Gaccha

Very unlikely that the airline will let you fly. They are not flexible because any breach of the rule results in a heavy fine on them.

Firstly, why? Secondly, macro-diversity necessarily means micro-homogeneity. If you insist on everywhere being diverse then everywhere becomes the same slop. Thirdly, you lack a sense of tragedy. A well-functioning civilised successful society is very rare in this world. What exactly produces the success is difficult to ascertain but radical experiments to change it are not such a great idea. Chesterton's Gate tells us to be very cautious about changes that upend the very way mankind has lived for thousands of years. Fourthly, the premise that diversity is a morally good thing only exists in societies with a high openness and high trust. These societies, like Sweden or the UK are vanishingly rare, and through the diversity importation they will cease to be open and high trust. The groups arriving will suffer from "third worldism": clannish inwardness and low trust. Fifthly, wanting to move to live near White people is not a human right. It does seem like the whole world wants to move to White dominant countries but there is literally not enough room for 4 billion desperate people. Can you imagine how boring the world will become if everywhere and anywhere has exactly the same population makeup.

Hot news! Miraa now supports Thai. It has the astonishing capability of AI learning: it will analyse and interpret any sentence's deep meaning. For example, let's pick a random Thai drama off YouTube: I can click for an explanation of the vocabulary, and the grammar: And then you can ask for instant deep analysis: This is like having a teacher in the room with you. I have never seen anything like this before. It gives you 30 minutes free a day.

The situation is even better now because there are Apps utilising the auto-generated subtitles allowing us to even do quick re-listens to segments of dialogues. They space out the subtitles so you can see them in full paragraphs. They even allow you to dub over the voice with a clean autogenerated Thai voice (if absolutely necessary). I strongly recommend both LingoTube and LingVotube as examples of these apps (the former is slightly superior). I'm also hoping that the remarkable Miraa App will become available for Thai readers and listeners. In their free versions they are all excellent and I have never felt a need to pay for the extra functions.

I did this for many years, albeit for the work extension. But recently I've found arriving very last minute minimises the wait the best. I think the queue tickets are stopped from 3:30pm, so 3:20pm would be safe. I did have a photo of the queue counter close times but I can't find it now so hopefully somebody on the ground can confirm. If you do this, owing to large numbers of dropouts and staff desperate to get home, you should be seen and done within 2 or possibly 3 hours.

Does your phone still receive regular security updates? It could be that it is so old that Samsung is no longer providing enough security for the bank to be comfortable.

Some very major updates by the son: "As things move forward following Friday's earthquake in Bangkok, things have also continued to be delayed in acquiring an answer from the UK embassy with regard to whether my dad would receive the care needed on arrival back in the UK on time and there is a concern over NHS waiting lists. The last thing I would want for him is to be repatriated back there, only to find he would be waiting for a year for treatment. It seems the best option will be to keep my dad here in Thailand and look to proceed with an amputation, investigation into his internal health issues and to put him on a feeding tube until his weight is brought up. I will also need to look to find other suitable, "honest" carers where things do not get stolen in my absence to support me with him so I can go back to working as I have lost a lot during the last few months. I have therefore updated the GFM target to reflect addressing the medical needs here and caring for him over the next 6 months." Obviously you don't give up a (lucrative?) job in finance in order to do care work for your father far away from home, when clearly the medical costs are going to hit you. The hospitals in Thailand are Grade A level and there is no reason to go to the UK to get better care. In fact, the care would probably be worse because of the long waiting lists and the decrepit structure.

Have you switched off phone WiFi?

Go to "Settings", go to "Accessibility", go to "Installed apps", and then deactivate every single app which is currently on.

Count me out. Under Thai law, playing poker even for fake tokens is strictly prohibited. (I've read the relevant gambling legislation)

I would go if they had a poker table (I mean real poker, not poker where you play against the bank), and it had a low rake. There is a lack of poker in southeast Asia. The nearest reputable poker establishment is Nagaworld. There are also some dodgy places but I don't want to go near them. There are a lot of fishy players (think of all the ASEANnow posters) in Asia making it an ideal place to enjoy myself.

I noticed that that link confirms my position (I'm the only person in this chat pointing this out so I will emphasise it again): you must submit your old passport and they will send it to the UK with the rest of the documents. You do not get to keep it. I suspect most people in this chat are either not UK citizens, or have never applied for a new passport from Thailand. To apply for a new passport from Thailand you must prove that you are resident in Thailand. You cannot be a mere tourist by your visa. To quote the link: Do I need to send original documents with my application? Yes, you must send your old passport, and in some cases, additional supporting documents (such as a name change certificate).

No. But my passport fills up very quickly with visa renewals and travelling to other countries. This is a common problem among expats.

I went myself. Handed over my passport along with all other required materials, such as colour photocopies.

When did this change of rules happen? When I got a new British passport in October in Thailand I had to submit my passport. It was sent to the UK. 2 weeks later I then went to the offices and collected the new passport and the clipped old passport. I did not get to keep my passport. I did exactly the same 5 years before that. Because for 2 weeks I had no passport I was careful to keep a photocopy on me.