Bogbrush

Firstly, it depends upon the law of the country where the crime was committed as to (1) what exact offence took place and (2) what rights in law a victim has to defend himself against that offence. Whilst this can hugely vary (look at the wildly different legislation in US states) the rule of thumb is (1) the response has to be proportional to the threat - ‘knife to a gun fight’ scenario - and (2) response is only justified to prevent the commission of the crime, not after the event i.e. when the suspect is fleeing. This of course leads to the grey area as to how much if any force can be used to apprehend the suspect. Having served as a police officer in three countries, I can assure you it’s never cut and dried and so often the victim ends up as the accused…

‘Massaman’ is a corruption of ‘Muslim’ ..

CK is a bit of a one horse town, but if you go to/stay at the Fortuna Hotel – which has a carpark available to leave vehicles – they run a shuttle tuk tuk to the bridge and beyond to Laos Immigration; I recall low denomination USD bills are needed. Can’t advise as to the time required over there, though - sorry.

I can’t see too clearly from the photo but I don’t think she’s flying the red ensign - the flag seems to have an emblem so possibly/probably a British dependency of some sort.

This guy advertises wills at 900 baht.. .

For those who like a bit of alcohol but want to minimise their intake for dietary or other reasons, you should try Katemba; it’s a drink the Portuguese had in Mozambique - red wine and (diet/zero) coke 40/60 in a tall glass with plenty of ice. Sounds revolting but is actually very nice (rather like Sangria) and a good use for the awful/cheap S African Mont Clair box wine.

Lao IPA and White are also very good

The initial announcement stated international companies could be used wef September, although it didn’t come from Dept of Immigration but some other govt source, and as we know the left hand is frequently contradicted by the right hand…so much also depends on the attitude of the specific immigration office itself - Phuket, for example, has never shown any interest in wanting to see insurance for an OA EoS. Logic would dictate any EoS prior to September would require the 400 000/40 00 baht local policy, and any EoS after that date would require 3.5m baht, local or otherwise. As with most LoS matters, however, it’s like a pig on acid - you don’t know which way it’s going to go….

I’ve always thought the O retirement visa would suffer the domino effect and also require insurance eventually; many have argued otherwise, stating the govt will never enforce insurance on the other O classes (marriage/dependant etc) but I suppose we shall just wait and see. Ironically I fully support an insurance requirement as not to have it is in my view irresponsible but I also believe in choice of provider: the govt can set the level, and I’ll select the company…

One change in the OA insurance rules that some seem to forget is that the ‘new’ insurance can be purchased internationally and no longer is limited to the Thai companies. This must suit many who initially complained bitterly that they already possessed far better overseas insurance whilst being forced to also buy the local ‘worthless’ policies….

In early 2000 Vietnam announced it was, wef July 2020, changing visas to 30 days with NO extensions. Then Covid shut the place down, so I’m not sure if the legislation was promulgated.