khunjeff

The story as presented is utterly incomprehensible, but I'm pretty confident that gems selling for $52 million are not "worth $1 billion".

"a legal vacuum exists when it comes to the use of cannabis" Or, to phrase it differently, the use of cannabis is not illegal! Some other areas where "a legal vacuum exists": - speaking French in public - wearing hats - snoring - eating pretzels

Uh huh, sure...

Well, the yellow line is nowhere close to one meter from the edge, and I feel fairly confident that she didn't intend to faint. What surprises me is that the fall from the platform didn't leave her seriously injured - that's a hard drop onto steel and concrete.

Assuming the business is properly registered, eliminating rent-seeking middlemen would seem to be a net gain for consumers...but a loss for the middlemen themselves, of course.

The article is mostly utter claptrap. In Bangkok, street stalls, small restaurants, and even mall restaurants always have many Thais - usually office workers - eating alone. It's totally normal, and no one bats an eye.

Umm, that's explained in some detail in the actual article... Exactly. In his quest for 15 minutes of fame, the eminent attorney seems to have completely overlooked the fact that none of these people are actually attempting to impersonate students - it's like the difference between putting on a pilot's uniform for a Halloween party and putting one on to try to access the secure area of an airport.

From one brief event at one location.

"Screening points" is referring to the security check upstairs. Each security zone (2 & 3) has two sides, east and west, so they're closing one side at a time to replace the equipment. The immigration area on the floor below shouldn't be affected.

These days I usually park at Mixt since the location is so convenient, but there is also free parking across Phahonyothin road next to the BTS and MRT entrances (the former site of the old Mor Chit bus station). The downsides there are that it's not covered, and you'll probably have to make several rounds before you find an empty space.

Of course it's a scandal - there's video evidence of the national flag carrier violating aviation safety regulations in a way that could have endangered passengers in case of an emergency.

Since Concourse D is part of the terminal, I'm somewhat confused as to what this actually means...

Yes, those road safety "campaigns" are soooooo effective ????

He's been making the same announcement regularly for the last few weeks, but so far we have seen no names, no photos, and no actual arrests or charges.

And yet the photo shows yellow plate taxis, so what are they really talking about? In Bangkok, at least, green plates are for chauffeur-driven cars from hotel fleets and the like, not for "taxis".

Most (if not all) Thai banks let you make cardless withdrawals from ATMs using their app - no plastic card needed. I was issued an ATM card, but have never used it.

Where are the names of the charged officers, and the photos of them sitting with their heads bowed and Big Joke pointing at them? If these were foreigners arrested for littering, there would have been a massive press conference with huge vinyl boards detailing their crimes and 15 police heroes standing at attention behind them.

The fact that you were dealing with the Border Patrol and not state or local police tells us that it is not "exactly the same thing". The random searches you experienced were only allowed because you were within 100 miles of an international border - they would be forbidden anywhere in the interior of the US.

That's certainly a fair and balanced description of the typical American tourist...in 1966 or so. You forgot to mention that they always fly on Pan Am and receive letters at the American Express office!

They aren't in jail for charging her, they're in jail for "dereliction of duty" for NOT charging her.

They have yet to explain why checkpoints are so vital to their policing efforts, when they are used sparingly and only for very specific purposes in other countries. And why would pulling tourists out of a taxi and conducting a physical search ever be needed in cases where there was no suspicious behavior?

Most branches of Bangkok Bank have required that for years, but I have not encountered any other banks asking for it at all (Kasikorn, Krungsri, SCB, TTB).

It was more about the fact that they didn't have a regime in place to collect taxes on vape liquids and shisha tobacco. Rather than amending the relevant laws to address that, they just banned the whole lot.

These crackdowns on black smoke have been announced regularly since at least the early 90s, and they never last more than a week or two before silently disappearing. This idea of roadside inspections of vehicles intrigues me, though. Wouldn't it be simpler just to look for the big clouds of black smoke and see where they're coming from? Just a thought.

This is also what I was told by both immigration and BoI on the day the visa was stamped into my passport, so I have no doubt that it is accurate. And it makes perfect sense - it's just the 90 day report rule, but for one year instead. Unfortunately, BoI and immigration have created confusion by using poor wording in their instructions. Almost all of the material they hand out says that you have to notify immigration of your address "every year", which is misleading at best.