VBF

Well how many people do you know who are capable of "communicating effortlessly" in that number and combination of languages? Are you? I know i'm not.

Slightly but in UK almost no restaurants will serve burgers RARE. Why? Because a government ministry has advised (not instructed) that minced meat may not be properly cooked on all sides unless it's well done. Restaurants are therefore scared of being sued if someone gets sick after eating a rare burger! If Thailand is the land of scams (if!) UK is the land of OTT Health & Safety - almost a polar opposite to Thailand, in fact.

On so many levels ????

No Jumbo you missed my point - the projected prices for Dec 23-Feb 24 are lower than a year before so if you book now it IS cheaper both in Economy and Business.

Did you get a trunk to carry them off in? ????

Just looked at Emirates - prices down slightly from a year ago, but as you say not much under £1K (actually between £850-£900 before all the extras get loaded on!)

Clearly one screw loose here!

I agree that the ladies in question are only "guilty" of naivety, probably brought about by lack of education and poverty. (I suppose greed must be considered too.) This sort of scam has operated in the Middle East as well for decades. I think (hope!) I managed to prevent one incidence of it back in the nineties: A working lady i knew in Phuket told me she was offered a "maid" job in Kuwait for big money. Knowing what i knew, I explained the implausibility of the offer and asked her some searching questions like: Do you know the person making the offer personally? and Do you know anyone else whose taken up such an offer? and Have you got a contract that can be checked? Having received the answer No to all the above, i told her my fears about the offer and suggested she re-thought it. I hope she did..... because like @Kerryd I don't know the outcome.

My take exactly.. Wherever I am, not just Thailand, when i get into a car, the belt goes on. (Here in UK, the police do enforce the law rigorously.) I REALLY don't like motorcycles and try to avoid them at all costs - my choice. And that's the crux of it... I CHOOSE to wear a belt in a car (front or back seat) and it's become second nature. BUT I really don't think it should be law to prevent me from harming myself, unlike the anti drink-driving laws which set out to prevent me from harming other people. However if I want to be so stupid, enter me in the Darwin awards!

Nobody else did, either ????

Quite frequently, when you use a VPN, Cloudflare can detect that you're using one and impose the checks. As you mentioned, that site wants to 'see' a UK server. It's normal procedure. As regards the local bus companies, just because they're both local does not mean they're using the same ISP.

There you go - they're universal. For me Spike was my comedy hero, and i was lucky enough to meet him once courtesy of a friend who worked for the BBC. Of course Sellars was also wonderful - who can forget The Pink Panther!

Think I'm going to join the Luddites ????

Thank you ???? There are some crackers on there!

Another brilliant performance proving they hadn't lost it over the years. Just HAD to watch it again ????????????

Clearly a fellow with fine comedic taste Not a song but it does cheer me up ???? Excerpt from The Nadger Plague.wav

Thanks - got everything by the Goons (shows, music, books) and most of Milligan's solo work ????????

Like this you mean? Back on topic.... this guy's music always brightens me up

ANYTHING from The Goons ????????????????????

As has been said before, there are more than you might think. When i was working, I always worked contract so could take as long a holiday as I wished between contracts. Hence 2-3 months in the UK winter. Now i'm retired, the same thing applies - 2-3 months in UK winter.

@soalbundy Have you perhaps got an Ad blocker on your PC that's blocking cookies from Wise? That might make it appear as if it was a different computer each time you logged in.

....... the people who believe everything and want to get money are the ones who are the victims morons - there you go...fixed it for you. ???? On a less flippant note: the expression "Don't shoot the messenger" comes to mind here.

What with this and the situation in the USA, the conspiracy theorists must be having seven orgasms an hour. I bet Hollywood is sharpening up the pencils too. It makes our political buffoonery in UK look decidedly boring. ????

"Activate IR and turn off data" is my solution too. On my Thai phone, I've NEVER had data as part of my package so it's not a problem. On my UK phone Data ROAMING has always been switched off on the phone so when in UK I get data as part of my monthly package and when outside UK I just see a small warning notification that Data Roaming is disabled. As i said earlier this combination allows "otp-while-abroad" simply and effectively and is free. I really don't see that accidentally turning Data Roaming on is an issue - it's several levels down in the Settings and you have to WANT to enable it to do so.

Airplane Mode is designed to turn ALL communications off - you and I knew you could override it but I'd guess most non-technical people don't - partly because of the way it's presented. I've simply covered both possible scenarios between Thailand and UK for completeness and because I have tried and tested both.. I didn't know that all Thailand Networks do accept WiFi calling - fair enough - I just knew that some others don't. I don't personally have an issue with the "complexity" - again, non-technical people might.