Silencer

I have no problem with this award, Thailand does do a fine job of letting multiply religions coexist here. The problems in the South are caused by Muslims, not Thai government policies restricting their religion. However, this award is UN code for recognizing countries that allow Muslims to coexist and practice their culture within their borders, nothing more. On the other hand, many Muslim countries put severe restrictions on what religious and cultural activities non-Muslims can do within their borders. Maybe there should be recognition for that by the UN as well.

What has changed in the government, courts, and police in Thailand since the Blue Diamond affair to want the Saudis to trust Thailand again?

I used free online software to design my house....and I suppose they have the same for apartments/condos. If you won't be moving walls and doorways, just input your current condo dimensions. You can put a door here/there, place tables, sofas, outlets, lighting, paint/tile colors, etc as many come with a variety of furniture, texture, color options to "see" what it would look like in your condo.....then go to the store and get what best matches what you want.

A couple of thoughts based on the OP, and subsequent diversions.. - I expect little impact here in Thailand from the Ukraine crisis. Maybe some tourist visit impacts, gas prices, minor supply chain issues for a few products. I'm more depressed by the thought of not having as many scantily clad Russian bikini babes about. - Fair and interesting read on US, NATO, and Russian thinking about NATO post cold war expansion. https://www.vox.com/22900113/nato-ukraine-russia-crisis-clinton-expansion - China is bifurcated about Ukraine. On the one hand it wants to try and support Russia (its new friend) BUT instability is not in its economic interests and territorial integrity is central to its thinking. Creating and declaring "independent" provinces in the Ukraine can be seen as treasonous if the declaration was applied to Taiwan.

- We all know this is primarily a money grab. This ministry can't buy subs and airplanes so needs other revenue source. Pre-covid, such a tax would have generated 11.7B baht (39M x 300) in 2019, tell me again this is not about money. However, nearly 12B baht pays for a lot of tourist hospitalizations....IF it were targeted as such. - Airport implementation makes sense, not land borders. Relatively small percentage of targeted population comes from land borders. - If not included in airline ticket (which impacts ALL people), then get a stamp in passport which indicates that it was paid and then not taxed again for second visit the same year. This helps those coming and going frequently (that aren't tourists anyway). - Implementation would be a nightmare though...lines, delays, payment method, if attempted to collect upon arrival/departure.

My interpretation (that may be wrong) is both the car and bike were going the same direction. Either a stopped or slowly moving truck was ahead of the bicycle, and he moved over to the right to pass it, then got hit from behind. This happens everytime we drive in a city here, with motorbikes usually. You see a motorbike ahead of you in the left lane that has an obstacle in their path and assume they will be moving a bit right (or further) to get around it and you need to JUDGE your speed and clearance to decide if you need to yield or have room to overtake the obstacle and bike at the same time. Driving too fast will make this calculation, along with how far right the bike moves right, an accident waiting to happen.

Get vaccine, check. Did all the paperwork, bookings, tests, to travel to Thailand, check. What did I forget? Oh, lets get high and arrested while on holiday. Check. Ok, time to go home. (Assuming he was a tourist)

A starting point is to see who the money was transferred to in her bank app but likely a shell game for the ultimate source.

"Krung Thep Maha Nakhon got him now", just does not have the same ring to it. ????

I used a free site "Homebyme" to provide the general ideas for the house I wanted and the designer took it from there to build the house construction drawings, with about 90% of the decisions already made. Some of the software pics...

-Nightmare scenario, easily corrected with an on-site test, wait a couple hours, then released (as happened to someone else in this string). -I also see the CDC website says "Because laboratory-based NAATs are considered the most sensitive tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2, ..." so it's the best test available, whichever method is used. But not having the magic "PCR" on the paper somewhere, and this being Thailand, can't be overcome (except for the first bullet). -Strange, during those 14 hours, that the lab was not contacted to create something, on their letterhead, that would say the test method was a RT-PCR test (IF in fact it was). Offer to pay for it if such a bother to them. -OP messed up on the fine print, although appears to have done everything else correctly (and likely the test was ok), so the outcome seems not proportionate to the mistake. -At least a red flag for everyone to closely check their lab reports for the mythical RT-PCR or PCR wording. -Between this, and especially testing positive here (if truly on holiday), a couple reasons to stay away, for now. However, OP had a better reason to travel than many.

Long stay visa holders....checked up on every 90 days, mountains of paperwork for visa renewals. International criminals and assassins (foreign or domestic), welcome to Thailand, enjoy your holiday.

Yes, $hlt happens, married or not. Your other shareholders, and their rights, is a critical component of the company and best set up with a knowledgeable law firm to mitigate these occurrences. But even then it can happen. However, many more people successfully buy and sell this way.

Since you can buy a house, or buy land and build a house now, through using a Thai limited company, and sell it again later if you want, I don't see what the big deal is with "owning" land in the western sense? Just seems like a topic to complain about even though you can achieve 'almost' the same results under current rules. I know dozens of people here that own their houses through a Thai limited company arrangement. Some have recently sold their property and moved on.

Although not an MG, I ended up buying a Chinese manufactured car. I live on Samui, so no real highway driving here. Bought an old Chinese built Cherry QQ (lime green) for 50K (Cherry cars still seem popular in Philippines but maybe few other places). Ran fine but had no power, especially trying to go over a hill (and forget the steep slope roads). No rust although build quality poor but functional, but would be a disaster in a high speed crash. This IS a poorly designed car and build quality way down the totem pole. Swapped the engine out for an older Toyota engine (38K all in) and voila, I had a somewhat real car with acceptable power. Been going strong for 2+ years now. Mechanic said I should be good for at least 3 more years. Have even taken it on the ferry to Surat Thani a couple times. So, for less than 100K, I expect to have this usable "island car" for at least 5-6 years at a cost of less than 20K/year. Sure beats a motorbike on longer trips, rainy days, or when needed to carry a bunch of stuff. I'll drive it until it dies, then buy a real (safer/reliable), almost assuredly a non-Chinese car next, but cost sure was my driving (excuse the pun) motivation when I first arrived on Samui. Old Chinese cars ARE cheap, in all aspects. It looks funny, is quirky, but fits in well here and what a bargain even if a bit terrifying when that cement truck is tailgating me down the mountain.

Clearly not enough money was offered...under the table.

Online dating is fine....but you have to roll with the punches; the fakes, scammers, liars, nut-cases, etc. Easy for the date 'that night', but harder if you are looking long-term, but still many normal girls on them. Biggest problem, as mentioned above, if you are a decent catch (economically), the girl will likely be way into you before you are into them. I don't recommend it so much for "never been to Thailand before" guys, but you might get lucky, its not like experienced guys are immune to the downsides either. Renting is fine, but I think the OP is about a real relationship/marriage, and I know of several successful outcomes. I even recommended to a couple girls that I liked (but had no interest in marrying) to use the western dating sites, and two have been married for a number of years using them. SInce it's easy to meet dozens of ladies through them, versus the amount of time it would take on the ground, they certainly have their place. Thai girls don't tend to like the idea of dating around though (you want to meet several girls, see several girls) during the same time, so you have to figure out how to navigate that. Unless you're playing games, being honest about that upfront is the best approach, even if a bit of a disappointment for them.

In the past month, I have been asked for money to speed up a building permit, get a driver's license, and speed up the processing of a new Chanote. Didn't need anything sped up and their disappointment was palpable.

No legal right to defend yourself in your own property against an intruder?

Yes, all women and wives are different, big revelation! All women who want to be taken care of are opportunists, wherever they come, whatever their 'class'. I had a hiso wife, I could have been the opportunist, but that lifestyle was not for me. Now I have a nice brown Isaan wife, an opportunist, trust completely, but I'm better managing the money. They key for me was to live no where near her family. My wife, her daughter and I live in Samui, completely different life than Issan. Building a house soon. Her desires are met and so are mine. Great friend, slaves at home without a thought, cooking skills better than any restaurant (Thai or farang), very attractive, great in the sack, and generally fun to be with. Does she need my support? Absolutely (although she wants to invest our money or start a business. Is she well educated? No. Is her English perfect? No. So, sometimes I go out and talk with others about events/ideas that are foreign to her. Despite being an "opportunist", do I believe she loves me completely, if my decent income was halved overnight and we had to live an austere life, absolutely! So, <deleted> around, date hiso/low-so, Thai or Western, its your life...but in answer to the OP, I found my Issan treasure.

You don't go to this place unless you've read up on its location (or been instructed by friends) and with that knowledge you will learn that it is located up some very steep mountain roads (especially the last 300 meters), or you park and walk up. You would also likely have been told there is a small entrance fee. You don't stumble upon this place. Most visitors wait at the entrance area so each visiting group can have their own experience (selfies/photos) around the bridge and rocks. During COVID there were some days it was free to enter (as other areas on Samui) as no attendants were working/collecting a fee. Sometimes there were Thai fees (20 baht) and farang (50 baht) but usually the same price. The story on Samui is this whole incident started with the couple walking past the sign to go onto the bridge, the security guard poking her in the arm about the fee...then voila. If there were people waiting for their "turn" to do a solo visit to the rock then butting in line would not be appreciated as well. Maybe this couple were truly ignorant of their surroundings, proper etiquette, or they (she) just lives on a short fuse. Few here believe the owner of the land did not know what was happening on the land. This place has been around a long time for tourist visits. The police would have been well aware of its existence as well.

Lived in Spain, visited the Canary islands. Honeymooned and later vacationed 3 times to Caribbean islands, and outside a couple resort enclaves, Mexico is a disaster in all respects. Next!

For concrete, I suggest you speak with Chris Baker. He's based out of Lamai (http://samuimodernconcrete.com/about-us/ He has his own concrete blend/consistency that the local cement company makes for him and he recently poured the concrete form for a large swimming pool at a house I am renting. He's quite busy but is certainly willing to discuss concrete mixtures, and anything concrete-related, and availability here on Samui.

Like what? Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Costa Rica, Colombia, Portugal, where? I would think any such opinion of "nicer" (meaning what? exchange rate, people, government, visa, climate, cost of living, food, scenery, healthcare, entertainment?) would be rather subjective but since you seem to know this as fact, please enlighten us on those much nicer places. Thailand has its downsides so I'm interested in learning of where it would be nicer for all of us?

Reporters here don't investigate anything if it has any connection to politics. They march along with the beat and 'report' what they are told. Occasionally, foreign press will break some stories.