Tropposurfer

Correct the 20kg checkin and your 10kg carryon is fine - per normal BKK Air ticket/person is ok. I use them regular in-country ... did just a few weeks back BKK to Phuket and the 20 plus carry on was/is seamless. If you're silly enough to try to get through with a fridge sized, super heavy carryon then expect possible problems but if a normal size airline approved sized carryon then easy peasy.

If you wait till you get you application success and 'welcome pack/materials' from Elite you will have zero issue when arriving in LOS to pass through IO and the Elite IO Stream Desk ... and having your passport stamped for the first time with your Elite and retirement visa entry stamps etc. You don't need an onward flight. I speak from personal experience (a few years back) of this and it couldn't be easier. Act calmly, quietly, warmly, confident, with humility and gentle smiles and you'll fly through. You might get an I Officer who looks through your passport stamp pages and ask a few questions to posture but being an Elite you've already been thoroughly IO checked to look for gremlins, Interpol, UK criminal history, overstays in your past so don't sweat. Remember to quality you have to satisfy funding capacity and the nature of the visa structure does not carry the same imperative to have a near-date-exit onward ticket. NOTE: I would ask for the free Elite Concierge to meet you at the plane door and escort you through to the IO desk and handle everything for you ... You do this once you've booked/paid for your flight ... then simply send this confirmation to your Elite Concierge/Contact and ask for the Concierge to book a Concierge assist from the plane ... easy as pie. Don't forget to ask Elite for the free limo Swampy to your BKK accommodation too.

Agree UbonJ. As long as the bloke has the 20K fine and enough to pay for a flight home. If he's in financial, physical, mental trouble the Aussie embassy will assist in severe hardship cases but the funds must be paid back or else the passport will be marked in Oz to not let him leave Oz till the fair amount is reimbursed to DFAT. If he can satisfy the costs without involving DFAT then simply buy tickets flights > Sam - BKK - BKK - Oz, at Swampy take the fine and ban medicine and leave.

To quote the great rock sage Wayne from Waynes World; "Are you mental?!"

Being Ukrainian I'd hazard a guess Mr Z has a better handle on the ebb and flow of Putins, and the Russian peoples psyche than me. Its a worry that's for sure, and with Putin and sociopaths like him anything is possible. Limited small battlefield tactical nuke to 'punish' and try to halt the obvious routing of his invading troops, with not a care for making a hundred or so kilometres uninhabitable for a thousand years and letting a cloud of nuclear poison waft wherever the wind blows at the time. I'm sure Putin would not bother one iota if a few thousand Rusky troops were vaporised or left to vomit their innards up from massive radiation poisoning if he got 'revenge' and delusionally furthered the great neo-Czarist Empire he is trying to create. If he was to do such a terrible thing I would imagine (as some have been talking possible Western responses) the West could obliterate every troop and Russian outpost with conventional weaponry east of the Russian border with Ukraine in a matter of half a day. I wonder what China is thinking and wanting to say to him? I imagine they'd be a tad annoyed to have him spread nuclear clouds across their borders.

Us soft Westener's will loose our minds, and fall foul of some misadventure right pronto post multiple world mushroom clouds. The village Thais will fair far far better until the predicted nuclear winter kills most of the world life. They'll do as they did in the pandemic. We can take some macabre comfort in knowing that stellar examples of our human species will last for years in bunkers. Such fine examples of humanity as US Senators, lots of military brass, The British and other government cabinets, Putin, Oil sheiks, other oil barons, other really rich folks for some years on their equally rich mates secluded tropical islands and super yachts until the winter takes them too. What an uplifting and happy-face discussion this has been to participate in. Time for a nice bottle of wine me thinks and some horizontal mambo and await the inevitable horizon ultra-sun-like glows from the north.

The first moment an officer is suspected of any drug use (legal or otherwise), drug testing there and then. Mandatory qualified AOD rehab / treatment and random ongoing drug testing for all police from this day forward. There's a few concrete measures to start with.

yep agree entirely 4MyE ... In some western countries, many European ones and some further afield this is part of the 3 to 4 years of degree qualifications and practical training before a police-person is ever allowed out on the street in uniform. But in some other countries, and one I can think of in particular I won't mention, police training is a few months short and has zero, zero psych evals are ever done on their officers. Treating the roots of such disturbed behaviour is the most effective means of prevention. Arming schools as some advocate in this world might seem to be a solution but I don't think it is. Creating societies that care for its citizens with equity and compassion (Buddha was big on that) is perhaps the most effective way of caring for the mentally ill, preventing the compulsive need to escape the reality of life through drugs and the mental decline this brings for so many who seek self-medicating. Alas i admit to holding no faith we as a species will ever reach such a state of collective enlightenment. Regular evaluations, weeding out the culture of blind dysfunctional closed-circle mentality around reporting fellow officers who are exhibiting aberated behaviours - apparently from one report I read this sick man had a long history of violent and disturbed behaviours (spanning before he became a cop) needs to happen. Removal of guns from the streets is another, but whether this experience can translate here from countries like Australia is another matter.

SpongeBob No-Pants strikes (literally).

If they're convicted publish indeed. Paedophelia is an area of abuse that (in my opinion) requires offenders to be permanently separated from society. Sadly the recidivist rate of those who predate on children is high (worldwide stats). Some studies put repeat abuse rates as high as 64% (and some [frontline social service workers] say this figure is a 'soft' stat.). To me this heinous 'soul-murder' of a child a no brainer when incarceration is concerned i.e. we have to lock these predators up. Given that child sex offenders show high to extreme sociopathic/psychopathic traits makes (in my opinion) permanent incarceration a necessity, not an option.

As a retiree here from Australia in the last few years and having some assets and income which sounds like they are similar to yours I made sure I got the very best financial, accounting, and international legal advice about moving money out of my home country to LOS. I'd advise (if you haven't already done so) get really good international money advice e.g. moving money out of your UK accounts, and from UK investments to access while retired in LOS. I found ways and means to have money outside of Oz and accessible at far cheaper account fee charges, with higher interest rates on deposits than simply leaving a large chunk of my money in Oz and drawing down on it as pretty basic bank to bank transfers by shifting some funds offshore (Singapore), and taking up some new-bank cards. I then slip smallish amounts into my Thai bank accounts for cash-in-pocket daily needs so as to protect against finding a possibly catastrophic 'disappearing funds saga' we hear of happening with Thai banks. This 'offshore, but localised funnel' gives that layer of added protection for the bulk of your in the bank cash savings, can offer such things as zero international transactional fees, and really good credit card frequent flyer linked features, and complimentary travel insurance.

As a cheap drunk Charlie myself, I resent that remark lol ????

Let's hope they used some good solid glue to fix the large sign to the windscreen for good measure. What an appendage that person is.

I aint sure but is that a Nissan?

If you're ever in Phuket 'SB' in Kamala, and Wilsons in Rawai do a cracking Aussie beach style breaky, and will add or subtract items as you like ... but none of that black puddin' stuff in either thank goodness lol ????

Call around the top end BKK hospitals they'll slot you in asap no problem

Power Barn, and Central Department stores sell decent, to really top notch brands e.g. Krupps.

Great Band!

That fella looks a lot like Crocodile Dundee reincarnated ... but wait, ... the photo must be fake cause no ones pointing.

I am thankful I/we in our house are free of needing to deal with these lower than a snakes duodenum chaps anymore.

Note to all cabe thieves; Carry a multi-meter with you on the job.

RTP ands accountability ... phuewy

Sorry to hear anyones sick and maybe about to fall pff the perch but ... get your own insurance and stop asking others to take care of your care.

It's a massive river delta ... what ya' gunna' do? Been happening for many decades. Same as the amazing river delta region of Kerala in India. I'd be curious for the historians, to confirm or deny, if the removal of traditional canals and 'traditional' old waterways increased the flooding? Solution to the last 40 years of flooding (that's my period of witnessing it in my memory): Let's build more right in the middle of the delta. It's gunna' get really interesting as the planet continues to warm and rains become heavier, droughts stronger, and shift to different regions of the planet. I'll be long gone and dead by the time it gets to the point of massive wars breaking out over the water and arable land (like we have now over fossil fuels). Maldives, Micronesia, and many other low lying places are gunna see their entire small paradise nations disappear in the near future. Venice is seeing another level of water inundation trouble last years and is sinking because of the sheer weight of man-made structures.

I hope they take every centimetre of land back, then turn to the Crimea and drive the neo-Czar and his henchmen out of there too!