PaoloR

Every scooter rental in my location only offers 3rd party insurance (pororbor) which is dubious at best with many doubts as to whether they will pay out on a rental. When I made inquiries on behalf of a potential renter; every rental company here refused to supply a scooter with full insurance - "not possible" was the answer every time. When enquiring for a friend who wished to rent a bigger bike for a 2 week tour, the companies we tried, despite initially claiming to have insurance, were unable to provide any paperwork on said insurance. Draw your own conclusions!

At least they were wearing helmets!

Agoda and other sites are commercial companies who need to make a profit. When they give you cash redemptions and other "goodies" who do you think is paying for them - you with higher prices! Book through the hotel website, or direct, if they won't give you a better price than a booking site; then walk away.

Complete bull excretion, Agoda charge hotels between 5% and 20% for their services. Most hotels will give a discount for a direct booking. However, larger chain hotels will often make their front desk charge a higher price as there is no record of the transaction. If the guest pays in cash, the money may not reach the account. A symptom of them not trusting their front desk staff. In addition, there are not stop scammers attacking hotels at the moment, duplicating OTA (online travel agent) websites, pretending to be previous customers with a complaint, requesting bank details to transfer a deposit etc. So, chain hotels have implemented strict policies to mitigate losses which involves restricting the front desk's ability to make any financial decisions. If the front desk won't offer a discount for a walk-in, then go elsewhere or ask for the manager and point out you are saving him money.

Agree on the 4 wheel drive statement. I have a 2 wheel drive and a 4 wheel drive which we use on the farm. A good set of tyres makes the 2 wheel drive perform better than the 4 wheel drive on the cheap tyres my BIL bought. Even for daily farm use rarely is 4 wheel drive required.

Yes they are giving title as follows: "The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is distributing agricultural land title deeds to 25,000 farmers across the country today (Jan 15), converting the “Sor Por Kor 4-01” documents, previously issued as permits for land use in reform areas, into official land titles." Note: as stated these are agricultural land title deeds and have a restriction on building a habitable building on such land. After a number of years ownership and continuous agricultural use (7, I think) you can apply for the next deed up which has less restriction. This may seem like a great idea to you but please do some research before diving in. If this is such a good idea why is nobody else doing it?

Getting a visa at KL is a bitch! They only see a limited number per day. Any (and I mean any) discrepancy or missing information and they will tell you to come back again with correct docs. You then have to hang around in KL waiting for the next appointment. My daughter went through this process some months ago and I had to shell out for extra flights, extra hotel nights and suffer a lot of painful phone calls. She had every document in place and in order, but they made up new "rules" seemingly out of spite.

Songkhla

She cannot get a visa from the British Embassy - they no longer issue them. She has to apply at the Trendy Building through VFS Visa application centre

Just book a hotel on one of the websites where you do not have to pay up front. Cancel as soon as you have the visa - easy you just give them a copy of the booking, there is no follow up.

Then apply for a 5 year or 10 year visitors visa - less hassle and works out cheaper. If she has had 15 visas and always returned, then it's a shoe-in

I have rubber and palm farms. The variety of insects on a palm farm is huge, not so much on rubber. I hike in our nearby National Park and if you stand still - off the main path, there are many different kinds of animals. However, in primary jungle you hear far more than you can see. My local National Park organises overnight stays in a hide and there you can see many animals (and be eaten by mosquitos!) The primary visible wildlife, after insects, are birds and here, by the sea, we get a plethora of raptors and parrots, plus migratory birds such as open billed storks. Finally, a wonderful variety of reptiles, lizards and snakes are everywhere. Just join a local group and you will find lots to see. Note: I just checked and my local National Park has not re-instated nature watches at night since the lock-down. They say they have plans to do so.

Joy Dental in Krabi Town. Avoid Ao Nang (tourist prices) Krabi town has local pricing as it has few tourists.

You have far more faith in the Thai Judicial system than perhaps it deserves. Moods and beliefs are how the system works; along, that is, with facilitation payments! I have won cases in Thai courts and lost them as well and am still no wiser after 25 years as to how the system works. It changes from court to court and province to province. If you do proceed it is essential, in my opinion, to have a local lawyer who regularly appears in the court and knows the magistrates and clerks of that court. Many local lawyers are not qualified to act in the court so the choice is important and the cost can be quite high! I would attempt to go to arbitration in front of a magistrate first. It is non-binding but much quicker and the opposing party usually folds if the magistrate rules in your favour. Good luck!

Remember the associated charges for running the company will mount up and that the cost of finding business to keep the company active can be onerous. Alternatively, wonder each day whether they are coming to take possession of your house. Been there, done that, never again!