Guderian

Poor Vietnam, another 10 or 15 million oiks each year and they'll find their doctors being kicked, their cops being assaulted, biker gangs everywhere, and their streets full of foreign yobs fighting the locals or each other, they don't really mind which.

That's hardly a stetson, it looks more like the kind of thing a sharecropper would wear. Maybe the famous soi is misnamed? lol

That's a bit odd, after all what would you do if you lived in Nakhon Ratchasima or other Thai towns and cities with long names? Anyway, as far as I understand it, the post code already tells them that you're in Banglamung: https://postal-codes.cybo.com/thailand/20150_bang-lamung/ so a postal address like this should work fine: 123/456 Moo 7 Pattaya or Nongprue 20150 where 'Pattaya' or 'Nongprue' is the city, up to you, the postman should know both. I assume that, within the Nongprue tambon, there can only be one 123/456 Moo 7. That ought to be enough for the post office, though definitely not for the delivery people. I have the same problem with a hotel booking website I use, they insist on a city, there are no boxes for tambon and amphur, so I just put Pattaya and it seems to work.

It probably works better than the official Thai version! lol

Does that even make any sense in Thai???

The outlook downgrade doesn't seem to have had much impact on the Baht so far, sadly.

So the expensive watches went missing. It would have been more interesting for the tourist outcome if the two Chinese had gone missing instead! lol

I haven't received a paper bill for several years! In 2022, I sent the GF to City Hall to find out what was going on, and she paid the bill for me, I think there were still big Covid discounts then so it was only 50 or 100 Baht or so. Last year, I reluctantly contacted them via their LINE account and they gave me the details to pay what was owing for both 2023 and 2024, about 500 Baht a year I think it was. I was able to pay it using the SCB Easy app on my phone. I'm expecting much the same indolence on the part of the Pattaya City Revenue Department this year, so come June or July I'll wake them up on LINE and see what's what.

Not mine. If I'm out and need mobile data then I'll dial up a day's worth for 16 Baht on AIS via *777*210#. Otherwise, my phone only has a WiFi connection. I see no point in paying for a full-time mobile data connection when I'd hardly ever use it, and I doubt if I'm alone in that.

Yeah, no power = no WiFi. And surely most people when they're at home have their phones connected to the WiFi rather than using the mobile network, so they won't be able to receive the message either. I'd have thought the best way to do this would be to send out a text message via the phone network rather than relying on the internet. Or have I misunderstood what they're saying?

It's easier for them to blame Trump's tariffs for the emasculation of the Thai car industry than to tell the truth and admit that it's mainly caused by all the cheap Chinese vehicles being dumped in Thailand. Big Don may be a bit testy, but he's nothing like as sensitive to criticism as Uncle Xi in Beijing.

Will there still be double-pricing?

That's almost as appalling as what the Chinese guy did. Are prolonged screams for help so common in this hotel that they're routinely ignored?

Dang! And some vandal's gone and painted 'Jomtien Second Rd' on the asphalt, too. What is this town coming too, lol?

Just walk south along the beach from the 7-eleven instead of north. Unless you're heading for the gay beach places, of course, lol.

Those condos are all fairly new, surely they must have CCTV outside the entrances; or was it 'not working', as is often the case sadly?

Given the high price of flights these days, which are usually paid in your home currency, I doubt that many people will be tempted by the exchange rate unless there's a major change; say 40 THB/USD, or 55 GBP/THB.

Not a single obese farang wearing a wifebeater vest and riding a 25-year-old Honda Wave in that photo, so it's definitely not Pattaya! lol

In my day, nobody cared much about the uniform, the only thing that mattered was getting as many achievement patches as possible. Therein lay the kudos.

The weather station in my garden in Pattaya reads 35.5° C, with 60% humidity, which converts to a heat index of 46° C. Bangkok and Chiang Mai are also experiencing similar temperatures according to Yahoo. That's not in the least bit unusual for this time of the year so I don't know what all the fuss is about. Maybe it's to protect the new ไทยเกล็ดหิมะ generation? lol (ไทยเกล็ดหิมะ = Thai snowflake)

Good for Nestlé, these Thai oligarchs are worse than the Russian ones! Who knows, with them out of the picture maybe the price of a jar of coffee will come down a bit.

Dang, and I'd just invested in a new tee shirt.... lol

Yes, you're thinking of Pastrami on Rye, which was very good. It closed down before Covid came to stay with us, I think the owner decided to relocate to Bangkok but I've no idea if he ever opened a shop there or if it was a success. It seems a classic example of a successful business in Jomtien, appreciated by the local community, that simply shut up shop.

Thanks, but that's a spreadable version, while I want the solid, sliceable one. If I want to eat a spreadable liver paste then I'd much rather pay for a proper French style pâté.

Even if foreigners can avail themselves of the new system, one story doing the rounds is that it will be restricted to people under the age of 65. So for the vast majority of retired farangs, you may as well forget about this and simply continue with the trip to the DLT office once every 5 or 6 years. One positive for us, though, is that the DLT offices should become much less busy if so many younger people are doing it online, so it might become even quicker and easier than it already is.