BananaBandit

good to hear!

That sounds very good. Could I do that at a Thai consulate in Laos? Out of curiosity, how many times per year can you do that?

I was thinking about entering visa exempt, and then extending it for 30 days.

some people have written that, because they had a history of long stays in thailand, they encountered a mess while trying to enter thailand through air. some even ended up in immigration detention center. i'm under retirement age and have previously spent several years in thailand. i'm married to a thai woman but don't currently have a marriage visa. can i fly back into thailand without problems? and do i need to purchase a round trip ticket?

Thank you for telling me this. Are there any good Vietnam visa agents in Laos?

Can you extend a tourist visa while inside Vietnam? If so, then where do you go? Is there, by chance, a good visa agent in the Da Nang region?

I realize that foreigners who spend lots of time in Thailand can have trouble with immigration when re-entering Thailand by airplane. Let's say I have a friend who is well under retirement age and is married to a Thai woman and has been using a fixer agent for multiple years, filling his passport with marriage visa stamps from obscure provinces he's never seen ... Is my friend still able to pass through airport immigration hassle-free just by the fact that he's married to a Thai woman? Also, could my friend spend a few months with his mom in their farang homeland, let his marriage visa expire and then fly back to Thailand and his Thai wife on 30-day visa-exempt before he pays his fixer agent for another year of marriage-based visa? Or would my friend need an active marriage visa in order to protect himself?

Sorry, I probably should have said that I actually think I successfully remembered to switch off VPN before logging on to my Schwab account during the past month or so. I went multiple years without having to do two-factor verification. I was so liberated from it that I evidently failed to realize that Schwab nixed email as a method of verification about 2 years ago. Recently, I started using VPN, and all of a sudden I have to verify twice in one month. It seems odd to me, and leads me to somewhat suspect that VPN is the factor. I have a US number attached to my Schwab account. That number is no longer active. I haven't been to the US in a long time.

There's the problem! Can't use email to verify no more. So we need to use US phone number on file. Well, I don't have US number no more. Haven't been to US in many years.

2 or 3 times, i think

I had trouble logging in to my Charles Schwab account for the second time within a one-month span. I'm starting to suspect it's because I've been using a VPN (Windscribe). Is a VPN something that could be causing the issue? On a side note, has anyone else here noticed that Charles Schwab (apparently) no longer allows security code confirmation by email? For many previous years, they would send you the security code by email. Why have they (apparently) removed email as a method of receiving a verification code?

I spent several years in Isan. Various provinces. Some were quite enjoyable, while others seemed like places to escape from — even if that meant marrying a farang. I've been exploring Bangkok recently. My question now is: About what percent of people in Bangkok do you think actually want to be there (other than for the improved job prospects)? Perhaps another way of asking this question is: How often do you hear a Thai person who grew up outside the BKK metro area say that they like Bangkok?

Now go home and get yer ----- shine box!

Is this the epistolary novel about the immigrant from China?

What is the best Thai language book, website or other resource about farang in pre-1900 Siam?

I was surprised to hear recently that a considerable number of Isan natives are actually unable to speak ภาษาอีสาน Such persons reportedly can be found in Surin and Buriram, where some of the population speaks ภาษาไทยกลาง or ภาษาไทยกลางกับภาษาเขมร (In case it's unclear, I'm well aware that many natives of Surin and Buriram can speak the Isan language. But apparently a considerable number cannot.) Might anyone know where else in Isan has a considerable native population that does not understand vocabulary specifically belonging to the Isan/Lao language?

I believe that Thais use "battery" to refer to batteries within cars, computers and smartphones. If seeking batteries at 7-11, I suspect you would see better results if you use the Thai word for "charcoal" (It would be helpful to write Thai script here, but I believe its usage is prohibited outside the language forum.). After saying the word for "charcoal," then specify by using the Thai word for "size" (a two-syllable word beginning with a "k" sound), and then add "A" or "AA" or "AAA."

I wasn't buying (nor do I think she was selling) anything that takes ลูก as a classifier. About the only other thing I can think of is that she was perhaps asking me if I was a ลูกครี่ง (or maybe the ลูก of a ลูกครี่ง) ?

That strikes me as possible, though it seems strange she would not use the more conventional มีลูกไหม phrasing.

Agreed.

It was a distinct เป็น not a มี That's why her question triggered my immediate confusion and subsequent curiosity.

Fair enough. Let's see... I was talking with a middle-aged woman selling sausages and sticky rice at an outdoor market in Isan. After we chatted a bit about her food items, she started asking how long I had been in her province. Soon after that came the เป็นลูกไหม question.

What does that mean? The literal translation would seem to be: Are you a child? It almost sounds a bit condescending. But my interaction with the person asking this question was amiable, so I doubt there was any negative intent.

I'm around 40. I can't think of any change in my lifestyle except that I've started working out consistently and my body has become more chiseled. During the past two or so weeks, I've been defecating significantly more often. Not diarrhea. Just higher frequency. For any of you who have experience being toned, does it make you dump often?

300 baht sounds like a swell deal. Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near Pattaya at the moment. Do you know if government hospitals conduct this test for foreigners?