Simon1287

You are now officially my new hero. Sometimes Aseannow throws up something that makes putting up with all the bickering that goes on more than worth it :) Thank you!

I do hope you are right! but isn't TG910 a 777? Are they making an exception? "Thai Airways flight TG910 is operated by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft"

https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/thai-airways-business-class-premium-economy "But things are set to get tighter down the back of the Boeing 777s, which will move from rows of nine-abreast 3-3-3 to a more common 3-4-3 layout during the refit;"

https://www.travelweekly-asia.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/A-fresh-start-for-Thai-Airways-post-bankruptcy I read somewhere else a while back that from this month the 777's were changing to 3-4-3 and just found the above link saying the same. Not sure if that means they all are now or are being done as soon as they can or what. Anyone know?

I believe the Thai Airways flight BKK-LHR (Boeing 777) has now changed from 3-3-3 to 3-4-3 seating. Anyone flown that yet? 3-4-3 sounds pretty cramped on a 777. Better options? Don't do a premium economy do they? Simon

As someone who has, obviously been aware of the situation since the beginning, as we all are, but never looked at it very carefully it would be interesting to hear from the chaps that actually do know far more about what’s going on out there. My view (the view of someone who knows nothing more than what casual readings on the internet have shown him): Ukraine is never, ever and ever going to get the Russians out of what the Russians now consider to be theirs. I see that as a fact which obv Trump does too so whatever happens next has to have that fact taken into account. Anything that does not take that into account may as well not even start. Any other way of thinking is condemning untold more 1000’s upon 1000’s to misery and death for nothing more than the profits of the munitions and medical supplies manufacturers and the multi nationals just waiting in the wings for the huge contracts that will be available for the eventual rebuilding. If there is a way to end it now with any certainty so millions of people can get back to something less horrific then it has to be considered. Putin will never give up what he's taken so far. He would sooner die. To do so would be to admit defeat and that the whole god awful thing was a total waste of everything. He will simply continue fighting until all he has left to use are weapons that must never be used. The Ukrainians have been astounding in their bravery and tenacity but it’s everyone else that is paying to continue the war so everyone else has just as much right to decide what happens next as they do. Probably more so. As with everything else in life, you pay, you choose. No need to jump down my throat over this I am just saying what casual observations lead me to think and I am very curious see what people who have taken far more interest in this subject than I have say is the actual situation so I can be enlightened. I wait with true and genuine interest. Simon

Turn up at an airport and pay the fine you are deemed to have “surrendered yourself to the authorities” and as long as the overstay isn’t silly you pay the fine and away you go home. (I am not up to speed on the exact lengths of times that cause problems these days as I am not stupid enough to overstay) On the other hand, get checked by the authorities anywhere else in Thailand on overstay and you had better be prepared for a world of crap. I cringe when I see people advising people to “not worry about a few days overstay just pay at the airport”. The many farangs I have met over the years who have been whisked off to the IDC in Bangkok for quite minor overstays would most likely cringe too. One was on just 48 hours overstay when he was in an accident in Pattaya in a taxi and the police checked his passport. IDC was his next hotel. Simon

One day, many years ago when I had my then Thai wife with me on a visit back to the UK I was reversing my car out of somewhere with her in the passenger seat. “Can you watch your side and make sure I don’t hit anything” says I. Not a word in reply so I stopped. “Did you hear me?” Says I. “Yes, I hear you” says she so I carried on turning and reversing. BANG! “I thought you said you heard me!” says I. “I did” says she “but I not understand what you say”. The longer you are around them the more you realise they are not just a different coloured version of us their thought processes and views of the world are totally at odds to those of us westerners (and I mean absolutely no disrespect there whatever. Different does not mean any better or worse, just different, which is what makes them fun and interesting) Things stopped surprising me in Thailand 30 years ago. Simon

Yet, I think I may have read somewhere that UK pensioners living in Spain etc still get it, due to some Brexit clause or other?

Big time..

Yes, short term visits i.e 90 days are no problem at quite reasonable costs but even so the price you mentioned seems very reasonable indeed at age 77. Is this a company you have been with for many years? Would you let us know who it is? I was on an annual policy with a UK company that allowed me to stay in Thailand the full year and could renew while in Thailand but that had to end at age 66 and the final years cost was still only about £500 for £5 or £10 million GBP in medical cover, repatriation etc. Less than £10 a week. It's when you get over that 90 days that the costs start getting silly for people almost 70 and when you do actually get to about 70 the 90 days is about all you are likely to get I think at the lower costs. I haven't really taken the trouble to look into it all carefully so there are almost certainly better options than I have found so far but, like yourself, I am now going to split my time between UK and Thailand so 90 days is fine for me, knowing I can go back to UK or back to Thailand any morning I wake up and decide to go.

Easy to get annual emergency cover for that kind of money if you are say, a UK citizen, have a UK address, are registered with a UK doctor and are mid 60's or under. The problem comes when you get to about 66 or so. Then they don't want to know you on long term stays at anything like that low price. As a guess, if anyone really had to self insure, I would throw the figure of 4 or 5 million Baht in the ring as the minimum that should get you out of 99% of problems. I have personally known farangs over the years who have spent over 5 million Baht on one hospital stay, rare though that is.. Long term in ICU / intensive care after stroke or road accident etc etc. Then they may have the problem of needing an air ambulance home. Mega money. (Would be interested to hear what Sheryl has to say on that) I would never go to Thailand without some kind of insurance anyway. Many companies will give lower prices the higher the excess you will pay. Health insurance concerns are one of the reasons I am now, after a very long time in Thailand, splitting my time between there and UK. I could self insure at the sum I mentioned easily enough but much as I love Thailand it's just not as much as I used to, what with all the air pollution and changes there over the years, and certainly not 4 million Bahts worth. Going for 3 months at a time still only costs me something like £300 in travel insurance for millions of GBP of medical cover. For some strange reason, after more than 30 years of hating going back to the UK and gagging to get back to Thailand anytime I had to, it just doesn't seem so bad anymore. A shadow of it's former self though it is it will take care of me if I fall down now I am getting older rather than telling me to drop dead unless I can pay enough, as in Thailand. Yes, the weather can leave a lot to be desired but compared to the deadly air pollution in Thailand these days it's actually preferable a lot of the time. Not that cold weather worries me when I make sure the UK house is at least 25 degrees day and night anyway.

Well, we are all adults anyway :)

O yes. You will find many farangs checking an ID card only to find the girl was just 17 despite claiming to be 18, and the girl being utterly astounded that the farang is too stupid to realise that the birth year counts as year one, so obviously she is 18 as she says and not 17 :) Obviously, any girl who does realise how it works just borrows a friends ID card anyway. Totally everyday practice among certain types and I doubt even the girls own mother would recognise her from a lot of the ID card photos I have ever seen let alone get rumbled by a overly horny farang full of beer.

That one always seemed a bit iffy to me especially when, say, the girl came from Buriram, was working in a shop in Bangkok, the farang banged her in Bangkok and yet the police still used that method to get money from, sorry, to bring the farang to justice. It is one of the most common ways a farang gets caught and into big problems in this situation though and can be expensive what with donations to the family, and to the police for their trouble (or no one in uniform would have bothered looking for him in the first place)

The problem with your posts is that they all totally ignore the OP's point in asking in the first place. He wanted to know if 18 is ok. It's a real world question asking what would happen in the real world. You then go on to advise him that 15 is ok as that is Thai law. Yes, I was well aware of the law you are going on about more than 30 years ago when I first came to Thailand and in those days you could get away with it but my point is, and in actually trying to help the OP get his answer, is that 18 and you are 99.9999% safe, anything under and it’s big problem time if anyone in authority decides it is no matter what Liverpool Lou says. By following the “Thai law” you keep quoting all you are doing is giving some people the impression that banging a 15 year old in Thailand will be perfectly fine and no legal problems will come their way because of it. Presumably you would admit that judges in Thai courts have a rather better understanding of Thai law than you or me. Are you then saying saying that a farang caught in the act of banging a 15 year old would not only face no legal consequences for his actions but if for some weird reason he did end up before a Thai judge in a court of law the judge would merely say something like “No case to answer. 15 is the age of consent.” Is that what you are saying? Please, don’t bang on again about “That is what the law says”. Any of us with legal experience are more than aware that things are never as obvious as they seem with very old laws as modern ones have come along, despite the old ones maybe still being in place, which pretty much make the old ones irrelevant, especially in a place like Thailand.

Despite what anyone might decide is or isn't the legal age for sex the plain fact is that having sex with an under 18 year old in modern day Thailand, paid or unpaid, opens you up to the possibility of huge expense, imprisonment or both. If the girl happened to be the daughter of a Thai with “standing” and money who did not approve it might even be sensible to shy away if she was 19, though 18 is fine 99.999% of the time. (Of course, I am only referring to possible “legal” repercussions). It's a fact. Bear it in mind.

Pretty much always, if I am running and see any kind of dog I just stop running and walk until I am well past it. Saves the situation getting worrying most of the time and, certainly, carrying an umbrella (great for sunshade too) or a stick have kept all aggressive soi dogs I have ever met (1000's) at bay. Never ever had one even as much as make contact with the umbrella I was holding between me and him. Not that most soi dogs cause serious damage but it's all those trips to the hospital for rabies jabs that is the real annoyance. Always good to carry a few dog biscuits but not too many. I have had a few too many in my pockets on a couple of occasions and a most likely really hungry dog has actually smelt them and quickly become over curious. Keep them well wrapped maybe in a plastic bag if it's easy and fast to open.

Years ago I used to really enjoy wandering round with a water squirter spending all day soaking wet. Drenching people passing by in Baht busses and stuff. These days I love watching it as long as I am at least 4 stories up and dry! Though I do confess to emptying the occasional bucket of water from on high :)

After years of jogging in Thailand I would say the best way is just to carry a few dog biscuits to give them. Instant friends. Certainly, especially if you have problems with dogs near where you live it's worth thinking about. I will say that after dozens of times (more probably) that aggressive noisy dogs have tried to get the better of me just carrying an umbrella has also been 100% effective. There are some viscous ones available in shops with metal pointed tips that won't get you into trouble with the law (I have never had to actually hurt a dog with one I hasten to say, the threat is enough) but just a 120 Baht 7/11 one will do. The thing is, unless it's a "devil" dog ie pit bull etc etc in which case say your prayers and be prepared for a fight to the death, the ordinary alpha male in a pack of soi dogs is a great big coward. No point anyone arguing against that point it has happened to me more times than I can remember over the past 30 years or so. If you are carrying an umbrella it will not cross that line to get to you. Just stop, face it and keep the brolly "aimed" low at it. They just bark and snarl and seem to be panicking about losing face with the other dogs now a farang has actually chosen to call their bluff and not run away and can't think what to do. Once it know's it's not your boss just back off and away you go and they save face by "chasing you off" and away they go back to the pack. 20 years ago I used to carry pepper spray (and worse) everywhere as dogs do seem to like joggers. Very effective but not legal so best avoided. I well remember going for a late evening run in Ubon Ratchatani many years ago and turned a tight bend in town and surprised a couple of Alsatians just a few feet away from me. Very unusual to see even one but two is very rare. They were startled and probably due to that were obviously intent on harm and luckily, due to it being night time I was actually carrying a very strong and very big can of spray of some sort in my hand and let rip with it straight into their faces. In a couple of seconds the two big aggresive dogs turned into meeping puppies. That's one of the very few times I ever had to use spray and I would far rather have not had to use it but suddenly running, almost literally, into two large Alsatians in the dark I had no time to think of any other escape plan other than being carted off by an ambulance in bits. Far more often than not though, it's not the dogs that come at you barking and snarling you need to worry about it's the ones that come at you quietly and unseen from the back, like assassins. Then they rip a chunk out of you and run away. Not much you can do about them unless you have eyes in the back of your head.

Yeah stones work well if no other way. No need to actually aim at the dog just the noise and sight of a stone flying along the road should do the trick. If walking, just the act of bending down to pick a stone up will scare most of them off as they are well used to Thai's throwing things at them. Problem is if a dog even just breaks your skin (or where do you draw the line exactly?) it's off to the hospital for multiple rabies jabs so it's not worth taking any chances.

Did I read their "millionaire" parents flew in to Thailand? It's going to be a very expensive trip for them.. Even if justice needs to be seen to be done so the average Thai hooligan doesn't get the idea it's fine to beat up policeman, and a long sentence is imposed they will most likely "slip out the back door" in due course (within a year?) when it has all died down and everyone has forgotten about them. The only thing for sure here is that they are two very lucky men to have such a rich mummy and daddy as the end result, whatever it may be, would be vastly different for a poor pair of dickheads! Maybe it will turn out it was all just a misunderstanding and a picture of the brothers presenting the policeman with a pretty bunch of flowers will appear in the news :) No, probably not but in Thailand best not to make any guesses about anything really as it usually ends up being the opposite.

I was wondering that lol. Maybe they are using NZ as a testing ground before possibly rolling it out across the rest of the ones they don't care about. I doubt they'd give a stuff if a handful of Kiwis got upset so lets try a "grab all we can" as far away from anyone else as we can and see how it works. If it does then "Whooopeee! let's fleece more"

Yes, I was thinking it changed about a decade ago or something like that. Until then I used to spend the 800,000 every year, get more if needed but whatever happened made sure the full amount was back in the Thai bank three months (?) before the next retirement extension was due. No one at immigration cared back then if there was only one Baht left in the account three months and one day before the next extension.

But is that really the case. I know the memory plays tricks as the years go by but I really do not remember anything like the current levels of pollution say 20 or 25 years ago or I would never have stayed in Thailand so long. Maybe in the far north in the burning season (I can't remember) but in Pattaya etc it never used to be like this. (did it?) I well remember telling my mother I was off back to Thailand again just before Christmas, maybe 25 years ago, where it would be "just about solid sunshine for a few months" There is nothing in my head about "but air pollution so bad you can't even see Ko Larn sometimes" If it is really farmers burning rice fields to blame I don't see much will have changed there in 25 years. The huge amount of sugar cane burning that goes on nowadays, which was on a much smaller scale years ago, is a major culprit but mega money interests do a lot of it so don't expect a solution anytime soon, for obvious reasons. I can't remember if I am allowed to post an external link so if the following link vanishes just do a Google for "think global health Thailand sugar cane burning" where the very interesting article is at the page top. https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/tangled-problem-sugarcane-burning-thailand#:~:text=Sugarcane Bane,black carbon into the air.