forcebwithu

Burn season has begun so no surprise the AQI is creeping up into unhealthy levels. https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/chon-buri/pattaya

I'm glad now I screwed up my non-OA visa nine years ago. At the time I made the noob mistake of not understanding the expiration date of the visa was different from the re-entry permit. Result was I re-entered Thailand after my re-entry permit had expired and thus invalidated my visa. Got that sorted in country with a new non-O, so can now avoid the hassles those on an OA are enduring.

Almost got taken out after taking the pic of the construction site on 3rd Rd. And pretty sure it wasn't you, unless you were wearing long hair and lipstick. I was on my pushbike next to a car that was going in the same direction as me. The stupid cunt then made a sudden swerve into my lane to avoid a steel plate covering a hole in the street. It was perfectly safe for a car to drive over, even had tarmac around the edges to hold the steel in place. And it's not like it was the first one she would have encountered traveling on 3rd Rd during the construction. There was no reason she had to

Pics of a couple of construction sites around Pattaya. Retaining walls going in at the Buakhao/Soi 15 construction site. WIP at Fat Coco Site on 3rd Rd near Klang is now up to six floors. Google Translate couldn't make much sense of the Thai sign at the construction site, but according to my TGF's translation the building is for some sort of business.

Xmas tree is up at T21 The race course is set for the Hello Kitty run later today.

They're getting the land cleared and prepped for something new next to Nirun.

Correct. You need a long stay visa or extension to get the 5 year license.

Recent news reports are painting a dire picture for the area water supply over the coming months. I had a nice bike ride around Mabprachan this morning to check the situation out and take a few pics that can serve as a baseline of how bad the lake level gets as we head into the dry season. Currently nowhere near as bad as the pics in post #1 from September, 2015, but we may get there. Lake level looks ok in the view to the north But the overflow outlet on this end of the lake shows just how low the lake level has gotten. The bottom of the darker portion of the concrete marks the n

Thought Medicare only covers you in the US, in which case you would need a policy that covers you in Thailand.

Chances are good the insurance company wouldn't sign it as they already provide a confirmation of coverage document. I see the Thai form as nothing more than a ploy to force you into buying expensive insurance from a Thai company.

I wouldn't expect any rise in fees as a proof of insurance letter shouldn't be hard to obtain, if you get my drift.

I'm surprised they didn't already extend the insurance requirement to those on extension to stay. From a govt perspective it makes sense to require aliens in their country to provide proof of insurance so as not to be financial burden on their health care system. But in Thailand's case it's pretty clear they want to feed that business to their own insurance companies, but the Thai insurance companies are offering overpriced policies with limits that are, IMHO, inadequate. As sailingbill just posted, you can opt to use a non-Thai insurance company, but documentation required is over the to

Can you not get another re-entry permit that would be good up to the expiration date of visa? As for the more onerous requirements for extension to stay, after nine years of doing it myself I used an agent for the first time last week. If immigration's goal is to push more people to using agents, it worked in my case.

learned from the accidents about metal fatigue due to pressurization and depressurization cycles. It's tragic that sometimes the learning curve results in deaths.

I'm quite happy with True. Just had them switch me over to fibre for the same monthly cost. Service is 100 DL, 100 UL at 640.93/month incld taxes. Can't offer a recommendation for TV as I survive just fine w/o it.

Hate it when someone tells a joke and forgets the punch line. When they got home, the mailman was dead on the porch.

Best bet is to go to the BB main branch on 2nd Rd across from Soi 6. My experience, and from what others have reported is they're more familiar with dealing with expat questions, such as yours than the other, smaller branch offices. Regarding FD accounts, IIRC, a few have gone this route for the money in the bank requirement. Probably best to stop in at the immigration office and confirm they'll accept this type of account.

Suggest going to their main office on 2nd Rd, across from Soi 6. They'll have more experience dealing with Soc Sec direct deposits.

Air quality is a lot better today even though the AQI is 69.

Got back from my bike ride just before the heavens opened up. It was a short lived thunderstorm, but the rain should help clean up the air a bit. Snapped this pic on my ride near the top of Khao Talo. A view I'm more used to seeing the end of December rather than near the beginning of October.

Think I'll have to practice breathing through my nose on my morning bike ride today.

My ride was late morning. At moderate levels the haze is noticeable if you have clear line of sight for a bit of distance. I noticed it as I was riding down the road that parallels the RR.

Central and East Pattaya (aka darkside).

Back from a bicycle ride and while my lungs weren't complaining my eyes were seeing a lot of haze in the air for this time of year. The AirVisual site confirmed what my eyes were seeing.

Arcadia Millennium Tower on 3rd Rd near Tony's Gym