sabai-dee-man

On 4/1/2023 at 8:47 AM, Operator2002 said:

Yes, ordinary tour-package tourists don't come for 1 month and more - but long stay people who can afford it, - do! 

And they spend minimum 20 000 baht per month: they rent property, they eat food, they shop - which is good for Thai economy and just better than nothing anyway. 

I stayed for almost 6 months, and spent about £15k. Travelled to Krabi, Khao Lak, Trat, Khao Yai, Korat, Udon and more. Saying that, saving up for 3 years (through Covid) certainly assisted with that spend, but 45 day visas made life simpler. I only had to do 2 border runs in those 6 months.

3 hours ago, Mark mark said:

Yes, they are very Dangerous pieces of Kit Fork Lifts ! ... I wonder if they have to have a special license to drive one as they do in other Places ... Like Crain Driving, forklift Drivers are usually Lifers also !!! and well it wreaks their backs also, as they have No ? Or Minimal springs, as they have to lift stuff up. ... Plenty of Folang Ex Fork Lift drivers in this country too I would say. ... Maybe one could post for us here !!! ??? ... I had better loo below I guess ? 

????????????  Many here don't even have a driving license, and you're asking about a fork lift license?!

He doesn't realise how lucky he is... 6-8 Thai guys just waiting to give him a kicking there! I bet the place was virtually empty before he appeared!

19 hours ago, Operator2002 said:

Do you prefer to be selfish and save your life or die for nothing as cannon fodder? Just common sense. It is clear until there are mass protests in Russia these youngsters cannot change the regime alone (or you will repressed immediately even for anti-war picture drawn by your daughter in school) when the most of Russian society support it or passive conformists. 

 

Stiil, some people are just tourists looking for a holiday after long COVID period. 

I can agree with some of that. My issue is the reported incidents on another popular channel/forum of Russians aggressively taunting Ukranians in Phuket. Sure, I can believe a number are here because they want a break after best part of 3 years of Covid, and that some don't want conflict with Ukranians. But I'd put ฿50 on most of them here not giving a sh*t about Ukraine, and can simply afford not to end up on the frontline... if it was legal to gamble here, of course!

Draft dodgers... but the more here, the less there are in Ukraine. I don't personally like them; my overriding, albeit limited experiences with them have been largely negative, but they're relatively easy to avoid.

I try to remain positive and think that they are "conscientious objectors" rather than supporters of Russia's policies and just cowards! ????‍♂️

Thais have low expectations.

13 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

It might be unique to The Netherlands then, but eveyrbody pays the same for a single ticket at the door no matter your country of origin.

I suppose that is the same all over Europe (at least Northern Europe), but maybe I am wrong.

 

What they normally do is sell yearly memberships. One time entrance is say 10 euro's, or you can come as many times as you like for a year for the total sum of say 50 euro's. That way the local people can enjoy the attraction for a lower average price, but there is no dual pricing (which is against the law). In Holland you buy a museum year card and you can enter 200 musea for a year for like 100 euros. Visit 5 museums and you got your money out of it already. A similar thing I see here in Thailand as well: the aquarium here on Phuket sells a yearly membership for 999 baht where a regular ticket is about 100-200 baht. A waterpark sold tickets for 500 baht, or you buy a yearly membership for 4 people for 25K baht. Come once a month and you are better off with the yearly ticket, but for tourists it is not worth it as they are only here for a couple of days/weeks.

I visited the military museum at Overloon a couple of years ago, and had a "discount for your next visit (in the same year)" included (I'm British -- there was no special "Dutch" ticket). Same happens at the Bovinton Tank Museum in Dorset, UK, which everyone gets too, regardless of nationality. It's the same with many places in the UK like zoos and parks. Took the missus to London when she first relocated 20 years ago, and she was suprised how everyone pays the same (but with concessions for kids and OAPs, and sometimes disabled). There's no excuse for hidden dual pricing.

1 hour ago, dddave said:

The sad truth is, most countries charge tourist more than locals.  If you travel in the USA, even if a citizen, cross a state line and visit a state park, you will pay higher entrance and usage fees than locals will.  Go to any public beach and locals will have parking stickers allowing them to park for far less.  Go to almost any museum or public attraction in the US or Europe, locals pay less than outsiders.  Even US National Parks charge Non-citizens higher fees.

The difference is, they don't hide it.

I'm a Brit, who worked in Florida for a while back in my early 20s, and I was easily able to get a Florida ID card (based on my passport details -- yes, I understand other states/now might be different) that I could then use for "touristy places" and even many night clubs, and they would give me local pricing. Previously, when just holidaying there, it was clear that locals could buy passes to most of the attractions like Disney/Wet'n'Wild/Universal etc., for discounted entry. The irony is that back then, locals were even selling discount "tickets" to tourists to use to get into many places cheaper, that were basically just unused tabs torn from full-price tickets they'd snapped up (or possibly obtained from someone working at the attractions).

And don't give me "yeah, but in America it's all in English and and you're a native English speaker", because other than hidden entry fees, when do you EVER see Thai prices written with Thai characters rather than Arabic numerals?! Even in deepest Issan where English menus often don't exist, prices are shown as "฿40/50" etc.

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I’m trying to find out of my Wife and Son have cover for skiing - these insurance companies do not like to respond with specifics !!

 

 

 

Highly unlikely (if you're talking about "alpine skiing"), unless you paid extra for "extreme sports" cover.

Just now, DrJack54 said:

Deal.

Self serving thread. 

Strange! isn't that what all threads seeking advice are? What's your problem? ????

10 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You stated company paying.

Wasted thread imo.

You had options..

No, I didn't. I've arrange to meet friends. They bought the ticket, and 24th or 8th were the only available dates.

I didn't realise the 45 day thing doesn't start until Oct 1st. It was all genuine. Sorry if you feel aggrieved. The advice about OnwardTicket was perfect. Not wasted at all!

Feel free to block me, so you don't have to waste your time reading any of my posts again. No biggie!

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Your company booked your tickets...

... coming here to work ???.... shouldn’t your company get you a Non-Imm B Visa ?

 

Where did I say I'm working? It's a perk. Take a break from your high horse, eh?! Not all of us are tied to a desk working the grind!

I'm not on huge money, but I get a great amount of free time, which after previous rather traumatic life experience, is worth more that money can buy.

Just now, DrJack54 said:

Downgrade to what. 

Cattle class! ????????????

Flying EVA business, and I'm not wasting £2k by downgrading!

4 hours ago, Regyai said:

Why not change flights to arrive 1st Oct?

In an ideal world I would, but there are no seats available until 8th unfortunately, unless I downgrade. Also, I'm meeting friends before the 1st.

1 hour ago, Gottfrid said:

Yeah, I know. I was thinking that might happen to me some day. Does it hurt?

Where there's no sense, there's no feeling! ????????????

11 minutes ago, mnomad said:

https://onwardticket.com - doesnt have to be BKK-LHR, can be to any surrounding country, but I think all same $15 anyway - book the morning you fly

Thank you. I just saw this. I'll "book" it next Saturday morning before heading to LHR.

7 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

rent a ticket for airline check-in. onwardticket(dot)com

That's pretty handy, thank you. Do I make the "reservation" just before I check in, or can I do it now?* (Check in date is 24th, 8 days time.)

*Not being lazy; I'm reading the site now, but you may know off the top of your head. ????

Just now, Lemsta69 said:

what @jacko45ksaid, no need for a visa, just do a border bounce after the 30-day extension. incorporate it into your trip, head up to say Nong Khai then pop over to Lao for another 30. even better, head to Vientiane for a day or two.

 

Beer Lao by the Mekong, what's not to like? ????

Yeah, it's what I'm going to do. My only concern is the duration shown on the ticket and no visa to cover the dates... but I doubt the Eva check-in staff will care. Might be more of a problem if I was flying Thai though.

21 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

He means get another Visa Exempt entry at the border... which is a border bounce. No need to get a new Visa. 

Maybe the terminology has changed since the last time I did it...

Visa exempt - stay 30 days
Extension - 30 days? (Maybe 15 days... been a long time since I needed the "service".)
Visa run = get another 30 days "visa exempt"?
 

Quote

....be aware a lot of requirements aren't fully visible until your three quarters of the way through the process and you get a page with several PDF upload boxes with everything imaginable that wasn't listed on all the blogs etc, apply now - you can pause/park the application whilst gather the necessary PDFs for a few days but at least if you start now you know what you need

Bloody hell! You're not wrong, are you?! What a kerfuffle! ????????????