KhunBENQ

Was open and busy on Jan 6th around 4 PM when I passed there. Seems they also serve walk ins: (nice but surprising they have any English language signs)

"Drowning in Pattaya", "Jomtien Beach lifeguards", "Soi 13’s entrance in the Banglamung district" No I am not confused. So let's assume it's opposite Pattaya beach rd corner of Soi 13.

I had a similar problem with my German account. New phone, "all easy" they say. We send an SMS to your registered phone number (my Thai number). Never worked, not received. Basically locked out. Fortunately they sent snail mail with code to a c/o that I have in Germany. So only about one week locked out. Snail mail from Germany to here is unpredictable (currently on strike e.g.).

DL is not part of the joy living in Pattaya ???? My recent 5yr/5yr extension started at 11:30 at the doctor, 12:00 walked in at the office no appointment, 13:00 tests, about 15:00 having new license. (I don't need res.cert., have yellow book/pink card which is accepted here in contrast to Pattaya?)

Of course it's better to have multiple accounts in Thailand (if you manage to get). Cost for savings accounts are bearable (some xxx Baht per year, 200 to 800 or so). I have Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn and SCB. Always better to have a backup. Sometimes I feel unwell when thinking about loosing my mobile. Three Thai accounts, one German account and a WISE account. What a hassle to re register for a new phone and how long will it take (getting new phone and SIM replacement same number). (yes, less complicated for the Thai accounts) Good to know that German creditcard and three ATM cards are in stock.

Good you found it yourself. Did some serious search to no avail

Walking outside of course not. In the neighborhood nothing. When driving on 2 or 4 wheels I have copies and pink card, driving license. Also have a sheet with personal data/address and contacts/phone numbers of wife and daughter. All in Thai. When doing overnight/multi day trips/ hotel stay I have passport with me and lock it away after arrival.

To be correct. Prices with Thaismile in April for KBV to BKK (Suvarnabhumi) are 1600 to 4080 (April 14th / 15th). April 8th is 3430. (final prices incl baggage)

Generally domestic flight prices have risen like in the rest of the world. My next trip to Pattaya will be by car after all the cheap flights during COVID. And as above: Sat 8th April is already part of the Songkran price hike. I checked Thaismile during April and it ranges from about 1500 to 4300! at peak Songkran dates.

From another picture in the Thai article it looks like the pickup driver passed a solid lane to overtake trucks in the second lane.

How did Somchai make it to 71 years? I doubt that Somchai raced like mad on his Honda Wave 110 ccm. Tell me prejudiced but 27yr old driver, pickup with flatbed shiny rims? "claimed that he was driving normally" what he considers normally? The Thai article says the right lane where the pickup drove was for U-turn?

Died 2012? No, it's Chalerm Yoovidhya. And WiKi claims 20 billion USD? All numbers reflect single persons while they usually form big families worth much more. Just distributed among heirs. The "CP family" Chearavanont (7/11, True, Makro, Lotus's, CPF, Chinese car brands etc.etc.) is surely more then 30 billion USD.

My primary SIM is AIS. Second one DTAC for internet on the road. And DTAC almost everywhere has lower signal strength than AIS. Short outages during trips up here to Khon Kaen and Udon with DTAC. I am quite certain that AIS still has better coverage.

Wonderful. How I missed that: early morning, coach stopping on beach rd. Chinese in bath suites/speedos, flip flops and towel crossing the road (full stop, closed group not care for traffic coming), having a dip and then back to bus for next attraction.

If you want to go by bus, at least look for a company that has a fairly good reputation: Nakhonchai Air They have buses from their Bangkok terminal to Nong Khai. Gold Class (VIP) 32 10.15 20.14 First Class 30 19.50 05.30 Gold Class (VIP) 32 20.30 05.27 30/32 is the number of seats. No swaying double deckers. https://www.nakhonchaiair.com/view/busroute-กรุงเทพฯ-13-หนองคาย 600 to 800 Baht. Their terminal in Pattaya is here: https://goo.gl/maps/xJYqjTxxr31DFYhHA I haven't checked but quite sure you can also go from Pattaya to Bangkok with them. Go to their terminal and ask. From Nong Khai after Thai immigration there is a 20 or 30 Baht bus over the bridge. On the Laos side there are taxis (or minibuses as far as I know) after Laos immigration. Short ride.

You can try to open an account with them. The agricultural bank (BAAC) up here? No thanks, branch often completely crowded, mass gatherings waiting under gazebos on the premises. And branch network probably quite thin nationwide?

Some of my comments are simply based on local observations. But what can I think if Bangkok Bank withdraws from shopping centers, biggest bank and no ATM, no micro branch at the mall? All ATMs in the region shabby old aged. Often defunct. At the same time SCB fancy modern machines.

I doubt that the garantuee is worth a penny if one of the big 5 (6) private banks goes bankrupt. Bangkok Bank Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) KrungThai Kasikornbank ("K-bank, Thai Farmers Bank") Bank of Ayudhya ("Krungsri") ttb (merger of TMB + Thanachart) Bangkok Bank, the biggest (the "Chinese"). Currently shrinking their network and employee base heavily. SCB is "Royal". KrungThai is THE "state" bank, bank teller of the Revenue Department, paying all government employees, paying "old age" pensions etc. etc. Not very foreigner friendly from what I read. Often very crowded branches. Kasikorn, very modern, "fancy". Also heavy shrinking expenses for branch network, employees, ATMs etc. ttb former TMB, M for military. I don't how much military they are. Seem modern but don't know how foreigner friendly they are. E.g. in Khon Kaen they post on the door "no currency exchange", kind of exceptional. I have accounts with Bangkok Bank, SCB and Kasikorn. No problems worth mentioning except broken machines, the antiquated bank book system.

Do you have 220 V supply in Mexico? 110 V, 4 5 kW is roughly 40 A! You must have serious cabling there. Is the electricity net (state monopoly?) generally reliable and able to supply the needed power? We have a 4.5 kW, 220 V here and with the fairly cool temperatures it's fighting to get warm water not to say hot. Do you have morning temperatures of 14 C? With "Pattaya climate" I would assume 4.5 kW is good enough for a normal shower head. If you need it turbo strong massage shower maybe not.

Always wondered why there is so little to find for Phuket live cams while for Samui there are excellent cams which I never experienced down. (rough weather/surf there now ????).

Slight technical problem ,????

Showing the speed of 114 is not the smartest move. 24 over the limit in the night on unlit road. Totally careless. There are countries where you would be heavily penalized just for that. And killing a pedestrian from this negligence would bring you to prison.

You have opened two threads now and I am confused. Other thread says "visa run". But your question seems about domestic flights Udon Thani -> Don Mueang -> Surat Thani with a one hour layover at Don Mueang?

Don't know whether AirAsia is better but my experiences with Thaismile lst year were bad. Two examples: Flight reschedule announced three hours before departure. Delay of more than 2 hours in the afternoon. It has never been that bad during COVID. And one hour from domestic to international with immigration checkpoint? I would not risk it. On the other hand: didn't find any delayed arrival of AirAsia at Don Mueang today(!). Where you come from, where you go to?