khunjeff

When I transferred stamps to my new passport at CW in early 2020, the officer suddenly asked if I had my bank book. Confused, I said I was there to transfer stamps, not for an extension. But do you have the bank book you used for your last extension, she asked? I replied (truthfully) that I had used an Embassy letter for that extension, and she nodded and said ok, without looking anything up. It seemed strange at the time, and it seems even stranger that they're still doing it today without having ever updated their instructions. And yes, they can indeed justify it by saying it's a check to confirm that you're fulfilling the deposit requirements for the extension, but by that logic they could ask for the bank book anytime you go to immigration for any service at all, or make everyone return with the book three months after the extension is granted, like Jomtien does. It can quickly turn into a lot of extra effort for minimal benefit.

The article claims that the cars went by air. That seems bizarre, since it would have been needlessly expensive, but if it really did happen, the vehicles and their documents would have been much more thoroughly examined than if sent by sea. "DSI said investigation revealed that all the vehicles were stolen in England from July 2016 to March 2017. They were then flown to Singapore from where they were shipped to Thailand."

Agreed - the wording is legally cautious, and could be unclear to anyone unfamiliar with how the dysfunctional US health care system operates, with employer-sponsored group insurance used more often than individual policies. The coverage amount is addressed by the statement "There are no pre-existing conditions or dollar limit on the policy", but I know the authorities are more used to seeing a specific dollar amount (even though unlimited coverage is obviously better). The letter also isn't "signed and sealed", since seals and stamps are not normally used on US business correspondence. An identical letter was accepted last year when I used it to apply for a Thailand Pass, so that gives me some cause for optimism, but I guess I'll find out when I submit the LTR application. I will be annoyed if it's rejected, but I do have money in the bank as a Plan B.

"This letter is in response to your request for verification of health insurance coverage with the Foreign Service Benefit Plan (FSBP). Our records indicate you are currently enrolled in a Self Only (401) policy effective January 1, 1989. Coverage under the FSBP is world-wide, including your stay in Thailand. Your policy provides benefits for medical expenses, including but not limited to physician consults, diagnostic procedures, physical therapy, emergency medical treatment and hospitalization. The policy also provides coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment and prescription medication. There are no pre-existing conditions or dollar limit on the policy although certain benefits (for instance, physical therapy, chiropractic, home health) are limited. In light of the most recent events concerning Coronavirus (COVID-19) and in accordance with guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), FSBP will provide coverage at 100% - no deductible or other member cost sharing – for the testing of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Provider visits, medications, and other treatments related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) are paid per the terms of the Plan Brochure. The Plan’s brochure (https://www.afspa.org/filestoreAFSPA/2021RI72-001FSBPBrochure.pdf) and ID card act as the certificate of coverage. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact our office."

His use of "apply" is legally correct. If you look at websites from the US State Department or US Embassies, for example, they will state clearly that a visa only gives you permission to "apply" for admission at a port of entry, and that the final admissibility decision will be made by an immigration officer. That is, in fact, exactly the case for most countries, including Thailand. There are a few countries (like Vietnam, I believe) where immigration officers are more or less bound by what's on the visa, but in most nations the officers at the border have wide latitude to determine whether to admit you, and for how long. You are correct, however, that as a practical matter the decision at the airport will usually match what is on the visa, and variance from that will be relatively rare.

I'm also with AFSPA, and the cover email for the letter they sent to me ended with this: "Note: This letter is a standard letter used by our AFSPA members for overseas travel and Covid coverage and cannot be customized."

There's never been any question that the money is owed, but BTS will never collect until/unless BMA decides that it's willing to honor its obligations. The court can order whatever it wants, but it has little ability to enforce the judgment.

So a public official was arrested by publicly-funded police for stealing public funds, but the public is not permitted to know her identity or position. Got it.

Why on earth would the passenger consider it reasonable to pay more based on engine size?

1) Those gates were installed months ago (though still unused), but only at the domestic departure area. Putting them at the entrance to international departure security would involve a major construction project, if it were possible at all. 2) The article refers repeatedly to "counters" in various check-in zones. The selling of fast track access was so corrupt that Big Joke did away with the coupon system entirely when he was in charge of immigration. To use those lanes now, you have to show a premium class boarding pass, evidence that you're over 70, a diplomatic passport, or whatever - there are no more vouchers. Someone may have figured out a way to sell access nonetheless, but it's not as straightforward as it used to be.

“You can only take them if they have been prescribed to you by a doctor,” Paisarn said. “So, if you don’t have a prescription, pharmacies will not sell antiviral medicines to you.” Ok, serious question. In over 30 years of going to many different doctors and hospitals in Thailand, I've never seen a prescription - not even once. Do they really exist? My personal experience has always been that the doctor either dispenses medicine himself (directly at a small clinic, or through the in-house pharmacy at a hospital), or just tells you verbally what you need so you can buy it at an outside pharmacy.

This isn't talking about self check-in kiosks - it's about scanning your BP after you've already checked in. The story is so poorly reported that it's difficult to tell just what the purpose of this system is, but it sounds like it will somehow replace the current regimen of some teenage contractor comparing the information on your BP to that on your passport, and then pretending to match your face to your passport photo.

There's only one terminal at Suvarnabhumi, so I don't know where they think "Terminal 4" is. I've also never heard of this type of system being at the check-in area, and having separate local and foreign zones - in most airports, everyone's boarding pass, regardless of nationality, is simply scanned as you enter security.

The story about the would-be Sofitel being condemned for being unstable was widely reported at the time, so that's not a barstool myth. I don't know what they eventually did to render the building habitable.

I realize you're being facetious, but the headline is obviously very misleading. This incident is completely about Thais being cheated by a Thai tour company, with no accusation of any overcharging by Koreans.

The only useful thing the guards typically do is escorting blind passengers. Other than that, they just strut around self-importantly and blow whistles loudly whenever someone's foot approaches the yellow line, even at stations with platform screen doors. In this case, it's pretty obvious from the video what happened: the escalator was operating normally, but there was such a crush of people at the top (whether due to the inadequate number of turnstiles or people stopping to buy tickets, I don't know) that eventually the crowd moving inexorably upward ran into a wall of people and fell backwards. What we don't know is whether the only emergency stop button was on the escalator itself, or if there's a remote shutoff switch somewhere else. In either case, it's pretty clear that the station employees were not adequately monitoring the situation.

On my two recent regional trips, the airlines asked to see it at check-in both times, and it was only requested on arrival once. A result on a phone screen was fine for all of those.

Apparently her commander didn't notice that she never showed up at her military post, or notice that she was scarred and injured on the occasions that she did appear?

The warning states, “The owner or driver of a motor vehicle who lets anyone without a proper driving license to drive a vehicle will be fined not exceeding 2,000 baht.” “The driver (Renter) without a valid driver’s license shall be imprisoned not exceeding 1 month.” So the [Thai] owner who knowingly rents the vehicle to an unlicensed driver pays a small fine and continues to run his business, while the [foreign] rider goes to jail. Makes sense.

“There is a massage shop chain which has been invested in by foreigners but operated by Thais. They have many shops in Phuket, all essentially a copy of each other." I believe that is basically the definition of a " chain"... "Normally, the price for a massage in Phuket as agreed upon by local massage associations is about 300 baht but this shops massage fee is only 150 baht....[]This chain does not participate in local associations and has refused to listen to us." We want to fix prices via our cartel, and they won't go along with us! Boo-hoo ????

I've seen advertising signs for them in front of various weed shops near Asoke, as well as on Facebook. There are also weed bakeries selling cookies and brownies.

Yes, thank you. But I'm referring to the situation at present, in the absence of a cannabis law, not to what the situation may be in the future, when they finally get around to passing the law.

"its recreational use in Thailand is still illegal under public health regulations and secondary laws" They keep saying this, but never explain what these " secondary laws" are, or what exactly they forbid. The general view of the authorities seems to be, "well, we didn't intend for recreational use to be legalized, so therefore it's illegal" - even if there isn't actually any law against it. The fact that the Department of Witchcraft and Jungle Sorcery restricts the sale of cannabis to children and pregnant women, and that public nuisance laws forbid annoying people around you with your skunky weed cloud, is not at all the same as saying that recreational use of the substance in private is unlawful.

They did indeed say that. This is yet another case of Herman's Hermits Syndrome ("second verse, same as the first"), and will probably see the same level of enforcement (i.e., none).

The length of stay you are given will always be determined by the regulations in effect on the day you arrive.