forcebwithu

Not in the same class as Glitterman, but there was the guy that would ride around Pattaya with his brightly colored macaw perched on the back. Often time you'd see him on the beach or at Central looking for tourists that would pay a few baht to have their picture taken with the bird. He had the room across from me when I lived at Nirun. Found him to be a nice guy.

I had another "Well that was a surprise..." yesterday. About three months ago my longtime Thai neighbor, Dtaa, moved out her house next door to ours so she could rent it out to a group of Vietnamese guys. Other than talking loudly during the day they hadn't been bad neighbors. Well yesterday my lady tells me to come quickly and look what's happening next door. So we go into our 2nd floor master bedroom and look out the window that overlooks the driveway next door. She tells me the guys are breaking their one year lease and moving out early. Because Dtaa was keeping their deposit they decided as compensation they'd try to take her new refrigerator with with them and were in the process of loading it on the back of the truck. My lady had called Dtaa to report what was happening and she and her adult son arrived before they could leave. After much back and forth conversation we see them unloading the refrigerator, but the surprise was what came next. I then see them loading up a piece of junk old refrigerator. Turns out what they were trying to do is swap their piece of junk old one for her new refrigerator, as if she wouldn't notice the switch. Just when you think you've seen it all, a new surprise smacks you in the face.

The problem you had with the ATM card not reading could be for the same reason my started failing. Oxidation on the embedded chip's contact points which rubbing an eraser over was enough clean the oxidation off.

It's a rare night when I stop in and the vibe is off. Last week there was a guy in there that started a killer pool game with a twist. Not only did he put up a good chunk of money for 1/2/3 in the amount of 1500/1000/500, he also set the rule if the lady wanted to be able to pot the black, she had to play the game naked. With the amount of money up for grabs I got to watch about a dozen naked ladies playing pool.

Best guess is you picked up a couple of the very small ants which then tried feeding on you. They're so small you often times don't feel the bite, but the result is the characteristic swelling like you see on your arm. Most times the itchy feeling goes away in less than 30 minutes, but your body could be hypersensitive to the bite. Since I don't see any open wounds I wouldn't bother with an antibiotic cream, unless your itching breaks the skin. Instead I'd suggest a topical antihistamine.

I did, but it wasn't a massage. Had a good time at King's Club last night.

Video of the smoke rings.

I did that in the early years when I first moved here. A fellow hasher had a truck so a bunch of us hashers sat in the back and had a grand time on the 19th drinking beer and throwing water. This year, as I've done in the past several years, I'll join a few friends at around 10am on the 19th at a bar. We'll down a few beers to start the day and then we'll walk around Pattaya enjoying one day of getting soaked and blitzed on drinking.

At the end of this morning's bike ride I'd thought I'd relax with a massage. There's an older lady at a massage shop on Klang that waves to me most mornings as I ride by, so as I was looking for a legit massage I thought I'd give her a try. I pull up and while locking up my bike I confirm her shop has a shower I can use to cool down a bit before the massage. She said yes, but then went on to explain something about the big boss of the shop going home for Songkran so we'll have to use a different room, but it's a very nice room with a good shower. She then proceeds to lead me down Klang. As we're walking I ask her how far and she says not far. So we trudge along about 25m, turn up an adjoining soi, go another 25m and make a another turn into an alley which I then cotton on to is the building where she has a room. She then puts her finger to her lips and motions me to follow her quietly up the stairs. So up, up, up we go until finally we end our ascent on the 6th floor. To her credit she wasn't even breathing hard and while I wasn't either, the climb after a bike ride in the hot sun meant I was seriously overheating. It was also at that point I realized there was a good chance her room was a fan only room. Sure enough, we get to the end of the hall, she unlocks her door and while it's a nice corner room with good breeze from the open windows, it lacks A/C. It was also obvious that my hoped for legit massage was not to be and that insead if I stayed I'd probably be treated to the sight of a naked great grandmother. Using my overheated state as an excuse, I explained politely to her that even with her promised very good shower, it will be impossible for me to cool down enough to enjoy a massage. I felt bad for her as she pleaded with me to not go as she has very few customers and very little money, but I quickly left after slipping 100B into her hand for her time.

Another difference I've noticed with Songkran this year is how many more trucks loaded with people and water barrels are cruising the sois now. In years past I wouldn't see the numbers I'm now seeing until the 19th.

Another fight, this one in Pattaya. https://www.facebook.com/Thepattayanews/posts/1363859904382587

Just started watching this series. Two episodes in and I'll give it a rating of just ok. I'm not a gamer, so perhaps if I was I would enjoy it more. Even if I didn't already know it was based on a game, it would be obvious that it was. The pacing and the scenes are what you would expect playing a video game, which make the scene and plot jumps disjointed at times. Also some of the characters seem to be cast to meet an inclusivity quota. They're not well suited to the role they're cast to play.

Another vote for Schwab. I particularly like their low, $15 fee for SWIFT transfers. I have accounts at Bangkok Bank, Kasikorn and SCB. BB and K have their pluses and minuses, but they equal out when comparing the two banks. SCB by far is the worst of the lot though having earned that distinction when they eliminated their website banking. I only keep the account as it's tied to my Lazada Wallet and since it's not broken, I don't want to fix it by trying to tie it to another bank. You mentioned you let your BB ATM card lapse. Are you still getting charged an annual fee, IIRC 350B, for a card you no longer use?

The stage was probably set for what he's become long before his first tattoo. Wonder what kind of home life he had that started him down this path.

Not even a face "its" mother could love.

I discovered you need to be logged in to X to view the video. My take on the video is a boneheaded farang shot water at someone that didn't want to get wet and got his ass kicked for being a dumb fck.

Link doesn't work for me. Edited to add: Never mind. I'm on a new laptop and wasn't logged on to X. Once logged in I was able to view the video. Surprised we don't hear about more altercations during Songkran.

Great story. Glad everything worked out fine for you in the end. How is Cerberus doing? I hope his recovery is going well.

Rather than execute them, I would propose rounding them up, then line them up, spray them down with their own confiscated water cannons, then lock them in a bare room (no furniture, no towels) with the A/C cranked to the max until their lips turn blue. Guaranteed they'll think twice about ever using a water cannon on another person.

TPN reports they're banned... https://www.facebook.com/Thepattayanews/posts/1362012251234019 But checking the I-Rovers webcam just now and what did I spy... https://www.iplivecams.com/live-cams/i-rovers-sports-bar-diana-view-soi-lk-metro-pattaya-chon-buri-thailand/

It would be great if the ceasefire held, but I read a post from less than an hour ago on PA that not all the bar owners were on board with the plan. Stupid business decision on their part not to not agree to a 6pm water free zone.

Unfortunately it appears gone are the days when the water madness pretty much ended shortly after sunset, with the exception being the 18th and 19th. Last night the madness on Buakhao was still going strong at 8pm. That's when I saw the writing in the wet pavement that it wasn't going to end so left to find a safe, dry haven at King's Club. I've always thought if a group of bar owners in one area got together and agreed to create a water free zone during the days leading up to the 19th, they would find themselves overwhelmed with customers.

Here's the post with a screenshot of their new location. A couple of posts later, @Painter gives a walking tour of pics to the new location.