gearbox

TIT...a feudal system where each province invent their own rules. I was able to renew my driving licence with my yellow book instead of COR. With national parks 3 out of 6 parks gave me Thai rates, the other 3 refused and had to pay foreigner rate.

This is not correct. Only the bank issuing credit and debit cards have full information of your ATM withdrawals and credit card transactions. Even the tax office in your country doesn't have normally access to this, they can get it only if you are under investigation. The AML govt agencies around the world use the concept of "entity resolution", this is decisive info to attribute a transaction to an entity. It could be something like this - full name + DOB + passport number + address. In Australia something similar is 100 points identity identification. The ATM withdrawals or CC purchases do not provide complete information to third parties and the transaction can't be attributed to an entity except by the issuing bank.

Where did you find info that banks would provide transaction info under the CRS? There is no such thing. Only summaries are provided. Also it looks like the banks are semi-voluntarily providing that information. Recently a couple of Aussie banks were asking me in forms if I'm a tax resident of another country, probably for CRS reporting. No need to guess how I answered.

I helped a Thai restaurant owner in similar case about an year ago, they needed a bit of video processing of the CCTV footage. An European looking lady skillfully put a 100 baht banknote below a 1000 baht one, and then claimed she gave 2000 and blamed the waitress. The owner told her to come the next day to get refund after they review the CCTV footage. She never came.... probably on the way out she saw there was a camera right above her table. It was very skillful and quick banknote placement, I had to split the footage in frames to notice the different banknote colour.

That's always been the case. Low class destination. I'm driving almost every day in Samui, there always a steady flow of tattooed, shirtless, no helmet scum around me, trying to break the road rules in every possible way. I feel that I'm living in Thai version of Mt Druitt or Blacktown.

It is not that difficult....read the product disclosure statement end to end. It is usually around 70-80 pages. You need to disclose pre-existing conditions, and don't get too drunk and leave evidence.... usually claims are denied for alcohol level higher than 0.19 There are tons of specific exclusions like trekking above height of 6000m and other potentially dangerous activities, but there are insurers which may cover these with higher premiums. Also obviously don't travel where the government tells you not to, your claim will be denied. I went through a number of policies to settle on the Bankwest credit card travel insurance. Their wording don't mention requirement to reside in Australia, as I'm most of the time outside. It covers 6 months without any spending on travel required. The tricky thing is all Aussie insurances require that you need to have a return ticket to Australia. If the return date is not clear, one can work around with booking a flight with frequent flyer points, these can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the flight with little penalties.

Without looking at it I assume that it requires to be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia living in Australia, and your trip originates and ends from/in Australia. There are no Australian policies AFAIK without requiring the above. The only only one I could find is the Bankwest credit card insurance which doesn't mention "usually living in Australia"

Read the reviews on Google maps and the fine print.

That's the case of most if not all travel insurances. You are required to nominate a country of residence to be repatriated to. If the insurer estimates that it will cost them more to keep you in the country of claim, they'll dump you in your country of residence and is your problem from there on.

https://www.optus.com.au/prepaid/traveller-sim Last time I saw a kiosk at the international arrivals in Sydney, I imagine there would be one in Melbourne as well. Otherwise head to the large supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths, there are always prepaid sim packages on sale. If you have a phone with esim you may be able to order and activate it online, the Amaysim prepaid sims can be bought as esim as well.

One thing I noticed in Albania is that there are almost no female waitresses in the restaurants. The families are protecting a lot their women, if you mess with a wrong family you'll wonder in which part of the world to hide. Wonderful country for short visit, but it is the most criminal infested nation in Europe, tons of brutal gangs controlling drugs and sex trafficking across Europe.

Yeah...give it a go. https://exit.al/en/albanian-blood-feuds-more-than-10000-revenge-killings-in-30-years/

Medicare is more than enough, for medical will cover anything wrt emergency. If your Thai partner is below 60, get Safewings or World Nomads insurance, from what I've seen the Thai providers coverage is too low for serious issues in Australia.

In case of medical emergency less than a month stay in Australia may cost you hundreds of thousands. Last time I saw prices in the North Shore Private Hospital basic ICU was around $5200 AUD per night.

The Chinese are at the forefront of the nuclear technology, the only Gen 4 commercially working reactor in the world is there. However the Thais are probably better off having wind farms in the gulf, and there are plenty of opportunities in residential solar too. The cost of the solar panels and wind turbines has gone down a lot.

Most of the worldwide providers won't insure 75 years old. From my research the Thai providers offer poor value for money. Can't you reinstate your Medicare?

This is quite possible, the Samui immigration resets the reporting date if an extension is approved. It makes sense, for the extension you need to submit the same documents, even more. As mentioned they may attach a paper in the passport with the next reporting date, although TiT, not sure if all offices are doing it.

Well that's in line with any paperwork handled differently at different immigration offices. I'm in Samui, and god forbid I never wasted half a day to submit 90 days report in person. All done online.

Absolutely not. I just got my 90 days report approved and I re-entered last October, have done already one 90 days report online after the entry. In fact I've never done 90 days report at the immigration, always did it online.

How old are you? If you are below 40 you can get good insurance with Safewings or World Nomads.

Glad you figured it out. Sometimes the airlines' points are pain to navigate and use. I had some points with Etihad expiring this month and I didn't need any ticket to book. Luckily they have an option to open a digital visa card, convert the points to currency and move to the card. I've put the card on Google pay and spent the points in Tops.

Comrade Gamma it depends on the point of view and the narrative. Deutsche Welle is a government propaganda outlet, they rather focus on the miserable state of the German economy. If you follow the real numbers China logged quite impressive trade numbers the first two months of the year. Now there is a bit of squealing from the usual suspects - "We want to manufacture goods too! They are eating our lunch!"

The Qatar avios bookings with partner airlines are "pseudo online", as one can't see which dates are available. I had similar to the OP experience booking one way ticket Samui - Singapore with Bandit Airways. The requested date was not available, after 4 days waiting had to request a different date. The tax for Samui - Singapore was nearly 2400 baht, quite steep. IMO it is better to use the support chat than calling numbers.

3k doesn't seem much for 2 offences. In NSW Australia for driving without licence the max penalty is $2200 AUD, or more than 50k baht.

I'm grateful that AirAsia exists. If one can plan well in advance the prices can be really good. Last year we had a few trips with my gf, one international from Krabi to KL. I paid 5200 baht for 10 individual tickets. In July I'm flying with the Malaysian AirAsia from KL to Makassar Indonesia return, that's 3 hours 30 minutes trip. I paid 7000 baht total, which includes 55kg of checked in baggage both ways, including sport equipment (my bicycle). I think this is an excellent price - try to move 55kg with a full service airline and your wallet will be a lot thinner.