MarcelV

Yup dude, that's a real s-hole of a town/province. Normal falangs like us go to Pattaya. Why for gosh's sake was her there in the first place?

Yeah. Truly disgusting to beat up your own wife like this. And now she even wants to bail him out. What's wrong with these people?

Is it easier to depart/arrive from BKK than Sattahip?

I have lived in one of the three restive provinces since 2016 and can assure anyone that the situation has much improved. Nowadays, the number of yearly incidents is in the double digits and the number of casualties in the single to low double digits. All in all, there's no reason for anyone to avoid the area regarding safety. It's as safe as anywhere else in Thailand. Since the majority of people don't drink, the number of alcohol-related incidents is much lower than in the rest of the country, so it's probably even safer all around.

None. Only private jets for the rich Chinese businessmen who fly there. Farangs never go there anyway, scared as they are to have their heads lopped off by long-bearded Arabs screaming "allahu akbar". 🙃

So do I. In my province people have more urgent things to worry about than a farang's visa status.

Hammerman, Hammerman, where are you?

What about his visa status? Did someone check if Mr. Russell is perhaps on overstay after 50 days of running?

I've been there multiple times, but don't live there, nor do I know any foreigner who does. Would I live there? Probably not, as it's so far from anywhere else in Thailand and the airport is not being used at all commercially.

Great news! My wife and her entire village are celebrating. Everywhere are red flags and flags with the image of Mr. Thaksin. Everyone is wearing red today to express their happiness. Here in Issan people know when it's time for a party. 🙂 My wife is praying for Mr. Thaksin to replace the current PM asap and give back more to the lovely Issan folk. ☺️

Don't get your hopes up.

No need to print. In fact, many people don't fill in the form until they're asked to at the border.

Easy to say if you don't even know who the insurgents are. They are indistinguishable from the regular population, some of whom support and/or house the actual insurgents. There is simply no solution to the situation except peace talks.

How well has force worked so far? You can kill 10 insurgents, but 100 new ones will take their place.

Wut?

As long as the Thai govt is too busy arresting photographers for doing their job in taking pictures of newsworthy spray-paint on walls, nothing will change about the air quality. The big guys don't give a flying quack about this issue.

I recommend the 410 from Yala to Betong. Similar mountain views to Northern Thailand and much less touristy.

These numbers are nothing special. Next!

The deadline is this year, specifically October. If I don't get another waiver, it's the end of the line for me in this country. Another foreign teacher already had to leave because of it, and my second colleague kept the honor to himself, after the school had managed to hire him as 'specialist' or something for a few years. Some new foreign teachers have joined us recently. They're still on their first waiver. None of us are properly licensed (i.e. holding an actual Thai teacher license) to teach in Thailand.

I went ahead and bought a Thai Lion Air ticket to Hat Yai, leaving from Don Mueang Airport at 14.45, which will give me a little over 4 hours to make it there by shuttle bus and check in. Only 2.15 hours later than my intended flight from BKK, but that extra time does give me more peace of mind.

Or negotiate peace, without including all major parties, including PULO, RKK, Pattani Mujahideen etc etc. The current side of the insurgents is basically just MARA, which only speaks for certain groups of individuals.

At least I save some baht on a hotel stay and get a free meal on the bus.😛

Only very expensive ones, or with very inconvenient times. My wife will be in Hat Yai, ready to pick me up and drive me to Narathiwat. Thai Airways will end its flights to Narathiwat late March, after which only Air Asia still flies to Narathiwat. Both of its flights are in the morning from DMK, and its prices just before Songkran are very high, whereas a cheap train ride to Tanyong Mat (Nara) or cheapish (less than 1500 baht) direct VIP bus to Narathiwat Town can still be booked online. I dread those long journeys, especially after just flying in from Amsterdam, but what can you do, hey?

No, they won't check my baggage through. I guess I'll just bite the bullet and take the bus or train to my destination.

Probably because the only foreigners people flying there internationally are Malaysians and Singaporeans, and they do not have a layover in Thailand.