Bangkok Barry

You are a Westerner, you may buy 75 items out of the basket of 471 items that measure inflation and 150 that are not. The fact that your 100 items have increased in price doesn't mean inflation for everyone in the entire country is the same as yours. What is being a Westerner got to do with anything? The goods I've bought and seen prices rise by up to 100% include basic Thai foods such as pork and chicken. I really don't care about a system that picks and chooses what items are used to 'measure inflation' and which are not. That makes any measurement completely pointless. All I know and care about is that many basic foods have increased massively in price. That is the bottom line.

But in the real world it is 50-100%. At least on many of the food items I've bought during 2022. Of course, it doesn't help when one company owns nearly all the food outlets in the country, around 84% I believe, something the monopolies office says isn't a monopoly.

however, that continued hard-enforced midnight to 2 am closings have been incredibly unpopular based on social media comments by foreign tourists, The authorities here just don't get it, do they.

Neither of which are in Pattaya, which is where this thread is about.

This is never, ever addressed in so many areas. In my native UK, much teenage crime, especially knifings, are committed overwhelmingly by black kids who have no father figure to guide them (and then there is uproar over police stop and searching mostly black kids); most of those shown on the news struggling to make ends meet are single mothers; and it even results in a lack of housing because, whereas families once lived in one house, they now need two. Yet no-one I've seen or read about is tackling why so many families break up. I guess it's due to a lack of tolerance seen everywhere in society now, reflected so obviously on social media. And no-one is seeking ways to reverse it.

it seems to me that you might be accusing me of acting illegally so we'll end this right here. You know nothing about me or who i am or what I do and why.

Strange, isn't it. So many people in the USA and the best candidates they could come up with were Mrs Clinton and Trump. And that the only person in America who couldn't stand for President was the President.

That might be your take on it. There are other reasons, such as saving on bank transfer charges.

Unless you like to be paid in cash for a job done overseas- for whatever reason ????

Except it might - should - keep him from running for re-election. So you're half right.

Did he ask? Did anyone reporting this contact the airport to ask?

If I had a carry-on bag with that amount of money with me, and I have many times, I'd keep a very, very close eye on it. And I did. Always.

Why would they? I've many times brought in that amount in US$ and it's within the legal limit. And I'm getting that amount transferred to my bank next month for a job I'm doing.

It's actually four points, but point (excuse the pun) taken. From the linked article. The maximum of four points will be deducted for drunk driving

I actually had tickets to see them at Wembley but was working at the Wimbledon tennis which made going impractical. Regretted it ever since.

In Thailand no-one cares about corruption. It's so deeply ingrained into the culture and just a part of daily life. Widely accepted, as a survey some years ago proved, when - I think - 84% saw nothing wrong with corruption if there was something in it for them. Therefore, no-one needs to hide it, as in these district administrators. Because no-one cares. And it's why, nine years later, a previous blatant example hasn't been resolved and never will be. They just go through the motion of saying - without actually doing anything - that an enquiry with 20 committees has been formed to investigate. But it's the same in any Third World country.

...to see The Wild West Shows on every night at a venue near you. Entry is FREE. And don't forget the thrill of seeing police chase trannies and prostitutes across the beach. Hard to find anywhere except in Amazing Thailand. Book your air tickets now!

Remember, this was an airport that was closed and mothballed as being surplus to requirements when Swampy was opened. And then within weeks it was realised that Swampy was - well, swamped to overcapacity - and they begged Air Asia and others to return to Don Muang. Absolutely first class Thai-style planning with Thai-style forward thinking. An airport that wasn't needed now set to handle 50 million a year. While they're at it with the expansion, can they dedicate one of the terminals entirely for China flights, so the rest of us can use the airport in comfort instead of fighting the hoards.

There was also the case of people being arrested for playing darts and told they needed a license. There is no such license. Then there was the police raid to capture those evil arcade cranes where you try and fail to lift and win a small toy. Every seaside town in my native UK has several huge premises packed with those type of games, all illegal in Thailand. Thailand is simply a repressive state where almost everything is illegal. The only positive is that, being Thailand, the laws are rarely enforced.

There are ways to get that. The Met Office only provides general information. So yes, not very useful. Same as anywhere in the world.

I was recently in Kalasin and about half the shops are closed and shuttered. Another thing I've noticed is that Thais appear to be no longer travelling as they did. We used to have an hourly bus service Mukdahan to Khon Kaen. sometimes half-hourly. That has been reduced to just one a day, with vans used to run the hourly service. I think I'm right in saying that Roi Et airport used to be served by three airlines and that is now down to one. Suggests that no-one has money except for essentials now.

I have a couple of friends who have delayed or cancelled coming to Thailand until they can be sure they won't be abused for not wearing a mask. Almost everywhere in the world is now mask-free. I wonder what makes Thailand so open to Covid when other countries are not.

That's exactly my plan. But there is a chance the airline will want to see a ticket out of Thailand.

I have a 45-day permission to stay until 5th January, before which I'll renew my one-year marriage extension once I leave and re-enter Thailand (leave 18th Dec/return 25th Dec). Will the 5th January permission in my passport be accepted by the airline? (I understand that that date might become irrelevant once I leave the country?) Especially as my passport shows previous one-year extensions and I'll state my intention of applying again within the time I'm allowed on a new 45-day non-visa entry.

This happened at 1am. I wonder where she wanted to go at, say, midnight. If your wife did the same, what would you be thinking?