Old Croc

Why would you give a click bait title to such a mundane thread about peddlys? (Never had gears on my bikes when a kid. Was lucky if there were two pedals and the brake rubbers on the rims were all there)

If they repaint zebra crossings to make them stand out, more pedestrians might use them. Ergo more road deaths.

No angels in Thailand to guide you beyond the rainbow. They all hang out in America.

Very good replies by KerryD (always writes intelligent and informative posts) and crazykopite who emphasizes the need to smooth out the paperwork trail for those sorting out the aftermath. I've created a file (to be opened upon my death!????) that lists the procedures my wife will have to follow. It has the wills (Thai and Australian), the phone no's and email addresses of friends in Australia who need to be informed, as well as the Embassy and local police. It explains where all the loot is hidden and how to access it, how to apply for the widows pension from my superannuation, and, as beneficiary, get to other investments. A trusted friend in Australia is the executor for that will and will help with assets there.

An important subject for many of us older expats in Thailand. However, I gave up reading the OP after the 8th use of the word veteran in the first couple of paras. The story didn't relate to me as I'm not an American who once served in the military.

That applies to most animal species on the planet including homo sapiens. It's how the species are maintained. Males have strong instincts to breed, while females strongest instinct is to nest and produce offspring. They want the best best male available. With people, the best partner is not necessarily the biggest or strongest nor the one with the brightest plumage. Money to provide the best nest and chance of survival of the progeny can be the main attraction. With us, the demographics are changing. The weak and poor are being bred down, wealth and power are an increasingly overriding power everywhere around the world. Social society is fading.

Perhaps the OP could learn to "drill his nose" with just one hand thus keeping the other free to keep his keyboard active.

Yet that female disgust doesn't seem to apply when the situation is reversed. Cougars are celebrated by their peers as role models. Advice From A Cougar: The Older Woman Younger Man Relationship (beyondages.com) Madonna 62, boyfriend 26

I saw that film. I believe a body double was used for one scene.

A professional spearfisherman would earn a living by selling his catch. That part of his activities would be illegal in Thailand. As others have said, a p...poor catch for a self proclaimed professional and I couldn't see one targeting a moray eel!

Jessica Alba - Dark Angel.

Reading this thread I saw it as a cost of living exercise between two cities, not what most fills the needs of every individual. There would never be consensus there. Numbeo is the world's biggest cost of living database with millions all over the planet feeding in information about the cost of most basic daily items from housing rent to a can of coke. It is not another opinion survey where a couple of thousand Americans pick their favorite place to retire. (Mexico, because it's close to get back to family, Indonesia because they once had a magic honeymoon in Bali or UAE because she loved the shopping when on a stopover) If you don't think Brighton (or Pattaya) are good comparisons for your decision about repatriation, compare your Thai city with the place you would return to. Numbeo is very comprehensive. You can even help expand their database by contributing. Keep in mind this is about living costs, not weather, how many houses you own in the UK nor if you can run home to mummy's basement to save costs. The thread specified retirement so it's not about work opportunity. It's about the price of stuff, not how much you earn. No matter how much some posters want to skew the data to favour their personal circumstances or preferences it's about the basic costs of everyday life. (I just had a mechanic spend about 3 hours working on a problem with the car, he asked for the equivalent of $AUD12. I gave him a 25% tip to $16. Try that in Brighton) I've used Numbeo many times to compare various places and have always found, without exception, that overall Thailand is much cheaper than any other place I would think of retiring to.

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Could be wrong, but I can only see 2 parrot fish in that pic. The one on the left has a forked tail like a Dart or similar. Tusk Fish probably eat more coral than the smaller parrot fish and they also poop the beach sand in great quantities. For me, the strange part of the catch is the Moray Eel, why would you want to keep that? I've caught several of the slimy beasts over the years (was bitten by one once when snorkeling) and the way they tie up in knots around the line and squirm all over the floor of the boat makes it almost impossible to remove the hook. Always had to cut the line for release.

reef sound

The thread has had 159 replies, some helpful or sympathetic, many derisive and insulting and others just taking the opportunity to air their thoughts on Thais and their culture. The OP hasn't bothered to respond to any.

Thanks for your reply. I've since found a pic on Google That seems to indicate this. However, the need to get a visa complicates it. I'm not sure if it is open at all for short entries by non-Thais. I was hoping someone had been through there recently.

Thankyou, your reply is much appreciated. The quoted article does list that border as one that no longer does visa on arrival. I'm not surprised, from my observations it does seem to be more about heavy vehicles and goods and not tourism. I'll have to reassess. .

Has anyone crossed via, this Thai/Laos bridge? I'm considering doing so to change from A-O to O. I'm in a wheelchair so cannot walk across, and would need an agent, driver or whatever, to facilitate the process. Are there such people at that isolated crossing? There's not much on the Laos side so it would just be a turnaround, if that's possible. What is the procedure? Thanks for any helpful comments. Background for anyone who needs to know. I hold an A-O visa and changed my extensions from retirement to marriage a couple of years ago to avoid the insurance scam. At the time, Covid closures meant changing to an O was not possible. Now that everything seems open again, I'm considering popping over this border to make that change. It's within easy driving distance from home. My reasoning is the tiresome process of the marriage extension compared to retirement. My IO is 2 hours drive away and, despite making an on-line appointment for a listed 30 minute process, it still took 3 hours of waiting, stamping, signatures, etc. last time. The bank took an hour because the only person who could sign the statement was at lunch. Another 2 hours drive home meant the whole thing took about 8 hours. Very exhausting with my medical difficulties. And of course it entailed another 1/2 day to get the extension stamp a month later. An O retirement extension would be much easier. The money in the bank is ongoing and not an issue. I am aware there are rumours about the insurance ripoff being extended to other visa classes.

In honor of all Brit gold medal athletes.

This relates to my previous statement about Migration Legislation not applying to citizens. A citizen of a country cannot obtain a visa to their own country because there is no legal basis for one to be issued. They are a citizen entitled to automatic entry. Yes, I know some dual citizens may have been issued with a visa for their own country in their alternate passport, but it shouldn't have been possible. If presented on arrival at their own country the correct outcome should be cancellation of the visa and automatic entry as a citizen.

Familiarize yourself with this before making uninformed statements: Passport 6 Month Rule in 2022 - Passport Validity Requirements (visaguide.world) Anyone who arrives at their own country of citizenship must be allowed entry (any decisions otherwise can only be made in exceptional circumstances at the highest ministerial level). Legislation such as Migration Acts are about the entry and stay of aliens into a country, They do not apply to their own citizens.

A proven citizen of any country will not (normally) be refused entry even if the passport is expired. The difficulty would be with the airline who would refuse uplift unless the destination country gave it authority to do so.

Interesting to see Indonesia ranked 2nd and NZ ranked 2nd last.

Mass shootings in Thailand have little resemblance to that in the US. Yes, there are far too many shootings here, but they are mainly domestic, road rage or drug or gang related. The only one I can think of that follows the American model is the soldier who killed about 16 in a Korat department store a few years back. (mentioned in the article) Another attention seeker looking for a step up the ladder by sensationalizing something unnecessarily.