Mike T

This is my shaving kit. Just as a reference. on the subject of soap, Prorado is excellent, but, just as a matter of interest, the soap in the pic is also really good and made in Thailand.

I switched back to the old style safety razor a few years ago and found it to be a better shave than all the fancy multi-blade ones. I use a Japanese brand called Feather, which has a range of razors from pretty cheap (around 300thb) to top of the range style stuff. I have been using the cheap one for almost 4 years now, and it’s still works perfectly. For blades, I use either Feather or Derby and they are easy and cheap to order a hundred or so from Lazada at a time for around 600thb. I get about 5 shaves out of a blade. So, for me, excellent shave and much cheaper than the Gillette et al. A decent quality shaving brush and good shaving soap add to the quality of the shave, in my experience.

I’ve got a happy medium, I suppose you could call it. We live in Rangsit, so about an hour from downtown sukhumvit, 15 minutes from DMK and 40 minutes from Ayuthayta. We have everything we need here, we’re close to FuturePark mall, as well as local markets. We have van, train and BTS in the area for well connected transport to the city, and a Grab isn’t all that expensive to be fair (a Grab is normally how we travel to town). As we’re just outside Bangkok province, I report to a nice, small and friendly immigration office . If we feel like a weekend in town, we just book into a hotel and stay for a few days, or we also hop down to the islands from DMK. I love Bangkok, always have, it’s such a vibrant and exciting place, but as I push on a bit I realise that I like the option to be able to leave it aside and relax a bit too. Thanks why, in my opinion, of you want to retire to the Bangkok area, living on the commuter belt is an option that is seriously worth consideration. That way you can take it or leave it when you want, and the money you’ll save on rent will easily pay for the weekend hotel costs.

I hear you, same here. I work outside of Thailand myself as well, but on a different rotation, three months on three weeks off. I just stamp in on an exempt for the few weeks. it works for me, but I could see how month on month off could get problematic. Best of luck with a solution.

If money isn’t an issue, do you think one of the Elite Visa packages might be worth a look ?

A few things incorrect here. Ireland is not in the Schengen area, so a Schengen visa is useless to gain entry to Ireland. Even if the Thai citizen is married to an Irish citizen. Financial proofs are still required, along with proof of return (flights), insurance etc. This is because there is no “marriage visa” in the irish system for short term visits, so the applicant has to apply for a standard short stay tourist visa.

It looks more complicated than it is, although the amount of documents required for a tourist visa is a bit excessive. just follow the instructions in the “document guidance” section of the Embassy’s website and you’ll be grand. Only apply for a single entry visa if it’s your first time. After a few single entry trips you can apply for a multi-entry and that can be issued for up to three years.