monekyface

Went to Home Pro Plus on wireless road in Bangkok.  Bought two items.  When I got home saw that the reciept has some weird stuff on it.

"I understand that Mastercard has a currency conversion process that I have chosen not to use the Mastercard currency conversion process and I will have no recourse against Mastercard with respect to any matter related to the currency conversion or disclosure thereof."

In other words, you won't complain that you were never told that they are converting this to a transaction in your home currency instead of using Thai baht, and conveniently in their world the Thai Baht was 29.7619 to the dollar.

I guess in a sleazy place in Patpong you might expect a padded bill- but surely not at Home Pro Plus.  Of course, I'm wrong.  And FYI, no- they did not give me the option, just handed me the slip to sign.  I have had the choice at ATM machines in the past and of course always declined- I don't need to let the do me the "service" of converting the currency as I am a little wiser than that.

I'm totally grossed out by the filthy tap water when I take a shower.  Any chance the government will focus on this?

I was looking at refrigerators at The Mall and Big C today and it struck me that if I was back home I would use consumer reports, or some online reviews to narrow down my buying decision, but here that doesn't seem possible.  I can't find any English sites with unbiased appliance reviews for stuff sold here.  I saw so many today, but most of the ones I liked were around 7 cubic feet and between 6,000 and 9,000 baht.

Please tell me your compact refrigerator story.  Does it have spill-containing shelves?  LED lighting?  A bottom freezer?  Is it an all-together unit with one door and an internal icebox or does it have a separate door for fridge and freezer?  Is it available in snazzy colors like alien green?  Any other features that you love or things you have grown to hate?

I noticed that all of the energy-efficiency ratings are the same- every one is a "5".  Is this odd?

Where else should a person look in Bangkok?  My first several choices were out of stock at both stores, otherwise I would have winged it and grabbed one on a whim.

is pantip or fortune town better?  i will build based on a MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard but with just a single video card to start.  but a psu of 1kw or so to allow for 4 cards in the future.  thinking of a radeon hd 5830 or 5770 to start.  are these easy to get here in Bangkok?

any and all tips are most appreciated.

what do forum members think of the prospects for bitcoin as a medium of exchange or to store value both long and short-term?  i am especially curious about how long it will take governments to realize what a threat this is to their power, and how you think they might attempt to regulate it.  

as an aside, do you actually like the idea of an anonymous currency or do you think it creates more problems than it solves?  the one thing that cash has going against it (for criminals) is bulk, and because of the bulk illicit trade is forced to use banks- which helps law enforcement.  but with electronic currency there is no bulk.