impulse

If it's modified for the strip, I'd be surprised if there's even a passenger seat, much less a seatbelt on that side.

I've been a couple of times on business and found it fascinating, though colder than a witch's left one because it was winter both times. I visited at the invitation of one of the lesser oligarchs whose staff shunned me for being an American. But the locals were fine and the city is amazing. I passed on the invites to the famous nightlife (Night Flight seems familiar?) since I don't drink. I was more interested in the historical venues. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Gotta hand it to those fascists, setting aside over 200 days of each calendar year to celebrate some aspect of LGBTXYZ life.

That one came out of left field. Glitch in the Matrix?

My experience traveling... Wherever you go, there you are. Some people drag their crappy attitude and dark cloud around with them.

The sad reality is that every truly successful Asian Tiger economy was set on that path by a corrupt strongman who forced the discipline at the trough so there was enough left over to reinvest in development. Singapore, Korea, Taiwan... (Japan's an exception because of MacArthur.) Thailand's problem is that there's nobody strong enough, other than Thaksin. So every swinging d*ck is feeding at the trough, and there's none left over for the people and development and investment. Personally, I'd be glad to get over it if his family became perpetually wealthy- if he left the country in the same state as Singapore, Korea or Taiwan.

That's great if you want to be tied to one airline. I use the travel sites to compare fares and schedules of multiple airlines.

Looks like Snake Plissken is going to have to split his time between the East and West coasts.

That's a great 1st person data point. Thanks! Which category did you apply under? I was planning to apply under health tourism since I visit Bumrungrad and Samitivej (with receipts) just about every month because they have my health records and scan images since my bypass surgery 10 years ago in Bangkok.

Is it DeJa'Vu all over again? What's the daily rate for paid protesters this time?

Back then, they actually had a great in store restaurant. One of the few places you could get a buffalo burger. It was a little POSH ($$$) for my taste, but I had to try it out. Edit: I'd add that I was also a member of the most famous bass fishing country club in the USA that cost me a pretty penny and worth every dime for the sales meetings I had on the lakes. Every oilfield sales guy had a golf membership. Very few of us belonged to Lakes of Danbury. So bass fishing was the draw of BassPro. Fly fishing was the draw of Cabela's back in the days before they went mainstream.

My history? My family got pushed off their turnip patches in Belarus and Ukraine around 1900. (Edit: Though that's not how they showed up on maps of the day) Thank God Gramps made sure his kids got an education. I doubt we'll ever get back those turnip patches, much less get any free cash.

Do you really want to open that Pandora's box? What's next? There's a million potential cash grabs if you look hard enough for them.

Then how is it okay for the knobs in the OP story to start the blame game?

News flash. They're all dead. So is everyone who was harmed by the slavery. Most have been dead for over a century. This isn't about reparations. It's a cash grab. Basically, free stuff. From one pocket to another, none of which participated in slavery.

I call it the "anal extraction method".

The issue with DTV today seems to be that it's a new enough program that we haven't seen yet whether there will be future issues. I recall reading that some holders have been asked to confirm on re-entry that they still meet the criteria under which they initially qualified. So they theoretically may have a 5 year ME visa, or they may have a 6 month visa that they have to requalify for each time. Hard to tell from on-the-ground reports so far. I'm following it because it's an option for me if I decide to get away from monthly VE entries of a week or so each month. So far, I'm not convinced... I was actually looking at DTV more as a stopgap to give me time to roll the funds and fill out the foreign account forms for US tax purposes. I may just go the full route since I do qualify for a retirement extension if I roll the funds from overseas into a Thai bank account. Of course, I'm interested in any first person experiences... Not so interested in guesses or interweb links.

All part of the plan... Eventually, they'll require tax stamps on all weed sales and only the powerful families will qualify to buy those stamps. So they'll make all the money, like they do on smokes and beer. Everyone else in the supply chain will just scrape by. If they're lucky.

I always looked at it as renting a nice seat to people-watch and getting the coffee thrown in.

On the flipside, where are you going to find a Bass Pro Shop in Thailand? Before they became a national thing, Springfield, MO was a pilgrimage for fishing/hunting fans. Like Sydney and Kearney NE for Cabelas. If I was anywhere nearby, I'd carve out a day to shop there and get a nearby hotel. Nowadays, every big town has one or more. But they're not the same. Today, they're more like clothing stores that also have sporting goods. And I point out the BassPro and Cabelas more to focus on the activities I just don't find in Thailand. Fishing, hunting, real camping, etc.

I'd go see a doctor and ask before I'd pony up for an oxygen concentrator. They're too spendy to try them on a lark. Edit: And I'd get at least 2-3 O2 finger sensors and try them out on different fingers to make sure they're at least reading consistently. They're cheap.

Technically, it is the law. Whether it's enforced or not (and by whom) is a different question.

I've been tempted to write them a Thank You note for going cashless. The first time they refused my cash order for a 160 Baht coffee, I walked 3 doors down and bought a cuppa for 60 baht. And it was just as good. They've probably saved me 5000 baht over the past 2 years because I also don't like pulling out the plastic for a $5 purchase.

That should be the mantra of every foreigner living in Asia. Not just Thailand.

That's one reason I love Samila beach down in Songkhla. But I'd bet it's the international oil companies operating out of Songkhla that fund them... This second photo is the day after a storm blew through, stirring up the water and dumping trash on the beach. It was clean that next day.