BigStar

Is that an understatement or what?????

Yup. Walked out of the elevator and into the lobby today as usual on my way out to the beach, and it was reassuring as always to see the (friendly) staff and security all in place and ready to guard with their lives any package I might receive from Lazada! ????

These threads always bring our Little Miss Muffets out of the woodwork counting their Fools Buy Real Estate, Condo Glut, and CONDO CRASH IMMINENT! rosary beads in their fleabag rented rooms. But you should know that a foreigner needs to cover ALL the bases. You never know what more nasty surprises THEY have in store for us! So we should always teach our poor noobs the classic, shrewd, street-smart ANF Poster Three Primal Laws Of Survival In Thailand, distilled over many years from the sage advice of our most knowledgeable members. Here ya go: 1. Never invest in anything you aren't ready to lose; 2. Never own more than you can carry with you or leave behind; 3. Keep your suitcase packed at all times. There. All any foreigner needs. Now, enjoy! Yawn. Quoting one or more of the Laws gives you ten (+10) instant points of ANF posting cred from the peanut gallery. I think you deserve +5 anyway.

Like Rum Tum Tugger in Cats! The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore: When you let him in, then he wants to be out; He's always on the wrong side of every door, And as soon as he's at home, then he'd like to get about. He likes to lie in the bureau drawer, But he makes such a fuss if he can't get out. —T. S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats

Great! Since you know, when will Royal Cliff Garden be dead? Been 25 years already and I'd love to pick up a unit there up for a million or so.

Don't rush into any sotitation, esp. that one, which appears problematic. Security, for example, is an advantage you'll surely want. Best rent for a time in a building of interest before buying, because you're buying a home for the very long term. When I first arrived, I knew I was clueless (know your limitations), so I took my time, lived in various areas around Pattaya, talked to a lot of owners, and eventually found a good deal in a desirable older building where I've been quite happy. And, after due diligence, you should be as well, like most owners. It got even better here after the owners finally gave up their laughable, and ultimately wasteful, attempts to manage the building themselves. Pro tip: having a reputable outside management company in charge is usually a good sign and worth the money. I won't bother delineating the advantages.

When will they ever learn?

It depends. However, the loudest monkeys in the forest here have always been, and always will be, the Renters. And they happen to form the great majority, most owners having better things to do than read these forums and write posts. Any poll will therefore give you the same "consensus" as ever.

No problem at all with strong women in any place, and my gf could kick your *ss. In fact, Westworld, which I pointedly mentioned, has the strongest you'll find in any series, Charlotte Hale eventually taking over the entire world. So, you're merely confused. I do have a problem--boredom and annoyance--with gratuitous victimism and obvious political agendas imposed on and draining the life from what could be a good story. Too many better things to watch with more consistent artistic merit. Sorry.????

I take your point, but they don't make great writers like Dickens any longer. Now I think the 2011 Great Expectations series was overall better. Gillian Anderson's Miss Haversham will never be topped, even by forum members obsessed with a past injustice, real or imagined, at the hands of Thai police. She also played Lady Dedlock in the 2005 Bleak House, the best of the Dickens adaptations IMO.

Gave up on House Of The Draggin' after the first episode. Amazing how early one can predict a flop. Good visuals, though, as with Bored Of The Rings, with which I also didn't bother. Last season of Westworld was pretty good, though, for SF that might appeal to the mob. Recently I've been watching the alien invasion series Colony. Nothing new there, but the standard tropes are combined into a naturalistic drama without the usual hyperbolic effects and melodrama. Good casting, characters that generate interest, attractive female lead. Enough to hold my interest, anyway; no need to watch it more than once. It abruptly ends without coming to a satisfactory resolution. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4209256/ One fan has this to say:

Had great potential that, sad to say, it doesn't live up to. Gave up after a few episodes owing to the feminist slant.

I'm with you. That's how I use mine, and only when traveling for brief periods or needing to sit in a Thai gov't office. Or at the laundromat on rare occasions.???? I prefer the 8" size, too. I also want something cheap enough so that if it gets stolen from a hotel room or somehow "injured," I don't care. Same with my laptop. Dirt cheap, old tech, runs Fedora XFCE well, long as I don't open more than, say, 10 tabs. Encrypted /home of course. So the thread's been hijacked as usual by our big spenders and app/device experts ignoring your very minimal requirements. Kinda like walking into a gym full of preening bodybuilders and asking about "toning." Well, take a look at this: Huawei MatePad T8 ฿2,979.00 https://www.lazada.co.th/products/huawei-matepad-t8-4glte-32gb-wifi-ram216gb1-tablet-8-i2188062529-s11737196593.html? I have a T3 from Shopee, about the same price, takes a SIM. Been good. No speed demon for surfing, but OK. I have speed at home. If you got a friend coming from the States, Amazon Fire tablets area a good buy. Can be Googlified with a little effort. Thinking about getting one of those and keeping the T3 in reserve. You never know, Dad always used to say. Used equipment can be fine but, as has been pointed out, the battery can be problematic. Aliexpress has the cheaper battery replacements. Me, I stay away from Apple anything. That way madness lies.????

I've had no problems whatsoever using mine at Queen Sirikit Hsp. The magnetic strip worked for the turnstile entrance to the Laemchabang SS office.????

This.

But for example aren't some farang teachers are employed at institutions (private?) that don't fall under Thai SS and are therefore not members of the scheme? I seem to recall some posters mentioning this.

At my company other older expats mentioned the possibility, and I also think I read about on TVF. My benevolent Thai boss may have mentioned it. HR didn't have to mention it because I mentioned it first. But they might well have, good department with good people. No, m'lord, there's no nice little brochure for you or engraved invitation letter. It's not actually in the Thai govt's interest to encourage expats to sign up, as they've likely not paid much in during the relatively short time they're employed. And there are only a very small number eligible. It's mainly for Thais, and so all documentation is all in Thai, far as I know. No, they aren't going to translate it for you. OF COURSE there's no law you have to join Thai SS, but if you work at a company or institution that is a member, it'll be company policy to join and foolish not to. HR took care of all my paperwork and gave me the form for SS to debit my bank account, which is how I've been paying monthly. Oh, I don't know WHAT DAY I was enrolled, but that's a silly non-issue. If your office said you must join on the same day you receive your payout, then the answer to that is, "Thank you. Where do I sign?" No brainer. Same with my Immigration office. They want certain docs on the day I apply for my extension. I make sure they get them ALL, neatly typed. It's totally self-defeating to chop logic and play farang lawyer w/ Thai gov't offices. I didn't actually use it for more than a decade. I finally tried, for a dentist refund, to see if it worked for the future. I immediately had some issue about not being found in the system. So I visited the SS office in Laemchabaeng and got "activated," so to speak. The staff members were all quite nice, but I'm also nice. I made good use of my pink card there, and now it serves as my enrollment ID that I present to my registered hospital. All been good. Far as what happens w/ your SS if you join another company also a member of SS, I dunno; ask that company or SS. I assume you'd resume normal SS payments there under the same number.

Perhaps @KannikaP is remembering his old crystal radio.

Right! THAT nutcase!???? You ready to show your numbers yet?

Low carb isn't a fad but mainstream now. On the other hand, who's that nutcase doc you got all your pro-sugar advice from?

This is an ignorant lie you keep repeating even when you've been informed of the truth. Guess you must need it.

Bicycle messengers, no. Recreational weekend cyclists were probably fat before they got a bicycle. The Thais of past generations, excluding congenital issues, didn't start out fat and were never fat. Their exercise therefore helped them to maintain their leanness. Exercise does that a lot better--maintenance of a better metabolic level--than it does helping you lose weight, 'Course, lot of folks don't know that. So you see fatties out destroying their joints trying to run when they should just be walking.

Good far as that goes. Blood donation, BTW, helps reduce iron, which some gurus insist is a good thing, contrary to conventional wisdom. Anyway, if you get all the other numbers (above) into the optimal range, the BP and heart rate will take care of themselves. Conversely, numbers in the risk categories will probably be reflected in high BP and the need for--oh, meds of course!

That's a worry I'd say you should take VERY seriously, the sooner the better. The HbA1c test has been recommended. Yet fasting glucose and HbA1c are not entirely reliable indicators. If I were you, I'd get the much more indicative oral glucose tolerance test. If you do have diabetes, you gotta get on it and stay on it. I've seen what it can do w/o proactive interventions, meds or no.

Ah, lucky you, hee. Or, maybe not. Or maybe it's not really everything after all. Have you glanced at your liver lately? Hmm. Well, let's see the numbers and hear about the meds before we celebrate. For some reason, our members are reluctant to reveal all the details about those. Everything good? Waist to height ratio?