Hanuman2547

If a girl/woman is employed by a bar and serves drinks to customers..............she is a bar girl!

Yes, there is a certain segment of the population in Thailand that loves to put ketchup on a pizza. To me that is something far worse than putting pineapple on a pizza.

A six month tourist visa would eliminate the need to do "border bounces" and take the chance of some immigration officer saying that you do this too much over an arbitrary period of time. Plus, you don't have to stay the entire six months. You could just stay 3,4,or 5 months. It covers a lot of options and makes it easier to stay legally in the country. I can't see why someone would be advocating for doing a "border bounce" when a longer visa would be much simpler.

"It came amid rumours that Palang Pracharat and Pheu Thai have done a deal for Thaksin to return after the general election, scheduled for May." Well that's easy to fix. A certain someone will just suspend the elections scheduled for May to prevent Thaksin from returning.

I've been to Koh Tao once more than 20 years ago. I see no reason to go back. When the police state that a farang committed suicide, it just seems odd that he hung himself with his hands tied behind his back.

Agreed! A six month tourist visa would be very helpful to many "snowbirds" that only want to stay in Thailand during the northern hemisphere winter.

The owner of the building will put it up for rent again. "Fully operational Chinese restaurant ready for rent". Then collect the 1st and last months rent, deposit, key money, etc. Then wait until he notices a lot of Chinese workers and calls his friend in immigration who comes in and shuts them down again......just like last time!

I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was forced to carry the drugs by an organized gang.

I like cycling at Nong Bon and at Skylane but unfortunately both are in Bangkok. At 6-7am the roads are fairly tame for Pattaya. I would go out to Mapprakan Lake or as another suggested, along Jomtien as far south as you care to venture. Wear a bike helmet whenever you are riding.

Back in the 90's you used to get only 14 days. The move to 30 days was brilliant! Let's hope that they can keep the 45 days as the new normal.

A very long time ago, back in the early 80's and also in the early 90's, I got a 90 day non-immigrant visa from the Thai Embassy in my home country. I then entered Thailand and stayed for approximately 80-85 days on two separate occasions. Is there any visa like that still available?

Just deport his a$$ back to Russia via Kiev. If he doesn't make his connecting flight.........well, I'm sure the Ukrainians will find appropriate accommodations for him.

This is blatantly false. There is no entrance fee charged based upon citizenship. The US does not have a national ID card so it is impossible to ask for a document that no one has. Not everyone in the US has a passport so that is not an option. Generally you just drive into a National Park and pay the fee at the gate similar to a toll booth on the expressways in Thailand. They only charge the vehicle not the occupants inside.

I can relate to this as both of my luk krung boys had very black hair with just a touch of dark brown mixed in. School officials accused them of putting in highlights to their hair (which was common among Thai pop stars and others at the time) to accent it. My boys explained that they did not add highlights to their hair and it was their natural colour. They did explain that they had a farang father and could ask him or their Thai mum. I'm not sure if the school did either but they never contacted me and my boys didn't have to dye their hair to look black.

You interpreted my statement to fit your narrative. 2-3 years ok. 10 years? No way! Many places you gain your teachers certificate/license upon graduating from a US university. A lot of newly graduated teachers to be spend a year maybe two subbing and then get hired on. The competition for teaching jobs is not currently that much although it does vary a bit depending upon where you are. Yes, there are some courses you have to take over the year to stay current. You already have an MA so at least they (the school administration) won't be putting pressure on you to get a master's like they do all the other BA/BS degree holders. The downside for you is that you most likely won't have enough years in the retirement system to pull down a decent retirement as you are entering the retirement system a little older than most.

I met my Thai wife in my country where she was a graduate student. Guess this doesn't fit the question.

For the life of me I do not understand why anyone (farang) would stay and teach in Thailand for more than 2-3 years. As a fully qualified teacher in the west, you can easily pull down at least $6K a month with just 6-7 years of experience. With a master's degree and 15 years of experience it's over $120K a year depending upon where you live! Then there is the retirement system that goes on top of that, something that yearly contracted farang teachers aren't getting.

Another quality tourist. I hope it was worth it considering it was only 60 baht.

Speak for yourself mate. Not all of us have acted like you.

Obviously there is a lot more to this story than what has been reported.

This same scenario has been going on for many decades. Nothing will really change. If so, that would have happened a good 30+ years ago when I first heard about the sad state of education in Thailand.

That's not too good of news considering that the Thai government is actively seeking the Chinese to come to Thailand.

Thanks for the tip. I usually avoid Thai Airways but this is another reason to do so. Other international carriers have never charged me for transporting a bicycle. I've used both soft sided and hard sided cases. Does Thai Airways charge ฿7000 on domestic flights?

I have definitely noticed an increase in Russian tourists.

They must be doing zoom classes where they can just stay in their hotel room and not have to go to the Language school. (555)