soi3eddie

It seems the OP already knows how it is likely to go. Not Isaan but southern Thailand, a farang built a huge house in the village. Totally out of place with tennis court etc. Much discussion and gossip amongst the villagers. Eventually he divorced his missus and the house was up for sale at 10 Million Baht (over 20yrs ago). After a few years of it becoming derelict, a local bought it for a bargain price.

Very easy if genuinely married. I was married to a Thai for 14 years in the UK. It was super easy to get a marriage visa each year. I would go, or send application to, the Royal Thai Embassy in London - now it's done online. All that was needed was a copy of my Thai wife's passport, my passport, marriage certificate, application and payment. Within 2 days I would be issued with a marriage visa valid for 1 year (with 3 months per entry). This could easily be turned into a marriage extension valid for 1 full year once in country if I had chosen. Never once any question on entry to Thailand. Simples...

Taxi!

I know a couple of guys who come to Bangkok for a long weekend, after telling their wives that they are golfing in Europe. The chances of the wives seeing them on film in the bars extremely slim but still a possibility and a risk they take. Personally, I have no issues being filmed in public. I was walking with friends on Buakhao a few years ago and we were unknowingly filmed and posted on YouTube. Wife of one of the friends saw it. No issue at all as she knew he was in Pattaya. If he had been filmed in an open bar with another lady then might have been an issue. Best keep to the privacy of Gentlemen's Clubs IMO.

I bought branded cast bars from HuaSengHeng (one of the biggest, if not the biggest dealer) with many outlets in Yaowarat - and likely elsewhere. The HuaSengHeng Gold website has immediate spot prices and also a XAU/USD chart. It often seems that the Thai gold price in Thai Baht is out of kilter with rises and falls in the spot gold price in US Dollars. I've often thought there might be an arbitrage opportunity there but I've got other things to do.

Many Thais are fixated on gold. Nothing like trying to spook the market into buying. They weren't telling people to "act" in the last few weeks when it was as low as 33,500 for gold bar (jewellry and ornaments lower). Glad I bought last year when it was much lower. I'll not be buying more (nor selling) as gold for me is a safety net in case there's a collapse in the banks.

Brutal. Could have easily been manslaughter. If the "illegal business" is "money laundering" then that should be investigated too. Will criminal charges be filed for anything...

I can confirm that the temperature has already dropped in Bangkok. Don't need to look at temperature guage. Just this late afternoon, the rooftop pool felt rather frigid and it was a refreshing few laps. Brrr.

Good luck with that. The Useless Kingdom Consulate stopped offering that as a service in December 2022. See the full "limited" list of services - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand

Here we go again. How many times has this PinkID/Yellow book topic been discussed? Not easy to do anywhere. Some district offices will do it, some won't. Some offices require marriage and/or property (condo) ownership, some don't. Just go to your local office and ask what they require. Please post back here and let us know what they told you. Ps. I did mine in Phaya Thai, Bangkok. They didn't really want to do it. Gave me the run around regarding paperwork etc. Took 3 visits over 2 months. You will almost certainly need a Thai speaker to assist you, Thai witnesses for signatures, a one year visa/extension of stay, certified copies of passport and birth certificate.

Just do it (TM30) every time returning to the country (also if a hotel elsewhere registers you on their TM30 system). It costs nothing. Why leave yourself at the mercy of an immigration officer who can possibly fine you, or refuse extension, if you don't have it? It is not difficult, especially if your condo juristic office does it for you as you say.

Sad way to go and so young. 57 not old at all. Hopefully he enjoyed life.

Sorry to hear of the OP's misfortune. Could easily happen to anyone. I used the City Line last week on a busy weekday morning from airport. Travelling with a 28KG wheeled case and a carry-on wheeled case. No trouble at all taking the train and BTS. Both Phaya Thai and the local station I use have elevators from platform to concourse to street level. Just 280 metres walk from BTS to my condo. Saves over 400 Baht on taxi fare from airport, takes the same time and doesn't involve an imbecile Taxi/Bolt or Grab driver.

Quick! Let's panic before we choke to death or die of anxiety!

Can his return be delayed. Permanently? Won't make any difference.

Tickets already booked with first and last name only. No middle names on the tickets. Make sense now?

Nakhon Si Thammarat has a lot of charms, hills, scenery, temples, beaches (though nothing to compare with Phuket or Krabi), the people are lovely and the best food in Thailand. Can't see it becoming an international tourist destination anytime soon though. It is very popular with Thais and a large number of good hotels have opened in the last 20 years. I remember when there was just one flight per day (two flights on a Friday and Sunday), now there are 9-10 daily flights from Bangkok. I'm looking forward to my visit in early March!

When's that going to happen? Just looked at Flightradar24 and over 3 days (yesterday, today and tomorrow), there are 28 arrival flights scheduled. All of them from only one major Asian city and that's Bangkok. If Hua Hin cannot attract international flights, then Nakhon Si Thammarat has zero to no chance. Keep up with the "promises"!

This is more of a worry for those of us that have middle names. I can't remember ever using middle names on a flight ticket booking. Yet, of course my passport and Thai DL/ID have my middle names. If ticket is only first & last name, will they start denying boarding as with middle names missing it will considered a "mismatch"?

So does this mean that airlines are really going to check visa/permission to stay status and forward every foreign passenger's travel to immigration police? Can't see how they could handle that. How would they know that from a Thai DL or Pink ID as there would be no permisssion to stay stamp. Or maybe they will check against every passport number? Pehaps they could try but it would be a massive workload trying catch any overstayers.

Lack of foresight, thinking and planning.

My GF and I flew on TG916 from BKK to LHR on 12th December 2023. Flight was about 60% full. We were in the front cabin of economy and each had 3 seats to ourselves. On a walk to the back of the plane, I would guess that there were at least another 20 passengers with 3 seats each. The TG916 is my favourite flight as TG910 is often much busier (horrible times too in my opinion) but for some reason, it's almost always full.

One day of Songkran is plenty enough. Enjoy the party and move on.

Always on THAI LHR-BKK-LHR route. Late October, mid December, mid January, February, March & mid April. Never during the UK school summer holidays. This has been my travel to/from Thailand for most of the last 20 years. Some airlines such as Virgin Atlantic strictly limit award seat redemptions. I just booked the only 2 Upper Class award seats (per flight) from London to Male, Maldives for early November this year. They helpfully have a chart showing what is available on each flight. If only THAI would do the same!

THAI taxes and fees were nearly £900 GBP on a business class award ticket LHR-BKK-LHR (in October 2022 at least). They definitely ramped up paid ticket prices and charges and fees since Covid.