Briggsy

If I had 50 Baht for every time I had heard this as reasoning for any kind of negative event........

It is very easy to get to Trat / Koh Kong by public transport. I have done it many times. Just get the bus to Trat and there are very regular minibuses and songthaews heading to Hat Lek which is the border.

If you are suggesting an end to annual extensions, that would require a change in the law. That is not down to civil servants but to Members of Parliament. If you are suggesting that extensions due to marriage be brought back to approval at the local level, then you have corrupt goings-on in the Nong Bua Lamphu Immigration office and some others over 10 years ago to thank for that.

I tend to agree with @DrJack54. Taking your vehicle to Laos gets easier each time you do it as you become more and more familiar with the process. However initially it is rather stressful as you are dealing with a minimum of 4 sets of officials, I could say 5 as you will need a Laos VOA too. Each official requires certain forms and you will need to find that official and provide the correct forms and that is not always obvious. So, to summarise, unless you like a good challenge for no apparent purpose, taking your vehicle to Laos and then immediately turning round and bringing it back is ridiculously hard to justify.

I have done this. A lot of document preparation required. It would be totally unnecessary for a border bounce. Sometimes if you have all the documents right and both customs and immigration on both sides helpfully guide you, it can be quite smooth. But sometimes it isn't. I have crossed into Laos 4 times using various crossings. Nong Khai going out was the biggest headache. The form you fill in to take your vehicle was initially designed for boats leaving port (I am not kidding) and the IO wanted it filled in in a very specific manner. He sent me away 3 times to do it again. Other places like Chong Mek were very straightforward provided you bring all the documents correctly completed.

Have you already purchased your air ticket? Given Dubai's history of arresting travellers with medications that are not approved in the UAE, I would transit elsewhere.

Back in the day, people tried that as a rather weird border bounce so they could fly back almost immediately. However it didn't work as Immigration in Thailand would not accept that. They needed the foreigner to clear immigration in Malaysia. In today's world of not stamping the passport, I am not entirely sure how they would check but I am sure they could access the information somewhere. Anyway, we are getting very off the point. The Israeli OP wants to do a border bounce from Koh Phangan. The easiest way is to use a service to Ranong.

I suspect there is more to this. For example the victims and attackers were known to each other. However for a group of five men to knock two women out is severe brutality. There is at least one particularly dangerous man amongst the group if not all of them.

So, when you see those businesses that seem to exist for years with a revenue that would not support a soi dog, ask yourself is this simply a front to hide proceeds from criminal activities.

I will take that as a 'no' then. You do not have another picture. Was there any need to throw an insult at me once you had answered my civil question?

Their faces are blurred out. Do you have another picture?

You have been consistently trying to link misbehaviour, drunkenness and crime to Thailand's visa policy with zero evidence. Thailand's tourism sector makes a massive contribution to its GDP. Thailand has had a visa waiver system for decades. Thailand has had a vibrant nightlife for tourists for decades. Some of those drunk tourists end up getting in fights, doing stupid stuff, getting arrested, etc. Real criminals set up front businesses and have lawyers and agents process their work permits and non-imm B extensions. You can keep banging on about this but until you find some convincing evidence you are just reading news stories and then concocting a fulfilment scenario in your own mind along the lines of, "Look there is a really drunk farang on the news, I bet there here on a visa I don't approve of." Evidence; Show me hard evidence.

Long jail sentence necessary for this. He might do 6 months but only if he can't pay off the family of the deceased. The police will encourage them to take what is offered. 😟

I think he got 0.9 grams of meth.

Viriyah also offer motorbike insurance and a cheap slimmed-down theft insurance too.

2 foreign concepts in today's UK. (working & personal relationships with banks) So won't apply here. She will become an overnight sensation both within her circle and on social media.

I would try to embellish and develop the tale for your avid Aseanow readers. Try to work on the "old colleague" character. We know she is female and from Hat Yai but a lot more meat on the bones is required. You need to paint a picture in the reader's mind.

Malaysia versus Israeli passport?

I actually agree with both @Dan O and @Nick Carter icp

You have totally misunderstood. I was denied entry. The supervising IO had such mangled English that what sounded like a warning was in fact a denial of entry. When he said "This time mai pen rai. Next time get a proper visa," he then led me and some Russian dude to the underground detention centre at the airport and we were processed out of the country. Mate, I am taking a lot of time and effort to try and tell people what happens and has happened to me, specifically in response to your request. This is to help other people and you. It is not very nice of you to accuse me of lying.

The schools normally learn pretty fast what works and where is a good place to go. Remember they have to put together a lot of the application documentation for you so they don't want to waste their own time or your time. The issue now is that there is a large scale change occurring in the visa application process at nearby consulates so the school won't know how it is going to pan out. In fact nobody does until it actually happens. Prepare for the worst (2 weeks in Vientiane) and hope for the best.

I was on a 6-monthly cycle. 4.5 months in, 1.5 months out on METV's. To achieve the 4.5 months in, I did one border bounce and one extension. That gave me 60 + 60 + 30. I would then get a new METV from the UK. Each year I went back to the UK for 3 months in total. I assume the 75% of my time in Thailand on tourist visas was the issue. This was not overtly stated by the IO. "This time mai pen rai. Next time get a proper visa." were his words. Since I am still doing the same 75% of time in Thailand on a DTV, I expect the same to happen at some point.

I know I will never know the answer to this but I would love to know what was going on in the head of the driver of grey Toyota as he crept across a major highway into the path of a speeding pick-up. Poor eyesight? Blinded by the sun? Just glanced? Misjudged the speed of the pick-up? Distracted? Drunk? No sleep? Assumed nothing was coming? What was the decision-making process?

No enforcement = no point

In my case, they definitely did not ask to see onward ticket or cash. Entry was immediately refused based on history of stays in Thailand (no visa exempts, I should add). The denial stamp was for both "no appropriate means of supporting oneself" and "suspecting of illegal work in the kingdom". Both of these reasons were stamped in my passport with no investigation, no evidence and were palpably untrue. I had loads of cash on me, cash in a Thai bank account, etc. and was not working in Thailand. So, the impression you seem to be under that Immigration actually stamp true reasons for denial of entry in your passport is both demonstrably false and factually wrong. They are using the 2 reasons stated above as "catch-all" reasons to provide a veneer of legal cover for themselves.