BoganInParasite

I got that surprise a couple of weeks ago when getting an IDP issued at my provincial capital LTO. I was unaware of the need for it to be updated. Anyway they seemed to graciously add the extra activity and for 55 baht (I think) I got an updated 5 year license and within twenty minutes got the IDP issued for 505 baht. (For those wondering...my Australian license expired just before COVID and I couldn't renew. I can renew anytime within 5 years of expiry and am doing so next month in Aus.)

To the left a vacant partially teak forested block, behind a vacant overgrown fruit tree plantation that mercifully steeply descends to give us little view of it and a great view of the local river valley and mountains, to the right a vacant fruit tree plantation occasionally used by the owner to house cattle he wants to sell. Utter bliss atm.

Would be nice to get a bit of air clearing rain up here in upper Nan province. Seems to the wife and I that the smoke pollution we've had for a week is reminiscent of what generally start mid-February most years.

Well the first 96 were visa exempt over a 34 year period but 45 of them were in only a 3 year period. Only once did I have an IO comment about the number and frequency. Explained that I lived/worked in Singapore and my Thai wife lived/worked in Bangkok. Said she had no trouble visiting Singapore 12+ times a year as well. It was a quick and neutral discussion.

Here's hoping these new edible mushrooms don't need the forest to be burnt to promote their growth. Every year they burn the forest slopes here just for mushrooms.

Wife owns/runs a small homestay in northern Thailand. Agoda commission is about 12% of price paid by customer. Booking_com generates much more business for us and is about 24% because we are in a premium scheme for visibility and promotion.

Yes, everything for six years starting with the initial three month visa granted in Australia, the subsequent dealings for annual Thai wife related extensions, 90 day reporting, a TM30, certificates of residency and re-entry permits. Caught a few times on unannounced new requirements and there has been some attitude incidents...mostly from the IO side. Annual extension submission day is my least liked day of the year.

So an even greater number of folks sitting around at roadside checkpoints that I have never seen in the last six years ever stop anyone, let alone do anything else to reduce the toll.

So are there many other prisoners serving their time in hospitals...and specifically, the same hospital suite as Thaksin. Suspect the correct answers would be a small number and none.

Did my last transfer for a while this month. Next will be in 2025 when I intend to split my time between Thailand and another country, with the days in Thailand well below the tax residency level.

The Thai wife and I would prefer to keep details of our first meeting private...but just quietly...it fits the question.

Was well within that period...only 2 days past the 90 days reporting date. Says so in the first line of my comment. Perhaps full strength has slipped into the bottle.

Four or five reports back I was two days past the due date when I went in person to my local IO to get it done. (Deliberate decision by me since it lined up a couple of other things I had to get done in the city so only one trip.) The officer berated me for being late and stressed she was doing me a great favour by not fining me. I quietly but firmly told her she was talking nonsense and (perhaps foolishly) challenged her to make a bigger issue about it. She didn't. Never saw her again...she had been in that IO from my first visit in mid-2018. Was the same person that misled my wife on documentation requirements on the phone as we were preparing to do in and seek the first extension.

I've no idea...perhaps surprisingly.

Not seeing any indication of price reductions in the supermarkets. Everytime I notice a price change it is always up, and seemingly beyond official inflation rate. Been this way for several years now.

Got my renewed Aussie passport via the Bangkok embassy earlier in the year. The new passport turned up without it but two days later the letter arrived in the mail with no explanation. Provided the letter and a copies of it when I did the visa transfers but don't recall if the IO took much notice of it, they gave the original back to me. (As an aside I wondered what new requirements the IO would throw at me this year for the marriage extension application and as a precaution had two copies of every page of my old passport with me in case it was something to do with that document. Nothing. As far as I can tell the only new requirement was two copies of my last 90 day report which I had as well. Don't recall they've ever asked for that previously.)

We had Allied Pickford handle the Brisbane packing/despatch and Bangkok port receiving/clearance and delivered our 20 foot container to Nan and unloaded. Absolutely superb service with the Bangkok to Nan portion being much less cost than you would expect even with four staff in the truck. Also we negotiated the insurance cost down by half by only wanting coverage for total loss, rather than loss or damage. We were also fortunate in being able to do the transaction in my Thai wife's name since she had lived for a time in Australia. Made customs/excise going very smooth. We were able to track the ship...Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Singapore, KL and Chonburi (I think)...a real old slow boat to Thailand trip.

The Chinese economy is showing every sign of imploding. Yes it has been predicted a few times recently and it seems to struggle along, but there are now clear signs the central government is losing control of the situation and doesn't know how to respond. (Apart from no longer reporting certain statistics such as youth unemployment and the bond market it finds embarrassingly negative.) I just don't see the Chinese middle class from having the appetite let alone the money for international travel.

Live in Nan province, wife owns and runs an extremely well regarded homestay. There is no appetite in the province for groups of Chinese tourists. Loud, barging and ungracious groups would be an anathema to much of what gives Nan province a special appeal. There is some interesting historical reasons multigenerational Nan province residents have an elevated dislike of the Han Chinese. To add a little twist, the Burmese caused it.

I gave up on Thai bread. About 18 months ago started to learn how to make my own white bread, took a while to perfect but it is now pretty good. Now also do a whole wheat bread and a spiced fruit bread. And soft white sandwich rolls, and crusty dinner rolls. Wife and friends all enjoy them.

Will not change the fact that Modi is a dictator with little regard for other cultures/ethnicities in the country, albeit, a validly elected dictator.

And who is vetting the vettors, and so on?

Had it for 21 years nows. Still remember the morning I woke up with the sound of metallic cicadas in my head. Got myself checked and had no accompanying loss of hearing but no solutions were offered. There is a ton of videos on YT of seemingly credible medical qualified folks suggesting solutions. Most seem to be around training the brain to tune out the noise. I've been too lazy to try...for other reasons. Seems being caused by underlying and fixable medical conditions is a small minority.

Well thank God he didn't get done for picking mushrooms in a forest.

We see no evidence at all that anyone uses TA when looking to book accomodation in our remote northern part of Thailand. The very first review the wifes homestay got on TA was a 1/5 from someone who had not stayed and clearly posted against the wrong property. TA refused to remove. So we promptly delete a few emails every month from TA trying to upgrade her membership (at our cost) 'for more bookings'. Bizarrely all her subsequent reviews on TA have been 5/5 and her homestay has been number 1 rated in our area for four years.