it is what it is

it's a no brainer, made back payments and paid class 3, qualified for my full pension about 5 years ago, and am no where near pension age. it's the best investment anyone can make. not big money, sure, but not so little either, and index linked. you can;t lose. IMO anyone who doesn't keep NI payments up to date is mad.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/14/phone-wet-and-wont-turn-on-heres-what-to-do-with-water-damage-hint-putting-it-in-rice-wont-work

how did people survive before home food delivery? 🙄

swimming between the flags works well in other countries, people need to educate themselves and use their common sense.

it means they sent their crack reporter to cover the story

jackanory

was backpacking through Guatemala and found myself, one evening, in a city square when a festival was taking place, rockets and fireworks were literally shooting horizontally across the square, it was noisy, exciting (i was young) but pretty scary as well. some countries just don't have the same fears (or awareness of consequences) we have

similar experience, sitting at home in bkk, mobile pings, HSBC telling me i've just bought two lots of take away food via deliveroo - in the uk! i call HSBC immediately who were excellent, cancelled the payments (only around 30 GBP) and cancelled and re-issued my card. phew. my new card would be delivered to my uk address, no problem as i rarely use it, just for items such as flights via expedia or lastminute.com, which begs the question how was my card cloned? HSBC had no answers, it happens. HSBC investigated - -i heard nothing more. i lost no money. it shows it's worth having messages sent to you phone when a bank/CC payment is made so you can be on top of it if things go wrong.

hi cautious

it depends on your perspective, if you're a tourist sure 300 baht is a cup of coffee, it's not going to affect your decision to travel to thailand, but if you're in a position to reap the benefits of 300 baht x every tourist entering the country suddenly it's a lot of money, great for investment in tourist infrastructure, or possibly into a brown bag or a conveniently open pocket...

i don't think maintenance is the issue here, lack of quality control more probably

Only the strongest swimmers can wage battle against a powerful riptide you don't battle against a rip tide, quite the opposite in fact. remain calm and stay afloat, call for help, if no help available swim parallel to the shore to get out of the rip. anyone who lives by the sea knows this, one of the first things my aussie BIL taught me when i arrived in aus.

have to say, i very, very rarely see foreign men with attractive thai women, though beauty is subjective, so i guess most men think their lady is attractive, and frankly, that's all that matters. though, as kid creole said, if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife.

“Skipping this important step could jeopardise the safety of commuters.” who'd have thought...

retiring doesn't mean stopping working, it means being financially secure enough to take control of your life. i've been semi-retired for years, and am a long way from 'retirement' age. i have been, and am, living an amazing life, and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with the sex industry, thankfully i've never needed to pay for someone to like/spend time with me.

thankfully no, it's not the usa.

when you've been here longer you'll realise legality is subjective, and often abstract, with enforcement selective at best or non-existent at worst.

are you a risk taker or risk avoider? can you cover potential medical bills? answers to these questions will answer your question.

i stopped smoking and drinking years ago by... not smoking or drinking, it's really not difficult, and the benefits are awesome.

i would buy pool villas to rent to tourists Airbnb you need to do a little more research, if all you want to do is break the law here why bother with citizenship?

really? you must read some weird stuff because i've never seen it written or anyone in the media state this event didn't happen. maybe stay away from conspiracy theory sites.

i'm a farrang, i can buy clothes pretty much everywhere in thailand.

brilliant.

The Koh Phangan leg of the tour spanned days 5 to 8, with tourists provided free accommodation during their stay. at 70k for the tour the accommodation obviously wasn't free. - who writes this stuff?

haha, couldn't agree more, every time i go to CW immigration i see foreigners with thai wives or gfs in tow. they never seem to add any benefit to the situation, indeed often the complete opposite. and more often than not the guys end up having very public petty squabbles with their other half. demeaning and embarrassing. don't do it.