BKKBike09

It's good news for those of us who live here. Removes the need to waste time and money getting a pre-flight PCR and hey, test positive on arrival, I'll argue strongly that I can home isolate in my house. Cost saving for a family of 4 is considerable but as many point out, why take the risk of an on arrival positive test? The bigger the group of visitors, the higher the risk that 1 will test positive and then goodbye holiday ... There's only one solution that will encourage travel: require visitors over 18 to be vaccinated and then leave it at that. Unvaccinated for any reason, 5 days hotel quarantine on arrival.

Likely wind was a major contributing factor: hot conditions, close to/at Max AUW (all those generals and their medals are heavy) so little spare power to play with, unexpected crosswind gust puts one skid on the ground and bingo, dynamic rollover. Just my two cents.

+1 for either Rutnin or TRSC. If you are not very myopic (say less that -5), don't have astigmatism and have normal corneal thickness then it should be very straightforward. Correcting high-order myopia / astigmatism is where the surgeon's skill and experience come into play. Always a good idea to ask how many patients of your profile the surgeon has treated and with what outcomes. Common side effects are dry eyes and halos at night (particularly if your pupils naturally dilate more than 'normal'). Reading glasses will be a fact of life as you age. There is blended vision where one eye is corrected for distance and the other for nearer vision. Works very well for some people, not so well for others.

And it has a hand brake. What's not to like!

FWD is fine but IMO RWD/AWD is better for grip under hard acceleration. Generally a bit more mechanically reliable too if driver has a heavy foot, there being no CV joints. That said, FWD with decent rubber and suspension can be a lot of fun.

VW Scirocco is long in the tooth now but 2.0 turbo and DSG gearbox is a fine combination. Just a shame its FWD.

Curiously I was just talking yesterday to some friends who arrived here couple of days ago from Europe. They both had Covid a couple of weeks back. PCR testing on arrival at their hotel and the husband's test came back positive. After some panicking trying to get a medical certificate from Europe to prove earlier infection, hotel said "don't worry, have re-tested and now negative". I won't name the hotel but it's a fancy 5-star on the river in Bangkok. Go figure. Not sure how they did a "re-test" but who's complaining. Just goes to show, though, that asking for a re-test (even offering to pay for one) might be a good idea.

"Ex Panther"? Was a certain high-profile construction tycoon involved in naming the op?

For some, that also applies to how they feel about the obsessive outdoor maskers ... although I'll grant you one can't say it's "inconsiderate" to wear a mask outdoors. Except when it's parents forcing their infant children to do it.

You're forgetting Tom's Quik ...

"better than some of the other food down there" - that, my friend, is a low bar in the Phils. For starters, chicken pagpag, anyone? Back to Carl's Jr ... went once to the curious outlet near Nana after hearing their burgers were supposed to a cut above McD, BK etc. Thought it was dire.

Perhaps it's my age, but "Young Expat" to me would be a kid, a teen or at most in early 20s. But 36?

Mine was issued on 25 December! I guess that shows Bang Bon wasn't a hot favourite with expat residents.

Emphasing "Foreigner and Thai wife flee for their lives" seems a bit heartless. How about: "Innocent young man shot dead by gun-toting maniac"

If you mean the initial Thailand knowledge test you do at SB, there are different versions of this - I think 3 or 4 sets, each of 10 questions. The questions I had were pretty straightforward, like: 1. Who is the current Interior Minister? 2. Which is Thailand's newest province? 3. How many Generals in the Army (okay, I made this up, it's not a question) Along these lines. There was only one I had no idea about which was to do with the Nationality Act about hill tribes or something like that.

Mine used to have my ID number because I had PR (and so also had name in Thai). Then last time I went to renew I forgot my household reg. So they put my police book number as ID Number ... "3/2555" .... go figure. I made an appointment months ago to change it; appointment is next week and I'm busy so I cancelled it ... next appointment not for another month, not that I care. The DLT folk at Sukhumvit 62 who change the details were very helpful, unlike their colleagues in the driving license section. I did couple of cars and couple of motorbikes in less than 2 hours. If you don't read / write Thai you'll need someone with you who does because you have to fill in a request form for each reg book to be amended. Also copies of the RG announcement, household reg and nationality certificate, one set for each vehicle. As far as I can remember, the car people however then didn't take the RG, whereas the bike people did, or something like that. And the motorbikes were cheaper than the cars for making exactly the same changes! Not that it was very expensive. 100 baht or something like that per book.

Whoa, steady on there cowboy! According to the original source article: "... life should be as normal as possible while the economy is recovering, said the public health minister adding, however, that even if COVID becomes an endemic disease, the population may still be required to wear face masks, avoid group gatherings, wash their hands often, undergo rapid antigen tests and get vaccinated to reduce the risk of severe cases." So ... basically same, same. But doubtless there'll be the usual doom-mongers who'll say we need to continue to take all possible precautions 'just in case', "think of other people" etc etc. I'm sick of it all.

"people are getting sick, hospitalized and still dying" - from a myriad of other causes as well; that's life "Money and the economy are more important, right?" - yes, after two years of this, they are "let's go!" - full steam ahead. If you're uncomfortable, you can stay at home..

I'm sure it's a question many have pondered / are pondering (myself included). It's a one-size fits all solution that however is required to entertain many variables: an 'international traveler' could be, for instance: 1. A genuine tourist visiting for two weeks sun and masked fun. 2. A businessman visiting for a week. 3. An expat resident on some form of long-stay visa returning to the Kingdom 4. An expat with PR returning to the Kingdom 5. A Thai citizen returning home. 6. Any one of the above, who will spend all their time in Bangkok. 7. Any one of the above, who will travel upcountry after arriving in Bangkok I suspect the 'authorities' - whatever that may include - will be more concerned about arrivals who are genuine short-term visitors because they won't have any contact details for them other than those provided for the TP application. As for the tracking apps, I've never downloaded it/them, and have never been asked to show them either arriving in Thailand or at a quarantine hotel (did ASQ and TP last year). My two cents: the concern is with the PCR test. They think that by forcing visitors to pay for a hotel and test on Day 5, that will induce them to do it. Could be right. However I suspect that it would be quite possible to not do the pre-paid hotel/PCR as long as you do a PCR somewhere else and send that to the hotel with an apology, and that there'd be no blowback. For instance book Day 1 in BKK and Day 5 somewhere upcountry, and then simply say 'sorry, plans changed, couldn't get to my Day 5 hotel, did a PCR at xxx instead'. Seems a bit of a waste of time and money though (like the whole ridiculous Day 5 palaver).

Yep. 28 degrees in the shade at 7 am this morning.

Being Thailand, you can probably buy a sickle at 2 am. Failing that, a giant plastic <deleted> from lower Sukhumvit might be available as an alternative to be brandished (Borat-style).

Too right. This cretin also wants to bring back state quarantine for Thai nationals! From the source article: "Ms Treechada warned that the arrangements were not conducive to curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the kingdom because she feared it would let visitors carry the disease all over the country. She also claimed that the government was unable to control the current situation. At the same time, she called for the reintroduction of state quarantine for Thai nationals residing in the kingdom who she said should not have to fund expensive hotel bills to return home." Yawn.

I think you'll find he already is. Tourism and Sports isn't exactly a plum portfolio (as opposed to Energy, Health, Transport - the ones with the big budgets and mega-projects). Is the '1944 Convention' a Buddhist or Christian era date, I wonder?

Tell me about the Ladyboys ... fascinating creatures ... don't suppose you've got any stories about them ...