forcebwithu

Shilo, good info. I'm going to give this a try. Do I need to get a separate account at the Bangkok Bank, New York branch? If so, can I do that here in Pattaya?

Did you try going back to Spankys and asking for your card? Worked for me.

While I don't use my Chase ATM card for international withdrawals, Chase does allow online wire transfers ($40) and I have two credit cards through Chase. No fee account is $1,500 minimum daily balance. Chase is aware that I'm living in Thailand, but I still use a US mailing address so that might help.

Thanks losgrad. I'm a big believer in spending the money up front for as much quality as the budget allows. The bikes last longer and the better components make for a more enjoyable ride. I remember reading about the bike thefts. A poster on another board recounted a first hand experience with them. I believe he now carries a collapsible baton and pepper spray within easy reach on his bike. Heard on the grapevine several of the Thai riders around here have friends in high places. The word was put out to get those guys, and in short order they were caught.

A cable lock is fine for short periods of time, but if you have an expensive bike I wouldn't recommend outside storage. Not only is theft a problem, but the weather here will quickly trash your bike. I use cheap, rear wheel bike stands and park my bikes inside.

Good one! 55555

Good questions. For the most part the dogs ignore you, but on occasion there are a few that are aggressive. In those cases I've found the best defense is offense. Rather than continue pedaling, I hit the brake and get aggressive back at the dog. That's worked in every case and I've never been attacked. Debris on the road is a big problem. I average one or two punctures a month. I carry a spare tube and a hand pump as well as a patch kit for the rare occasion when I get two punctures on one ride. When that happens it's always been a case of missing the thorn or small nail in the tire that c

Good idea ttk for a FAQ pinned post. Martin, would you mind including my Darkside info in the FAQ as well? Here's the text with hyperlinks. Darkside Bars Google Maps link Google Earth file link GPS file (gpx) link

I ride a bicycle on average 150 km/week in and around Pattaya. No doubt it's a riskier mode of transportation, even more so in Thailand. What it boils down to is how much risk you're comfortable assuming in your day to day life. If you understand the risks and take steps to mitigate those risks, a bicycle can certainly be a viable mode of transport. First is to increase your visibility by riding with flashing LED lights, front and rear. Wearing a fluorescent vest is another good idea. For myself, I also limit my riding to daylight hours. I'd also recommend installing mirrors on the bike.

From about two weeks ago. Water level has only gone down slightly since then. Last week the concrete pier we were standing on was above water.

Given the bad condition of the roads around here, it's makes sense to ride a mountain bike vs a road bike. I have both, but unless I'm going on a long ride (>50km) I'll use my mountain bike. Another source for rental bikes is S.V. Bikes on the corner of Soi 8 and Thepprasit Road.

I've had the same problems with True and 3BB invoices, but the electric and water bills always show up on time. For True and 3BB I have online accounts for both and elected to receive my invoices via email. To pay I have to use my Kasikorn account for True, whereas I have to use SCB to pay 3BB. And even though I elected to go paperless, both companies still mail me dead tree copies of my invoices.

A few pics from the Chinese New Year celebration at Friendship this afternoon.

I agree, it's a comfortable bar to sit and have a drink at. Nicely laid out. Looks even better now that they removed the wall between the pool area and Soi Arunothai. Makes the area feel a bit more open.

That is correct. The 90 day clock starts ticking from the day you entered Thailand.

I don't remember seeing any Teva's for sale around here. Even if they were available, I would worry what was being sold were copies of low quality.

Good video. Surprised we don't hear an "oh shit!" color commentary, or was that drowned out by the thunder? Here are a few pics from this morning. Across from 6/1 The Hilton waterfall. They were almost finished with repairing the damage from last week's rain. They didn't go down far enough with the footing and this is the result. Turns out planting trees in the steps wasn't a good idea after all. With the sharp drop to the beach, it doesn't take much water to wash the sand away. Not only are the drains too small, but they don't empty anywhere. This is at the south end a

No, who's on first

Oldest imagery in Google Earth (2005) shows the old pier.

I get Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort too. Doing a search for FLB, Pattaya I see the result as "FLB Niteclub". Changing the maps search to "niteclub, pattaya" shows FLB on the second page of results. Not sure how niteclub gets into the name, but if it could be changed to "bar" I would hazard a guess FLB would see more business from those doing a Google search.

Here you go.

They get you going and coming with money. My first experience with the incoming charge was when I wired money over to the company providing my teelack English language lessons. They informed me the transfer was 500 baht short and after much back and forth with my USA bank communicating with the Thai receiving bank it was established that was the fee for receiving a wire transfer. Unfortunately nobody could ever explain why the receiving bank s/b able to charge that fee, but the simple answer might be they can, so they do. In your post it sounded like you had your local bank do the conversi