tallguy

Techically you are not meeting the conditions of the visa if you don't have 800k in the bank or make the regular monthly deposits. That being said I have never heard of anyone having a problem after getting a visa through an agent. Lots of expats use agents and it is a damn sight easier than queueing up at immigration these days.

There are a number of places on Buakhau and not really much difference price wise I have found Dental Art Clinic near Cafe Pitini to be good in the past. It's not hard to find decent dentists in Pattaya, ask 10 people and you are likely to get 10 different recommendations.

The World Cup starts around 21 November so don't see why it would affect the price of your flights, especially with EVA. Probably just a general increase in prices due to fuel costs etc.

Most people in Pattaya pay cash so I don't know how much the app operators take. Also Bolt is the most used app in Pattaya so it is Bolt drivers who get the vast majority of the work.

At the moment, YES. Grab prices increased a while ago, almost to old meter taxi prices. Bolt prices still great value, Pratumnak to Central Pattaya generally 60-70 baht,(always give 100).

No BA flights but Thai are flying direct to LHR. I thought they started with 4 flights per week but read that might have increased to 6.

Officially bars will not be able to sell alcohol until 11pm until the new arrangements are published in the Royal Gazette. However, no doubt some bars will take their chances before that. I heard that one bar was raided at 9.15pm last night.

I believe to can now book for the 'Phuket Sandbox', (and a few other island based sandboxes), through the Thailand Pass system. The Bangla Road area of Patong Beach seems to have a bit of life from what I have seen on You Tube videos but nothing like pre-Covid days. I would look for hotels within walking distance of Bangla Road, avoiding using the tuk tuk and taxi mafia as much as possible. Not sure about other areas but try searching for Phuket videos on You Tube and Phuket based groups on Facebook for more info.

2 bedrooms is not really that big a place. Around 700 baht a day seems way over the top; think about it, it equates to around 20k baht per month. That's the sort of bill a barowner might get.

Personally I don't do a lot of cooking, mostly reheating and microwaving but lots of people do a lot more,even if is mainly making fresh soups and stews and the like. Probably more common to see ovens in newer condos but definitely not standard. The same can be said for washing machines.

And a Facebook page

I understand your reluctance with regards to Facebook but it can be a useful source of information about what is going on around town and who is in town. Most bars and restaurants have Facebook pages and update them regularly, many provide daily updates. There are a number of food groups,e.g. Breakfast Club Pattaya, Pattaya Foodies etc, which contain many reviews as well as info re specials and new menu items. AFAIK most of the contributors to Pattaya Oracle are either in Pattaya or have been in town recently enough to contribute up to date information. It's probably one of the more reliable Pattaya groups on FB. I wasn't aware that Pattaya Oracle were organising barcrawls. I know the Pattaya Legends were doing weekly crawls before the latest lockdown and were getting 20-30 guys. That's too many people for me so I haven't been on them. In normal times Frosty organised Pattayatalk crawls once a month. Attendance at these crawls is normally a much more civilized 6-10ish. Wait for the announcements after the bars re-open.

There is a Facebook group called Pattaya Oracle which can usually provide useful suggestions for the type of things you are looking for.

I think that might have been an earlier proposal. Having said that I am not 100% sure about the source that suggested more relaxed arrangements. I guess all will be revealed in the next few weeks.

I believe the next step for Pattaya is that you will have to book into an SHA hotel for 7 days. You are free to move around the area during the day but are supposed to stay in the SHA hotel overnight. IIRC this is supposed to start from 1 November but who knows what will actually happen Expect to hear more after the next CCSA meetings; one is due at the end of this week and there is likely to be another one nearer the end of the month.

I think even before the pandemic the 380 was a bit of a white elephant from the airlines' point of view. A lot of them were starting to look at point to point aircraft rather than using hubs. The 2008 financial crisis probably signalled the beginning of the end for the 380. I watched a YouTube video the other day where the CEO of Qatar basically said that the fuel costs compared to more recent aircraft made the 380 unviable. However, as a customer, the 380 is the best aircraft I have ever flown on, especially in business class.?

I always thought it was aimed at Asian customers. I vaguely recall seeing adverts for it a few years ago.

I am sure I read somewhere that 65% of the AZ vaccine produced under license in Thailand is scheduled to be exported under the terms of the contract.

Maybe a question of timing. The first times I went to Buffalo Bar were on bar crawls around 2008 - 2009 and it was fairly busy both times even without the crawl. Subsequent visits were quieter although we were there earlier in the evening.

If you have the scanned receipt from the last report, that is all you have needed for years. Only need the TM47 for your first report in any cycle.

A caveat to my earlier post is that a lot of places in North Pattaya are closed at the moment. It wouldn't be a total shock if Mango Tree(?) was also closed.

Any customers? Pictures would be good.?

Go past there fairly regularly, don't recall seeing anyone in there. Used to walk past many times. There have been a few different businesses there over the years, none successful from my observstion. There is a place around Soi 1 called Mango Tree or Green Mango, (something like that). Nice set up and a relaxing place for a pitstop.

Haven't seen anything posted anywhere but with the current lack of activity in the WS area I suspect it may be some time before there is any news. To add fuel to the fire I wonder if there will ever be enough custom in the area for the re-furbed bars in the front of the complex to open.

Fairly sure there have been FCO advisory notices about travelling to the South of Thailand for a number of years. There were similar warnings about Bangkok during the red shirt protests about 10 years ago. However, I think they have always fallen short of the level of warning that would have invalidated travel insurance.