BigStar

Typical fallback excuse used for all stores our posters think are overpriced, not just known luxury brands. Levis jeans for example: Nobody's going to pay that! And so our Economists, such as yourself, who rely only on their Eyeballs At Random Intervals, for econometrics, never see any shoppers in mall stores. Part of it is that by definition they cannot exist, just as Thai tourists in Pattaya cannot exist. In an old jeans discussion, our posters, normally purists who insist on authenticity in everything except themselves, laughed at the idea of paying for Levis when a fake in a Thai market only costs B200. Another issue is that multiple shoppers must be seen lined up at the cashiers ready to pay. Otherwise, they're just enjoying air conditioning. ANF Economist rule: In a mall, Thais cannot look before buying. They can only look before looking. So you'd have to open your eyes and really be around often, esp on weekends or holidays to realize that, yes, the shops do have buyers and are sufficiently profitable. No, they aren't just there to show a presence in multiple malls. Just a convenient projection to support a biased belief. I can tell you that like most Thais, when they see something they want, the wealthy want it now and since they have the money to buy it now, they do. They don't really do your K-Mart blue light shopping. Over the decades our Economists have never understood, or refused to understand, the average tourist mentality. Now with typical bigotry you've omitted Thais as tourists (as I referenced above). It's a complete mystery why tourists buy abroad what they could just as easily buy cheaper at home. This is what has doomed all the Thai shopping malls and left them deserted ruins just laundering money. I love ANF Economics. But the same principle applies at home, you see. Brighton, in the UK, has the same shops, or variants, as London, besides souvenir shops. Yet day trippers buy a lot in those shops anyway, and domestic tourism is critical to the economy of Brighton. WOT??? How can that possibly be? But all Brits understand that--in the UK. Somehow, it doesn't apply in Thailand. Buying stuff is an important part of the enjoyment of holidaying. People expect to buy, they allocate or borrow extra funds for the purpose, they expect to pay more and don't mind paying more (until the bill comes due, ha ha). It's a splurge. You know wealthy Asian tourists to whom brand names are critically important? No. Who's buying those Levis that supposedly no one will buy? Russians, for one, true to stereotype. Oh, you made that up. I might point out that a lot of the big spenders among Asians are younger people relying on family and company wealth. Gf and I used to spend a lot of time in Emporium when we lived in BKK as it was nearby. Often ate and shopped there and enjoyed looking around in luxury shops. Of course we saw other shoppers in there. There needn't be many for those shops to survive because of the profit margins. I should note that in USA malls the situation was about the same with luxury brands even without the import tax. So you're left with all the stores are intended to lose money, just to have a "presence."

Possible sign of early dementia Feeling dizzy is one of the first signs of dementia for some patients. Even in the early stages of the disease, most dementia patients experience dizziness and balance problems at some point. In addition to dizziness, dementia patients may also experience a range of related symptoms, including: Lightheadedness. --Causes and Treatment for Dementia Dizziness - Neural Effects

Never overrated, never gets old. No need to go out and about to have it. One can of course also go out and about as well.

Consider Phayathai Sriricha and public Somdej https://english.redcross.or.th/aboutus/department/somdej/ The latter has undergone a surprising amount of modern development. It's not the small local hsp of yesteryear.

Is the OP a Brit? If so, I'd think he'd want to go with a deerstalker. Why compromise? Protective front and rear. Earflaps helpful against Pattaya noise. Perfect for hunting on Soi 6. Also, for greater inspiration, may be worn while at the keyboard engaged in detective work here on the forum. Seem none sold on Lazada but of course importing is easy.

Nowhere. Normal good Thai women aren't interested in meeting and bonking a farang. Typical monger, "strange" or not, fantasy: instant free sex with nice, low-mileage Thai women 'cause he's just so wonderful.

In their own minds. Classic Dunning-Kruger Effect. Had one buzzard on here the other day, a computer user only, claiming to know more than IT experts.

But then, assuming it's the monthly cumulative update, or .NET framework, a reboot's needed and so a nag to reboot unless it's automatically gonna reboot. Login again, hope for no drama, start up all your programs again. Fact: Linux handles updates so much better. Update when you wish, no reboot required. No need for anti-virus, so no daily anti-virus updated.

Here you go: The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time All we need, so can close the thread now--unless of course this is really about "I know guitarists you don't."

How's your aerobic fitness?

Good luck receiving advice here. Nothing but anti-hair transplant activists here loving their own bald heads and congratulating themselves on the baht saved through use of cheap hair clippers from Lazada.

Maybe the farang who can't get their paperwork right need clearing out. All the agents, too.

Makro will deliver, BTW.

The usual hyperbole and squawking over having to pay for something, esp. more for something. After all the deductions, probably low tax rate, and any workarounds, the absolute amount due, in the case of double taxation, may not really be that much and affordable. Some members can save if they stop paying agents and do their own extensions. So far, in the hundred+ pages, we haven't yet heard of anyone being taxed to death or fleeing the country in fear of death. Calm down.

The price of a Starbucks coffee vs the daily minimum wage is irrelevant anyway. It is what it is.

Yes, but I like living in Thailand. It's given me a lot over the years. Who's being taxed to death?

Your condo emergency generator will power the building safety lights if they aren't battery powered. It might also power an elevator or two. Not the condos themselves. Surge protectors will be adequate for preventing damage if you don't need battery backup. Some are better than others. Our experts can advise. UPS monitoring software runs as a service, unaffected by a screensaver or login. If your computer's already asleep, it's not drawing much power and may just sleep through the outage. We rarely have outages in the developed area where I live, and if so they're brief. They always happen just when I'm ready for a hot shower. However, the UPS software will likely still work even during computer sleep mode if, for one thing, you set the USB port to stay on during sleep. Etc.

You wouldn't, nor would anyone you know. It's nothing less than one of the classic Principles of ANF Economics that Thai shopping malls, purveyors of luxury brands, have seemingly always defied. Whenever the construction of a new mall is announced, our Economists lead a chorus of sneers predicting that no one will ever shop there for these reasons: 1. Thais are too poor 2. Rich Thais only shop abroad 3. Tourists have malls at home So the extraordinary incredulity in 2003--after the INSANE rise in visa fees and the imminent Thai economic collapse as all the Golden Egg Layers were heading for the exits--that Siam Paragon should dare begin construction! WOT??? Yeah, whatta flop, always deserted, goods just gathering dust since 2005. The only explanation--brilliant, really, as one would expect here--is that a Thai shopping mall exists only to launder money! Known Truth.

3 in 1 coffee – what’s actually in there? Poor value but good profit margin for 7/11. There's always a ready market for these girly concoctions.

LOL. And so, besides the previous convenient distortion of the reality, you also need the comfort of delusions and sour grapes. Whatever happened to the Brit stiff upper lip of yesteryear? How the once-mighty Empire has fallen. Buck up, man; accept your fate with grace and equanimity.

The series wasn't too bad.

The reverse appears to be the case. The good woman whom you had managed to find ran out of time for you, ditched you, and grabbed your considerable assets, no? Hence you're left with bitterness, cynicism, misogyny, and prostitutes who only have time for you as long as you're paying them.

Yes.

Maybe they did a survey and a few of the millions who'd left on account of the high tax on SangSom will happily return and save the country from its economic collapse.