Stocky

I'd agree with that, 6,000 hectares (not sqm), so a population of around half a million. .

The issue is Thailand doesn't publish metro area population figures, indeed it doesn't define any metropolitan areas apart from Bangkok. So you either aggregate the population numbers for the various districts that comprise the Amphur yourself, or rely on sources like Google that already have. Even then the numbers can fail to properly represent reality because often the Amphur doesn't encompass the whole metropolitan area, because it's been broken up into several Amphur for easier administration (job creation). Google sometimes has a go at suggesting the total metropolitan area, but not always. Looking at the size of NST on satellite images it covers an area of about 2,000 hectares. Based on population numbers given above and physical size of metropolitan areas I've measured, on average 1,000 hectares equates to 80,000 population for a city development. On that basis I would estimate NST has a population of about 160,000. So using that formula I'd estimate populations as follows: Bangkok 250,000 hectares = 20 million Chiang Mai 15,000 hectares = 1.2 million Nakhon Ratchasima 12,000 hectares = 960,000 Hat Yai 10,000 hectares = 800,000 Pattaya 7,000 hectares = 560,000 Phuket 6,500 hectares = 520,000 Udon Thani 6,500 hectares = 520,000 Khon Kaen 6,200 hectares = 496,000 Surat Thani 6,000 hectares = 480,000 Ubon Ratchathani 3,500 hectares = 280,000 Chiang Rai 3,000 hectares = 240,000 Ayutthaya 2,000 hectares = 160,000 Nakhon Si Thammarat 2,000 hectares = 160,000 Lampang 2,000 hectares = 160,000 Songkhla 1,500 hectares = 120,000 Trang 1,000 hectares = 80,000 Pai 500 hectares = 40,000

Google Earth is free to use, I'm not about to chase them all up, but would suggest they all lie in the 1000 to 2000 hectare range.

And they want to spend how much on that bridge to nowhere? Clearly Phatthalung has more pressing needs than an expensive bridge of little use.

============================================ Thailand Metropolitan Areas by Size (per Google Earth) ============================================ Bangkok 250,000 hectares Chiang Mai 15,000 hectares Nakhon Ratchasima 12,000 hectares Hat Yai 10,000 hectares Pattaya 7,000 hectares Phuket 6,500 hectares Udon Thani 6,500 hectares Khon Kaen 6,200 hectares Surat Thani 6,000 hectares Ubon Ratchathani 3,500 hectares Chiang Rai 3,000 hectares Ayutthaya 2,000 hectares Nakhon Si Thammarat 2,000 hectares Lampang 2,000 hectares Songkhla 1,500 hectares Trang 1,000 hectares Pai 500 hectares (and that's being generous) This is just the visual footprint, city densities vary considerably, Chiang Mai for example sprawls over a wide area, but much of it is low density, low rise.

There's not many gaps left to fill between Bangkok, Bang Pakong, Amata Nakhon, Chonburi, Leam Chabang and Pattaya. And yes, if you measure the urban sprawl that is Pattaya it covers nearly 7,000 hectares, so bigger than Surat Thani.

As do I, like other banking apps, on completion of a successful transfer it generates a transaction record that is saved to your phone, it also gives you the option to share that receipt.

If you don't believe the population numbers just use Google Earth and the polygon tool to measure the size of the urban area for each. By that metric Chiang Rai covers some 3,000 hectares, Surat Thani 6,000 and Hat Yai about 10,000. By comparison the greater Bangkok area covers over 250,000 hectares.

No. Hat Yai is the largest metropolitan area in the south.

I don't think it's particularly 'woke', whatever that is, to say that Indigenous Australians have had the <deleted>ty end of the stick since 1788. That they seem to have found a voice to say so is probably about time.

I don't think Chiang Rai is anywhere near that big, the total population for the province is only 1.2 million, I don't think the Chiang Rai 'metropolitan area' is more than 250k. Ditto Surat Thani, that's probably about the same size or smaller.

No, very little resemblance to Bangkok. Hat Yai's a new town, just 100 years old, it sprung up with the building of the railway, the city is fairly low rise and laid out on a grid pattern, so quite easy to navigate. But it sprawls extending from Kho Hong in the east where Prince of Songkhla University campus and university hospital sit, across to Khuan Lang in the west and the airport, and north to Khlong Hae and the road to Songkhla town. Yes it's humid down south, but it's easy to walk around the central city area, there are good pavements and the buildings, like many towns in Malaysia, are built with an overhanging storey to provide some shade and to give cover during the monsoon season.

How these numbers are derived is anyone's guess, but Hat Yai smaller than Surat Thani, Phuket and Chiang Rai, I don't think so.

I realise that, but previously the application form had space for dependants travelling with. So they got their own visa in their own passport but their application was dependant on the parent/guardian so only one application form.

Or the local people of Chana (Songkhla) who oppose the Chana Industrial City Project, though that's still being contested.

That's the change from 8 years ago. Now you have to upload the documents to India, last time we just took them with us. If our granddaughter comes with us, does her application still go on my wife's application as she's a minor, or is everything replicated again in a separate application?

That's pretty similar to what I've given before (8 years ago) for the wife's last 5 year visa My sponsor letter explaining trip and that I was covering costs My bank statement (6 months) Letter from my then employer in Indonesia Marriage certificate Chanote for house Last two untranslated as it was VFS Thailand doing the vetting. I'm now semi-retired so there will be no letter from an employer.

We've postponed our UK trip until next year, I received a work offer I couldn't refuse. Still unsure as to how much paperwork is actually essential for the application given the wife has had visas granted previously.

Exactly. Not all Israelis are Jews, and not all Jews are Israelis. And criticism of Israel isn't antisemitism.

Anything available would have all been snapped up by friends & family long before the announcement.

If you bought your wife a house you don't need a rental agreement, just a copy of the Tabian Baan that shows your wife is the Home Owner

That I believe is the intention. Oil terminals/Tank Farms at either end connected by pipeline(s). https://www.thaipbsworld.com/transport-minister-vows-to-press-ahead-with-land-bridge-mega-project/ .

I guess people want to come and see it before it gets paved over with the land bridge megaproject.

Someone who walks around Pattaya with near 5oz of gold strung around their neck at 1.30am needs their head examining.

They wouldn't know their arse from their elbow. A few years back they put out some nonsense about Thailand's huge gold mineral resources. It's all pie in the sky. Even if Thailand had a mining culture, with clear laws on licencing and security of tenure, the gap between something being simply prospective, to a bankable resource, and then an actual mine is five to ten years given fair winds. The debacle with the Junta and Kingsgate Mining/Chatree Gold did nothing to instil confidence in foreign companies and investors considering Thailand as target for exploration and mining. There's a next to zero chance of any lithium mining in Phang-nga.