jaizan

Well, I credited my True account with a few hundred baht. A text message comes through: "You have got free Net, 1 GB for 30 days package. To redeem the package .........etc". Are there any snags with these "free" packages ? For instance woefully slow download speeds, auto renewal with fees or whatever ? I'm tempted to use that until the 1 GB is nearly gone. Then buy a proper package. A few days of that would be quite convenient.

Later in the day after the e-mail I referred to above, the visa came through. I suspect that's more than a coincidence.

They are also more expensive than in the UK. Gyms in the UK can be had for as little as £15~18 per month and everything will work. The last gym I visited in Pattaya charged 1000 per month. Almost nothing worked. The exercise bike had a computer that would reset the moment you stopped pedalling, the showers didn't work and everything else was in a poor state. Naturally I only paid to check it out for one day, not the month. Low cost gym chains are doing well in the UK and the rest of Europe. With lower labour and overhead costs, where is the professional Thai low cost chain ?

That worked. The reply says "Thank you for your email. We apologise for the delays. Your documents are currently under review. Due to an unprecedented volume of applications, the process has taken longer than usual. We would like to ask for your patience during this time. We have taken note of your concern and will raise this with the Approval Team, although we cannot confirm when you will receive your visa outcome." I presume that's a standard e-mail, as their website actually says the document review is complete. Also, where would the "unprecedented volume of applications" be from ? Visitor numbers to Thailand in 2025 are down. They're hardly encouraging tourism by sitting on visa applications for weeks.

Thank you. I e-mailed the embassy in London & got: "Your message couldn't be delivered to [email protected]. Their inbox is full, or it's getting too much mail right now". No surprise that their inbox is full, if they are not processing visas in a reasonable timescale. I am trying another e-mail address.

I applied for a 90 day single entry visa on 14 October, online. The documents were approved at least two weeks ago, but the visa is STILL not approved. I'm travelling in under 2 weeks. What is normal for a processing time these days ? Should I expect them to pull their finger out and actually approve it before my declared travel date ?

There were several SIM card sales booths at the Airport, when I last visited in 2024. I purchased a SIM there, for convenience. Unfortunately, despite handing over my passport when buying it, I noticed the SIM had been registered in someone else's name. I went into the Metfone office next day to fix that. The Metfone office had limited hours, including a long lunch break.

The average 70 year old male lives to 86 & has a 1 in 4 chance of living to 92 (UK data). Buying an apartment and dropping dead shortly afterwards doesn't give the greatest return on investment. However, buying somewhere could help the money last if you live longer than average.

I would like to make a one off payment to someone I know in Cambodia. Approx $150. That person doesn't have a bank account. Does anyone have experience of using services like Remitly or Western Union for this ? What are the pitfalls or hidden snags ? What alternative is recommended ?

The forum is full of such nonsense these days. Therefore, I visit the site very rarely

I'd have nothing to say if they simply increased prices. If the market is strong enough, that makes sense.

I've always been here at roughly the same time of year, so I don't think so. The main change is the person in charge.

The daily rate is 43% higher. Continuous occupancy means there are fewer voids and they also clean the rooms less frequently. So they offer a lower monthly rate. These principles are the same if they apply for one month or 1.5 months. From my perspective, the place is competitive if I stay for exactly 1 month, or 2 months. However, if I'm staying for 1.5 months, it now makes sense to move to somewhere with a sensible daily or weekly rate after a month.

I've stayed in the same place for years. If I stay for 1.2 months, for example, they always pro-rata'd the rent, so I paid 1.2x the montly rate. This time, there's a new guy in charge. I showed up and they insisted I paid the monthly rate for the full month and the higher daily rate for the remainder. I protested. I considered going elsewhere for the last few days, but decided it's a bad time of year for that. I come back to Pattaya soon, for 1.5 months. I decided to look for alternative accommodation, for obvious reasons. Two of the alternative places I spoke to applied the same irrational rent calculation. It seems their pricing favours longer lets, but only in units of precisely one month duration I was all set to book another place for 1.5 months, but due to their inability to be sensible with room rate calculations, I have booked for a month. I'll just have to move to somewhere with a sensible daily or weekly rate after that. If every customer does this, eventually they might see sense.

Now that is tempting. Both in terms of price & sticking it to our current & previous governments, for over taxing people flying from British airports. The part I don't like is being liable for any delays or cancellations in getting to Amsterdam. So I would probably end up building in a silly safety margin.