Heng

The best 'niche' to be in here in my experience is to be insured, have a regular GP, and if you do need something major taken care of, the fact that you are insured gets you in the 'faster' queue and your (presumably) positive relationship with your GP or particular hospital will allow them to push some of the costs onto the universal health coverage and in the end you'll be out of pocket in minimal amounts.

We do have universal health care here but it's definitely multi tiered in terms of quality of care with those with connections of one type or other getting preferential treatment. Plenty of people die waiting for treatment because of long (but free) surgery queues for major procedures.

Try a few hotels and make it clear that you'll only book with them if they will agree (in writing/via email correspondence) to refund you in full (less whatever agreed upon admin fees) if the entry rules change.

China says lay back, let it happen, remember to breathe. ????

'Waiing' these various landmarks, spirit houses, etc. is a quick shortcut to 'appearing local.' (if you want to project that image for whatever reason) Advanced: do it while driving.

Betting on May 1.

Yep. Baskets quite scattered, to the point that I couldn't access a few during the various lock downs in other places. ????

I think you'll find plenty of folks that hold crypto also hold gold. The skiers (gold folks) vs. snowboarders (team crypto) thing is often just a show.

First car was a '91 Mustang GT and I'm definitely not anti Ford, but vs. Toyota or Isuzu in Thailand, Ford's of course the most likely to go the way of Chevy and then it'll that much more of a pain to maintain it (unless you're capable or if it's a hobby to do it yourself).

Going with September to cover the various 'last vaccine shot cannot be more than 270 days ago to be considered fully vaccinated' rules in some countries that might still be in place for winter and spring travel next year. Will go with Astra or J&J if I can find it. Already had 1 Astra and 2 Pfizers.

As in my choice of seafood restaurants, I prefer airlines that are financially solvent when safety is a consideration.

The ban should be about as effective as the ban on massage parlours with 20 meter tall neon signs that they don't seem to notice.

You need to negotiate these things before you book. There is plenty of competition and they will refund you if you specify that that is the only way you'll book. Lesson learned during the 14 day quarantine when it was cut back to 10 days. No refunds, sorry, but you can stay another 4 days as per the deal. Next vacation, it was clear the 5th day PCR test was probably not going to last so specifically had them (same hotel) agree that if anything changed rule wise, I would be refunded the difference, testing fees or number of nights stayed. They'll even put it in writing (which is really the only sure way).

Sorted. He just fell.

I'm sure all here had their dowries returned after the morning ceremony as it's just like aluminium cans tied to the bumper (it's in the spirit of wedding day activities and it's not meant to be a permanent). ????

And like any good American, you can simply find a way to launder, structure, and evade in a perfectly legal way and just spin it. (I'm not supporting war, I'm just invested in Raytheon....I'm not evading taxes, I'm minimising my tax profile...)

Considering that our time on Earth is limited, I choose not to worry/whine about a few tests and buggy apps. One can easily run out of time waiting for things to 'get back to normal.'

I don't know about these days as I opened my accounts years ago, and those were all in person. They were fine at 3 of 4 banks with just my Thai passport but yes, was denied at one bank.

All of the minor fees they charge here are a bit annoying (mostly because they aren't clearly described unless you dig into your statements or ask your bank). Krungsri I believe charges you 19 Baht a month for the 'service' of them notifying you when you have account activity. Some ATM transactions are charged after a certain point.... some transfers are charged if certain conditions are met, etc. Just get a bank account in a country with real banking standards like Singapore and use it to feed your Thai 'expense' bank account(s). There's only ONE fee I ever see in my SG accounts and that's when I do a SWIFT transaction.

A lot of folks are ex Navy seals or whatever, too. ???? Just IME, the profile of those who have 'done well' with crypto were those who didn't really mean to... cases like 'hiding funds from their wives/tax authorities/etc.' in crypto. They weren't really investing per se.

Regulate all they want, as long as there are on-ramps and off-ramps anywhere in the world, it'll be about as effective as fiat controls.

Mine took 3 working days and for my vaccination status I sent a photo of my US CDC card and a secondary verification of the clinic's record of the vaccination (just in case they were wary of all the fake CDC cards floating around out there), so multiple images isn't an issue if you're concerned that that's confusing them somehow. I did mine a month before my vacation to take the pressure off of everything. About to start another one even though there will clearly be changes coming in April.

Back home from my one day test and go. PCR tested at 6pm and they had the results 'Lined' to us at 3am. It was a real light swab too this time, especially compared to the Icelandic nurse who seemed to be flicking my uvula back and forth for fun. For the day 5, the hotel said we'd get a Morchana 'link' if it was working and if not, to just send a photo of the results to the hotel and they'd forward it for us.

IME the possibility of getting stranded (because of tests, etc.) while on vacation brings back a much needed edge/risk feel back to modern day tourism. Travel had become too comfy and easy, you can't even get lost while fumbling with a paper map nowadays....

This law has always had me drinking less (along with the ban of alcohol sales in gas station mini marts: drinking and driving less too) just because of the removed convenience. Right now currently in Iceland where the laws don't allow alcohol sales in supermarkets... haven't had a drink until dinner for a couple of weeks now. By then all the school children are safely at home and it's too icy and windy to go out driving at night anyway.... IMO it's the relative benefits of these laws that matter.