sandyf

Quite sad when bigotry gets in the way of reason.

Indeed, when in Rome etc. However you seem to have digressed from what was said. "Thais need to stop with their nitpicking about public indecency."

Last year my wife was told to phone up twice a day to see if the application had been returned, came about 3 days late. On one of the calls she asked why the delay and was told it was due to immigration having to scrutinise applications from agents more thoroughly to make sure they were not breaching the financial requirements.

A statement like that is obviously based on ignorance. There may well be some that are trying to capitalise but most of the premises offering monthly/daily rates have valid reasons for not bowing to the whims of the falang. It all hinges on the service provided for the monthly basis and how that can be controlled.

Bit of a distortion to say daily rate is higher, reality is the premises are offering a discount for a month stay which usually comes with a reduction in service. Sometimes water and electricity may be charged separately. Been that policy for over 20 years that I know of, fractions of a month are charged at daily rate, anything else would be the exception rather than the norm. After a month I moved somewhere else for the remaining couple of weeks.

Quite, at the end of the day it is up to the amphur if a marriage takes place. I seem to recall that sometime ago when the topic of marriage came up some guy said he hadn't been to the embasssy. He just showed the amphur the Decree Absolute and they accepted that. Obviously not applicable to those that have not been married.

And you need to remember whose country it is. You shouldn't travel if you cannot respect the ways of the local population.

What claim exactly? In 2014 the government asked that Immigration take a more flexible approach to foreigners wishing to remain in the Kingdom. This led to a police order that allowed foreigners to apply for a 30 day extension, nothing in the police order says they would be entitled to it, but you are free to think otherwise. False assumption to be looking at rejections, those that are unable to apply are effectively rejections you don't know about. If criteria is met, no extension application would be rejected. Prior to Aug 2014 there were no 30 day extensions available to a visa exempt entry and any application for a further temporary stay was entirely at the discretion of the IO. The 30 day extension was an initiative from the government of the day that could be repealed as easily as it came about.

The only thing false is your understanding of what you were reading. Many of us have never had a 2 year licence and like all the posts you probably read I got about a week short of 6 years on last renewal.

What on earth???

Generally. I know quite a few genuine tourists that have bank accounts and they pay withholding tax, but time has made that more difficult so becoming less common.

There is no entitlement, it was a concession granted following a hardline move by immigration in 2014, can be retracted as easily as it was given. My first extension request got me 5 days.

None whatsoever, I did it last year, flew into Luang Prabang then took the HSR to Vientiane, crossed the bridge and flew back from Udon Thani, excellent trip. Many moons ago there used to be a warning on the UK embassy/consulate paperwork about leaving Thailand across local borders, that 48 hours before re-entry would be required. It would appear that some seem to think they have the right of immediate re-entry.

Quite. In recent years when I have been back there has supposed to have been a cost of living crisis. The number of grossly obese, predominantly women, stuffing their faces in Wetherspoons would bring that into dispute. It is a bit unfortunate that the Thais seem to think that what is good for the UK is good for them.

Exactly. The root of the problem is increased affluence in certain areas and a misguided perception that what is good for the west is good for them. The likes of McDonalds, KFC & Pizza Hut have a lot to answer for.

You appear to have overlooked why the language was ever called "English". Common trait in those that use a bastardised version.

I was trading with Europe before the single market came about and the paperwork was a nightmare. Only the delusional would think it wasn't going to go back to the same way. If the UK wanted to have the cake and eat it, they should have remained in the EEC. Of course that wouldn't have appealed to the English nationalists.

Exactly. His claims about Turkey were fantasy considering the policy on capital punishment but people believe anything that is said often enough. The Ukip leader claimed Brussels is currently thrashing out a deal with Turkey - which has a population of 77million - which would give ALL Turks the option of living in Britain. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/661387/Migrant-crisis-Nigel-Farage-Turkey-EU-visa-free-travel

Highlights the arrogance, with the presumption that everyone would understand the word "gas" to be a liquid fuel. The term "petrol" is much more appropriate. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/gas https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/petrol

Just to the R/H side of the new Mikes, a bit like an old fashioned wholesaler.

So why use my name and misquote me(rhetorical), against the rules.

Pattaya Park market has a tremendous selection of good cooked food and fresh food at very reasonable prices. A lot better than out in the sticks in my area. You can't walk everywhere but the Pattaya taxi network helps minimise the cost. When it comes to supermarkets, "Modern" on Beach Road is about as cheap as you can get.

It is each to their own. In 2011 my wife and I were down in Pattaya for Christmas Eve, about 7am on Christmas morning she got a call that her father had collapsed and been taken to hospital. By the time we got back to Chonburi he had been pronounced brain dead. The interment was on New Year's Day.

Indeed, but there is a question mark over for how long. I have my own home and only fixed outlay is electricity and internet, 2000 and 750/month. Everything else is conditionally optional. main expenses are food, transport and health. Food and drink can be from around 6000/month upwards, transport can be zero if you remain within walking distance and the same for health if never in need of medication or treatment. Obviously on the surface you could stay within budget but reality will make it unlikely over time. You would stand a much better chance staying closer to the Pattaya taxi area, motorbikes may be cheap transport but often result in high medical bills. At the end of the day, all about how you want to live.

Nothing strange about it, it's those with excess cabin baggage and a pile of duty free that want to grab the storage space first in case they get challenged and ends up in the hold. I have seen people in the cabin with bigger bags than I have checked in, I don't know how they get away with it. In July we had our cabin bags weighed and my wife had to take out about a kilo to get under the 7kg limit.