sandyf

Why on earth would anyone even consider bringing cheese that was not vacuum packed.

Your first sentence was wrong and your last spot on. I entered on 26th August on a new E-visa and my 90 day report was due 1st Feb.

I wouldn't dream about putting it in the hand luggage. Cheese is a dairy product and not allowed to be carried in. If picked up by security almost certainly confiscated. I always put it in the hold luggage, well wrapped and in a jiffy bag and then in the centre of the suitcase. Hold luggage gets quite cold and will remain cool during transit.

The OP has a Windows computer, not a mobile device. NTFS is a more flexible and reliable file system than FAT and a hard drive is more robust and reliable than a flash drive. End of story.

Obviously a newbie, that bar complex is now Central.

I went into T21 about 3 months after it opened, deserted, never been back. It doesn't matter what the figures say, it is what happens on the ground that counts, something I thought you were aware of. Many do not realise that the figures on Chinese are skewed. A couple of times a year there is a huge influx of Chinese on a private basis and not destined for Pattaya or any other tourist area, although they may well pay a visit during the trip. On the other side of the Chonburi bypass from us there is a Chinese graveyard that stretches for as far as the eye can see, one of many in the area. During the festivals, primarily Quing Ming, they all (in normal times) become canvas cities as visitors from the motherland come to visit deceased relatives. In the 30's about 12% of Thailand's population were Chinese nationals, my wife's grandfather being one of them. The links between Thailand and China has nothing to do with tourism. The temple at Ang Sila is well worth a visit.

Apples and oranges. You cannot compare tablets/phones with a computer, different file systems. An external drive would normally be NTFS which is faster than FAT but cannot be used on most mobile devices.

I would suggest you have a look at something like Seagate Backup Plus. Mine is a 1TB drive and the backup facility only takes up about a third of the disk leaving the rest for storage. Comes with all the relevant software for backup and restore, to a new computer if necessary. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/seagate-1tb-2tb-backup-plus-slim-hard-drive-hdd-portable-hard-drive-transcend-external-hard-drive-i4371631135.html?spm=a2o4m.store_product.list.102.799387d9N4tKj0

You shouldn't make statements like that without the "office " caveat. At the office I use the under consideration starts the day you apply and always has done. The words I used to the OP were "see what happens". Nothing beats a failure like a failure to try.

It doesn't do any harm to include an itinerary in your application, may well be beneficial but who knows. I am about to do the 11th application for my wife and as we move about a lot have always included a detailed itinerary. When they ask where you are going to stay I just refer to the itinerary. Quite often we have left the UK and returned during the trip, one time to both Canada and Germany, never a problem. You will apply for a Standard Visitor Visa which is a Type C Multiple visa. Of course UKVI have the right to change the visa conditions if they consider it appropriate.

Nothing new about Tree Town, just reincarnated. Years ago it was a huge bar complex opposite Diana Estate going back to Skaw Beach. First hotel I stayed in 1999 was Siam Sawasdee, had to change rooms, music from the bar complex went on right through the night. How times have changed.

The Thais in fact are not a lot different, there is a bit of a false perception. When we go out to eat as a family the numbers can vary, but say there were 8 of us they would buy 8 plates of food and share it. With the rice coming separately and all the food in the middle it just looks an awful lot more. When it comes profit, It all depends what is on the plates, not a lot in rabbit food.

Why would it change? In 20 odd years I have never been in a restaurant in Pattaya with Chinese in it. They are normally taken by bus to specific restaurants arranged for them. Only restaurants that were dependent on the Chinese before will benefit from the return.

When I first came here I was on the 75mg dispersible and found out they were not available and just stocked up on them when I was back in the UK. Here they prescribe the 81mg tablet instead and it is a coated tablet to avoid the stomach problems that can come from aspirin. About 6 years ago I changed from aspirin to apixaban which created even bigger problems to obtain.

I was in a similar position a couple of years ago, mine is a 30 days office and I just went the 4 days early, nothing was said. If I were you I would go on the 13th March and see what happens, you should get stamp to go back 12th April. If it doesn't work out it is no big deal to come back on a new visa. I have just done that to change the renewal date, summer months can be real pain.

Quite. Following New Year I went to Laem Sing, about 9 months since the last time I went, in that time they have built a new 7-11 next to the old one with a new Lotus and CJ? close by. Now 5 convenience stores in the space of 100 yards with accommodation having increased substantially in the last few years. A small village growing quite rapidly and hardly a foreigner in sight. Day I went it was mobbed and I only saw 2 caucasians. The new normal could well be in domestic and asian tourism growth outside the so called "tourist" areas. Those that live in those areas are oblivious to the bigger picture, if their bar is quiet then everywhere must be quiet and the figures are false.

Since when did statistics help any business that was going broke. If a business is in trouble it is up to the business owner to do something about it. There will always be business successes and business failures, no government intervenes until failures predominate, and then it is the bigger picture. Pattaya may be struggling but that does not equate to Chonburi struggling.

No, it is not necessary. When you enter the country the visa gets you a stamp in your passport stating how long you can stay in the country, this is general, I have just been to Laos on an E-visa. The police should only check if your permission to be in the country is valid. It would however be prudent to keep a copy of the visa on your phone. When I went to Vietnam I entered visa exempt but my friend had an E-visa, immigration kept that and we both had the same stamp in passport without any indication of visa. Laos marked my entry as Tr-B3(Tourist Visa) and Thailand marked my entry as being a Non-O E-visa. Unless your visa is multi entry it effectively becomes invalid on entry. Previously they would stamp the visa in your passport as "USED", bit pointless with an E-visa as it can be reprinted. The only time you should need to show a copy of the visa is when applying for extension at immigration, that may depend on office but mine did get checked.

The problem is many cannot see past what happens in the tourist areas and think that is the situation widespread. Covid affected different areas in different ways and many for the better. I live between the Chonburi bypass and the No 7 and that area grew significantly during the pandemic, many who worked elsewhere sold up, returned home and invested locally. That growth brought about investment from the big boys with large concerns popping up all around. Downside, it has added about 10 minutes on a run to the airport. It is all about supply and demand and it will be a long time before Thais will want to supply demand from tourist areas distorting the term "busy".

What does that actually mean, maybe you think that capacity was not affected by the pandemic. This is Pattaya beach New Years Eve 2020, wouldn't take many to increase the visitors by 100%. Everything is relative, if related.

Only consistant is inconsistancy.

Why can't people get away from the single track thinking. I have just come back from Luang Prabang and that was what you may call busy. The night market was like the London tube in rush hour, and the eating area was something else. Must have been around 300 tables and a case of dead man's shoes. Being the Lunar New Year guess which nationality predominated. If Thailand has a problem, Lao will be wiped off the face of the earth. Better to stick to reality.

Not really anything to do with Pattaya or restaurants, food prices are up at wholesale level. Meat generally is about a third more than it was in markets 6-8 months ago. Many of the street food outlets around here have tried to keep increases to 5 or 10 baht with smaller portions and cut back on extras such as tissues on the table and the selection of sauce and condiments available. There really ought to be a special tax for the Russians.

My wife had a look at that and she said at the moment only Lao and Chinese nationals can register to buy tickets due to restricted payment options.

I have just returned but did it the other way round. We flew to Luang Prabang from BKK, but you could do it from Udon Thani or Vientiane. Stayed in LP for 3 nights then took the train to Vientiane and crossed back into Thailand via the bridge. Flew back to BKK from Udon the next day. We stayed at the Villa Oudomlith in LP and the guy there will get you train tickets. The fare is 242,000 Kip but he gets them via an agent and we paid 325K each. We booked on the 24th for the 26th and fairly straightforward, got on the C91 which leaves LP at 12.10 and got to Vientiane at 14.00. Very straightforward there, came out the station and straight on a bus to the Friendship Bridge, takes about half an hour and only 20K Kip or 50 baht. I couldn't believe how quiet it was at the crossing. There was only about 20 on the bus and by the time I had changed what Kip I had there was no one at Laos immigration desks. Had to wait about 10 minutes to get enough people to run the bus across the bridge. Same on the Thai side, by the time I had filled in the TM6 the immigration desks were clear. The train service is excellant and to get from Luang Prabang back into Thailand in about 3 hours was a bit of a surprise. Although we arrived on the 23rd it was a holiday and the agents were closed. We could have gone to the station ourselves but glad we decided against that as it is a bit of a pain to get to. It is a bit the same at Vientiane, the station is out of the way so you don't really want to be going there without a ticket. Good luck.