sandyf

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.

Possibly, but in this case it was a group of families, parents getting tanked up and kids running riot.

If it had been a question there would have been a question mark. Merely an observation as there is no meaningful answer.

No it hasn't, some would prefer to forget how it all came about. The Vietnam War gave birth to Pattaya as it is today, and the associated problems. "As the Vietnam War raged on during the late 1960s and early 1970s, hundreds of American GIs were airlifted into U-Tapao air base on a daily basis for their R&R. Nearly all of these soldiers headed straight to Pattaya, where a boom town of partying, prostitution and escapism developed. Coming right out of a war zone, one can only imagine the state of mind these soldiers were in when they arrived in Pattaya. Fighting an intense physical and psychological guerilla war in Vietnam created a genuine need for total escapism. To fulfill these soldiers’ needs, an entire resort and entertainment industry emerged from the humble foundations of a fishing village. Thais from all over the country, but especially from Issan, moved to Pattaya to work in this booming and indulgent atmosphere. In the early days, a hotel room cost about 50 cents and a lady companion not much more. The GIs spent their earnings freely and the Thais happily raked them in." https://web.archive.org/web/20150724115246/http://www.1stoppattaya.com/articles/sattahip_gis/

You and me both, Jet Airlines wasn't much better and out of the picture now.

Believe what you want, a penalty of flying budget airlines. On my flight, cabin staff were too busy seeling stuff to be bothered about passenger behaviour.

Twenty odd years ago not many had the Chang beer, "Castleburg" predominated. When I wanted a Chang it would usually come from the bottom of the fridge and often frozen. I would just pour the beer into the glass and leave the chunk of ice in the bottle. Wonder what the ABV would be.

You are jumping the gun, the OP may or may not be a scam, you don't know. The problem with items such as a printer is that some vendors will advertise an item when they do not actually carry stock on the basis they can aquire it quickly, but that may not happen. A few years back I wanted a 22 inch TV to use as a monitor but it turned out there was a general shortage of a particular component and that size TV was in short supply. I had 5 orders cancelled by the system before I got what I wanted. That was in the days before vendors thought about asking customers to try and avoid cancellation.

Last year I was on an Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Antalya and just the same, except the passengers were Brits.

More a question of having the cake and eat it. The UK did not dissassociate itself from EU legislation, laws that suited the agenda were retained. Brexit would never have happened if it had been clear 261/2004 was to be repealed along with all other EU legislation.