asdecas

Another 'friend', eh?

Standing by at the airport is a bad idea these days. Your 'friend' may either be there for days with no joy, or end up paying the full price for a ticket, which is very expensive. A much better idea is for your 'friend' to give cash to his/her 'friend' for paying on their credit card. He/she should be sure to get a photocopy of both the front and back of the 'friend's' card, duly signed by that 'friend', and take it with him to the airport when checking-in in case it is asked for.

You should do the right, ethical thing and announce to her whole family that you intend to pay sin sod to your future wife's nearest living relatives. In addition, I suggest a gratuitous, one hundred percent premium should be added to demonstrate that you are not one of those cheap Charlie, Archa-drinking farangs but rather someone prepared to lavish expensive designer gifts on his betrothed.

I believe he's referring to Schwab bank accounts which do refund fees, but they're only available for Americans - http://thepointsguy.com/2014/02/the-top-11-checking-accounts-for-avoiding-foreign-atm-fees/

That link references Citibank ATMs having no fee which used to be the case (e.g. by the Asoke interchange in Bangkok) but not anymore I've heard.

As of a couple of weeks ago, Citibank made no charge for using a UK-issued MC or Visa card. I cannot vouch for other countries' cards, though I have read that only American-issued cards are charged the fee at Citibank.

This is an irrelevant and frankly absurd question; why should knowing x number of words in any language denote anything other than that a person has a good memory? It says nothing about pronunciation, syntax, fluency or comprehension.

In the circumstances, a literal translation of a well-known English idiom (mastery of idiom is one test of competence in any language) might be appropriate: แฮร์ริ่งสีแดง

About as predictable as dawn tomorrow.

"...safety is always first".

Am I on the same planet as Thailand? And this twaddle on a day when a young child is electrocuted by an ATM.

The wonder is that it took so long; for at least forty years, Westerners have been coming to Thailand in increasing numbers in search of the sympathetic lifestyle that this country affords. Only with globalisation over the past twenty years have numbers coming to live here burgeoned exponentially. With the expansion of travel opportunities and global communications has come the possibly mistaken idea that those of us with the means and the wherewithal can pick and chose where we live on this globe. Up to a point it's true, but it also remains true that, if we do partake of our host country's hospitality, we are also subject to the whims and vagaries of their politicians, generals and lawyers, and these whims can be as happen-chance as the love of Ooy at the massage parlour on soi 46. 

Once you have spent a year or two learning how to make somtam correctly (wield that mortar and pestle), you will no doubt be invited to demonstrate your Thai culinary skills to the nice immigration people at a banquet in Cheng Wattana.

As you are still under sixty, and assuming you have no pre-existing health issues that must be declared on the policy, premiums are by-and-large affordable, assuming you have a pension pot to pay for it. If you have ongoing health issues and/or as you pass sixty, your premiums will soar. In that case, if you find them excessive, then it is time to consider putting money aside against any emergency on an ad hoc basis, unless the Thai government comes up with an affordable policy aimed at expat retirees.

You can pray to tea leaves, the cobra in the garden or your girlfriend's frilly knickers, nobody will bat an eyelid. Just thank the Buddha that you were not born an Iraqi.

I just did last week, BKK-KUL-MNL on Malaysian. Painless, on time, but nothing special either service- or catering-wise.

Do you think lightning will strike a third time?

"When in Rome"... people make mistakes, nothing bad happened and because of this the Thai would have thought it a personal attack from the American. If the opposite had happened and the American had been at fault and put his hands together and said ka toot kap the Thai very most likely would have given the same "polite" gesture and moved on. When in a country that has a "polite particle" in their language for both male and female, even if you are in the right a display of anger is considered very impolite.

What does "ka toot" mean? Is it related to that old Dustin Hoffman film?

I said here a year ago that I wouldn't swim in the seas off Koh Samet for at least five or ten years, I forget which. This is and has been from the start a whitewash aimed at restoring tourism there as quickly as possible. Go there by all means but swim in the sea at your peril.

Pre-Nup's are not legally binding in the UK and yes she can get half your assets in the UK if her lawyer is smart enough.

Don't get married unless she is richer than you. It's probably not her decision anyway, have you discussed it with her Thai boyfriend?

That tickled me.

Not true, In Patpong I once simply run off, after depositing 200 B each on the table. It was fun! :-)

My friend absolutely wanted to see a Ping Pong show and then came a bill of 2500 B each. No way, I thought, and we were too quick for those losers. Yeah !!!

 

and 100 to 500 baht per bottle of beer for pingpong shows, which is advertised as 100 baht per bottle once you get in your are trapped!!

 

You were lucky, my friend. I have witnessed big, toned foreigners beaten to a pulp outside the bars on Patpong 1 by the packs of maengda that come a-running when they sniff farang blood. The sound of a skull cracking as it hits the kerbstones is not pleasant. Never get involved, you are only ever one in a foreign land and they can summon assistance.
 

Dr Brown's Thai language department at AUA, Rajadamri. It's not for everybody but I found their methods wonderful.

If you arrive in the Phils on a 30 day permission to enter, you can extend this for a further 29 days, giving a total of 59 days. However it is less than half the price of that extension if you get your visa at the Phils embassy on Sukhumvit prior to travelling.

Nine inches? What about those gigantic balls?

Are those of you so quick to condemn this man sure that you have every single loophole in the complex webs of your lives, that would allow tragedy to enter, closed?

Ben - you've gone about as far as you can go on this thread. The bottom line is that nobody can give you a definitive answer. The immigration officer at the PoI will decide based upon whatever case history he brings up on his computer. Your demeanour and answers to his questions, should he ask any, will also influence him, so you should decide how to dress, to behave and what story to tell. As others have said, now is not a good time to try circumventing the system, so keep it straight, keep it legal and keep it simple is the best advice I have for you.