bananafish

At first, they thought he was just pleased to see them, but it turned out it was a snake in his pants.

It looks like someone is standing behind him, taking his photo. That isn't normal.

Staying in Blighty.

They were already taking photos of him checking in, and about to go through baggage check. A tip off, perhaps.

71, he's poised to live out the rest of his days with zero privacy or comfort ever again.

Going through Vietnam immigration is a formality. A stress-free, even welcoming experience. Going through Thai immigration is like waiting in line for a rectal examination. A cold, hostile experience. But Thai culture is relaxing, polite and considerate. Very easy to live in. Vietnamese culture I find hard to put up with for long periods. Vietnamese people seem to exist in a world where only their experience matters. If it isn't negatively affecting them, it isn't happening at all. This seems to be changing among the younger Vietnamese, but it's still in the general culture. They aren't deliberately rude, it just seems like the concept of being considerate of others doesn't exist. Bunking queues, littering, being noisy at 2am or 5am, any time whatsoever. The experience of the people trying to sleep on the same floor isn't a concept, they will shout down hallways at 5am, bang doors, make all the noise they like. I stayed in a hotel once and woke up at 6am with staff scraping paint off the skirting board in the hallway, there's no way anyone on the floor could have slept through it. On a number of occasions, different hotels, different cities, different years. I've been woken up by staff seeming to have a jovial staff meeting, at 6am. Full of laughs and conversation. Not a thought given to the fact people are trying to sleep. There's a lot to like about Vietnam, but I could never call it home, after a while, I need to get out of the place. And when I arrive back in Thailand, I breathe a sigh of relief, but not until I'm finished having my ass examined by the b!tch at immigration.

Like one of those, "coke, weed, speed, E's?" guys you get in European cities.

Who would have thought you can't bring those on a plane?

Legal action? Do one!

The dumbest immigration policy of any country I've heard in quite a while.

I suspect Mr. J is telling some porkies.

Kamagra is Sildenafil, it's hardly some taboo secret drug, it's common and available everywhere, including in Thailand.

The thought of the videos I saw of this incident still pop into my head from time to time, so awful.

A few months ago I saw some local down-and-out doing crystal meth or something at around 1pm along Sukhumvit road not far from On Nut. Not exactly sure what the drug was, but it was a <deleted> up drug, with various paraphernalia he was working with to fix it up. He was just sitting crouched on the footpath, right beside the main road. Equally disturbing, during the same walk, I saw someone pissing off one of the bridge crossing onto the canopy above the footpath below. I thought to myself, if this was my home country, I'd be giving that guy a swift kick up the hole.

Catch illegal immigrant, deport illegal immigrant. Who'd have thunk. UK immigration should study in Thailand. In the UK, he'd just have to say that after 25 years he's got used to eating local food, and if deported, having to eat his home country food would make him feel unfulfilled. Then the UK judges would deem it inhumane to deport him, and he'd be granted a permeant right to stay.