BangkokHank

I'm thinking about writing a book, "Twenty-Five Years in Thailand Outside of Bangkok Prison". It would be about how I had a good life in Thailand - by having various interesting jobs, saving my money along the way, and recently retiring - oh, and NOT smuggling drugs (or doing anything else illegal.) Sound like a best-seller?

Thanks. And they provided the wheels for you?

Thanks very much. Here is a picture of the wheel in question. Any thoughts?

Yes, but once you get the replacement wheels, how difficult is it to install them? When I looked closely at the wheels of my bag, I don't see any way to change them - although I suppose there must be a way. Maybe I'll ask AI for advice about this.

Maybe there's business idea there - for some enterprising Thai craftsman.

Can I buy a SIM-card at the Phnom Penh Airport? And if it is possible, should I? Or is it better to do it in the city? And are all the service providers pretty much the same (assuming there is more than one)? Or is there a particular one I should go for? Thanks.

Just over a year ago, I bought a relatively expensive Eagle Creek roller suitcase. I loved it - until my last trip - after which a sizeable chunk of one of the wheels broke off. And a wheelie suitcase without a wheel is next to useless. So my questions: Are the wheels on suitcases replaceable? And if they are, does anybody know of a place in Bangkok where I might have this done - if possible in my neighborhood (around the Seacon Square area)?

I did almost exactly the same thing: I went there 29 years ago, and it was such a rip-off that I never went back again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on George W. Bush - or something like that.

That's a very good idea. Thanks!

This was, by definition, a terrorist act. But for some reason, terrorism is acceptable when it is committed by Jews. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/turning-people-into-involuntary-suicide

I smell a Nigerian in there somewhere.

I'm doing exactly the same thing. Technically they should not tax the money I remitted to Thailand this year because it was earned in past years. But how do I prove that to them? So I'm also opting for the "better safe than sorry" approach by spending less than 180 days in the country this year.

I am doing that as we speak: Right now I am sitting in a five-star hotel right on the beach in sunny Nha Trang, Vietnam (for $50 a night), serving my time outside of Thailand in order to avoid paying taxes on the several hundred thousand dollars that I transferred into Thailand this year, as well as the couple hundred thousand dollar capital gain that I have made so far this year. So the Thai economy has lost the money I would have spent in Thailand but am spending in Vietnam instead - due to their misguided attempt to confiscate a chunk of my hard-earned money. And on the subject of spending money in Vietnam instead of Thailand, there is a good hospital here where I'll have a procedure done for $200 that I would have paid $2,000 for in Bangkok. So it looks like an all around loss for Thailand - and an all around gain for me. Serves them right if you ask me.

The scammers were in India. Did he not notice their Indian accents?

I had too - until recently. I actually found a flight with Vietnam Airlines that was 15% cheaper when I booked it through booking.com - much to my surprise. That being said, for the same upcoming trip to Vietnam, my six-week stay at a hotel, if booked through booking.com, would have cost just over $2000. I then asked a friend in Vietnam to go directly to the hotel for me and ask the price: Less than $1,300! And no advance booking required, as the hotel said they were nearly empty, as it's their low season. So my strategy going forward for longer stays in places where I don't have a friend who can go to the hotel to ask the price for me, is to just book the first night or two at any decent hotel, then to walk around and try to negotiate a deal for a longer stay.