tallguy

I did my retirement extension at immigration the other day and was surprised to be presented with a new form to fill in. I don't think the form is available on line but it is actually easy to complete. There are two parts to it; the first part confirms that you are aware of the changes in circumstances that would invalidate the visa and; the second part confirms that you are aware of the penalties for overstay. (Apologies I did not take a picture of the form). On the plus side I got there earlier than planned and was finished by 8.35am on the first day. The busiest area seemed to be the small office for TM 30 reporting. The majority of people who were ahead of me in the queue when the doors opened headed to that area. This seems to be a bureaucratic nightmare for very little benefit. Yesterday when I went back to pick up my passport I was stranded in the restaurant next door when the heavy rain caused severe flooding at the top of Soi 5 and the car park. Maybe something to consider if your visit to immigration is likely to coincide with heavy rain.

I haven't used travellers cheques for years but I recall the banks increased the charge for cashing them to 150 baht per cheque. I don't know what the charge is now but TCs are no longer as economical to use in comparison to ATMs. If you are going to use them get large denominations.

Iŕrelevant now, they've packed up and gone back to the UK / Ireland.

Nof the first time this has been said over the last few years. Very sad and unforgiveable.

Dental Art Clinic on Soi Buakhau near Cafe Pittini. Used them for a few things from cleaning to a root canal.

There is some major construcion work going on at the 2nd Road end of Mike's shopping mall, There is no access to the mall from 2nd road. Art street has been knocked down and the cut through from beach road to 2nd road is blocked. You can still access Mike's from Beach Road.

Definitely get the hep a. The hep b is 3 shots over an extended time period, I think 3 months, so too late to be fully protected for this trip. There is a risk of catching hep B, but can be mitigated by avoiding things like; unprotected sex, dental surgery, tattoos etc.

Dianna Inn was at the Second Road end of the Soi. Dianna Dragon near Buakhau is still there.

I've been in once. I won't be rushing back.

Yup, a guy who lives in my building came in a little bit later and he was getting a bit twitchy as the clock moved towards midday. However, it looked as though they were dealing with everyone who had been given tickets before taking their break.

I think you need to rethink your budget. At 10k per month you are mainly going to find studios most of which will be either small or old and the chances of getting a washing machine and a western kitchen are even lower. I think Centre condo on Pattaya Tai might have some of the cheapest 1 beds but they were nearer 15k when I was looking a few years ago. Nevertheless you might get lucky.

My attempt at using the online system failed this time. I don't think I have managed to use it for two successive reports yet. Visited Soi 5 today around 11am and surpriaed that were just over 40 people in front of me and only one guy on the desk. However, he was getting through the work pretty quickly and the wait was around 45-50 mins.

After talking to a couple of regulars in a local bar on Wednesday night I decided to walk up to Big Bhudda Hill yesterday morning as Pattaya was likely to be very busy. I eventually walked up there around 10 am. When I first got there it was not very busy but more people were starting to turn up by the time I left. Looking at the pictures from Wat Chai though it is not surprising that Big Bhudda was relatively quiet. As seemed to be happening elsewhere the refreshment stalls were handing out free soft drinks and snacks. I also had a wander around the Chinese garden which is always very peaceful.

I wonder if this ban will go the same way as the ban on travelling in the back of pick-ups?

Unless you are aware of some initiative to revitalise that bar complex in the next few months I wouldn't worry about it. I bet a lot of customers on Soi Buakhau don't even know it is there. At one stage they were renting the upper units out at 100 baht per day and had filled most of them. However, after high season they were all vacant again.

So far no price increases in the bars I have been in or the local 7-11s. However, I am aware that some of the local bars are considering putting prices up by 5 baht per bottle. I don't think this is unreasonable as they have absorbed previous small increases in wholesale prices, at some stage the price was bound to increase.

Yes, they use the same restaurant space. Only the kitchens are separated.

I was in Simple Simons yesterday and they have the Tetleys one cup bags. They also had PG Tips and Yorkshire tea bags which did not say 'one cup' on the box.Anyway even if Brian doesn't find the tea he wants there it's worth a look just to see the type of stuff that is available out here in a relatively small outlet.

I'm not a tea drinker so don't really notice which places stock Tetley. However if you can't find them at places like Tesco, Friendship, Villa etc, Siambury's on Soi Khao Talo advertise them. KPK on Soi Yume near Big C Extra can also be a good source of falang treats.Good luck.

Only registered not a member so only has access to the public forum.

I guessed you might nominate the Atlanta.555

No local Wetherspoons then? Thought they did a breakfast for about £3 and I would expect them to serve food throughout the day.

It seems time has been called on the latest iteration of Wok n Rok. They mention problems with staffing and location as the reasons for closure.

Checked today and the application has been validated, (I couldn't access the system yesterday). I managed to print out the spproval today so job done for another three months. I have to admit though that it is now probably easier and marginally less time consuming to do the report at immigration in Jomtien. TIT.

Yes. They've got a place on Soi Chayapreuk that they do takeaways and deliveries from. The Soi Buakhao and LK outlets are long gone.