jacko

It is cold and wet in miserable Manchester! Coincidentally I too will be heading over to the airport later today, as I have booked a car from there....... (don't like to drive myself when I land from Thailand), and I will return it next week, as I fly from there out of the UK, and out of the EU, but I don't need my passport. Where might that be......answers on a postcard to ....? Off to the North East UK tomorrow..... great people there, but always 3 degrees colder! I will head to the airport on the train, too cheap to pay for a taxi, anyhow, not in a hurry, no plane to catch!.

So you do have a storage tank MM. (And the same pump as me) Used to be 100 baht to fill at my old place. How long do you think that fill up will last you? I find Thais are pretty wasteful of water, caught my Mrs watering the garden when the water was off, and apparently 1 toilet visit can require up to 3 flushings!!! And don't get me started on how long she is in the shower...... If you have 'relatives' hanging around, well need I say any more. At least I can see the pictures now!!!

Are you getting money on the card inside the bank then, as I would expect an 180 baht charge? Reason I ask is I heard many banks were telling customers to go use the ATM.

Yeah, I will be visiting a pal in South Shields soon and there you see that and lads in short sleeved shirts (no jacket).... I feel like a prat in my Barbour all zipped up. Wasted trip so far feeling shite with shivers and sweats.

Martin Sheen

I always thought you did quite well in the City, my water seems to go off a few times a week. Fortunately I have a storage tank and it has never impacted me. As stated, I would bet the water never goes off at the Soapy places.

Yes, 4-5 miscreants every round of lights, or fewer if there are not enough police. I have seen a solitary one and 3-4. I guess it happens while that spot is shaded.

You got the balmy gulf stream! Actually it was cool but clear and sunny when I landed, and the first day quite mild. but it got windy and cooler. Plus I seem to have picked up a cold or flu, ache everywhere. Think I picked it up visiting a pal at the hospital... contagious places hospitals, last place you should be going when sick! Only dick heads wear shorts where I come from! They are hardier around Newcastle where jackets are unheard of!

James Badge Dale

I am freezing my ass off in the UK. Global warming, what a load of bollocks.

Didn't the forum software used to automatically resize pictures? Anyhow, panic in the morning, snake spotted in the garden... she is terrified of them. Of course nowhere to be seen when I get out there... plenty of places to hide. Now she worries who will catch them while I am away. (Not that I catch that many of them, faster and more flexible than I am.)

Every Sunday morning at about 10am there has been a policemen just after Thips pulling over those turning left on red off Klang onto 3rd. He pulled over the guy who rode the red straight across on 3rd too which gave me some glee.

I decided that it was time to replace the front tyre on my bike.... a slight skid the other day helped me decide. So they just fitted the new one at the shop nearby to me, and had inflated it, rock hard like they do here. So I play the smart-ass know all falang and go under my seat and produce a tyre pressure gauge and proceed to check it.... it blew the device into about 6 pieces. Yep... too high I declared, lucky to still have 2 eyes.

Yes many do, see the Darling Massage thread? I wonder how that happened?

Is that not Soi 17?

There has been a bit of fuss over a new sign which I believe is at the end of the motorway informing us to turn left for 'Pattaya Kiang'... I was always amused that entering same highway from the Railway Line Bypass Rd you are met with a plethora of large signs telling you the rules and regulations, speed limits etc, yet it comes to a dead end in 200m. But my favourite was the sign at a Soi Honey Inn MP 'Room For Rent, Free Wife'......(WIFI) It is an insight into Thai Psyche that they will spend good money on a large Thai/English sign and yet make a complete balls-up of the English side of it, errors that a simple dictionary could have prevented. It makes the place such 'fun'.

Easy day today..... ride to Jomtiem to sign some paperwork at my lawyers office. Was heading south up Sukhumvit on the bike and couldn't get across to the right to turn down soi Watboon. Bloody traffic. Stopped for a haircut on Soi Siam CC on the way back... the guy in the other chair was talking at near shouting level to the young barber who just chucked in the odd 'krap'.... to be polite. Then the guy stumped me by talking to me in pretty good English, although he was a bit nosey. Changed to the truck and went to buy beer. Watched UK election results coming in for a bit. Cooler and cloudy now..... I felt like I had been in a sauna when I arrived in Jomtiem earlier.

For the £, SCB TT rate is up to 51.25 this morning.... in the middle of election results which show Labour being dumped in Scotland in preference for SNP. The 33.3+ Baht/US$ is a trigger level for me as it is a number I always remember from years ago. As to the question above... you can look at how the rates move around during the days on the SCB site, , some days there are over a dozen updates. Rates seem to get kicked around by the releases of various economic results and data.

The market stalls along Beach Rd still happen for special events... they widened Beach Rd to 3 lanes to accommodate them. Bit of a nuisance really but actually popular with tourists. The new place, I think is called Night Market or Night Bazaar... there is also Made in Thailand on 2nd Rd. If you want market shopping personally I think the Soi Bua Khao market at the Tai end beats them, or the Weekend one on Threppasit, near the Sukhumvit end. Plenty of markets and shopping in Pattaya.... rumour has that is all there will be in a decade!

A possible shift our way.....? CNBC Thailand takes a hammer to the baht.

Mine arrive already peeled......... The durian I bought was very tasty, sweeter than the cheaper variety. But considering how much it cost not much flesh in it.

Monday is always a night in and cook at home for me. Never did rain after threatening all day and a hot sticky start. Trouble is with this weather I am always gagging for a cold one by 5pm and the first one doesn't touch the sides. Had to keep fishing the daft turtle out of the pool......... she is 'in season' I guess. Put the UK world championship snooker on my computer and watched that until bed-time.