AsiaCheese

For what? To explain that the captain disregarded the Iranian order to not sail unless they have an explicit permit?

Straight from the optimistic Pentagon script writers? The combined forces there could execute a war scenario for 1-2 weeks, after which, the resupply situation would be beyond hopeless. Ships would have to return to US bases "nearby", which would by that time probably already be pulverized, because Iran will go all-out once the US starts sending Tomahawks. The hyperspeed rockets are ready to go, most of aimed directly at Israel (because once more, they're the instigators), and the rest of them going for US bases -- plus potentially the US Navy boats. Just stating facts, not taking positions. It's not another attack of a country with sandals and AK47s. No popping off bearded ones from helicopters. No Hollywood for the Pentagon types, this would (will?) be for real.

Is it just me, or does "Israel" pop up left, right & center in conjunction with drug busts in Thailand?

Not exactly the first unplanned helicopter landing in Thailand in recent history. What's going on (<= mostly rhetorical question).

What's the point of a Thai drivers license for a tourist (visa exempt)? International drivers licenses are valid for use in pretty much any country for 180 days.

Carefully worded, as that leaves the question of foreign mercenaries completely and widely open.

No, Arezi is not a French name. In France, it is extremely rare (practically nonexistent) in civil registries and official name statistics (INSEE data shows zero or near-zero occurrences). It does not follow typical French naming patterns or phonetics (French names rarely end in “-zi” and usually respect traditional Gallo-Romance or Germanic roots). Actual origins of the name Arezi: It is primarily an Iranian/Persian surname (آرزی), fairly common in Iran and among the Iranian diaspora. It also appears as a surname in Albania and among Kosovar Albanians (sometimes spelled Areziu or Arezi). Occasionally found in Italy (especially Sicily and southern regions), likely due to historical Albanian (Arbëreshë) migration in the 15th–16th centuries. So while you might meet someone named Arezi living in France today (especially in immigrant communities), the name itself is not of French origin. It would be perceived as foreign/exotic in a French context. (by Grok)

Is it any wonder?

Really? They do exist?

Says it all, in one sentence. It's always good to have something to blame the numbers on. Numbers: the TAT numbers of "fantastic increase" or "devastating decrease" – entirely depending on what day you read them. As a PS: hotel rates and costs for meals (etc.) in Japan are skyhigh in comparison. And Japan has a lot of tourists. Just saying.

From what I've read, drone regulations in Vietnam require submitting flight details in advance too. Enough to make drone-flying tourists leave their drones at home - or possibly go elsewhere in the first place!

In theory, you're absolutely right. In practice, there are a number of issues. One being "... told him to stop..." could easily get a police guy into very hot water with the army (and those guys are serious & nationalistic). Another is that various sections of government are probably not really communicating with each other - typical MO of many countries governments. Yet another was mentioned in earlier posts: nobody told tourists not to use drones - on the other hand, people flying drones (this one I would class as not much more than a toy) simply know that most countries require permits!! The latest I heard from Vietnam (also in reference to a post somewhere above) requires a permit per flight, and that's pretty much going to stop anyone in their tracks who simply want to take pictures/movies from above! Not good for tourism either, BTW. -- end of rant --

Well, what it says on the back of the chanot is that you have life-long right of access to the properties, thus making the properties de facto unsellable (no buyer would agree to take over the usufruct). But the person to decide what can be done or not (rental, rebuild something, the works) would be the person in whose name the properties are. That could potentially be a touchy issue - if you're very friendly with the sister/owner, and remain that way, it's peaches and cream, but THAT is nowhere in writing, and can change over time - for reasons. The cost for a lawyer to get that written on the back of the chanot varies greatly. I know a farang who was charged something like THB 40k for getting it done at the Land Office... I wouldn't think that anyone would offer "resistance" at the Land Office, and if you have a Thai person with you who can explain what is up, maybe write a contract with the (registered) owner, it's only a matter of paying a small fee, as someone mentioned above!!!

And you know that how? In the words of GWB, the US often misunderestimates what China can and does build. Just saying.

Customs couldn't care less - it's not illegal to have a drone, but that changes the moment you get it ready to fly. That's when it becomes illegal if you dont't have the two necessary permits (radio and flight), plus insurance.

Some association of commercial large drone flyers have said that they will comply, and lose somewhere in the region of 6-10k baht per operator daily. People will have to do the spraying for the time being – but to find people isn't easy either, plus they're not exactly cheap either nowadays...

As a drone pilot, I'm grounding my fleet until at least August 15th, which was mentioned as a duration by the CAAT. My understanding was that the ban on drone flights is nationwide, and not just designated zones as mentioned in the post here. Better safe than sorry, as the fines/jail terms sound pretty unpleasant.

Can't compare the two. When nationalism and "me me me" comes into play, common sense goes up in smoke. Or gunpowder, as it were.

I asked Grok (because sometimes I forget...) about a small app I've been using for umteen years. It tries to write predefined data to full capacity (which it reads from the stick/drive, and which shows what you bought), and then tries to read it all and checks it against what was written. That's a sure-fire way of making sure that the entire capacity, and not just i.e. 8GB is usable. The way it works when you use a fake drive with your computer is that it writes to "sector 2345678", but the fake drive always shortens requests by cutting off some leading digits, and then writes it to "sector 45678", likely overwriting anything that's been written at that sector before [it's not called sector; this is for explanation only]. In practice, whatever you wrote to your drive is pretty much unusable because of the above. Buy from an original manufacturer/distributor (e.g. Sandisk on Lazada, official site). Can be a bit more expensive, but you'll never have a problem, and in fact, if you do, they'll replace the thing!! I have always fully tested all thumb sticks and drives I bought - as far as the safety of your data is concerned, it's due dilligence!! Quote: The software you're referring to is likely **H2testw**, a free utility designed to verify the actual storage capacity of USB drives, SD cards, and other storage devices by detecting fake or defective drives that report incorrect capacities. It works by writing data to the drive and checking for errors, ensuring the advertised capacity matches the usable space. - **Full Name**: H2testw - **Download Source**: The most reliable place to download H2testw is from trusted software repositories or its original developer's associated sites. You can find it on: - **Heise.de**: The German tech site where H2testw was originally hosted. Search for "H2testw" on their download section (https://www.heise.de/download/). Note that the interface may be in German, but the software itself supports English. - **Softonic**: Available at https://h2testw.en.softonic.com/. This site offers a safe download with a clear English interface.[](https://hwmonitor.en.softonic.com/) - **MajorGeeks**: Another reputable source at https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/h2testw.html.[](https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/hwmonitor.html) - **Important Note**: Always download from trusted sources to avoid malware. Verify the file integrity if possible (e.g., check MD5 or SHA checksums provided by the source).

An MRI scan, and particularly its visual interpretation, is a massive undertaking, and the scan as such leaves a huge amount of data that needs stored. It's not just "a bigger Xray".

How many times have you (and you, and also you over there) been checked by customs when arriving in Thailand? Very, very seldom. Those big catches usually happen when someone gives customs some kind of hint - for whatever reason. PS: didn't know that transit through Suvarnabhumi to Samui with entering Thailand there was possible...

"130 Thai to 50 foreign patients, with Thai patients contributing 55% to the total revenue" 72% of patients contribute 55% of revenues. Sounds fair, doesn't it?

No, I don't - better go ask at DLT...

On a side note, don't forget to update your bank(s) and DLT (drivers licenses) re new passport number, or you'll find yourself in hot water at some later point.

The headline hovers very close to "click bait" - it would be more appropriate to mention that online banking will be restricted to their app, and no longer supported through web browsers. And you might also want to explain that banking through web browsers is an order of magnitude more prone to "unfriendly attacks" than using an app (preferably not using WiFi) on a smartphone. A number of banks have gone away from web based banking already.