Bredbury Blue

Not really. As an example, I avoid Pattaya and go to Sri Racha.

Why not just pick a date and buy the cheapest one-way ticket out of Thailand that you can find (that you chuck away). Claimbodia looks about 30 quid.

I worked in Tra Vinh province, 190km to HCMC Airport. It took 4-5hrs to do that journey as Vietnam's infrastructure is poor. On that long journey there were very few places for a piss stop. There was not one beautiful petrol stations every few kms like here with food, drinks, clean toilets. Stop the car at the side of the road for a piss. Infrastructure poor. The province I stayed had one supermarket, in Tra Vinh town. It was small and basic. Before I left a small shopping mall opened. Poor infrastructure. I've lived in Thailand many decades. Never felt any danger or threat. In Vietnam, keep your doors locked. I like District 1 in HCMC, it has everything you get in suburbs of BKK but it's smaller. I could live in HCMC for periods but the nonstop horn-beeping would get to me. Vietnam, and I exclude HCMC and the smaller Hanoi here, is ahead of Laos but is not even up where Thailand was in the 1980s. Yes Vietnam now has a couple of resort towns, but step away from the big cities and Vietnam is still VERY basic. Cultural wise, Vietnam doesn't have the land of smiles attitude. It's definitely not as friendly laid back place as here. That could be partially due to the American war as they call it. Could be due to the communist setup and the fear of the police.

Having worked for several years in the South of Vietnam, regular R n R in HCMC on my way to and from home in Thailand, I couldn't recommend Vietnam over Thailand.

From BBC Will digital ID cards stop illegal working? ID cards have always been viewed with suspicion in the UK. For some people they can conjure up images of authoritarian states like Germany in the 1930s, and men in jackboots barking "May we see your papers please?" There were two periods when we had compulsory ID cards here in Britain. The first was during World War One. The second was from the beginning of World War Two until the early 1950s. When the system was abandoned in 1952, an editorial in the Guardian said: "In this country we do not like this sort of thing. Better a little evasion and inefficiency than too much petty bureaucratic interference with the individual." The last attempt to introduce an ID scheme, in 2006, was born through familiar concerns about immigration and illegal working, as well as worries about benefit fraud and terrorism. It was scrapped by the coalition government when they came to power in 2010. Fifteen years on, Sir Keir Starmer is proposing something slightly different. Not an ID card, but a digital ID scheme. It is a way of proving your identity, and your right to work in the UK, using modern smartphone technology. Though the government also says it "will ensure that it works for those who aren't able to use a smartphone, with inclusion at the heart of its design". How that would be achieved is not yet clear, though it might mean people without a smartphone have to use a physical ID card. What is the plan for digital IDs and will they be mandatory? Digital ID is being sold by Downing Street as a way of reducing illegal working by migrants who do not have the right to earn wages in Britain. The rules are already - in theory - quite tough. Employers can be fined £60,000 per illegal employee if they have not done the correct checks. The government says the proposed new digital ID - which will cost the user nothing - "will be the authoritative proof of who someone is and their residency status in this country". It will include the holder's name, date of birth, photograph, and information on nationality or residency status. Instead of involving a physical card linked to a National Identity Register, this new proposal is more a proof of identity scheme. As well as proving a person's right to work the government promise that it will in future "make it simpler to apply for services like driving licences, childcare and welfare." Ministers say that "by the end of the parliament" digital ID will be compulsory when checking someone's right to work. They claim that this will in turn reduce on of the "key pull factors" for people arriving in the UK in small boats. "You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID", the prime minister said. "It is as simple as that." A more secure way of people proving their identity might reduce illegal working, and avoid the proliferation of fake documents in circulation. At the moment, it is quite easy to borrow, steal or use someone else's National Insurance number and that is part of the problem in the shadow economy - but the idea is a picture would make it - in theory - harder to abuse that system. But former Home Office official David Rennie said he did not believe the plan would have "any bearing on people coming to this country illegally". "It's the black economy - by its nature, they're not performing right to work checks," he told BBC Radio 4's the World at One. Mr Rennie, who now works at Orchestrating Identity - a company that performs these checks - acknowledged the system had "gaps" and could be improved, with some people finding it difficult to prove they could work in the UK. "But that doesn't mean that you have to implement, at great expense to the taxpayer, a digital identity system for the whole country. They should really focus on improving what they've already put in place." Jill Rutter, of the Institute for Government, has meanwhile emphasised the need for "stronger Labour market enforcement" alongside the scheme. "People are paying cash, people are working in what the prime minister calls the 'shadow economy'," she said. "It means people won't have an excuse for not checking, saying 'I thought they were British', and people won't be able to use fake ID so easily. "So it will help, but I don't think it's an absolute panacea." The scheme will also take time. The phrase "by the end of the parliament" is shorthand for 2028, when the next general election is most likely to take place. This is not something that can be done in a year. Most EU countries have some sort of ID scheme. One of the most modern ones is in Estonia where the focus is less on preventing illegal working, and more on easy access to things like benefits and health records. But in countries like France and Germany, which both have long-running ID schemes, illegal working is still a problem. Though the French have long-complained that one of the pull factors to the UK for people crossing the channel in small boats is that it is even easier to work illegally in Britain than it is in France

Sure, possible. No doubt it will also be possible to work illegally even if one is in possession of a digital ID. Labour has been trying to bring in a ID Card for UK citizens for decades. It's not about monitoring working legally.

What do we need a digital ID for, we already have National Insurance number.

You need to go back a bit further than 28 May 2025 to see which side started it. Here you go: 13 February 2025: A Cambodian protest occurred at Prasat Ta Muen Thom. 25-28 February 2025: Cambodian troops were observed clearing roads in the Sam Yaek Lao area. 15-25 March 2025: Cambodian forces constructed a road to Phnom Prasitthi hilltop, directly opposite the Thai Khao Sattasom position, and commenced heavy fortification of the base. 7-22 April 2025: Thai troops responded by clearing and constructing a new road straddling the border near Prasat Ta Muen Thom, extending from the temple to a road junction. 18 May 2025: Thai troops in Chong Bok discovered fortifications being dug in an area overlapping existing claims near Hill 745. Cambodian troops subsequently pulled back upon request. 28 May 2025: Thai soldiers approached Cambodian troops digging fortifications, leading to a brief exchange of fire that resulted in the death of one Cambodian Officer. No further comment needed eh.

How so?

Based on the Cambodians trying to sneak back over the border in to Thailand, things ain't great in Cambodia for the average Cambodian, but Hun Sen probably isn't aware or if he is aware isn't interested in the average Cambodian.

Wiki reckons there's 1.4m khmer speakers out of 21.3m people in isaan, with the 13m laos speakers being the largest group, but I agree with your comments on how your Thai relations relate to being khmer and speaking predominantly khmer. My Thai relatives are Phu Thai speakers and relate to being Laos, but compared to when I first visited their village 30 years ago, now nearly all speak Phu Thai AND Bkk Thai (when they have to). The furthest northern khmer building in Thailand I would guess is up in Sakhon Nakhon. Anyone who has actually visited the area of Prasat Preah Vihear (Khao Phra Viharn), can see that LOGICALLY, based on the watershed line, the temple is on the cliff top and should be classed as in Thailand (Thailand top of the cliff, Cambodia below the cliff), but the infamous French map put the temple in Cambodia. If we apply Cambodian logic of Cambodian khmers built the temples so they're Cambodian property, to the UK, the UK would be claiming possession of buildings all over the world as the UK built them - ridiculous Cambodian logic.

Make sure you have a reentry visa BEFORE you leave, then you can spend time outside Thailand and return no problem. Make sure you are in Thailand BEFORE the date your visa extension expires so you can renew it.

Big headphones and big sunglasses

Applied to extend Support Thai wife visa this week at Samut Prakarn office. Wife and i filled all of the forms you mentioned. No witness signature required for STM10 (could be because we're regulars for past +20 years). I was also given 2 forms only in Thai and told to sign, asked the wife what they were, she reckoned I was giving my consent to have my details checked (strange, as I did a form in English for that).

Bit touchy aren't you darling! You made a point about gyms being expensive which i disagreed with by giving you the facts.

B383 month, newish gym, Bangna. Expensive? Don't think so.

Expats with Work Permit (I.e. paying taxes) should get all those benefits, but get zero. Even have to queue with the tourists on arrival at Swampy.

Think you could have posted many Thais are not digitally literate. My point was Thailand could implement this tax system, but would many thais comply or be able to comply. Maybe we have to wait to see if this government survives first, to even be able to implement it.

Monomax replaced Truevisions this season as the broadcaster in Thailand of the Premier League. Two games in, how's it doing? Last week not too bad, but some momentary buffering lost the picture. 8/10. This week a disaster in the 2nd half. Service lost at times. Became so bad that I had to change to watch on HDPrime. 4/10 and seriously questioning if I really want to take out a one year subscription (initially have a one month package to test it).

Monomax replaced Truevisions this season as the broadcaster in Thailand of the Premier League. Two games in, how's it doing? Last week not too bad, but some momentary buffering lost the picture. 8/10. This week a disaster in the 2nd half. Service lost at times. Became so bad that I had to change to watch on HDPrime. 4/10 and seriously questioning if I really want to take out a one year subscription (initially have a one month package to test it).

I guess "it's not that long ago" is relative to the individual, and it seems like yesterday that we were all doing Tax Clearance Certificates at Don Mueang, buying a departure tax voucher at Don Mueang, etc.😁

You're a newbie😄 Here you go: In the 1990s, foreigners leaving Thailand, including from Don Mueang Airport, needed a Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) if they had any tax liabilities or pending tax payments. This document confirmed tax compliance to immigration authorities upon departure. It was obtained by filing an application, such as the TCC Application Form P.1, along with tax payment records and a letter of guarantee from a company. Why the Tax Clearance Certificate was required: Tax Compliance: The TCC served as official proof from the Thai Revenue Department that a foreigner had settled their tax obligations in the country. Immigration Requirement: Foreigners had to present this certificate to the Immigration Office at the point of departure to be allowed to leave Thailand. How to Obtain the Certificate (in the 1990s): 1. File an Application: Submit an application to the Revenue Department for the Tax Clearance Certificate. This would have been a specific form for that purpose, such as Form P.1, according to กรมสรรพากร. 2. Provide Required Documents: Along with the application, you would need to submit: Tax Payment Records: Documentation of tax payments for the three years preceding your departure. Letter of Guarantee: If the foreigner was a company or had tax liabilities, a letter of guarantee from the relevant juristic partnership or company was required. Key takeaway: If a foreigner had any tax obligations in Thailand during the 1990s, they were required to secure a TCC from the Revenue Department and show it to immigration at their departure airport, such as Don Mueang International Airport, to be allowed to exit the country.

My understanding, as explained by the wife, is we have a very basic Truevisions package with the football package, which costs b300 total/month. Unless Truevisions has also lost the CL this season, we will use its football package to watch CL on their BEin sports channels. IF Truevisions has lost the CL this season, then I will reactivate my BEinConnect package (with BEin). Things you do to follow your team. When I first came to this country, one of the Thai channels on a Saturday afternoon had a 15 minute highlight package, and the FA cup final was on live (Bobby's Arms in Patpong car park was heaving)... for the times they're a changin.

You not heard of the social security system here?

If they bring this in I can see it being extended to non-Thais residing in Thailand for x days. Some may remember it's not that long ago that we had to get a tax form to leave Thailand. So they could implement you're in Thailand x days so file a tax form farlang even its for below the tax threshold.