richard_smith237

It's never going to be worth the effort for those who want to justify their choices in not making the effort to get one. There have been numerous derailed threads on the subject. The reality is, it's not a necessity, but can add a degree of convenience and can save you money - all of which is irrelevant to the thread, which is about 'witnesses' not the value of the book itself.

Officially yes, 2 witnesses are needed. We were ok with just my Mother In Law, but had another friend 'on call' just incase the Amphur officer decided to play awkward. That said, that may have meant that my Wife, was also counted as one of the Witnesses.

Seriously... you are a 3 word google search away from your answers !!! https://www.google.com/search?q=Motorbike+rental+Bangkok&oq=Motorbike+rental+Bangkok&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60.5025j0j3&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Helmets - where to buy depends on the quality and brand you want. You can get a cheap 'Index' helmet from a supermarket or you can get an internatoinal standard 'Shoei' or 'Arai' from shops such as Paddock and Panda Rider.

Old farts often stink and they have no idea... actually, a lot of people stink and they have no idea.... I'm not sure of your age, however, your response is straight out of the 'miserly book of boomerhood' !!... There's nothing wrong with a bit of tasteful scent.... If you are smelling the scent of other men you are either getting too close, or they're using some rough stuff.

Personally I find it quite offensive those people who stink out the changing rooms with their ‘deodorant’ sprays. Personally, I find it quite offensive those people who think they can get by without any deodorising spray and think their 'natural musk' is acceptable... I also find it quite ridiculous that your 'stance' against deodorant is to suggest 'people stinking out the changing rooms' as if people are using a whole can of spray. - Shower with showergel, quick spray of deoderant and a spalsh of Eau De Parfurm or De Toilet... and off you go... no need to over-power any area. You seem to be one of those the Thai's would 'turn away from' on the BTS in that moment of awkwardness where the person next to them is completely oblivious to their own odour.

Its 'where is the best burger in Bangkok' next, followed by at least two 'how to get a Thai Driving Licence?' and 'how to open a Thai Bank account?'....

Are you married ?? If so, does your Wife qualify for a Credit Card ?? IF so, by far the simplest solution is to become a second card holder on your Wife's credit card account. (obviously, this may not be applicable to you if you are not married, but it may be useful to someone - I've been a second card holder on my Wife's credit cards for well over 10 years... the points have come in useful for flights & discounts etc).

I thought Thai’s don’t like non-Thai’s… … you are different to everyone else right?…. ‘cos you’re the the only non-Thai with a pleasant odour… ????????????????

I try and bring as many as I can from the UK on my bianual trips.. 150ml Rexona in Thailand is about B 163 / £3.70.... [B108/100ml] 250ml Sure (UK brand for Rexona) in the UK is £1.99 / B 88... [B34/100ml] The deodorant in Thailand is 3x more expensive and I go through a lot as I do plenty of sport and shower 2-3 times on most days.. I bring about 10 tins back with me from the UK on each visit. Recently I switched to using the womens Rexona simply because I'm cheap and object to paying more for the mens one for ultimately the same product. Worthy of a thread: Hardly, but the additional expense of deodorant here is something that has always struck me as strange, particularly for a very warm and humid nation.

I've been doing the Bangkok-Dubai-Birmingham route a couple of times per year for well over a decade now... Here is what I know from that experience. - Yes, Bags always through to final destination (unless laying over more than 24 hrs) - 1.5 hours is more than sufficient time to *transit from flight to flight. - You may want about 2.5 hours if you fancy chilling with coffee between flights. - An excellent option is a Dubai **layover. *When purchasing a ticket the airline is responsible for ensuring you make the connection or placing you on another flight - they wont sell you a ticket (on the same booking) if the connection time is too short. **Getting a nights sleep in a hotel between flights (in the summer there are lots of cheap hotels within 10 mins of the airport for £50) - you can be in a pool chilling within an hour of touching down with just hand carry while your baggage is automatically forwarded onto your onward flight (if within 24 hours) - IMO a far more relaxing way of travelling if not going business class and sleeping on a direct flight. - There is also a hotel within the airport (Airside) that we used to break up the journey when my Son was particularly young, now he's older we spend the afternoon messing about in a pool !!...

Probably very little. Thai's are generally extremely tolerant of people acting out. He was probably escorted out of there and told to piddle off... unless of course he was on overstay or something similar in which case he's feeling the full girth of a shafting.....

Especially when one makes strange sweeping generalisations !!!!

It's not waived. But PR status is achieved on a points system and being married to a Thai spouse 'gives you points' and the language requirement is no longer 'mandatory' - an applicant can accrue points through other means.

Not so much PR for PR's sake and longevity of stay etc... But as a route to citizenship. One of the 'brick-walls' many of us will face in the future is the prohibitive cost of private health insurance. If we can secure citizenship, then Thai health care becomes a viable alternative.

Its a strange one... but some Debit card transactions are blocked while the same credit card transaction works... I've encountered this with Airlines.

Valid point.. nearly... here's how that query works out. In Thailand there are: 21,452,050 motorcycles in Thailand. 10,530,697 Cars (up to 7 seats) in Thailand. 6,897,580 Vans & Pickups in Thailand. 435,360 mini-busses (7 seats and up). There are 25,000 road fatalities yearly in Thailand (*WHO estimate) Of which 80% are motorcyclists. In Thailand there is: 93 deaths per 100,000 motorcycles. 27 deaths per 100,000 cars, pickups, vans & mini-busses Thus: Per vehicle type a person is 3.3x more likely to die on a motorcycle than in a car. Another interesting stat: It is statistically safer to drive a 4 wheeled vehicle in Thailand than in USA. (Thai hates are going to hate and question that sat - but I've crunched those numbers a handful of times and always come up with the same result).

It's a pain in the neck when each time a UK credit card is used overseas the Bank applies the block due to 'un-habitual use'... My Bank also has an App which I use to 'approve' online purchases, that prevents one block... but direct use overseas is often blocked. It can be quite irritating when checking into an overseas hotel late at night, then having to call up the the UK Bank while data roaming and having an expensive 10 minute conversation for the privilege of using your on money (debit card) or own account (credit card). As Per the Op a local credit card is extremely convenient. Solution IF married (and not working in Thailand) - the Partner can have a Credit Card with a second card issued to the foreign spouse. This works perfectly for us (Wife and I) and we accrue points etc and can use the card overseas without it getting blocked as frequently as the UK cards.

Perhaps we could all send our posts to you for quality control to prevent some of the anally retentive forum members from commenting on irrelevant typo's and grammatical slips....

You were the sacrificial anode !!! They nail me too… Load up with deet before hitting the sand…. Take antihistamine tablets & apply antihistamine cream once attacked. Thats all I can do… Koh Samet & Koh Chang are the worst areas in Thailand for this IMO.

Not that tricky to understand was it ??? got to love the propensity for sone to argue the irrelevant & still get it wrong !!!

I'm assuming the Op is intelligent enough to know the difference between coughing and choking. We can understand someone such as yourself may not be able to distinguish the difference and thus judges others by your own limits.

Bingo.. The Op (potentially) saved someones life and received a verbally abusive response. He's now getting an abusive response from some of the muppets on this forum. Op... You did the right thing... I hope you let this one slide and continue to do the right thing in future. Y'never know, you could be saving the life of one of the miserable old farts on this thread who find reason to abuse you rather that offer commendation. My mother is still with us today because a few years back someone 'helped out' in a very similar situation. I wouldn't look very kindly up myself or any person who knows how to help but chose not to for fear of receiving a negative response. Props to you for helping out.

But after that post no one has you confused as to what you may be... Sounds like the Op saved someones life.

Info below from websites of Thai Embassies in Washington, Doha, Wellington.... All state the same thing: • Travelers entering Thailand under the Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme must possess adequate cash of or equivalent to 20,000 Baht per person or 40,000 Baht per family. https://doha.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/visa-exemption-and-voa?page=5d7e6a3c15e39c032c006dba&menu=5d7e6a3c15e39c032c006dbb https://thaiembdc.org/visaexemption/#:~:text=Travelers entering Thailand under the,or 40%2C000 Baht per family. https://wellington.thaiembassy.org/th/publicservice/19038-visa-exemption In the past on these forums there has been much debate about the need for such a measure as its rarely if ever checked by anyone at Immigration so the likelihood of the Op being checked is minimal. Nevertheless, the rule has been used (sparingly) by Immigration to refuse entry to whomever they consider 'undesirable' for whatever reason - i.e. suspicion someone is working here but can't prove anything so use the cash 'technicality' has a reason. IMO - there's no harm in carrying US$600 emergency cash and covering your basis just in case, yes a very rare just incase.. but.... Also, onward flight ticket is required if entering visa exempt - there are mixed reports on this, but for many travelling to Thailand Visa exempt the Airline will check for onward travel at Check-in.

IMO… really not an issue at all. Have an onwards flight & you’re fine. 20, 000 baht cash stipulation too, but that’s never (extremely rarely) checked)… [ argument will naturally ensue]…