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For those who are interested(I am not) this shop is located near Tae Pae Gate(across from Boots). It is not open yet but will be soon.

It’s not like service was great when they were fully staffed. Last time I was there was in 2018. What if your passport is lost or stolen? Do I apply for a replacement online? As an American who has worked and lived overseas for almost 10 years I can say the US State Department is the second most useless organization after the United Nations.

Oil companies and gas station owners are two different things. Many gas stations in the US are owned by individuals as franchises of big oil companies. I used to own Exxon Stock(before it bought Mobil) and I got some good returns. I also used to know an Exxon Gas Station owner and he was always struggling. His margin for gas was thin so he made up for it by selling candy, drinks, potato chips etc. Joe Biden does not appear to understand basic economics as well.

Is Economics taught in Thai Universities? Never mind because the current President of the US recently told gas station owners to reduce prices.

Then why did you comment on my post and state “I don’t know why?

Why would you need to know why I mentioned it.

When did I say I watch CNN. I do not get CNN on cable tv.

How long?

This may already be happening. Last week I checked on the price for one night at a highly rated hotel in CNX. 1. I set my VPN to USA and checked on the hotel website for one night in late July 2022. I was quoted 1800 Baht. 2. I then turned the VPN off and checked on the hotel website for the same type of room and on the same night. I was quoted 1700 Baht. The difference is 100 Baht but I wonder if this is going on elsewhere. From now I am going check the prices for hotels and airfare twice: first with the VPN on and the second time with the VPN off.

As soon this news hits CNN International they might have to retract it?

I got fed up with VPN hopping(had Express and Nord VPN). I just subscribed to Disney+Hotstar for Thailand and some Hulu content is available on it. Disney+Hotstar is only 799 Baht per year. Express VPN at one time claimed getting USA Netflix content was accessible with their VPN(this ended being sometimes true and sometimes not true). Now I use the VPN on my Norton Anti-Virus Package and so far so good.

You sound like an Aussie I knew in Chiang Mai. He died a few years ago after living in LOS for over 15 years. His biggest complaint was this: In his time in LOS he has spent and invested over 1 million dollars into the Thai Economy. He has purchased cars, a condo and of course given money to his girlfriend and her family. But he feels like an “FOB” (Fresh Off the Boat) every time he goes to Immigration. The last time I saw him was at a Bangkok Branch frantically getting his letter in order to extend his Retirement Ext of Stay. He said “it’s like I just arrived here yesterday even though this will be my 14 annual extension”. This Aussie never felt he was valued as a “high potential” person even after a million dollars.

Every time I hear or read about how Thailand aspires to be like S. Korea, Japan or even Singapore I say not so fast. In my experience even a complaint to a business in a polite and constructive manner can be perceived as an attack. I see little sense of improving from mistakes, poor product and poor service. Just more of the “Same, Same etc”. I have ordered steak only once in Thailand. I asked for medium but it was served beyond well done and the outside was charred black. I was not going to ask for another steak but the response to the polite and constructive feedback I got was in essence “you can leave after you pay”. I paid the 900 Baht bill and walked out. From that day on I have not ordered steak in Thailand and rarely do I go out to an expensive restaurant. “If you have no or low expectations, you will not be disappointed”.

“Premium” and High End Tourist usually come with high expectations. Based upon my experience if indeed many Premium and High End Tourist come in large numbers, many will be disappointed. If you go to a high end hotel or restaurant in LOS the food and drinks could be high end but the service will not be. Unless there is some kind of epiphany among service workers in LOS then it will be better to stick with the low end (backpackers) to medium level tourists. These guests come with low to moderate level of expectations. I have never been disappointed in LOS when I got into any business with low to no expectations.

This is true but it still takes time for alert aircraft to get airborne. The US Air Force can get F-22's airborne in about 5 minutes to counter Russian aircraft in Alaskan Airspace. I wonder how long it takes the Thai Air Force to get it's F-16 airborne?

You interpretation on how I think is spot on. You must be a genius.

It is very difficult to “scramble” fighters to intercept foreign aircraft. The distance from Myanmar is very short. Just not enough time to challenge the intruders. The only way to intercept in this airspace would be to have aircraft in the air 24/7. This is financially, maintenance wise and pilot supply wise not possible. The Thai Air Force did the best they could.

Did the Brits pull a Carolos Ghosn escape manueuver?

Joe Biden is currently in Spain for the NATO summit. Will he go to Kyiv and meet Zelenskky? Meanwhile President Joko Widodo met with Zelenskky. Bravo Mr. President. Thai is President Widodo and not the guy who lives in the White House.

For me it has been the close proximity to where I live and also it is easy to find.

https://www.wba-boots-pensions.co.uk/documents/ This may or may not help.

I doubt you can open a bank account on a 30 Visa exempt entry. If you intent is live a long time in Chiang Mai then you might want to look at long term visa options and many are age dependent or $ dependent. Are 50 or older? Can you spend 600,000 Baht for a 5 Elite Visa? If you are over 50 a Non Imm O or even an OA are viable long term options?

Chiang Mai Buddy. A name from the past. They used to have an office on Huay Kaew Road. I thought they had gone out of business. I contacted them in 2016 while I was preparing for my move to Chiang Mai. They never responded. I got an OA Visa arrived in early 2017 and pretty much took care of things on my own. Bank account is not hard if you have a long term visa. Once you arrive there are plenty of people who can help you in obtaining a drivers license.

This could have turned out really bad but I’m glad it worked out in the end. I saw an example of how not to treat a food delivery driver in my apartment complex. A Grab Driver was waiting in front of my apartment building. I was going to the pool and I noticed about 15 minutes later he was still waiting for the person who made the order. Then I saw a woman step out and hand the driver a 500 Baht note. The food order looked to be under 100 Baht(It was a single plastic bag). The driver did not have enough change. For some reason the woman commanded the security guard to find change. The Security guard as always snapped to it and ran off to the office and then to neighboring businesses. Ten minutes later the guard came back with the change. The woman then paid the driver and the driver was now able to give change. This driver spent almost 25 minutes to just complete the delivery for this order. I felt bad for this driver because he had to spend so much time just to complete the delivery. I always use my bank card for food deliveries and it takes about one to two minutes to hand the food to me. Even when I paid cash I never handed a large bill to the driver. Times are tough and the cost of gasoline is high, I hope people can be considerate the next time when they order food.

I am not White or Caucasian but if you take out the word “white” then this persons’ thoughts could apply to anyone. Now we need a video from an ABM(Angry Black Man), AAM(Angry Asian Man), AL:M(Angry Latino Man) and AMHM(Angry Mixed-Heritage Man).,