Tomtomtom69

That's completely bizarre. While I have my own cars and motorcycle now, whenever I've rented a car in Thailand, they always want to see my license (which would either be my foreign license or Thai one, since I have a Thai one now). I've never been able to rent a car without showing a driver's license. Why would it be different for scooter/motorcycle rental (except for maybe the smallest 50cc bikes)?

Stay away from supposed "free" insurance offered by the Thai government, which doesn't exist. Buy your own travel insurance in your home country. Don't engage in risky behavior.

There are summer thunderstorms, mainly in the north and north-east between February and April. They tend to be isolated at first, then become more widespread, especially after Songkran. The occasional thunderstorm may hit central Thailand including Bangkok too, but in my experience, they tend to be more widespread and stronger up north and north-east vs Bangkok during that time of year. Then, around mid-May you start to experience almost daily thunderstorms, which last into early June. That's followed by light or moderate rain, generally without thunderstorms, until early July when there's a mini dry season lasting 1-2 weeks (speaking of Bangkok and anywhere east of the Dawna range). West of the Dawna range, along the border with Myanmar, it's far wetter and June, July tend to be VERY wet. Mid July until late September tends to be rather wet in Bangkok and much of upper Thailand. 2021 was VERY, VERY wet in Bangkok at least, beginning in mid July and lasting until mid September or so, but the wettest period was during the Tokyo Olympics until roughly, mid to late August. Depending on the year, the rain reduces significantly starting in the 2nd to 3rd week of October. This year, at first it seemed like the rainy season was over around September 27 or 28, but a few days later, the rains returned. While it's been mostly sunny most days since the second week of October, there has also been a bit of rain here and there and it continues to be humid, so feels like the season change isn't going to be upon us until maybe mid November this year. Unusually, February 2022 was very wet, with 10 consecutive days where there was some rain, at least in central Thailand. All the smaller canals filled back up and the humidity was as high as in September, so it can definitely rain at anytime of year in this part of the world, even during the so called "dry season". As for cold exposure - this is only an issue at higher elevations or sometimes, in the north or north-east among poor, elderly villagers who can't afford blankets or warm clothes and live in houses, which get cold during the night in those areas during December or January cold snaps because they aren't insulated. The south has a different climate, with a second, wet monsoon season beginning in December, particularly on the east coast.

Those aren't cold months. They're dry months with cooler, drier nights but during the day, it's still hot most of the time anywhere in the country that isn't in the mountains.

It's a common reaction among Africans to go on rampages when things don't go their way. Doesn't happen much in Thailand simply because there are hardly any Africans here.

It is. It's both the law and the right of a business to decide that smoking is banned on their premises. It's a market area. You making up your own alternative facts because you somehow believe this uncouth behavior is acceptable leads me to question your sanity. This guy acted like a real jerk. He's the type of tourist who should be deported and blacklisted, because he's a rude, low quality tourist that brings zero value to Thailand.

At the very beginning, but the Thais were quick to boot those farang from the cockpit as they're not Thai.

What nonsense. 20 years ago, I flew inside Thailand and on Thai registered aircraft into Thailand and it was only ever Thai citizen pilots. I have met Chinese, Korean and Japanese cabin crew working on routes to those countries for THAI. However, foreign pilots are NOT allowed to work for Thai registered airlines and this was already the case 20 years ago

"These countries"? You mean western countries? In other words, you're saying Indians, Chinese and Africans are better?

Huh? This is THAI Airways we're talking about here. When did they ever allow farang pilots in the cockpit?

There's been absolutely zero chaos at Bangkok airports recently, at least not anything caused by the weather. In fact, today was mostly sunny the entire day. I think the article is referring to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket without saying it. All three cities and their airports have been affected by flooding in recent times. Phuket has been impacted multiple times already this rainy season.

The problem is mainly with visa exempt runners coming and going the same day (or with a very short period spent outside of Thailand). As DTV holders will have a visa, there's no reason to think they'll have their movements restricted other than maybe, at a small number of borders, told to spend a night or two outside the country and/or show 20000 Baht to get back in (this is usually requested at Ranong). Non-O and Non-B multiple entry visa holders have very, very few issues and the DTV allows a period of stay per entry of twice as long as the two aforementioned visa types AND the overall visa validity is 5 years, which is 5 times longer than those two visa types. Thus there will be fewer border runs made, as only one needs to be made every 180 days and if extensions are available and not too cumbersome, it reduces down to effectively one border run a year. Also, the number of DTV holders so far is a drop in the ocean; I read somewhere just 2000-2500 have been issued. A small number compared to the tens of thousands of visa exempt travelers in Thailand at any one time.

= meaning any foreigner, even an expat. In Myanmar, a foreigner is always seen as a tourist. Restricted areas are restricted to all foreigners, regardless of their status in the country. In practice, only white and black foreigners are definitely restricted; Asian foreigners can usually sneak in.

You must be talking about yourself. That figure you quoted, is barely the minimum wage. MOST Thais earn FAR more than that. The median wage is about 15000 Baht a month and millions earn well in excess of that.

Farang aren't allowed to work in agriculture. It's a restricted occupation.