grain

As some others have suggested just ignore it. It may become law but probably will not. If we need to have tax clearances in the future (for example as an immigration requirement, or to depart the country) then we'll all find out about it quick enough. But for the time being just ignore it.

It's like someone saying I plan to win $100 million on the Powerball by 2035, and I'm currently considering what type of yacht and what type of sports car I'll buy after this win.

I have Win 11 installed on my 2 laptops, I think I've tried and tested pretty well all Linux distros now but I keep going back to Win 11 for the apps I use.

I live in a little village in rural Korat, and yes I followed my tirak here, but I don't mind being here, a lot depends on your age, if I was still in my 30s or 40s then it would be boring and I'd have long gone, but I'm in my 70s now, so my wants and needs are different. Also I'm the type of guy who is ok being alone, I have ex-pat friends around the country, old-hand types, and they must have an audience, they love having newbies around to listen to their anecdotes. I couldn't give a stuff about that, I'm cool drinking a few beers on my own or seated in a little Esarn restaurant with my tirak. So a lot depends on the personality type, but being isolated in a village is not for everyone.

Had some bahn mi in Hoi An a few weeks ago, really hard to eat, they put the bread rolls in some sort of oven first and made them really hard and crispy, it was like eating a wine glass, all these sharp bits sticking into my mouth.

So "tourists face 100,000 baht fine", not everybody and anybody, including Thais, this is just for tourists.

blah-blah-blah

"soiled the car’s seat, leaving it badly stained and emitting a strong odour."....sounds about right. 😁

I would if any dog I owned deliberatly bit me or any of the immediate family members, I'd kick its worthless ass fast and hard into the nearest dog pound.

I just did. 😁

If she's an Isarn gal chances are you'll end up living back in her village where she'll grow vegis and fruit for selling.

That's what everyone believes at first, but live here long enough and you'll get to see beyond that. A Thai confronting another Thai with a complaint rarely gets a "Oh I'm so sorry, I had no idea I was annoying you, I'll cease immediately" type of response. Instead they'll have a major issue that could easily turn nasty. Thais go to great lengths to avoid confontation for fear of the situation escalating out of hand.

I had this recently with Booking.com. I was in Vietnam and booked a resort at Hoi An, a second after confirming the booking I received a message saying the booking couldn't go through and I would receive a full refund. The dosh had instantly gone from my bank acocunt, and I was told by Booking.com the money would be back in my bank but would take 7-14 days. I was mega pee'd off and got on to them but just got the usual blah-blah. The money appeared back in my account a week later.

I used to think things like smoke and loud noise/music doesn't bother most Thais, and if it does they don't care and mai pen rai kicks in. But actually it does annoy them and it's fear that prevents many from complaining.

We have these problems in the village, recently the woman across the road from our house had a big tree cut down and cut up and then she burned it, the smoke was so heavy and the wind blew it right across to our house. It was terrible, we were engulfed in thick smoke. Anyway, in the interest of keeping harmony we didn't complain. Then the following evening she relit the fire and once again the smoke was blown over to us. My wife knows the woman's brother so she went and asked her brother to go ask her to stop. Which is what happened and the fire was put out. But the woman was shouting out loud protest about having to put the fire out. So it's like she believes she has a God given right to do what she wishes regardless of whether it inconveniences others.

It's interesting that Thailand, the land of the free, has far more alcohol regulations and restrictions than Muslim Malaysia and Communist Laos & Vietnam.

APS-C CCD sensor: If it was mine I'd treasure it and would be using it heaps. CCD sensor cameras are worth grabbing if you come across one today.

I agree not a fancy airline at all, the seats are crammed, lousy service, and lousy food if you pay for it, but fares are cheapest, for me they fly direct (BKK-Perth) and so far flights have always been on time. I can get a one-way flight for a couple hundred bucks, that's like pre-pandemic prices.

I was there just last month, in Danang and Hoi An, never got that feeling at all. Tourism was jumping. Lots of Aussies, couples and families who would have previously gone to Phuket and Bangkok, but now giving Thailand a miss.

I just use 2 regular pillows, also I eat my main meal around 3-4PM, and only have a light snack after that time, if I have a large dinner at night I have trouble sleeping. I do try to sleep on my left but I'm a restless sleeper and turn around and around dozens of times every night.

I just booked a short trip down on JetStar for November-December, AUD$550 return, no meals, only 7kg luggage, but booked seats up near the front. The return flight Perth-BKK was a bit more expensive then usual as it is in early Dec, I'm only staying 4 weeks in Perth, had I booked the return flight a bit later in Dec the prices went through the roof. At other times of the year I can get a return trip on JetStar for around $400. It's certainly a no frills airline but so far flights have always been right on time. I went Thai once a few years ago, and the flight Perth to BKK was delayed 8 hours, I was sat in Perth airport all that time, they gave us a coupon for a cup of tea and a bun.

I thought he flew off to Dubai the other day. Did he return to Thailand and is now in jail? Or is this story a load of bunkum?

I saw Mayall live in Australia a few times, first in the early 70s when he had Freddie Robinson (AKA Abu Talib) on lead guitar, then in the mid 1970s when he had Hi Tide Harris on guitar and Larry Taylor on bass, next time was in the 1990s, this time Buddy Whittington was his guitar player. I had tickets to see him again in 2020 when Carolyn Wonderland was playing in his band, but that show was cancelled due to the lockdowns. On the mid-70s Australian tour Mayall's mum came along. I was writing for a music magazine at the time so I attended the press reception at Perth airport, I met John Mayall and all the band members there, plus his mum, who was a very nice friendly lady and we had a good chat. I was with my younger brother plus a good friend of ours, we got chatting with Hi Tide Harris and he said he didn't want to hang around his hotel room waiting for the show that night, he wanted to see some sights, so we took Hi Tide in my car out to the beach. On the way we got some beers, and we sat on the sandhills overlooking the Indian Ocean drinking beers and listening to Hi Tide telling us stories about the various bluesmen he'd met and played with. Our good friend had a sister named Maureen who has a huge John Mayall fan but she was ill in bed and wasn't able to attend the concert that evening, so on the way taking Hi Tide back to his hotel we pulled up at our friend's house and took Hi Tide into Maureen's bedroom and told her, "Hey Maureen, we've got John Mayall's lead guitarist here and he's come to say hello and wish you well."

I only had 1 flu vaccine in my life, about 6 years ago, I was sick as a dog with horrible flu-like reactions, feeling weak, had shivers, body aches, for 3-4 days, then it passed. Well the whole experience was about the same as my experience with catching the flu, so I haven't had another flu shot since.

+1 for HH, IMO best place for a foreign retiree to set up. Plenty to do there, lots of sports/golf and HHH, great variety in dining, not so far from BKK if you need to go there for whatever reason, it's also the gateway to the South if you want to hit the beaches/islands further South, good for shopping with a couple of big shopping complexes, an OK bar/massage scene, not huge and all over like Pattaya but adequate.