thecyclist

Yes ,Mr Keo is still around .He reopened a couple of months ago after a long Covid hiatus.His new agency is very close to where he used to be.He is the one who told me that the rejection rate is higher than it has ever been, but that was 2 months ago,might be better now . I will be in PP in a week or two : might be able to provide with an update.

I have been riding a Giant ( MTB XTC) for 3 years. Frame is all right .Brakes suck .And rearwheel hub gave up the ghost a couple of month ago,was very hard to find a replacement. Had a Merida before that,which developed cracks in the frame.Never had a frame cracking before ,so I stay away from Merida.

They are all over Pattaya and Jomtien. fewer of them as you head towards Naklua.

Should be scrapped for good, but the reasoning behind it is probably that there are often long lines at the airports, where the big spenders arrive (you want to make a good first impression there). Land border lines tend to be shorter, and no need to impress the cheap Charlies on visa runs. The more they get hassled the better.

NOT during an armed robbery, he shot an undercover drug agent, who was probably just staring at him for a little too long."What are you looking at? Do you know who I am?, kind of scenario. One of the most unsavory families in Thai politics, which is full of the dregs of Thai society.

Have you ever been to Pattaya???? PROBABLY not, or you would have noticed that the out of shape farangs outnumber the in shape farang by at least 2 to 1.

Has been an 'unfriendly' embassy for a long time, but found out recently that this unfriendliness has reached new heights. Was in PP 2 months ago and had a talk with the agent I used, always successfully, for 15 years (before my departure from Thailand in 2017). He told me that they now reject 60% of applications.

Not necessarily retarded. I know of several people who overstayed for years, then booked a flight out, went to immigration, paid the fine and left the country. They saved a lot of money, compared to those who did regular visa runs. Of course, that was before they introduced the automatic blacklisting for lengthy overstays. Nowadays this can only be done by people who don't mind not being able to return.Also the risk of getting caught is somewhat higher nowadays.

It's Sisaket, the heart of Khmer dialect speaking Isan. No smartcars there. You have that confused with sin city. They utilize their smart armory only in Farang dense regions.

Did you get a refund? Your lifetime membership didn't last very long.

STOP THE STEAL! MAGA MAMA (Make America Moronic again)

No mask requirement on the Vietnam - Bangkok-Vietnam AirAsia flights. About half of the passengers were wearing masks, the other half not.

Gyms in Pattaya are expensive,at least by regional standards and for day pass . Sun gym at 120 Baht for a day pass is probably one of the better deals in Pattaya. I think it's 900 Baht a month, which is reasonable. The last time I was at Sun was 3 weeks ago late afternoon /evening. It was busy, but not too busy. Decent equipment and air-conditioning was in working order. That place used to be Tony, a fellow keen on selling life time membership, and then all of a sudden closing down all his establishments. Did he do a runner?

Wow, what a really newsworthy feat, arresting a woman on a 19 day (not month, not year) overstay. Only 4 officers and BMW needed to catch this dangerous felon. This will make LOS a much safer place.

I don't think it is because of staff problems. I regularly fly the Vietnam Bangkok route, and check in is fast with plenty of ground staff. Vietjet has at least 3 flights a day just to HCMC. 2 of them just over an hour apart in the late afternoon (one by Vietjet Thai, the other Vietjet Vietnam), about 50% occupied the times I took them. On a bad day occupancy is probably down to only 30%. Cancel one and pack passenger on the other flight would suggest itself as a cost cutting measure.

I live in Vietnam now, and have been in and out of the country 3 times since August. There are no requirements regarding Covid anymore. Entering on a 15 day visa exemption requires proof of an outbound flight booking, which I assume you, being on a visa run, have. Vietnamese immigration often does not ask for it, but at Suvarnabhumi they asked me for it. I pointed out to the Vietjet lady that I, having a visa, didn't need it, and after consulting with a superior it was okay. At Don Mueang last week nobody asked for anything, but long lines (never seen them that long) at HCMC airport. In Bangkok I was through immigration in 2 minutes.

I don't see how they can deny you leaving the country. If you haven't broken any laws, they will have to let you out, All they can do is to tell that you won't be allowed back in. Even then, you could try another border crossing. There are lots of Cambodian - Thai crossings, some on the Isan side where they probably won't scrutinize your history as closely. I did something like this ages ago when we still needed a tax clearance to leave the country (after more than 180 days aggregate or in a calendar year). I tried to exit at the Pedang Besar border without a tax clearance, and was refused. He told me to go back to Hadyai to get one. I pleaded with him that it was the weekend and by Monday I would be in overstay. To no avail. Took a bus to Saturn,where I was stamped out without anybody mentioning the required tax clearance.

Makes a nice change from the constant staring at screens, which is really hard on the eyes.

Where are they still selling the Bangkok post in Pattaya?

25 flights an hour, most likely.

Yes, I agree. Never say never. Never happened to me or friends of mine though . They probably sometimes ask when you raise a red flag for other reasons, like years in the country on visa exemptions and TVs.

Immigration never asks. Airlines usually /often do. Flew with AirAsia into DMK from Saigon last week, and they wanted to see an outbound flight booking. Ditto 2 months ago with Vietjet. Don't know what they would have done if I hadn't had a booking.Maybe if you sign a waiver that you are willing to pay for any expenses incurred by being refused entry, would be enough. Probably not.

Actually I did get processed in about 45 sec at Don Mueang a couple of days ago. Only 2 people ahead of me, so breezed through immigration in a couple of minutes. Even faster in August at suvarnabhumi A far cry from the long lines in Pre-Covid , when IOs were also scrutinizing your passports for minutes.

Not necessarily :if it's still the surly old guy on the Cambodian side that would Pre-Covid give you the evil eye when you hand him 30 bucks (instead of the 35 $ that he demands, because that's the new rate and has been the new rate for years, according to him), then just show him your old Cambodian stickers, and point out to him that they all say 30, and that if it says 35 this time you would be willing to pay an extra 5.You will have your sticker in a few minutes(for 30) and, as a bonus leave with the knowledge that the surliness level of this venal misanthrope has gone up a notch or two.

Yes, it should be the other way around. I guess it's. because there is a motorcycle rental on every Soi, competition keeps prices in check. Bicycle shops are far and few between.