Caldera

Pretty pissy weather in Bangkok all day long.

That really sucks for those affected, stuck in Myanmar and forced to do the dirty deeds of the murderous junta.

I'm sure there must be plenty of voters who would love to have another option than voting for one of the same tired old goats.

I use my Kasikorn Bank Visa debit card at ATMs in Cambodia and Vietnam quite often, never a problem and I get an instant notification same as in Thailand.

Maya Bay is either closed or overcrowded, depending on the time of the year. From a practical point of view, a more relaxed beach that you can just walk to from your accommodation at any time is much better, even if it lacks the stunning beauty.

That sucks for us non-criminals though. I like to have Thai mobile connectivity in the border areas and somewhat beyond.

Page 48 is unusable for a visa sticker, because it isn't empty. If you can prevent Vietnam's immigration department from putting your entry stamp on page 49 and if the Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh City doesn't take offense at the "nonsense" on page 48, they could use page 49 for your visa.

Exactly, that has always stricken me as a nonsensical requirement. Visa applicants will simply book something - anything- that can later be canceled without penalty. There's no real value in knowing that the applicant can operate an app like Agoda.

I would have let the poll run longer, so that more of us would have had a chance to see it on time to vote. I thought that was made clear by the post I quoted in agreement, my apologies.

Indeed, whoever set up that poll did it as idiotically as possible.

For me, it's a no-brainer. Having seen the capricious nature of Thai officials at work elsewhere, I have zero interest in dealing with yet another Thai government department (the taxman). So I'll make sure that I won't be a tax resident.

Are you a foreign resident of Saudi Arabia, or just a tourist there?

Are you sure? Don't they charge their fee in MYR? I'm asking because, at each of the Thai embassies and consulates I'm familiar with, they only accept ONE currency. So if they say 160 MYR, you can't expect to be able to rock up with the equivalent in THB.

The top Thai university is ranked 117th in Asia. That's quite an indictment of the Thai education system.

How is it these days? Closed! This border crossing hasn't been re-opened since the Covid-19 pandemic.

It's a bad idea to travel overland in border areas with an overstay, as you could be unfortunate enough to get caught at a checkpoint. Just travel to Laos earlier than planned.

You could consider applying for a multi-entry tourist visa. While you don't really need it for your relatively short stays, chances are better that you'd fly under the radar with your pattern, having an actual visa designed for frequent visits as a tourist. Regardless of the visa exempt vs. tourist visa question, in case you get questioned, make sure that you meet all the official requirements for entry as a tourist (cash, flight out, hotel booking) upon each arrival. Additionally, be prepared to prove your employment in Norway and ideally your work schedule, as that would help convince an IO that you don't work in Thailand illegally.

I don't think so, it's probably about fees. A while ago, Grab Thailand started to charge an extra fee when using a foreign card to pay. Maybe True cannot be bothered for some reason and stopped accepting foreign cards completely instead. They're probably un a strong position to negotiate fees with Thai banks, but not with foreign banks.

You could ask such a visa run company specifically if any of that is a concern when applying for an education visa. That old volunteer visa in your passport could raise questions even in Vientiane, as their expectation would have been that you subsequently apply for an extension at immigration in Thailand. They might not be too happy that it didn't work out as expected and that you now try the education visa route to prolong your stay.

Tricky, especially because you've already used up your land border visa exempt entries for this year, so you risk getting stuck somewhere outside of Thailand. I don't think Savannakhet applies their "180 days" rule to anything other than tourist visas, so they might be your best bet. Did your school not give you any advice about where to apply? They must have other students in the same situation.

The meddler is meddling, no surprises there.

So the headline is nonsensical, as so often. Not the fact that they were mining bitcoin is illegal, but the fact that they were stealing electricity.

Maybe. From the OP it isn't clear if he went to the Ban Laem checkpoint or to the Ban Pakkard checkpoint. They're both in the same district.

For someone who travels a lot in and out and who's interested in the perks which used to be much better, buying such an original Elite visa isn't a bad option. But others use it mostly as a means to stay in Thailand with as little hassle as possible. For that group, having to apply for an extension every 90 days instead of once a year makes it a less attractive option.

Isn't that "state pension" that low that frozen or unfrozen barely makes a difference? Google says £221.20 a week, so about 40,000 baht per month. Someone who doesn't have additional income or assets cannot have a comfortable retirement on that money alone anyway.