tfc

32 minutes ago, Hal65 said:

 2. Printout of Agoda booking confirmation PDF attached to email (printout of booking page on website NOT acceptable.

Did they want booking/payment confirmation for the whole 60/90 days? 

My friend is in Kuala Lumpur and that is one of the requirements on his form.  It seems pretty excessive, particularly for a tourist visa, as he is just going to be visiting me for 2 weeks initially then traveling, as tourists tend to do, around Thailand and booking accommodation spending a few weeks here and there.

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he said a website printout was not good enough and would not be accepted. He said he needed a print out sent with the email.

Does this mean that a hard copy paper confirmation is no longer valid or needed at all anymore?  In the past HCMC had always asked for a hard copy.  So they just want a pdf image of the Agoda receipt sent with an email now?  Or do they want both?

On 3/11/2021 at 2:24 PM, jackdd said:

I can understand how it might work for somebody trying to lose weight, but what you describe doesn't make sense.

Eating many small meals would be what would result in stable levels. After eating your one giant meal a day your energy levels go up to the roof, and then after your body digested this it goes into starvation mode until the next meal, this is the opposite of stable.

You say you don't do it for weight loss, and are doing it since ten years, so obviously your one meal has to cover your maintenance calorie level. I assume you are a normal man, this would probably be about 2500 kcal. How do you eat 2500 kcal in one meal? With just junk food I might see how this is possible (still difficult though), but if you also want to get a decent amount of protein, and micro nutrients (vegetables, fruits...) in, I would say that's impossible to do. What do you eat for your OMAD?

I'll have to give my "broscience" explanation because I'm no scientist & basically just followed the basic guidelines from a book called the "Warrior Diet" by Ori Hofmekler.  From what I recall, having read it over 10 years ago, after an initial few weeks the body shifts/swaps the leptin/ghrelin (paraphrasing here) & the body is no longer in starvation mode during the day.  I can only speak from my own experience but for myself I only experienced mild hunger for a few days before the shift/swap etc.  

It's arguable whether I'm a normal man ???? but that aside, I eat until I'm full.  I can usually eat between 3-4 chicken breasts/thighs, a big salad, 1.5-2 small containers of sour cream, butter, cheese (probably only once a week), "cloud bread" & I'm pretty much done.  When I was in Australia I ate more beef & whatever vegetables/salads were in season.  I also tend to eat more cheese when I'm there, perhaps 3-4 times a week.  I'm not sure if how I eat is supposed to be possible/impossible but it works for me.  I get a full health check twice/year & though my doctor here thinks I'm a bit crazy, though that may just be me not my diet, apparently everything is good.  Same with my doctor in Australia.  

I'm not one to recommend/not recommend diets of any sort, aside from (in general) avoiding junk food.  I'm just sharing my experience on the OMAD but I'd guesstimate that it's not for everyone & only really talk about it if asked, or if there's a thread asking about it such as this one.  If anyone expresses interest in IF/OMAD though I always encourage them to be open to the different forms of IF because from my experience & that of friends there are a lot of variables that come into play that & for whatever reason some forms of IF work better for others & some really just don't.  For what its worth I'm also a life long martial artist, which is one of the reasons that I was interested in sustained, stable focus/energy & for me I like that I can train at anytime during the day & feel ready to train within 30-45 mins after my one meal as well.       

I've been on OMAD for 10 years give or take, though weight loss wasn't my goal but for optimizing my energy levels (no more fluctuations / peaks / drops just smooth), stable focus etc.  Different people I know use different types of IF & in my opinion its best to use what works best for your goals & health.  For me OMAD is more sustainable & easier, for some of my friends larger windows or other "structures" of IF are more sustainable.  End of the day it's what you personally find can become positively "normal" for you that will work best for you.     

If it was mandatory I'd gladly pay for the Pfizer one VS even being paid to receive the Sinovac one. 

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Many schools including Prince Royal College, Dara College, Montfort College and Sacred Heart College have announced that they will be closed longer than the initially stated 18th January due to fear of the recent Covid-19 surge. Schools now say that they aim to reopen on the 1st February.

A total of 72 schools out of the 83 primary schools in Chiang Mai’s region 1 have been closed. Most are still aiming to reopen on the 18th January, but will evaluate the situation again in the next few days.

 

https://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citynews/covid-19/chiang-mai-schools-extend-closure-until-end-of-month/

Would be interested to know what other schools have also extended their reopening to the 1st Feb if anyone knows.

The heroin and methamphetamine as reportedly included (from another news site) in the mix may have played a part too. 

Whether a person is a tourist, expat or citizen, from a purely logistical point of view, for the overall good of the country, inclusive of all people and lessening the potential of Thailand increasing infections and deaths, limiting contact and just having everyone regardless of who they are just stay put.   

On 2/7/2020 at 9:16 AM, ThaiBunny said:

True, and they drink unpasteurised milk laced with blood freshly got from cutting the vein in the cow's neck. Not a diet I think I'll start

The low or zero fiber diet sounded disgusting until you mentioned this delicious sounding blood milkshake but I'm afraid I'll have to pass as I'm lactose intolerant.  ????

If he was in the more central districts of HCMC then a 0 was probably omitted meaning he pays $850/month all inclusive.  If out in district 7 the editor/writer probably missed a 4, 5 or 6 at the start, so $450, $550 or $650.  Quality of the accommodations of course is going to play a huge part in determining that along with the district he is living in. 

I was going to add my 2 cents to the recent post but at the time decided not to just because it seems that there is a fairly substantial divide of belief/view/opinion where forummers either are very adverse or pleased towards any positive or negative reports.  I'm not going to present my opinion either way as just as with the other 2, they are 2 only and mine just another.  Everyone is going to experience Vietnam, Thailand or any country for that matter with different perspectives, some slight some substantial.  Having on and off in the last 15 years lived in HCMC and Hanoi primarily for anything from 9-10 months (mainly between 2005-2011) when I was working (a foreign company paying western level wages for those that are wondering) and 6-9 months (my usual time from 2011 onward) when I no longer needed to and was just a tourist, I've known a lot of expats with a very broad spectrum of opinion, from those that can't stand the place, those that love it and everything in between. 

At the end of the day just go live, if you're able, in the country that you wish to live, whether that's Vietnam, Thailand or another country.  None of us here own any of these countries (that I know of) so such emotional investment in where people other than yourself wants to live isn't worth the time and life. 

FWIW for those that can't find imported products either ask your concierge at your hotel and they'll give you names and address or if in Hanoi and can't find the ones around the small streets near Hoan Kiem lake, there's a small but good one a block or so from the Thai embassy.  Coming out of the embassy just turn right and walk up the street.  It's hard to miss as the have many of their imported foods in the window.   

HCMC has even more.  Most of the big malls should have something but again just ask your hotel concierge if you can't find one.  In D1 on the corner of Dong Du, if for example you are coming out of the Sheraton just turn left and walk straight for about 150 meters and there's a double story imported foods/deli/bakery on the other side of the road.  You can get everything from Bob's Red Mill "whatever," imported beers, wines, cheeses, butters, coffee, chocolate, sweets, biscuits etc.  

23 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

As far as I know all wrist and ankle weights contain the same filling. 

Ah okay thanks.  I guess that must be for the majority or all wrist/ankle weights in Thailand.  My uncle was spoiled by the ones he had in Australia that had small metal bars so that they could be adjusted to anywhere from 0.5kg to 5kg per weight strap.

17 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I bought 1 and 2kg weights at Big C in Udon Thani. They have stood the test for 4 years now.

 

The 'weird blackish grain' that @tfcrefers to is fine lead shot.

Do the ones you got from BIG C have that granulated lead shot in them?

Thanks for the replies.  I'll check out Lazada.

A family member uses these for rehabilitation but neglected to bring them over to Chiang Mai as they thought that they would probably be easier to buy here than add 6+ KG to their luggage. 

The ones that they sell at Decathalon etc seem to all leak a weird blackish grain (returned and replaced 6 times and all the same) which is used as weight.  The shop that I usually have relied on in the past near 3 kings monument doesn't seem to have them so I thought it time to call on the thaivisa forummers to find out if anyone has found any wrist/ankle weights that just use solid metal or even those ones that you fill up with water.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions as to where to buy these.

In regards to comparisons between staying in Thailand on tourist visas and whether the same could be done in my own country Australia I can only offer anecdotal examples of friends that essentially live here simply because they have the ample amounts of either investments and/or external sources of income to do so.  It may not be the "official" thing to do from certain legal perspectives in Australia however the financial perspective wins here, as can be observed from properties, once upon a time public sector companies and at times freeways being bought by overseas investors.  This is just my observation of the landscape and I'm attempting to keep it objective without putting in my own opinion either way as to whether the aforementioned specifics are good, bad, right or wrong. 

At a smaller more individual level, if people are bringing money from outside of Australia and not working here (ie. in the context of the definition of work being that their income is coming from Australian people and/or companies as opposed to managing businesses outside Australia that are bringing money here.  I have not known anyone to have any issues at all and on the contrary are, perhaps "informally," quite welcome here and encounter little to no hassle.  In my experience its always been the latter but there are probably exceptions. 

Permanent residency and citizenship, though Australia has strict criteria, is also possible at a far higher percentage of success if those criteria are met.  Once again anecdotal but the people I know who are able to show that they either have a sufficiently large flow of external income that does not look as if it will cease until death from what I have seen do not experience the strictness that those that cannot do.  The "welcome" may not be on the level of a salesman with their foot in your door but in the "jumping through the hoops" of criteria there has always been an eager helping hand to boost them through the hoop.

IMHO at this level of education "adding anything to the university" should be less important than what the student, based on their own ability and merit, is going to be able to contribute to society after they've left university.  If they're accepting and rejecting based on racial quotas not merit and we've got brain surgeons who were accepted to medical school with 10-20% less requirements and others who had to achieve 10-20% more, I know who I'd want operating on me.  Furthermore, imagine being the person who's race can be accepted with 10-20% less but been one who was able to be accepted due to normal or higher self-achievement.  There would be some annoyance at the unspoken prejudice that "er I won't pick that surgeon because they were just let in.  I want the one who is 120% operating on my brain."

For people with blood clotting issues this could be really dangerous.  Same goes for people with dengue. 

It sounds like others at his company are concerned about his Ambien use too, as well as "other recreational drugs." 

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-ambien-use-tesla-board-what-drug-does-2018-8

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-hes-had-to-take-ambien-to-go-to-sleep-2018-8

There are a lot of variables that contribute to meeting, connecting and forming a mutually positive relationship anywhere.  Sometimes those variables work, sometimes they don't so my philosophy has always been to live by my own values while as a expatriate/traveler respecting and coordinating with the cultural values of the country I'm in.  These days there's a lot of pick up artist philosophy going around and I've met groups of guys here that are on some sort of boot camp to meet girls.  Rarely do any of them seem "happy" within themselves and there's a lot of B grade acting going around.  I guess that everyone acts to a degree, otherwise we'd probably not be able to function within a society, workplace, culture etc but there's a time and place and personally I've found that minimizing the bullshit, adhering to a life that means something to me regardless of all the chatter, well it not only makes life better but 9 times out of 10 I meet people who I can respect and receive respect in return.  My experience has been the same with dating.  They say that nice guys finish last but in my experience that's only guys that are pretending to be nice so that they can get something from someone else, which isn't very nice.  I'm nice to people for me, because it does me good.  Some people like my version of nice, some don't.  Variables.  It doesn't matter in the end though because I'm doing it for me.  The inevitability as has been shown to me through my life experience is that over the course of time I can't help but meet people who share commonality of values and we become genuine friends or have intimate relationships.  Just seems like natural law to me.  As for Burma and meeting and dating women, the same philosophy put into action.  Doesn't matter if its Burma or Brazil.  Sure, variables.  But time passes and inevitability comes.

Try the gourmet supermarket at Siam Paragon.  Last I was there they had a massive selection of 'Bob's Red Mill' products which should cover you for flax seeds (had other brands too.  They've got soy milk but if you're looking for non-dairy and non-soy options I'm pretty sure I saw some other forms of milk like oat and rice milk etc. 

The main problem that I saw coming up for people applying was that they forgot or didn't know that the Thai consulate in HCMC only accepts USD and I haven't found that to ever be negotiable.  So some people who had counted on picking up their visa the next day then flying out that night missed their window of opportunity and had to extend their stay in HCMC, meaning hotel in HCMC, flights, possibly hotels already booked in Thailand etc.

There are various money changers around but as far as I know none in walking distance to the consulate.  Personally I like to get it out of the way, exchange my money in Thailand put it in an envelope and have all my papers ready to hand over.  The HCMC consulate I've found to be fair but to strictly adhere to the rules.  If everything is in order then you should be fine.  I always go for a week or more just in case there are any issues.

23 minutes ago, aussienam said:

I understand doing it to help Aussies but States like QLD hitting their own people as well is screwed up and financially crippling Aussie absentee home owners there.  

Agreed.  Just put a ban in like NZ and leave Aussies be.  The beautiful thing is that given the laws of property ownership in the majority of countries these investors come from they can't exactly complain that they aren't being treated fairly.