WHansen

Thailands massive financial problems are being well hidden but will be exposed sooner or later.

Assisted in 14 arrests as it was not asleep in its booth and didn't have a phone to play with.

I stopped visiting places that have dual pricing long ago, nothing to do with the cost which is small in the grand scheme of things but due to the policy which i disagree with. Most of us spend a small fortune when we come to Thailand and i personally don't like being taken advantage of to visit somewhere. Lets be honest, one temple is the same as the next and the national parks are full of viewpoints brimming with people livestreaming or taking selfies for their oh so important social media accounts.

I can understand the logic of keeping coral healthy and they are doing it because it costs nothing. Keeping the lungs of Thailands population healthy by controlling PM25 on the other hand is not important enough because it would cost lots of money. Priorities 555

It's the el-cheapos from china that are the problem. Safety wise it would be more appropriate to ban alcohol sales in airport bars, alcohol safety issues must outnumber power pack issues 1,000's/1 Back on subject, it was a pleasure to travel through Schiphol before the new EU rules put a stop to the 3D CT scanners being used until they undergo further testing, you could take bottles of water in your hand luggage and leave everything in your bag saving time unpacking everything. These scanners will be reintroduced and implemented in airports that can afford to install them at some point. Sooner rather than later hopefully, it will put an end to the 5-10 times price increase water scam that airports allow their outlets to charge.

Well done sir.

Just my personal experience here. After returning from Thailand and smoking weed, 5 or 6 joints daily for 4 months it was time to clear my system as i regularly get tested via urine and saliva tests. It was tough as i constantly thought about smoking a nice joint for a couple of weeks, but didn't crack. I have gone through this process many times over the last 40 years. I believe THC 'addiction' is psychological rather than physical, wanting rather than needing. Nicotine on the other hand... i hate that i use nicotine but try as i may, too many times to mention over the past 40 years, i can not stop, without nicotine i am consumed with thoughts of how to get some and i feel somewhat different bodily. For me there is a big difference between bodily needing nicotine and mentally wanting THC. Others may well have different experiences though.

The tariff increases are because China has set up factories in SE Asia to bypass tariffs in their own country.

I can understand the sentiment from the government as the 60 day visa free has enticed more undesirables to visit Thailand than it can deal with, but it may be too late to change the damage this has caused to Thailands reputation. We have all read the stories about Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket etc turning into war zones, whether true or over publicised by the media for extra clicks i don't know but the stories are out there for potential visitors to read. As a 60 day visa is so cheap and easy to obtain, the bad people that visited and discovered just how slack law enforcement is here, and how easy it is pay their way out of trouble or prevent trouble will just just apply for a visa.

I'm a 3 month visitor, 2 month SETV and 30 day extension, and mine was the second 5 year licence i received. I do have a home in Thailand though.

Renewed my bike and car license a few months ago and although i only spent 45 mins in DLT plus 40 mins travel, it's all the other bits that also take time. Photos and photocopies of everything for Immigration and DLT over 1 hour, online video 1 hour, medical cert 50 mins, residency certs 1 1/2 hours including travel time, an hour online making sure i had all relevant documents and certs. I'm not far from anything i needed but i can imagine how much aggro and time it takes for some people to collect all the required doc's and certs to renew. Turning up at DLT was the easy part for me.

Thailands financial crisis is dire, a meltdown may be on the way.

Ditto. Things here will never change until those taking bribes are suitably punished.

Socially acceptable to drink drive, taking Yabba pills and untrained drivers, what could possibly go wrong. RIP to the innocent victims.

If paperwork is missing you will get directed to an area to complete it and then join the back of the queue, it's happened a few times to me over the years when working in new countries.