Bday Prang

Are you aware that polio and smallpox are completely different viruses to covid. as indeed are the vaccines and the way they work. No comparison whatsoever!

Not only are there no regulations to enforce it , there is absolutely nothing written anywhere to suggest that is the intent! I have read the stories on here of, as you say , the extremely rare cases , were some people with valid visas have been denied entry by what would generally described as "rogue" immigration officers, Most however seemed to involve people with "back to back" single entry tourist visas, and I can't say that I personally remember any cases involving people with METVs. Although I'm well aware you spend a lot more time on here than I do, so I am quite prepared to accept what you are telling me. but, purely out of interest how many cases of people holding METV's actually being denied entry, specifically as a result of making in / out border bounces, as that is presumably what the officials don't "like", can you remember? 10, ? 20? more? When you say "the strong preference of most in high places" who exactly are you referring to? Again I'm not doubting what you say , but If the preferences were that strong , and the people expressing them were of such high stature surely you would have heard of a lot more denials? I can't agree that the actions of a small minority of rogue / overzealous officials is representative of immigration policy generally or even indicative of what the guys "at the top table" would prefer, if that was the case they would all be at it, and in my personal experience that has absolutely not been the case I also find it a bit strange that the denials of entry take place generally at airports, I mean at least those people have actually been somewhere, maybe those concerned had previous history, overstays for example? Or were they just victims of some sort of scam in which the airlines were involved. On the spot one way tickets home would not exactly be cheap would they All of my in /outs, and there have been plenty of them, took place at land border crossings, as I'm too lazy and tight fisted to make my way to an airport, and I have never experienced so much as a raised eyebrow, despite the fact that my last passport was the thickness of a telephone directory ! it is however a little worrying. I did at times consider flying in and out thinking it might appear more "genuine" glad I never bothered now. Now that the ME-non O visas have been resurrected I will probably revert to using those again, but is there any cast iron guarantee that I will be less likely to be denied entry? probably not I fear. It strikes me, that if they don't like the look of you , you aint coming in, whatever visa you have, except maybe in the case of those with the "elite" visa, were the necessary palms have already been crossed with "silver" What's your opinion?

This reply is not particularly directed at you @JayClay, rather I just wish to dispel a myth promoted by others on here.... That the METV is "strictly" intended for anything is nothing but supposition on behalf of a few "troubled" members who post mis information on this site, the same members who had a bee in their bonnet regarding "covid extensions" and who invented their own imaginary regulations regarding who should and should not be entitled to them, the same members who have even dreamed up their own imaginary definition of what a "real tourist" is The METV replaced the triple entry tourist visa, It effectively allows the same total amount of time to be spent in Thailand , however it does allow the holders of it, more flexibility should they wish to make additional visits to other countries and as such does away with the need to apply for re entry permits There are no official conditions regarding the intended use of a METV other than it allows for multiple entries into Thailand for the "purpose of tourism", with each entry allowing a stay of 60 days ( each entry can also be extended by 30 days at the discretion of an immigration officer) If I remember correctly the METV is also referred to on the e-visa website as suitable for visiting friends and family, for stays of not exceeding 60 days So with a bit of planning an METV can allow almost up to 9 months here with just a couple of border bounces. The idea that it is only intended for people who wish to travel throughout Asia whilst using Thailand as some sort of "base" is not mentioned on any official immigration website that I have seen. Anyway, no need for anybody to take my word for it , much better informed members such as "Ubon Joe" (RIP) and "Doctor Jack" have clarified this on several occasions, just search through the threads if looking for confirmation

That is not correct. METV are only supposed to be available to people who are applying from their home countries or countries in which they have been granted residency rights. They want to see a flight into thailand from your home country as proof that this is the case. They then want to see proof of a ticket out of Thailand to show that you have an intention to leave There is no need to show a ticket for a flight back into Thailand at all, at least not as far as the London embassy is concerned.

pot, kettle,black ?

Isn't it amazing that typing just one word can instantly identify someone who has never smoked it and clearly has no idea whatsoever regarding the effects, why anybody would wish to publicly display their lack of knowledge like that is totally beyond beyond me I can only conclude it was either meant as an attempt at a "rallying cry", intended to invite further comments from others of a similar (misinformed) mindset , or was it an attempt at virtue signalling, to members of the same "community"

and exactly who does he think could possibly be "offended" ? and not just a little bit offended but offended to such a degree that he has decided a public apology is required!.

Well whilst I agree with your sentiments, I can also understand that they may take the view that the immigration issues in the UK. and indeed the rest of europe for example are hardly a shining example that they would seek to emulate. Multiculturalism might look ok on paper but the realities on the ground are very different ! The UK has lost its sense of national identity, It is no longer acceptable to be patriotic, and on the whole that is a very sad state of affairs and it is all part of the continuing inevitable decline of a once great country that is destroying its self from within. Thailand still has a very strong sense of national identity , I applaud them for this, to be honest I'm a little jealous of the common bond they share and fully understand their reasons for trying to maintain it, even if sometimes it has negative consequences for me personally

I understand your optimism, but, I don't share it. so don't hold your breath. I genuinely doubt that much , if anything will improve, except perhaps for the new noses in the trough. We will just have to wait and see what happens. I may be pleasantly surprised but I seriously doubt it.

Visa rules have been getting progressively tighter over the last 30 years the only exception being the covid extensions that were handed out last year, which was purely due to the exceptional circumstances, No government has made any positive improvements for us , Why would they ? The downwards trend will continue as normal. If Pita becomes PM he may well enjoy a "honeymoon" period , but it won't last forever, and once his popularity fades due to him failing to fulfill his promises, he will show his true colours and revert to type, meaning we can expect a healthy dose of nationalism as he fights to maintain his position. This will have only negative consequences for foreigners here,

Tend to agree with you, Nothing much ever changes for the general population as a result of these events despite the rhetoric. Any improvement for foreigners is highly unlikely and would be a totally unintended consequence. All these naive posters gushing their support for this new kid on the block, expecting Thailand to evolve into some sort of left wing utopia are living in a fantasy world and are, inevitably, going to be very disappointed. The saying "things can only get better" is far from true, things can indeed get a whole lot worse and probably will " Better the devil you know" in my opinion

I'm not excusing anything , the whole thing was a absolute disaster, but there was a lot worse going on than a bit of a piss up or two. They are all just too happy to let the mainstream media and the outraged pearl clutchers get hysterical over this as it is a very effective distraction from what ever else they were up to at the time and what ever they want to bury at the moment. that's why this story goes on and on, it suits them just fine. if it didn't they would have stopped it ages ago.

Questioning the effectiveness or otherwise of any anti Covid measures is in no way indicative of whether one is left wing or right wing. It is however a normal response from those of us who are less inclined to believe everything governments and their agents tell us This whole party gate farce is merely distracting from the rest of the cluster<deleted> but if you think things would have been any better with starmer in charge you are delusional

He's Russian I don't think Russia qualifies as "the soft west"

You can call it what you like "in the west" But this is not the "west" is it ? Why are some people unable to accept that? How much further "east" would this place need to be in order for people to realise that this is not the "west" and that rightly or wrongly things are done differently here.

Was that your intention before you decided to live here? Or have you just found it a bit too difficult to fit in here?

ok

Maybe it has but do you not feel that as a parent it is primarily your responsibility to raise them as decent human beings and not the responsibility of a 20 something teacher fresh out of training college with little experience of real life which is increasingly the case these days. Is it really necessary for them to be taught the details of every sexual variation under the sun before they have even naturally reached an age where they are interested in such matters

I didn't fail to see your point. but my view is that the whole subject of human sexuality is beyond the scope of a normal school education

And this is where it all started to go wrong, the way things are these days they would have to add two more years to the time spent at school just to teach them the LGBNGT alphabet with a refresher course every 6 months for the rest of their lives

We were taught the mechanics of reproduction that was all. personally I think it was enough .

Correct

neither I nor anybody I knew was in the least bit interested, We didn't even know their christian names. It was Miss (regardless of marital status) or Mr followed by their surname or in later years it was just Miss or Sir. Any teacher divulging their first name was regarded , quite rightly , with deep suspicion by us and our parents. I think that may sound a bit strange to you but I still consider it as a good example of professional detachment and it certainly helped maintain discipline. in my opinion

There is no need to teach young kids any of this at all is the point i'm trying to make . They can't even teach them to spell properly these days. No blindness and certainly no hypocrisy

It only denotes if they are married or not, anything else is pure speculation, On the other hand Ms does have undertones in my opinion (of course)