BangkokHank

Well, it used to be - before most of them plumped up over the past decade or so after adopting an American junk food diet.

I will leave my home for Chaeng Wattana in an hour to do mine. I have an appointment for 14:00 this afternoon. I made the appointment online about a month ago. Is there a form that I will have to fill out? Or do I just show up at the appointed time and hand them my passport?

I see. So what I paid was VAT. Thanks for the explanation.

So it will probably not be possible at Chaeng Wattana. Anyway, you never know. So I'll try next time - by saying, "Well, that's a bit expensive. Is there any way that we can get the price down to a more reasonable level? Wink wink."

Thanks for the info! I wish I had known this when I paid my 2,000 baht fine last time! Was this at Chaeng Wattana?

Today I paid my first import duties on a package shipped to Thailand from abroad (the UK). The declared value of the package was around 1,030 baht (GBP 22) - so less than the old duty-free threshold of 1,500 baht. The package was delivered by the Thai post office to the juristic office of my condo. The condo accountant kindly paid the duty for me (70 baht) - and I reimbursed her when I picked up the package from her. So while I don't like paying import duties, it was good to know that I at least didn't have to go to the post office to pay before picking up the package. And 70 baht on a 1,030 baht package is just under 7% of the declared value. I would be interested to know if anyone else has had to pay this duty yet, and if so, how much. For the sake of comparison, I received the identical product from the same supplier exactly one month ago, but I wasn't asked to pay any import duty. That would suggest that they started implementing this import tax within the last month.

There is actually a company in Sri Lanka that rents self-drive tuk tuks to tourists for exploring the island. I met a young Dutch couple doing that when I was there last year. https://tuktukrental.com

Maybe declining to be overcharged?

For Israel too? Or only for White countries?

The main difference for me is that I am much less handsome in my home country than I am in Thailand, with all that that implies. Other than that, I am the same person no matter where I am - doing the same things (reading, exercising, traveling, etc.)

Right. Having the company established in Thailand added credibility to their operations. Ha.

I thought this thread was going to be about this kind of joke: "I fell into my lens grinder and nearly made a spectacle of myself."

If they add air conditioning and more comfortable seats, then it won't be third class anymore, will it? It will be second class conditions - at a second class price, no doubt.

If a message was sent to you in Thailand about going to the temple, what are the odds that it would have been in English? It looks awfully fishy to me.

I just checked my Lazada account, and it's working normally.

Not anymore. Just nine days now. How far in advance does it have to be done if done by mail? And is there a downloadable form that I would need to use? And where would I need to mail it to? Thanks.

This is the case at Chaeng Wattana in Bangkok as well. I just submitted my 90-day report online after returning to Thailand from abroad, and I got the same message. So I'll have to waste a whole day of my life going all the way across Bangkok just to let them know that I'm living in the same place that I've been living for the past few years.

Exceeding the minimum threshold of what? Income? Inward remittance? Remitting money from abroad does not automatically make it income.

All that money - for selling poison. Shameful.

Old, but still true.

They don't tell ME anything. What do they tell you?

What he meant was that he wasn't actively using drugs at the time he was filling out the form - because he couldn't hold the drugs and the form and a pen in his hands at the same time.

My solution is to go to Nha Trang, Vietnam, when I want to have a beach vacation. There are cheap direct flights to there from Bangkok (DMK), I can get a great hotel right near the beach for less than 600 baht a night, and there are several awesome restaurants in the city. And the transportation around the city is quite cheap: With Grab bikes, I rarely paid more than 20 baht to get wherever I needed to go. And while the airport is far from the city, there is a cheap bus into the city center - and from the city center back to the airport every half hour. And as if all that weren't enough, the people there are very warm, helpful and welcoming. With all that, who needs Phuket?

Exactly. I went to Phuket when I first arrived in Thailand 30 years ago, and I have not returned since - due to the transport mafia there. I don't have to go where I'm sure I'll be cheated/abused.

It's interesting that you would mention that because I just found some great taco shells at Macro (imported from Mexico) - and with them I make DELICIOUS tacos! This makes me look forward to my dinner each day - for the first time in a long time.