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Sounds like my favorite French restaurant. French chef, French cheese, French wine. Not even a token Thai dish on the menu ????

I wonder if he had a dark tinted windshield? I did on the second hand car I purchased in Thailand. Surprising how much better night vision was when I removed the windshield tint (to the dismay of the service shop and Thai neighbors).

I don't agree with that. My "genuine Thai" wife, her (modest income) Thai family, and most of her Thai friends absolutely support laws not selling property to foreigner. They claim it prevents the Chinese from buying up the country.

Both the US and Canada (and I'm sure many more 1st world countries) have investor residency programs with price tags below 40M baht. These not only allow land purchase, but also lead to full citizenship. Thailand needs to realize that we come here because it's fun, cheap and warm. In spite of the fact that for those reasons I plan to spend a good part of my years here in retirement, Thailand has a long way to go before I'd consider investing 40M baht in the country. The bulk of my funds remain securely off shore.

We have 2 SAIC cars, and both are surprisingly good. Not a single problem with either to date. After many years of building cars in China for Volkswagen, Audi and General Motors they've learned a thing or two. Definitely an up and coming brand.

When in the US we're in the Boston area. The New York Thai Embassy comes to Boston twice yearly to serve the Thai expat community. But Thailand being a wealthy nation, we certainly can't expect similar service from the impoverished US Embassy in Bangkok ???? The older I get the more likely I am to pay for extra service, be it Business Class seats, VIP arrival service, or agents to make dealing with bureaucrats easier. I'd definitely use an agent to help with a passport renewal if offered.

I wonder what that costs? Shameful that they enable taxi fares that in many cases exceed the cost of a domestic flight to Phuket. On our single flight there, we avoided the taxi mafia by renting a car. They can be booked for around 1,000 baht for 24 hours and give extra mobility along with an <deleted> to the taxi mafia.

Well stated, pretty much how I was about to respond. Let me add that in addition to board members who don't trust Thai Police, law enforcement, and the Thai criminal justice system, I personally don't know a single Thai who trusts any of them either.

????To Canada for granting asylum. ????To Thailand for not granting asylum, but also allowing her to take refuge from the Myanmar authorities. ????To the US for being able to accommodate 1,800 per day across the southern border to take "refuge" from low wages, but unable to find space for 1 person who's situation meets the textbook definition of asylum.

You, Anutin, not so much. But the maskless girls in my favorite bar, mak mak ????

Rolex prices are through the roof!

Or just batter and deep fry, and serve with chips ????

Who's shocked that the latest scheme to lure the world's millionaires along with their bankrolls to Thailand isn't working as well as expected? Me neither. And it's going to be tough to fill those empty resorts with the current nose bleed airfares, which will likely be even worse come high season.

Because agents fabricate the bank documents out of thin air. I use an agent mainly because I prefer to have my X00,000 baht invested in mutual funds in the home country, not in a Thai bank account earning somewhere between zero and 0.01% interest. The interest earned in a real investment more than makes up for the cost of an agent, and the fact that dealing with an agent is faster and less stressful is a sweetener.

I thought they were illegal in Thailand...

Your written English is far better than that of my naturalized US citizen Thai wife, and many other US citizens I know. While that makes sense, when I was near the protest sites I never received any indication that protesters where happy I was there, even from Thai protesters. Then again, just 1 persons experience.

There are enough naturalized American citizens and dual citizens in the US that many probably assumed that you were American in spite your accent. Unlike Thailand where it's next to impossible for a foreigner to achieve Thai nationalality so a quick glance at us pretty accurately identifies at least me and the guy mentioned in the OP as a non Thai. Try the same clearly labeling yourself as a non citizen. For example, a group in the US calling themselves "Germans/Chinese/etc for Candidate X" would probably receive more scrutiny than a person with an accent advocating for/against a candidate or policy. And Candidate X would likely downplay or reject an endorsement from a foreign person or group. I've never heard of a foreign candidate actively pursuing endorsement from Americans, so I assume this to be true in most countries. And per my experiences above, plus many links posted on this thread, no matter what Americans or Europeans think of foreign involvement in local politics, many Thais and the Thai government are clearly against foreigners publicly expressing opinions on Thai politics.

To supporters of those 2 individuals, he is by extension criticizing the country.

If you thought that my statement referred to every.single.one of the 70 million Thais, then you're right and I'm wrong. Congrats. I assume you're referring to this? Let me elaborate. The Thai wife and I were in Chonburi January 2020 - mid 2021. During that period you may recall that there were massive anti-junta protests in Bangkok. The wife desperately wanted to attend several of them but couldn't convince Thai friends or family to accompany her to Bangkok. So she asked me to. I agree with her Thai politics but feel that I should not broadcast those opinions publicly in my name (which is different than stating them anonymously on this forum). So our compromise was that I would travel to Bangkok with her, accompany her to the outskirts of protest sites, and then return to a nearby hotel (after a quick stop at a few of my favorite Bangkok venues ????). In the process of accompanying a Thai woman dressed in black "Democracy" adorned shirts to protest sites, I got many suspicious stares and angry glares. Police at vehicle barricades wouldn't give the wife a second glance but would all focus their attention at me; would the farang dare pass the barricade and enter the protest site? I had yellow shirt counter protesters focus their attention at me, in normal street clothes, while ignoring dozens of Thais in black garb. I had many angry diatribes shouted at me, but never any show of support for being in the vicinity of protests. That doesn't mean that no farang was ever welcomed by any Thai during the protests. But from my personal experience the majority of Thais were displeased with my being near the protest site even though I made no attempt to make any political statement. And the wife, who initially wanted me to attend the protests, quickly changed her opinion and agreed that I should stay away and not get involved. Internationally, in US elections, any attempt from from a non citizen to offer support of an American politician is greeted with much suspicion. Why is this Chinese/Canadian/Japanese etc person getting involved? What's the ulterior motive which will benefit the foreigner's country or circumstance? To avoid misunderstanding, this is not universal. Not EVERY American is suspicious of foreigner's statements about US politics. But it's common enough for politicians to avoid touting foreign endorsements. I believe this to be largely true in Europe as well. Similarly the Junta often accused the 2020 Democracy protesters of being driven by "foreign influencers". Which possibly caused many Thais to want farangs to stay away from protest sites, as an affirmation that theirs was a Thai and not foreign influenced cause.

Obviously not. Obviously German law is superior to Thai law in this regard. That doesn't change the reality that if you criticize Thailand and/or Thai politics as a foreigner in Thailand you will offend a large segment of the population, and there's a very good chance your permission to reside in Thailand will be terminated.

Yes, there's always the exception to the rule. However, in my experience having a foreigner lecture a citizen on what's wrong with their country very often results in a citizen who disagrees with that sentiment being more offended than if they had received a similar lecture from a fellow citizen. Regardless of whether they are Thai, European or American. But if you feel otherwise and think it's constructive for you to publicly lecture Thais on Thai politics, have at it. Maybe you'll inspire someone. Maybe your visa won't be extended.

That's a matter of opinion. I personally agree with you. My feeling is that a very large number of Thais would disagree with you. And their opinion is much more consequential than your's or mine in Thailand. I do my best to respect that while a guest in this country.

See my reply to stoner

It is "meaningless" to the Thai political system because as a non citizen he can't vote and is not empowered to alter it. But while meaningless to the Thai political system, having a foreigner publicly criticize their country is offensive. A situation not unique to Thailand.

True. And I commend Germany for allowing freedom of anyone to critique their governance. And I commend Thais using Germany as an example of good governance. Regardless, I don't think it's a foreign citizen's place to publicly protest against the government of a foreign nation on their soil. And while a Thai wouldn't be deported for protesting against the German government in Germany, I can't believe he would be well received by the majority.