arithai12

Why not? And it's not "some cash", it's the mountain of 1 & 2 Baht and satang coins that quickly accumulate. btw, it's now possible to pay almost everything by PromptPay aka "scan". Not to mention that many shops are now explicity cashless.

This statistics doesn't tell the real story. Direct flights arrivals, by passport. But certainly many, if not most, of the foreign arrivals are tourists coming with domestic flights having first stayed in other places such as Bangkok or Phuket, and thus not counted here. Also, the dominant component of the visitors to CM are Thai tourists, mainly Bangkokians, who often come by car and again are not counted. For a hotel or a restaurant it doesn't matter a fig whether the person paying the bill is national or international, so this statistics doesn't measure the real pulse of the tourist industry in CM. It is obvious to anyone living here that the city is flooded with tourists. The roads are choked with Bangkok-plated cars and with rental scooters. More than enough really! If some business owners cry that they don't have enough customers, their problem is not the tourist numbers but the competition. Coffee shops and elephant trousers stands grow like mushrooms.

starting with airports in UK and US where I had the most horrific airport experiences

The article on this forum is a cropped version of the original article. If you read that, and the national news, the 'severe weather warning' is for 8 southern provinces and concerns floodings, not cold temperatures.

There are already plenty of direct flights from China including Shanghai, I doubt the "yuan" will choose to fly on a Thai carrier especially one of bad customer service like AirAsia. In fact, some chinese airline flights are being scrapped due to low occupancy. I think the TH AirAsia move is more aimed at the Thais looking to visit China, perhaps in the hope of a visa-free policy.

520,000 in a week? 75,000 per day? I am sure it's interesting like it was in previous years and will try to go, but it sounds scary.

The agent yes/no choice has been debated to death, and the choice is of course yours. Since I am sleepless tonight however, let me reply. Cleaning, gardening, pool, repairs, that's not something you need once a year right? And some of it you wouldn't be able to do it yourself even if you wanted. So your comparison makes no sense. Now about Imm, you seem to refer to airport, not Central (the OP thread), or you wouldn't mention parking and heat of the day. At Imm airport, there is easy parking across the street for a 20B fee, big deal. You have to cross the road on pedestrian crossing with lights, big deal. Heat of the day? it's aircon inside. Wait for hours? Get an appointment, takes the same time as with an agent. Inconsistencies you have a point, they change often, so go before for a check of what is needed - more or less the same time as meeting your agent that you also have to do before Imm. I was never refused extension for missing documents. And you still have to go your bank, agent or not, I suppose that's in your "want to do" category.

Thai have a special relationship with dogs, granted, but when it comes to attack dogs I have to say that westerners are the same. In a popular beach like Nai Harn in Phuket, full of families with kids, there are people walking pitbulls and such as some kind of show off. Many owners, if not most, farang.

Stereotyping seems the norm on this forum, when it comes e.g. to Russians. Of course you are right, there are wonderful British persons and there are less wonderful ones, unfortunately the latter tend to be noticed more. Like for every nationality.

One would say so at first glance, however the situation is more complex. First, the real traffickers, those getting rich with this business, remain untouched and will continue to pour drugs into Thailand. Second, those killed were just mules earning probably a pittance to support their families. There will be now dozens of fatherless kids who might have no better choice in life than to follow in their footsteps. Finally, the real source of the problem are the users, the addicts, and this does nothing for them. So yes, good news that the drugs have been confiscated, however it still makes me sad that there are no better ways to tackle the real problem. I have high respect for the Royal Projects in Thailand which were instituted to create jobs in the North to replace drug-related income. Myanmar has a long way to go.

I use mostly Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai, and yes of course you can call their ambulance 1719. Very good English too. I don't know what they charge. I expect many other, if not all, hospitals have the same.

Why farcical? When you are at the Imm Office, before entering the main building, look to the left. There is a rather helpful information counter with good english speaking assistants, and all possible forms.

You don't miss a flight if you don't have a re-entry permit, no one checks and it is perfectly your right to fly without one. However, your visa or extension is terminated when you fly out if you don't have the RE. As for the "couldn't get/not forgot", I am not sure perhaps if you have a really valid reason like the RE booth was on fire when you were supposed to get it, and if you can prove it, perhaps there will be an exception. But in general, it is your responsibility to obtain a RE which can be done at a regular IO not just only at the airport.

In addition to the suggestions on where to find lamb in supermarkets: there is a sheep farm at the end of Canal Rd, after Wat Don Kaew and before the turn to the Mae Rim intersection. Google Earth shows also a "Sheep Cafe". One could inquire there if they sell lamb meat.

And, last but not least, experience in the same year. Experience from a couple of years previous is good for nothing. e.g., CM IO now (since a few months) asks for bank year-long statement even for orange passbook without any transactions - in addition to the usual bank letter. Can't undestand why so many here are reluctant to ask their own IO... unless they live really far away.

The father probably knew that the victim had a gold ring and 2 phones, and as for the 5000 in coins I'd say it's peculiar enough that he probably knew that too. The victim must have been keeping them for some purpose.

Correct.

I am not sure what you mean by "cycling from your front door"... 10km? 100km? There is a stretch of safe bycicle/jogging paths along Canal Road, that starts approximately at the B2B hotel close to the Convention condominium, and extends all the way to the North for about 12 km round trip until the "ranch/shooting range". Make that about 30km to Mae Rim, if you dare to share a couple of km of main congested road with cars. On the way, you pass the 700 y stadium which is in itself a 2km loop that you can repeat as you please -with a few speed bumps unfortunately. Cyclists aplenty, from the totally hopeless like yours truly to the aggressive professionals. Note that it is quite busy in cooler early/late hours. There are in principle separate jogging/cycling lanes, but joggers ((including slow walking) do love the cycling lane too, so you need a bell on your bycicle. The more seriously inclined cycle up/down the road to Doi Suthep, shared with cars but not too dangerous usually. I know from friends in that category that there are also dirt roads for mountain bikes there.

Perfectly legal now. There is a covered stand just outside the domestic exit marked "Grab" that I believe is used by other companies too. btw, the official airport taxis are not bad at all, large and comfortable, always ready just outside, take you to most destinations in the city for 150B or 200 if a little more distant, they are allowed to drive through airbase which can be a big time saver depending on your direction, not all grab-like cars have that. I do use Grab/InDrive a lot for other occasions, but from the airport the taxi is my preferred choice.

You would think so, but: 1) more customers, more traders appear, the money per business remains the same. Example: elephant trousers stands and coffee shops that seem to mushroom everywhere. 2) I do not interact with tourists in the sense of talking to them, but I am concerned if I have to avoid certain roads or supermarkets due to their numbers. Not to mention prices and availability of domestic flights, and the number of bloody tuk-tuks/rot daeng and rental scooters on the roads. There should be an optimum balance, November was kind of ok for me, let's see xmas.

My case was similar but different, hired a Chiang Mai (where I live) lawyer to write a POA for an agent in Phuket to sell a condo we had there. So I can't really comment on your specifics, but I find that 20k is outrageous. I seem to remember I paid 500B (plus Kerry to send the POA). About being swindled, I don't know. Our document clearly stated who was selling to whom and for what price, the agent couldn't sell to any other person for another price.

555, true. When I walked into a Honda dealer and said I was interested in a buying a car, the first question was "what color". Engine displacement and horse power would be the first things in Europe, here they care about video display and cup holders and top of the top if you can switch on the engine remotely so the aircon starts running before you get in.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Of course, your experience is based on models in a comparable class, like Mercedes and Lexus, right? Or are you saying that a multi-million german car is better than a 5 times cheaper japanese car?

Bali is part of Indonesia. Indonesia is not a Muslim nation (unlike e.g. Malaysia) though it's true that Islam is predominant and in many ways oppressive. However, Bali is predominantly Hindu. Regardless, Indonesia is not exactly attractive for westerners as a retirement option unless they have personal specific reasons.