Jambo

Check your bank accounts daily for fraudulent debits.

I had a conversation with Bank of Scotland's fraud department yesterday. They have had a huge increase in notifications of fraudulent deductions. Apparently, it is the time of the year.

Both my debit and credit cards have been cancelled and in course of being replaced. Two smallish deductions but would have been followed by much larger amounts according to their Fraud Dept. Both payments immediately refunded to me by B of S.

35 minutes ago, Glasseye said:

Love beans !

 

 

 

Fcuk me that movie kills me. All of Mel Brooks were good.

But,"Blazing Saddles" is a huge classic.

I always purchased "Brook" brand baked beans in Thailand because to me they tasted the same as Heinz but much cheaper.

I think they were an Australian import.

14 minutes ago, Blue Streak said:

Still closed at the back of Tree Town.....

I have yet to see a single video featuring Tree Town when it is anything other than virtually devoid of customers.

4 hours ago, Freee!! said:

I noticed her as well, is she aware of the signal she is giving to some people?

Some people!

Don't you mean any clit lick'n guy with a pulse?

On 12/16/2023 at 11:31 AM, misteregg said:

Hope you can pop in over Christmas and New Year. 

Wow!

The girl with the chain as decoration is stunning.

Hang onto her mate. She is worth another 10% on your turnover.

You must have stolen her from Milk?

When I was driving the car in Thailand there was not a single journey when I did not consider mowing down all the bloody motorbikes that got in my way. Come up to a set of traffic lights as the first car when they turned to red and then wait for all the m/bikes to pull in front of you continually creeping up to completely block your exit.

I really, really wanted to mow the fucking  lot down!

The next day, maybe even the same day, I would be out on my wee Honda weaving in and out to get as close as I could to the front of the lined up m/bikes waiting in eager anticipation of the start of the  motorbike Grand Prix as the lights began changing to green.

No, I am the same schizo/easy going miserable bastard I always was. 🤣

6 hours ago, Zeb said:

 

 

I agree with so much of the above posts.

Where I live the dealers business model is to make a huge chunk of their income from servicing after the sale, but that business model is broken, under market and regulatory challenge as well as changing.

Going back 15 - 20 years ago dealers tried imposing very expensive servicing via themselves in order to 'retain' warranty cover - speaking ICE vehicles here.

(This aspect alone would take pages to detail.)

This was of course successfully challenged under consumer law and dealers could either moderate serving costs or never see customers again.

Various Independent service garages emerged who offered reduced prices yet maintained the checks and maintenance to the level required to retain warranty. Some of the motoring organisations entered the market as well - think the equivalent of the RAC - the NRMA in NSW - but there were others.

The dealers turned to being dealers for a range car manufacturers - think 3 - 4 - 5 or more - all run by one overall dealer. They also serviced the vehicles of 3 - 4 - 5 different manufacturers - with varying degrees of success - and along came EV's.

Some dealers are once again trying - "Servicing has to be done by us to maintain warranty" - which will be challenged.

But MG and others are quoting "Precise Price Servicing" over the warranty period (7 years unlimited Km's in my MG4 for instance) and providing Roadside Assistance 24 hours x 365 days - provided you get servicing done with them. 

The cost of the Roadside Assist is not free - but pricing reflects in the servicing cost - of course.

My servicing interval is every 2 years or 40,000 km whichever comes first.

Every second service (4 years or 80,000 km) is more costly, however over an 8 year period of 4 services on an annualised basis the cost to me is AUD$ 300 pa for 8 years - call it 160 GB Pounds per x 8 years.

All up AUD $2,406 for 8 years service (About GBP 1,300)

I had Roadside Assist with NRMA for an almost 20 year old clunker prior to getting the MG4 which cost just under AUD$120 per year ( GBP 65) without the range of benefits I now get.

Over 8 years my prior Roadside Assist would have cost AUD$ 960 ( GBP 520) which is included in the All Up costs shown above.

Constant prices assumed for simplicity....

MG's Roadside Assist  comes with a range of additional benefits such as - Towing, Taxi, replacement vehicle hire if needed, Hotel accommodation, taxi to the hotel in addition to other assistance for other travel home if required.

I'm not locked to 8 years nor to a particular dealer.

I pay per service interval but the costs over 8 years are as above. "Precise Price Servicing" is not fixed price but anything can and probably will happen in 8 years

If I'm unhappy with the dealer I'll find another one.

An example of the 48 months/ 40,000 km service -

Check the function of the Parking Brake and adjust it as necessary.
Check the operation of the Lamps, Horns and system warning indicators.
Check operation and accuracy of windscreen wipers, washer and windscreen for damage - If the washer nozzles are adjustable, adjust them if required.
Check the status and function of seat belt.
Check various control function of A/C system.
Replace air-conditioning filter.
Check status and function of seat.
Check the condition of bonnet safety catch, tailgate/boot lid lock, door locks, hindges, door checks etc., Clean up all the dust and refill lubricating grease as necessary.
Check operation of electric sunroof, lubricate channels as necessary (If Fitted)
Check the connection and status of the 12v battery.
Check the High-Voltage harness for mutual interference, wear or damage. Check the appearance of the high/low-voltage connectors to comfirm surface is damaged or not.
Check the washer fluid level and add to the standard level as necessary.
Replace Brake fluid
Check the status of cooling system pipeline and connecting parts.
Replace Coolant
Check the status of the A/C system pipelinew such as the compressor, the cooling pipeline, and the condenser. Clean relevant surfaces as necessary.
Check the status of brake vacuum booster and hose.
Check the appearance of the high/low-voltage connectors to confirm the surface is damaged or not and installation is in place or not.
Check the high/low-voltage harness for mutual inteference, wear or damage.
Check the appearance of the high/low-voltage battery pack vent valve for damage, and check installation marks to see if it has moved.
Check the status of the manual service switch to ensure reliable mounting and clean up the dust on the surface.
Check the mounting position of the cooling water pipe and clip to ensure reliable sealing.
Check the installation marks of any high-voltage battery pack mounting bolts and ensure the bolts are fastened.
Check the appearance of high-voltage battery housing (including bracket) for crack or deformation.
Check the appearance of high-voltaqe battery pack grounding wire and replace it as necessary.
Check the status and thickness of front and rear brake pads and brake discs, and repalce them as necessary.
Check brake pipes and hoses for condition and security. Ensure that hoses and not twisted or kinked.
Check the wheel bearings and drive shaft sleeve.
Check the suspension and steering system for leakage or wear.
Check the tyres for tread depth and signs of damage, deformation, or uneven tyre wear, including the spare tyre (if equipped). Check the four-wheel alignment data and perform front and rear wheel rotation as appropriate.
Check tyre pressures and adjust as necessary, including the spare tyre (if equipped).
Check if the chassis and underbody bolts and nuts are fastened or fixed, and replace them as necessary.
Replace the electric drive transmission fluid
Check the electric drive transmission mounting bracket.
Use diagnostic software to reset service reminder interval indicator. Check for fault codes and determine operational status of the control systems.
Check software version of electronic control units and upgrade to latest version if available.
Check the equilibrium state of the high-voltage battery pack and suggest the owner carry out an equalising charge as necessary.
Carry out road test, and check the status and function of power system, brake, steering and other systems.

........................

The BYD Dolphin is a similar vehicle to the MG4, but the BYD & MG both have different levels of trim which make the same brand vehicles as virtually different models - something I won't be going into much detail about.

MG have a dealer network in Australia which may also sell the vehicles of any number of manufacturers.

BYD don't have traditional dealers per say in Australia and it all looks a bit 'messy' to me.

I almost bought a BYD but the MG was what I wanted

BYD China has a financial interest in EV Direct which imports BYD's into Australia.

mycar, is the Official Australian BYD Service Partner 

Eagers Australia are dealers to the following brands as well as BYD-

Abarth
Alfa Romeo
Audi
BMW
Bentley
Chery
Chrysler Jeep
Cupra
Fiat
Fiat Professional
Ford
GMSV
HSV
Hino
Holden
Honda
Hyundai
Hyundai Trucks
Isuzu Trucks
Isuzu Ute
Iveco
Jaguar
Jeep
Kia
LDV
Land Rover
Lexus
MG
Mack
Mercedes-Benz
Mini
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Parts Distribution
Peugeot
Porsche
Pre-Owned
Ram
Renault
Skoda
SsangYong
Subaru
Suzuki
Toyota
UD
Volkswagen
Volvo
Volvo Trucks
Zooper
easyauto123

......................................

I'm sure to have left stuff out - doing this somewhat on the hop.

Plus I'm sure there are changes that will happen as well....

Such is life.

😋

 

 

 

 

No check on the fire extinguisher? 😉

6 hours ago, Zeb said:

What EV's in particular are you talking about and how much is being charged ? Examples please.

To what extent does pricing vary widely from brand to brand where you are? Examples please.

What do you regard as 'expensive' & how does this compare to servicing costs for petrol cars etc ?

 

How the f**k would I know?

You do like your T's crossed and your i's dotted 🤣

My only knowledge is one guy who was moaning about the overnight 20K depreciation on his Porsche and a 1,000 pound bill for his annual service.

Lets start with your MG4.

How much is a full annual service?

Why is a service so expensive on EV's?

Watching these "vloggers" has been my one way of trying to keep in touch with what has been going on during my extended absence whilst I waited for my new hip.

They do get repetitive particularly as most always seem to take in Tree Town (what a ghastly grave yard) , Soi Buakhao, Second road and Soi 6.

For those readers who have given up on these "Vloggers" I can assure you that you have not missed much because little has changed. That's not quite true as new bars still seem to keep popping up irrespective of the lack of potential customers.

There is a common theme. The number of customers anywhere ( LK Metro possibly excepted) are very few and far between. How the bars in Soi 6 keep trading day after day without apparent customers is ....... ?

Of course these "Vloggers" only film whats going on as they ride past. Easy to see the answer is "not much" in the individual open air bars and collectives such as Tree Town.

Personally I would skip all those and be heading to the "Air Conditioned" clubs in, say, Soi Boomerang or the many other alternative so called "Gentlemans" clubs/bars that are all over Town.

26 minutes ago, richy65 said:

I think there’s a fashion for cutting carbs now but complex carbs like pasta, brown rice and porridge are important for glycogen to supply energy. That’s my opinion as a long time distance runner but I’m no expert. 

There are good and bad carbs with the latter being all too evident in the western diet.

I am reintroducing all three of the above back into my regular meals along with sugar free muesli simply because I miss eating muesli.

I have been having porridge for brecky this week. First time for almost a year and really enjoying.

My carnivore diet was the basis for losing a lot of weight before my hip replacement but all that red meat for the last 9 months must be one of the main causes of my cholesterol increase and thus my recent heart episode.

Sometimes, you just cannot seem to win.

4 hours ago, KhunDon said:

We’ve had our electric car for over 2.5 years and  have done almost 50K miles in it.
We paid cash for the car when we bought it new.
I’ve only had to change the front tyres after 40k miles so far and the rears are good for a few more miles yet. 🤗

Come next May it’ll be 3 years old and we’re in the process of looking for a new model/manufacturer to purchase then, but it won’t be a Tesla. 🤗

Prices are starting to come down a bit, but we’ll probably go for a car that’s a bit bigger than the one we have now, with a bigger battery than the 64Kwh battery that’s in our present car, so that’ll probably mean we’ll be paying more money this time. 
Hopefully manufacturers will come up with a small family car with a decent size battery at a decent price, but at the moment they seem to be concentrating on larger SUV’s because that’s where the profits are. 
Chinese cars like the MG4 are getting there, with a reasonably low price for a decent sized battery, (270 miles on a full charge in the summer) that would probably suit family use and more are coming hopefully. 🤗
 

Ok, we’re not “average family punters”, but EV’s suit our lifestyle, as we can charge it at home on cheap electric, so it works out that the “fuel” costs around 2 pence per mile, compared to the high costs of petrol or diesel which is around 8 or 9 x that.
Obviously there is depreciation,insurance and service charges on top of that, but that applies to all cars. 
However, we still having a Diesel car sat on the drive doing bugger all, (with 13k miles on the clock) because I can’t get around to selling it. 😟

The majority of car owners ARE family punters and the average cost of a new family saloon of a make you are not embarrassed to leave outside is around 30K.

I stand to be corrected but I am sure I read that depreciation on electric cars is very significantly higher.

I anticipate the UK will become like Cuba. Petrol cars 10 years old will be considered hardly run in. 

2 hours ago, KhunDon said:

In my youth, I worked in a nearby hospital. 
The surgeons that did vasectomies usually did them in one theatre on a Thursday morning and I knew exactly who was about to go under the scalpel, because they were all sat in a row waiting for their turn outside the anaesthetic room with a worried look on their faces and their hands between their legs. 🤣

I swear this is true.

I had my vasectomy in this posh family planning clinic in the West End of London. I cannot remember what the period was but a couple of weeks or so after the snips you had to get the sperm count checked.

They sent me a specimen jar and some crystals to put in the jar to keep the ejaculate company. The instructions included a warning that the deposit must not be deposited by mouth. Two chances of that happening....." None and f**k all"

They had provided a label with a reference number and my name and an instruction to deliver the specimen jar within a certain number of hours. I arrive at the clinic to find a queue to the Reception desk made up of all women and me. I was embarrassed because everyone would know what was in the jar held in my hand. I noticed there was a couple of trays on the Reception desk and one held specimen jars. So I skipped the queue and added my jar to the others and did a smart exit.

Two days later my jar came back to me in the post.

I must have put it in the "Out Tray".

How the average family punter can afford a new electric car is beyond me.

Or new tires every 6 months.

17 hours ago, lazarus said:

That is a poncy all too complicated way of going protein heavy.

Just cut out all carbs from ones diet and what is left to eat is basically all protein and you are guaranteed to lose a ton of excess weight.

My cardiologist (🤣) told me on Monday that it is carbs that are the real killers.

wtf are "chia" seeds?

5 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

With high season being here during one of my walks I took photos of all the bars and Go-Go's on walking Street so I diamond tree Town soi pothole and there were no fewer than 17 or 18 selling up now where they should be getting ready to earn their money for the year cuz if you don't earn it in high season the rest of the year is going to be tough. I keep wondering how many people are going to buy into the Las Vegas beer bar complex. They're without question going to miss the first month of a no more than 2 month high season. And with the rents their demanding it will be a miserable low season having to come up with those kind of rents not to mention having the bar complex tell you what you can charge for your drinks silly in my opinion

Your comments are supported by every one of these expats posting their videos on UTube. The one common theme is a singular lack of customers with maybe the exception of LK Metro although even there it may be misleading. You don't see inside the GoGo's.

One thing that became all too obvious in the two years or so PRIOR to covid was the fact that the traditional high season was becoming less and less apparent. How many venues then had been desperately waiting for the Xmas/ New Year high season boom period which sadly ended after a couple of weeks

Tree Town and its like seem doomed to me as are many of the beer bars that have opened up all over town. There was too few potential "western" customers to sustain all those in existence prior to covid and the profusion of new entertainment venues which continue to open up are only making things worse.

I wouldn't mind betting two out of every three owners would sell tomorrow if they could only find a buyer.

Which would still leave plenty to go round.

ps.

Does anyone really want to spend a night in a hot, open air beer bar in Tree Town? Give me air conditioned club hopping in Soi Boomerang any day. 🤣

2 hours ago, Glasseye said:

 

Many years ago my sac started to swell up a bit. Of course, I went to the doctor. He said that it was caused by a fluid build up (there is a thin membrane around your nuts, sometimes fluid gets into it).  He said not to worry about unless it continues. Many years passed.

Then they started to get so big that it really began to bother me. I remember some of the girls commenting, "Wow, you have really big balls", lol. I knew then it was time.

I then went in for out-patient surgery. Talk about pain.... Jesus Christ.

Following that I sat around in my apartment with a jock strap (I still have the jock strap) full of ice packs for two weeks and a bottle of oxy on the table next to me. That was when I learned how shitty oxy is, becasue it makes you contstipated. Try squeezing out a log when your ball sack has just been cut opened....5555 

After recovering from that is when I began plans for my next trip over here. The rest is history.

 

**** I had a friend that weighed about 350-400. He had the same thing happen. He let his swell up to the size of a fucking cantalope. 

Just to continue the subject of bollocks.

When I was 36 I had a vasectomy at a clinic in the West End of London. I remember I was one of three guys in a sort of conveyor belt and we were all as nervous as hell but trying to put on a brave face.

When it was over and my dick had decided not to completely disappear I was full of relief and nervous energy. Absolutely no pain ( still full of local anesthetic I suppose) and being a beautiful summers day I decided to walk through the West End and pick up my direct tube line at Leicester Square.

Walked another 10 minutes at the other end still feeling no pain. Decided to change from my suit into something more comfortable only to find to my horror that my boxers were full of blood me having pulled the stitches. I had been told not to drive to and from the clinic (nowhere to park anyway) but I ended up driving to Barnet General for the amusement of everyone I told of my predicament.

Basically they all thought I was behaving like a big girls blouse.

32 minutes ago, Yesitisdakid said:

A lot of the reason they remembered me had something to do with you. Do you remember when we ordered all those secrets staff shirts and our thai manager was unhappy with something regarding those shirts I don't know what it was I think it was something to do with the sleeves. She refused to let the staff wear them so Ben sided with her despite all the money we paid for them and ordered new ones so we had about a hundred of those shirts which you told me to take as many as I wanted when I went to AC. I bet I gave away 50 or 60 shirts not to mention shorts bikinis all kinds of stuff. Had a guy come in to secrets and say to me hey Larry I was in Angeles City but I couldn't find your bar I told him we don't have a bar in Angeles City. He said he thought we had one because he saw tons of girls with Secrets shirts all over town 😁😁

Yes, I remember now.

My memory is getting really shite. I need a map to find my way home from the pub.

On 12/3/2023 at 3:20 AM, Yesitisdakid said:

It was for many many years

Some of those photos were in The Pacific Breeze. I recognize the bar leading to the pool.

Were you with us when John (aka Sweatie) passed out in their Reception. He apparently came back to the Hotel absolutely rat-assed and passed out. I was already in bed with the nights "Plat de jour" and they got Terry up to help  the night porter carry "Sweaty" to his room.

The first I found out about it was when Terry phoned the next morning and told me I had been elected to go to Sweaty's room and see if he was brown bread. It took me ages to get him to open up and he promptly puked down his T-shirt.

I told him the bottles in the middle of the tables in the GoGo were simply for show. You nominally paid for them but they were in lieu of a b/fine. You were not supposed to drink whatever was inside the bottles but Sweatie being Sweatie drunk 3 or 4 of them.

Lovely guy but hollow legs.

The next day he nearly got mugged in the middle of Fields Avenue by the two ugliest lady boys in the Philippines.

Happy days.

1 hour ago, Yesitisdakid said:

That last photo boydeste had her on my recommendation after I came home

f**k doing "Sloppy Seconds" after you!  🤣

I recall going into one of your "Perimeter" bars and thought I was being clever to phone you back in Pattaya whilst I was enjoying myself in AC.  You got me to say "Hi" to them all from you and not only did they remembered you I then had to buy them all a drink ................"from you". 

I didn't mind as it was a fun place.

I have watched several UTube videos recently on Angeles City trying to recognize the AC I knew in its pre-covid days.

To start with the built up section is now known as "Walking Street". It is a mass of new bars and GoGo type venues all bright neon but still managing to look down market. It might have helped if they had spent some money tarting up the actual street itself. It just looks so shabby.

The most recent video I watched started in Fields Avenue heading towards the entrance to Walking Street. I didn't recognize a single venue until suddenly there was "Brown Sugar" the outside of which looked exactly the same as it did the last time I visited. Brown Sugar was a very traditional GoGo which I always visited making a point of always buying the Mamasan a drink or two as a prelude to her marking my horizontal dance card. It would not surprise me if she was still keeping the girls in  order.

That was the only venue I recognized in Fields Avenue.

Entering "Walking Street " itself once again Covid had no doubt been the death of the venues I knew. No familiar names until suddenly there was ""Gecko" which had been very busy in the old days opening up around 12 noon. Gecko had been the home of the "Cherry" girls. Never waste your time buying a girl in Gecko a lady drink until you had clarified if she was in fact a cherry girl or not. It got more complicated due to there being more than one definition of the term "Cherry." i.e which parts were off limits. 🤣

Further down Walking Street I found that The Amsterdam Hotel was still trading. That was the very first Hotel I stayed in AC before we all seemed to move to The Pacific Breeze which appears also to be still going strong.

The only other name I still recognized from the old days was Baccara.

I always had a kind of Love/hate relationship with AC. Every time I went I vowed I would never return mostly because there is absolutely nothing to do during the day time. So I spent most days round the pool at The Pacific Breeze. On the other hand the bars and GoGo's were absolutely rammed with pussy at night which sort of evened out the Love/hate aspect. The nights were also spent touring round with the usual suspects and we did have a laugh.

Not sure I will ever return.

But I have said that before!

11 minutes ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Barbecue chicken in the air fryer figured it was time to put that air fryer to work

Once you start using an air fryer you wonder how you ever managed without one.

They look great but you do not need anything more than the lightest spray of oil. 

I get perfect medium rare rib eye steaks just seasoned.

21 hours ago, boydeste said:

To get correct results, you usua lly have to fast for 12 hours before bloods are taken.

Did you do that?

No, only 4 hours.

However I did fast for more than 12 hours before my hip operation and they took my bloods then and again prior to being released from the hospital and nobody referred to cholesterol then?

I always intended to return to a more balanced diet after I had achieved my target weight. It looks like that is going to be required after I get the "good news" from my GP on the 14th December.

Back to semi skimmed milk in my coffee!

No rib eye's twice a week! 🤣

I had my annual blood pressure check up with the Practice Nurse a couple of days ago which includes having my bloods taken.

Blood pressure was fine  but yesterday I received a phone call from the Practice to advise me that my GP will be phoning me at 6pm on the 14th December to discuss my Cholesterol. I presume not to congratulate me on it being within acceptable levels.

You cannot win.

I looked it up through Google and find top of the list of things that cause high cholesterol is red meats of all types followed by dairy products such as butter and cream.

Prior to my hip replacement operation 11 weeks ago I lost 26 kilos in weight based upon a carnivore fasting diet built around eating mostly fresh unprocessed meat of all types, fish and virtually zero carbs. If I wasn't using my airfryer I was cooking with butter.

I nearly forgot my two cups of coffee a day with full fat cream ...........but no sugar. 😉

I had my bloods taken a week before my hip operation and again when I was admitted. Nobody mentioned high cholesterol then?

1 hour ago, Yesitisdakid said:

No need it really doesn't bother me but I'm sure they'll be some depending on what they're opening that won't be happy I'm trying to figure out what it's going to be. They've opened a bunch of restaurants back there they've got a huge market a new laundromat even a real estate place. Can't imagine what they're going to put back there can't believe they're investing money to open another restaurant right by the many that are already there but what do I know

It doesn't end with an over abundance of just restaurants. That is almost a drop in the ocean when one compares that with the number of new bars and beer bar complexes which have grown up all over town.

An obvious example is Tree Town and the relatively new one in Second Road with the strange name that escapes me for the moment. A new walk around video pops up every other day on UTube and the only obvious common denominator is the lack of customers.

Apart from the large complexes of basically open air beer bars (which I hate) there are new beer bars everywhere. I hardly recognize Soi Buakhao any more for the new bars that have grown up along the whole length of it now.

How do the bars in Soi 6 survive? I am yet to view a single video that shows more than the occasional actual customer.

There was insufficient customers to support all the "Western orientated" entertainment venues pre-covid so how all these new and not so new venues going to survive is beyond me.