Sydebolle

Vasilios's acquired two lions at a knock-down price of only THB 1.7 million? Goes in line with the BB gun and the Thailand Privilege Card covering all the ever-so-important non-Thai VIPs. Help me out here, arriving with two lions at - say - swampy and passing customs and, for argument's sake - through the red channel. "Anything to declare?" being Somchai's question is answered "Yes, two lions in my hand luggage, got then at a fantastic rate". "How much" asked Somchai back, reply being "THB 1.7 million" - so Somchai's conclusion must have been "now that's what I call a steal" 😉 But in other news it is noteworthy, that Pattaya is visited and inhabited by people who celebrate family life, are in town for its temples and enjoy the untainted reputation of what Thailand (not quite) believes is right. On a more sombre note; how on Earth can you get two lions into a gated estate without anyone noticing anything, be it customs, transporters or neighbours enjoying the stench or at least the roar? Mind boggling!

So far everything seems to go according to plan. Noteworthy though might be, that it was neither Trump nor his administration with the rattling of the "tariff" cage. Whoever control Trump and his minions are in for very powerful realignment of power - let's stay tuned and wait 😉

What they actually meant to say - but could not wrap up in clear words = see "Thai-style" is, that the five mentioned categories are conclusive. All other establishments could never care to start with so we're all good to go now. Unclear though is my lack of understanding; what is the difference between Thai Buddhism and the philosophy celebrated and followed in neighbouring Burma/Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia - as in all those places there is no such thing as prohibiting booze - just asking

Cosmos 482 - what a lovely co-incident; shall leave my desk now to hunt all lottery tickets with "482" in the number

"evidence including 11,000 baht in marked bills, condoms, and a handbag" - really? Remaining question is, how do you mark a condom - just asking 😉 She should have applied for a work permit providing "horizontal refreshment" and Bob would have been her uncle!

Thank you profoundly for making the following statement the present Number One - yet the year is still young as we know 😉 “Digital Crime Clock keeping a real-time an eye on crime patterns while potentially shining a light on criminals skulking in the shadows." What a statement for the weekend 🙏

Maybe Thailand, after all, might want to adjust to actual tourism needs rather than to dope-smoked goals those officers are dreaming up while never ever having served a tourist in the first place. And then do not forget, one quality tourist is ten Russians, 20 Chinese and 50 South Asians - just saying. Quality over quantity as - quite obviously - quantity is what they cannot handle while quality was on the cards 30+ years ago 😉

Why not have a word with Anutin, the jack-of-all-trades? In this government he serves (what actually does he serve apart from himself?) as interior guru after his last government's stunt of public health chief (during which Covid happened). He is usually on the very front of everything and as his company (ahem ... sorry .. his in-laws) company is building everything lately (parliament, swampy and swampy extensions but luckily not the SAO disaster) he would be the man of the hour. I am not aware of what guarantee period a new parliament building gets but that building in Bangkok has been trouble for many many years. So why not ring Anutin for advice and sharing possibly a word with his in-laws to fix all those shortcomings, once and for all. After all, almost a billion (with an B and not an M) is looser change than for the taxpayer 😉

The weekly bus input - again. But yeah, all under control and Bangkok still busy with neck braces and three submarines ....

All the medical staff involved in this case needs to be briefed/retrained, the doctor needs to get his license revoked as it was not just a mishap but a simple incompetence based on ignorance or arrogance. Such "medics" give the entire industry a bad reputation and almost cost the fellow's life.

Introduce a "landing" tax for Chinese passport holders and finance this out of that slush fund. It is the private industry, the tourism-related SMEs, who have to get their act together. From a governmental point of view: - eradicate on all levels the two-tier pricing; if necessary fine those who still keep this ill-gotten practice - throw out those zero-dollar operators - ensure sufficient Mandarin-speaking guides who can take care of this avalanche from the North; possibly allow Chinese citizen to guide their groups (as so done in most European countries) - understand that volume alone can be suicidal; sometimes quality prevails over quantity - explain in details, what they need this hefty amount of taxpayer's money for - last not least, how many Chinese have arrived and then compare that with this budget idea

Here we go; you can transfer your "Non-Quota multiple immigrant entry" visa with the enclosed form. As this site does not allow *.pdf nor *.doc I am attaching the two pages as *.jpg. If you don't get an embassy letter = no issue (to be frank, I never worried as being too lazy to add this unnecessary piece of paper to the bureaucracy). You also do not have a TM (arrival/departure) card, the TM6, as the latter is completed on the way out and the "arrival" part is taken/kept by the immigration on the way back into Thailand. There is no fee for this transfer and so executed (in my case) in Bangkok (Chaengwattana and Suan Plu before) as well as the immigration in Nong Khai. Good luck 😉

Those immigration geeks get better and better by the day. You think that they've pulled out the final rabbit but no, every day is a new interpretation. Amazing, how these low-key officers can goof around and make life so unnecessarily miserable. But then again, they represent Thailand pretty well, it is no different anywhere else in those endless halls of the government dungeons

I assume that it was not the least of your intentions to insult apes 😉

Never heard of the bloke and looked him up. Now I can say that I am quite proud for not knowing such creeps but he's a sign of times. Not being a semite but his anti-semitism is groundless and the pr1rck has no clue what he's talking about. If he has 32 or 33 million followers is - irrelevant; I think that in that case he has 32 or 33 million followers too many 🤮

OK, so this week's news is in - we can be relieved and get ready for next week's "mishap" - as reliable as the sun rise in the morning 😞

Given the hygiene standards of feet in this country (have a look at your foot soles) I opt for keeping my footwear on. Not knowing where this incident took place but I opted eating elsewhere in Chiang Mai when I was asked to remove my shoes prior to entering a garden coffee shop in open air. &nbsp While I adhere with great pleasure to this local rule in residences I believe that public places, like a shop, restaurant, government office etc. should accommodate the jump into the 21st century - given the hygiene deterioration evident everywhere these days 😉 Just saying 8-)

Tell that official pr1kc that "Ni Hao" now is no longer an insult to his semi-divine derailed brain but - frankly - a pretty smart door opener towards the comrades in the red North 😉

Well, one should bar all those gifted politicians who changed their mind of "no" to "yes" within hours; wondering what kind of envelopes/promises Merz had to admit. Merz is not there to serve Germany to the best of his abilities but to serve himself to the best of his ego and status. Nothing to do with excellent German politicians like Brandt, Schmidt, Genscher or Wishnevsky - sad state of affairs. But then again, why should Germany be different to the rest of completely decadent derailed Europe ....... Europe - quo vadis? The car called "Europe" had an excellent motor called "Germany"; regretfully a thing of the distant past. Let's see if war mongering Merz puts the "Taurus" war gear in motion towards Ukraine which will break the (Russian's) camels back. Unless someone can stop these mad minds I fear for the worst. Eventually common sense will prevail and Merz is "detronizzato" within a year - hope dies last, as we know. As a non-German I can only hope and wonder, if the outcome reflects the true wish of the German voters or rather some WEF-corrupt clowns in the circus tent of Berlin?

How blessed are we with such most valuable contributions like yours - bless the Lord for this 😉

No clue, just was told by a friend who lives there; in the last ten years they apparently moved for the third time 😉

Khon Kaen's dungeon moved from the Friendship Highway to the Bus Station on Road 230 and recently again; as well planned like the visa policies which change almost monthly

a) the currency is a yoyo issue, no predictability b) tourists might have completely different visa regulations between booking and arriving c) Thailand became EXPENSIVE in line with the free fall of quality and service level d) rip-offs on a daily basis, nicely splashed all over the internet - daily e) ongoing ranigaxoo on the ladyboy front in Pattaya f) two-tier pricing of up to 25 times higher than the locals g) the command of foreign languages is heading towards North Korean standards

a) I would never eat Thai food in a department store with their practice of skinning the operators of those third-party food suppliers alive b) taking photos is, unless explicitly forbidden, allowed c) stealing a menu is a no-no but a bagatelle and going public all over the internet - being also accessed from outside Thailand - might backfire big time Ridiculous; get the menu back; the food cannot be that exclusive that it became a state's secret - or am I wrong again?

After decades in the Land: - completely different culture - in many cases communication inability (unless the non-Thai speaks proper Thai) - Thai society structure is incompatible with anything non-Asian - priority settings - loss of face - polarizing discussions with the ability to agree to disagree - inferiority complex of Thais as educated/hammered into them by a completely non-functional education system - caste system just to name a few ........ Deal with your opposite (i.e. your Thai spouse) as a same level person, learn the language and get them to understand, that not everything needs to be shared in culture, culinary or society issues. That only works, if both partners can communicate deeply with each other and that, my experience, applies to only very, very few intercultural relations I came across.