AyG

I've got a few items I need to get rid of - some polycarbonate sheets, a sofa, a coffee table, some fairly large sheets of glass and so on.  The regular garbage collectors won't take them (even with a little tea money on offer).  I really don't know what to do.

In the past I asked a friend with a pickup truck to help me dispose of similar items.  Much to my dismay he simply drove to a quiet place a couple of kilometres away and dumped everything at the side of the road.  Not an experience I'd like to repeat.

Any suggestions, please?

Does anyone know which supermarket (reportedly upmarket with international foods) is going to be at Promenade when it opens in February next year? There's nothing on the Promenade website about it.

Need a new HEPA filter for my Dyson vacuum cleaner.  I'm guessing it's a long shot, but does anyone know of anywhere in Bangkok that stocks them?

Thanks.

It seems that Wave FM 88 is closing down today.  Anyone know why?

I used to listen to Met 107, but switched to Wave FM when Met 107 changed its format, dropped its English-speaking DJs and added lots of artless African-American music.

I guess that only leave 102.5 now for Western pop and rock - unless anyone knows of any other alternatives in Bangkok.

Just a few notes from my experience of getting a visa for India at VFS this month:

(1) Despite having completed the application form on-line, on arriving to submit my documents I was told that another form was required, a "Non-Thai reference form".  This is not mentioned anywhere on the website.  You're charged another 100 Baht for them to type the information in for you, even though every single piece of information is already entered on the application form.  This seems like a scam to me.

(2) When I submitted my documents at the counter I was told that the form was not required since I'd been living in Thailand for more than 3 years.  (I subsequently complained by email and received a refund of the 100 Baht.)

(3) Logically, you'd think they'd want to know your address in Thailand and have two referees living in Thailand if you've been living here for a long time, but no, they wanted an address (even if it's just that of a friend or relative) and referees living in my home country.

(4) The queues to pick up your passport are horrendous.  I arrived at about 16:45 - fifteen minutes before the 17:00 - 18:00 time slot for collecting your passport.  I was number sixty in the queue, and the office was already packed.  It will have been much worse for people arriving a little later.  I guess the average waiting time was well over an hour.  (Note that the time slot for collecting your passport is not as stated on the website.)

(5) The website says that all bags are forbidden at the centre.  This isn't true.  Nobody pays any attention to this.