arithai12

I think you should give more credit to the lady, she has a PhD in Bar Science. She does all the tattoos not for herself, but to fish a @BritManTooor equivalent well before she turns 50.

Ah but look at the picture, you are missing the chance to sit next to that lady.

OP, are you a Japanese national, or at least fluent? There is (as you probably already know) a very large J community in CM. From my few visits at the J embassy, I remember a lot of notices on billboards and such, it might be worth a visit to find advice (near Airport Plaza mall). One thing you may want for your future here is also to secure proper medical care. All private hospitals have English-speaking staff, but some are even specialized with Japanese customers e.g. Ram Hospital (not my first choice btw, but a good starting point). Driver's licence: obtain an Internatinal Driving Permit before coming here. It will allow you to rent/drive legally for a while, and also can be rather easily converted to a proper Thai licence eventually (DLT on the road to Hang Dong). Banks I would recommend Bangkok Bank, at Kad Suan Kaew mall, excellent service for foreigners. Unfortunately they are closing... today! Set to move all services to the branch near Thanin market, it remains to be seen. But many banks offer similar service to expat, you will have to shop around. Shopping malls usually have branches of several banks, try e.g. Central Festival or Airport Plaza. Agents I wouldn't know, but Buddy in front of KSK seems to be mostly for scooter rentals? Star Visa used to be quite ok for all kinds of services.

True, and this has been the case for a long time now. But the fact is, the gov't is issuing Covid extensions for reasons of their own (your guess is as good as mine) certainly other than Covid itself, so perhaps the source of the confusion is with them. ps: I am not using the extensions myself

To be fair, I also don't believe that Covid extensions are given because of Covid. ????

Exactly, still a long wait. On the one hand the gov't likes to add this to their list of reasons to keep the emergency decree, on the other hand they have declared the pandemic finished. Interesting to see how it will play out. The way I understand it, the Gazette gives IO the faculty to ask for documentation. And the IO who refuse, again from what I understand, do it because they want to see a letter from the Embassy stating that the applicant is impeded in returning to home country. So it's not a totally arbitrary rejection. Now many will want to see here a push for people to resort to agents... I don't know. Careful what you choose, see this scam.

Put it like that, doesn't mean anything. Most Europeans can "visit France" as a short weekend trip driving their car or on a low-cost airline, they pay one night hotel and couple of meals, that's it. So, the low GDP contribution is easily explained. Comparing with Thailand is impossible - well, except maybe the Malaysians hopping to S. Thailand for a wild casino-massage weekend.

Thailand, any day.

I wouldn't watch them if they played under my balcony. Well, maybe the cheerleaders (assuming they exist).

I do, it helps shield my big nose from sunshine. In the smoke season in CM, I wear double. ah, and I do wear a helmet.

Your choice of course, but: -Elite, you say good-bye to 1M (in your case), it's not "tieing up". -Ret, you will see your 800k again along with some minimal interest accrued, on the day you decide to end your arrangement. (for those who like to split hairs, in fact you need to tie up 400k for one year and the other 400k you could decide to make them more profitable for you during 6 months, provided you put them back before extension) Perhaps, in the case of someone who doesn't expect to live to the end of the arrangement and doesn't care to leave the money to anyone, it may seem like a 200k difference but life can be unpredictable.

oh come on! Isn't it fun to see your temp? I agree, useless, but fun. The hand spray on the other hand I find it useful, especially I do it before eating in a restaurant, saves the trouble of washing hands. As for the register, who knows, maybe that pretty girl has seen you and is leaving her number hoping you will call her. Seriously, that is a waste of paper, should be stopped immediately for Mother Nature's sake. Anyway, all entrance guards seem to have disappeared from malls.

Very short sighted. The US$ is up at the cost of everything costing more. But if it makes you happy...

To those who pay cash and think they are faster... I have my doubts. When I use a CC or prompt, it takes seconds. What takes maybe an equivalent or longer time is printing out the receipts, but that is true with cash as well. Now, if you pay cash, either you count all the baht and satangs, or you hand out big bills and let the cashier count the change. Takes time too. There will always be slower people with one method or the other, but they are usually the minority. But, back to topic, it should be possible for the police or the Grab company to trace back those who placed the "hoax" order and make them cry - instead of the poor delivery rider.

I posted some info in a new thread

There's been some talk about this in unrelated threads (eg closing of KSK), and it seems not many know about it so here it is: the satellite IO which was formerly at Promenada has reincarnated at Central Festival, 2nd floor, slightly out of sight in a side alley between the Supersports and AIIZ stores.

That should be good. But just in case, you can pick up any Immigration form from the small waiting area outside, which is conveniently located a few meters from the drive-thru 90d window. You don't need to park, just hop off your car and back. Also, as a general info, the second IO previously at Promenada has now relocated to Central Festival mall, 2nd floor. For those who like a stroll and a meal together with their Immigration business.

Today I learned that Bangkok has excellent weather and scenery. Maybe they mean inside an aircon room and looking at the ladies?

The last time the rate was 70 was around 2006, that's 16 years ago. There's no way that the number of tourists was comparable with those of 2-3 years ago. As for safer, I have my doubts. We were all younger, we didn't spend hours reading things off the internet, we probably didn't know so much about crimes. Cleaner beaches 20y ago: that goes without saying, it's true for the whole planet. There's always two sides to a "favorable" exchange rate. You love it as a tourist or as a pensioner paid in a foreign currency, you hate it if you are a resident and earn a salary in Baht, or if you like to buy imported things. Thailand exports/imports a lot, so extreme low or high rates are bad for some sectors of the economy as a whole and that in the end trickles down to the average person.

In your dreams. Does the writer actually live/eat out in Thailand? Not sure what he's trying to say. But if we live here, maybe we don't need this?

I also filled the TM6 (arrival card) about a week ago. I was actually happy to have it. The announced suspension was supposed to be "temporary", who knows how they will deal with it by the time I need to visit Immigration again.

Difficult to say without seeing the contract.

Speaking of daily spouting.

There are many reasons. My wife appreciates not having to put on make-up. And yes, many news are now without mask, thank heavens.

Why sad? I am a foreigner in CM who wore a mask often before Covid, wore it all the time during Covid, and wear it more often than not now. There are many reasons: from shielding my nose from the sun while I am riding on the road (if cloudy I keep it under the chin), to not being bored with shaving every day, to pollution, to being old and with conditions who doesn't want to risk an infection, or to being young and healthy but living with old and sick people, ditto. With people I know indoors I remove it. If I walk in a crowd I keep it. And btw, I recently visited my home country in EU where there is no mask mandate in public, and it was much the same: many keep it on voluntarily in a crowded place. I think this will be the new normal for a while, better get used to it. Enjoy your freedom, don't judge others.