BKKBike09

Ah, Bhairawha. Gateway to .... nowhere interesting whatsoever. Fun fact: the airport upgrade there was slowed after the contractors were told they could not use heavy equipment to move sand from nearby rivers, but had to do it all by hand.

Generally, about a 6" pole.

Good to see senior officers showing their subordinates how to track down and catch these hardened criminals who brazenly flout the law and cause untold misery and suffering through their heinous acts [That's enough, Ed.]

You just pay off what is outstanding. Sometimes there may be a lock-in period of say 12 months, during which you'll have to pay a penalty.

Which is why there's a thriving industry fraud based on passing off of fresh palm oil as the more expensive Used Cooking Oil (UCO). Biodiesel etc based on UCO is more expensive than biodiesel made from ordinary palm oil because UCO is more expensive. So there's a big incentive for traders to buy factory fresh palm oil and mis-declare as UCO (or the other recycled feedstock, Palm Oil Mill Effluent POME). Malaysia for instance exports way more UCO than it collects domestically.

Only buy new if you don't really care about resale value and the initial depreciation hit the moment you drive out of the dealership. Sure, leasing feels like you're 'wasting' money but you are also paying for convenience. And if you're suddenly laid off by your employer, you're not saddled with an asset you may have to sell in a hurry, accepting whatever you can get for it. Also ... new cars can be lemons just as much as second-hand and dealerships generally are very happy to sell but much less interested in after-sales. Honda may be an exception as I've always found their after-sales pretty good, but then I've never owned a Toyota.

They look good but would a veloz be better? What about resale value? Would Toyota be easier to sell down the road? I think they're all pretty much the same (Veloz, Xpander, BR-V etc). I've always thought basic Toyotas are the most boring of Japanese cars so I'd choose Xpander over Veloz just because etc. Toyota might be marginally easier to sell but it all comes down to asking price and local obsession with km on the clock. I'd guess if you bought a Veloz/Xpander new now for say 900K, in three years you'd probably be able to sell it privately quite easily for around 600-650, especially if low km. If you want a bigger car then I'd look at Isuzu Mu-X. I like the styling and they're big comfortable cars. Plenty of the smaller engine 2WD ones for around 900K, couple of years old. The 3.0L AWD ones run about 1-1.1 million or so at that age (they're now about 1.7 new I think). Here are some of the 2WD ones on One2Car - top one says it's only 8,xxx km and still has a couple years of official 3-year warranty.

I know you're now leaning towards a Yaris of some sort but have you considered Mitsubishi Xpander? All models less than THB 1 million. Lots of room for when the grandparents visit. I don't usually care for the mini MPV look but quite like the Xpander - I think it looks better in the flesh than in the pics. There are various promotions at the moment till end Oct. Including 0% interest offers. There's also a new HEV version - also under a million. High-capacity electric motors deliver a maximum power of 116 horsepower alongside torque of up to 255 N•m. This ensures responsiveness, excellent acceleration, and enhanced driving comfort. The new 1.6L DOHC MIVEC gasoline engine delivers a maximum of 95 hp at 5,100 rpm and peak torque of 134 N•m

#metoo

FYI you can buy Marmite - not that Vegemite 5h*te - in Villa these days. Pricey but welcome.

You can bring as much as you like in your checked baggage but as soon as you declare you will likely lose it. if you're up for a round of x-ray roulette when you arrive here, don't declare and you may sail through. However, if your bags are put through the scanner, you'll have a problem: best case, lose the lot. Worst case: prosecution for duty evasion. Whether you get asked to put bags through scanners depends on many random factors. If you've got a trolley laded with bags, so look like a returning resident, chance of scan is much higher than if you look like a visitor here for two weeks with a single case and a small hand carry. Also, Customs at SVB are not stupid and they know a fancy wine when they see it. Or they will google it if they don't. Two bottles you're probably going to be okay but you never know ...

Really feel for these guys - they've been trying for at least 3 years now to get amphib ops cleared.

Would you dress before filing the charges?

Thanks - wouldn't get away with that (driving around with guns in car boot if not specifically going to / from a range) nowadays. To keep on topic: even if this Swiss dude had a permit to own a gun - for all we know (unlikely though it is) he may have been living here 20 years and bought it legally, in his name, many years ago, when that was still possible for some categories of foreign resident - he would not be permitted to take it to an airport just chucked in his baggage. If you do want to fly here with a legally held gun (I only know as applies to domestic) it needs to be checked through airport security, by the owner, with a copy of the license, for carriage in the hold. Most airlines also have a limit as to how many guns they'll accept on any given flight (usually 5).

Out of curiosity when was that? I'm guessing not recently. And by 'licensed but outside of the permissible area' do you mean he had a Por 12 carry permit for Province X but was stopped in Province Y? I've not heard of anyone having a Por 12 for more than one weapon, and since the Paragon shooting then (officially) there's been a moratorium on issuing them.

As ever, Private Eye has him, Rayner et al bang to rights. They're no better than the last lot. https://www.private-eye.co.uk/current-issue

"the UK's predominantly rightwing press" - are you still living in the 1980s?

The problem is not paying to fast track an inspection. The problem arises if said payment means no inspection, or ignoring defects, illegal modifications etc. I have no idea what a bus inspection here involves. I suspect on paper there is a lengthy check list a DLT inspector is supposed to follow, but probably also one that is poorly worded and open to interpretation like so many regulations in Thailand e.g. "check that tyres are in acceptable condition" with no definition as to what 'acceptable condition' means. That said, I suspect the officially mandated inspection is likely far short of what would be acceptable in a developed country that takes safety seriously. It always makes me laugh, when I take my motorbike for its annual 'MOT' here, that the checks don't include whether the tyres are roadworthy or the brakes and horn all work. They do however care whether the indicators are the wrong colour ...

Using high-pressure flammable gas to power any commercial public transport vehicle should be prohibited.

Thailand has 39. illion children under the age of 5?? Surely not. I never knew Texas Chicken was a PTT franchise. They probably figured "we've done well with Amazon coffee - captive customer base at all our filling stations - how hard can fast food be" ... with no thought to the complexity of staffing / stock control / equipment cost for a restaurant operation. Also that at a PTT filling station there is only ever one coffee option, but plenty of food options.

Correct on both points, and existing permits were indeed grandfathered.

Not code, at all, compensation was clearly mentioned... "the airline is working closely with the landowner to ensure proper compensation". "...the 'airline' ..." Why the inverted commas?... the owner of the plane is an airline. Compensation for what, exactly? Damage to some mud and mangroves? That would be covered by the aircraft owners public liability insurance. Compensation for bad juju caused by deaths on the site is what I'm talking about. But this is hardly Santika pub territory, ie prime plot of land that post-fire no-one would touch for development for years. The single quotation marks for 'airline' are to make clear that article describes the outfit as an 'airline' (ie quoting from the article) although it sadly now only has one other aircraft, another single-engine turboprop Caravan. Thus I choose not to describe it as an airline, since most people would, I suspect, consider an 'airline' to have more than one aircraft, regardless of the operation having an AOC. Not dissimilar to using quotation marks in a context such as "responding to AseanNow's 'favourite pedant' ..."

Almost exactly 10 years to the day since they moved a Harrier to that location (you can see the Harrier in the OP photo). https://www.pattayamail.com/news/shock-and-awe-as-fighter-jet-rolls-down-sukhumvit-road-39965

The landowners "remain cooperative, allowing the authorities to complete their investigation". As opposed to, what, obstructing an official investigation? "the land was initially purchased for investment purposes, the owner expressed concern about its future use, given the tragic events that unfolded on the property" - code for impending money grab from the 'airline' for causing bad karma.

I suspect the reason what is being suggested [gifting from overseas to spouse/for educational purposes] has not been routine is because there was no need for this when it was completely okay to send yourself funds that were then treated as not subject to tax in Thailand as long as earned in a previous tax year (proof of which was never sought). The RD abolishing this long-standing previous interpretation on what was tax-free personal remittance from overseas is surely what has led to the sudden interest in the gift option. Maybe they'll tighten up on this. Maybe they won't. I think it's interesting RD back-tracked on the new remittance interpretation so that now it's only monies earned after 1 Jan 2024 that are taxable when remitted. I think it's sensible to keep a record of your overseas bank balance(s) as of 31 Dec 2023 so that - if ever asked by RD - you can demonstrate clearly funds sent in after that date were already in that account. For example if you had USD 50,000 balance in a foreign account as of 31.12.24, and subsequently sent USD 15,000 a year to yourself in Thailand, that would be three years plus of time in which the likely direction of RD travel on all this should become much clearer.