BigStar

Depends on how large the town is. Pattaya City is a big place now, though our mongers only know a small part of it, a few streets mainly, and are blind to the rest. Take a look at the modern Pattaya skyline. See all those hotels, condos, and malls? Ride around. See all those shops, offices, schools, markets, and large stores? See those banks and hospitals? OBVIOUSLY, there's a vast army of "normal" women working in them. Thank god; without them, it'd all collapse. Most of them don't interact with the public, so meeting them is the problem. You don't pick them up on the street, not in Pattaya. Most of them speak little to no English (you need basic Thai). You might get lucky, but otherwise, as I said, effort will be needed. Working, volunteering, making a good impression on those whom you do happen to meet, letting them know you're a serious guy looking for a real girlfriend (networking)--and going online and filtering out hundreds of ho's, gold diggers, scammers, escorts, and crazies. Online, you have access to ladies in nearby towns and Bangkok. Sometimes the office ladies do speak some English, 'cause they work with international hotels or have foreign clients, such as a professional accountant or condo management company. My gf I met when I volunteered at a small (now defunct) language school in Naklua. Her company had sent her over for a short English language course. She knew none then. She studied hard and learned fast. Me, I had started learning basic Thai from the time I arrived in Pattaya. We met for lunch a few times outside of class and started talking and messaging, and somehow the chemistry was just right. After I helped develop her potential, she turned out to be pretty remarkable. Who'd have thought? I wouldn't have.

Plenty of girls in Pattaya who don't work in the sex trade. Of course you can meet one if you make some effort. Speaking Thai, though, helps critically. Learn to speak Thai if you haven't. The problem for you in Pattaya is that the Thais may regard you as one of the idiots they've either encountered or heard about. They'll question your sincerity, and understandably so. Online can work, but you have to specify you're looking for someone with a respectable, normal job. BA degree a plus. Include nearby towns in your search--Sattahip, Rayong, Sriricha, Chonburi--and even Bangkok. You can manage a quasi-remote relationship with a Bangkok girl. Most here are only familiar with bar and massage girls, so they pay. The long-term girlfriend I met in Pattaya works in an office, has a degree (now two degrees), and earns her own money, so I never pay her anything. We exchange gifts. "Nice" girls aren't going to put up with any running around, however, so you'll have to play it straight and make a commitment. They're quite conventional.

OP is talking about 1. deletion only, not shredding 2. deleting data and partitions 3. presumably reformatting (NTFS) 4. all within Windows. Within Linux I'd probably use Gparted or the KDE Partition Manager since KDE is my DE of choice.

I may have passed you on my motorbike (dangerous enough in itself) and the usual thought "What an idiot" probably crossed my mind. Now I speak as a former cyclist myself. Even used to cycle to work downtown (big city, no bike lanes) from a suburb. Loved my light, swift "outlaw" bike at the time. The OP may gauge Pattaya's chaotic streets and traffic against his appetite for risk. Dunno his age, but an older guy really doesn't want even to fall off his bike. Nor is Pattaya known as a quiet town. I suggest the OP read through the discussion on this thread: Posters there also address your "I'm safe in a group" delusion. A group I know, one of whom has had the Sukhumvit experience, transport their bikes in a truck to the Silver Lake area on Saturday mornings. Way to go.

Sounds like low T. Maybe ask for check while you're there. Last year at Sirikit the nurse pulled the slip out of the BP machine, smiled, and said, "Number beautiful." So cute.

Don't worry, it'll never happen. All the usual BS. But did get page views and the opp'y for many of our members to enjoy their fave topics.

True, you can do most of what you need from the Windows command line. I still use it occasionally. 'Course, I use the Linux terminal a lot more often. :) Yet typing in commands or even copying and pasting them is a bit tedious. A graphical partition manager is of general use and lets you see what's going on. I use Paragon HD Manager when I want a big gun. Otherwise https://www.partitionwizard.com/ has a free version that does quite a lot, including wiping the disk if desired. Loads quickly, relatively intuitive.

What makes foreigners think they deserve "love?"

Why Has Prepping Become So Popular With the Left?

Both Sattahip and Bang Saen are unnecessarily far away from Pattaya. Naklua/Banglamung and Sriricha are too busy, though they do offer a local feel. Beach towns south of Pattaya are great, notably Ban Amphur and Bang Salay. However, the good cycling is on the other side of Sukhumvit. Riding your bike to an intersection and getting across is easily done in theory. In practice, it's a bit dangerous, and I've heard of a cyclist who got hit trying to do exactly that. Given the cycling interest, the Dark Side is probably where you wanna be. As @GypsyT said above, the Lake Mabprachan area's still nice.

Or if the marriage is falling apart. @Celsiusshould give it a go, give the missus something to live for.

Yeah, me too. Great place, perfect soi. True. Lot of mostly working expats hang out at Det 5. Monsoon is an expensive eatery but pretty nice. I hit it once in awhile.

Got the same early on from eating shellfish from a beach vendor. Worst night of my life. Lesson learned.

We missed out on that. Glad it finally came out. Need to share everything, man.

The Little Miss Muffet Theory of Thai residence has always been promoted on the forum by our vast rental brigade. Most condo owners have real lives enjoying their condos and don't bother posting here. Oh, maybe they like Thailand and aren't as skint as our pensioners here. It seems that whenever an expat in Thailand buys a condo, he spends nothing less than his entire life savings.

But then you'd have more roubles. :)

Dr. Warin on Pattaya Klang has gotten some good recs over the years. Less expensive than most. He's got a diploma from UCLA in implantology.

No. Enough with the tap dancing and claim to a definition unobvious in context. Again: you asked how many here, not anywhere, which I answered. That, as noted, was, as it turned out, a superfluous question, as you could have just posted the authoritative information itself instead. (Not to mention irrelevant to the topic of Zuckerberg.) The answer would inform not only members who post HERE but those who lurk HERE as well (are these together now termed the all?), satisfying your asserted "global" concern.

No noticeable effect whatsoever. This panic is reminiscent of the panic in 2003 when visa fees were increased. Oh, the screaming, moaning, teeth gnashing, and kickers soiling. It supposedly meant that all the Golden Egg Layers would be forced to exit, the Thai economy would collapse, and the cities would empty out as all Thais went back to working in rice fields. Meanwhile Thai developers were working on Siam Paragon, LOL.

Nobody here on the forum, or thread, obviously, addressing your question literally and specifically. Now that was, in retrospect, giving a little too much credit to our members. I should know better, LOL. But since you've elaborated that your definition of here actually means "anywhere," perhaps with a particular emphasis on Americans, you've managed easily to answer your own question, rendering it superfluous in the first place.

Oh, he'll have huge screens on the walls showing scenery and whatever. Latest QD-OLED tech. And they'll work. I first noticed the effect years ago when Korean Air started showing pleasant nature scenes on the seatback TV screens to calm everyone down for takeoff. Subsequently, I downloaded long nature scene videos to play on my own TV sometimes for relaxation or as in-between filler.

You asked how many here? Out in the wild you can find people who'll believe anything, or think they do. I sometimes like to cite Flat Earthers as an example. Here we seem only to have found a Brit, who has a number of other odd beliefs. Zuck, the topic here, hardly needs to imagine zombies as a threat to be aware of the possible utility of a bunker.

https://www.wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-inside-hawaii-compound/

Nobody believes that nonsense. Hollywood fantasy.

Have you surveyed them? In Pattaya I'm seeing mostly families and couples--again. Same hot air about draft dodging, working illegally, overstaying, blah blah was spouted earlier by our Experts when so many Russians came for holiday. Then they all pretty much went away, like normal tourists, as they'll surely do again at the end of high season. Among so many Russians, more bad behavior occurs, as it does with Brits. Mainly, we just like to be anti-Russian. I'm enjoying the Russian hotties in their thongs on the beach. Bring 'em on.