isaanistical

Thanks. So I would use my phone with NFC and it magically connects, even though the card details are international. I'll try it, or it's going to be a dry weekend...........

I'm a beginner with contactless payments, but because an international transfer has been delayed I need to try either cardless cash from a local ATM or instore payment using a virtual card (Visa) with details in Google Pay. Is that possible here in BKK? Or does Google Pay work here now? (I think only with Thai-bank Visa cards?)

Of course - September 3, The Day War Broke Out

or the whole thing on a QR code to store in your phone?

It's what used to be called a "passport". But I don't hear any country saying you'll no longer need an expensive and increasingly useless lump of paper - or deal with the odious VFS mob.........

yeah, and I am over 70 too but I don't tell anyone.

No it isn't, or at least it won't be: "ETIAS will only cost €7 for each application. The fees are applicable to adults between the ages of 18 and 70. Minors and elder travellers (aged 70+) will not have to pay any fees." I like "only". I used to BE European......

No. Malaysia for one has a similar system in place, in which you have to e-tell them where you will stay as well as when you enter and leave (https://imigresen-online.imi.gov.my/mdac/main). Each time you visit, which is particularly stupid/annoying as the Thai one probably will be. EU's ETIAS is another similar money-maker (sorry, security check). Many here are confusing "authorisation" with "visa". I'm still visa-exempt in (eg) EU, Oz or Malaysia, but I sure can't get in without doing the e-cr5p and paying the fee. Thailand is limping onto that bandwagon. Having said that, we presume it will be as efficient, transparent and safe (data-wise) as all the other Thai e-nonsense. Much of what Thai Immigration issues cannot be accessed unless you are already in Thailand,much more is gibberish in English translation - but then, surely none of us expects this to work soon or out of the box? Remember when we thought TM30 was baffling? Happy days..................

yes, and note the RR share price crash on the news (despite the 1000 being a small fraction of the Trent output). But media don't notice details like that. Or many AN readers, by some of the comments above. Your comment is correct and mirrors the way the A350 angle overtakes any RR angle in popular press; my suggestio is that this timeBoeing is fuelling it instead of Airbus as in (eg) the 737 sagas.

Me too, but for much more rational reasons.

experience of that company, yes. I note Sheryl's provisos, (which I don't need to understand but you should), but for regular MRI of leg/joint injuries on several occasions I found them very efficient and fairly priced. They have a branch at Bangna very close to Srinakarin.

Thanks - I was about to point out the same. And as of yesterday afternoon, Cathay said of the 15 affected aircraft (of 45 on the fleet), 3 were already fixed. "We expect that all affected aircraft will resume operations by Saturday (7 September).," said press statement. Such panics! Surely Boeing have a hand in this? Airbus no doubt fans the flames every time Boeing has a problem (ie almost every week), so I guess Boeing has been returning the compliment this week.

KR3 is the pretty certificate of marriage - KR2 is the one with the details and my wife always gets one updated from the provincial office on day of visit to IO. At Samut Prakan they usually don't want KR3 but I include copy anyway so I can see them scowl and throw it away! (I also copy EVERY page of passport so they can do the same). NB: Bank letter can be yesterday but bank book MUST have an entry today. And map to house, as many have said previously, MUST be hand-drawn. I have never been asked to supply a witness at the IO but on a house visit (which does not happen every year) they take the name of the condo office manager.

So an IO might want to see retirement-rules financials next year even if you're applying for marriage? Yes we all know they make it up as they go along, but that's a bit byzantine, isn't it?

are you sure about this? I don't see why it should be so - acknowledging that the marriage application is much more of a pain in the rectum. I mean, someone could get married while on a retirement extension and then change?

I think the idea was that an agent can work around the finance requirement for retirement but not for marriage. I was told recently that's because every single marriage extension has to go to head office (hence the month's waiting time), but retirement extensions are processed locally.

I have in the distant past done same-days to (eg) Singapore when VE or on a Savannakhet ME- but from BKK. If OP is in CM,it might be different as the plane schedules would be longer. A night away could actually be cheaper than first-flight out, last-flight in. Just checking AirAsia, fares vary a lot - return via cheapest flights would often be more than a thousand baht cheaper given an overnight, which would get you a room in eg KL or, as you say, HCMC which is a lot easier to get into town and hotels are cheap too.

PR takes years and is never certain - a respectable friend of mine, good job with Thai comnpany, here 25+ years, took about 20 years to get it. No, I won't "bother".

Hardly a novel sentiment, but on the money. I have never understood why the "marriage visa" (non-o) extension is so filled with challenges - and with frankly insulting processes for the Thai wife - the Thai citizen. My wife undergoes the annual ritual humiliation at IO with barely concealed contempt (for the IOs, that is!) - although the home visit, if needed, has always been much more civilised. When she talks to her friends about the process, they are always shocked at how police make it so difficult for respectable married women, as if all Thai ladies were bargirls (the clear implication. Anyone still here from 40 years ago would be aware of how locals used to regard any Thai girl walking with a farang and in some ways that has not changed). I am just now changing extension to retirement for just this reason - I am sick and tired of IOs demeaning my wife regardless of our papers to show how long we have been together. We'll see how it goes, although in some weird way I shall miss the home-visit guys saying cheerfully after turning down a cuppa "All good - see you next year."

I just completed this quiz. My Score 70/100 My Time 99 seconds  

more Australian, surely? Brits would just let it in, whatever it is, and give it asylum.

Sure. This remains a global TIT hub. Mind you, the MFA site SHOULD carry some weight - I wonder what's going to happen in a few months' time when I point the page to an IO on arrival! ..............because I'm not going to go thru the hoops in 6 weeks time to extend my non-O Marriage just so they can come and drink free tea, when I could do a few day-trips across the year instead.

Has no-one read the above? Surely this takes the edge off all the euphoria being expressed. UK gov site desn't mention it, neither does Thai MFA official site which has only this: so at present you may, or may not, be allowed more than two. As a couple of people have said, holding your breath would not be appropriate just yet. Apart from the obvious, why limit ONLY Aussies to 2 entries?

Used to be that I could go through the "Thai" section with my wife (usually making the process a lot faster). Anyone know if that has been discontinued now?

On arrival at airport, just go to WH Smith after clearing Customs and buy prepaid SIMs, with some top-up, say 40 dollars each. I prefer Optus, partly because Telstra has had some horrendous crashes recently.