Kerryd

I still lol. When the current PM took office I opined that she'd be lucky to last a year. But the media was suggesting she'd serve her full (4 year) term. A headline from a leading Thai media site - 27 Oct 2024: Most Thais think govt will survive until term ends: poll "Most Thai people are of the opinion that the government of Prime Minister Paetongtarn “Ung Ing” Shinawatra will be able to last until the end of its mandate in four years' time, but some believe it will collapse before the year’s end, according to a survey by the National Institute of Development Administration, or Nida Poll. The survey sought to sample public opinion on the prospect of the government’s survival until the end of its four-year term in 2027. The answers were as follows: • 41.68% believed the government would survive political challenges ahead and be able to complete its term in 2027 • 19.08% thought it would last about two years (2026) • 16.87% thought it would last about a year (2025) • 11.99 believed it would last nearly until the end of its term • 9.77% thought it would collapse before the New Year • 0.61% had no answer or were not interested And the main reasons people thought the gov't might collapse sooner than later ? 34.43% failing to improve the country’s economy as promised and below the public's expectations 32.52% activists filing petitions against Thaksin Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai Party 29.47% crises due to Ms Paetongtarn’s mismanagement of national affairs 28.85% activists filing petitions against the premier and the Pheu Thai Party 19.77% corruption as a result of imprudent administration 17.25 conflicts among coalition parties 16.64% nothing would prevent the government from completing its four-year term 10.92% political turmoil caused by protest rallies 9.62% proposed amendments to constitutional provisions governing the ethics of holders of political positions 9.08% scrutiny by the opposition parties 8.24% proposing an amnesty bill on sensitive issues 8.09% the Tak Bai massacre case 6.95% a coup d'etat And now you've got the Thaksin medical/prison scandal. The Thaksin "lese majeste" accusations and upcoming trial(s). The border clash with Cambodia. Prawit suggesting she should resign. Hints that Anutin may table a Vote of Non-Confidence against the PM. Another party suggesting the Constitutional Court should disband the Pheu Thai Party. Or - as they say in Thailand - just another day like any other !

For those of you who weren't around when the "red shirt/yellow shirt" riots were happening, it was alleged in the Thai media that one of the reasons the yellow shirts were protesting Thaksin was that they thought he was trying to basically replace the (former) king and become the "most revered and beloved figure" in Thailand basically. The "yellow" shirts backed the monarchy (yellow being the "royal" colour) and the red shirts represented the lower classes (farmers, taxi drivers, food vendors) - the same people Thaksin had been paying to vote for him basically. (So when Hun Sen mentions "insults to the king" you can imagine he actually does know something.) And back then there were the same shenanigans. Thaksin did an "end around" the law by using his kids, maids and chauffeurs to offload his shares in ShinCorp so he could avoid paying billions in taxes - and ignore a court ruling prohibiting the sale (for national security reasons as ShinCorp owned the satellites the Thai military communications networks use). Then there was his "war on drugs" where over 2,500 (at least) "drug dealers" were killed in shoot-outs with the police that some hinted was actually an operation to "clean out the competition". Then there was the suspect land deal where the organization that manages the public land in Bangkok sold some prime real estate to Thaksin's wife - for a quarter of the market value. She then flipped it for full price. (She was charged for that herself and given a prison sentence.) But ! Smoke and mirrors ! He introduced the "30 baht healthcare scheme" where anyone could go to a hospital and see a doctor for just 30 baht. People were so enamoured by that they forgot about everything else he was doing. And that was exactly the purpose - to distract attention away from everything else he was doing. No surprise that this recent border incident started right after the Medical Board took action against the doctors who signed off on Thaksin's condition and the announcements of an inquiry into his "hospital stay". I mentioned that the timing was suspect when it first happened and sure enough - news about the hospital inquiries quickly fell to the wayside. But not entirely. And remember - Thaksin is still facing a "lèse-majesté" charge from a couple years ago already. "In May 2024, Thaksin was charged with lèse-majesté by the Attorney-General over remarks he made during an interview with South Korean media while in exile in 2015." You can look up Thaksin's wiki page and search for "lese" and you can see the mentions of the different previous accusations while he was PM. So you can imagine the turmoil if Hun Sen reveals other instances that could result in more lèse-majesté charges. I don't think there are enough brown envelopes in Thailand to get out of that !

I've had a 2 year "temp" license, two five year renewals and am on my third 5 year license and I've ALWAYS had to do the tests. Even "way back when" when I had a valid foreign license and IDP, when I went to get a Thai license I had to do the tests. I was told that the the "old" practise of giving people with (valid) foreign licenses a Thai one stopped after the coup in 2006 as the military had clamped down on things. In any event, did the paperwork, passed the tests, got my license. Went back two years later, did the paperwork, passed the tests, got my 5 year license. Went back 5 years later - repeat. And again. I wonder if this will effect the "online renewal" program they just started recently ?

There is a LOT of gambling that goes on in Thailand and most foreigners are clueless about it. So many times I've gone somewhere with a Thai girl or with other friends and suddenly someone pulls out a PVC mat with numbered squares and some dice or cards and suddenly everyone is throwing money on different squares and hooting and hollering. It can go on for hours, depending on how lucky some are or how lucky the "house" is. And games people start playing for 5 and 10 baht often jump to 20 and 100 baht very quickly and suddenly instead of losing 200 baht people have lost their wages for the whole month. I usually walk away and find a quiet place to chill until they're finished. Some people can get a little "agitated" if their luck isn't with them, or they think someone else is a little "too lucky". And we know the famous Thai smiles and friendliness is a very thin facade over a lot of bottled up rage. Which probably has a lot to do with why gambling is illegal in the first place. And a hint of what could happen if that changes in the future.

About 2 months ago I had to go to the bank (Bangkok Bank) because I'd forgotten my card in an ATM and needed to cancel it in a hurry. Get to the bank, get my number, only 1 number ahead of me ! Then I sat for 40 minutes as an "agent" opened accounts for 9 or 10 foreigners in a row. Luckily she had most of the paperwork ready to go so it only took a few minutes for each one. Had me scratching my head though because I thought they were cracking down on foreigners opening accounts. And a Multi Re-entry permit costs 3,800 at Immigration. My understanding was you could only get a single re-entry permit at the airport or a border crossing and that costs 1,000 each time. And it's quite common for people to brag on this and other forums about how they scam Immigration. And then one day Immigration changes the rules to get rid of that very loophole and everyone whines. Because they assume Immigration is too stupid to ever have any English speaking staff check those very same forums for that very reason. And that is how we went from needing 800k in the bank on the day you applied to having to have it in the bank for 3 months, then needing it in there for 2 months before and 3 months after. And now having to keep 400k in the bank all year and 800k for 5 months. Because people kept bragging about how they were scamming Immigration to get around the rules. So Immigration keeps changing those rules to try and stop those scammers.

With a neck brace on. I'm almost surprised the Medical Council of Thailand upheld its decision to suspend or discipline several doctors after the Health Minister opposed it. A previous article said that they'd need a (large) majority of the members of that Council to vote against the Minister in order to over-rule him and maintain their decision. Got to think they know enough about what really went on to know the truth will come out eventually no matter what they do. But the courts have to say "enough is enough" and start the trial NOW instead of continuously putting it off. Show the people that you are serious instead of making it look like you are giving the criminals more time to "influence" their way out of it. It will be very interesting to see what happens if it looks like things are going against Thaksin. He's tried to leave the country a couple times since he was "freed" and been denied each time. Got to think if it looks like he might end up going back to prison (lol) he will somehow wake up back in Dubai all of a sudden. Wouldn't bode well for his sister's return either.

I only came here to see if there was a GoFundMe link already in the article. I expected that would be the case and wasn't disappointed. That is literally the red flag that it's a scam. NOT reported in local news - that literally reports on ANY incident involving a foreigner. Whether it's an Indian having a gold chain snatched, a drunk Euro tearing up a shop, a drunk trying to scam out of paying his bar bill. Pretty much ANY vehicle accident involving a foreigner. Especially one that results in severe injuries to someone. If it has a foreigner involved it pretty much always ends up in the news. UNLESS it ONLY appears in a foreign tabloid media site and has a GoFundMe already linked to it for some strange reason. Then it never seems to appear in the local media. Odd how that happens, isn't it ? You'd think a foreigner that somehow mysteriously ends up in a Chonburi Hospital (not a Pattaya hospital) would be a major news story. Especially if they (the hospital) was supposedly claiming that he'd been the victim of a "violent attack". (The version that shows up in the Sun says it was a Bangkok hospital and then later says Chonburi. The ASEAN Now version says it's a Pattaya Hospital. Little disappointed as I would happily go to any of the Pattaya hospitals and bring the guy some flowers and - what goes good with scam story - some black "pudding" maybe ?). And it's the same thing with almost all of these stories. Lots of generalities and literally no specific details that can be checked. A generic photo that could be anyone. Judging from that photo, whoever it is is in a "general ward" of a gov't hospital. So this guy has the money to just up and "fly to Thailand on a whim". But doesn't buy travel insurance of course. Meets up "with friends" and goes out partying. Note the guy supposedly has epilepsy. And was out partying in "nightclubs". And ends up with a traumatic head injury. In a hospital nearly 90kms away. Sounds more like someone who was drinking and had a motorcycle accident while not weaing a helmet, doesn't it ? With no insurance. This is usually a "Phuket" kind of story. And here's another clue - the Wales News Service - Other similar tabloid outlets also offer cash for your "vacation horror stories" that they then "buff" and edit (to remove specific details) and they sell those stories to other outlets. Which is why you see this story suddenly appear in a dozen different little minor tabloid sites and then a day later suddenly it appears in a bunch more. And then the people running ASEAN Now/The Thaiger just copy/paste any of those stories that supposedly involve Thailand. And they almost all have the same basic details. A "mysterious" accident - that was never reported in the local news. Generic details - like a "Chonburi" hospital. Nothing about his friends, what hotel he was staying in, what nightclubs they supposedly visited. No police reports of course. And they are first reported in a UK tabloid "media" site - that pays for people's horror stories and resells them. And the articles already have GoFundMe links set up. This one was actually set up the day BEFORE the story was reported in the news. (It's critical to the scam that you set up the GoFundMe link before you sell your story to the media. Better exposure and the media site isn't likely to edit the article to include the GoFundMe after they've already published (and paid for) the story.) And I've run down a couple "Ashton Jones" profiles, including one that lives in Cwmbran, and not a single mention of travelling to Thailand. Got a blouse-lifting, window licking friend that's overly fond of sheep living about 50kms away from where this guy is. Asking him to give the guy a call. Would be funny if the guy answered the phone, wouldn't it ? It's almost hilarious how many people just automatically assume that - because the guy is from the UK - that automatically means it's on the "up and up" and there's no way it could be a scam. That reminds me, how is that guy who had the motorcycle accident (without a helmet) - the day after his insurance expired ? And what about the 2 different stories of 2 different people from the UK who both supposedly both went to India, then travelled to Thailand and ended up in the hospital - but their insurance only covered them while they were in India supposedly. And who can forget the elderly couple that travelled to Thailand for their anniversary and were robbed and beaten "at gunpoint" on their first night ? Their GoFundMe was cancelled when it turned out they'd been seen on CCTV trying to break into rooms at a different hotel and the guy was hurt while jumping off a 1st floor ledge. They skipped out of the hospital and got a flight to Dubai before the cops could catch them. Or the Australian girls who skipped out on their hotel bill and flew back to Oz and then went to the media (not the police of course) to claim that they did that because one of the girls had been raped at the hotel. Except that the police reviewed the CCTV footage and it showed her bringing 2 guys back to her room and then a couple hours later standing at the door in a towel waving goodbye to them. And then the three of them snuck out of the hotel, got in a cab, went to the airport and flew home, leaving a large unpaid bill behind. Or the two Irish guys who claimed they'd been drugged and raped and their insurance wouldn't pay for HIV tests ? Turns out they'd been partying and having unprotected sex with some Thai boys and tried to get their insurance to pay for HIV tests and when they were turned down, they returned to the UK and made up a story about being drugged and raped so they could get tested - for free. And what about the girl (a self-proclaimed "model") who set up a GoFundMe because her "friend" had a motorcycle accident (in Phuket of course) and she needed money to fly there and help her friend get home. And then posts pics of the hotel she stayed at and the beaches she went to - but none of her friend she was supposedly there to help. The friend she cared so much about, but had no photos of on her Facebook and never mentioned in any of her posts - until suddenly she needed to publicize the GoFundMe - to finance her vacation apparently. And then there was guy who claimed he'd been "kidnapped by people dressed like police who were demanding a ransom to let him go". His friends set up a GoFundMe (of course) and then went to a local media outlet to cry about how their poor friend was in such desperate need. Turns out the guy had flown to Thailand and 3 days (!!!) later was caught trying to sell drugs to an undercover cop - in a section of Bangkok notorious for "African" drug dealers. He'd been taken to a Police station (not some "basement" like his friends claimed) and told how much his BAIL would be (not a "ransom"). But the truth wouldn't generate any sympathy, would it ? Yeah, his GoFundMe was cancelled as well when it turned out he was a low level drug dealer trying to raise money to buy his way out of jail. I had TOLD the reporter at the Edmonton Sun what was really going on - but she didn't want to believe me. Until she found out from Foreign Affairs that yes, a Canadian had been arrested in Bangkok on "that" date. She tried to do a follow up with the "friends" that set up the GoFundMe and told her the story - but they wouldn't answer her calls for some reason. And ALL of those stories had the same basic elements. NEVER reported in any local media. ALL had GoFundMe's set up before the story appeared in a tabloid media site "back home". No specifics (i.e. no names of Hotels, bars or restaurants that could be checked, vague dates like "last fall" or "in September"). Generic photos that could be of literally anyone with no distinguishing marks of course. And the GoFundMe scams are always set up by "a friend". Literally never by an actual, named relative. Because those names could be checked. But a random "friend" doing that out of the "goodness of their heart" ? How are you going to ask a comatose patient in an unknown Thai hospital if "Jane Doe" is really his bestest friend - especially when she isn't in his friend's list, he has no photos of her or any posts that include her in his profile. And if Jane Doe just collects the money and disappears - who's going to do anything about it anyways, right ? It's not like GoFundMe vets the people who set up the scams or checks that they are who they say they are, or that they've actually given the money to the people they claim they were raising it for. You can get an "appeal" cancelled if you can prove it's fraudulent and GoFundMe will refund the money back to whoever donated it. But it's kind of hard to prove an appeal is fraudulent when you only have a few, generic details to work with (and the "victims" always seem to be halfway across the country from you so you can't just "drop in" to wherever they are and say hi and wish them well. Would be kind of embarrassing if someone stopped into the Chonburi Hospital to drop off flowers for Mr Ashton here and found out they've never heard of him and don't have any foreign patients at the hospital. I had my hopes up when I saw "Pattaya" hospital in the ASEAN Now cut and paste hack job. Oh well. I can wait until they scan the Brit tabloids and find another "vacation horror story" that was never reported in the local media and has a GoFundMe already set up. Maybe one day it will be something that happened in Pattaya. Kind of glad I don't live in Phuket. Seems every other week another person from the UK is in a life-threatening accident tht doesn't make the local news and ends up in a "hospital" without any insurance. I wonder if all the Indians who claim they were "robbed by ladyboys" set up GoFundMe scams and sell their stories to Indian tabloid sites the same way the Brits do ?

As I said - every Immigration Office has it's own requirements that may not be the same as any other office. At Jomtien, I have never had to show more than the bank book balance from the time of the previous Extension application, nor been asked to provide a 12 month statement, for using the 800k in an account method. All they want to see is that my balance didn't drop below the 800k/400k minimums during the previous year. And that is a Fixed Term account that generally has 2 transactions per year. One when my annual interest payment is deposited and one when I update the balance. It used to be - in some places - in the "old days" - that they wanted the money to be in a Savings Account and they wanted to see transactions on the account to prove you were actually using that money to fund your stay in Thailand. But at Jomtien they have no problem with people keeping that money in a much safer Fixed Term account that has almost no transactions on it at all. Makes their job much easier in fact as they don't have to wade through pages and pages and pages of photocopies to see if your balance ever dropped below the minimum 800k - in the first 3 months since your last Extension - or below 400k over the next 7 months, or below 800k again for the last 2 months before your current application. And yes, some offices may want additional information which is why I said it is important for the person doing the Extension application to find out for themselves what the office they are dealing with wants. I've only had to submit a TM.30 once and that was when they (Jomtien) changed the way they were doing 90 Day reports. They demanded people "verify their address" first (I'm guessing to give work to the new "Address Notification" desk they'd set up next to the "90 Day Report" desk in the new annex they built a couple years ago). Once they verified your address, they stapled a "Receipt of Notification" in your passport, which you then need to photocopy and add to the stack of paperwork they now expect people to do every time they do a 90 day report. But that "Receipt" isn't good enough (at Jomtien at least) to prove your residence when you are doing an Extension. Which is a head scratcher in itself. And who knows. Maybe when I go to do my Application next year, there will be different requirements - for things that other offices don't expect. But I always go in 2 weeks early just so I'm prepared in case there are changes. You can (in some/most places) submit your annual Extension Application up to a month in advance of your due date. Regardless of when you submit it, they won't change your due date though. For example. Say your "due date" is 30 June 2025. You decide to go into Immigration on 17 June and your get your passport back on 18 June. Your new "due date" will be 30 June 2026. You don't gain, or lose, any days by waiting longer or going earlier. Going earlier gives you the ability to change your schedule (in the event of holidays or bad weather or riots or border closures) and react to any changes. But we know what happens if you go a day late, don't we ?

MOST Immigration offices have similar requirements. Some have more, some will let you slide with less - sometimes. You should always plan ahead, give yourself extra time (i.e. don't wait until the afternoon of the last day before your Extension expires), do your paperwork BEFORE you go and THINK about when you are going (as in, try not to go on a Monday, or a Friday, especially if it's a holiday weekend). Check the weather as well. I find if it looks like rain, or is raining lightly, a lot of people will stay home, meaning shorter lines at the Immigration office. I have a file folder I keep my Extension paperwork in and have a list of the paperwork needed as well as extra passport photos and photocopies. Generally, you always need: Your passport. TM.7 Extension of Temporary Stay form. https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/4.คำขออนุญาตเพื่ออยู่ในราชอาณาจักรเป็นการชั่วคราวต่อไป-ตม.7.pdf (Bookmark that or download the form and save it to your computer.) Photocopies of: the Facepage of your passport, if you've transferred stamps from an old passport to a new one - a photocopy of that page, the page showing the last Entry (into Thailand) stamp, the page showing your last Extension of Stay stamp. photocopy of (both sides) of your last TM.6 (Arrival Card) - if you have one. (Not sure what they'll want now that the TM.6 is done online. But if you have a TM.6 from your last entry to Thailand then you'd better photocopy it and include that with the rest of your paperwork.) Photocopy of (both sides) of your THAI driver's license if you have one. Or a copy of your lease/rental agreement. POSSIBLY a copy of the (blue) House book and owner's ID card (not required at every place). (Previously I used photocopies of recent utility bills that showed my name and address. Once I got a Thai driver's license, they accepted a photocopy of that instead.) Bank Letter. If you are using the "800k in an account" method then you will need a photocopy of the first page of your bankbook (that shows your name and account number) as well as a photocopy of the UPDATED page showing the current balance. In some places that has to have been updated within the last 3 days. Some places may expect it to be updated on the day you make your application. (Yes, you can go to a bank branch that has a passbook update machine before you go to Immigration even if the bank itself isn't open yet, assuming you got the bank letter beforehand.) (Note: if your updated balance is on a fresh page, photocopy the page before that as well. They want to confirm your balance didn't go below the minimum over the last year. Take your bank book with you just in case.) IF you are using the "monthly transfer of 65k" then you will need the Bank Letter and photocopies of the bank book page(s) for the last year to show every transfer for the last year. EVERY transfer. (Don't bother trying to argue the point with Immigration. Either you can show 12 months of transfers above the minimum or you can't.) (And don't bother trying to argue on here that you are a special snowflake that shouldn't have to show 12 transfers because of that time Jupiter aligned with Mars and that caused a change in the exchange rates one month and your transfer was less than the minimum required. No one cares.) Additionally you will need a passport sized recent photograph and the 1,900 baht fee of course. In Jomtien for example, they expect EVERY photocopy to be signed - but you can sign them ahead of time. And on the TM.7 form they want your phone number written below your signature (on both sides of the form). And in Jomtien they have 2 additional forms they expect you to sign. One is an Acknowledgement of the Terms and Conditions of the Extension of Temporary Stay and notes why it could be cancelled. The other is an Acknowledgement of the penalties for overstaying your Temporary Stay. I don't know if that is a requirement everywhere though as those aren't "official" forms. That is why it pays to go a few days/week early, in case the office you deal with has different requirements. And once you know what the office you deal with wants - make a list. It's NOT that hard to do. Sheesh, aside from the bank letter, TM.7 and updated bank book, I've got pretty much all my paperwork for next year already done. (That was more to get it done while the cartridges in the printer were still fresh though.) And if you end up with a photocopy of something they don't want it's not a big deal. They'll either ignore it or hand it back to you. It takes me 15-20 minutes a year to get all my paperwork printed/signed, another 15-20 minutes at the bank (sometimes) and I'm ready to go. I show up at Immigration early, often being #1 or 2 for the Extension Desk. And in most cases, I'm done and out the door in 4-5 minutes. Like I said, it's not that hard - if you think about it and prepare ahead of time. But hey, what do I know right ? I've just done my 13th straight Extension of Stay with no problems. Pro-tip - SHOWER and put on CLEAN clothes before you go. Be POLITE. Do NOT try to argue with the Immigration Officer(s). I've seen - and stood in front of - people that REEKED of body odour and looked like they'd woken up on a bar floor, grabbed their passport and went to Immigration. And people who get to the desk, hand the IO their passport and then expect the IO to fill out the paperwork and make the photocopies for them. Or they didn't update their bank book and try to con the IO into just letting it pass "this time". That's one of the reasons I like to show up early. Less chance of having to put up with people like that - and less chance the IO's will already be in a bad mood from already having to deal with people like that. But again - each Immigration office can have slightly different requirements and it's up to YOU to find out what the office YOU are dealing with expects.

I imagine the locals themselves will not be overly impressed with the invasion of their privacy. And how many (months/weeks/days or just hours) before someone notices the drones are paying far too much attention to bikini-clad ladies on the beach than they are to "looking for overstaying foreigners". (Won't even bother with the need for hi-def, real-time digital imaging and bio-metric scanning linked to a database of known overstayers, with roving police patrols ready to swoop in to catch the offenders before they wander off the beach.) Seriously. Are they really thinking they're going to catch thousands of "over-stayers" hanging around at the beach ?!??!? Someone might want to take a very close look at the contract for those drones and who is pushing them for acceptance. (I would suspect that they'd use them for a couple weeks, catch no one, have to bury a couple of "naughty" clips, have a bunch of drones crash and injure people, or get smashed out of the air by irate tourists and locals and the rest get shelved because no one knows how to maintain them. And then the story will just quietly fade away. Like the GT200 fake bomb scanners.)

I'm confused. Is this topic about a bunch of Cambodian, Burmese and Karen "youth" gathering for a potential gang war ? Or is it a pecker-pulling contest about who supposedly makes more money from alleged Tic Toc videos ? Or is it about "Ibiza rejects, Nazis and weed shops" causing all the problems in Pattaya ? Because neither of the last two have anything at all to do with the original topic.

The ICJ makes judgements based on POLITICS - not on "letter of the law" or actual facts. Which is why they ruled against Thailand previously in the Phra Vihear issue - because they WANTED to give that temple to Cambodia despite it CLEARLY being in what should have been Thai territory. Which stems back to the early 1900s when a FRENCH cartographer mapped out the border between Thailand and (French) Indo-China - France's colonies in SouthEast Asia (Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia at the time). Whether the cartographer made a mistake, or didn't actually do the survey properly or deliberately excluded Phra Vihear from the Thai side of the border (ignoring the actual fall of the land and cutting that hill off for some reason) we will never know. But we do know that, at the time, the temple didn't have any great significance, especially considering it's remote location. It seems Thailand assumed the temple was on Thai territory in accordance with a 1904 treaty, but the map the French drew in 1907, for unexplained reasons, deviated slightly from the watershed it was supposed to follow, thus resulting in the temple being on the Cambodian side of the line. But it stayed like that until 1954 when the French withdrew and Thailand occupied the temple to enforce their claim to it. Cambodia went to the International Court of Justice and argued that because Thailand never objected to the error before, the temple should belong to Cambodia. And despite the FACT the border was drawn in error - the ICJ agreed with Cambodia because it WANTED to give them that temple (to "help them" as they transitioned from being a French colony). So the ruling was NOT based in fact or reality, but entirely on politics. And in 2010 Cambodia filed a protest with Google Maps because Maps used the proper watershed line to delineate the border instead of the incorrect 1907 line. (It is an issue still as Google Maps often show the border being completely different than what it is on the old maps.) As late as 2013 the ICJ STILL considers the temple and adjacent lands to the East and West as being Cambodian, regardless of how the border should actually be. Again, it seems they ruled that way because they were siding with "the little guy" and making their judgement based on politics instead of evidence and reality. (The temple being "Cambodian" gives Cambodia more status as it gains another World Heritage Site and theoretically helps their economy - which is why the ICJ keeps ruling in Cambodia's favour instead of doing something rational like ordering the border to be redrawn properly to correct the error - because that would result in the temple firmly being in Thailand.) And that is (likely) why Thailand is ignoring the ICJ because it knows they will NOT make judgements based on the law but based on whoever they want to grant favour to - or whoever is pulling their strings behind the scenes.

2 June, the day after the crack down started, I took 2 different moto taxis. Neither one had a spare helmet for a passenger at all. I was carrying a spare skid lid as I was going to the shop to get my bike and I wore it because I KNEW if the cops stopped the moto-taxi guy, I'd be the one getting the fine even though HE didn't have a spare helmet at all. (Turns out the bike wasn't ready so I took a different moto-taxi home and same thing - he didn't have a spare helmet for a passenger at all.) Once a few of them get fined and word gets around, they'll all be carrying a spare helmet - or they won't doing any business at all.

"Expats" aren't "confused". The ENTIRE article centered around ONE "expat" who had a "playful argument" with his wife about scooters with side-cars/carts. Which shouldn't be an argument anyways. If you are supposed to have a motorcycle license to drive it, then you are supposed to wear a helmet while driving it - or riding on it. Someone in the side-car/cart is NO different than a passenger on the actual scooter.

That area is right at the junction of the borders of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Kind of a "poor man's Golden Triangle". And there doesn't really appear to be anything there at all, unlike at Ta Muen where there are large Khmer temple complexes and at Phra Vihear (or "Khao Phra Viharn" in Thai), which has been the site of a couple clashes between the Thais and Cambodians - thanks to a mapping error by the French when they surveyed the border between Thailand and their colonies in SE Asia (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam) back in the early 1900s. When you visit some of those sites you'll find both sides have military detachments stationed in the area and in some cases they've "dug in" (trenches, bunkers, machine-gun emplacements). I visited Ta Muen and Phra Viharn a couple years ago. At each spot as I wandered around a soldier was assigned to follow me "just in case". At Ta Muen, there's a small open area at the south side of the main temple and a dirt track leads through the trees into Cambodia where they have a military detachment barely 50 meters away. (That's why the Thais had a soldier follow me around, in case I tried to go down that track - or in case someone on the Cambodian side took a pot shot at me I guess.) At Phra Viharn, I was charged 400 baht to enter (40 for Thais of course) and told I could visit the temple. Yeah right. There was a triple coil concertina (razor wire) barricade that ran across the edge of the open area a hundred meters from the base of the steps leading up to the temple. And as I walked past the military camp, again a soldier was tasked to follow me around to make sure I didn't do anything stupid - or in case some numpty on the other side did. That was a long ride just to take a photo of some steps going up a hill a hundred meters away. (But the Buddha carvings in the side of a cliff a few hundred meters away were kind of nice. Gives you a nice view of the flat plains of Cambodia and you can understand how they marked the border. It pretty much follows the edge of the "high ground", with the land at the top being "Thai" and the flat lands at the base being "Cambodia". Except when they got to Phra Viharn for some reason they drew the border across the small "dip" between the high ground and the hill the temple sits on. By rights, the border should have gone round that hill and it should have been Thai territory. But whether the French surveyor was lazy and just drew the border straight across at that point or if he deliberately cut that hill off for some reason, we'll never know. And the problem is - Thailand never argued that point until decades later and because of that, the International Court sided with Cambodia. (At least twice now.) That seems to have emboldened the Cambodians into trying to claim more of the ancient Khmer temples that were built along the high ground. And even if both sides agreed to have a neutral "3rd party" group of professional cartographers and surveyors remap the border properly, neither side would accept the results unless they favoured their side anyways so it would be pointless. But would give one side or the other the legal claim on any ancient sites on their side of the revised border. (Note there are some in Cambodia who seem to think that a large portion of Sa Kaeo province should be considered a part of Cambodia as well, stemming back to when there were large refugee camps full of Cambodians living there after fleeing the Khmer Rouge civil war.) And of course, much of that area was Khmer, then Cambodian (French Indo-China), then Thai, then back to Cambodia. Chanthaburi and Trat were occupied by France up to 1907 when the Franco-Siamese treaty saw Thailand give up 3 provinces in Cambodia (including (Battambang, Siem Reap and Serei Saophoan) in exchange for France returning Chanthaburi and Trat to Siam. Thailand briefly regained control over some of that territory in the early stages of WW2 when Thai forces easily defeated the Cambodian/French troops (less the major defeat of the Thai navy at the battle of Ko Chang). The Japanese mediated a settlement where Thailand regained only about 40% of the territory it had lost to France in the late 1800s/early 1900s. But as a part of the post-war agreements, Thailand was forced to return those territories back to Laos and Cambodia in exchange for not being considered a belligerent in the war and ally of Japan. Britain apparently disagreed with the decision and France blocked Thailand from joining the newly formed United Nations until those territories were returned. And here we are over 75 years later and they are still ready to go to war over it. At least some of them are. On both sides.

The Prachin Buri Museum posted this on their Facebook page yesterday: Here is the Royal Gazette announcement (in .pdf - and Thai language): https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/71714.pdf So much for the discussions about getting rid of the dual pricing scam.

According to the original story - he was renting the villa - for 1 million baht a month !!! (Seriously. I wasn't the first to question what he did for a living that he was paying a million a month to rent that place. Surely not making that much money from an "elephant sanctuary".) And his attitude after attacking the doctor - for the crime of sitting on some illegally constructed steps that were actually on PUBLIC land - suggests he was not your average kind-hearted retiree, And then he skips the country after getting a 1 month sentence ? That he could have - easily - appealed and been let out on bail while waiting for the appeal to go through. I think there's a lot more to the story than is being shown in the media. And how the **** was he even able to leave the country ? They should have had his passport and his name should have been in the "vaunted" biometric security system. Unless he had "other means" to get out of the country, which would lead back to the 2nd sentence in this post.

Maybe she's a really good "earner" and they were not competing for her affections - but her "salary". And yes, I've seen nasty confrontations between Thai boys (young adults) and girls (also young adults) in Pattaya literally about that very thing. New girl arrives in Pattaya from "the farm". Meets "hansum karaoke boy" or "moto-taxi" guy and shacks up with him. And then he starts expecting her to sell her @ss in a bar - and give him the money. When I used to live in South Pattaya, there were a number of such incidents just on the block I lived on. One guy tried to rough up his girlfriend because he didn't think she was giving him enough of her earnings. She laid open his upper arm with a butcher knife. Another girl showed up at the laundry with bruises on her arms. Her "karaoke boy" room-mate was angry because she wasn't "selling it" and he wanted money for whiskey and to play "snook". (Apparently he only shacked up with her because he thought she'd make a lot of money working in the go-go bars.) The "elder sister" of the 3 that owned that particular section of the shophouse/apartment block tromped up the stairs and karaoke boy was out on his butt in a hurry, never to return. Another girl supposedly got the same treatment - from her female "cousin" who'd convinved her to come to Pattaya to work. When she arrived she stayed in the same room as the cousin and 4 other girls (they had a single queen sized bed in the apartment but it seems 2-3 of them often "didn't come home at night"). But the "cousin" started demanding the new girl go work in a go-go bar and sell her (meow meow) for money and slapped her around a bit. So she ended up quitting and going back to her village instead. There is a lot of stuff going on in the city that never even makes the local news, let alone appear in the "foreign" media. So it's possible this confrontation wasn't about love but about a loss of potential income.

Just for clarification - this is the 14th time I've done an Extension application so no, it's not my "first rodeo". And no - they do NOT just ask for different stuff "because they can". But each Immigration Office can have it's own set of requirements. That's why I always go in at least a week ahead of my renewal date, so I have time to change/add/amend any changes they've made over the last year. It occurs to me that maybe they are cracking down on people who use agents to fake having a proper address like they do to fake having the financial requirements. Because he didn't ask for a copy of a lease/rental agreement but the actual house paperwork. And at Jomtien I used to supply a photocopy of my (Thai) driver's license (front and back), and have the "Report of Address" slip stapled into my passport. I went back to Immigration with the Chanote, blue book, photocopies of the Chanote (front/back) and a photocopy of the front page of the blue book. The IO looked at the Chanote and photocopies, put them back in the folder and gave it back to me. He had me sign the photocopy of the first page of the blue book and that was it. Everything else was fine, paid the fee, had the photo taken. Back the next day to pick up my passport with the new Extension stamp. All good. I have next year's paperwork almost ready to go. May as well do it now while the printer cartridges are still fresh. Got extra copies of my license and the Chanote and the front page of the blue book in the folder for next year just in case. And just to add to the stress a bit that day, when I went home to get the blue book and chanote - my key wouldn't go all the way into the lock on the safe. Had the combo dialed in no problem, but it seems the furthest-in tumbler was gummed up. Gave it a shot of WD-40. Tried my spare key. Double-checked the combo. Gave the lock a light tap with a hammer. Tried the keys again. Another shot of WD-40. Then sat down and did a search for a locksmith nearby. Contacted one on Line. He asked for a photo of the safe - sent it. He asked about the combo and keys. I responded. He then asked me to make a short video of me trying to open the safe so he could see what the problem was. Got ready, started recording, put my key in the lock - and it slide in effortlessly on the first try. Turned it, click, door opens. Guess I just needed to wait a bit more for the WD-40 to do it's job. And it's almost something I should put on the calendar to do every year - run around the house and giving every lock mechanism a shot of WD-40 to keep them working and not rusting up. Now, what to do with the next 364 days until I have to do this all over again. Travel time !

Just went to (Jomtien) Immigration to apply for the annual Extension of Stay (TM.7). Had all my ducks in order. Forms filled and signed, photocopies (signed), bank letter and copies of updated bank book and so on. 100% complete - as per last year. But when the IO was going through the papers - he asked me for a copy of the Blue Book and Chanote for the house I am in ! I have the Notification of Address already and he didn't ask for a lease or rental contract so I'm not sure the reason for wanting to see the blue book and chanote. Guess I'll find out when I go back !

Lol at ALL you people that think this is about YOU. It's ALL about setting things up for the CHINESE to come here on 10 year visas and lease large plots of GOVERNMENT LAND to set up businesses in Thailand. Read the article. So that Chinese companies can lease gov't land to build condos, factories and casinos (and other things like say "land bridges" to cross Chumpon and Ranong provinces to shorten shipping times for Chinese goods heading to Europe). You know, the SAME Chinese that leased nearly 20% of Cambodia's entire coastline - on a 99 year lease - and then built a self-contained airbase with it's support base, disguised as a - resort with hotels, office facilities, restaurants and - casinos. It also has it's own power generations, water plants and waste treatment plants, to go with the military grade airbase they built but called an "airport" meant to ferry in Chinese tourists directly to the resort.) The Chinese also built 2 new airports, one outside of Siem Reap and one outside of Phnom Penh - on 55 year leases that let them own, operate and profit from those airports for 55 years before handing over what's left of them to the Cambodians. And guess where Thailand will get all the money to fund all the projects that the Chinese will be hired to build for them ? Yeah, from China. Turning Thailand into just another puppet state through the "Belt and Road" initiative where China lends poor countries almost limitless amounts of money that they can't ever hope to repay, to finance major infrastucture projects (dams, railways, airports, power plants, toll highways and bridges, land bridges) and to make major military procurements (like fighter jets and submarines). And after they are massively indebted to China, they literally have to do whatever Beijing tells them to do. Just like Cambodia. And Laos. And Myanmar. And Sri Lanka. China is doing the same thing in Pakistan, trying to get their hooks into Afghanistan and they've apparently convinced Djibouti in East Africa to let them build a "dual use" base. Interesting because Djibouti sits on the West side of the narrow strait that separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden and that is where ALL the shipping traffic using the Suez Canal has to pass by one way or the other. (Probably also why the US has a base there as well.) But keep dreaming that they are doing all those regulation changes with a couple thousand white haired pensioners from Western countries in mind. I'm sure they'll get a laugh out of that.

at 5:00 am. And more of a "kwaii fight" than a "cat fight" !

https://ddc.moph.go.th/brc/news.php?news=52560&deptcode=brc So there was a small spike during the Songkran season and there could be a minor increase during the rainy season.

And here I was tricked into believing that it was the "Free 60 day" stamps that were responsible for all the problems in Pattaya and Phuket ! Surely this group must actually be foreigners posing as locals because we know locals would never act like this !

Those are MORTAR rounds - not "grenade rounds". Can they get ANY stupider ? So he was trying to board a domestic flight in Phuket, but they don't say where he was heading. Without knowing where he got those rounds, it's hard to say if it's discarded ammunition from the Vietnam war, or the Cambodian civil war, or even old WW2 munitions. There are many shops around the country that have ancient vehicles and equipment left over from WW2 and Vietnam. I've seen a number of them selling old ammunition cans (they make great tool boxes or for other uses where you need a sturdy, waterproof container). He may have browsed one of those shops and found the rounds in a can. Or sitting on a shelf for that matter. I would not be surprised. The 82mm round appears to be weathered, but not rusted. Likely stored in someone's shed for the last 50 years. The 60mm round appears to be quite deteriorated. Likely spent a lot of time in the ground before being dug up. Without the original paint and markings, it's hard to tell from that photo if those are inert (i.e. training rounds with no explosive warheads) or if they are live rounds. Training rounds are generally (in the West) painted blue so that everyone knows they aren't "live". And you normally only find them on training ranges. If they are live, they could have explosive, white phosphorus or "parachute flare" components. Due to their age, the warhead components could be very unstable. But he must have known what they were and to bring them on ANY flight was incredibly stupid. "Back in the day" people (soldiers) loved finding the discarded 82mm parachute flare rounds. When fired, the entire round blasts into the sky for a couple hundred meters then the "parachute" pops open and the flare ignites, lighting up a large area of the ground below it for a few minutes. The lower casing of the round falls back to the ground obviously but it's "clean" (no explosives or phosphorus) and the "cup" makes a great beer stein. (Though in Canada it's illegal to remove those from a training range. Yet a lot of people seemed to have them in their "man caves" back then.)