Bruce Mangosteen

After my several posts earlier, I decided to book the Holiday Inn Express on Soi Buakhao. Lo and behold, they're running a special, 1077++/night. Solid savings over the LK, similar quality hotel.

Huh, didn't know that. https://www.agoda.com/about-agoda/weve-been-doing-what-we-do-since-2005/ The Agoda company was acquired by Booking Holdings [NASDAQ: BKNG] (previously The Priceline Group) back in 2007. We share the same parent company as other familiar names such as Booking.com, Priceline.com, Kayak.com, and Opentable.com. I haven't booked many rooms since I came back to the US to work ~7 years ago, so my experience with this sort of stuff is admittedly sparse and stale at this point. That will soon change... 😎

I remember reading somewhere that they don't just list available rooms and take a commission, they buy bulk blocks of rooms in advance and negotiate very low rates that way. Not sure if/which other booking services do this, but at least in my experience Agoda's prices are at the low end when comparing to other booking sites, and this might help explain it.

Maybe, or maybe it varies depending on how much discount is on offer at the desk. IIRC, the desk quoted me their best "rack" rate, then referred me to Agoda which had a cheaper price. I've only stayed there 3 or 4 times, every time booked with Agoda, but I've never had them suggest that I cancel an Agoda booking in favor of their better price. These sorts of disparate experiences are part of what makes Thailand so interesting. And annoying at times.

Sorry mate, 3 weeks too soon for me. See you at the end of the month though.

Cheers, I'll check it out mate.

OK, we're now just under a month until relocation to Thailand. We'll be based in Thailand, returning to the US for a month or so once a year while my mother is still on this side of the veil. We'll be looking for a condo to lease/rent a full year at a time. Soliciting suggestions on where to look. Desired specs: - Condo/apartment, not a house. - Location preference 1) Jomtien 2) Pratamnak 3) Pattaya - One bedroom (not a studio). - Rent ~12K - 20K/month. Year's advance OK if the landlord is trustworthy. - Sea views a big plus. - 4th floor or higher preferred (wife worried about floods). - Walk to beach 10 minutes or less if possible. - On premise gym preferred but not mandatory. Swimming pool also a plus. - Shops and bars: Ground floor of building optimum, short walk preferred. Prefer nothing requiring transportation. - Near baht bus route preferred (obviously this is at odds with most of Pratamnak but...). - Farang ownership a plus, if already acquainted or friend a big plus. We're in no rush, and have a dedicated place to stay in the Ayutthaya area. Please suggest specific buildings and even units if possible. Contact info for owners/landlords would be appreciated. Also, please reply if you've used an agency and have gotten a good result. I realize these will be a bit more expensive but if they're good they cut down on the hassle. Thanks in advance. See you soon!

Huh. What I described happened to me. Musta changed since then.

LOL! It's actually my Thai missus who is pushing for the LK Empress this time around because she likes it so much. A friend of mine stays at Sutus Court and recommended it, and after looking at the website I was willing to give it a try. We'll be there when you're there. Maybe we could have a couple of beers while the girlies argue the toss. Enjoy your stay, mate.

Best rates are gotten through Agoda in my experience. It's to the point where the staff recommends you book with Agoda while you're standing at the reception desk, then when the reservation hits their computer they give you the key to the room.

We've stayed at the LK Empress (corner Beach Rd. and Soi 12) several times in recent years and really liked it. Well-appointed rooms, friendly, helpful staff, unbeatable breakfast buffet, fantastic Indian menu for lunch and dinner, clean pool area and gym, adjacent to TQ, across the street from the beach. We're coming back to Thailand permanently next month, and are considering basing ourselves in the LK Empress for a month while we look for a condo.

I'd remove and reinstall the app; that shouldn't disturb the data in the wallet. Also try changing the password on another device; maybe before reinstalling the app on your phone. Based on general computer nerd experience, not specific experience with the Thai app.

Booked this at $1,500 r/t, all in.

Watching the NYC - BKK prices falling slowly but steadily. Can now be done in cattle class for under US$1K round trip. Interestingly, the best VFM in my opinion at this point is Singapore Airlines Premium Economy. These can be had for under US$1,700 on the date ranges I'm looking at. ~19 hours NYC - SIN, 1:10 layover in Singapore, then 2:30 to Bangkok. I did the now-defunct NYC - BKK nonstop, and for me it was survivable. YMMV.

I've recently been able to access the board from two devices without a VPN. Fingers crossed...

So far I'm increasingly convinced it's related to IP addresses. Things like this: ...and this: ...can be caused by the reassignment of dynamic IP addresses by the ISP.

I've seen some commentary around the board about folks having problems accessing the board. One commenter who is currently in Thailand has said that he can access the board from one ISP but not another. In my case, I've tried two ISPs, two devices, and two browsers on each device, but I have to go through a VPN on either to access the board. I'm currently in the US. This strikes me like the database of blacklisted IP addresses may need to be looked at. Anyone else having issues? It might be helpful to know how many are having issues and where they are.

Next to the weed shop in front of the LK Empress? Congrats on 20 years, been a fan if a quiet one.

Perhaps not unexpectedly, the article does seem to indicate that it applies to app-based ride-hailing services, but not regular taxi services or motorbike taxis. "The measures will apply to all ride-hailing platforms, not only Bolt. Other operators currently renewing licences (sic) can continue normal services during the adjustment period."

Dayum son! 8 years between posts! 😀

Interesting article on InDrive Thai here: https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2024/10/27/indrive-poised-growth-thailand-ride-hailing-market-for-2025/ The article mentions that InDrive was founded in 2012 in Siberia, and entered the Thai market in 2019 as noted above. Here's the list of countries they operate in: https://indrive.com/help/about-indrive/where-is-indrive-available Clearly the company has the resources to comply with the Thai rules, at least unless/until the Thais change them every 15 minutes.

IMHO the entire point of this exercise is that the taxi operators persuaded the government to kill ride-sharing services. But the government needed political cover, so they put in place a set of hurdles they calculated the ride-sharing services would never be able to clear, and that appears to have panned out. Don't get me wrong, I was a frequent user of Grab when it first appeared, and I'm a strong proponent of the so-called "gig economy". This just appears too much like a government put-up job designed to solve a political problem to me.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/bolt-licence-2193-legal-cases-dlt Thailand’s Department of Land Transport (DLT) announced yesterday, April 29, that it may refuse to renew Bolt’s licence after finding 2,193 legal cases linked to the ride-hailing platform since the start of the year. Department director-general Sorapong Paitoonpong issued the warning during a press conference on measures to regulate ride-hailing platforms. [...] Sorapong said offences had continued despite the government allowing drivers to enter the system under rules issued by the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) over the past three to four months. The Ministry of Transport is now preparing stricter enforcement, especially against platforms that fail to supervise drivers properly or comply with legal conditions. Bolt’s licence to operate app-based taxi services is due to expire on May 11. The DLT said that Bolt’s licence renewal in Thailand may not be approved if the company cannot show credible improvements in safety standards, transparency, and driver supervision. More at link.

On the bright (?) side, 40K gold necklaces are a lot harder to spot than they once were.

When I lived there it was in View Talay I. They have bars, restaurants and shops on the ground floor that open out onto the sidewalk, and water throwing is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. That worked out very well, because I could escape the water without becoming a hermit or a nomad, but go out in it if/when I wanted.