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What part of the world is the Land of Smiles in?

Actually she was an educated professional who caught the gambling bug. It happens to many who are well educated and logical thinking people. Currently in the US most states have casinos(I believe the largest state without Native American Casino's is Texas), lotteries and now the newest thing to get people addicted: sports betting. The end goal is to "seperate you from you money". So far most legal gambling locations have been successful at the peril of many people. In California there are Self Exclusion programs that one can sign up to in essence ban themselves from gambling locations. One fo the ways to mitigat the harms of gambling addiction is to place them in far away and out of the way places. I believe some in BKK want to takeover the slum neighborhood near the port (Kong Toey) and develop it into a mega casino, hotel and entertainment complex. Most government only see "$$$" when it comes to future gambling projects. Let's see if it happens in LOS.

What is the difference? Both are about obtaiining long term visa's to stay in Thailand. Granted dealing with Thai Immigration and a Thai Embassy are different but the end purpose is the same: to legally stay in the country for at least a year. Could this be all about putting and keeing $ in Thai banks. I wonder. Also, to extend an OA will require international transfers into a Thai bank account or maintaining 800K in a Thai bank account

Is Canada behind the times. An old saying that I have heard countless times is this: "An affidavit is about as valuable as the paper it is written on". This is similar to the saying "I only testa-lie while under oath". The US and Great Britain both ceased to issue Income Affidavits in 2018. So why did Canada still issue them until now? The only time an income letter has only value in terms of Thailand is when I apply for the Non OA at a Thai consulate. An ncome lettter from my pension agency was accepted when I applied for an OA back in Jan 2024.

The US Embassy ceased the Income Affidavit in 2018.

What next? Threaten to close all borders? Intensely screen all foreign arrivals,conduct interrogation, conduct a full body search to check for tatoos etc? Realistically any place that depends on tourism has to accept a certain percentage of "bad apples". Also, "never kill the goose that laid and continues to lay the golden egg". Also, is this just "PR" and no real change will occurr.

I have. Especially after midnight. About 10 years ago I was at Morongo Casino in CA and saw a woman being carried out by two security guards. She was losing at the black jack table and started throwing chips, cards and a glass at the dealer. This was during the day.

Gambling addicts come in all sizes, shapes, colors and wealth. The saddest story I heard about was a woman who won $14 million at a casino in Florida. A year later she had lost it all and then stole from work to continue gambling. If the Thai government thinks establishing a minimum level of wealth as a way to stem gambling addicion then I would say they have not done enough research. All they have to do is look at what S.Korea does. Some casinos ban Korean citizens from entering and some casinos put a cap on monthly visits. All casinos in the US have large and aggressive security force. This is because the combination of adult beverages and losiing at slots or at the tables elicit emotional and aggressive behavior. Of course TIT and all ideas that come out of this country are great.

Now in my 8th year in CNX for 9 to 10 months per year and it is what it is: A cheap place to stay a while. I have learned to have few expectations from the country and the people. Paradise is a myth and so far it has been mostly good rather than bad. It just seems to me that most Thai people prefer to keep distance from us foreigners. This is understandable because the cultures are vastly different and in many ways not compatible.

I have had 3 implants done in CNX. Each required tooth extraction and yes soft foods and liquids are recomended for the first few days. Bob, did you get an implant and crown? The total for extraction, crown, 3D X Ray and zironia crown came to just 60,000 each time. One of the implants had to taken out because it kept on bleeding and my face felt numb. From time to time the same side still feels numb even though the implant was redone. Now i hestitate to pay for another implant because just like Bob I am not certain an implant was actually necessary. Each and every time the dentist said "you need implant", "no other choice." I went along because we are in the Land of Smiles and questionning the advice of a medial professional is not culuturally acceptable. I have empathy for Bob.

No. What part of the world is Thailand in?

I'm not Indian so how does their behavior impact me? What exactly is my problem? Were you ever present during any of dining experiences in the Land of Smiles.

I'm not white, black, Russian, Indian or of Middle East descent.

I know how you feel but I no longer send food back. The second time is usually worse and who know what they did to the food. A friendly greeting and good customer service is rare. I have had to lower my expectations a lot in the last few years.

The one thing I have not seen is increased portions of the food I have paid for. It seems smaller than in the past. I also went to a Panda Express (you know allegedly Chinese food made by Mexicans) and the the two item combo with a drink was $14. The fried rice was plentiful but the beef in beef broccoli was slim. Also, the chicken in orange chicken was slim and it was a lot of breading.

I landed in LAX last week and went to eat some of my favorite places: 1. In N Out was $10 for cheeseburger, fries and a coke. It was packed and the employees looked happy. In N Out starts at $22 per hour. Managers can make over $100,000. Always pleased to eat In N Out 2. Raising Canes was $13 for 3 chicken fingers combo meal. The chicken fingers were smaller than a couple of years ago. The place was almsot empty at 1130 on a weekday. 3. Chik Fil A was really disappointing. A grilled chicken sandwhich combo was over $14. The sandwhich was not great, the fries were not great and at 1200 on a weekday the dining room only had 5 customers in it. The food and overall service were disappointing. I did not get the usual "my pleasure:. Will not be going back to Chik Fil A The economy for most is based upon what we actually pay and recieive. AKA "The economy sucks". Granted Trump only has been in office for three weeks but doubt it will get better anytime soon. I get the feeling fewer people are actually eating out.

I am back in So Cal now and at Traders Joes one can only buy 1 carton of eggs. The store said this was because of the Bird Flu outbreak.

I was in Kuala Lumpur last month and went into a market a 230 PM and was able to buy adult beverages. The cashier was a cute and friendly female who was wearing a hijab. The cashier told me I can buy adult beverages 24 hours a day. But in Thailand I would have to wait until 500PM. This is long overdue. I would suggest starting alochol sales at 1200 PM and ending at midnight. This would satisfy restaurants, stores and even bars.

How do casinos become profitable? People need to gamble and lose. I mean some pepole have to lose big. Only some will be foreigners. In S. Korea where there are casinos Korean nationals are prohitibed from some and in others are only allowed to enter a few times a month. I went to a casino in Seoul and had to show my passport to enter. There was a sign in the casino in multiple languages and it stated Korean citizens were not allowed in. This is how the Korean government tries to stem gambling addiction. Who knows when Thailand has casinos Thai people will not develop a gamlbing problem?

Renewed my policty with Pacific Cross in December 2024. Still 3 Mil in iPD coverage. Yes as you get older the premiums go up and up. This cannot be avoided. However with the OA one only has to prove income one time and that is at the time of applicaion. I also was able to get the second year by renewing the policy and going on a short trip to Kuala Lumpur and back into LOS. At this point I actually like getting a new OA every two years because I spend at least two months back in Southern Caflifornia every year. So far me EVisa has worked mostly smoothly.

I think KAL is usiing what is left over for the CNX route. Most of the newer aircraft are flying elsewhere. Doubt they would use a B777 or B787 for the ICN to CNX route?

Korean Air's A330-300 fully loaded could be a challenge. I flew out on Korean Air flight KE 668 last week from CNX. It was fully loaded and needed a lot of RWY 36 to get airborne. The same goes on landing if an aircraft of this size is fully loaded unless it has burned up most of it's fuel.

I did not sugggest CNX was unsafe or does not comply with ICAO requiements. The concept is called "contingency planning". For those involved in aviation (pilots, ATCa and airport operations) we live on "Murphy's Law". You know "if it can wrong, it will". I have been part of aviation as a pilot who has been in and out of small and big airports for years. In aviation the margin of error is slim so knowing the proper response to a contingency before it occurs is SOP.

"easier said then done". If an interational flight was to divert to Chiang Rai the passengers might be waiting onboard for hours. This type of diversion has occurred in other parts of the world and at best passengers are locked into a secure area or are left on the plane on the tarmac while airport operations makes arrangementd. I doubt it would be "easy".

LAX has 4 runways and the 24R is where most of the international flights land and on a regular basis the runway is closed for inspection and maintenance. Several times a day Airport Ops personnel will drive down the runways to conduct a FOD check. FOD stands for Foreign Object Debris.