clearance

Tell her to google BIA-ALCL

It is actually difference in spelling. In russian passport he must be Aleksandr, in Ukrainian passport it will be spelled Oleksandr. If he immigrated to Sweden from Ukraine, his name in Swedish passport will be also Oleksandr. And yep, he can be ethnically russian, you never know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_name Олександр (Oleksandr [olekˈsɑnd(e)r] ⓘ), equivalent to Alexander, of Greek origin.

Still not fixed I guess.

Some places may be not safe for locals because of teen gangs, they won't touch a foreigner, but can extort money from Thais.

Also, I wonder if it can be mitigated by split tunneling. VPN provider can push 0.0.0.0/0 route that can be affected by this attack. Or push split routes for all ranges with different netmask. For example you can push 0.0.0.0/1 and 128.0.0.0/1 to client. Or do it for every range, like 1.0.0.0/8, 2.0.0.0/8, 3.0.0.0/8 and so on. And if you are on Linux you can compile DHCP client that will ignore option 121 (like Android). I wonder if some clients allow to disable DHCP options already.

It can be mitigated by one more device in chain. For example you can connect your phone to a public wifi, then share this connection to your laptop. So your phone will act as DHCP server, and VPN from your laptop will be safe. Or some wifi mobile router, that can connect to other wifi and share it to your devices.

It is banned on DNS level, so you just can change your DNS to public ones (8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 for example). No VPN needed.

They (Immigration) asked me to renew my TM30 after 4 years. Just said: Too old, do it again and come back.

I'll gladly pay one time upgrade fee to get points, but for 50/75/100k thb/year I can pay for my insurance/checkup and transportation from/to airport by myself. So no, thank you TE.

I can understand why PM 2.5 and PM 10 is high, but where Ozone comes from?

In other countries I will get PR status and maybe health insurance for paying taxes (you actually can't live in most countries more than 183 days without PR). What do we get in Thailand paying taxes? Not to mention the fact that we (expats) already pay VAT and foreigner prices (in hospitals for example).

They can just tax everything, and do tax returns when you confirm that money is already taxed in another country (if that country have a treaty with Thailand).

So, for example, if I'm a foreigner who lives in Thailand on an Elite visa. In 2024 I'm planning to buy a house or apartment there. I will transfer money from my savings abroad. And they will tax me for 35%?

Yep, but only in mobile app.

I was asked to show the virtual card once, showed it in the app. Registered to my flight without problems.

You can see the name attached to a card in the mobile application in the card details. But the better option is to apply for a virtual card (in the same app). It is more secure because you can set separated limits for a virtual card and you can re-issue it at any moment if you feel that data is compromised.

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/world/asia-pacific/20230623-118053/ But no one is asking about Chinese seafood safety...

There is another way: Encrypt drives with Bitlocker with a strong password (no need to save it obviously), format drives after that, and write some big files to them (you can use CrystalDiskMark with larger file sizes possible). Almost impossible to recover any data after that.

We need numbers I think, for example, 1 incident before, and 2 after is a 100% noticeable increase, but it is still only 2 incidents.

They may stamp your passport with "x days overstay on public holidays", that's what I got 5 years ago in the same situation. No other penalties tho.

It is simple: they open Visa or MC in Belarus and Kazakhstan (also Turkey and Georgia to a lesser extent) and then transfer money there. Or, they open a Thai bank account and transfer money thru crypto or some agents. Or even SWIFT, most russian small banks still have SWIFT working.

Sunday roast @ Kai New Zealand Restaurant

Been there in Dec-Jan 2018, not so cold as I remember, +12 - +16 (feels colder with humidity, but still good). Watched fireworks from Taipei 101 on NY night. Had only good memories of this country. I think Taiwan is one of the most underrated destinations for tourists in Asia.

You can go to Okinawa in Japan, it is around +20 all day, fresh seafood and plenty of places to visit. Also Taiwan is an option (not sure about entry rules tho).

In Bangkok you need to complete the language testing to extend your ED visa, is it different in Pattaya? Or is this requirement no more needed? I remember my friend (who was learning Thai at the moment) was asked basic questions in Thai by IO (after testing on paper), luckily for him, he attends classes and can answer in Thai.