impulse

When I fly in from China, the airlines occasionally ask to see the currency and I show them 4000 RMB, which is about the equivalent of 20,000 THB. I've never been asked by immigration to show cash, but YMMV. FYI, I'm a US citizen

If any prisoner's death has the potential to cause millions to take to the streets, I'm sure they'd chopper any of them out. Has nothing to do with fairness.

Maybe a long term positive. After the rioting quieted down.

I doubt that the death of any other prisoner, ever, would bring millions of angry supporters onto the streets to protest. They can't afford to let him die. Yet. And they certainly can't appear complicit (by commission or omission) in bringing about his death. They did the smart thing.

Tiny little detail on the linked story about him being remanded in a non-air conditioned medical ward. That could be quite a shock to a 74 yo who's not accustomed to it.

The OP may get one or 2 suggestions here. Go to Orbitz.com, Hotels.com, Agoda, etc, and there are probably dozens, with details like pricing and ratings and availability. Click on the option to search by map... I was gobsmacked at the number of $4-10 hotel (hostel?) rooms available in Bangkok. Foolishly, I had them sort by price, low to high, and had to scroll through pages and pages before I got to hotels I was interested in. I suspect Buriram will have quite a few, too.

The thick plottens...

I'm sympathetic to the OP because I've had similar issues of tiny details causing hours of frustration. I'd suggest hiring a visa agent in your location and let them fight the fight for you. It's their business to know exactly what the Consulate requires, and to wait in the queues for you (instead of you being on hold for hours). I usually paid about $100 for the service in the USA. Well worth it on those occasions that it didn't go smoothly. I gave them the documentation they specified, they checked it and asked for clarifications and a few days later, my passport would show up with the visa. I always chose to pick mine up in person, but they also offered Fed-Ex delivery for a few dollars more. Shameless plug to anyone needing visa services in Texas: I've been very happy with VIP Passport Services in Houston. I have no affiliation with them other than being a very satisfied customer on several occasions. Mods, feel free to delete that plug if it violates any rules.

It may be helpful to specify an area of Bangkok, because there's not so much advantage to being close to the MRT or BTS if you're still an hour's (and expensive) transit ride to work or school.

Last month when I took a big bus from Kanchanaburi to MoChit, they actually stopped at the BTS/MRT stations in front of the Chatachuk market to let some of us off. But you had to be paying attention and ready to bail out, because the guy didn't stop for more than 30 seconds. I got the sense it was an unauthorized stop for him. BTW, the MRT is just as good as the BTS to get to Sukhumvit where it crosses Asoke.

Can anyone confirm or dispel this statement in the 2nd linked article? If it's true, good on the PoPo for shutting them down. Could also explain why they didn't go after more escort services whose ONLY crime is offering sex...

Just curious why you'd bother with a tourist visa when British passport holders can get in visa exempt?

The 300,000+ Thais who voluntarily emigrated to America will be devastated to hear that. And the 80,000+ who eagerly moved to Australia.

Gosh, you sure think highly of the majority of Thai people...

Closer to my proposed question, from someone else who used AI so I didn't have to:

Yeah, but he's been threatening promising to return since well before 2021. And his policies that would be of interest to foreigners happened waaaaay before 2021.

What would be interesting is to ask ChatGPT for a 1000 word essay on the pros and cons of the return of Thaksin from the point of view of a foreigner living in Thailand. But someone else is going to have to take that bullet. That AI stuff scares me.

I missed his arrival by 3 or 4 days, having just flown out on Friday. Had I been in BKK, I'd have gone to DMK just to witness Thai history being made. I'm neither a fan, nor a detractor of the man. But I sense his return will end up being historic. We'll have to see, in which direction.

You're better off contacting the airline. The rule is (was?) that you have to show hotel reservations, a flight out and some amount of cash at arrival immigration. That's probably the only answer the Thai Embassy is allowed to dispense. In about 20 arrivals (5 this year), I have never been asked for any of that at immigration. (US citizen) However, I have been asked to show cash and an outbound itinerary by some airlines before they'll issue a boarding pass to Thailand. Other airlines don't seem to care.

What state of charge do you get in 30 minutes at a typical Thai CS? How many KM range does it add?

Once they started driving, too many crashes from rubbernecking.

Good data point. Thanks

That's why it's a little disconcerting to see a 250% increase in sales without a corresponding increase in charging stations. To be clear, if I owned 2 cars, the first would be an EV, charged at home, for 90% of my driving- which is around town. But for the other 10%, which are road trips, the EV just isn't practical. Yet. I still remember a holiday weekend trip to Koh Chang that took about 12 hours, with 4 of that waiting for the ferry. Never again. I can only imagine spending another 4 hours waiting for2-3 charging ports on the round trip.

How are the queues? It's bad enough being 3rd in line at a gas station where it takes 5 minutes to top up. I can't imagine the queues on a holiday weekend, especially when the number of charging stations is a tiny percentage of the number of EV's sold.

Except price, it's in a different price range altogether. Unfair to compare them. Like comparing the PCX to a Forza. Don't forget step-thru, which is really handy for us old farts who didn't ride growing up.