BusyB

Haven't been through Nong Khai in 20 years but back then at least it was very lovely and laid back.

Petchburi. Nice town. Nice places out of town close to the beach as well. BKK and HH in easy reach.

Cha Am, 30 minutes north of HH. Nice and relaxed, fairly 'Thai' and budget accommodation available. Can get busy at weekends and national holidays, but so does (all of) Prachuap. You can get reasonable and cheap digs in Pattaya and it can be a cheap place to live if you steer clear of the bars and gogogirls. Unfortunately you have to travel out of town if you want to swim in the sea.

Has anyone had any success or been given any official info on this visa type? It seems to have been placed under fatwah on e-visa sites even when in country of residence. Any feedback from bordering country embassies/consulates? The Thai embassy in Germany didn't respond to my email enquiry. Unusual, they were normally very customer oriented in my experience.

A Magical Mystery Tour - Phet Phet

He also hasn't told quite as many verifiable lies as the Trump.

Playing to the gallery to boost the fund.

They prefer dog<deleted>

Do yourself a favor and go see a good orthopaedist. Worth their weight in gold. Experience talking here.

All that also assumes there are no complications.

Utterly ludicrous.

Could be interesting for a side trip.

That's pretty aggressive behaviour - and the damage he's doing to himself can be turned on others in a flash. Carrying a knife and threatening suicide is a major red flag.

Yeah, especially after he told 'em all he was going for the food, temples and beaches

There are ways of subduing people like that without hitting them or even tasering them or damaging them in any way. It requires training, practice, skill and a positive mindset - something unfortunately lacking in many police jurisdictions even though they have the resources to implement the training programs. Having said that I'd be unlikely to intervene in a Thai domestic dispute. I know what the probable outcome will be and don't fancy it. But one can still call the police.

How often do people say ''Thank you.'' for such gestures? Or even nothing? I did specify 'generally' And I'd be unlikely to hit someone who's that aggressive anyway - male or female. More likely move away if possible - let them go. Sooner or later they'll hit another wall that'll stop them. In the cold light of day someone like that is to be pitied not feared.

Depends. On a lot of things. Including country.

We used to call that kind of thing 'performing' Looking back wistfully.

Generally polite people don't hit either men or women for whatever reason. Have learned to defend themselves effectively without doing so. And also hold doors open for other men and women and children, allowing them to take precedence. Also know how to gracefully accept when another man or woman or child gives right of way and behaves politely towards them. I rarely experience anything else and I'm really no shrinking violet.

Bogans can presumably be any color.

I obtained a certificate of income from the German Embassy in BKK. It needed to be verified by the Dept. of Foreign Affairs. However NOT at actual DFA HQ. Appointment is needed at Laksi according to them. There is however a branch at Level 5 in MBK where you can queue up, put your address on a big yellow envelope along with recent fotos or whatever (you'll have to ask I can't remember) and they'll process it and send it to you with a DFA stamp on the back. Costs a couple of hundred or so. Arrived a few days later. The frustrating thing about all this is that it is not mentioned anywhere in the list of requirements for Non-O or extension of same. So it caught me unawares when I first pitched up with the perfectly genuine certificate.

Why don't they try to recruit Chinese/Chinese speakers to the tourist police like they have with some farangs?

The trick is not to over rev. Accept the speed the car will do for normal revs. Using the brakes instead of engine braking will heat them up and can easily lead to brake failure.

Same here - different route, same experience. It used to be all the time, you don't hear much about it these days - maybe they got tachometers in the cabs after all ...

Come to think of it, despite this disaster it seems the clampdown on minibuses has yielded some results. This is the first minibus crash fatalities I've seen in a long while. They quite literally used to be almost daily with appalling death rates. Something seems to have worked. N.B. seat belts are primarily there to stop you flying out of the vehicle in the event of a crash.