PingRoundTheWorld

I highly doubt they'll try to enforce any of the new rules, but if they do they won't be able to - people aren't going to accept paying taxes on income that's already been taxed in their home countries. Filing taxes and dealing with double-taxation treaties is one beaurocratic nightmare, but if it means not paying extra tax people will do it - but if they go beyond and try to grab a piece of the pie despite it already being taxed then there'll be a mass exodus of anyone who's making a decent income. Either way it's a net loss for Thailand as it will either have a beaurocratic nightmare dealing with all the tax reports with no extra revenue, or suffer a huge decline in money circulating the economy as expats will limit their stays or outright leave.

That tends to work both ways - men also let themselves go when they're shacked up, and women encourage it to maintain control "no baby don't diet - you look cute chubby!". But it really is a function of attraction and the need to attract - people who don't feel the need to attract anymore let themselves go.

What a ridiculous post. There's a tiny percentage of Thai women who seek out foreign men - some genuinely attracted but also many gold diggers if not outright hookers. The grand majority of Thai women date Thai men, and here's a surprise for you: a lot of those hookers you think prefer foreigners have a Thai boyfriend/husband while they suck their walking ATMs dry. Who you consider "hot women" aren't even hot in Thai standards - an uneducated single mother in her 30's or 40's isn't a prospective dating material to a normal Thai guy. They're damaged goods which is why they resort to foreigners. And even those may have a Thai boyfriend while they date you. A normal young educated hot Thai girl is much more likely to date a normal Thai guy than a foreigner.

So many questions... 1. Why did they target her specifically? does she or her family actually have that kind of money? (unlikely) 2. If she didn't do nothing wrong, why did she believe them or listen to them. 3. Sounds like they didn't kidnap her and she voluntarily abided by their requests to move around and change SIM cards (why??) - didn't she suspect these requests? no actual law enforcement woud demand such things, on the contrary they'd want her to stick around in one place where she could be found. 4. Didn't she question why so-called Japanese officials would ask her to stay in Thailand or Singapore where they have no jurisdiction? Sounds like either she's VERY naive, or there's more to the story... P.S. Why do all these bizarre stories always involve Chinese? you never hear these stories with other nationalities (some have their own criminals - but never as weird unbelievable stories as these).

So your plan is to waste 3 days of your life doing this to save 3000 baht? I don't need DTV, but for someone planning on spending a lot of time in Thailand it's much better than visa runs and extensions. I've done the exemptions+extensions+trips route before, you spend so much time, energy, and money planning around all of that it's draining - much better having the peace of mind of a longer stay visa.

I haven't seen any official source to confirm this, and I doubt that's true. The visa application would be made outside Thailand in your home country, so my guess is they'd ask to see funds in your bank account etc. If indeed you need to hold 500k uninvested in a Thai bank account, then the true cost (visa fee+lost yield) skyrockets to 50-60k a year. Doubt that's the case though.

Are they talking 120 lbs or kg?!? 120kg would make her enormous, even 120 lbs would be heavier than what I usually date. Either way a dowry is something I would never ever agree to do, if I even agree to get married again - which is highly unlikely.

Assuming that's the actual (and only) criteria, it remains to be seen how they define "proof of financial support" - proof of income above a certain level, or what? showing 500k is easy if you have it - anyway I trust Thai government to come out with ways to "filter out" broke "digital nomads" while making it difficult even for those who do have money. I make more than the $80k they want for LTR, and I work for a NASDAQ 100 company - which should make me eligible for LTR - but because I am legally employed at a private subsidiary rather than directly by the NASDAQ company, I'm ineligible. They're that strict and petty about it.

If this visa is actually easy to get (doubt it!) then Thailand will cease to be low cost of living once the hordes arrive. Thais love to raise prices at every whiff of possible tourism uptick and this will be no different.

Is there any official source? requirements for the digital nomad visa? Wouldn't the digital nomad visa essentially make Elite visas obsolete?

Apology? They belong in jail. If the police doesn't prosecute them they are making a complete joke of "the image of Pattaya" that they claim to protect so much. This going viral will reduce tourist numbers - som nam na.

If the guy is 35, how old is his daughter?? 15?? why the **** would you bring your teenage daughter to a 3am party in Pattaya?? I think this tells us even more about the guy than the neck tattoos. Bring your daughter to Pattaya, watch the fun ensues! P.S. It's his white daugher, "Ms Mod" is not the mother. She's also unlikely his wife - probably just a girlfriend or even just a bar girl. Terrible false reporting in the OP as usual.

Exactly. Excuse me for assuming, but I assume she works at a bar given she got off work at 2am. So this head-tattooed violent thug defended the "honor" of a bar girl who'll replace him a day after he goes in jail. And he is a thug - normal people don't punch drunk people - even if the Russian behaved inappropriately there were other ways to mitigate the situation (push him away, call security, or walk away/go home). The guy chose violence. She won't be. 0% chance. No, the vast majority of us would've found a way to de-escalate the situation or walk away without knocking the guy out. His actions were a choice, not a necessity. P.S. the version we are hearing is the Brit's - the Russian cannot give his version anymore - we don't know what actually happened and what prompted the assault.

If you have to go through all that just to not get scammed, you're in the wrong bar. Sick and tired of being scammed in Pattaya - had several times when I paid with 1000 and received no change, when asking about my change (politely!) been confronted aggressively "we already gave you change" (they didn't). I backed down because I didn't want to get in a fight, but also voted with my feet to never attend that ****hole. Sometimes silence says a lot more than words. The fact that foreigners hire aggressive violent security AND don't even issue an apology in such an extreme case says everything. They simply don't give a ****, it's all about the money and **** the customers.

Exactly my thoughts. Literally no details of what actually happened. The linked Examiner article gives a bit more details but also not much. One thing is clear though: the guy admitted to being drunk - why is the police not pursuing charges for drunk driving? or they cannot for some weird legal reason? It's quite amazing how many people in Thailand regularly drive drunk and fail to see how and why it is wrong. Police seems to very rarely enforce unless something (accident) happens.

You can't make this **** up.

100% this. And the ridiculous part of it is they do it in non-smoking areas too, and venue owners allow it. Vapers constantly puff and it is by far more emissions than a normal cigarrete, it is not harmless. Why is it allowed in non-smoking areas?

Yes please. Ban those cancer sticks. More importantly ban second-hand vapor - I'm sick and tired of breathing other people's crap even in rooms designated as non-smoking. Allergic to that **** and idiots think it's candy and blow it right in your face.

Now there's a joke you can laugh at. This government was literally NOT fairly elected. Move Forward were the party fairly elected and denied by unfairly unelected Senators. As for the PM - he's a joke, pushing forward the 10k digital wallet idea is a terrible plan which will just cause inflation while simultaneously increasing taxes. Robin hood maneuvers never helped a country. Good riddance if they do mange to get rid of him.

If he's a heavy drinker - sure. As for the GFM - it's amazing to me how is it possible that so many families don't even have money saved up for emergencies. Or is it that they do have the money but want other people to pay for it? that's even worse. RIP either way.

Employment rights? They get paid to party and get laid. The ones who are good at their job make a ton of money (in Thai standards). The very few smart ones save and invest and retire eventually. The grand majority however are completely stupid with money and gamble, drink, smoke, or give it away as fast as it comes in. What exact "employment rights" do they expect for a job that pays so much for doing so little? Legalization opens the door to a host of potential issues and problems that neither Thailand, the girls themselves, and Johns can or want to handle. It will just complicate things, push prices up, and reduce supply and demand. Keep the status quo - if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The real question is: why would you make a child with a woman who's clearly a nutjob. The signs must've been there before it happened. And do it all over again, either with these children, or after she makes new ones. Reminds me of the first girl I met in Bangkok- by the time I met her, at 26, she's already had 4 (one died), and from the time I dumped her (for being crazy and violent) within a few years she made 3 more. Textbook example of someone who should NOT reproduce yet she can't stop.

I don't think the 10k plan will ever happen, but even if it does it won't push inflation too much higher. Most people will just waste it on immediate "needs" like gambling, booze, and other recreational activities. There isn't likely to be much increased demand and impact to consumer goods IMO. As for the baht - keep it coming - the lower she goes the better!

US markets are not tanking, and there's 0% chance for a rate increase. Rate decrease probable in June. Market rally until Oct-Nov for sure, then it depends on the election.

Deport, deport, deport. Why is there so much human trash here these days? they seem to be younger, too. YouTube fault?