TallGuyJohninBKK

There's also an oddly named new place at the very top of the soi called 'lyf Sukhumvit 8" that was built during the pandemic, then had a limited opening just for COVID quarantine guests, and then finally opened for good. I know absolutely nothing about the place, other than as it was being built, the exterior design and appearance reminded me quite a bit of prison architecture. However, Google Maps says it's a 4-star hotel and recent reviews on GM seem generally positive. The interior design and features seem to me to be, how shall I say, "quirky."

Adelphi is a decent hotel in a good, convenient location, with a good restaurant on-site... But, that price above (5K+ baht per night) IMHO is pretty excessive for what you get and relative to the broader BKK Hotel market.

The Royal Asia Lodge Hotel at the end of the soi -- one of the first places I stayed as a tourist to Thailand many years back -- has been closed for several years, and is listed on Google Maps as "permanently closed." The Promenade Hotel, about midway down the soi, is back open again lately after closing during the pandemic, but probably was past its "expire" date about a decade ago. The more active and newer hotels on the soi include the Adelphi, Hopeland, Salil and Citadines. Stable Lodge is a bit of a niche place aimed at Europeans/Nordic folks.

Science fact checking says this author's conclusions are flawed and wrong. Read the full article linked below that explains why, as I'm limited in how much of it I can quote here. Scientific evidence shows that mask-wearing is effective at limiting community transmission; claims that face masks increase mortality are based on flawed correlation studies ... "Well-designed studies that account for confounding have reported that widespread mask-wearing reduces the spread of COVID-19 in the community. ... More importantly, Spira and Foegen’s analyses are fundamentally flawed and don’t support their own conclusions. ... In their current form, the studies aren’t equipped to tell us whether there is a causal relationship between mask-wearing and a higher risk of death from COVID-19. The failure to recognize this limitation is known as the ecological fallacy." https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/scientific-evidence-shows-mask-wearing-effective-at-limiting-community-transmission-claims-face-masks-increase-mortality-based-on-flawed-correlation-studies/

I recall there being past cases of widely advertised and promoted Botox "doctors" here who, after being in business for a long while, finally end up being arrested and found to not be MD doctors at all, but instead, former clinic staff who went into business for themselves.... and had been treating and injecting patients with no license or qualifications whatsoever. Regulation and enforcement here are non-existent!

Re your use of the term "contracts," are you talking about fixed term deposit accounts where you commit to keep the deposit in place for X years? Kind of like the Thai version of certificates of deposit? As opposed to regular liquid savings accounts?

That seems like that kind of approach should not run afoul of Immigration. Anyone have any personal experience with doing it that way?

I think the OP has a good question... I've always wondered...if I ever needed to relocate my current 800K deposit account associated with my retirement extension, the question of HOW and WHEN to do it in a way that doesn't end up causing some grief from TH Immigration.

It depends on what kind and size of living space the person needs to protect... People should shop for a unit or units based on the room size, or open space living area, they have, and then see how the various brands/models fit that need. But as I mentioned in a prior post here, I think Sharp, Xiaomi, and Hatari all have good consumer priced options available with units sized to a single room or Thai condo type living space. Reasonably priced and relatively easy access here to replacement filters. When I was shopping, that was always one of the first questions I would ask -- where and how can I buy replacement HEPA filters for this unit...and then see if the source really keeps them available and in stock...as opposed to being perpetually sold out (as sometimes can be the case here).

For the few above who are poo pooing Red Lobster, if you have better value suggestions for where to find/eat imported Maine Lobster in Bangkok, please do tell....

I think IHOP, which I really liked during its tenure here, was a victim of unfortunate timing just as they were getting going, i.e. the pandemic killing tourism and the related COVID lockdowns and operating restrictions. Interesting to read in past news clippings, the Thai company that had, probably still has, the franchise rights here had public plans back in 2019 to open 10 Thailand locations by 2021. I think they got up to 3 or 4 before things went south. https://qsrmedia.asia/franchising/news/ihop-franchisee-in-thailand-plans-open-10-sites-2021 I'm hoping they'll resurface here at some point.... I can say from personal experience, they were not just popular with farangs/Americans but a lot of Thais liked their pancakes as well.

The problem with these kinds of reports is what works on viruses in lab dishes may be entirely different than how the same substance operates in the human body... There have been prior supposed treatments for COVID that worked just fine at killing the COVID virus in lab dishes, but could not be used at those levels or were ineffective against the virus when used in the human body. Let's wait and see what the further research ends up showing. Also note from the summary announcement of the research: "Researchers warn the public they should not consume the plants as a means of self-treatment against coronavirus as they can be toxic."

"Please remember that Xiaomi filters have a built-in RFID chip, so buying third-party replacement filters is not an option." https://www.airpurifierfirst.com/comparison/xiaomi-mi-3h-vs-levoit-core-400s/

One downside to the Xiaomi approach to purifiers, from my perspective, is that they combine the pre-filters and HEPA-type filters all into a single cartridge type unit... as opposed to being separate in most other purifiers. So, on the Xiaomis, when the prefilter gets clogged up, you're likely going to need to replace the whole cartridge unit... as opposed to just cleaning or changing an inexpensive pre-filter on other units while keeping the same HEPA filter in place. My sense is, everything else being equal, that Xiaomi's approach is likely to result in more frequent filter unit replacements, which of course is primarily the way they make money off the units.... which probably is the case with most purifier manufacturers.

JD's soon bailing out of Thailand and dropping their online presence here entirely.

When I was shopping for purifiers several years back, I spent some time researching the Xiaomi models... And I believe I read at the time that their machines supposedly had incorporated some kind of checking component to only work with original OEM Xiaomi filters... However, that said, I didn't end up buying their units.... So I don't have any personal experience on whether 3rd party filters actually will or won't work in their units.

I tried the 3M filtrete sheets over my room air con's own filters in the past. And found the Filtrete sheets got very dirty very fast and began blocking the air con's airflow. They also helped a little bit in lowering PM2.5 levels, but nothing close to the effect of a standalone HEPA purifier.

You want to pick air purifiers for starters based on the size of the living area/areas you need to filter the air for... An enclosed room is gonna be self contained and probably work with a single consumer type unit. But if you have a large open plan living area without a lot of segregated spaces, then multiple units are the likely path.... The standard room size units here can be bought pretty affordably, particularly the Sharp, Hatari, Toshiba and Xiaomi models... But if you start trying to shop for like a whole house very large capacity single purifier, you're gonna be shelling out big baht, AFAIK.

This is ours.. paid around 3300b for it originally here.. Sized for a room up to about 18-20 square meters, I believe.

I have a similar model from Sharp. And it's been performing like a trooper in our main bedroom the past couple years. Sharp HEPA replacement filters are available in BKK from a local Sharp affiliated supplier. The HEPA filters are supposed to last a year or so. But I put a layer of Honeywell pre-filter material inside the back of my Sharp unit between the HEPA filter and the units own back cover prefilter. And although I have to clean both prefilters every month or so, as a result of the prefilters, the current core HEPA filter is now going well into year 2.

Ouch! That makes the RL versions from Maine seem like a bargain! BTW, I did have the vague feeling that somewhere along its coast Thailand had a lobster industry... But I don't think those are a big item among the locals, especially at those prices!

Interesting... RL online in the U.S. for Los Angeles is selling their whole live Maine lobster dinner for almost $40 U.S. (not including local sales tax and tip) The (presumably, though they don't give you any weights on the lobster here) same dinner here is priced at 1,350b before tax and tip, which equates to about $41 U.S.

Were the starter freebie biscuits unlimited at the RL in KL, or just like a single opening basket? PS - You might think given that the Thailand branch's entrees primarily are 1100 to 1600 baht ++ range, that they could be a bit more generous with their biscuits! ???? PPS - It looks like the standard practice at the US branches is to provide TWO biscuits for free with each entree, and then pay for extra after that. So Thailand's being a bit more stingy! From the RL US website:

Kinda half right and half wrong... Here at the Thailand outlet, they provide ONE biscuit for free with each dinner... So we got those, one apiece. But I also ordered a basket of an additional 4 for us to snack on while we were waiting for our meals. So, AFAICT, the deal there was... If we had just sat down and ordered our dinners only, they wouldn't have provided any biscuits to the table upfront. But they would have brought one with each dinner when they served the dinners... Oddly, they have sets that you can order to go... But in the restaurant, other than the freebies, they only sell them individually at 35b a pop.

As I noted in my review above, I referred to RL as a "common man's" seafood chain, which I think is suitable... That notwitstanding, their US Angus ribeye steak was excellent... and their lobster was a treat from the U.S. that I've missed for more than a decade.... I guess I should ask...if anyone knows... is there any kind of Thailand bred lobster industry? If so, how do they taste, and how are they priced? I generally don't eat Thai seafood period, so I've never gone down that road. PS - You may recall, Taco Bell of all places got tons of reviews and writeups when one of the Thai hi-so families launched their first Taco Bell outlets here.... It based on that "taste from home" novelty factor, not whether such places have earned Michelin stars... ????