turgid

I've written to several bike stores visited a few like decathlon and world of bikes  and checked Lazada Shoppee etc and they've all said hell no, and hell no to ordering. 

So can anyone suggest a thai cycling site or store that might offer " western size "  XL cycling helmets for me and my apparently massive 64cm  head? 

My only option at the moment seems to be Amazon where the cost of shipping and no doubt duties will be more than the cost of the helmet. 

There are apparently no standards at all for S,M,L, XL but I mean the Amazon definition of XL  below.  They also sell XXL but couldnt find a definition.

Amazon Sizing                                      
Small          51-57                                                     
Medium     54-60                                                             
Large         58-63                                                              
X-Large     60-66

XXL             Brain the size of a planet 

Typical Lazada sizing -

Any colour or design you want - One size definitely fits all ! or

S:  52-56 cm

M: 55 - 57 cm

L: 57 - 59 cm 

XL: 59 - 62 cm.

15 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Unfortunately, Amazon US won't ship Logitech products to Thailland. 

I have had full size  Logitech MXKeys,  MXMechanical , and now an MXKeys S  - all purchased on Lazada and shipped from China with US Keyboard Layouts. While they are cheaper in the US the shipping costs would have been more than the keyboard from the US.  Typically arrived in 7-10 days - no problems.

I dont recommend the MXMechanical because the backlighting control is a mess and despite me being temporarily seduced by the current fashion for "real" clicking keyswitches it was noisy and less easy to type on. 

Both the MxKeys and MxKeys S are fine but dont order the MX Keys S in Silver/Grey (I did!)  because while it looks great, the contrast on the keys isnt good,  and under weird lighting the back light erases the characters.

If you are using Bluetooth any of them are fine but beware of Bolt which is Logitechs new "secure" dongle on the MX Mechanical and MXKeys S and newer  high end mice.   The new keyboards and mice are not compatible with Logitechs  old dongle, and the older keyboards and mice  wont work with the new dongle.  Logitech  dont seem to have enough confidence in Bolt to offer a USB C version and devices connected via Bolt cant check their firmware through it so it doesnt seem to be well supported yet if ever.  I use Bolt because  I have a standing desk and an aging PC  where Bluetooth stutters when its up in the air.  Bolt works OK  but so did the old dongle and I dont feel anymore secure.       

This week while driving to Rayong the headling in my Nissan XTrail has peeled and dropped on both sides of the windscreen. I had it cleaned at a MegaBangna Car Wash on Monday   and I suspect one of the cleaning materials  for either the lining or the windscreen screen along with the heat has dissolved the adhesive.  Despite both sides dropping at the same time they deny this is possible.  

Can anyone suggest a decent place where I can get this replaced in Eastern Bangkok, Bang Na, Samut Prakan Area -  or what the Thai search term for "car headlining replacement" would be?   I did a search on the forum but the last post on the subject is 2017.

I've been renting the same place for 6 years in Samut Prakan. In 90 day reporting twice been asked for the rental agreement, once they called the owner to confirm I actually live there. Last 90 day report they looped out loudly and at some length about me not showing a TM30 and that it's always been required. After negotiation my address notification form has now been stamped with "must show TM30" at the start of April

What exactly do I need to show? Is it a screen print or is there an actual report that needs to be printed.   My owner is friendly but not tech savvy.

Transponder TV rebroadcast all UK Freeview channels. Watched England Iran on BBC in HD last night. They have a few different plans but I think i'm paying about 500 Baht  (£12) a month. They have a 3 day free trial. No connection to the company but have used for a couple of years.  Occasionally glitches but usually OK.

Did a search and apparently the word Decaf does not appear across the Asean Now forums - so let the snowflake pile on begin. Yes you can get in Tops and Villa. 

I go out for breakfast most days.  I've been trying to order decaf coffee recently. Local coffee shops and chains  and "Asian" chains dont appear to carry it.

Of the chains (in Bangkok and suburbs)  Starbucks and Paul do carry it, Coffee Academics, Black Canyon, Amazon and Au Bon Pain dont.

It was quite entertaining to have breakfast in Coffee Academics Mega BangNa 4  times over the last month and be told  "Decaf finished today".  They offer it on what i assume is the franchise approved menu, but clearly have no intention to sell it.

The overhead is carrying one more bag of coffee.   Curious to  know what the reasoning is. Given the endless Thai coffee shops on every street that sell an identical coffee and cake selection are they all buying from the same "boss" who cant or wont get it made in Thailand ?.   

I visited Samut Prakan to do my 90 day reporting today (very fast and efficient). I asked about the insurance requirement  for my O-A extension which expires next month. I said I understood  from the internet it had changed from October 1st 2022. Information gave me a printed set of requirements from 2020 which included no insurance at all. When i pushed a bit they then got someone on the phone who said I needed to speak to an immigration officer which was arranged. 

After consulting with several people the immigration officer said the requirement is the same as last year - 40/400 and they have received no instruction to change it.    Pretty sure it will filter through eventually but presumably if you went in today they would process you based on 40/400.

It's not in the letter but according to another thread on here (can't find it at the moment) the Phuket office were saying that insurance will not be required for extension of stay if the related O-A visa was issued before 2017.

1: Was that / Is that still true?

If  true for Phuket

2: Does it apply to all O-A visas or just those lucky enough to live in Phuket?

If true for every immigration office 

3: Is there an official reference that I can show for an extension in Samut Prakan?

On 9/3/2022 at 12:18 PM, josephbloggs said:

I've just done the M-Flow registration.  It's not that hard.  Personal details, car details (make, model, colour), then a selfie of you with your ID (or passport if foreigner), a picture of your car registration, pictures of your car (front, side, back), and credit card details.  They deduct one baht from your credit card to check then you're good to go.  I assume fees for using M-Flow will just go on my credit card.

Theres an Easy Pass App if you care enough and want to see the charges. They will go on your credit card (in my case debit card) but they get batched up overnight  as "EDC/Ecommerce" on my statement . The app tells you the fee, date, time ,car number and toll gate (in Thai).  I've had zero problems on the payements side but some charges came several days  late presumably because the camera had a misread and they had to process them manually. 

On 9/1/2022 at 12:43 PM, JetsetBkk said:

– If the Non-OA visa from your home country is issued In or BEFORE 2017 then the health insurance is NOT required for your extension.

 

 

Is there any official source for that statement ? It seems highly unlikely but i'd like it to be true.

The West bring words,  the Chinese bring money and execution. The media pontificate over the words making us think they are more important than they are.   The business leaders and the politicians hear the money and see the Chinese getting stuff done. There is also the general problem that Western politics (and associated justice and investment systems)  can pendulum every 4 years so a lot of the time it's just wait it  out  and what you want will come around.  Imagine trying to build a pan  Asian transport network with Obama, Trump, Biden  (or even getting a high speed railway built from LA to San Francisco, or London to Manchester) .  The Chinese are much better at the long game than the Americans and strategic decision making and investment  is much easier if you consistently have the same mates in power.

 Apart from lending, charging on transactions is what banks and the stock market make money from. Any money moving anywhere they want a taste. Market volatility is what they like as it generates more  transactions. They prefer high value transactions to low value transactions and high volumes to low volumes because they make more money in fees but ten BMWs or a million household electricity bills they dont care.

They don't invest in Bitcoin. That's gambling. They see crypto transactions taking place and they want a piece of it. They have no moral position on it anymore than they would if you legally used a credit card in a casino or a brothel. 

Bitcoin is a limited edition set of character strings with a very expensive to run and maintain infrastructure churning the new character strings out.  Release the character strings slowly, dip them in Blockchain, claim Utopia will be using Bitcoin as currency and you can get in on the floor. You have magic. The best money is always in the magical future not the pragmatic present.

Utopia wont be using Bitcoin. The only people using Bitcoin for serious transactions are crypto evangelists and criminals. For everyone else it's too volatile, too slow, too hard and too expensive.  Most bitcoin owners have never bought or sold anything with Bitcoin except currency. Regardless a portion of the population still seems to share the view that the Bitcoin character strings will increase in value forever just because they are limited edition.

The individual character sets are limited edition but the number of potential character sets is infinite. We laugh at people who bought into Dutch tulips or the exotic land of Poyais. 

The reality is you are trading in lottery tickets that have no expiry date and no prize and need an expensive unregulated system to track and look after them.  And the number of potential new lotteries is infinite. 

That model runs out of buyers or implodes at some point. 

But if you still believe I have a password locked  spreadsheet with twenty one million  unique character strings in it that could potentially be used as a future currency for the Galaxy. You can get in on the ground floor.........

On 12/4/2021 at 4:20 PM, ezzra said:

Experts are now narrowing the gap between the last shot to a booster, you'd be safe to take it in 3 months after the last shot, i got my 2 AZ in Oz 6 months ago and got my moderna booster last week and i'm planning to wait 3 months to take my 2nd moderna booster at the Samitivej hospital,,,

Can i ask what the logistics were for that? I got my two Az in the UK before coming back in July and while I intend to visit the UK again in H1 next year i'm expecting sooner rather than later we're going to need booster proof to get on a plane. How do i get a booster in Thailand? My local hospitals said no stock currently. Also how do you get verifiable paperwork that will work for border crossings as no immigration system globally trusts any other countries paperwork.?.

If they follow the Singapore model locals will have to pay $100 per visit tax to enter ( justification: how will locals be able network if they cant join their foreign guests). Then there will be an annual pass for $2500 with a few perks like comped rooms for the sophisticated experienced HiSos. 

And that's how my Singapore ex GF mother went through a $3M inherited house and the family old world investments in 36 months.  

13 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

On O-A Visa Extensions, so have the LMG useless 11,400 baht insurance. Am sending out inquiries with a total background information. Got a bid back yesterday at $2100 USD per month. My monthly retirement budget here in Thailand is $2400 uSD … right. I’ll get right on that.

I dont know your circumstances but I just looked at https://longstay.tgia.org/ 

and saw an OA Falcon  policy for 22-30K baht per year for 60-70 year old. They have 8K Baht per day deductible and maximum 50K per incident (i'm not joking)  but if all you need is the certificate that's probably the way to go. 

On 11/6/2021 at 8:35 AM, Sydebolle said:

Assuming that your blue book is the Motor Vehicle Registration, you do not need to worry. The passport number is irrelevant

You need to enter current passport number on the Mflow application. If it doesn't match the registration passport the application fails . You can of course enter the old passport number but that wont match the photo,so scan the old passport. But for 55 Baht.........

My guess is this is going the way of ANPR in the UK - the cameras wont just be checking tolls. 

https://www.npcc.police.uk/FreedomofInformation/ANPR.aspx

I can confirm that once I updated the passport number in the Bluebook (and computer) for 55 Baht  the Mflow application worked fine. They had some initial problems with accepting a Kweb card for payment but that got fixed.

Still waiting to see a gate with Mflow active.

This is layer upon layer of processing.

If you were vaccinated overseas you had to prove it to enter the country. If you were vaccinated locally they registered it.

Both events are in a computer somewhere that immigration could look at. Why add layers to that?

55 Baht

10 mins in the queue

Passport + copy + copy of visa

Blue book

Sign a form in Thai.

Took about 90 mins processing time  at Samut Prakan but he was kind enough to tell me to clear off for an hour and come back later so I didnt have to sit around. 

Hand written in the Blue Book with a Stamp and signature.

I assume the computer record has been updated.

Anyone changed a passport number in a bluebook? Process ? Fees?

I was invited to apply for MFlow yesterday. It failed  because my passport number doesnt match the vehicle registration and hasn't for four years. It's never been picked up on annual tax , insurance renewal or border crossings.

For the application I have to take a selfie with my passport. I probably could photo the new passport and enter the old passport number but I can see some entrepreneurial policeman or border official using this fact to tax me in the future.

Having looked at this again - While I agree it isn't mandatory  I'd suggest if you are applying for your OA extension and you plan to travel outside the country in the near future you might as well just start the US$50K insurance now.  

The new entry requirement for foreigners seems to be $50K for all health issues for the duration of your visa (not just Covid) so you wont be able to top up the basic OA 40K Baht plan with a Covid only  plan as before. 

I'm writing to insurer to see if they will allow a top up to the basic 40K Bath plan to meet the new requirement if I travel but i'm not holding my breath.