Jingthing

If he had a legit stamp, sorry, I don't believe that's the whole story.

I don't feel it's objective to either be gung ho on how great the USA is OR to trash it as the worse country on earth. It is neither. Ease of class mobility is better in Europe. I agree of course that the USA is attractive to many foreign students. But it is certainly not "THE" land of opportunity. That's propaganda. There is opportunity there, we see cases like Elon Musk and project that to average people and it doesn't quite add up. Say you want to open a restaurant in the U.S. vs. opening one in most countries in the world and compare the start up costs

I'm not going to worry about their profit, none of my business, but I do know that some but not all restaurants jack up their menu prices to pay for those high fees. Presumably that depresses sales at those restaurants, and we often see generous "promotions" that bring the food prices back down to attractive levels (often even cheaper than eating there in person). Not sure how those promotions are absorbed exactly. Some will remember HUNGRY NOW in Pattaya which was absolutely fantastic as far as service, prices, choice, and constant promotions. They were targetted at f-rangs and it was clear to me they were trying to buy market share from the Big Boys. Sadly they failed.

I'm no fan of agents or how that system works with them. Never used one and hope that continues. But back to real life in Thailand, if you use an agent and they get you a legal stamp, it's incredibly unlikely you'll ever be arrested for that. In fact, I have not heard of even ONE CASE of that happening in Thailand. Of course if you're unlucky and use a bad guy agent and they get you a fake stamp, that's another matter. That could happen. Rare but it is a small risk for expat customers.

Most go because they're personally desperate, not because they think the US is a shining city on.the hill.

Don't put words in my mouth! I never suggested falsifying documents. I never said to fake it. My main suggestion knowing more details now is to go in, acknowledge the problem upfront, and politely ask the officer if he will allow the applicant to be into overstay (2 or 3 weeks fined) until the money is properly seasoned. There are reports over the years of officers allowing that in similar cases. I don't recall reports of them accepting an under 800K during seasoning period without consequence. It's theoretically possible that lenience would be shown, but in my opinion unlikely. Yes I also acknowledged an agent is an option because that's a fact of life here.

Whether you know it or not, the most likely reason they won't allow cash orders is because a previous driver or drivers complained about you.

I disagree and/or it's not my experience for retirement. The transactions are examined closely. Same day or not, the 800K rule was broken. Of course you can ask for leniency, but in cases like this, I consider leniency unlikely. That said, they may indeed agree to an OVERSTAY situation to wait for the money to season again without going under.

Eating dogs is usually a taboo because of the special relationship that has developed between canines and humans. It's not just about intelligence. Octopuses are very intelligent as well but we can't relate to them as buddies. OK maybe some "special" people can but it's not common. That said, I watched a documentary about industrial farming of dogs in Korea and they had bred dogs specifically for that purpose and they really did look at least superficially look more like another livestock animal than animals for working or pets. So I'm surprised Korea has taken this step. Maybe it's about PR as Korea is projecting now as a very advanced nation.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Water under the bridge.

Not sure if this is still a thing but last time I was in Amsterdam I considered seeing drunken young men (probably tourists I guess) pissing in the canals to be a tourist attraction.

This is really petty crime, isn't it? Well, unless the pisser has a really big schlong.

Seems rather harsh. Perhaps a point system is needed for public urination?

Yeah sure but at the end of the day it's a nothing burger now being blown way out of proportion by "social" media. As if there aren't very serious very real problems to consider in Thailand and the world.

Well, as westerners it's understandable to think in such black and white terms about using agents when you don't qualify. But this is Thailand and I'm not aware of any specific law saying you can't use an agent without qualifying yourself or against an agent "encouraging" an officer with such fictional applications. Does that sound like corruption? Sure it does, BUT ... I've never heard EVEN ONCE in my long time here of an expat or an agent being arrested for that. So is it "really" illegal? Maybe so, maybe not but in practical reality does it matter? Of course in cases where an agent used fake stamps or runs off with money and passports, then there can (hopefully) be arrests of agents and unfortunately the expats with fake stamps are in hot water too. Or perhaps the agent gets legit stamps but away from your local immigration office causing later problems (or dependency on that one agent) for the expats. Not good. There are risks for expats using agents and expats need to make their own risk reward analysis before going there. Anyway I won't personally use agents as I'm old fashioned as I like to legitimately qualify and apply to immigration myself. I sleep better that way. But if I was DESPERATE, there is a good chance I would change my tune.

In Pattaya bigger trucks than that (Thai standard) are called both songtheaws and baht buses. Weirdly only the Russians call them tuk tuks. I wonder what they call actual Bangkok tuk tuks (Pattaya doesn't have them). Maybe it's the Russian influence in Phuket?

Crime of the century! Thai Social Media Users? Are they the same as "netizens" or some other kettle of fish?

The topic is about media representation.

Just anti bigotry.

Oh. OK. But an overstay agreement might be possible.

Yes, clearly being so totally inflexible is super charged nutty but our place as mere f-rangs on one year leashes is not to question the logic in that. If we want to stay -- learn the rules, follow the rules, and shut your piehole!

Haley vs. Newsom

Um. No.

(Unsourced) straw man argument. As long as we're playing that game ... Who's Gay? What's Straight? - The Invention Of Heterosexuality | Assault On Gay America | FRONTLINE | PBS