soi3eddie

If it would stop the British cops from being so woke and soft snowflakes, then I'd be quite happy for them to use a little taxpayer's money to enjoy themselves in a GoGo bar before heading home with this convicted criminal in tow.

...and here we were thinking that Phuket already was a medical tourism hub in treating all the foreigners injured in motorcyle collisions on the island!

The airline should do the right thing for their customers and offer accomodation and help. I always love the headlines that state "Stranded..." Something we saw a lot of during Covid. I was "stranded" in Thailand for 14 months during worst of Covid. Reality is could have flown back to the UK almost any day. Was also "stranded" in Thailand during the Icelandic Volcanic Ash cloud closure of western European airspace in 2010. Made the best of these situations and enjoyed time here on both occasions. Seems like people just so love to be portrayed as victims these days. Bangkok is a great city, they should get out and enjoy their extended holiday.

Did this for many years with a DTAC prepaid SIM card with roaming activated for UK. Other providers may do the same. Easy to top up from your Thai bank account to keep it active (simply top up occasionally to keep active - check operator's rules on amount). AIS only requires 20 Baht/Month top up. You can then use the SIM to receive OTP SMS from your bank which is what I did with Kbank when I needed to pay condo bills etc. No cost for receiving SMS when roaming overseas. I kept my prepaid number active for over 18 years and much of the time I was out of Thailand.

Only whiskey and gambling? Not mia nois or kiks?

Thailand wins hands down on the people. Warm friendly and sanuk. Vietnam has it's charms and beaches, history etc. but for me Thailand just has so much more. It's easy, developed and just plain fun. I first went to Vietnam in 1996 (via Thailand) and travelled the length of the country, been a few times since and enjoyed, but nothing like as relaxing as Thailand. After all, that's why most of us are here isn't it?

Advise getting the UK photocard drivers licence. It should be possible to exchange the old paper one and apply for photocard online. UK insurers are anal and whilst it would be OK to drive on Thai licence in UK (car hire), a car policy of your mother would usually insist on all drivers "holding a full UK driving licence for at least 2 years" which you have. The residency should not be an issue.

I'm surprised the Thai staff didn't catch up with it. Some hotels are anal about collecting coupons or checking registers etc. Guess he was very confident so got away with it. Was the breakfast any good?

The minimum age for marriage should have been raised long ago to 80yrs. Would haved lots of us big problems ????

How many others here have seen small urban plots planted out with plants or banana trees? Clearly a ruse to avoid taxes on the land. There's no way that anything has ever been harvested for consumption.

Exactly as you mentioned at Poipet Cambodian immigration departures - many had mislaid their E-visa paperwork (fortunately I read the rules and had kept mine). It didn't help that out of 6 desks, only 3 were staffed - despite there being 6 extra immigration officers milling around doing not much except watching for people using mobile phones, talking or wearing hats - yes they even have signs saying "keep quiet". One chap in the queue was told to take off his baseball cap while queuing! At least it was air conditioned in there. At Thai entry side, it seemed there were many issues with the TM6 and no addreses entered or no printed Tourist Visa - the travellers were showing confirmations on mobile phones then being sent away to complete documents. At the foot of the escalators they were handing out TM6's. I thought the TM6 was done away with as entered numerous times by air recently and no TM6 required. After your comments, I feel lucky to only have waited 1hr15mins. The queue was back to the entrance door at that too. 4hrs would be soul destroying. As it was we had just 30 minutes before train departure.

If the Thai police don't get any answers to their questions then maybe his visa won't get renewed. From the news, he's not at work so perhaps his employer may wash their hands of him too. He needs to be seen to be co-operating. Unless he's got something to hide...

If he goes down the "no comment" route or refuses to be interviewed then that will cast further suspicion on him. True they might lack evidence. Will be interesting to see how this proceeds.

My 99 unit condo building here in Bangkok (not far from Phaya Thai) has just 3 foreign owners. No worry about foreign quota.

See the buying of a new condo with a loan as "vendor finance" and only available to qualifying Thais and foreigners with work permits etc. Or else full payment in cash. The banks are heavily subscribed to the developer's project so they want to get it sold and liability spread ASAP. Re-sale of used condos is very difficult as banks are super strict regarding finance for secondary sales and interest rates often higher. I experienced this when going through a charade of my condo sale on divorce in 2017. We had several interested Thai buyers but none of them could get the required finance. A lower offer was finally received at which point I invoked the divorce settlement clause to match that highest offer and got to keep my condo (as always intended, at exactly what I originally offered the ex as settlement).

Totally agree. Not having the correct visa and trying to game the system to stay in Thailand is not a good idea these days. My Cambodian GF and I just entered Thailand at Poipet/SaKeo border 2 hours ago. Now on the train to Bangkok (bargain at 49 Baht). It took 40 minutes to get stamped out of Cambodia for me. Entry to Thailand took 1hr15 minutes for both as foreigners. Immigration was very slow and the female IO really on the ball. She asked me (only question) where I went after leaving Thailand before Cambodia as she could see 3 days before me entering Cambodia. Quite why it should matter I know not. We had been to Singapore where for many nationalities the egates can be used so no stamps. Anyway, I was permitted entry until expiry of my retirement extension. Gf was permitted until expiry of her Non-O visa. Didn't see anyone rejected but plenty of dumb Western backpackers didn't have correct paperwork which held things up. Not an easy border. Will add that a fixer on entry to the hall had offered gf fast track immediately for 500 per person. I said yes but apparently not for farangs as we might report it. LOL.

A few years ago I was staying with a GF at her house in a moo baan in Pathum Thani. The whole village had loads of dogs roaming around. The dogs were owned by people but never let in the houses, just in front on the street where they would get fed. The howling and barking at night by all these dogs meant broken sleep for everyone. A neighbouring dog was loudest. One day it had been hit by a car and died. The owners were very distressed but I couldn't see why, as they never really interacted with the dog or let it into their house. Better sleep followed the demise of that dog (and no, it wasn't me that hit it).

Spot on. When I transferred the funds some years ago I got the FTT document from my bank and had to show it to immigration to get the Non-O Visa. For all annual extensions since then, it is not needed. I advise anyone bringing in the 800k to get the foreign transfer document immediately from their bank, copy it, scan it and look after it, JUST in case you find yourself in the same position as OP where it seems he will have to start afresh with Visa application (and then extension).

Across the road in Or Tor Kor market https://maps.app.goo.gl/Do6DxqRQEZXoVhw19 is where I park not expensive (if in car but not covered) if on a motorbike then there is parking in Chatuchak itself. JJ Mall may have covered car parking but I've never tried to park there.

...now accepting Yuan? Or was that always the case?

Think you are being a bit harsh grouping all southern Thais with those on Phuket. If you go to Songkhla, Trang and Nakhon Si Thammarat you will encounter many genuine friendly and generous Thais. I detest Phuket, having been at least 6 times since 1998 it is mostly a tourist rip off. Not just to Patong but Kamala and other areas. I'll never go back except to exit the airport, hire a car and head north across the bridge to Phang Na and Surat Thani.

How would he even know the reasons for cancellation? Most Thais and expats are aware of the annual burning season and bad air quality so will likely not book in the first place. I've met many expats over the years who leave their Chiang Mai homes for southern beaches at this time. If he is talking about Chinese cancellations, then air quality probably not so different to their home cities.

This was no "accident" reckless behaviour resulting in death. Should be manslaughter charge at minimum. Not sure if there is such charge in Thailand but that's what it is. Any Western country and "life" imprisonment likely sentence. At least 10+ years in jail.

He's got a damn good lawyer by the sound of it.

If as OP says, "expired during covid", then anything up to 3 years ago. Expect 2 years at least.