impulse

Mea Culpa. For the vast majority of married posters here, their wife is Thai. And serves as their translator and bill payer and bank dealer and...and... Over the years, I've met a lot of self proclaimed "Thai experts" that couldn't find their way around their own block if their Thai wife didn't point the way for them. My apologies if I lumped you in undeserved. BTW, that's also why I don't hesitate to hire an agent when an agent can save me hours of frustration.

On a holiday?

So you can understand how it may be different for the guys with no wife? The ones that have choose to navigate Thailand on their own...

I'm curious whether the jury's been tampered with, either directly or through family members.

I'm not sure what standing the GF has to decide. She may not be too keen on blood toxicology results. At the very least, they should contact the family. They may have their own suspicions.

If you're referring to Thai SS scheme, that's one of my biggest regrets. I should have kept making the paltry monthly payments to keep it alive after my contract ended and my WP expired. But I had left Thailand and didn't really expect to come back. I still haven't come back full time, but now that I'm considering it, I wish I had kept up the payments which would have probably been a few hundred USD over the past 5 or 6 years. To anyone whose work in Thailand is finishing up, I'd encourage you to look into keeping the SS payments active so you're covered for health care. I wish I had. I know it's not comparable, but a couple of my Canuck former co-workers are currently paying over $1,000 USD a month for private coverage in Thailand. No problem for either one of them who have long ties to Thailand, Thai families and lots of dosh. (And pre-existing conditions) But my heart goes out to the guy in the OP because $1000 a month doesn't look like it was in his price range.

They probably both do. He may have been in for the real shocker had the transaction actually gone through to fruition.

I think the important takeaway from that historical data point is that we won't get to vote on what we'll do. That will be decided based on what passport you hold and which side your country's gub'ment would support, if it did come to blows. The odds that war will break out may be miniscule. But if it did, our preferences would mean absolutely diddly squat.

This past week or so, China implemented new rules for power banks allowed on Chinese flights. They must be CCC rated or they won't allow them on the plane, even in carry-ons. Previously, they'd allow CE rated power banks in carry-ons as long as you didn't use them while on the plane. No more. Social media here says one airport has stopped 2800 in one day. Travelers can abandon them at security, have them mailed to their home (real cheap here in China), or leave them with airport security and pick them up on their way back through, but I don't know how any of that will work for foreign travelers. Just for giggles, I checked my 6 power banks and none of them are marked CCC. They're all CE. I checked the selection at the local (Chinese) department store and couldn't find one that's marked CCC. Hopefully, there are some available, but I haven't found one (though I didn't look online yet). That's all I know. How that will be handled on flights out of BKK is anyone's guess. But if you're going to have to transfer to a domestic Chinese flight, count on leaving your power bank unless it's marked CCC.

I suspect that the nature of his relationship with "his girlfriend" will be the key to this story. Not to mention the nature of the GF him/herself. Not hard to imagine he was a fairly random victim who just didn't give up the cash... But that's just a guess. Like every other proposed scenario.

Easy enough to say. When I first got to Bangkok in 2011, I noticed some bullet holes in some of the stainless pedestrian railings across some pedestrian overpasses. Turns out they were stray bullets from the kerfuffles on the streets a few years earlier. When the bullets start flying, nobody's safe.

Someone post back if they start camping in the Asoke intersection. That was a dead giveaway last time.

You can say that, but I'll bet you'd change your tune if you rear ended someone who changed lanes right in front of you. This is a good cautionary tale to install a good dash cam. Unless it's more likely to implicate your driving than to exonerate you.

What? No lefties chiming in?

Another take: Three stories today that would have ended very differently had they been riding in a car instead of on a scooter.

…at least for now anyway. What's he going to say? We don't give a rat about transnational crime... You're on your own?

I stand by my original suggestion to go see a doctor to get a proper diagnosis. By way of personal experience, after I got my 4x bypass surgery at Bumrungrad, they x-rayed my lungs pretty regularly to see my progress. Turns out the reason my lungs were filled up with fluid is because my heart wasn't beating strong enough to keep them clear. So it was a question of what was causing which. In my case, it was plugged arteries causing the fluid buildup in my lungs. But YMMV. Get ye to a doctor. At least before you pony up the $1000 USD or so to try out an oxygen concentrator. Which may do nothing for you.

They don't want to be prosecuted for doing the right thing. I can't say I blame them after the Daniel Penny trial.

I didn't bring up Salt Lake City. Patong2021 did. As an example of a very high crime rate in a Red state. Here's his quote: Salt Lake City, Utah ranks first for rape and larceny theft among small-sized cities. Your logic holds that Republicans and Mormons are to blame. He didn't drill deep enough to see that SLC is a Blue oasis of criminality in that Red state. Pull up just any lefty MSM crime "statistic" and I can scratch just below the surface to show you why it's wrong. Starting with FBI statistics. Lots of examples from several posters on this thread alone.

Perhaps someone in the know could post up a link to an agent that can help expedite the OP's process?

He's not wrong though.

Of course there will be. But good luck with that. And good luck next time it's a Dem in the White House and the Repubs do the same to her.

Of course you're not. But Dems vote for "equity" in justice, making allowances for certain demographics to commit crimes with impunity because they had a rough upbringing and because they're incarcerated at a higher rate than other demographics. Which, of course is racist and completely neglects the FBI statistics that show they're incarcerated at a higher rate because they commit crimes at a higher rate.

I doubt he was staying in many hotels. Probably rented an apartment/condo when he was legal and just stayed there.

Maybe. Maybe not... It votes Blue. (Oklahoma County, right in the middle here.) When I worked there in the '90s, mass transit (subways) weren't even a thing. (Yes, that was when the OKC bombing occurred).