Caldera

I don't envy them, having to work with this piece-of-something constitution imposed upon them.

Thais do seem to have a habit of amassing bank accounts with very little kept in most of them (as per BoT stats), but 27 of them? Wow.

He's doing less damage while he's asleep, so let him sleep.

That is mighty scary.

It's a business, they should be allowed to admit whoever they think is the best fit for them.

I think it isn't just global economic concerns. I get the impression that many tourists leave disappointed, that the actual experience of holidaying in Thailand didn't match their expectations. Prices have gone up, scams have come back in full force, many once popular tourist venues are understaffed and/or in desperate need of renovation.

It would be hard to find any news article - on any subject - that contains more terms of hyperbole. Great for a morning chuckle though.

Just goes to show that you need (at least) two mobile banking apps from different banks, plus cash as a backup. I didn't have any trouble last weekend myself, but had had occasional hiccups with my K-PLUS app in the past. Sucks when it happens.

The timing shouldn't come as a surprise - June which was "Pride Month" just ended, with many events where people mingled and with people flying in from all over the world.

The embassy doesn't have access to immigration's system. You're supposed to upload scans of all those passport visa pages having stamps from the last 12 months. If you do that truthfully, they can see that you're in Thailand. If you "forget" the page with the current entry stamp, your application is fraudulent and you could be in trouble if that comes to light later.

It has nothing to do with how you arrive. Whether they ask you for proof of TM30 is hit and miss as I wrote earlier, as Thai immigration pretty much operates in "crackdown mode". Just be aware that there's a chance that you won't even get past the initial document check without a TM30 receipt.

Good riddance. Hopefully, expelling their execs will keep their meddling in check.

It's hit and miss. If no TM30 has been filed for you in their system with a Bangkok address, there's a good chance that they'll ask you for proof. Staying at a hotel and showing a hotel booking, they MIGHT be lenient with you as it's the hotel's responsibility (not yours), but don't bank on it - you're taking the cake, showing up with an overstay AND no TM30.

You'd be best off avoiding Bangkok's airports altogether. Assuming you can get consecutive METVs, entering by land should be fine, just fly to a neighboring country.

Maybe you could consider spending some time in Laos, apparently there are ways to get a one-year business visa without actually working. Quite affordable compared with the Thai Elite visa that you say is too expensive.

A planned overstay is never a good idea nowadays, you should have gone earlier this week and you wouldn't have lost any days by doing so, as the extension starts from when your current permission to stay expires. That being said, if your permission to stay expires during a weekend or holiday, you won't be charged for an overstay if you go to immigration on the very next working day.

Maybe they want to investigate your company to establish if you're illegally using Thai nominees to circumvent the restrictions on land ownership by foreigners Or maybe they just want to make things difficult for you to entice you to use an agent. With Jomtien in particular, that would be a reasonable guess.

What a farce. If this dinosaur gets voted in with the help of unelected senators, there's really no hope for Thailand.

It's pretty much impossible to predict.

That's where I see the problem. You need a sizable pool of potential customers (as you said it's a niche service), which in Thailand means Bangkok. The service is worth 1000 baht to a customer, but you can't provide it for that price when you take transportation into account. You might spend 1-2 hours on the road for those few minutes of consulting and testing. Upsell options? Quite limited. Repeat customers? Maybe after a year, at best. I can't see that work in any smaller town.

Much as I like the man, I really don't see him fit enough for another term. I think running again was the wrong decision, one that could still be corrected at this point.

I take early morning flights pretty often and I've never had any problem using Grab for a ride to the airport at 4am.

Thailand's reputation as a rip-off destination seems to be strong in China nowadays, which suits the Chinese government well, as they'd rather have their people holiday within China.

They aren't exactly up for a great start, hopefully they'll get their act together and focus on what's really important for the benefit of those who voted for them.

What a horrific thing to happen.