lamyai3

Haven't heard of a cleverer plan since that time a former minister tried to disguise several kg of illegal white powder as self-raising flour...

Nothing good ever came out of visiting a Chiang Mai karaoke bar.

It was a civil servant responsible for assessing asylum eligibility - Ministry of Defence is keeping it anonymous.

For the British teas there are some alternatives (from Sri Lanka I think) in Gourmet which are a fair bit cheaper than Twinings and a ton better than Liptons.

Oolong tea is from China

"Hello, are you dead yet?" "Yang mai die?" is one of my favourite Thai greetings...

"I play old skool anthems" Have you got any Bachman–Turner Overdrive?

"Is it true sir," West Palm Beach lawyer Spencer Kuvin asked Epstein, "that you have what's been described as an egg-shaped penis?"

Complete and utter clusterf*ck.

Bear in mind the tax situation has become a big concern for expats recently with the current government expressing their intent to go after worldwide income in the near future. Whether it ultimately happens or not is moot, but the freedom from tax concerns that have been enjoyed here since the early 90's (for locals and foreigners alike) is no longer a given.

Just at the same time as Pattaya is lamenting the drop in Chinese tourists, they decide to ostracise one third of the world's smoking population. You couldn't make it up...

Worth following the officers advice and getting the other certificate while it's still very easy to do the renewal. Recent announcements from DLT suggest that in the near future it might be a requirement to do full written and practical tests when applying for a new licence.

The non-grandfathering applied to the extensions as well, that's what made the visa unworkable for many. Non O-A was one of the best options for years until it suddenly wasn't - if the government ever pulled the same trick with Non O extensions then many people are going to be up the junction.

This is definitely a concern. Changes made to the Non O-A visa a few years ago were not grandfathered in, confidence in them honouring this in the future is not high.

The OP mentioned a potential new risk of high taxation in Thailand based on proposals to tax worldwide income - I agreed that it would likely cause many people to leave, at least to the point of becoming non tax resident in Thailand. Of course they'll be subject to tax rules elsewhere, no one has suggested they wouldn't. Regarding DTAs etc, the Revenue Department has failed to make things clear at the present time, especially regarding what constitutes assessible income etc. But that's a different topic completely.