ArtVandelay

I'm still confused. They wouldn't let the OP out of Thailand because of what specifically? A few years ago I was able to change to my new passport at Aranya Pratet. Paid the 500 Baht. Took almost an hour, though.

Annapurna is a spectacular area to trek. I've done it twice, but not as high an elevation as they went. My first time I had hired a private guide in Pokhara. Made a mistake listening to him, since he was determined to get me to a specific tea house for the night. Rather than stop early my first day when I got sore, like I should have, he pushed me to keep going up. I learned later that some of the guides have certain businesses on the mountain where they get kickbacks in the form of free food, etc, and will pressure you to stay at that specific one. I should have listened to my body, and stopped at a lower tea house for the night. Since I kept going, I was so sore the next day, that the rest of my trek was a miserable experience. Also, coming back down the mountain was actually more painful because it takes as much or more muscle power to stop yourself from falling than it does to climb up the mountain. If you go, listen to your own body. The guides might have other interests than your health,

I had a previous non-B visa and several covid extensions, which probably didn't help. She called her supervisor who then grilled me (politely but firmly) on what I was doing in Thailand this long. I explained I was just a tourist not ready to go back home yet. It was when I finally mentioned that I was planning on going home for Christmas that she finally stamped me in.

I've heard of Red Stamps, and know they are to be avoided. Can anyone explain to me what one is and what the implications are if you get one? I've gotten two red visa-exempt stamps when entering Thailand by air in the past year. I was given the full 30 and 45 days, but questioned extensively last night when entering at DMK. Are these the dreaded "Red Stamps" I always hear about or is it just a stamp that happens to be red? I entered both times by air. Thanks.

Thanks. What way do you recommend crossing into Cambodia? I'm in Bangkok.

Any reason you don't recommend Aran Poipet crossing? I was thinking about crossing there next week . . .

I watched a foreigner roaring drunk staggering down a road near Khao San in the middle of the day a couple years ago. So naturally, he wanders into the same restaurant I'm sitting in demanding a hamburger from the waitress. Rather than refuse service, she quietly but firmly explains how he has to pay up front because he's drunk. Now he's offended. A loud argument ensues, he finally agrees to pay, sits down, scarfs his food when it comes and gently walks away a different man. He must have been hangry. Bad combo alcohol and empty stomach apparently.

"The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) estimates that Thailand has 10 million stray dogs, with 1 in 10 dogs in Bangkok suspected to be infected with rabies." "Rabies was included in the list of notifiable diseases in Thailand in 1980 with 370 human cases reported in that year. Subsequently, 185, 50, 15, and 2 human rabies cases were reported in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively." Q: If 1 in 10 dogs have rabies, how could there be only 2 human cases of rabies in 2020?

Once the ITCZ retreats to the south of Bangkok, it will be the dry season. When it happens, usually in mid-October, it's fast, like turning a switch.

Well . .if the climate deniers think the refugee situation is out of control now . . just wait until vast swaths in Northern India and Africa are too hot to even live in. They ain't seen nothin'; yet.