richard_smith237

Mileage obviously varies... I never want to travel outside of my province without my Passport anyway (for obvious reasons)... but its in my bag, so when checking in for a domestic flight or a Hotel, I just use the Pink ID and have never had an issue (places such as the Marriott / InterCon / Standard etc and some crappier places).... IF the hotel actually wanted to see my Passport it wouldn't be much hassle at all to retrieve it from my bag. In the Ops case - IF he 'NEEDS' to travel without his passport and use his Pink ID instead, there is a possibility he could face some sort of brick-wall, but thats unlikely, especially if he also has a photocopy of his passport.

Just don't get upset and throw a glass across the room if one of the dogs barks too much... (those who know, will know I'm referring the the Swiss pi!!ock last month - who threw his glass at another customer in a dog cafe 'cos their dog was barking)

As above - information is literally everywhere regarding this extremely commonly asked question. In fact, the question is asked so commonly, there is a pinned thread specifically educated to it. If you have all the paperwork ready - you could have already been to DLT in Samui and have your License in hand already.

Business is now more often than not 3-4x the price of an Eco seat. To answer the Ops question: the Airline can reallocate the second seat, because one person can only check-in for one ticket. I don't think one person can check-in and obtain 2x boarding passes. IF the op really wants a spare seat next to himself, IMO, his best option is to research flights and fine the quietest routes / dates to travel so that he has the best 'probability' of an empty row or spare seat next to him. As far as I am aware - Its is only Air New Zealand that allows passengers to book and pay for a 'twin-seat' package and it actively advertises its 'SkyCouch' product whereby a passenger can book and pay for 3x Eco seats and get 'bedding' to lay across the 3 seats.

Does GRAB actually operate function anywhere now ? Its getting harder and harder to secure a Grab Ride. Myself and pretty much anyone I discuss this with is of the same opinion - Getting a GRAB Taxi / car is getting more and more tricky as 'Thainess' allows the fluckwittery to slip through the levels of corporate control preventing it from being an extremely reliable service. This past few weeks I've hit a 100% record of GRAB Taxis / Cars taking an order, then cancelling on me after a few mins, this cycle gets repeated over and over again until ultimately a ride is secured.... ... then we may get contacted by the rider and asked to cancel (probably because they can no longer cancel any more rides themselves becasue they've already done so, so many times). Since UBER left Thailand the Taxi services which theoretically were improving have gone backwards as far as convenience, honestly (using the meter) and customer service is concerned. There are still positive experiences with regular Taxi's and GRAB / BOLT etc but they have become the exception rather than the rule.

You are correct in what is stated on the Pink ID itself. However, real world experience contradicts the statement and the Pink ID is widely accepted throughout Thailand for checking into hotels and flights regardless of area of issue. The debate is entirely moot.

Thats the key issue here.... there is no interest in presenting 'balance' in the news... If the article had read... for example: On the same day in Patong, there were a total of 152 motorcyclist stopped by Police. 90 Thai and 30 foreigners were not under the influence of alcohol and fully licensed, whereas 20 Thai's and 12 Foreigners were found to be over the influence and arrested. .... Then we could see the news being reported fairly... Singling out only foreigners is rather whiffy IMO. It would be interesting to see true stats of Police Stops and arrests my nationality (or at least Non-Thai / Thai) so that transparency exists as to whether foreigners are being unfairly targeted and treated differently than Thai's.

Bruno Mars was just here... It's a fairly safe bet that they have people lined up to sort that out very quickly... OR, they receive an exemption (for obvious reasons). These reports on the other hand are something entirely different - most likely just people having fun, but getting blamed and arrested for 'doing a job'....

He paid SinSod for a 'granny' ??????

I know a few guys here who are DJ's... they have other jobs and they DJ for fun.... Its hardly crime of the century, its not even a 'crime' at all really - arresting such people is pathetic and highlights the juvenile extent Thai authorities will go to.

Quite likely because he doesn't want to fly into London. For someone who lives closer to the north, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow etc... a direct flight from Bangkok to London is useless as an onward 'flight' or significant drive is still required. London Heathrow is also terribly located for onward train travel.... Thus: If final destination is somewhere such as Glasgow - flying directly to Heathrow is not something I'd want to be doing and the KLM option with a quick change over then a 'channel hop' is the better option.

While I agree that there are a bunch of to$$ers going though threads trying to 'trigger' people by posting their anonymous negative emojis, in this case there is a general degree of disagreement with your comment and the method you are recommending for booking flights. While I haven't posted any emoji next to a post of yours, I do disagree with your comments regarding using agentsfor booking flights (which it turns out are just 'travel sites such as Skyscanner and Kayak) and not going directly though the airline (you and I have have posted about this in other threads).... I still find booking direct with the airline by far the most reliable and best option for booking and don't find any significant savings with the 'travel supermarkets' you have mentioned in other threads.

Then screw the wheels back on before going through security where they'll take the screw driver off you !!... As ridiculous as this sounds... 'some' airlines are getting so pathetic about these rules that I can imagine someone doing exactly as you have described.

As another poster wrote... How did he get his passport renewed ?? How did he get his visa extended ? - surely being on the UK's most wanted list there was an Interpol Notice about him. It seems to me that there was a major failing by the UK authorities.

The article made it very clear it wasn't him.... There are a number of posters on this forum who levy the pedo accusation at Richard Barrow every time there is some news article he's written or involving him.... Some posters are true halfwits.

Why, when there is a comment such as this its always an ill-informed bigot ?

Taxi drivers attempting to rip of customers again.... ... Foreigners getting the blame when they don't put up with it. Just this week with Wife and Son, about 10 taxi's in a row wanted to charge is 1000 Baht to get home (after a concert - obviously a busy area near the stadium). We went to a nearby restaurant and ate instead... towards the end of the meal with had the Grab App, Bolt App and In-Drive App going with most drivers cancelling on us... eventually we got a ride for 145 baht. When there was Uber generating competition taking a taxi in Bangkok used to be as easy as it is in any other city - Now Bangkok has become like Phuket with ayhole drivers never using the meter and Grab drivers accepting and cancelling. I think I've only taken two taxi's so far this year that used the meter without issue. about 75% of the time I try to order a Grab they cancel.

Agreed... Arrest and deal with drunk drivers and riders.... But, as you point out, there appears to be a developing policy of 'specifically' targeting foreigners... OR, perhaps its only the news interest that specifically mentions foreigners to attract views. The issue I take with any of these reports is that there is no mention or indication of a uniform policy to target all (foreign or Thai) and to penalise those guilty with equal disdain. My concern with all of this is the possibility of Thai's reading to things into this: 1) Potentially instigating an underlying dislike of foreigners for those Thai's who are otherwise completely neutral. 2) Sending the message to Thai motorists that they are no longer a target for DUI as it is foreigners who are being targeted, this leading to greater risk as potentially more Thai's engage in driving while drunk as they are no longer fearful of consequences. Of course, thats what we 'can' read into it with these reports. I think whats really happening is that as just as there always has been, there are a handful of foreigners who get caught out for behaving like d!<ks.... the difference we see is the English language media in Thailand get hold of the information and its great for triggering clicks. As far as rest of Thailand is concerned, nothing really changes at all.

So you added to it with your own Thai bash ??? Hmmmmm….

We have the xiaomi air purifier & it works well. Also - put additional ‘paper’ filters in your ac fan unit.

Many either 'leave the seatbelt engaged' and sit on it... Or they use a 'seatbelt' blanc.... (as below). The utter fluckwittery of the mindset of someone who will actively purchase something that significantly increases their risk of injury and / or death in the event of an traffic accident is utterly mindboggling.

Struggling with the concept of humour? Given your last comment, seemingly so... Obviously, I just struggled understanding your humour as much as you struggled with the attempt at being humorous !!!

You've never seen night time road works in operation Thailand ???? In Bangkok, much of the road works are carried out at night to avoid congestion - the roads are then temporarily repaired (covered with metal plates, or huge concrete slabs) so that traffic flow can resume by morning rush-hour. However, out on the highways, that may not be the case (perhaps due to poor lighting etc) or there being just less of a hurry.

Over simplified and dumbed down one liner... The issue is more complex than that - the key issue is the ID Page not being damaged (and its usually laminated so it isn't). ID records are also held on the Immigration Database.... so as long as the Biometrics are readable and the ID page is identifiable, Immigration are capable of identifying the 'UK foreigner' upon departure. As such, an emergency passport may not be required - but its still something I'd want in my back pocket anyway, just in case and if the Op lives in Bangkok already, a visit to the Embassy is easy enough.

Perhaps foreigners should be issued 'beach passports'.... Or rather.... the ONLY foreigner allowed on a beach is you.... because, god forbid, families and children go on to a beach to relax and enjoy themselves.....