Kaoboi Bebobp

The No. 1 thing to NEVER EVER do is smoke in the bedroom. I smoke on the balcony and throw the butt into a tin can of water. A friend follows the same rule.

I use some paper at the beginning to get a "reading" of conditions and wrap-up with a paper test of my cleansing efforts. This is always at home. I agree. Bum guns rule!

To OP: I'm with you on preference for cotton. When I was in Pattaya a couple of weeks ago, I came across a vendor in the Tuesday-Friday market, south end of Buakhao. He sells a Thai brand called Kikada that I used to buy for years there until that vendor disappeared. I was happy. Bought 3 x 100% cotton shirts for 800 baht. List 299 ea., I think. Now, how to find him. I see all the stalls are tiny now. From Buakhao, walk through toward Pattaya Tai on the far side of the market. On that side, the outter-most stalls sell food. Enter the cross aisle, almost opposite the little soi (coffee shop on corner) leading out to Tai. Once inside, turn left into aisle 1. Ignore the food on the left and look right for a guy with many hangers of only button shirts. I intend to buy more now that I've washed and worn the 3 shirts I bought. Good luck.

Sorry to report there is nothing available beyond a 30-day Tourist visa, which you can get online. You can NOT extend in-country. The 90-day Tourist visa has NOT been reinstated since the border re-opened March 15, 2022. You would have to do a border hop to Cambodia or elsewhere. Lots of services will take you to say Cambodia and back the same day for 1 million VND. It is very frustrating for many, including myself.

Too bad the OP didn't think to go to Cambodia for the border hop. There are regular border runs in hired limos. Return the same day for 1 million VND/US$40, was one fare I saw on an expat site. No 30-day Tourist visa extensions allowed in-country. If some agent does offer this -- have never seen this published on the expat sites -- it would cost a small fortune and I would not count on getting back into VN.

Canada approved Shingrix in October, 2017, just before the US. I got my first of 2 doses in April 2018. I think it was CA$165/dose, 2-6 months apart. In my case, 6 months. I just missed out in getting free doses as Shingrix was going to be added to the vaccine no-fee schedule for us old goats, the pharmacist told me.

How about banning parking on Buakhao? What a godawful mess. The baht buses can hardly move.

I was just in Pattaya for 3 nights. The Bangkok-Pattaya bus had clusters of Chinese independent travellers and a handful of Russians. At the Big C Extra mall on Klang, a dominant language was Russian, with entire families thoroughly enjoying their freedom. The Ekkamai bus station was packed and buses running late. The 10 am run didn't leave until about 10:45 last Thursday. The 11 am left 20 minutes late. Have to say, the Big C was fully stocked and very busy mid-afternoon last week. I'd lived in Pattaya for quite a few years before and the Klang Big C is still the best one I have ever shopped in, and I'm including the Bangkok ones where I currently live. The attached HomePro was equally well stocked and I found things I could not find in BKK. So yeah, Pattaya offers more than just shoulder to shoulder bars.

I believe most VN banks will only give you 2 million VND with a foreign debit card. I do remember years ago BIDV would give 5 million and maybe Sacombank. But I have an ACB account in VN (although I'm residing in Thailand now because of the lack of long-term visas in VN).

Correct. It's actually illegal to trade in anything other than Viet dong. Technically speaking. All price signs will be in dong. To the OP. ATMs give out a maximum of 2 million VND. Not much spending money. Stupid rule. But there is the odd bank that will give out 5 million << I think it's BIDV and Sacombank. But I haven't been in VN since early 2020 so might be out of date.

I stayed in the Euro next door. Lasted 2 weeks. Could not live with the thump thump of the Thai clubs on 3rd Rd. at 2 am. Is the PKCP better for avoiding the club music? PKCP might be more sheltered by Centerpoint and the Euro. Great location, thats for sure. Thanks.

It's almost exactly two years ago a pile of special visas were made available for a certain class of immigrants. ._._._._._._. I wonder who signed off ($$$) on the container load of machines. ._._._._._.

The list of visa-exempt countries is here. It's an agency site. List of nations with visa exempt status for entry into VN

Same for me, but with a twist. I'll take the BTS say from the Villa at Suk 33/1 (Prom Phong) to On Nut. I get out there and grab a taxi from in front of the big Lotus inbound back to Rama 4. My distant condo complex is a 1 km walk from Phra Khanong BTS but the taxi from On Nut is direct and easy for 45 baht. Taxis have refused me many times just going from, say, the corner of Suk and soi 23 to Phra Khanong or asked for 200 and 150 baht for a 65 baht ride. If the driver knows where I'm going, I happily hand over a 100 baht.

Complete BS! The Asian Development Bank forecasts: Cambodia to grow 6.5% in 2023, Vietnam 6.7% in '23 and Malaysia by 5.1% next year. How is Thailand's 3.7% better than its peers? BTW, ADB forecasts 4.2% for Thailand in '23.

Thanks all. A very helpful and timely thread. Been mulling over whether to move back to the Darkside from Bangkok in the new year. Lived there for about 3-4 years before, during and after the Big Dig on Suk Rd. and Klang.

Explain this, polling companies: In a NIDA poll of 2000 eligible voters, published Sunday in a Bangkok newspaper, Anutin was rated 9th for the PM's job at 2.15%. Pita Limjaroenrat, the Move Forward Party leader, was ranked first at 20.4%. [Smacks head]

Just met a Thai girl -- recent arrival in Canada after a short spell in the US -- who got hired on at a neighbourhood sports bar in east-end Toronto. A cracker of a girl, smart as a whip. She's from Hat Yai. There are quite a few others working in Thai eateries. Thank you Thailand for donating your best. Also met a gal from Bataan and another from Nepal in different east-end restaurants. Funny but never met Thai males here.

Sorry to say: I wish I could confirm this story but I could not find a single item in Canadian news media about the offer of asylum, using Google and Duckduckgo. I'm in Toronto now. Absolutely nothing, including nothing on the Embassy of Canada to Thailand FB page and nothing in The Toronto Star, which is always on top of refugee/immigration issues. I sure hope the local SEA news outlets are right.

Thanks everyone for the update. Seen quite a few fresh videos, which showed many bars with 7-10 girls, 1 or 2 customers, sometimes no customers at all, late-evening in Tree Town and Chaiyapoon. I'm now glad I wasn't able to get to Pattaya before heading to the home country this week for a visit.

Bad news, apparently. Read the thread farther down in this subforum: https://aseannow.com/topic/1268136-is-the-vietnam-embassy-in-bangkok-legit/

Save a page in your passport and order the e-visa online. $25. I did this in May. You get the approval letter in 3 days, print it off and take it to Saigon Airport. Hand it over. You only get an entry stamp, and you avoid full-page sticker the embassy gives out. (Now, there were some fresh reports of people not getting their visas for many days later or not at all.) All I handed over was my passport and e-visa letter. Asked for nothing else. There might be a health declaration form to fill out on the plane because of the monkeypox scare. You get 30 days. There is NO visa longer than 30 days. They haven't reinstated the 90-day Tourist visa. There are Business visas but are a lot of work and cost a lot of money. In short, VN is not as easy to get into and stay long-term any more. Important: You cannot extend the Tourist visa in-country so you have to leave and re-enter. The correct government portal for the e-visa. https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn PS: Recent Google reviews rate VN embassy services as really, REALLY bad.

Maybe this will help somewhat. I only say this because I originally had an O-A and am now on extensions. I get emailed to me in Bangkok a signed letter from my former employer, listing my company pension. I have two other pensions. The Embassy told me I only need to do screen caps of my CPP and OAS pensions from my government account. Actually, I can print each formatted statement off from the screen or throw them onto a USB drive and print everything off in colour at a computer shop. I take these to the Embassy. I remember filling out a form. They use a pre-formatted statement. A counsellor fills in the blanks, adds them up and issues the signed and stamped Statement of Income, addressed to Thai immigration, along the lines of To Whom It May Concern, which you present to Thai immigration. 1500 baht, I believe, which can change based on the exchange rate. I also remember, the embassy changed to cashless payments, either bank draft or credit card. Fees listed on link below. Scroll down to Notarial Services, Payment Methods, Letter of Income: https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/thailand-thailande/bangkok-info.aspx?lang=eng#NS

OMG! This is still not finished? I was visiting and took pix of the unfinished sidewalks late last year out front of Big C Extra. My friends told me it had been like this for 6-8 months already. Well, scratch my plans to move back to Pattaya any time soon with all the other (above mentioned) main roads broken up and a long ways to go before being finished. And then they'll dig them up again on a new contract. Big spending tourists are going to love this luxury seaside resort. /sarcasm off/

Length of visa depends entirely on nationality and country of origin. But more to the point, that's just way too far away to answer now. All could change in six months.