MeGoDanceNow

Nkped, I believe the charges would have been lower if I had been a Thai person. But maybe I'm wrong.

There was. Oh, there was.

I can certainly recommend Dancewatcher. This is not a hotel but a rental service run by an American expat. I have dealt with him before and he is a stand up guy. He makes sure all the rooms he rents out on behalf of condo owners are in good shape with all mod cons.

Last time I was in Pattaya I noticed Pattaya City Hospital had popped up on Soi Buakhao. How long had it been there?

Looks like good value for the location and price. Thanks for the info.

Tourist arrivals in Thailand down 50% according to NHK news today. I think it was December month-on-month.

The story does look rather different when I see it in print. Thanks CT.

It looks like the problem is not the ATMs so much as the conditions imposed by my bank. But I wouldn't have figured that out if I hadn't posted here, so thanks everyone.

Yes, the point of the exercise was to paint all British expats who move to Thailand as losers, perhaps implying a lack of patriotism. Interview a few sad old alcoholics, ignore the bigger picture and we're off to the races. A hatchet job.

I wouldn't call it sensationalist, I would just say that they're trying to imply that us sex tourists are doing something wrong. Check out the way the presenter glares at the old drunk when he admits he likes sex. He probably likes food too but that doesn't seem to attract the same opprobrium.

Thanks Patna. No, don't remove them, you said they were from a different suite so it should be clear to all. A place to stash your gear, shag your girls and sleep off the piss, all for $15,000 -- doesn't sound bad. And though the complex is shit, the location is hard to beat.

Bump! Here's the original topic.

Yeah, I had trouble posting YouTube videos here too. Just open the original YouTube page, click "share," then copy the URL that appears (it will have "youtu.be" in it) and paste it in your post. Good video! Of course it's the Beeb, so there's lots of holier-than-thou nonsense about terrible sexpats and their sleazy lives (the presenter will probably knock off after the show and go bang his mistress). But they make some interesting points. With the increase in retirees, you can expect hospitals to become even more hard-nosed about people who turn up without insurance. I've seen a few homeless white men on my current visit -- something you almost never used to see. That's going to become a problem. Maybe we Western retirees need to start some sort of a fund to ship people home when they can't afford to live in Thailand anymore.

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will try the ATMs at Central Festival today (outside the bank branches) and see how I fare. It shouldn't be a problem with my withdrawal limit because 20,000 baht is only about $600. I find the ATM surcharge (after other bank fees, not visible) is 180 baht, not 150 baht, and even the Aeon machine charges it.

Hi lads, I've noticed fewer and fewer ATMs allow you to take out more than 10,000 baht at once now. But more withdrawals means more fees. Anyone know where there are still ATMs with a withdrawal limit of 20,000 baht?

So what's the rental income on that puppy? If you can rent it out for 7,000 baht a month that's gross annual income of almost 20%. After the condo fees, 18%.

Well, there it is. I don't think Sherlock Holmes would have spent too long scratching his head over that one.

That's easy. First you put a funnel on top of the bottle. The cat perches on the funnel.

Last I saw of Nirun Condo, and that was 10 years ago, I wasn't impressed. Mostly Thai families living there, mostly soi dogs in the elevator lobby. Still, at 500,000 baht, if you can rent it out for 5,000 a month you've got yourself a decent investment. I wonder what the condo fees are?

Sorry to hear about that. Take a look at this place. Hope it all works out for the best for you.

As any fule kno, the expression is "14 stone" and not "14 stones".

Yeah, I have to agree censoring graymatter's protest seems a bit heavy-handed, even if this is the funnies section.

Forgot to mention Crazy Dave's on Soi Chaiyaphoom. Not gourmet food but excellent value.

Without men, civilization would last until the oil needed changing.

I love this weather too. But I suggest wearing two shirts at night, T-shirt under a hawaiian shirt, especially if you ride the moto taxi home. It has warmed up over the last couple of days though.