Amy time I have need to carry my PP it's in a neck pouch, and stays there until it goes in a hotel safe.

Done the same thing in Pattaya one late night, and searched the condo next morning 3 times with no result. But unlike you didn't know which bar I lost it in, or whether it just popped out of my pocket. Reported it lost and checked every day for a week at the Tourist Police Office with no result. The trouble I had to replace that lost P.P. was unreal with mutiple emails to my home country and phone calls also, with the biggest problem being the requirement of a birth certificate. I am much more aware of my P.P. now as I learnt a good lesson and feel sorry for those who have the same problem. Take Care as it's the most important document we have, and unfortunately don't treat it as such.

You have got to be the luckiest son of a bitch alive.

Some guy at a food stall just happens to overhear (and obviously understood English) that you lost a passport and gets out of his lazy sleep in his hammock to pull out a box with your passport in it?

You must have a horseshoe up your ass.

Happy for ya.

Irish...is there a joke here somewhere.

Sorry.

Cheers Chicagoan. I haven't met anyone who can speak English here (and I met a lot of people tiday). My Thai is fine so I managed to get through this confusing day. It was actually my driver who decided to stop at this particular food stall and ask (it is beside Sala Beer where I had been drinking). Lucky? Yes, very, very lucky. Tonight Im just drinking beer by the hotel pool. Beerlao is great.

First, I hope you gave the guy who returned your passport a present. Honesty in such situations should be rewarded. Secondly, make absolutely sure that the various stops you made before getting your passport back has not resulted in your passport being reported stolen. If necessary, get that corrected before leaving town.

Yea, I'll go back there tonight

Don't lose your wallet!

I hope you tipped the guy. geez get a passport holder that hangs around your neck for when doing visa runs. And always have number to your embassy in case chit happens . Maybe a photo copy of passport extra pics that either a friend holds or some one who could go in your place to embassy in your place.

Yea, I her and him what I had in my wallet. $100 plus THB1500. They seemed happy. Unlucky for them as if had more in my pocket they would have got it.

Irish...is there a joke here somewhere.

Sorry.

"Great news, glad you got it back. I'm sure you will be more careful the next time."

Idle hope, he's Irish

...you should go have a beer to celebrate...

I bet your beer Lao tasted great last night.

23 years ago, my first trip to Asia a German guy I was sharing a room gave me some sage advice, I never forgot it.

I asked if I should leave me passport in the room "for safety". He patted his money belt and exclaimed...This! Your passport is your life!

I've never forgotten that and it is a rare occassion that my passport leaves my person, only in the room - and I sleep with it under my pillow by habit.

Entry into Thailand was interesting. The immigration officer asked me a number of questions in Thai that I was able to handle. But when he was stamping my passport he stamped Used on the visa and I'm pretty sure that he said it was only Val i d for 90 days not for a year. I might have misheard but I thought he said that, as I have a wife, I only get 90 days.

Is that correct or do I need to get my hearing checked?

Entry into Thailand was interesting. The immigration officer asked me a number of questions in Thai that I was able to handle. But when he was stamping my passport he stamped Used on the visa and I'm pretty sure that he said it was only Val i d for 90 days not for a year. I might have misheard but I thought he said that, as I have a wife, I only get 90 days.

Is that correct or do I need to get my hearing checked?

Maybe only a 90 day permit to stay, but a one year multiple entry visa?.

Hopefully you're right, Tim. Love to know for sure.

Hopefully you're right, Tim. Love to know for sure.

Actually, if the visa was stamped used and this was not an error, it must have been a single entry visa. The number of entries should be clear just reading the visa. If so, I guess you will need to get an extension of stay at immigration before the end of the 90 days.

I had my passport picked from my pocket in the Beijing airport.

1 . Offer a large reward to any and all nearby. More than twice the cash in the wallet.

2. Report it to the police. (one of the few things i did correctly)

3. Go to your nearest Embassy or consulate of your nation. ( Little good this did for me. Although They pulled up a copy of my passport in minutes, it took three months to get a new passport. )

4. Keep your expired passport hidden in your luggage somewhere - - NOT WITH YOUR CURRENT PASSPORT.

5. Make a photocopy of your current passport and also keep it ( preferably in a third place) - Carry on for example.

6. Simple documents like a driver's license, marriage certificate and birth certificate are required to get a new passport to replace a lost or stolen one.

Believe me it was a major pain to replace this passport. If I was a tourist, I may have become bankrupt waiting. I could not take the plane so I took a sleeper bus some 500 miles to where my wife was working. I subsequently found work, although I was not looking. I had to take the train 1000 km to Luoyang China. I could not get a work permit until my passport had been replaced some 3 months later.