Old Croc

Who'd have thought that movies don't always depict accurate locations and timelines!

Ignoring the babble, the short story is there are no ferries from Bangkok to the Gulf Islands. To get to them you need to fly or travel south by land (bus, car, train) to find a ferry port.

Is there now a subscription fee?

For future reference: Power of Attorney Tor Dor 21 - Thailand Property (thailand-propertylawyer.com)

Where I now live in Loei Province the nearest rail is also about 150km away (Phitsonulok). I don't expect every isolated area of the kingdom to have a train service, but one of the world's major tourist destinations should be linked to the capital, before too many trains to China are built. All announced planning for future train routes still doesn't include this major Island city. Geography precludes airport expansion, so commuter flights won't continue to meet the future demand. On our farm, the sewage goes into holes in the ground, and no one collects rubbish apart from some guy who pops up very occasionally to get the bottles and cardboard. I don't expect much more, I chose to live here. However, I do have water piped to the property despite the very isolated area. I don't think it unreasonable to believe Phuket should have a better source and distribution of this essential commodity if small rural towns and properties are catered to. Comparing rural communities to a virtual city state that attracts 9 million international visitors a year is a little silly. All of Phuket should be on government water and have modern garbage and sewage disposal. Despite your claim that income flows one way with Phuket the opposite is much more correct. Most of the Islands tourist billions find their way to Bangkok's coffers. (And more than a few officials' pockets on the way!) Believe it or not, I checked that very link on wiki you quoted before writing and didn't make any claims about GDP. Read my words again. The Richest Province title that many frequently use is more about average wealth. This is why I specifically made comment about industry and agriculture. The capital, and the provinces with the big car factories and other industry are always going to rank highest in GDP.

Pre-covid, more than 9 million international visitors visited Phuket Province annually generating an enormous amount of tourism income for Thailand. Obviously, as a small Island province it doesn't generate income from industry nor agriculture, but has long been considered to be the richest province. it contributes much more to the Thai economy than it receives back from the centralist government. Yet it lacks much of the basic infrastructure common in other parts of the country. There is no train service, local transport and roads are very poor, water provision is sometimes critically low and household water is not available at all for many in this small urban Island. Despite the off-putting countenance of the character in the pic at the top, in my opinion, he does have a point about the dismal lack of environmentally sound garbage and sewage disposal. However, I feel the central government, of which he is part, is more to blame than the locals for the lack of funding to upgrade these facilities.

"Some people" make their life unnecessarily complicated.

Yes, hence my point. You should know what stamp you will get (don't you) and buy the ticket to fit that time period.

So basically, even when the other side of the international date line, you still use the date in the US! Do you not buy return tickets for the allowable time? I work out my return date at that stage. To travel you really need to understand and adjust to time differences. Not so hard for me when in SEA as most countries there have the same time as my home State. Thailand is 1 hr. out. Doesn't the US have something like 6 separate time zones? You could still wake someone up on the other side of the country without leaving her shores.

Yes, when your meaningless quotes are from mine. I see the notification and mistakenly think it may be something interesting.

Keep reading Lou, you can probably get another 6 posts from this.

This I can't understand. The arrival stamp clearly states the date your stay ends. See the OP. Why wouldn't you pay attention by casting a glance at your passport? I don't see how it's possible to accidently miss the day or miscalculate a stay. I can understand such things as flight delays, awkward scheduling or simply not caring because of nil consequences.

You are probably right. I've never overstayed in Thailand (or anywhere), so am unaware of their procedures. I wasn't disputing, just a little surprised they would waste time and effort to place a meaningless stamp in a document. I do know in Australia you wouldn't get such a stamp, although an overstay automatically generates a referral in the computers.

I'm surprised they would put that stamp in for 1 day over. Did you upset the guy somehow? Just for information, while there is no penalty on returning to Thailand, such a stamp could sway a decision maker in some country's embassies to reject a visa application.

On an android phone open a pic of text in the gallery. Hit the share icon - G - translate.

That's beyond corruption and into grand theft. Obviously, there are limits. I do tend to concentrate on what affects my overall personal budget. I could compare a roadside handout here to the massive fines levied for a couple of kms over the speed limit in Australia, or Thai national park fees to entry fees into some English castles. I couldn't tolerate the American system where the customer is forced to pay the bulk of a server's salary through a system quaintly called tipping. Overall Thailand is massively cheaper, and while I would prefer honesty everywhere, I'm happier with the local version over that of the western world.

The musical knowledge of some members here ceased with Vera Lynn.

No country on the planet is free from government corruption of some kind. None! I prefer the Thailand version to my home country. Thailand has low or non-existent taxes and the occasional small gratuities paid direct to the service provider to grease the wheels, is in direct contrast to the massive fees, duties and fines levied back home which has no effect on the lengthy waiting times for nearly everything.

He's definately changed his appearance over the years. He's gone from chubby to skinny as a rake and now to that! For those who've never heard of him, I'm sure some will know this song:

I'm certainly not English, in my seventies and refuse to accept, or cater to, this idiotic non-binary rubbish. I have however, heard of him and have seen many clips of him performing some of his best-known material over many years. Even though his style of music is not to my taste, I've always considered him to be a very talented singer/song writer whos first song about a lost gay lover was huge. This is very recent pic from an English tabloid presumably taken in Thailand:

Twenty years in the place and you are just finding out that ignorant and officious bank staff will stuff you around continually. For my last extension I had planned to travel the 125km to the town where my IO is, in time to get bank statements (K-Bank) and get processed at Immigration before the latter went to lunch. . Planned to start the 2hr return trip before then to relieve the person minding the comatose MIL and animals. Found only one staff member in the bank and she wasn't authorised to put a signature on the statement. The rest of them had gone to an early lunch together! Had to wait in the bank twiddling the thumbs (not quietly) until a manager returned. Ended up being one of thirteen waiting for Immigration after they resumed from their lunch break. Took over 3 hours for them to see me and complete the process. Got home around 6pm.

Amazing how many posters here have no clue! Uganda is not Cameroon nor Nigeria, it's nowhere near Zululand. As a former English colony, the official language is English. The main concern should be that Thais may have an English accent resembling that of IdI Amin.

I'm confused. Considering the good people on this forum constantly assure us that overstayers are harmless and contribute to Thai society, why did she have to beg for money, or worse, try to get bank account numbers?

The subject came up yesterday in this YouTube video: Watch from 2.00 minutes.

I feel much safer now. ???? Ban this hardened criminal for life! I'm more likely to be concerned for my safety with a nut case American on short overstay loose in the community, than with someone overstayed and settled into society for years.