roamer

The problem with ideas is it's all in the execution.🙄

I also get what folk say about requiring people to have travel insurance, and it might have helped here, though there are so many conflicting accounts it's hard to be sure.  However, in most of the cases we see here requiring "Go Fund Me's", travel insurance wouldn't work anyway. Take the most common cause of tourist hospitalisations that make the news, motorcycle accidents. Insurance only covers you if, 1). You have a licence or certificate that covers you to drive in your home country. 2). You're wearing a crash helmet. Sadly, the first time many of these plonkers have been on a bike is when they arrive in Thailand. Many other non motorcycle claims would fall on grounds like excessive alcohol, drug consumption  or risk taking. Travel insurance is a good thing but it's not idiot proof. 

11 hours ago, BritScot said:

How long have you been in Thailand? Tourists being beaten up by rabid groups of Thai men is very common  as is ending up in hospital. A friend just walking down a soi got a crash helmet smacked in his face (he was just walking home). The retired British couple set upon in the middle of the day by a group of drunk males for no real reason they ended up in hospital. For all use on here with your rose coloured glasses on: remember this, BY THE GRACE OF GOD GO I! Because, next time it could be you. Thailand is not safe, its 3rd world, so always watch your surroundings and be careful!!!

What a pile of tosh. Been in and out of Thailand as my base for over 30 years, yet to witness "rabid groups of Thai males beating up tourists", admittedly we probably don't frequent the same locales. "3rd World" ? Lol, in any crime survey Thailand would come out way better than your homeland. When I'm not in Asia,  I'm in London, no shortage of rabid male gangs there or in many other UK cities. Don't know how you sleep at night in such a crime ridden violent nation like Thailand. 🙄 https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp

Looks like you get more help from British cops once your car is exported. Until then recovery is a diy job it seems.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14793161/couple-steal-Jaguar-car-police-investigate.html

Thai politics are far more Machiavellian than they are being credit for here and the concept that either he or his daughter have any power or influence over what happens next is misjudged at best. The war drums are beating, albeit softly, muscles are being flexed and everyone knows generals are better at running the country.

10 hours ago, candide said:

Checked luggage are always scanned at check in, before they are sent to the conveyor belt.

Not sure they are particularly looking for drug thought.

In theory, and also in practice in the US for example. The fact that this does not happen in Thailand on an effective basis can be seen in the pictures of suitcases totally filled with blocks of cannabis being intercepted at foreign airports.

Many reasons why drugs don't get detected in transit, not least depending on the length of transit. Likewise scanning on departure prior to check in is a great way to bring the whole system to it's knees, this used to happen years ago prior to check in looking for explosives, with todays traffic volume it would be a nightmare. Scanning after check in ?  So if you identify a bag you then have to identify it's owner and make sure they don't board the flight. Try doing that at an airport like Swampy. Won't be long before one of these muppets gets caught at Singapore, mandatory death sentence for 500g of cannabis, they executed a guy this week for 300g of methamphetamine. Maybe publicity like that might make even the dimmest think twice.

On 5/17/2025 at 5:33 AM, MalcolmB said:

There weee hundreds of those signs, newer ones more recently in Pai.

Wow, thats a surprise🙄.

I can remember back in the 90's, very much backpacker boom times, a lot of guesthouses in places like Chiang Mai would have signs up saying " No Israelis" or similar, same for Samui. I don't think it was being done out of anti-Semitism .

18 hours ago, Gaccha said:

 

Words have meanings. In order for it to be a "robbery" there must be either force during or before the theft. There was no force, only deceit. 

Just because you are right does'nt mean you don't need to get a life 🙄

So many changes since Covid. On Etihad last year changing the return date even by a day or 2 was only marginally cheaper than buying a separate return. 

They are already home as noted in post above you. 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/522033/kiwi-brothers-jailed-in-thailand-after-struggle-with-police-back-in-new-zealand

Thanks Sheryl. There is certainly some food for thought there. I totally agree that the Q risk programme is a very rough tool at best. I think I will take a look at a proper cardiac screening and see where we go from there.

If I do take out any insurance I would certainly want it to be with a reputable company and to be able to answer questions truthfully so as not to leave any loopholes. I'm very much a dot the i’s  and cross the t's type of person when it comes to things like insurance!

Thanks again, much appreciated.

Levels would hover around 4.8-5.5 mmol/L so not a health issue, but the QRISK program used in the UK took into account my fathers death at 60 from a heart attack. Didn't take into account he smoked 40+ a day, very unhealthy diet and heavy drinker.  Low dose statin use not uncommon in such circumstances.

Hi Sheryl,

" With documented hypertension (even though controlled on medication) and elevated lipids (ditto), combined with your age, it will be very difficult to get insured. "

So the same age, no heath issues now or prior, can pass any physical but take a low dose statin as recommended by doctor in UK. Would that affect my insurance quote ?

1 hour ago, george said:

Link please!

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requirements

" From 1 June 2024, British passport holders arriving by air or land can enter Thailand without a visa (visa exemption) for the purpose of tourism and short-term business engagements for a period not exceeding 60 days."

Thai Embassy UK not updated yet 😊

15 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

I had to look up "Happy Water".......Jeez, it sounds lethal, but apparently is on the rise in  South East Asia............."Caffeine, diazepam, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine and tramadol reportedly compose the superdrug"

 Seriously 🤔. That would have confused me back in the day, I wouldn't have known if the elevator was going up or down.

On 4/6/2024 at 5:18 PM, richard_smith237 said:

 

I have no reservations whatsoever to call myself a cheap charlie when it comes to getting a beer in a pub... 

 

The Old English Happy hour is rather excellent IMO....   

 

 

 

 

Indeed - point in hand above....  OMF usually doesn't gauge the temperature so poorly in his comments...

 

 

 

 

Its great if you want a good burger (opposite - Easy Burger) and a couple of beers...  But, its doesn't have the same 'warm-up' vibe as the old place....   Its more of a 'destination' location now, where you go there, if you are going there, not passing through for one or two before getting led astray by friends.... 

 

The old place (when Cheap Charlies was on Soi 11) used to make me chuckle... they'd have that plastic chain demarcating the area we had to stay within lest other bar / restaurant owners would get angry if we strayed outside and blocked the passage of potential (non-existent) customers... It must have been a lot of hassle keeping all owners of neighbouring but less busy places happy because of how busy your 'cheap-dive' bar is !!!...   

 

It had character and the decor has been transfered in an attempt to maintain that...     though, like every old timer, nothing is as good as it 'once was'...    Londoner and Burbon St. case in hand... 

 

 

 

 

I liked Cheap Charlies on Soi 11 but have to admit I'm fond of the Soi 50 location too, it's a non hassle environment but if you're not a fan of cigarette smoke it can be a bit trying at times. 

Pretty light sentence considering the quantities involved " Both eventually pleaded guilty. Suttabut admitted supplying Boyle with just over 2kg of crystal meth, three litres of GBL, and 150g of ketamine, 

more details here.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/very-very-drug-addled-toy-28692921

6 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Never too old to get a Tourist Visa.  VE is not a Tourist Visa, nor any type of visa, it's a visa exemption.

He said he was too old to get travel insurance not a tourist visa. Having said that, in the UK at least most insurance companies don't have an upper age limit, lots of people travelling in their 80's.

23 hours ago, Bim Smith said:

Absolutely. No way was weed involved. He would be going around hugging the monks and offering pizza as elms. 

Charles Manson smoked weed. Full of brotherly love he was.

You can look at it how you choose but it's no coincidence that the amount of passengers denied boarding for "irregularities" has increased dramatically in line with the increased amounts of compensation airlines have to pay passengers for not allowing boarding. Overbook a long haul flight by 10 seats, not uncommon, and that's 6000 Euros owed in compensation and there are an ever increasing load of claims companies out there happy to take on your case. Hence airlines increasingly looking for ways to avoid paying out on overbooked flights. Point is that a less than 100% correct ticket/passport/visa is far more readily pounced upon when a flight is overbooked than when it isn't.

Also the "photo" was not the issue here, it's not even a photo, on this issue of passport it's printed onto the page beneath the laminate, can't be substituted and also printed on the facing page as in the image below from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/basic-passport-checks/basic-passport-checks-accessible

Qatar were just trying to avoid paying out for overbooked flights, end of.