Misterwhisper

I guess this should be OK then...

Chinese tour groups will soon be starting to swim across the Mekong en masse.

2 hours ago, zzzzz said:

never charged exit tax at land borders

BUT 300 baht is nothing> I recall back in the 80's we had to pay a 1,000 baht departure tax if we stayed over 180 days in one calander year>
than they added the airline deaprture tax as well ( u had to buy it thru a vending machine>
than it was incorporated into the airline ticket ( topped out at 700 baht)

Land borders,  will they have a money changer there for arrivals to change to get their 300 baht ( an dan atm machine)?

Sea arrivals?

You're correct. I remember that 1,000 baht tax, too.

But it was NOT a "departure tax" per se. Instead, it supposedly was sort of a flat income tax payment to slap on foreigners, many of whom illegally worked in the country, thus didn't file for regular income tax. The authorities assumed that if you stayed in Thailand more than 180 calendar days, you surely ought to have had engaged in some type of gainful occupation one way or another.

The actual departure tax - that 500 baht ticket that you had to buy from a vending machine - came on top of that. I recall the mayhem that sometimes caused, as tourists often didn't have the crisp 500-baht note the vending machine required. Luckily, that wretched departure tax was later incorporated into the air ticket price -- though it was bumped up to 700 baht.  

An entry fee?

Hm... will that come with a free drink?

And will there be a weekly ladies night?

16 hours ago, RandiRona said:

"Once buying their tickets, travelers will then be directed to an additional screen where they will be able to pay the fee, which is set to become mandatory ‘from August or September’."

 

<deleted>.....are they taking classes in how to make things more complex for tourists? If they want to add a tax, add it in flight ticket and manage it from there. Just think about everyone carrying proof of payments and barcodes...

That "additional screen" will link to a Thai government-developed website, where payment then has to be made. And that alone, dear ladies and gentlemen, already is guaranteed to create trouble, as the ticket booking system integration will be bugged (as per usual), the payment site will reject certain credit cards (as per usual), and there will be various other crashes and hiccups (as per usual).

Secondly, as I understand it, airlines will be responsible for integrating the payment screen with their own booking systems. BUT.... a very large proportion of travelers do NOT book their tickets through the actual airline websites. Instead, they handle their ticket purchases through anything from ticketing agents and discount ticketing websites to local travel agencies, etc. etc. -- and there are literally tens of thousands of them.

Why does the Thai government's motto always seem to be, "Why make it easy when you can make it difficult"? 

"Thailand and Japan Discuss Cooperation"

Just like in 1941?

I wish I could pay in unused postage stamps. Still got plenty of those left over since mailing letters went out of fashion.

20 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

So it s better to pay prostitutes' in cash, so that your wife doesnt find out ?

Nope. So the revenue department doesn't find out that I am blowing all that money that I claimed I didn't earn on hookers. 

20 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

That's nearly 3 medals for every sport... He wants it all!

I wonder how he did in bobsledding or ice curling. He IS a quite slippery guy after all, ya know.  

17 hours ago, Thailand said:

Crabs can be a problem!

Can I hand in mine to the department too? And quickly, please! They are so itchy... 

Yes, granted, many countries around the world have their particular strengths, leading to them attaining soft power in one or another area; or several. It's a quite natural development, actually.

The big difference to Thailand is of course that these countries do NOT constantly, incessantly and obsessively trumpet about it in practically every other news article.

Oh, noooo!... It's another Literature Nobel prize-worthy essay from that self-appointed mouthpiece for Pattaya's high-class expat community, Michael Bridge. Always a great read... for falling asleep. Is he actually getting paid for that drivel?

So... if according to the Keystone Cops it WASN'T murder NOR an accident... from what exactly did she die then? A natural cause?

Let me try and wrap my head around that.

A natural cause of death... brought on by being stone-drunk on a shaky boat with no safety precautions in place, then stumbling or slipping, resulting in tumbling overboard and subsequent drowning while being cut up by boat propeller blades.

What a scenario! But IF that roughly is what was happening... how on Earth can this NOT be regarded an accident?

If I pruned my mango tree and - the moron that I am - sat on thee very branch that I am sawing off, causing me to fall to the ground and break my neck in the process... how else could my death be classified than as being the result of an accident??? Surely wasn't murder. Surely wasn't a "natural cause". A stupid accident, yes. But an accident nevertheless.   

16 hours ago, Thailand said:

Accimur?

Murcident?

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Borrowed IP?

https://www.pydro.com/news/pydro-is-finalist-of-the-future-water-hack

39 minutes ago, webfact said:

Sunday May 1st has been given the tag "D-Day" by the media

As in "Dummy Day"?

13 hours ago, thoengthaied said:

I'm an expat from UK living in Thailand for many years on a retirement extension. If I want to take a two week holiday to, say, Vietnam, will I just be able to get a re-entry permit before travel and be able to return without having to get a Thailand Pass, insurance etc.?

Nope.

EVERYBODY (including Thai nationals) who wants to ENTER the country must register for a Thailand Pass, including uploading the required documents.

It DOESN"T MATTER whether you hold a long-term visa and have a re-entry permit. If you leave the country for whichever length of time and then return... you are caught in the loop.

And I am also afraid that the Covid-19-specific insurance you take out MUST cover the ENTIRE validity period of your current visa extension.

You do NOT need to take out specific Covid-19 insurance IF your are covered by Thailand's universal social security scheme, though. Which I figure you are not.

Sorry for the bad news, old chap.

9 hours ago, RandiRona said:

Also leave your wallet and gold chains in room as lady boyz are out for cop a feel.

Impossible! A whole shipload of them reportedly has just arrived in the southern Chinese port of Guangzhou. So there can't be that many of them left here.