forcebwithu

The tangled mess of wires on the the Max Central/M Club soi is getting a cleanup. Good thing too as this section of the soi and the next frequently have loose wires hanging down. I've clipped off a few over the years that were dangerously low for those on two wheels.

Now official. Monday is when the 11pm closure comes into effect.

The bike path around Mabprachan Reservoir is still in great shape, but poor engineering on one section has led to this... Bicycle riders complain about what they call a dangerous portion of a Walking-Running-Cycling Trail in Banglamung

Good see Kung continues to do well and has moved once again into a larger location. Opening of Kung’s new larger restaurant in Pattaya: A small business success story during hard times

I've not seen any news reports on when the 11pm closing time becomes official, but word on the soi is Monday.

Also posted on another forum they missed placing an "s" at the end of the word "Monday".

Sounds like you encountered one of the police wannabe/volunteers high on imagined power. I encountered one last year when they had the barriers set up along the railway road separating Pattaya into green and red zones. I was on the Pattaya side and some police wannabe, in civvies, saw me taking pictures and started demanding I lift my bicycle over the barrier into the red zone. Told her no way was I going to do that as I live in Pattaya in the green zone not far away. Got back on my bike and rode away to her angry shouts for me to stop. Worse than parking attendants with a whistle. I was at Defactos on Soi Pothole last night until closing time. The owner usually makes a last call at 8:45, but he lost track of the time talking to us. Pointed out it was getting on 8:55 and he did an "oh shit" and started hustling the staff to get customers to pay up. With the exception of the cashier light the place went dark promptly at 9. I left about 10 minutes later and noticed the BIB starting to make their way up the soi. I'll be happy when this 9pm closing nonsense ends.

A big improvement in the air quality this morning after a front moved through that kicked off an intense storm that dumped a lot of rain for about 45 minutes in the wee hours of the morning. Enough rain fell in those 45 minutes to fill my empty, 1000L rain collection tank.

Couple of snaps of the air quality from my ride this morning around 11. Looking south on Sukhumvit towards Pattaya Tai. View looking towards Jomtien from the Wat at the top of Khao Talo and Khao Noi. View of central Pattaya. I then teleported to the other side of the building on the right side of the above pic. Air quality has improved since 11. source: https://www.iqair.com/thailand/chon-buri/pattaya

About half of inspected vehicles are polluters Officials ordered 234,176 commercial vehicles - lorries, trailer trucks, buses and pickups - to pull over for exhaust fume checks last year, and 114,888 of them, or 49%, were over the limit, director-general Atthapol Charoenchansa said in a statement issued on Monday. Private cars, motorcycles and other vehicles registered for private use fared little better, with 48% of 123,640 vehicles inspected by the department found to be polluting the streets. ... Violators face fines and the vehicles can be ordered off the road until the engine is brought up to standard. ^^^ Too bad the article doesn't state how many were ordered off the road. Given this has been an ongoing problem my guess is the number approaches nil.

$5 fee only applies to ACH transfers. source: https://www.bangkokbank.com/en/Personal/Other-Services/Transfers/Transferring-Into-Thailand/Transfer-money-from-US-to-Thailand-via-Bangkok-Bank-NewYork-branch

The requirement for a non-ATM account, plus a personal visit to bank every time you want to use your Soc Sec money was the reason I elected to have my Soc Sec deposited in my US bank account.

It was getting close to the time I needed to transfer more funds over, so initiated a SWIFT transfer from Schwab to Bangkok Bank yesterday. Funds just hit my account, and after backing out the 500B receiving fee the rate I got was 33.17. I check the rate I get against the rate quoted on Xe and usually I loose about 0.15, but for some reason on this transfer there was no loss. On the send side though Schwab charged me a $15 wire transfer fee and an "other fee" of $18.82 when in the past there have been no fees. I've sent a message off to Schwab asking for explanation on the fees. I would recommend a follow up call with Bangkok Bank for the reason why you received such a low exchange rate.

Spotted this RV trailer on the railway road on this morning's ride.

With all the particulate matter in the air it makes for colorful sunrises and sunsets.

Today is not off to a good start AQI wise. Didn't realize my home PM2.5 detector flashes red when the number goes over 114, that's a first since I bought it last year. Temperature wise today should be a beautiful day, but unfortunately I'm going to have to close the window and door to my home office and turn on the A/C so my air purifier can do its thing.

Posted on another forum was a picture of PBG with the shutters half up and workers on site. No info on what they were doing, but hoping they're the cleaning crew getting the place ready to reopen.

@sailingbill gives a good summary in his post. Manareet is who I've been using for several years now, ever since the US Embassy stopped issuing Income Affidavits. Different this year is I had to go to the bank with a letter from the agent to have my passbook "updated". Years prior they handled it so the only trip other than dropping and picking up my passport from the agent was a quick trip to immigration so they could take my photo as proof I really existed. No waiting in line for that. Straight to desk 8 for the quick photo.

From the Thai POV you're here on a retirement extension which implies not working. So they want proof that you have adequate funds in Thailand to support living here. Where it does get silly though is the restrictions on going the 800k route. For five months your bank balance can't fall below 800k, and then for the remaining seven months they graciously allow you spend up to 400k of that money. What do they expect the person to live on if they can't spend the money in the bank over the course of the year. For the price of 12,500B I use an agent to avoid the nonsense of dealing with immigration. And by using an agent I can transfer what I need to live on when I want, which is about every 3 to 4 months. I'm also able to leave the 800k safely parked and invested in the US which earns enough to more than cover the agent's fee.

A beautiful time of year temperature wise, too bad we'll soon be needing respirators to enjoy it.

And a long term expat. I'm now wearing socks and two layers on top until late morning. And this from a guy that used to enjoy winter camping in a snow cave. Woke up this morning expecting to see frost on the ground. PM 2.5 levels are getting higher in my home office. Can't run the air purifier with the windows open, and hate to close them when the temps after mid-morning are so comfortable.

The Buakhao Tue/Fir/Sun? market is up and running again at its old location. Only one or two yet to make the move back to the old location.

It's that time of year again... City residents warned of PM2.5 surge Bangkok residents are being warned to brace for higher levels of hazardous particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5), as so-called stagnant air is expected to intensify from tomorrow until Tuesday because of a drop in wind speeds. Wish they would get it right. It's not a drop in wind speeds that causes an increase in pollution levels, it's the seasonal cold weather inversion layer that is keeping the shit close to the ground.

Bilingual and transgender - looks like he was a she before becoming a he.

Within Pattaya city there is a sewer system. No septic system at my house, and as far as I know no septic systems for any of the buildings attached to the city sewerage system.