Tomtomtom69

You don't. Depends on the office.

Yes, that's a long stay visa but most people only get 1 year extensions. The DTV is considered to be a "long stay" tourist visa. Semantics I guess, but given the visa is valid for multiple entries over 5 years, it should qualify.

A "long stay visa" only gives you 11-12 months at a time. A DTV is valid for 5 years with 180 days per time. I think a mistake was made, since other offices give you 5 years on a DTV and even on a 12 month multiple entry visa with 90 days per entry, they're giving 5 year licenses.

They do give you a 5 year license on a DTV. A number of reports on that recently.

They will.

It's easy to drive to Malaysia. Any border crossing for exit; a quieter one for re-entry is my recommendation. For Singapore, apparently you need to apply for a permit, which also includes the electronic toll collection tag, 2 weeks prior to your arrival along with Singaporean third-party insurance. Since Malaysian insurance covers Singapore, I assume a Malaysian policy will cover that. I'm not sure if subsequent re-entries into Singapore can be made without giving advance notice, assuming you have the tag. Presumably yes, but I don't have any experience there. I've wanted to drive to Singapore, but never had time to drive further than Kuala Lumpur, hence why I never did.

Oh, I see. A pity you're using politics to determine what you choose to eat or drink, although I'm not going to judge you for that. It's up to you. Myanmar beer - not my cup of tea, regardless of politics. In fact, it took me a year to even open my second bottle I purchased on a trip to Myanmar a few years ago because I remembered how ordinary I found it to be the first time round. I only drank it because it was getting close to expiring and I didn't want to throw it away. When I visit Myanmar, I generally don't buy it at all, simply because, I don't like it. It's not enjoyable. It feels like I have to force myself to drink it. I'd rather drink tea, or any imported beer.

Haha. Nice photo. Still, you just have to be white, in order to be noticed by the locals. Nothing to do with wearing socks with sandals and big flashy cameras, like the old American tourist stereotype. Not saying your encounters would be negative; but more out of curiosity, since foreigners are now so rare in Myanmar, even in places like Mandalay. Even at a mall in Bangkok, I once had a strange Thai teenage girl approach me and say she was so excited to meet a foreigner. A total wacko, or some bizarre English project from school? I don't know and it wasn't the first time either, but at least the third time...(granted, only the 3rd time in nearly 20 years but just saying). Hence why in a country like Myanmar, I'd expect such encounters to be even more common.

Yes or the same sort of response as a tourist in a bar who is the victim of a prank involving a 2000 Baht bar mat. I'm referencing the case of an Australian woman, who was with her friends at a bar in Patong in Phuket I think it was, who's friend emptied her purse and placed a small mat inside, with a value of 2000 Baht as part of a prank (which by the sounds of it, sounds totally lame and hardly what I'd call a "prank"). Hopefully, she never saw those "friends" again. She left the bar with her friends and was stopped by security, who noticed she had some property of the bar in her handbag. Then the story becomes a bit confusing, but apparently her friends tell her to run, which she does, but is eventually caught. The police charge her with theft at night, which is apparently much more serious than theft during the day. Initially, she is given the chance to bribe her way out, with a 20000 Baht fine. Crazy, but this is actually a rather small figure, compared with what's to come. Apparently, she refuses and then the bribe jumps to 100000 Baht and eventually to something ridiculous like 450,000 (the way she told the story was, it's like the police and bar would negotiate to INCREASE the amount, rather than decrease every time they spoke), which is rather odd. Eventually, she ends up in jail?? In other words, do only farang end up in jail for small scale theft, because even if the official penalty is something like "up to 3-4 years in prison", it seems like no one goes to jail here for that, except farang who are extorted by corrupt police. Something doesn't add up - but if the Thai justice system treated everyone like they did this poor woman, then there would be no crime here at all, as it would be way too risky.

I am not a charity, so I don't give handouts to anyone. Like I said, I usually don't carry much cash and in this day and age of us approaching a cashless society, I'm far from an anomaly; in fact, most Thais use cash much less than I do (most use QR codes). I merely spend cash quickly; I don't not use it, I spend it, leaving me with little in my wallet once I've done my shopping or whatever else I need to use my money on. I start with say, 10000 Baht and then 3 hours later I might have only 2000 left and by the next day there's only 50 Baht left in my wallet. I also find that in SE Asian countries in general (or by extension, even China and most East Asian countries actually) you can usually get yourself out of trouble, even if you're targeted, by the way you act. OK, fortunately, I'm not 80 and slow on my feet, but if I were, I wouldn't be walking outside in a dark area late at night. If I am approached by beggars, scammers, thieves or anyone that looks shifty, I immediately leave the scene, cross the road, ignore them, scream (never had to do that) or otherwise act in a way that they lose interest. It has always worked and you almost always have people around so robbers and other criminals usually don't have time to hang around long as someone will soon notice them (and you). I don't play around.

Still easy to find Myanmar beer even in Mae Sot, Three Pagodas Pass and other border areas of Myanmar. I find it to be just OK. Not remotely as good as Beer Lao and only slightly better than any Thai beer.

Are you a dive instructor?

Do locals stare at you a lot since you're one of the few westerners in town? Must feel like being a rockstar!

A very simple process; only the parent who is authorizing the other to take their child(ren) out of the country needs to attend the amphoe or ked. Generally, the permission letter will be asked for at the border but depends on the official on duty. Even with the letter, they might ask you to call your wife and have the immigration officer speak with her, but this is usually just a formality to confirm the contents of the letter.

M81 has them, but there is still a cash option for paying tolls once you get to the exit. The M81 expressway (motorway) won't charge tolls until all toll gates have been completed and then they'll probably grant motorists a chance to use the expressway for free for the first 3-6 months, meaning tolls won't be collected until the second half of the year. Of course M81 is only now open for a trial run over new year, but I suspect it will be open every weekend from now until they formally open it sometime in a few months from now.

True, although you'll find that while the process is usually the same at each border each time you go there, sometimes, there are slight differences between border crossings. This means that one border might demand photos of the front and back of your car, while another might ask for 3 copies of all your documents, rather than 2 but no photos. The procedure for crossing into Laos is of course different from Cambodia or Malaysia or Singapore. Or Myanmar (currently not an option for farang). For example, at Nong Khai, you also need to make copies of all pages of your car passport (the purple booklet), which is a new requirement they seem to have invented in the post Covid period. No other border seems to require this, but to be safe, I prepare documents for Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia separately. For exiting at Nong Khai, I present a booklet with copies of my passport, car registration showing my name, tax page and additions (last page of the blue booklet) along with every page with a stamp on it of the purple international transport permit. I always have at least 2 copies, in case one isn't enough. For Cambodia, the purple car passport isn't needed unless you're intending on driving into Laos directly from Cambodia afterwards. Thus, I have a separate booklet containing everything above except for the purple international transport permit copies. It's a good idea to inform Thai customs of where you'll be re-entering and ensure the form you receive mentions this. In practice, most customs offices don't care what it says, but I did receive grief at one smaller border coming back from Cambodia, when it said on the form my re-entry point is Aranyaprathet/Poipet. They wanted to send me back there, but once I explained that I've never had an issue with what it says on the form and that I find the whole thing a little silly, the rather inexperienced officer, after going back and forth over the phone with Aranyaprathet customs let my vehicle back in. I even told Aran customs upon my departure that I'd be coming back through the specific border checkpoint I returned through, but the form wasn't updated. They sort of assume you're going to be coming back the same way because 99% of locals do exactly that. Same thing at Nong Khai, almost all Laotian drivers will be coming back via Nong Khai, so you really have to make sure customs understands what you want to do. They'll probably tell you "don't worry what it says on the form" so they don't have to do any extra work, but if you plan on returning through a small checkpoint, insist on the process being done properly to avoid problems on re-entry. For some unknown reason, Laos seems to be restricting Thai cars to 15 days upon entering at Vientiane again. Back in 2023, it was 30 days. 15 days is the status quo from the pre-Covid days, but I thought they were finally becoming more generous after Covid, though this seems to be short-lived. However, these 15 days can be extended in-country. I don't know what the procedure is, presumably you'd need to visit a border customs office shortly before the expiry date and get it done there or in Vientiane. Since I've never spent 15 days in Laos in one stretch with my car (though I've come close, at 12 days) I've never had to do it. However, most other borders would issue a 30 day permit even if Vientiane only gave 15 days, so for longer trips it may be worth entering somewhere else if you intend on spending a longer period in Laos and don't want to go through the hassle of extending your customs permit. I found you can now enter your details on the Lao customs system online and trying out different entry and exit points it still only gave me 15 days, regardless of what I entered. Perhaps this is the new system or you have to apply in person and find out for yourself. Or perhaps it's linked to my passport, since I receive 15 days visa-free. I don't really know, but I do know that in Vientiane, everyone, regardless of nationality, gets 15 days for their vehicle, regardless of how many days they receive through visa free, visa on arrival or visa in advance schemes (which was up to 60 days last year for westerners). I also think that if someone wants to go to the trouble of driving into Laos (or any other neighboring country) you'd have to be bonkers to immediately turn around and come back after all that. Why not explore Laos? The fun really begins once you're inside the country and driving your Thai registered car around. If you're used to it like I am, then driving in Laos (or Cambodia) isn't any more challenging than in Thailand, save for the much poorer infrastructure and the annoyance of having to get out of your seat to receive parking or toll tickets, as your steering wheel is on the opposite side.

OK, for that, there's probably no point. You're right.

Agreed, but never use violence. One time, some years ago in an apartment I rented, it was my Thai friends that were noisy and the Thai neighbors came past twice to tell us (quietly) to keep it down, at like 2am and again around 330am. I got upset at my friends for being so noisy and as a result, I never saw them again. I also never had anyone over for a party at that address again, where I would stay for another 7 months before I moved out. Thankfully, I've been living in a house for many years, but neighbors making noise really make me upset, regardless of whether that's in a hotel room or next door neighbors. That stated, if I encountered it, I wouldn't do anything more than tell them to pipe down. If it's at a hotel, I would tell management to deal with them. This happened to me most recently at a hotel in Phnom Penh, when a Spanish speaking couple were screaming at each other, almost about to kill one another between 1115pm and midnight. Fortunately, they stopped just as I was about to go to sleep.

I plan well. I know exactly what I will spend. Often times, I spend cash, use QR codes (though this method of payment is rare for me) and cards all on the same day. Generally, I'll go through all my cash first before using digital payments, but not always. It depends on the circumstances, because I know sometimes you need cash for parking or little expenses here and there. As I said, I don't frequent bars, but whatever I do spend my money on, I'll be sure I have enough left over to get home. I don't need to go to the ATM multiple times. While I am a big proponent of cash usage, I will use a card or a digital payment rather than try to find an ATM in the unlikely event I were to run out of money. I almost always drive myself, thus I don't drink, because I know I need to drive back. If I'm staying in some resort where I don't need to drive back to my room because I'm already staying there or nearby, then I might have a drink or two. I never get drunk though, as you can make yourself real vulnerable if you do, plus I hate hangovers. Again, it's all about planning well. I use the same strategies in neighboring countries or pretty much anywhere in the world as I do in Thailand.

A very simple process. If you can't manage to fill out a form and bring your vehicle registration along, best not to cross a land border and just fly or catch a bus or train. For Vientiane, you can catch a train from Bangkok and there's even an overnight cross-border bus service from Bangkok as well as from every major Isarn city starting from Khon Kaen and north of there.

The procedure is the same at every land border. Print out the forms (TM2, 3 and 4), fill them out at home (always in duplicate, one for exit and the other for entry) hand them in and get your customs form, then leave. For Laos, you also need to use your purple international transport permit, which will be stamped once by Thai customs and twice in Laos (immigration stamps it and customs as well). It's a good idea to tell Thai customs whether you'll be coming back through a different border but so far only one border has ever given me grief for handing back a form where I didn't specify another border as the reentry point. After roughly 20 to 25 minutes of waiting the officer finally resolved the issue and I was through. Most Thai customs officers are lazy and don't enquire about your travels, so you need to tell them, since 95% of the few Thais who drive their cars across the border don't travel more than a few Km and almost always return the same way.

I'm not sure, but probably. Pattaya in general is quite dodgy and his Moo Baan looks to me like a place where the working classes live, hence why it's less safe. Foreigners should only stay in middle or upper class Moo Baans. Yes - because I know my area well. I don't live anywhere near Pattaya. My area is a middle class Moo Baan with some relatively well off people residing there so of course it's safer than where this incident occurred. I've noted that outside of the Moo Baan is a different story, there are some slum like areas where Cambodian migrant workers live. Looks a bit dodgy. Safe enough to drive past even at night but I wouldn't walk through there after dark and especially not after 9pm.

Yes if it's a working girl, she would have more money after exiting the bar. Patrons would have much less.

So you're defending the perps that did this?

Clearly, he's living in the wrong area. I'd be seriously concerned if I was attacked near my house. Fortunately, my area is perfectly safe, even late at night, though outside the Moo Baan might be a little different. The press did say he was a tourist though, which begs the question, who's place is he staying at if he's not an expat? While some tourists stay at people's homes, most stay in hotels or rented apartments, not Moo Baans.