isaanistical

Interesting. I have recently shopped a couple of times at 'Tesco' for the first time since the name change and been surprised it's cheaper on numerous items than Big C or Tops, so I may give them a go.

Me too, over nearly 30 years. This is not thai-bashing, but Thais are utterly useless with websites. I'm not an expert here, just a serial victim, but I suspect much of the problem lies with the thai-language versions and their translations. I am told the Thai versions don't all have the same level of incompetence built in.

In my case, still waiting. Eventually I managed to get into the site today, but only by using Chrome which is not my choice of browser. And by entering multiple verification codes. I was happy with Tops for 4 years but now want something less dreadful. Has anyone had success with alternatives to Tops, given the annoyance factor here?

FWIW, some years ago I flew from LHR to Thailand (on Gulf Air) with a relative's ashes in my checked bags with no docmentation or declaration. And no problem on arrival.

The PM is apparently demanding to know the whereabouts of some "11 THOUSAND tonnes" of cadmium waste last seen in Samut Sakhon: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/prompt-inquiry-ordered-into-11000-tonnes-of-vanished-cadmium-waste I'm not a metals expert so I'm asking: far as I know that number is roughly the same as China's total consumption of cadmium or half the world's total annual production. Is it even conceivably true or is this yet another failure of Thais/media to get numbers right?

Agreed. I did manage to place an order yesterday, but whether it gets delivered is another matter.........

I am moving to Saraburi (changwat, not town) and would welcome any useful info on dealing with the IO there. I have extended my marriage visa several times in BKK but 1. any problems 'changing' changwat? Does it mean a complete new application? 2. any input as to an agent who may be able to help? I have never used or needed an agent before but there are some issues this time where one may help, so spare the good idea/bad idea opinions please. But: if anyone has info on an agent in S'buri who is any good, a PM would be very much appreciated. Ta.

Only Fools & Horses, series 5 ep 2. Miracle of Peckham

I didn't say that. I don't get "90 quid a week". Where from?

Ha.Pension? Luxury..........

Hasn't got a lot of coverage so maybe worth mentioning: all of us British citizens who don't live there are (as of today) eligible again to register to vote. Having been disenfranchised since it was decided that those who live outside UK for 15 years don't count, I can but assume the 3 million affected around the world will start by throwing out the [deleted] who thought it up, but it's your choice again. More useful detail at: https://www.britishineurope.org/articles/136295-bie-seasonal-greetings-getting-ready-to-vote-blog-2-faqs I expect for a lot of us it won't be easy to prove last registered address, but it's something - even if it is conveniently too late for the brexit referendum............

that's where the whole plate-smashing stuff came from. Pity it's not still in the Olympics.

they also do "Hemp" flavour and, for any weirdos out there:

Well, not Thai-bashing, but how many times have you stood at an ATM behind a local who is reading the card PIN from a piece of paper - or the phone - in order to transact? They will not remember a CVV any more than any other number.

so stay off the BTS as well? Skytrain has more than 30 sets of China-built trains and they don't seem to fall apart. Mind you, the ride on the yellow line is so rough I am hardly surprised bits are beng shaken off it.

Think of the extension, that was flat-fare B15 between Bearing and Onnut, being extended south to Kheha. Now 15 baht for any part of that extension as far as Onnut and what you pay from Onnut to Phrakanong (and by extension, ha ha, anywhere from Kheha to Phrakanong) will be the same as it was previously.

where I drink, a large bottle is 80-100 baht, and I don't care much about reducing that. But buying wine is a different matter. As I have always understood it, the annoying pink sticker over the cork says "duty paid". So would retailers get a return of that paid duty for all their stock? Or will they be stuck with unsaleable goods as new stock arrives? Any booze retailers out there?

It was reported elsewhere yesterday that import tariffs on wine (nearly 60 percent) will also be suspended for one year. That would make a difference. Great for us expats and a lot of Thais who like wine. But wine connoisseurs choosing Thailand rather than, say, France or New Zealand? Makes as much sense as a "central hub"......

take your tinfoil hat off and just walk off the edge of the world, why not?

Er, what? No, don't bother. I meant they get shot in pickups in the USA.

Most tourists are "ignorant". Somehow I expected better from you.......... I don't like them either, but I don't call them names. Not on websites, anyway.

Lots of cities have some long interchanges - Paris, for example. But I never saw such a lack of co-ordination in the joining up of interchange stations. Even super-busy (by BKK standards) ones like Asoke have no bridging or such to facilitate the change. But BKK runs the lines as competitors, hence the lack of such helpful infrastructure as well as lack of interest in common ticketing. "We gave the poor a train, but they still want more," say the top families that make the money from the projects. Never forget that the object of a major road or rail construction is to line certain pockets, not for us to actually use..........

Why do you want indicator boards? You unaware which platform you on/ which direction you going? How difficult can it be to navigate BKK systems? It's not exactly Seoul, fer chrrisssake. And I'm not defensive. I spend most of my waking hours cursing Thais, but one thng they do rather well is keep their trains clean and I appreciate it. You need optical advice, as I suggested. If you live away from a railway, it's not exactly the railway company's fault. But I assume you think differently. Get a limo.

wow. Temple chosen for NYE. A temple! There is nothing else in Thailand to see. Of course that's what they choose. A local newspaper today featured "one-day trips" around BKK. Guess what? Every single one was a temple. Seen one, seen 'em all, I say.

Just like the UK itself. Don't forget they sold off the embassy...... it's a dirty little office in a block down the wrong end of Silom these days.