Dilligaph98

Not calling you a liar, but any evidence to support that. Any specific offices? Of course there's the unresolved issue of whether "visa-exempt" is a "tourist" non-visa or not.

The "two VE entries per calendar year" part of the new regime intrigues me. Whether this will be rigorously applied or strategically ignored - probably both/neither. Dr Jack in another thread considered the possibility of VE (60 days)+extension to visit Thai wife (another 60 days)+a 30-day extension, ie 150 days on a single entry. If that was applied according to the new rule, and with careful timing, that could be done twice in a calendar year without the hassle of a non-O marriage extension, perhaps........

at least the second time this week, and it wasn't exactly side-splitting last time either

Totally agree. BBL for 30 years, often wonder why it is so slow. Opened K Bank early this year and now route anything involving RoW through it. Wise in particular is now extremely impressive - seconds instead of a weekend, or 3 days, or whatever the ____s in Bangkok Bank feel like. I have a question too, though: does the same apply for OUTgoing transfers? I have never done a THB to EUR (or USD) using K Bank and Wise. If I send THB to my THB wallet in Wise, does it take forever to get to someone in Europe in EUR? (Like Bangkok Bank?)

That was my doubt - once verified, you don't have to have the SIM in the phone all the time?

Planning to finish my old AIS number. Long time verified on Whatsapp. If I just take out the SIM and use the phone without a replacement, will Whatsapp still work? Or do I then have to get a new SIM and verify it? I fancy just using the old phone for Whatsapp (on the existing account, chats, etc) and not mobile calls, is all.

I am proud of what UK/GB/whatever was, the country my parents fought for. Today, I wouldn't urinate on the place if it was on fire, let alone go live there again. Tow it into mid-Atlantic and use it for target practice.

My wife has been trying to sell some land, not where we live, for years. I guess nearly 3 years now. I note that so many Thais just leave an entry on a property website, and it never moves. She is no expert and I am not khun Thai This was not a big issue until recently as we want to quit Thailand lock stock and barrel, so we want to sell this land to help with the airfares. Now is, obviously, not a good time to achieve best prices for land or anything else, but quick is better than top price. I know this is sort of wrong-way-round because the forum is for farang buying/selling (and any internet look-up in English nevitably schools farang into how to buy), but does anyone in TH have any useful insights as to how we (ie she) can shift a chanotted, unsullied 7rai, about 2km from a large north-eastern university, FAST?

Agree totally about Calibre and Z-Lib. I REALLY don't understand why anyone bothers with these Kindles or similar. Not insulting OP, but why purchase an expensive extra machine just for one purpose? I have been reading e-books for more than 10 years and I just use a simple android tablet (currently a 7-year-old samsung A6). All manner of apps for it, but my personal recommendation is AI Reader (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neverland.alreader which is NOT AI! but a simple and versatile reader that is happy with all manner of formats. Failing that, FB Reader. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.android Either gives plenty of options for the look of the pages. Tethering a machine (Amazon, Kindle) to a specific system or bookstore is an insult to consumers and should be illegal. The above readers don't. Example: two days ago I found that my favourite author has just published a new novel. Using Z-Lib, it took me five minutes to download, add to Calibre, transfer to tablet and start reading. Didn't need DRM removal but that too is simple, and there are countless converters to/from Mobi, e-pub etc. I could order from a major bookstore in Sydney where I have an account, but it's not published there for another three months....... Only one downside - Calibre doesn't have an android version yet, although as a library organiser it's superb on the PC. Upside - increasingly I use the tablet for all the other stuff - daily news etc as well as just e-reading. I have 1400 books stored right on the tablet, no internet connection or cloud storage needed. I would love to read actual paper books, but it's not feasible living here.

I had a hunch he might be

oh dear, I thought this was a joke thread. I'll go look for it.........

To be clear, I paid in for more than 20 years, and the premiums were not really bad - considerng I had my wife and son covered too. During that time we had a couple of major claims, all paid promptly (less excess) but the premiums did not jump horrifically. With son overseas, wife covered for the day-to-day by the state scheme, and me getting ancient, the equation changed. Any minor problem was not worth claiming (excess again); I had done heart ops and cancer; and as I think I said before, the kind of stuff that happens as you wear out (cataracts are good example) are not covered at all. I just have to avoid getting hit by a bus. All insurance is a gamble and I eventually figured the odds were not strong enough. I will name what used to be Bupa, more recently something else (Zurich?), because they were ok with payouts and cancelled without problems, much to my surprise. Hospitals less exemplary. Sikarin (BKK, Srinakarin) actually held me prisoner on a Saturday morning when I tried to discharge myself after an op. unitl the cheque arrived from the insurer! Noever, ever use that place even in an emergency!!

Gibberish. Go away.

Not arguing, but at many offices including where I go (see so many threads passim) an officer will wag a finger as she returns your passport and warn you dramatically not to remove a satang during the 'under consideration' month. I'm told this is a precaution as all the applications go to head office and they don't want any mistakes. As usual, who knows.

I think you mean the Wurst joke.........

On the other hand, massive advantage on soi 6 - twice the productivity. As the Glasgae hoor said: "Business is great - if I had another pair o' legs, I'd open in Edinburgh" (very old Billy Connolly joke).

Not to get too serious but a long time ago, the grille used to be vertical, generally referred to as "kidneys". Mid-1980s the Quandt family determined they wanted upcoming models to have the echos of that heritage, giving designers impossible tasks amid lower, more aerodynamic trends. Eg: https://www.prewarcar.com/an-overlooked-pre-war-gem-the-bmw-328#group-1 (for some reason I can't attach it).

like this?

I don't find a problem as long as you follow their rule. You must apply between 15 and 8 days (from memory) before the 90th, and you can't do online the first one after returning to TH, or after a new extension. At other times, it has never let me down, with the reminder about two weeks ahead of time very reliable and no need to fill in the details every time - as indeed it damn well should be, it's not rocket surgery, is it? But Thailand is after all the hub of failed websites, so perhaps it is brain science to local IT ("Incompetent Thais"?)

Corrected. I thought it was 2000 per day. Either way, I don't want to pay them.

I figure if it's wrong, better to get knuckles rapped than - in the worst-case scenario - get done for overstay! I will do it and report back.

I usually do 90-days online and find it actually rather efficient - including the reminder 2 weeks in advance. Long time since I travelled, but recently did a short trip outside TH. Now I have the online reminder, as if I had not left and returned. Will they be happy with me just doing a report again online, or will that get me into trouble? Do I have to tell them I have restarted the 90-day count and go to office with TM47 etc?

Up to you, comes to mind too. Not wanting to fall out with you, but it is NOT bullet proof. It will work until one day it doesn't. I've been here a while too. I don't trust the 'scheme' and would not pay the crims involved. Anyway, as you say above, if flights etc were available, a couple of days in KL or Saigon would have been cheaper than the mafia.

Look, I had a couple of days to put this together and I'm stuck for cash just now, more you don't need to know. I looked at Saigon but would have been B3K each way plus hotel (where I usually stay is around B1200 though I'm sure there are cheaper).

16 hours on a bus is only ever horrible. The rest was easy. I've heard of this "safe service" but I wouldn't trust it. We all know it cannot be legal (whatever that means here; neither is charging B2K for same-day return), so the "guaranteed" entry is not actually guaranteed. And I have had bad experience with using an agent, which is what prompted the trip to PB. No names, no law suits, but a certain company and me are not exactly buddies........