richard_smith237

Any immigration officer can get all of your Airport entries / exits, Visa information (entry type) going back to 2012 within minutes... In most cases they only need a few details (i.e. Name / Nationality) and can tie that in to your photo...

How many times did you see a broken down and over-heated car in Bangkok Traffic ? The car is designed to handle that.

‘Second hand cars’.... All of my cars have been ‘second hand’ when I sold them... (bought from new), they were good cars, no issues... (usually 3-5 years old)... I imagine most second hand cars are like that, but we are understandably frightened of the horror stories we read and hear. As another poster mentioned the Ops budget enters the Mazda 3 bracket - a very decent choice IMO. If the op is unsure when looking at cars, perhaps he could hire a mechanic / car teck etc to check it out ?

Agreed, Cannot imagine a world without car ownership. Would take me a damn long time to walk the 75km to work each morning !! Agreed... from the school run, to shopping to the simple convenience of having your own transport... We were without a car for two weeks.... (central Bangkok), it was a horribly relying on the taxi’s... Only those who don’t have a car seem to think there is no need for one... Why is that ? THEY have no need for one because they live next to a BTS station and rarely travel outside of that bubble...

Is there actually any reason to stating that she is Thai? The original article doesn't. You're over playing the the ‘Thai victim card' in this one.... there’ sno issue stating the fact that the female in question is a Thai female any more than there is in mentioning the fact that the man was from the North East of Thailand....

erm.... the cynic in me here suspects someone has been fettling with chat GPT... Input #1: Write a Story for Asean-now which includes the word ‘penury’ and is an utter lightening rod for those of a ‘you pay for it one way or another’ mindset !!!! ????

Jumping on the thread late... Looking at flights..... they’ve become even more expensive... I’m looking at family spend of >120,000 baht for 3 of us to travel to the UK... (and there’s two trips planed this year already). Emirates usually at about 60,000 baht and up to 90,000 baht last year... are now way up there at more than 120,000 baht for 3 seats... and Emirates stills seem the most competive... ROP (Thai) Airmiles are utterly useless... I’ve got 300,000 of the things and just can’t spend em on flights (tried to book for Summer - no reward seats... tried to book for Dec ’23.. .no reward seats - for whole of Dec in all travel classes !!!).... TG are running a racket somehow... or only freeing up a couple of seats per flight which go instantly (staff connections). hence.... this thread bump to see if there are any deals going around that people have become aware of... BKK-UK in the Summer.... and at Christmas...

There just happened to be an outbreak in the City which contains the Wuhan Institute of Virology at which one of the worlds leading virologists [Dr Shi Zhengli] had been studying Coronaviruses for, years, specifically sequencing viral genomes, isolating live viruses and though trying to understand how they ‘may’ evolve the capability to infect humans... and this was all happening at a the very biolab that was previously heavily criticised in reports for its poor safety standards (due operating at the same biosafety level as a dentist surgery). I don’t believe the leak was deliberate... I suspect it was just a mistake, complacency perhaps. Leaks from biolabs are not uncommon.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laboratory_biosecurity_incidents IMO - it is only politics that impacts the narrative that this wasn’t a leak - China (or scientist working within China) is guilty of gross negligence which impacted the world on an extraordinary scale - thats a big mess to deal with, its easier for all the politicians to blame it on bats... plausible, but in a town that has a biolab where coronaviruses are studied... thats just too much coincidence.

Was the car (is the car) clamped and you need the BiB to come out and remove the clamp ? IF so, just rock up at the station with the ticket - pay the fine and they’ll send a guy out on his motorcycle to remove the clamp... they won’t bother about your licence (but if they did - you forgot to bring it).

Is this a new version of ‘if you don’t like it go home’ ??? Nowhere is perfect and Thailand, Thai Culture, Thai people have their faults, foibles, faux-pas, enigmas..... just like anywhere else... Its ok to discuss them. Entering such discussions does not mean those discussion hate all facets of Thailand. People are here because they like it more than where they were before, I think some people are unable to reconcile this idea in their minds and live in this dreamworld where everything is supposed to be wonderful - this highlights an absence of realism,

Are you going to switch your Name, DOB, Nationality and Photograph too ?? Immigration have record of your entries going back years on any passport you've entered on and can easily tie in your new (other passport) based on the basic metrics and your photograph. Passports are Biometric, all your info on your other passport will be the same...

I’m impressed with some of the comments here... not so much the comments but the longevity of some of the posters.... they’ve survived five reining British Monarch since queenie Vic went toes up !!!!

If you have a Villa Market or Foodland... Gourmet Market etc... Aussie Fillet or a Wagyu Ribeye.... Season & Sit in fridge for a bit, then sit at room temp for 15 mins before cooking.. Pan sear in a hot (pre-heated) cast iron skillet with garlic, rosemary... plenty of butter... In the oven for a few mins.... take out, baste then sit... Watch a few vids, there are plenty out there and get the timing right and you’ll be on to a winner.... Note - I use a fairly heavy and course mixed seasoning (as below), scrape most of the thicker stuff off before searing (otherwise you won’t get the sear)... Or, just go for a little salt and pepper if the steak is a really good one. Roasted garlic is a winner... 35mins in the oven at 200c (olive & salted and covered with foil - easiest in a cup cake tray). French fries seasoned with oregano and cooked in the air fryer.. then salted... Fresh Rocket and cherry tomatoes... Steak & Fries... always a winner... the salad is just you make think us think we are being healthy !!! Bottle of decent red... a Barolo if you’re feeling posh.... or a Cabernet Sauv will generally do the trick.

erm.... you really need to ask ??? Many of them are selling drugs & pimping.... The police know this, If the police wanted to catch them, they would, but it takes effort, its easier just to play the game extort them regularly then when there is to much media attention announce a ‘raid’ ... I dunno call the raid ‘Operation Black Eagle’ or something !!!!... ... and thats Thailand in a nutshell !!

If you were standing on a corner in Nairobi, I could probably pick you out Unless of course Slip a black man from Iceland.... however, his wokeness betray his attempts to blend in !!!... ????

IF Zed were still alive, he’d be beside himself !!!!.....

Perhaps the wrong question to ask... The question should be... ‘Does any farmer ever take any notice of any of the burn bans ?’ !!!!

Magic mushrooms, artificial ?? ------ This thread highlights the diversity of individuals and the interesting lives many have lived. We walk down the street and see ‘just another guy’.... these are the people who stayed up 2.5 days on mountain rescue, bivouacked in the Step in Kazakhstan, Sailed the Pacific... and of course all the rig hands many of whom have traveled and worked days without sleep in remote area’s and carry stories regular folk would simply never comprehend yet start to believe....

I know... and my question is ‘where is the line’ ?.... i.e the line between innocuous usage of insignificant amounts of electricity paid for by funds contributed to by the ‘common fees’ and taking advantage and profiting.... I guess the other factor is also the point that we can’t get 100 EV motorcycles charging at once because there aren’t enough plugs - at some point condo's wills upgrade their infrastructure to have ‘metered charging stations’.

Well, a few French lived there before the British laid claim in about 1833... So the French may have laid claim before that... but before that the Spanish passed on Las Malvinas to the Argentinians in circa 1800.... so... I think you’re just avinalaff....

On your own? Easily done... you are surely at greater ease than most with drawing from bias !!!.... you must be terribly upset there were no mentions of Britons running amok !!..

Where do you draw the line ?... Or rather, where ‘should’ the line be drawn.... This is not using the ‘nearby power socket’ in the parking area to power a vacuum to clean the car out etc... its at the very thin end of the wedge of taking advantage thieving power. Do we all agree that charging a Car EV all year on the communal power grid is taking the ‘pish’ ? How about just for a month ? or a week ?.... Where is the line ? Do we all agree that charging a Car EV overnight on the communal power grid is taking the ‘pish’ ? Then... is charging your electrical motorcycle all year round not also taking the pish and ripping off the other residents who contribute to the communal costs of electricity in the communal area ?

Actually, it is our own responsibility to check our stamps upon arrival. That said: If the Ops Laoation friend is planning on leaving within his legal entitled period of stay (i.e. on or before 6th April 23) then I see no issue, he’s not over staying any permission of stay, mistake or otherwise. His passport will have his arrival stamp - so IMO this is somewhat of a non-issue.

Would it be fair that a 100 room building has 99 EV’s all using the communal plugs in the car-park, but you don’t have a car, but have elevated communal fee’s because of the higher electricity rates ???? Some people really have a distorted outlook of what is reasonable and fair.

There are some highlight selfish and fundamentally flawed examples of logic so far expressed in this thread which makes threads like this a perfect learning curve for many of us to recognised that there are some out there who are simply ‘wrong in the head’...... Charging your vehicle from ‘communal source’ is wrong. Those communal power sources are for convenient but periodic use... such as plugging in a vacuum to clean your car, for staff to use to clear the car-parks etc.... But not to ’supply power’ to your transport. Its a shame that there is no viable alternative, perhaps those who are charging their vehicles should be paying a ‘fixed fee’ to use the power which would make things fair. I’m not so worried about the ‘fire risk’ there are enough stories of ICE vehicles going up in flames, thus the suggested that EV’s are at any more risk is perhaps over egging the bias. I use a ‘battery tender’ to keep the battery charged on my motorcycle while away ( a regular ICE motorcycle )..... This does not ‘charge daily’ as the op suggests. I worked out the cost to about 15 baht per month !!!.... I also spoke with the owner of the Condo and asked if they minded. In short - the entitlement of some that these communal electrical outlets are for their EV’s is selfish, there are no resumable alternatives, but to use the argument that the power outlet is there for people to charge their vehicles is glossing over an issue with an degree of selfishness surpassed only by theft itself.