TheAppletons

That's a great answer to the question: "Who are the friendliest people in Europe?"

Unfortunately, even the "larger" and "older" models of this system now cost 1500 THB for short time. Or more.

I just departed in JAL Business Class a week ago. You'll have fast track security/immigration. It took me less than five minutes to clear both (05:45 am). Two hours ahead of time should suffice. I arrived 2.5 hours prior to the flight and spent nearly two hours waiting in the lounge.

My experience lately - when I smile and say "please" and "thank you" I receive the same in return.

Thank you for the assist.

I saw that earlier but didn't want to admit I was too stupid to know how to do that. Basically, you would transfer the funds from your home bank account to WISE (how to find the routing number or whatever is required), then it gets deposited into a WISE account you set up to "hold" home currency, then you send the home currency in Thai baht to your Thai bank through WISE? Is that sort of what we're talking about here?

Getting pretty sick of WISE and their delay tactics. This month, another "micro-deposit, blah blah" will take a week to get your money transferred. I need a better option than this.

Dr. Freud is laughing from the great beyond.

I pretty much wear whatever I want. I don't care what old, fat, bald alcoholics think about my choice of apparel.

There are zero consumer protection laws in Thailand. The system is set up to screw the poor Thais for the enrichment of the oligarchs.

I'm thinking you're a Don Lemon kinda guy.

I would. Multiple times.

Perhaps you'd like to mail a few to the OP who was asking about where to find subject products in Chiang Mai.

Exact same situation for me the past two months. Of note, however, is that WISE advises they can transfer the money faster if one uses a debit card or SWIFT transfer, both of which generate an increase in fees for WISE.

If one cannot find "decent coffee" in Chiang Mai, one isn't putting in much effort. Map of Chiang Mai coffee shops:

Crusty baguettes - Croco Pizza in Santitham. Owner bakes his own bread and pizza crust daily. Delicious. Fresh flour wraps - not gonna find. Edit to add: 25 meters down the street from Croco is Ombra Cafe. Some of the better croissants I've found recently, both butter and almond. Edit to add to the edit: Bagel House Cafe, Moon Muang soi 8, is a solid recommendation for bagels. Butter is Better also has pretty good bagels, especially if you like lox and cream cheese on top.

It's highly unlikely - meaning virtually impossible - for a phone to get "hacked" simply by taking a phone call. What is much more likely to happen is that the scammer will "socially engineer" a hack by convincing the recipient of the phone call to either download malware, visit a fake website, or give out sensitive information (passwords, account numbers, ID numbers, etc.) that the scammer can use to his advantage. If your girlfriend was indeed scammed out of money, it's highly probable that she was unwittingly coerced into it as described above. (Many people who do get scammed by revealing information over the phone to con men are so embarrassed by what happened that they will omit key details to save face.)

Have you tried using the card in an ATM to make a withdrawal? If that works, then it's employee error. (Since Schwab refunds 100% of all ATM fees, I'm wondering why you bother with the "cash advance" route when you can just withdraw from the ATM free of charge. Your money, your choice, of course.)

Yes it could be several of the things that you posted. Regarding the link in the OP as it relates to your scenarios: a. Clearly it's a rumor until it happens b. Doubtful but anything is possible (until it isn't.) c. The "rumor" states that Thaiger will merge the AN/Thaigertalk forums.... d. ....after Thaiger purchases AN. So at least three of your stated scenarios may all be true simultaneously.

"Asean Now, the infamous forum formerly known as Thai Visa, is in the process of being bought by The Thaiger. It has been an open secret that Asean Now has been touted for sale to anyone within earshot for months....."

That isn't a requirement.

What did OJ Simpson say when his son asked to borrow the car? "Go axe your mother."

Do you need to submit a photo of the biodata of your passport to the host? No. Does the host need to allow you to stay in their home if you refuse? No.

In general, I agree with everything you stated. However, it's pretty clear to me that the Thai government/TAT/whomever were intentionally vague regarding the "expanded" activities in the hopes of bringing more tourists in earlier. They were purposefully trying to make it sound like Songkran was three week instead of three days. If you live here, you know that three weeks of water fights would be ridiculous and counterproductive. If you don't live here....

Which is why I originally asked if "water distribution" referred to water trucks delivery, residential taps, or both.