Kerryd

It's too bad. I remember the old Waiters on Wheels, which gave way to Foodpanda, which I guess is giving way to Grab. Don't like Grab. Can never get the app to accept my address and whenever I try to "find my location" - it thinks I'm 300+ kms away ! Once or twice a year I give it a try and it's the SAME problem - indicating that they simply can't be bothered fixing it. Can't figure out the "market conditions no longer align with the company's long-term strategic goals" bit. You're a food delivery company. People are still ordering food online, How does that not align with your "long term strategic goals" ? What are your "long term strategic goals" if you're a food delivery company that no longer wants to deliver food ? Oh well, I'm sure the folks at GRAB are rolling on the floor giggling at how rich this is going to make them.

Yeah - he had the stairs built - but they were on PUBLIC property (and supposedly were removed by the city afterwards). And wasn't it recorded that he (and his wife) verbally abused the woman BEFORE kicking her ? For the crime of sitting on "his" (illegaly built) steps. In front of his million baht/month rented villa, where he lives while running an "elephant sanctuary" and acting like a mobster. Kind of makes you wonder of the locals have even considered contacting the Swiss authorities to see if he's "known" to them.

She's probably hoping to get a guest appearance on The White Lotus. Someone might want to tell her that they finished shooting Season 3 long ago and won't be back for Season 4.

What would he have done if it had of been a Chinese tourist who said it ? After all, I'm (white) and Canadian so it would be natural for me to say "hi" or "hello" or "how are you ?" in English. Would that be racist if I said "Hi, How are you ?" to the same guy ? And you can imagine a Chinese person would likely greet the same person by saying something similar in Mandarin (or Cantonese). Is it then racist for a Thai person to greet me in Thai, knowing full well that I am not Thai ? Or maybe, just maybe, somebody's prescription for their "special cream" ran out that morning and they weren't able to get anymore in time ?

Did mine online 2 months ago for the first time ever after 10+ years of doing them in person. Worked like a charm. Can take 2-3 business days for a response. (Mine took 2 days and 5 hours from the time I submitted it.) From the Immigration website: "2. Procedure for Notification of residence for more than 90 days via the Internet can be report 15 days in advance." https://www.immigration.go.th/ Just went to the TM.47 site now. Everything is working normally. Punched in my passport number and nationality and it auto-filled a new form for me (not submitting it as I'm good for awhile yet). Remember - you have to have done a 90 day report at Immigration before, so that your information is in the database. And - it won't work if you try entering a different address than the one you gave Immigration before. (If there's a problem, check that you are entering the address online the same way it was on the TM.47 you gave Immigration.) And it won't work if you have a new passport and haven't gone in to Immigration so they can update it in their system. Also remember - once you have filled out the information, scroll to the bottom and click the box on the left that says you read and acknowledge the terms and conditions. Doing the report online means I'll only have to go to Immigation twice a year now (once to apply for my next Extension and then back the next day to pick up my passport with my new Extension stamp). And I don't have to worry about scheduling my next trip around weekends and holidays (or monsoon rains). If I'd know years ago that it was going to be that easy. But I read all those stories of people always complaining the system was down or didn't work for some unknown reason. I should have ignored them and checked it out for myself but wasn't really fussed about it as it normally wasn't a hassle to go to Jomtien once every 3 months anyways. But I'm beginning to think that it isn't the system that's the problem for most people.

Seems a lot of you forget - This IS Thailand. Where you can get away with murder by simply bribing the victim's family so they won't press charges (seriously). A simple accident like this will like result in a small, thin envelope being offered to the old man who will be advised that it would be in his best interest to accept the envelope and forget the incident ever happened. And that will be the end of it. Because THAT is how it is done - IN Thailand.

Same. I put the 800k in a Fixed Term account back in 2011 and it's been there ever since. I have another Fixed Term account I use when transferring money from back home and a normal Savings account that I use for my day-to-day needs. Zero requirement to move your money to a different bank. Even if you changed provinces. Just go to the nearest branch of that bank and have the account "transferred" from your old branch. The account number doesn't change so there's no hassles about the "minimum 400k" business.

I wonder what will happen to the MILLIONS that arrive and "forgot" to fill it out, or didn't know where to find the app (not everyone has a smart phone with internet access and is tech savvy). Do they all get put into an IDC pen until they figure it out ? Denied entry ? Held by Immigration and put on the next flight out ? And how many weeks (or days) before a) the system crashes and b) the system is hacked and everyone's information is released onto the internet ? We know the problems they have/had with the simple 90 Day online report system and that only has to handle maybe what, a few dozen people a day ? (Consider that not everyone uses it and there are 365 days in a year.) I'm guessing that there will be MASS chaos starting from Day 1 and by Day 7 the program will be "temporarily" suspended because they couldn't handle the volume of people doing the online TM6s as well as the massive numbers of arrivals that didn't do it at all. Probably not a good time to be flying in to Thailand.

Pattaya usually starts 4-5 days before the "official" start date so you should be prepared starting now. The "official" dates are 13-15 April. Get your phone, wallet and money in zip lock bags just to be safe. Plan your days. Stay away from residential areas (where there may be lots of kids) and bar areas - where there may be lots of girls looking for fun. Shop and stock up ahead of time if you don't want to step outside between 13-15 April. Or dress for it and go out loaded for bear with your flowery shirt, flip flops and water gun loaded with ice water.

I think the idea was being used in some places in Japan some time ago as well as China. And you notice it's not the skinny people who whine about it ? It's the obese people who think they should also get a discount so they can eat more for less.

The Cdn $ was around 27 to one around 1 1/2 years ago (according the WISE transfers I've made). It dropped over 3 baht to the dollar in 18 months and has barely gone up 1 baht in the last 3 months. And that was before all the tariff nonsense. But Thailand sets the exchange rates and pegs the baht to the US dollar so it often doesn't matter how strong our dollar is, it still gets less than the US. When the Conservatives formed the gov't back in '06, our dollar started to recover from the years of Liberal mismanagement. At one point when Chretien and Martin were running things, the dollar dropped to it's lowest ever vs the US $ (0.72 -1) and those two were happy about it ! When Harper took over and the $ started going up, the Liberals whined that it would ruin our economy and there'd be huge job losses. Never happened. In fact, in '08 our dollar was trading at par with the US and our economy was fine and there were not job losses, proving just how incompetent the Liberals were. (They'd been trying to depress the value to benefit their rich buddies who paid for labour and resources in Cdn $ and sold it for US$. The weaker the Cdn $, the greater their profits.) At one point the Cdn $ was worth $1.10 US ! (Didn't stay there long but it was a h3ll of a lot better than 0.72 !) But ! The US $ was getting almost 37 baht and the Cdn was only getting 32 ! I was a little miffed (as in - pissed off) because I was getting paid in Cdn - wired to my Thai account. We should have been getting more baht to the dollar than the US but because Thailand set the exchange rates (instead of the markets) they deliberately kept the US $ higher. And as long as the Liberals are running things - it will NOT get any better. Historically, every single time they form the gov't (since the end of WW2) our dollar has lost value and every time another gov't (like the Conservatives) take over, our dollar gains in value. Sheesh - I just looked - it's at .70 to the US now. Worse than under Chretien and Martin ! But at least companies like Bombardier, Irving Oil, SNC Lavalin, Canadian Steamship Lines and other Liberal sponsors will be happy.

So basically what this thread is saying is - if you want the exact same breakfast that is served at almost every bar in the city - just go to any bar in the city. Because almost every breakfast shown was the exact same thing. 2 eggs. 2 weiners or pieces of boiled sandwich ham, 2 pieces of usually cold toast with nearly frozen butter, maybe some baked beans and a stewed tomato or two. And a cup of gahd-awful instant coffee. I've seen the same thing served in dozens of bars, pubs, guesthouses and restaurants in the city. Jolly's seemed to be the only one with any variety. Friends of mine have a large bar on Soi Buakhao. They used to serve the "cheapie" breakfast (2 eggs, 2 weiners, 2 toast and a coffee). Thy seems to think most of their customers couldn't afford more. I pointed out a couple places nearby that were serving larger breakfasts for a few baht more and a month later, they were doing the same. I asked why they used weiners instead of pork sausages (and sandwich ham instead of bacon). Cost. Weiners and sandwich ham are much cheaper and most of their customers apparently don't want to pay "extra". I always liked the breakfasts at Tigglebitties. A bit more expensive than the breakfasts you get in all those bars, but they are also a lot better.

11 pages (so far) about an offensive t-shirt. Every year I see vendors at events selling full on Nazi regalia (pins, flags, shirts). In Germany and some other places, you'd be arrested for that. My friends have no clue what it means and don't care. Couple months ago my buddy bought a couple Japanese Rising Sun flags because he thought they looked cool. It seems the Thais have short memories as well (or just never learned about WW2 history which is likely). And people have worn Che Guevera shirts for decades - in North America - without having a clue about who he really was and what he really did. What is offensive to you may be completely meaningless to people on the other side of the world that know nothing about the significance of the offensive items.

In Thailand you have to wait 45 days after a person's death before the Will can be probated in court. In addition to (certified) copies of the Will, you will also need (certified) copies of the Death Certificate. (Translated into Thai preferably. Your lawyer should be able to help with that.) There is no "short cut" to let you empty their accounts before anyone else realizes the account holder is dead. The whole purpose of the 45 day wait is to allow relatives and creditors a chance to file claims on the deceased's estate in the event he/she owed money (or the relatives think they are entitled to a chunk of the estate). You, as the Executor, will have to swear an oath in court (promising to tell the truth) and the judge will ask a few basic questions and the lawyer will verify the Will and so on. Takes maybe half an hour if there are no wrinkles. Wear a white shirt with a collar and dark slacks (and shoes) when you go to the court.

Doctor, no. And cleary you are not either. However I've been a trained Emergency First Aid attendant (Level A) since I was 17 and during basic training my nickname actually was "Doc" (still tattooed on my arm) as I knew more than the instructors teaching us First Aid. Not to mention having been in the hospital (for operations) a couple times myself. Here's a clue - "multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the brain" - yet no IV's connected and the "family member" is wiping his (unbandaged) head with a cloth. Riiiggghhhttt. But in another photo (in the DailyMail) - the same people around him but suddenly he has an IV, a hand in a bag, oxygen tube in the nose. But LOOK at the hospital bed. Notice anything funny about it ? Like how it says "Paramount" on the end ? You know - "Paramount Healthcare Services" - in the UK ! This is the exact same bed. Yeah - get a brain. Seriously. I was admitted last year to get minor wrist surgery and they had IVs and tubes stuck everywhere. Same when I went in for shoulder surgery 6 years ago. Spent 3 days in the hospital with IVs hooked up even though I was concious and walking around and eating. Sheesh, I had 3 small incisions in my shoulder and the amount of bandaging they had on it made me look like a hunchback. And yes, the local media literally DO report pretty much ANY incident involving a foreigner. Especially one as serious as this, with Russians supposedly arrested as well. Here's another clue. LOOK at the guy in the bed. Now LOOK at the pics of the guy who is in an airport and the one of him under a tree. Literally the only resemblance is they both have "5 day beards". The guy in the hospital bed looks 15 years younger than the other guy. But hey - like I said for the last few stories like this. Surely some of you live in Phuket and can go to the hospital and take some flowers to the guy ? From the sounds of it, there should be a dozen Brits in the Phuket hospital right now. And no - you do not have to be a family member or on a list to go see someone. And if you try that excuse I'll know your full of it. I've visited people - and had people visit me - and never had anyone turned away or been told there's a "list" of who can or can't visit someone.