BKKBike09

In Bangkok at MFA Chaengwattana they offer a same-day service (I think 3,000 for a 5-year passport). Apply in morning and pick up in afternoon. Best to book slot online.

The new M-Flow system doesn't recognise ID numbers that don't begin with 1 or 3 as being held by Thai nationals, so my Thai ID starting with 8 means I can't link my M-Flow account to debit directly from my EasyPass - have to link M-Flow to a credit card 'because foreigners can only link to a credit card'.

A 'cooperative society'? That's what Western ideologue liberals like to think about the socialist approach. The reality is more and more becoming: "So-called freedom can sometimes be easily confused with selfishness" - Hong Kong's new Health Minister, talking about possible introduction of mandatory China-style tracking apps, which I'm sure a 'cooperative society' welcomes. (https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/macau-lockdown-begins-hong-kong-mulls-health-code-app/news-story/300ba4685a58d3a8aebbff75d56fe7e9 If that's what a 'cooperative society' means, we should all be concerned.

What's it got to do with the 'Right'? Some people prefer to be told what to do, others prefer to make their own minds up, and to believe that people should take agency for their own lives where possible. A democratic government should respect that. An autocratic government will always know what's best for people. People at serious risk from Covid are in a distinct minority. Why should the majority sacrifice for the minority? No-one has any idea about the real level of infections here in Thailand. Surely you don't believe the official statistics? Of course, it would be inconvenient for the government to admit that manic masking doesn't stop many infections, given how easy it is to catch it now. If moronic compliance with rules just because they're 'the rules' is your thing, that's up to you. I find it frankly astonishing how easily people will cede personal liberties with nary a whimper.

Thanks for the insight ... I had Delta last year. I really don't care if I get Covid again. My sister's had it 3 times now (UK school teacher). It's everywhere. It's mild for the vast majority of people. Live in fear if you choose. I'd rather not.

Rigorous data-based analysis at its best. Really, who cares about this stuff anymore?

https://indoorskydivingsource.com/tunnels/chaijinda-wind-tunnel/ This is the newest facility (in Cha-am). Military, but I believe open to civilians as well (friend of mine sometimes flies a Porter for one of the skydive ops here and told me about it).

How does that prevent an ambulance turning up to answer a 999 call right now? Why can’t people get on a Dentist or GP list? On your ambulance point - the problem, caused by NHS mismanagement and Covid staffing, is that in many health authorities there is currently little capacity to admit, in a timely fashion, patients arriving by ambulance. There are free beds, there are doctors, but the system is screwed up. So ambulances sit at A&E for hours waiting to offload before they can be sent out again. My 90 year old mum fell very ill on Monday, vomiting, incoherent, in great pain. We called an ambulance at 1 pm. It never showed, despite three follow up calls to 999 and being told at 9 pm (!) that one would be blue lighted out to our rural location. Oh, and being told to get the local defibrillator ready. I don't blame the Tories for this. But back on topic - time for Johnson to go before he does even more damage to the Conservatives. Although I suspect people are sick and tired of the sorry pack of them, not that Labour are any more edifying.

Everyone's back at work in the UK?? More accurate to say that many companies have failed to hire back staff they laid off during the pandemic, and that Covid continues to see huge numbers of people - while not very sick - off work. That is having a massive impact. That said, Johnson has to go. Enough with the "I made a mistake and I'm apologising now".

Surely you need to try and factor in how governments will tax road use by EVs instead of just pushing a pure "energy" cost. Tax on fuel is a massive contributor to government tax revenues in most countries. If millions of drivers shift to EVs, do you really think governments will say "thanks for helping the environment guys, no tax for you!". For sure there will have to be some new tax to replace that lost on fuel revenues: dynamic road pricing, "per km" pricing based on your EV reporting its daily mileage to a government server etc. Seems to me EVs make sense for urban driving but are still way too expensive in comparison to a traditional ICE (what's the acronym these days for In Car Entertainment) unless you do mega-mileage.

Those dogs need to go back to Chasing School if what's in the video counts as "chasing".

I wonder how many other exchanges will start making it hard to withdraw - this sent out yesterday by UpBit. A "system upgrade" without a defined end date, during which no deposits / withdrawals can be made? Right ... Dear Traders, We will proceed system upgrade on wallet service and BTC, USDT market. Please read this announcement carefully. [Impact] • ALL Asset Withdrawal/Deposit Suspension : From 10:00 Bangkok Time, 23 Jun 2022~ • BTC, UST Market Trading Suspension : From 16:00 Bangkok Time, 23 Jun 2022, apprx. 2 hours. Once the maintenance is complete, we will announce again. Please DO NOT deposit any asset during the suspension. In such case, recovery may take long time or impossible. [Important Note] • After the maintenance, ALL EXISTING DEPOIST ADDRESSES will be deleted. • Please ISSUE NEW ADDRESS after the maintenance for ALL ASSETS. • Deposit into legacy address may take a long time to recover. • Also erroneous deposit into legacy address may not be possible to recover. After the completion of upgrade, we will provide withdrawal/deposit service of all tokens available on Upbit Thailand including BTC and USDT market. Thank you. Upbit Team.

Offered the choice, I'd probably put my whopper between two tops. Although two bottoms could be fun, too.

So the owner is a woman, not a man (although sounds like you / your GF have never seen any paperwork to confirm this individual is even the owner of record). How did you GF meet the 'owner'? If it was via introduction from someone (a friend, family member, co-worker) then try getting that person involved to put some pressure on. Do you / your GF know where she lives / works? If you have any form of contract / agreement, definitely worth going to police and registering the basic details in the daily log. Maybe this person has put your GFs name on other loans somehow - sounds like your GF is very naive and trusting: who's to say the 'owner' didn't say "I need your ID Card and Tabien Ban originals for a day or two for "the paperwork". If there's a record of a complaint in the police log, at least you / she has some coverage if things go further south from here.

To add to all the travel misery, anyone needing to rent a car in UK these days is in for a shock. Shortage of cars generally mean that rental prices are insane. I had to rent a car in Inverness when I was last back in April: £980 for 4 days from Sixt (the cheapest available) for a manual Skoda Octavia Estate or equivalent (ended up with a Kia of some sort that wasn't ready at the booked time, so spent an hour waiting ... but I digress). Thought about renting from LHR on my next trip back later this month but, f#*k me, I only want to rent it, not buy it! "BUDGET' (great name guys). Hertz ... pay at location prices add another 20% or so.

Love the jump wings on the middle dude.

Sounds like Governor Narong has been put back in his (sand)box by an order from a higher authority. No way he'd flip flop that quickly, especially given that the original order only relaxed outdoor masking in well-ventilated areas etc..

I think you'll find all doctors are paid. Well, except perhaps for Cuban ones sent to Angola in the spirit of fraternal friendship 'n all that. Anyway, we could argue about this for ever. I'm going back to making my life-size model of global funster Tedros Ghebreyesus out of used face masks and hand gel.

Strangely they ignored the hand gel, although a couple of them had little spray bottles which went on the table next to their phones when they sat down. One guy valiantly kept his mask on while drinking his tasty beverage, lifting up the bottom of it to sup, but in the end he realised a) it made the inside of his mask wet and b) he looked like a tw**

Medical experts used to say smoking was good for you.

Yes, in my opinion blindly following 'the rules' regarding outdoor masking is a bad thing. Parents masking up their toddlers is a perfect case in point. "Oh, but she looks so cute in her designer face mask". The last thing Thailand needs is yet more dumb obeisance.

Let's get some FACTS in here. 1. Plead guilty in Thailand and yes, you may receive a 50% reduction in sentence. However, sentencing in Thailand can be massively harsher than in the West for the same crime. If you faced a 10-year sentence in Thailand for an offence with a 1-year tariff in your home country, I bet you'd plead guilty. 2. The Thai justice system will typically see an individual face separate trials for the same crime if committed in different localities. You commit the offence above in Bangkok, Udon Thani and Hat Yai. When caught, you are likely to be sentenced to 10 years in Bangkok, then get transferred to Udon Thani for trial, serve sentence, then get transferred to Hat Yai ... I know a Brit who did 13 years in the 1980s/1990s for cheque fraud. Cashed stolen travellers cheques in various different provinces and got 2 years for each cheque. 3. There is no plea bargaining in the Thai justice system. So your options for a lower sentence are basically plead guilty to whatever charge(s) you face.

Only if it's Instagrammable, and the organisers provide free bubble tea (and masks).

The 'temp check' is another example of pure conditioning. Last week I watched a group of eight masked up Thais in their 20s religiously queue up to do the temp check to "enter" W District in Phrakhanong ... which is all open air, and so which has no defined 'entrance'. They queued to 'get in' past the (unoccupied) guard's table next to the temp scanner, despite there being 20 yards of open frontage right next to it.

“Yes, I did know her. I'm happy to accept that I spent time with her. “She is a bar girl that I knew previously and I accept that I paid the bar fine. There is no way in the world that I'd ever hurt any woman let alone kill her. “This is a despicable crime which I vehemently deny. I look forward to proving my innocence in the fullness of time.” https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/newcastle-man-accused-murdering-thai-5642562 Good to know that he clearly did it because, er, the police said he did, as did the papers. No juries in Thailand to deliberate the details of the case.