pattaya, and I was told that I first need to get a Residence Certificate from the immigration folks in order to prove my new address, which I will do soon.  The existing stamp in my vehicle Blue Book indicates that my next road tax payment is due 5 days from now, on July 17th.  So I would like to take care of all of this in the next few days, but I'm not entirely sure of the process, and whether I will be in violation if I pay the road tax after that date.

I'm assuming I would do the following:

- get the Residence Certificate;

- take the Certificate to the DLT to change my mailing address of record.  I assume this will change my address written in the Blue Book;

- pay the road tax, which will be reflected in the modified Blue Book.

I'm wondering if anyone has already gone through this.  One of my concerns is whether any penalties will apply - I moved from Chiang Mai to Chonburi province about two years ago.

Thanks a lot in advance for any feedback on this!

Okay, I just came back from checking, and the curly wire goes nowhere - it's just terminated with electrical tape.  I included some images of the breaker itself and its connections to the panel.  Based on the label on the breaker, apparently it is GFCI.  Hope this helps.

Quick answer to your recent questions: the condo is a rental.  I don't own it, but I'm moving in there next week.  I specifically asked for a front-loading, hot water, washing machine to be installed, which is how I got to this point.  The owner agreed to pay for the new machine in exchange for my willingness to agree to a 1-year lease.

Using the "Test" button on the "GFCI" breaker does in fact trip the breaker, I've already tried it.  The breaker switch does need to be reset afterward: first completely off, then back on.

A new wrinkle: it's possible that an entirely new, dedicated circuit can be installed for this machine.  I'll get an answer from the technician tomorrow.  His answer will depend on whether he feels his access to the false ceiling will allow him to pull new wires to/from the breaker box.

I'll make a point to answer your other questions tomorrow (with pictures) after I gain access to the rental unit.

Thanks again to all!

Thanks for the feedback, folks.  I've included here some pictures which should help explain the situation a bit more.

One of those photos is the spec sheet for the new machine, and another explains the installation requirements - which unfortunately, I find to be a bit vague.  For one thing, nowhere on the installation requirements sheet do I see any reference to required amperage - it only refers to total wattage, the amperage for which depends on the Power Factor, which is unknown.  I bought the machine at Power Buy, and they're the ones that are proposing it be installed on a 15 amp circuit.

As you can see, the existing receptacle circuits are only 10 amp, and apparently this machine requires at least a 15 amp circuit.  The machine is a front loader - and also provides hot water, which might explain the heavy power draw, even though it's only a 7kg machine.

You can see from the photo that the 30A shower circuit has a circuit test button, so I assumed that means this is GFCI, but I'm not sure about the nomenclature.

The shower water heater circuit would be tapped into, downstream of the breaker, and probably just before the water heater.   This separate branch would in fact terminate in an outlet on the wall.

I'm also concerned about grounding.  I see that the breaker box has a green ground wire coming into it, so I suppose this can be tapped into for the new outlet to be grounded as well.

All of this will be taking place in a fairly large condo building that's about 25 years old - and it's my impression that the electrical capacity for each condo is barely enough to suffice, with modern electrical loads.  My small kitchen is actually running off one of the 10 amp receptacle circuits!  The other receptacle circuit powers my TV, stereo, and desktop computer.  So, not a lot of places left to attach this washing machine.

Thanks again for the input!

I live in a condo which has a 30 amp GFCI circuit dedicated to the water heater for the bathroom shower.  I recently bought a new washing machine which requires a 15 amp circuit, and I'm considering having it installed with a connection to the 30 amp water heater circuit, but I'm wondering if I might be creating any problems.  My biggest concern is whether I'm putting my safety at risk by standing in the shower with a water heater GFCI circuit breaker which might somehow be compromised by this change. 

I suspect I'm not the first person in Thailand who's considering attaching a large appliance to the GFCI shower water heater circuit.  Does anyone know if this represents a problem or a danger?

Many thanks (in advance) for any input!

On 5/30/2017 at 2:37 PM, baker said:

Hi all,

 

I went to the Samsung shop in Central Festival (Phuket) on Sunday. They had the Tab S3 on display (and in stock).

Ended up buying one. I haven't had a tablet in years, but in my head I could justify buying it, since it has the s pen. With the s pen I can easily sign pdf documents without printing, signing and scanning them. And that made me buy it. And I was having a thought that, with a tablet, I might not need my laptop with me on short travels....

I bought a 256 GB microSD card and the original magnet cover as well.

Unfortunatly they did not have the keyboard cover in stock. Thats the only thing i am missing at the moment.

 

Well I have only set it up and maybe used it for max. 1 hour since buying it, so will see later if it was a waste of money or not....

Thanks for your reply here.  Well, for what it's worth, I ended up buying one as well!  I've been using it for a couple days, and so far, I love it.  I didn't realize that I could sign legal documents with the S pen, so that's a surprise upside for me.  Not that I do a lot of legal paperwork, but it's good to know I have the capability if and when I need it.

Also FWIW, I no longer have a laptop (the last one died several years ago) - and I've NEVER had a tablet.  So, baker, I'm looking forward to bringing this with me whenever I travel as well. 

My gut feeling on this purchase:  great tablet, maybe a little too expensive, but I'm OK with that, as it seems to be integrating pretty well with my Galaxy S7 Edge phone which I bought last year.  And, I'll be moving into a new apartment soon which has a new 55" Samsung HDTV, so I'll be curious the extent to which I can integrate all this stuff together.

On 5/27/2017 at 10:53 PM, guzzi850m2 said:

Well they don't want to open the boxes since Samsung haven't provided a demo model and if they open the box, they can't sell it as new anymore.

 

I will assume they assume Thai customers prefer Lte so they have i-net everywhere and not limited to wi-fi and at that high price, I think many will get an Apple tablet. If you go to the Apple store in Central, they have all phones/tablets on display and you can try them out. I am not saying the Apple tablets are better but in this high price bracket, a lot of hi-so snobbery are involved, and Apple are likely "more cool" in hi-so Thai society (only guessing, LOL)  

 

Maybe the tablet market is dying, I don't know, but I just bough a Lenovo Yoga Tab3 Plus 10.1" tablet and I am very happy with it for its intended use.

 

I had to get it from Amazon since I couldn't source one in Thailand so I am taking a risk, can't get it repaired in Thailand if it breaks down but I am willing to do that.

You mention that you believe Samsung hasn't provided the vendors with a demo model - buy why would Samsung do this?

14 minutes ago, shady86 said:

Samsung decides to release the Lte and black only model here.

The tablet market is dying so I'm quite surprised they still decide to release this. Which stores you went to by the way?

http://www.samsung.com/th/tablets/galaxy-tab-s3/?cid=th_ppc_google-sem--model-model_hhp-tabs3-launch_170515&gclid=CLDq7peukNQCFdKJaAodT2IAjw


Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 

I went to two Samsung shops, Banana IT, and two or three other tech shops in Central Festival (sorry, I don't remember the names of those shops), but the experience was the same at each one.

I've been waiting for some time now (like a year) for Samsung to finally release its Galaxy Tab S3, and today I went into several shops to check it out.  However, I found some interesting (and surprising) things that I thought someone here might be able to explain.

 - none of the four or five shops I visited had a model on display.  They all seemed to have the item "in stock", and either would open a new box, or had one already open, that they would allow me to look at.  But of course, this was a brand-new item that hadn't been charged, and they didn't want to power it up with the charging cable.  So I could look at it, but not test it.  Normally, I would expect Samsung shops to have one of their latest and greatest products proudly displayed, not dragged out of the back room for a quiet viewing.  It felt like I was expressing interest in something illegal!  This makes me wonder if something is wrong, that the shops don't want me to discover.  I'm supposed to buy a new 24,500 Baht tablet without first trying it?

- its available in the WiFi/LTE model (which means it will accept a SIM card, and is more expensive), but not in the WiFi only model.  Why?

- it's only available in black.  Samsung has apparently manufactured this model in both black and silver (and from what I've read, the silver model is a lot less 'smudgy' in terms of fingerprints), but apparently silver is not available here.  When Samsung released its Galaxy S7 Edge phone last year, all four colors manufactured were easily available in Thailand.  So why is Samsung only making a limited supply of its new flagship tablet available here?

If anyone has any insights, I'd be very curious to know what's happening here!

Over the past few months, I've become rather fond of a young Lao woman, and we've reached the point where I would like to put her into a good English language school here in the Pattaya area.  Also, since she's Lao, I understand that a 1-year educational visa is available, which I'd like to pursue.

I know of at least three schools in the area that teach English, but I have no idea how good they are.  I think it's important for her to be taught by native English speakers (rather than Thais), for obvious reasons.  Does anyone have any good experiences with any such schools here?  Many thanks for any input.

I used to live in Chiang Mai, and I bought my car there as well, so it has Chiang Mai license plates on it.  In addition, my driver's license reflects the same address in Chiang Mai.  However, I have subsequently moved to Chonburi province (Pattaya area), and have already paid my annual motor vehicle tax once at the local Land Transportation office without any problem, but I've never formally changed my address of record on the vehicle blue book, or my driver's license.  Is this something I should do, and any advice for how to go about it?

During my last annual visa renewal, I supplied the Immigration people with a copy of my lease in Pattaya, so they know my current address.  However, I'm hearing some noise from friends that a delay in reporting an address change for motor vehicle or driver license purposes can result in financial penalties.  Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Many thanks for any input.