Beacher

I go to California WOW evey other day and I also notice that the shops are almost void of customers. Contrary to so many threads here, I really enjoy WOW. The equipment is top notch, they have turned down the volume of the music, I have a life time membership and no one ever bothers me, tries to solicit, etc. I do a 90 minute work-out every other day and I always see a steady stream of people taking a tour of the gym with a sales person. And I never see the American manager who so many riled against - saw him about 4 months ago - anyway, I think WOW is in no danger - neither is the theater or bowling and a few of the larger eating establishments - but otherwise, Avenue is spookily quiet.

I've also noticed that The Avenue does seem deadly quiet and also wondered how the businesses can stay open. I went there a few days ago and did not see any customers in ANY of the shops. Seems like only the restaurants at the 2nd Road entrance seem to have customers, also Major Cineplex has always been quite busy every time I go..

It may help businesses there if people knew that California Wow has now turned down the volume of their music. Being bombarded by their songs as one approaches The Avenue was one of the reasons I stayed away from there -- that and The Villa's typically overpriced goods.

It also seems to be an odd mix of stores/services there.

Shouldn't this thread be somehow linked to one of those "Why Do You Live in Thailand?" threads? 555

As advised, download, print, and complete the form before going to the office. It will save you jostling for elbow space at the counters provided for filling out forms.

As soon as you get there, go over to the "queue ticket number dispensing machine" located to the right near the information desk and press the button labeled "90 Day Report". It will spit out a little numbered ticket for you. Watch for your turn, i.e. your number to come up on the black electronic sign then proceed to the appropriate desk.

It is free, usually fast, and almost always painless. (Somebody accidentally jabbed me with a pen once - OUCH!)

It certainly sounds worse than the average Tesco Lotus store, but their failure to restock items in a timely manner has always existed at the South Pattaya store where I occasionally (when desperate) shop. It's one of the most annoying aspects of Tesco in Thailand. The other thing I don't like about Tesco Lotus in South Pattaya is the attitude of the checkout staff. I swear those people must take courses in how to be surly.

As far as the girls go, I was probably like a kid in candy store for the first year after I arrived. However, it didn't take long to realize that indulging in one night stands with the Thai ladies was actually a pretty hollow experience for me. Fortunately, I hooked up with gal (who had honestly never even been in a bar, let alone work in one) for quite a while. Unfortunately, that relationship just ended recently. But even though I'm single again, I have no desire to venture back into the bars. Actually, Pattaya has changed so much for the worse over the past few years, I only burden myself with going there once a week to do some grocery shopping. I like the quiet life.

So, I guess I'm here for the warm weather, reasonably priced cost of living, and...well, I'm not sure why else.

I can understand wanting access to western type food, and I'm happy for you. I just hope you don't find the prices too shocking. Actually, I hear they are competitive for a few items, but I think many of their prices are pretty high. For example, I was buying 1 kilo bags of Pan Talay brand red snapper fillets at Carrefour for 279 baht. At Villa, they were asking 439 for the exact same product.

I guess I was on the wrong track. I thought the one thing that a farang man can't give a Thai woman is a 100% Thai baby.

But to be serious, I noticed some posters saying that a Thai person will never really accept a farang as a true and good friend. I have heard this many times, and I tend to believe it's correct

Consider donating the older one to an orphanage, school, charity, youth group, needy family perhaps. Probably worth more in warm fuzzy feelings than cash Just make sure they know you don't want to hear about it when something dies. Well unless you're a complete saint that is.

I think that this is the best advice given, so far. Once I had outgrown my old computer, I gave it to a waitress I knew. She was an honest and hard working woman (with 4 little girls) who was divorced. I took to her very humble home and set it up. The children were absolutely thrilled with it, and the experience gave me a nice warm fuzzy feeling that was definitely more valuable to me than the few thousand baht I likely would have got had I sold it.

As for the newer 1-year-old system, place an ad in one of the several weekly newspapers or in an online classified ads section like the one offered here. I believe that most, if not all of the English weekly newspapers in Thailand area let you advertise the goods you want to sell without charging you a fee. Those types of classified ads might also be helpful to determine a realistic price to ask. Just try to find a similar configuration (CPU speed/type, hard drive capacity, etc.) and match your asking price closely to what you see.

As for storing this stuff, it's not a good idea for a couple of reason, but mainly because (as already pointed out) 3 years from now, it won't be able to handle much of the newer software and will generally hold very little value.