Flying Saucage

As a very frequent flyer, I can say there is not much to complain about THAI AIRWAYS. It's a good airline with good service, but not the among the very best. It's not on par with EVA. But compared to Malaysian Airlines, for example, I strongly prefer Thai. Not to speak about ALL these lousy European airlines.

IF you have a problem with THAI, however, the usual Thai behaviour of blaming the customer might destroy your day.

3 hours ago, gargamon said:

Only has himself to blame. Why fly Thai Airways when there's many better airlines to use, EVA for example.

If you want a direct flight, the options are limited. For a flight from Bangkok to Beijing there might only be Thai and Chinese airlines available. Only in rare cases airlines from other countries are allowed to serve and can be chosen for direct flights. The rules for that are called "Fifth Freedom", and allow you to go from Bangkok to London or Schiphol with EVA. But these are exemptions.

For destination Beijing, I doubt any Chinese airlines is better than Thai Airways.

On 4/24/2024 at 11:23 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Why now a scooter?

If you 70 or older, then I might understand that.

But otherwise, IMHO, just buy a real bike. 

And those big boxes on the rear make the handling a lot worse. 

Street dogs are an issue.

Complete bull<deleted>! There's snow, very cold temperatures and <deleted>ty weather in central Europe right now.

At the same time there are news that many of the weather stations they refer to were dismantled years ago already, but they are still supplying temperatures. They admitted that the temperatures these non-existing weather stations are 'estimated' now. What a hoax!

Who is still so naive to believe European officials anything anymore, after 4 years of lies and false narratives?

Compared to many other airports and its services Suvarnabhumi is a quite nice and well organised airport, despite all the notorious complaints.

Last week I was in HCMC, Vietnam. Passport control at departure was so overcrowded and the officers so slow, it took more than one hour to enter the air side. Never had something like that at Suvarnabhumi. Just one example.

Liquid sodium is extremely reactive when in contact with air (its humidity) and especially when in contact with water. For this reason, reactors with a cooling system using sodium always have been controversial.

Sounds like a potential disaster. Well, it's Bill Gates after all.

37 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Not just Asia. It is the way totalitarian dictatorships work. I won't call Thailand an outright totalitarian dictatorship but it is a dictatorship by stealth. The military and who they serve are the true rulers here. The people are mearly subjects who get token elections every now and again with the real outcome know well in advance. The govt (military) does not rule for the people. They subjugate any sniff of democracy to maintain their power.

Not just Asia, very true! In all the so called Western democracies the people are merely subjects who get token elections again and again by parties whose leaders all are alumni of the same cadre factories e.g. in Davos, and voter fraud after the elections is committed by routinely and intentionally breaking campaign pledges after the elections. 

In Germany nowadays the police raids the homes of people who criticise politicians, for example for asking if the minister of economy is able to count from 1 to 3, that's the new German form of lese majesty. And the cartell of old parties plans to abolish the biggest real opposition party, while critical voices are silenced by the DSA (Digital Services Act of von der Leyens corrupt EU). That's now the new guided "democracy" in Germany. And Germany is just one example from the West.

Is that all really better than Thailand?

I am all for democracy. But during the last four years in the West I learned that real democracy exists nowhere on this planet.

Thailand is not so different to the West.

Mazda CX-8 (huge inside) or the smaller CX-5.

Less off-road capabilities, but way more smooth and way more quiet to drive. Which other car has double-glazed side windows for noise reduction in series?

And, generally Mazda is rated similar to Toyota regarding it's reliability.

Isn't that the way the whole West is heading to? The West, where it became illegal in the meantime to say there were only two genders, the West with all these politically imposed LGBTQ+++++ insanity and its toxic wokeness, where everything is seen to be normal except what has been normal ever since the beginning of human life?

The West, where you for sure find someone telling you "Oh, my gender is number 97, and I identify as a big dog sexually attracted by small horses...."?

My problem with the Thai SS is that I work in Thailand as employee for a Thai company, however I could not join the SS anymore, as when I started my job here I was over 60 years old already. Access to the Thai SS was only possible until the 60th birthday, I was told.

Is there any chance for me to enter the SS? Worth to ask the Rayong SS office or waste of time?

On 2/20/2024 at 3:52 AM, scubascuba3 said:

I had mine done a few years ago at Pattaya International Hospital, it was quoted as up to 15k, bill was 11k, Consultant is very experienced, he also works at Queen Sirikit Sattahip, cheaper there but longer wait, plus minimal English. I posted a thread about it back then

Many thanks for your reply scubascuba3!

Your case is a few years ago already, do possibly your doctor doesn't work in this hospital anymore. Do you maybe remember his name, so that I can call the hospital and ask?

I asked one hospital here in Rayong, but my first impression on the info and advices given there was not that overwhelming that I decided to go there.

BTW, as almost nobody read my post above, I asked again in another post again, today.

I was asking this question in another thread already, but it seems it wasn't visible to most, as there were very few replies only.

Is there anyone with recent experiences and recommendations where to go for vasectomy in the Rayong area?

How about the costs?

In case it is done in Pattaya instead, how long to stay there in a hotel after the operation?

Hi guys, is there anyone in the community having recent experiences with a vasectomy in Rayong and it's neighbourhood? Is it maybe better to go to Pattaya instead? How about prices and competence of the hospitals?

I had a talk with a doctor here already. Not to get any new info (I know all the details already), but to see if I can trust him. But I wasn't convinced so much as in this talk I felt more like discussing a burger at McDonald's rather than talking about an operation and it's potentially possible complications. And for that result, the talk was quite overpriced also.

So I decided to wait and to check first if there might other places around before deciding where to go.

Any recommendations?

I used to fly with Air Asia over the last decade, totally maybe around 100 times.

One time there was a damaged suitcase, two times there were problems with my credit card payments at Air Asia Indonesia (money sent, booking crashed, no ticket).

All three times it was a mess, and it took me months to sort it out. For the credit card payments, it was my bank in Europe which finally had to solve the issue. NO CONTACT WAS POSSIBLE to Air Asia. And their useless AI bot has been in its learning phase ever since. 

I don't use Air Asia anymore now.

Steinmeier is the most controversial German president since the Federal Republic was founded. He is permanently dividing the society, instead of unifying it, and obviously he is a globalist puppet. I despise him. 

10 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

Wow, here it's getting interesting...🥳. NATO destroyed the pipeline? I never came across with those news. Who did it? Stoltenberg himself?😂😂😂

Biden himself announced it. And Germany is in fact nothing but a US colony. Now they pay a much higher prices for LNG from the US, and get damaged and deindustrialized as a economic competitior of the US.

It's obvious, it's logic, it's announced by the US. Only blind people cannot see the reality.

Back from Davos? Yeah, sell your  country to BlackRock, it's economy and industry, as so many other countries did already.

On 1/20/2024 at 2:57 AM, Tally Ho said:

I have a UK passport. My wife is Thai and lives there with our daughter. I work for a UK company and I am mostly working remotely.

I know I qualify for a Thai marriage (non 0 visa) but what are the rules on being able to work in Thailand and who I pay taxes to?

I guess there definitely is a double tax agreement between UK and Thailand. This at least avoids that you will have to pay income tax in both countries.

If you live at least 183 days in Thailand, you definitely have to pay income tax here, but not on the UK anymore.

The problem is, IF you work in Thailand, you MUST have a work permit either under a Thai company or under a Thai branch of your British employer, even if you work less than 183 days. As the latter (a branch of your UK company ) doesn't exist in Thailand, it becomes illegal what you do, and therefore quite dangerous for you.

I think you should make sure to spend at least more than 183 days per calendar year outside Thailand to be more on the safe side.

On 1/13/2024 at 6:48 AM, newbee2022 said:

The Russian seems to be right according to the damages.

The Brit was probably too excited with his catch of the night and didn't have a look into the mirror where the Russian was approaching.

Poor Brit🙏

Sounds a bit like taking about the Ukraine war.

20 hours ago, Sheryl said:

You do not want a Thai based insurer, very bad record for actually paying out, and few will issue a new policy at your age. The few who do, have blanket exclusions for many of the common problems associated with aging. And, they will raise your rates on an individual basis after every large claim, something international companies are nto allowed to do.

Just had a discussion (and renewal) with my insuring company Pacific Cross, and it was confirmed by them that for their current plans ('New Normal plans') there is no raise on an individual base after a large claim anymore. The reason I was told was that the Thai regulating body told them to stopp this policy

For their record of paying out, I don't have any experience yet. 

Generally I think it is the best to consult a good insurance broker to find the best insurance for you. Brokers are not more expensive than a direct approach to the insurance company as far as I understood (I am not sure), as with a broker only the commission assigned for the own sales staff will be redirected to the broker.