Guderian

I'm not sure about the future, but the present seems to look a bit too much like this, lol...

Maybe doing their bit for global warming, persuading people that diesel-powered Chelsea tractors aren't good for the environment. Everyone should drive a nice Mercedes like the mayor, lol!

Maybe the cops can do something about the aggressive deck chair vendors on parts of Jomtien Beach, who tell you that you're not allowed to park your car in the marked public parking spaces as "they're for our customers only". Of course, they can't actually stop you parking there, but if you do then don't be surprised when you return to find that your car's been keyed.

Wouldn't a defective fuel pump show up on the computer diagnosis they run on the car these days? Maybe a dodgy valve or sludge in the fuel line wouldn't show up, but I'd have thought something like that would. I'm certainly no expert, though.

No, never. I've hardly ever even let it get below the quarter-tank level as i don't do much driving in it, using the motorbike around town mostly.

I have a 2013 Ford Fiesta Sport (well, I've given it to the GF as a present, so strictly speaking she has it). It's been fully serviced by Ford and only has 35,000 km on the clock. About 4 months ago, completely randomly, it started losing power for a few seconds at a time, always at lowish speeds, never going fast. I'm driving along, say, past a busy market and slow down because of all the traffic, then when I'm through I press the throttle to speed up a bit but nothing happens. So I pull over due to the danger and, a few seconds later, the power returns. There's no telling when this will happen, and it's not very often. I searched for a solution and the most likely thing seemed to be a sticky fuel inlet valve. I took it to the Ford dealer and they had it for an afternoon but couldn't find anything wrong. They rebooted the car's computer, but then a week later it happened again. I took it back, and twice they've taken it for a long drive but the problem never manifested itself. The boss said that unless they experience the problem they can't say exactly what it is that needs fixing. Anyway, it's been fine for several months then, yesterday, it happened again while the GF was driving it in Laem Chabang. She's going to take it to the Ford dealer again, and maybe she'll have better luck than I did explaining the problem to the boss there. In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone else had experienced a similar problem and, if so, what caused it and how did you fix it? I meant to ask this months ago, but as the car's been fine for so long I didn't think it was worth it. The Fiesta is automatic and it's the old 4-cylinder 1.5 litre version. Thanks if you can shed some light on this problem.

It's just a trial run for us fun-loving foreigners to enjoy, getting us ready for all the enjoyment we'll be treated to during this year's month-long mega-Songkran party, lol.

It's dangerous enough in a car now on Thepprasit after all the 'safety improvements' by the cretins in City Hall. Trying to cross on foot is really dodgy, and cyclists must have a death wish.

I've had a closer look and there's nothing untoward about the scales. As you can see from the photo, the swelling is more on the left side than the right. Does that tell you anything? I could use the pond salt, but there's about a thousand pla hang in there too, would it kill them?

Yes, that's similar to what I found, but I don't have a spare bath or anywhere to keep it dark. Maybe a fish shop could do this, that's why I asked.

One of my koi carp has developed what looks to me like a swim bladder problem. It's bloated and unsteady when swimming, evidently having some problems staying upright. Not a great photo, but I hope you can see what I mean: Something similar happened to one about a year ago, it took many months but the fish gradually had more and more problems until, one morning, I found him or her lying upside down in the water. Not dead yet, but a day later it was, so I guess this guy or gal is heading much the same way sometime next year. I've got two questions if there are any koi experts out there: 1) Is there anything realistic I can do for the fish? I looked on Google and read suggestions about isolating the fish in a dark pond and feeding it something or other, but I'm not a fish shop or aquarium, the koi carp pond is all I've got. Would a fish shop (as in selling them as pets, not as cod steaks, lol) know somebody who can help? They don't speak much English in the shop I use so I'm reluctant to try explaining the situation in my Thingish unless there's a chance they will be able to help. The fish is large and would not be easy to move to a vet or to the fish shop without specialised equipment, which I don't have. Any ideas or suggestions? 2) These fish were all bought at the same time from the same batch around 7 or 8 years ago, and I've never added any other fish so what could be causing these swim bladder problems? The water's kept pretty clean and they have a good diet of the expensive carp food, and very good aeration. I've no idea if it's a bacteria or virus or fungus or parasite or congenital defect that's causing this, does anyone now? If there's something simple I can do to stop it happening again then I'd be glad to do it. Thanks for any help.

I asked about this in relation to the Jomtien office a few weeks ago. Making the appointment is simple, but there was no explanation how you then converted the appointment into a queue number for the service you wanted, and nobody was able to explain it to me. I've no idea what Window 3 at Korat is, in Jomtien we just have the First Queue where you join a lengthy line of people to have your paperwork checked and get a queue number. I doubt you'll be very popular with anyone, farang or the Thai staff, if you just try barging in at the front of that lot with your appointment slip.

Yeah, but what's the chance that the underpaid minions in the TRD will understand multiple foreign tax jurisdictions? Maybe in 5 or 10 years time when AI is doing their work for them, but not in the near future.

Different stories for different offices and different people, and it also seems to depend on whether you use an agent or not, and even which agent. I just got a 1-year extension of stay from Jomtien to my Non Imm-O based on retirement and 800K in the bank. I did it myself and the TM 30 was the same one I used last year, even though I went back to the UK for 6 weeks in September. Two months before that, I needed a residence certificate to buy a new car and used an agent. He said I didn't need to do a new TM30 as I already had proof of one stapled in my passport. No problems, he got the RC for me and I got new car. OTOH, plenty of other people using the Jomtien office, both doing it themselves and using an agent, will tell you the exact opposite story. Maybe it depends on how you dress, or if you smile nicely, or try speaking a bit of Thai to them, who knows? I'm not complaining, anyway, the recent extension (my 16th) was the fastest and easiest yet.

And still no charges for her (OK, the Shinawtra family's) massively corrupt rice-pledging scheme that almost bankrupted the country. If I was loong Prayut, the man who removed her from office, I think I'd be looking for an escape route from Thailand ASAP.

With all the trivial stuff this guy spends his days on, he's definitely underemployed. His master in hospital should give him some proper work to do.

Pattaya Park is in Na Jomtien now???

What's your budget? The best place if money is no object is this one on Thepprasit: https://www.euro-design-furniture.com/ A friend had a lot of units made by them and they really are good, but the price was beyond what I was willing to spend.

That's another few million Chinese tourists calling their travel agents to cancel their New Year holidays in Thailand, lol!

Tomorrow's headline: "Nobody can make Thaksin leave his luxury quarters at hospital if he doesn't want to go."

The Thais keep on chasing their tails over tourism, and we know how useful that is. Lanzarote, in the Canaries, has also had its own 'Quality Tourist' campaign, but now they've found that the money spent by the relatively small number of quality tourists doesn't begin to replace the amount spent by the great unwashed masses who they told to stay away. So now they've done a U-turn and started a campaign to try and attract back more of the good old trashy British and European tourists instead. The Thai authorities should try to learn from other countries, not do everything by themselves all at once.

While I'm all in favour of slashing electricity prices and cutting diesel prices, what does this mean? A large increase in the cost of petrol to pay for the other two?

Looking at the state of that airplane, this airline will probably only be serving the Chinese market, lol. And then they'll wonder why there are so few Chinese tourists coming...

Sounds a bit chicken-and-egg to me. Which comes first, the 20 million jobs for skilled workers, or the 20 million skilled workers looking for jobs? Anyway, with the dismal education standards in the state school system there's little danger of them rapidly creating what the West would regard as 20 million skilled workers. And another point is the 200,000 annual salary target, that's not exactly very ambitious, averaging just 16,700 Baht/month, or 550 Baht/day. In Pattaya these days, it's hard to find even an unskilled worker for less than 500 Baht a day.

I'm the opposite. When I first came to live here 20 years ago I knew very little about Thai culture and customs, so it would have been silly for me to wai. Over the decades, I've learnt quite a bit about matters Thai, both the language and the ways that they interact, with the occasional elbow in the ribs from the GF as an added explanation, lol. I know the three levels of wai, but as a non-Buddhist farang I try to limit myself to the basic version. I'm quite comfortable returning a wai in the right circumstances, but I seldom initiate one. I find that, if you have a good idea what you're doing, the locals appreciate the gesture.