forcebwithu

A couple of pics from Central's sun deck.

Of the GC's I know Club Fate and M Club are non-smoking. @teelack, since we've already started to list the non-smoking places in this topic, suggest asking the mods to change the topic title to something along the lines of Non-Smoking Bars and Clubs.

Across from Nirun work is slowly progressing on what looks to be some type of market.

Speedboats as far as the eye can see. Never realized just how many there are.

They're putting in beach showers across from Soi 5. Didn't know they had beach games going on this weekend. They picked one of the hottest weekends of the year to host the games. I pity the competitors. The beach footpath destruction extends to Hard Rock.

Another question would be if that roll of conduit in the pic was supposed to be in the trench before they backfilled it.

I was shocked to see they're doing the trenching and underground electric work before they put the concrete in and new pavers on top. Thailand just keeps amazing me.

Almost ready to start on the 2nd floor of the new building next to Jo Massage on Soi Honey.

I was at King's Club for the b'day party last night. Great time as usual. Asked about the work being done and was told it will be a new privacy alcove like the one to the right as you enter the club.

I just returned to Thailand Saturday morning and yesterday I received the online system's automatic 2 week reminder for my next 90 day report. So even though my return on Saturday reset the 90 day reporting clock I decided to see how the system would handle an early report. Took all of about 30 seconds yesterday to complete the online form and received the approved email about an hour ago. This also answers the question if you have to report in person if entering Thailand using a re-entry permit.

That hat is quite the chick magnet.

Take more than a mess across the soi to get me to pull up stakes. I like where I'm living. Nice 2 story, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom detached house with a garden area. Rent is only 16k/month. Also, don't know if it's coincidence or the neighbor reads the forum, but they're out this evening cleaning up the debris.

Not in this case. Never seen a street cleaner on my soi or the surrounding soi's in the 10 years of living in the neighborhood. He has another pile of debris on the other side of his driveway that's been there for months.

Reason no. 2,675 why Pattaya has flooding problems. My neighbor trimmed their bushes and trees over a week ago and it looks like they're leaving the debris for the next rainstorm to clean up with the smaller bits ending up further clogging the drain system.

There's so much garbage in the storm water drains the smell from the stuff decaying is quite strong. Thus the reason they cover the drain gates. During heavy flooding, more than likely those same drains turn into mini-fountains as the rush of water from uphill overwhelms the drain system downstream. Here's a pic I took of the fountaining on Beach Rd back in Aug 2021.

Seeing this I'm tempted to upgrade my ink jet printer.

@monkeyman, do you take reader submissions? If yes, please feel free to use any pics I post. No attribution required. Just happy to help you out with material for your monthly Monkeywatch.

Thought I heard differently on having to go in person after coming back on a reentry permit. I'll get to test that out in 90 days after my return on 12 May. I'll report back on my experience.

Rebar for support columns going in on the vacant plot next to Jo Massage on Soi Honey.

Don't know the answer to the bank letter question. 10,600 + 1,900 for the extension, so 12,500 all in which includes the dodgy deposit and "bank letter". What others have reported is if you have the 800k on deposit, the agent fee drops to 8,000. That puts the rental fee for 800k for 2 minutes at 2250B/minute.

In your example of the guy that can hardly walk, having the 800K on deposit would not alleviate him from going to the bank for the deposit letter. It's actually another checkmark in the positive column for using an agent. Of course in the negative column would be the risk of getting pulled up for not having the funds on deposit. The most likely scenario for that happening is if the person was doing something else that was frowned upon here. Not meeting the conditions of the extension to stay would be just one more thing they could throw at the guy as an excuse to kick him out of the country. As there are quite a few ex-pats using agents, I expect the most likely scenario if using an agent should become frowned upon is they would announce it in advance. If that were to happen people could decide for themselves if moving a chunk of money over that you can't touch is worth continuing to stay in Thailand. That's where the cost of locking up funds you can't use comes into the equation. Using a conservative estimate of a 4% return, the 800K can earn 32K. More than enough to cover the agent's fee of 10,600. This is a good discussion to have for those new to the visa/extension to stay game as it's gives them different viewpoints and options to consider when they decide which path is best for them.

Apologies if I misread, misunderstood what you wrote. But in the first sentence you used the word "irritated".

Why be irritated by what others do that has no impact on what you do? I also think you're making an incorrection assumption that those going the agent route have inadequate finances. While probably true for some, my take is the majority going the agent route have more than adequate finances for funding their retirement here. They choose to use an agent as a matter of convenience and because it makes good financial sense not to tie up money that could be earning a better return elsewhere.

Like you I won't tie up 800K in a Thai bank earning next to nothing. I've also made the decision to skip the 65K/month route as I'd rather leave myself the opportunity to move chunks of money over when the exchange rate is favorable. That decision worked out well as I was able to catch the nice bump up in the exchange rate towards the end of last year.

Surprised they didn't design the new parking area for angle parking. Probably fit at least twice as many cars into the same space.