Jingthing

A little known thing about getting new passports is that you should review the new passport yourself before signing it and if there the state department made an error, you can return it to be corrected for free. Signing it is your affirmation that it is correct.

If you're in Pattaya there are a few places that will act as agents for the mail in process. Here is one of them: www.keyvisathailand.com/renewing-usa-passport/ Not sure about other places in Thailand. Assuming you do it yourself, the embassy does look over your application including the photo and if they notice any errors, they will contact you so that you can fix it. That will obviously delay the process. Of course a worse case is if an error is found later after the state department starts processing it. In my opinion the weakest link in the by mail process is when the embassy mails you the new passport. They do NOT contact you when they do that. You have to know to check the tracking number associated with the Thai Post courier envelope that you purchased daily. The embassy seems to think Thai Post sends an email when they pick up your pasport. (They don't either.)

Currently the embassy is encouraging renewal by mail for those who are eligible. There are guidelines on the embassy website to determine that. If doing that, follow the embassy instructions very carefully and you should be OK. Check online for all the very specific rules about the photo specs as they are quite strict. For example, no open mouth smiling, no glasses, no tilted heads, etc. To do renewal by mail you do mail in your old passport (required) and eventually it is returned to you by Thai post courier envelope (which you purchase online) with your new passport. Stated estimated times are 6 to 8 weeks but recent reports have been about a month or less. However, there were recent deep staff cuts at the state department so it is unknown whether they will change the timing. Yes, you can also renew in person by appointment at the embassy. There are recent topics on the forum about details about that. Personally, I can't speak to the details about that. The info on the embassy website is limited about that perhaps because they are strongly encouraging renewal by mail. Good luck.

You mean the Spanish conquistadors? They were brutal. As far as modern gringos they ain't all white. Merida in particular is very popular with black ,Americans.

They're not illegal. They're on temporary or permanent residence status which can lead to citizenship in 5 years. Or they’re on six months at a time tourist visas. The problem is they can afford much more than most locals as they earn dollars so many locals are priced out. But again this isn't an issue in over 99 percent of Mexico. There are millions of American citizens living in Mexico but most are dual Mexican nationals

There could be if applying for visas or entering other countries.

Correct me if I'm wromg but don’t they also stamp your passport with a red stamp?

BTW, I think the Mexican president's response to this is brilliant. Why feed hatred?

As I alluded to before, the tension in those Mexico City neighborhoods is as much or more to do with the greed of MEXICANS than any actions of expat digital nomads. Do you think those digital nomads WANT to pay those outrageously high rents even though cheaper for sure than a similarly desirable urban areas in the US?

I'm not seeing how gentrification of a few neighborhoods in Mexico City has anything to do with U.S. immigration policies.

I agree of course but there is always the tiny possibility that the officer would notice and then there might be a consequence. So if it's convenient enough may as well report. If not, not a big risk not to.

Yes of course it does. On the other hand, there is the tourist factor related to the conversion of regular housing to Airbnb's. That's an international issue. But who owns most of those Mexico City Airbnbs? Mexicans.

The protest was NOT about tourists. It was about expats, especially digital nomads. It's also very localized to certain trendy neighborhoods in Mexico City. It reminds me a bit of when gay people gentrified San Francisco and then later when the tech bros heated up the SF economy to absurd levels. Yes of course backlashes are to be expected. I would consider Mexico as having a place on my backup to Thailand list but there is no way as humble retired expat that I could afford to live in those neighborhoods. For expats there are plenty of other decent more regular neighborhoods in that massive city. But if you're a Mexican family who has been living in the hot places for decades and then priced out, they do have a legit beef.

Interesting question but there are ambiguities. Technically you should report as you'll be in Thailand on the due date. There will no check if you reported or not at the airport. Yes reentering the country will reset the 90 day clock. So the real question is if there will ever be any consequence from immigration in Thailand as they will be able to see that you didn't report at the last due date. I don't know. Maybe somebody does. My guess is probably not, but again it would be cleaner to just do it

Back to the drawing board! I have been trying out the Thai suggestions here when ordering avocados online with acceptable results. They've never come all firm but generally some firm, some must eat today, and in one case a rotten one. I generally order in packs so one rotten one in a pack is not something I'm going to say anything about. But today ordered a pack of four Haas (which are now in season). Three were rotten, one was ripe today. So the first time ever I refused the order and got it taken off the bill. Too bad I couldn't have kept the one ripe one but I'm sure their computer system couldn't have handled that. I did make a point to show the guy what was rotten and what was OK by asking him to actually feel them. If he does the picking, maybe that will help. It's really the store's fault more than the pickers for allowing rotten fruit to stay on display but with avocados they generally do. So I'm abandoning the Thai language experiment. I was having better luck with just putting: Firm (unripe) avocados If they just don't bring any, I have no way of knowing if it's because they're confused by my instruction or there really aren't any firm ones to sell! Oh well.

Another day, another idiotic move by Trump. It's no longer news when he does them. That's Trump being Trump the normalizers say.

Some Nights I Feel Like Walking Philippines movie I won't post the trailer as it's a tad too graphic, but this indie/art film/festival type film will find more of a niche audience (gay, interest in the Philippines) even though it's quite excellent and addresses universal themes (poverty, prostitution, death and grieving, found family). Interestingly it touches on the dark Duterte style side of Filipino politics regarding police corruption and extrajudicial violence towards suspected druggies. The project had international backing and was worked on for several years. I haven't looked at the budget but it looks higher budget and features absolutely beautiful and magical cinematography so worth watching just for that. While depicting street hustlers it's not particularly lurid or pornographic. The non explicit sex scenes are needed to tell the story. The director has had previous mass market commercial success, but this was more of an offshoot arty passion project for him.

Very small chance of the person not still living there, so a waste of their time and resources. But hey hey wink wink some expats may have a touch of the Bangkok-Stockholm syndrome. I think 90 day address resports are stupid to require unless the person has actually moved.

That's interesting. I didn't even think to bring my passport down to greet the guy but that would have been a good idea.

As Jomtien is doing this now I wonder if they will do it on subsequent years when the person is living in the same place and has already had the visit. That wouldn't be logical but that doesn't mean they won't either.