Kalasin Jo

That's an impressive list. Both the number involved and the serious crimes alleged. Let's see if the cops arrest them all and what charges are made to stick. Meanwhile one might be critical of the police here but back in my home country, the UK, the London Met. force are it is reported little more than a cover for rapists, wife beaters and other sexual offenders with sexist " banter" the norm according to latest media revelations following guilty pleas by of one of their number for multiple violent offences against women, flashing his warrant card and gun to secure compliance. Offences committed systematically over many years, the warning signs ignored by his superiors. It took the courage of one of his victims to stop him. Hardly encourages trust does it, especially for women

Others have offered their baht's worth and it sounds as if your local immigration office is very sympathetic. Well done you for being courageous enough to go in and ask. I'm sorry for your loss. That's bad enough when you know the ropes. Wishing you all the best going forward

Only now they are not issuing TM6 on arrival.

No illegal prostitutes. That implies that there is legal prostitution in Thailand. So I guess the illegal kind are those hanging around and soliciting on beach road, dark and deserted public spaces or who grab you with the words " I love you short or long time handsome man" whilst out walking in thronging tourist spots. Everything else is ok. Of course it is!

As happened to me. I was buying a car through a dealer and provided a CoR that was 2 weeks or so old. Dealer thought that there might be a problem at the local DLT in Kalasin. I don't know if the fact that the car was registered in Bangkok although physically present in Kalasin delayed things. Having paid the money the dealer allowed me to take the car but said it would need to taken to the DLT for verification before being registered in Kalasin and a new number plate issued. Sure enough, first I was asked to produce a fresh CoR and about a week later bring it for verification, which after waiting about 15 minutes took all of 5.. About 10 days after that the new number plates were available. A drawn out process!!

Fair comment

My credit preloaded AIS mobile number receives SMS in Europe, including UK. Has done for years. No need to buy a roaming package unless I actually want one for mobile data. All I need to do for the SMS service is keep the number in minimum credit, turn on roaming, turn off data.

Flap, flip, flop. Heaven forbid they offend the Chinese. So it's all or nothing. Clearly all was a massive own goal and made no sense. So has to be straight back to nothing. Certainly the Chinese line is that there's no need for restrictions on their citizens or anyone else. And tomorrow?. I guess we'll see in a couple of weeks. The Chinese only started arriving by the plane load yesterday.

No surprise there. Chaos was inevitable the moment this announcement was made, effective almost immediately. Why these blanket restrictions when for weeks foreigners and foreign tourists have been arriving in large numbers with no requirements at all? Because unlike other countries which have targeted only the newly released in to the wild Chinese after 3 years of being strictly confined Thailand does not want to upset the Chinese government by such a targeted approach. They'd rather see their own tourist industry take another big hit it seems. I can't see any other justification given the numbers of foreigners that have already come. Including me last Thursday. Few wearing masks on my journey. cabin crew on plane were not.

Thais themselves accept it as part of getting things done if obstacle(s) are raised. A cash payment is made and magically the obstacle(s) then disappear.

That's a real bummer. Change your bank?

I've observed that Eastern Asians in general don't have the mask hang ups westerners do. Fairly common to see masks worn in enclosed public spaces and on public transport before anyone had ever heard of Covid. Perhaps due to the previous SARS outbreak which was very serious here but never as far as I know got a foothold in the West. As it happens I was traveling in these parts at that time, SARS hitting the headlines whilst I was in Thailand and could not travel to Hong Kong where reports were it was very bad. On returning to the UK I had to self isolate at home for 14 days which upset my employers although no official checked that I was self isolating. I do not recall any symptoms.

Well yes. The article certainly is. And what happened here is appalling. But the implications in some comments in the thread seem at least to me to single out Thailand and its' Buddhist monks as worse than anywhere else or any other religion and its' anointed in the world. What has been going on for decades with a blind eye being turned in the Catholic Church is but one example of similar elsewhere and in a different religion. Then there is the male dominated extremism in some Islamic countries sanctioning crimes against women and punishment of women for their " crimes" against extreme Islamic teachings. So I think that covers the 3 main religions in the world today wherever practised: Buddhism, as in the reported case, Christianity and Islam. At least this Thai monk was not I think following Buddhist teaching in doing what he did and so will be punished, hopefully appropriately.

New rules? I came in on Thursday afternoon to no requirements at all. Just like pre Covid days. Plane full ( from Amsterdam) only a few wearing masks. The cabin crew were not. I did not wear one until the airport here. Of course asked to remove it by IO who was not masked but behind plexiglass. What are the health rules for entering Thailand now? Since when? The Chinese effect??? I see alot of mask wearing here still in enclosed spaces and the open air markets. I assume it's encouraged but not mandatory. Generally I sense the palpable fear still present here when I came in last February ( and had to quarantine before being released in to the wild) for 90 days has gone. Many Thais round these parts are still under or not vaccinated.

Good luck and courage. Stay calm if possible! Should be easy but it's also very easy to get your knickers in a twist and / or be given the run around by a mischievous IO over this requirement in !y experience.

Sorry to hear of your difficulty. Others have offered advice. For the future make sure your monthly transfers by Wise are expressly "funds for long stay" in their app or site. This ensures that the transfer is routed directly to your Thai bank account and shows there as a "foreign funds transfer in" on your Thai bank statements. That entry appearing against each transfer on your Thai bank statement is what the IO wants to see. During the transfer request procedure on the Wise app or site a drop down menu appears asking you what the transfer is for. Scroll through the options to choose, perhaps unfortunately it's the last one of quite a few I think, "funds for long stay". In the past I've missed this too and what a hassle that proved to be. I gave up in fact and did a border crossing to Savanakhet, Laos by the 2nd Friendship Bridge, at Mukdahan Thaiside. The Thai Embassy at Savanakhet did and I believe still does 90 day multiple entry " marriage" visas without the need to show any financials at all. Requires an overnight in Savanakhet. Possibly the only Embassy that still does one I think but others will correct me I'm sure if I'm wrong. You then have to leave Thailand every 90 days and return for another 90 day stamp. You can stick on a 60 day extension obtained in Thailand before the visa expires too. It's not ideal, though a great many were using this pre Covid border closures. Hope that helps.

I read it was a Lloyds Bank travel insurance policy. Perhaps I am wrong.

I suggest it's not right to single out Thailand and it's monks. Look at the Roman Catholic Church for revelations of priestly misdemeanours the world over against the young, from parish priests to Cardinals. There will always be those who cannot resist their urges to abuse but the cloak of religion and perceived " saintliness" of priests and monks has protected so many for decades and centuries.

Really? Perhaps things have changed there. A couple of years ago admittedly, they were very helpful in quickly sorting out an ATM € cash withdrawal done in France for me that went a bit haywire. All done by chat and email. What I did learn from the experience was that it's best not to use your wise card for cash withdrawals! As they explained a bank owns the ATM, first chance of a problem, whilst the transaction goes through Visa, neither are under the control of wise. There is also a bank charge for using their machine, which here in Thailand is hefty even if your wise balance is held in baht. There is no charge for paying for goods and services with their card and no commission or exchange rate issue if your balance is in baht.

Cash is king? In very large black bags?

Then China rapidly lifted all restrictions in and out and there was an audible gasp of horror!

Right. Very different then. Even in January of this year when I finally decided to endure the somewhat relaxed restrictions and associated costs after more than a year apart from my wife. And compared to the 2020 shut down when I was in Thailand trying to leave for Europe with her and 2021 when I was not. My wife did return in 2021 once that was allowed but endured 14 days quarantine. At least then the cost was on her government's baht not mine.

Sadly so. The GBP too but perhaps not so surprising in view of what's going on there politically and economically. The Euro too. Don't you just hate the USD? Once again it looks as if the value in baht of my UK state pension will not alone either monthly or annualised meet the Thai immigration financial requirements. Last time I pointed this out to an IO he was genuinely surprised, even shocked. "But you from UK and Europe are rich from rich countries. Surely your government pay good pension". Ha! The common Thai misconception fuelled of course by two week millionaires splashing it around when they hit Thailand once a year...or twice in a lifetime. And the ladies cry " not forget me" for a very long time!

I'm not up to speed it seems. What restrictions? I came back in on Thursday afternoon after 3 weeks with family in UK. No restrictions then, neither to board the flight from Amsterdam nor on arrival at Suvarnabhumi. Was I lucky by a day?

Am I missing something? The article says the lifting of restrictions is for those entering China.