sandyf

I never said it was isolated, every chance there will be cleaning fees on all the privately owned listings. I would stay away from their "Homes" listings. You have to be very careful with Agoda, they are inconsistent with their own fees, sometimes included, sometimes not. I had an issue with them during covid over a refund of nearly £500, it was a protacted argument but my bank won out in the end. Difficult company to deal with if you run into a problem.

I have had 2 Non O E-visas from London in last couple of years and both have been the same - Surname, Forename on the visa.

I applied on Thursday evening 21st Sept and received the visa Sat evening 23rd Sept, just on 48 hours.

You should be aware that Agoda lists private properties and certain fees come under the owner. Quite possible the owner has mistakenly set the fee at weekly rather than nightly. In all the years I have been using Agoda I have never seen a cleaning fee on an Agoda accommodation, standard practice on the likes of Airbnb. You could have tried to cross check the resort with another listing such as Booking.com

More misinformation. Illegality is about the owner having a licence or not.

Exactly, many factors come into play.

Good idea with country specific threads. We are all born equal until it comes to money.

That is what could be new, previously you had to have account and physical card to create virtual cards.

Yes I got the physical card when they changed over to Visa, think I had to pay £5 at the time. I created a virtual card at the same time but never seen the need to use it, contactless is much more convenient. Been a godsend when travelling. For online payments I would use a credit card rather than a debit card, much easier to get your money back.

Logo on a virtual card?

The virtual card has been available since Wise changed from Mastercard to Visa a couple of years ago. I opened my account just as they changed and a bit surprised that a Visa card came through the post, thought at first I may have been a scammed.

Been optional since 1993 so doubt it is standard, probaby available as extra. With Calais being the most popular port it was necessary when France was mandatory. I always used the Belgium and Dutch ports when stationed in Germany early 70s but never bothered when going into France by land.

Indeed, only things certain in this life are death, taxes and change. Plan Bs also have to consider the wind of change, for example neighbouring countries may also start to use the E-visa platform. Only time will tell how this will pan out so a bit of a wait for some more clarity. At the end of the day why worry when I could be ferilising the bananas before anything actually happens.

I can remember the days when we had to make headlights yellow to venture across the channel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_yellow#:~:text=However%2C selective yellow headlamps remain,wavelengths from the projected light.

You can back that up and show how long the authorities would wait for a seat to become available. It is not all about the money, availability is a major factor. In the TV programe, the IO distinctly tells the detainee they will be put on the next available flight. You can bet your life that will have been vetted by the lawyers before being aired. As I said before the BA flight pre pandemic was turnaround, about an hour disembarkation/embarkation. Do people really think the aircraft would wait at the gate to see if immigration were going to deny someone entry. Fairly obvious the airline that brings you would be the first port of call, but not the only way out. When it comes to responsibility, that lies with the passenger that ticked the box agreeing to the conditions of carriage.

Apologies if the comment went over your head.

You would have to explain what enemies have to do with marine accidents.

The government asked for something that wasn't possible, how on earth do you think they would word the rejection. They wanted to exempt Thai citizens from the tax which isn't possible with airline taxes, but feel free to take what they say as gospel.

My next nearest, which is actually quicker, is Pattaya and they have always asked for CoR. I went there for first licence and they rejected my medical certificate because it was from doctor in Chonburi, not Pattaya. As you say, drove back to Chonburi in the afternoon and got it there without a problem, a few years ago now.

Obviously you do not know what you think you know. This is what you said "as then they would be responsible for providing your return transport." I read the conditions of carriage a long time ago and did not see anywhere the airline accepting responsibility for anything. This is how BA put it, maybe different if you buy your ticket from IATA. 13a) General 13a1) You (not us) must: check the relevant entry requirements, including government health policies and requirements for any country you are visiting and ensure that you meet all applicable entry requirements, including health mitigation measures and present to us all passports, visas, health certificates and other travel documents needed for your journey. 13a2) You must obey all laws, regulations and orders of any countries you fly from, enter or travel through or in which you are a transit passenger. 13a3) We will not be liable to you if: you do not have all necessary passports, visas, health certificates and other travel documents your passport, visa, health certificates or other travel documents are invalid or out of date or you have not obeyed all relevant laws. 13b) You must present to us valid passports, visas, health certificates and other travel documents Before you travel, you must present to us all passports, visas, health certificates and other travel documents you need for your journey. If we ask, you must: allow us to take and keep copies of them and deposit your passport or equivalent travel document with a member of the crew of the aircraft for safe custody until the end of the flight. 13c) What happens when you are refused entry to a country If you are refused entry to a country, you must pay: any fine, penalty or charge imposed on us by the government concerned any detention costs we are charged the fare for transporting you back to your place of departure and any other costs we reasonably pay or agree to pay. We will not refund to you the fare for carrying you to the place where you were denied entry. 13d) You must repay us fines, detention costs and other charges If we have to pay any fine, penalty, fee, charge or costs (such as detention costs) because you have failed to obey any laws or regulations, or other travel requirements of the country to which you have travelled to or to produce the necessary documents needed by that country, you must repay us the amount we have paid as a result. We may take this amount from the value of any unused part of your ticket, or any of your money we have in our possession. 13e) Customs inspection If necessary, you must be present when your baggage is inspected by customs or other government officials. We will not be liable to you for any damage you suffer in the course of an inspection or because you are not present. 13f) Screening You must allow us, government officials, airport officials, or other carriers to carry out security screening of you or your baggage and health screening checks as required. https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/information/legal/british-airways/general-conditions-of-carriage#

In the last financial year(2021/22) when outside of the EU, 0.7% of UK income tax went to the EU, about the same as when in the EU. On the other hand in that same year 7.6% of UK income tax went on National Debt interest, compared to 5.1% on Defence and 4.7% on Transport. What nobody is prepared to say is how much did the Brexit fiasco contribute to the national debt. In 2016 National Debt interest was 5.2% of income tax. A new government brexit department with hundreds of politicians and civil servants in Europe on expenses, while the food banks were struggling to meet demand. The greatest act of self harm by a population since the Chinese famine.

Why Thailand? https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170822-why-its-not-surprising-that-ship-collisions-still-happen

Not necessarily a 20yr old rule. Chonburi used to be ID & Tabian Baan but changed about 2 years ago just before I renewed mine. I know someone who went a couple of weeks before me and he got the licence with ID number but they told my wife it was new regulations. Only positive was I had to go to immigration a couple of weeks later so combined the trip which took me past my birthday, got 6 years on the licence rather than the 5.

Depends on the office and if they will allow your ID number on the driving licence as opposed to your passport number. Passport & CoR is the more likely but some still accepting ID card & Tabian Baan.

Not quite the case, countries add and change taxes regularly. The problem is that airlines cannot apply the tax selectively. Even if they had come up with some arrangement it still left a problem with the land borders. The latest proposal would address both issues. I suspect it may end up like the new motorway arrangement where you get so many days to pay.