grain

Does anyone give a rat's ass what George Clowny thinks or says?

"His body was severely burned", well, looking at that photo I won't doubt that at all. Poor guy, hell of a way to go. Hopefully for his sake he smashed his head in when he hit the pole. RIP.

Heineken for me. I also enjoy San Mig and Bud from time to time. As for Leo & Chang & Archa, I'll pass on them. For me it's not just a matter of the taste, there's also the hangover test. I do limit my beer intake and keep within my limits but on those occasions when I do have a few too many I can handle the Heineken hangover, whereas Leo or Chang hangovers are soul-destroying things to get through.

I did a check before making my post, previously UK PP was 15 days visa free but it's now 45 days, for US PP I read that a visa is required, but I didn't look any deeper than that.

I love listening to them and counting the number of calls they make, I've lived in several houses that have one and I've never tried to get rid of it, they do eventually move away though.

Yes, if you're used to Thai food, or have a TGF with you then this is a good tip. I always take a couple packs of chilli powder when I go to Vietnam. Also be careful with the coffee unless you have a real high tolerance to caffeine. I had a big mug of black Vietnamese coffee one morning in HaNoi and it totally ruined my day, it whacked me hard and I had the jitters all day long.

As I mentioned above, I've done both, overnight on the boat and the daytrip. The daytrip was a bit rushed as they cram a couple other things in, there's the visit to the cave, which I found tough going 10 years ago when I was in my 60s and would probably give a miss now if I did the tour again, and there was some kyaking around, which was OK. So because the overnight trip is longer you do get to see more of Halong Bay, and we did go around the karst islands more. So I recommend the overnight trip. However, when we did it there was a choice of sleeping on the boat and having dinner on the boat, or getting off at Cat Ba Is and staying in a hotel and finding your own dinner. We slept on the boat and the cabin was ok but the dinner was crap. The people who opted to stay in the hotel told they had a good night, and had a good dinner in one of the many seafood restaurants on the island, then they rejoined the boat in the morning to return to the mainland.

If Thais turn against you the best thing to do is put as much distance as possible between you and them. Even if you took legal action and won the right to remain on in the property, then the Thai owner is going to be even worse to deal with, Thais don't like losing, especially to a farang. They'll make your life a misery and it could even be dangerous for you. If the Thai owner wants you gone, then go.

@fredwiggy: yes with a US PP you need to get a visa. As I have UK PP can now get 45 days visa free (I just checked), and 30 days for TGF. I might try and work out a one-month holiday in VN myself. Maybe rent an apartment at Danang for a month. I like staying a long time in one spot as you can really get into the local thing better. Last time we went to HaNoi we stayed at the same hotel for 2 weeks. Anyway, your plan sounds fine. Fly HaNoi, then Halong Bay. I'm not sure about spending a couple of days there, I've been twice, first time we went overnight and slept on the boat, then back to HaNoi next day. 2nd time we just did a daytrip from HaNoi, off in the morning and back by evening. The first trip when we slept overnight on the boat was better. Then as you say you can make your way down to the Central region. If you want to go to Khe Sahn there's no point going down to Danang first, you may as well hop off at Dong Ha. There are lots of Vietnam War tours operating out of Hue, but we just did our own with a private rent car/driver. He was playing the tour guide and telling us lots of things but I knew more than him anyway having read numerous books. There's a monument at Lang Vei but the site of the Special Forces Camp that got overrun was actually across the road from the monument. There's nothing left today. Khe Sahn was very interesting. You look up at those mountains and can imagine the firepower that poured down on the US Marines.

Thailand, always a decade or two behind the west. The tide is turning in the west now, good decent people have had enough of this nonsense. In the USA now the offical government policy if there are 2 genders, male and female. Hopefully other countries like UK, Australia, European countries will follow suit.

I've been several times, with my TGF, as I have a UK PP I also didn't need a visa as I got 15 days on arrival, which was adequate for our plans. I've flown BKK - HaNoi, BKK - HCMC, and BKK- Danang. Danang is my favorite place in VN, less crowded & hectic than HaNoi and HCMC, very nice beach, lots of nice seafood restaurants, and as you're interested in the Vietnam War sites the best are in the central region of VN. We took the train from Hue to Dong Ha and from there found a tour guide who took us to Khe Sahn, the Rockpile, the site of the Special Forces Camp at Lang Vei, a VC tunnel site, plus a few other war era sites. Our last visit was pre-pandemic, if I was to go again to VN I'd fly to Danang and hang out there and Hoi An, maybe go to Khe Sahn again.

I agree entirely, this will come soon. Just one more requirement on the list.

You can do nothing but move elsewhere, this makes things complicated if you buy a place or sign up for a long lease. But if noisy Thai neighbours and their animals are making your life a misery, all you can do is move.

Even that doesn't always work, I knew a guy in Hoi Ann, married to Vietnames gal, they had 2 kids together, and he still had to exit evry now and then and re-enter.

Like yourself I have an old TIN, from 20 years ago when I was teaching, it was issued in Songkhla and I have the card stored away. I'm now retired, with a small pension, and I've been spending under 6 months a year in Thailand. But if any officials want to see my TIN, I have it.