AlQaholic

Oh, the Grand Palace, good olde scam, makes me nostalgic. "Palace closed today, I take you to better palace", or "Palace burnt down, have new palace, I take you there for private day tour". 

20 hours ago, edwinchester said:

Only if you want to be, it's a private hospital and you can pay or have insurance. If it's a Govt Hospital they'll give you a packet of paracetamol and tell you to go home and rest.

I once tried to force a local public hospital to admit a child of a relative to my Thai wife, who was diagnosed with Pneumonia. After a lot of back and forth, the hospital admin came out to talk to me. She admitted that, yes, in a perfect world, the child should be admitted. But all private rooms were already full, They could not leave the child in the open population due to risks such as contracting other diseases and other risks related to understaffing. Bottom line, the child is safer at home.

I'ts pretty strange guys. Both Cambodia and Laos have this very convenient e-visa thing in operation for many years. Yet Thailand has yet to implement. I guess it is a matter of determining what entity should get the profits of foreigners paying the  fees but then also billing the govt. for the services:) 

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

They were probably checking you out, 2 land border visa exempts a year shouldn't be an issue, sounds like Poipet has improved

I think have to agree, the officer seemed extremely polite and professional, but absolutely do not rely on this place for oneself border thingie:)

37 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Yes, and he stayed overnight in Cambodia so removed that obstacle. 

Poipet is not a bad place to spend the night guys:)

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

Sounds like you got a 30 day visa exempt, no big deal

Yes 30 day visa exempt, no big deal, but why did I have to explain my purpose of visiting Thailand in such detail then? And why did the other guy I quoted get rejected?

19 hours ago, alex74 said:

Don't do it yourself!!! It's just unnecessary stress. I went to Poipet with a new passport (60+30days stamp) and METV visa. Wanted to save a few baht. When I re-entered the country, the immigration lady interviewed me and rejected me. I had to go back to Cambodia and cancel the exit stamp and take the night bus to Phnom Peng. 2 people in a bed that is way too small... A very bad experience! I then flew back to Thailand and there were no problems in BKK.

 

Yesterday I did a Poipet visa run. Things have changed. I had an e-visa to Cambodia, leaving Thailand and entering Cambodia at Poipet with no hassle at all, queues maybe 20 minutes in the middle of the day. Only thing had to fill in an arrival form. Every passing of an immigration counter (Arrival and Departure) on both sides (Thailand and Cambodia) involves full fingerprint scanning of both hands and thumbs.

Came back this morning through Poipet departure immigration again 20-minute queue, counters were well-staffed. Check check, stamp stamp, and go.

To my dismay and worry, at the Thai arrival immigration, there are no longer any counters for filling in visa-on-arrival forms, or maybe there never were, this is the first time I went to Poipet. I asked a staffer and he said "No need", which made me more worried. I joined the 20-minute queue hoping for the best. Again, well-staffed counters. At the counter, the officer studied my passport and said (politely) "|You have no visa to Thailand, what is the purpose of your visit?". I explained honestly and in detail what my purpose was in Thai and she stamped me through without having to pay a single Baht for on-arrival-visa. I think because the purpose of my visit was not 100% tourist related but very justified, I was stamped through, but don't do this on a previous tourist visa. What I mean is, don't go to Poipet for regular tourist visa runs, it will not work unless you are using some agent.

So, Grandma was 13 years old when she got pregnant?

Alcohol.

3 hours ago, cracker1 said:

Earlier this year the Government mandated that pharmacies could not open unless they had a qualified pharmacist on site.

So I suggest there must be a shortage of trained pharmacists that may be  causing this problem. ? 

Where I live, most pharmacies start out fine when they open, with the actual pharmacist on site. Then gradually they are replaced by an old mom or dad, grandparents or the occasional boyfriend or husband/wife. I dunno where the pharmacists spend their time, maybe upstairs playing computer games?

21 hours ago, steven100 said:

This one is absolutely top taste, good recommendation!

9 hours ago, webfact said:

"taking a minor who is over 15 years old but not exceeding 18 years old away from their parents, guardian, or caretaker without reasonable cause, willingly and intentionally."

So as I understand it, he is not charged for having consensual sex, but for keeping her away from her family?

I do not know the nationality of the OP, but this is usually a question asked by US citizens. Until recently, being European, I have always been confused why Americans always are so worried about how much to tip. I was shocked to find out that in the US, the tip is actually a significant part of the staff income for restaurants in the US, which is completely different from how we do it in Europe. In Europe, you get a proper salary, protected by unions and the law. No need for a tip, although it is always welcome.

Here in Thailand I don't sit around trying to calculate percentages, just give some of what is left as change, like 20 - 40 baht, or for bigger occasions a 50 - 100 baht. For a roadside stall, no tip is expected. For maids and handymen no tip is expected, but I usually give the handymen something they can repair and use or sell, like an old aircon unit or a broken spinbike/treadmill.

On 8/17/2023 at 4:38 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Urban myth about BGs. I went with many and not one asked for money for the sick buffalo. Actually only two ever asked for extra money- one for 20 baht for bus fare and the other I had known for years and when I was going to give it to her for a valid reason declined as she had already paid for whatever it was..

Come on!! it was a joke!!

On 8/15/2023 at 8:41 AM, Longwood50 said:

I know you can get "ripped off" by going to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya.  However does someone know if any of the other hospitals have neurologist that can test for nerve damage.  I suspect she has either Carpal Tunnel or Ulnar Tunnel or perhaps both.  

 

Take a general health check up with a lab test on blood sample in public hospital. It can be precursor to diabetes. Unless she types like 200 words/m I doubt it is carpal, she should feel it in the wrist.

Don't forget the sick family water buffalo in Isan, and the maintenance of the rice field, all must be paid for.

3 hours ago, Harsh Jones said:

I have less of an issue with ordering from fancy restaurants. But there's some problems with that too.

 

The point of eating out is to you know.... eat out. Get changed and go to the restaurant and enjoy the setting and the experience. Or is that not a thing anymore ? You order lobster and get it delivered on the back of a Honda Click and sit there at your house in your pajama pants and eat ? This is after paying more to get it delivered. 

 

Don't you want to put on some better cloths and do some ppl watching and go for a drive and get away a bit ? With food apps, thats all out of the window. I just dont see the point.

Good point. We enjoy (family) the occasional restaurant visit, especially when on holiday.

I don't understand the ops argument at all. Where I live in the countryside, we can order from any place around the area, like expensive restaurants or from the food vendor on the corner with his 4-wheeled trolley selling kao-pat-tai and kao-man-gai or whatever.  There are Pizza company and Pizza Hut and many other. The delivery service does not deliver food from fast food joints, which does not have any meaning in Thailand really. The food is cooked with one speed only, both in the restaurants and the street corner, not very fast, but not too slow either. These are not fast food joints, they sell food, that's all. The little exercise obtained by going out to get your own food is not sufficient to bother, take a 10k jog before dinner. 

Ikea has good old cheap Swedish hot dogs. They even have packages of hot dog bread (buns) where the number of buns actually match the number of hot dogs in the hot dog packages:). A Swedish hot dog is best served with mashed potato together with the hot dog in the bread, a lot of mustard and special remoulade dressing.

If you are from a country in the EU, you can stay in any other EU country without a visa.

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I'm a mouth breather and doesn't cause the same problems

Same here, although I grew at high altitude causing huge lungs, So the air has to go through both my nose and mouth. Never considered it a problem. I think the notion about breathing through the nose helps you sleep better is self-fullfilling idea that wears of. 

Did they remove farming from the list?

On 3/22/2023 at 9:43 AM, GuyDow said:

"Capital punishment" outlawed? Quite right too!

I hate when terms are misused, "Capital punishment" is another term for "Death penalty", which hardly applies here.

I found this article from The Los Angeles Times, it may be relevant here and was a very interesting read:

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-01-14/column-chase-elder-financial-fraud

2 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

 

The reasons being the roads are shocking, and Thais have little to no awareness of any object following a vehicle like a trailer and thus the risks of turning or crossing behind your towing vehicle and colliding with your trailer are entirely possible.

 

I've read all replies and I thought this one makes a lot of sense. I have been driving in Thailand for a long time. Nowadays almost all roads that I regularly drive on are upgraded or in the process of being upgraded to mega concrete (think of Germanys Autobahns) structures. So depending on where you are going, the roads for the most part will be very good (highways). But this poses a problem as Trapposurfer points out, trailers are very rare on Thai highways, And because there are suddenly four or more lanes in each directions of the new highways, Thai drivers go completely nuts and swerves all over the place from lane to lane, using no turn indicators, Often they will get caught behind a truck in some left inner lane and when you pass them on the right lane they swerve up to pass you on the lane right of you, not understanding you are towing a trailer and....

I myself drive a Ford Ranger and the best car I ever had. Situation awareness is super good because the elevated driver position and parking is much easier than a sedan. You have full awareness of every corner of your car.