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In related news, the the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Mr. Murphy has resigned his position and was last spotted on Highway 11 near Chiang Mai in a BMW.

"Most of the victims are believed to have died from smoke inhalation after becoming trapped inside the building" no they died because of a lack of enforced standards and corruption RIP

"In some cases, international banks froze their accounts after detecting suspicious activity, requiring customers to appear in person in their home countries before funds could be released." This is the really scary one. The banks are free to act as judge and jury with little or no regard to the owner of the account. Supposing a bank froze an account thus requiring the owner of the account to appear in person. Would the bank accept costs incurred in the event of said suspicions proving to be groundless? The answer to that is "of course they wouldn't" The wording "suspicious activity" is actually "unusual activity" which means unexpected withdrawals. So for example, if you have an expensive car repair bill to pay using your Thai bank account which you then need to top up from your home country bank, this could be deemed to be unusual activity. I don't have a high opinion of banks.

I think this is the first time this topic has ever been raised on the forum. It will be a massive hit. Cant wait to read 20 pages of misery.

You could save yourself a fortune by just staying home. Everywhere you go seems to be full of people you don’t like.

Thailand is known for its long queues and waiting time at the airport. But besides TDAC everybody must have fingerprint scan and facepic and boarding pass. I don't see that in other airports. With the coming 300 THB it will give much more irritation for travellers, as nobody will understand what the money is for. The first impression of Thailand is not a good one

I love passing through Singapore. It’s a model of efficiency.

Riding a motorcycle without medical insurance, in Thailand, is just plain dumb.

Is it just my age or are these influences a strange lot ?

According to Facebook, she was found.

Trump always leave behind a bad stench in every summit. This time he compounded his Greenland threat with his belittling of Denmark's quick surrender to Germany. This kind of loose, blunt even offensive rhetoric by a world leader is sordid and unnecessary. Dementia has damaged parts of this brain to be able to control his words, impulse and reasoning. He really is unfit to continue as POTUS.

For some reason I suspect the customer was scamming for a free meal.

Why does Thailand attract all the crap from all around the world ?

Minnesota governor Tim Walz commented: “Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went. The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.”

This isn't a queue; it's a mandatory physical fitness test after a 12-hour flight. 🏋️‍

This question is straight out of a university’s brainwashed kids handbook. We have all been colonised somewhere along the line. Please leave the virtue signalling to the kids on Tik Tok.

Abandon those bases... don't rebuild anything. Cut your losses and get out of the Middle East. The alliance with Israel has been an unmitigated disaster for the USA. The Zionist agenda has become a bloody genocidal blitz that is laying waste to large parts of the region. Beyond question, the whole world is turning against America and Israel.

Maybe they don't enjoy being ogled or "cat called" by ugly unattractive men. And yes, maybe you are one. Pathetic post really.

By the time you finish explaining the question, she’s married someone else.

For those unaware, the Reflecting Pool is part of the National Mall, running from in front of the Lincoln Memorial to near the Washington Monument. Trump decided---while ostensibly trying to run both a country and a war (into the ground)---that he would turn it into "American Flag Blue" as part of the 250th Anniversary of the United States. Trump seems obsessed with the Reflecting Pool. He even displayed graphics comparing its horizontal length to the vertical height of major buildings like the Empire State Building, as if that means anything. (Note: he did not compare it to China's Great Wall, so we're saved that absurdity, while substituting another.) Anyway, Trump seems to have an obsession with making sure people think things are bigger than they actually are, if you know what I mean. The manner in which this pool cleaning unfolded is a perfect example of everything that is wrong with both Trump and his tenure as the supposed leader of a major democracy. First, it is yet another vanity project, part of how his woeful personal insecurity drives him. Everything has to be about him, from trying to share glory with a beloved former President by installing his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, to his Trumpian Arch, to his giant banner displaying his mug on the supposedly independent Dept of Justice, to his celebratory concert that has morphed into another Trump rally for the 4th of July. (One wonders how prominent will be the mention of Arnold Palmer's junk?). Second, the $14.2 million contract to clean the pool and make it blue was dealt in a no-bid manner to a 2 major Trump donors, people who evidenced no ability to carry out the required pool changes. Third, the contractor did a very poor job. He drained the pool, supposedly cleaned it, and then laid down a blue tarp all the way along its bottom with what he thought was the right kind of glue to withstand years under water. Next he refilled the pool with unfiltered water from the Potomac River, instead supposedly utilizing some procedure called nanobubbler technology. The Potomac, being a natural waterway, contained algae. Now present in a shallow pool during a hot spring and summer in DC, the algae did what algae are wont to do: reproduce. Algae tends more toward a green color than blue, so the hoped-for American Flag Blue wasn't going to happen. The contractor decided the algae could not stand up to hydrogen peroxide, so he had crew pour hundreds of gallons of it into the pool. The liquid did wipe out some of the algae, albeit along the edges of the pool. The inner rectangle remained algae green. It's possible the hydrogen peroxide also interacted with the glue used to hold down the blue tarp, or perhaps the glue was just not meant to be soaked by water, or never properly set. In any event, the tarp began to separate from the bottom, with large pieces floating on top of the water. Unable to accept failure or blame, nor to be questioned as to why he awarded the contract in a no-bid manner to a donor, Trump made up excuses. He tried to find people to blame. Proof of involvement is not something necessary in MAGA and Trump's world; accusation equals guilt. Trump instantly "concluded" the pool had been sabotaged by "deranged radical leftists and Dumocrats", though obviously he made this accusation without evidence. An unfortunate visitor to the pool, who happened to be a former US Olympian, reached into the pool to examine a piece of the floating blue tarp. He was instantly arrested and charged with the vandalization of Trump's vanity project. Trump raged in a series of bizarre Tweets, and the Dept of the Interior issued an obviously false statement claiming the Reflecting Pool was "crystal clear", and using its statement both to disparage the rent-free resident residing in Trump's addled brain (Obama) and boast about Trump's war prowess. Yes, don't believe you lying eyes. So what can be done now? The entire $14.2 million was wasted. It's a total loss. To get the pool "American Flag Blue", the entire pool would have to be drained again and dried, so that a new and better blue tarp could be laid, and then something better than "nonobubbler technology" would have to be used to make sure algae did not reappear. So it's all a mess now. McArthur's Park has melted in the rain, so to speak. This is all so Trumpian: vanity, corruption, incompetence, US Taxpayer money wasted, failure to accept responsibility, blame of others, prosecution without evidence of a crime, and manufacturing of an alternate reality.

This is another major problem being caused by all these pesky, dirty foreigners. Around 45 homeless foreign nationals over an eight-month period, which gives an annual total of around 68 people. Assuming that there are 31,000,000 visitors during the year, it gives an alarming rate of 0.000219354%. Absolutely disgusting! 😉

I was at the immigration office some time ago and there were a few foreigners and they were send back to Bangkok as their hotel did not report to the immigration of their stay. They should solve the problem with the hotel and than come back to the immigration, Bit strange situation as a lot of foreigners don't have anything to do with the administration of the immigration and the hotels. Besides that we spoke with a Thai woman who stayed with her foreign husband several months always in a hotel in Chonburi. But the hotel she said did not do the reporting to the immigration, as she was not registered because she did not wanted to pay tax. So in fact foreigners are being held responsible for something they don't have to deal with. It is a regulation between hotel and immigration, but it looks the same as the foreign tax that they want to introduce, were airlines should collect the taxes and Thailand only benefits, here the administration is a mess too.. The TDAC should be sufficient and problems should be solved by the immigration instead of by the tourists, who are not responsible for the actions of Thais.

This poll fails because multiple choices are not possible. For example: I have a wife AND I have given up on sex. 😉

Dear Gamma, I can confirm that I do believe I will die. The bigger question is whether your readers believe they’ll ever get through one of your posts without needing a coffee, a lie down, and a small existential crisis.

Just returned home from visiting Bkk Hospital in one of the major city's in Thailand and must say I was rather surprised to learn from a nurse I know from previous visits, that they actually charge foreigners more than Thais for identical procedures. I knew and fully understand that public hospitals charges non-Thai citizens the actual cost of the health-care they receive, I agree that the government should not subsidize foreign citizens health-care. (Leave that to the western country's). But charging extra for already profitable healh-care just because they are foreigners makes me feel disgusted. Knowing that a lot of farangs dies not being able to afford needed health-care, I find it deeply immoral that this version of two-tier practice actually exists.

They announced measures months ago after a cabinet meeting and nothing came to effect. So now another cabinet meeting, and the major change appears to be to allow Indians to enter without a visa. Indians entering without a visa makes a mockery of the whole 'pivoting to quality tourism'. No changes at all to toughen up the other visas that are being abused, which is the real problem.

Get real ... not everyone does.

No back up plan can be dangerous. If it looks to be to good to be true, it probably is. Poor planning. We have been living in Thailand for 15 years, retired from the US and living on our retirement income from the US. You must plan when you move to a foreign country.

All these fancy titles, but still gofundme.

If he had any real friends he wouldn't be an Influencer. 😀

Uhhh, the Strait of Hormuz was open before Trump screwed the pooch. And it didn't cost taxpayers a penny. Conclusion: Trump is 💯 Responsible for the Cost LET HIM PAY HE'S THE ONE WHO <deleted> EVERYTHING UP 😭

You don't travel much. Fingerprint scanning and facial photos are pretty much in every airport in the world now. Why don't they just use the automated machines for arrivals ?

I sincerely hope you've given up driving. Thank you.

It's no problem at all, I don't report anything to anyone, and if they send me a bill I'll just leave. There's no significant money here for them to take.

Sadly her tattoos tell a story.

You stick things up your bum too?

I really don't like to see older people 70 plus still working, it's one of my pet peeves and it means they have no life or lonely As many of you know I have been doing boxing training lately in Australia,and quite enjoyed it until I was punched in the nose by the 78yo Scottish trainer He turns up this morning to replace friendly Derrick which I later found out was his son As soon as I entered the training hall I noticed a elderly man albeit fit looking standing up the front with "trainer" written on his singlet I walked up to introduce myself and I immediately asked him his age He said I'm Dericks father ( our normal trainer) and I'm 78yo 78 !!!! I said shocked He looked at me and nodded with a big smile almost like he thought I was going to say you don't look 78 ! But I didn't ! I had a quiet whisper word in his ear " you really shouldn't be working at your age old man " I whispered in his ear , "don't you think your too old , and in another 5 years or so........you won't be... He looked back at me shocked and cut me off talking Immediately he changed from being nice to rude " Get over there with the others " ,he said sternly pointing to the boxing group I felt good that I had told him what was on my mind rather than hold it in When our class started he picked me to demonstrate the right hand and punched me in the nose " Get your guard up Lassie he shouted before punching me in the nose in front of the whole class The first hit to the nose was not too bad and my eyes watered and everyone was so nice except this horrible old man Get ya guard up LASSIE !! he kept saying as he demonstrated the left jab and punched me again in the nose and this time I felt it hurt Some of the group were shocked , I immediately felt like I was going to cry and a woman in the group hugged me She said it's not bleeding Meanwhile this barbaric old man who kept calling me LASSIE , I said it's GEORGE not Lassie after a dog on TV, what does Lassie have to do with me the senile old man forgot my name !!!! I left immediately and I won't be back ,my nose is hurt I can hardly breathe , and nearly called a ambulance. I may have brain damage caused by this senile Oldman Why are these old people in jobs past 70?

I have lived here 8 years and have met some decent people who have become friends , I have also met a good few miserable expats either whining about the heat , the food the traffic the way their wife/gf treats them gets boring , why do men retire here and lose themselves , screaming about a beer is 5 baht more.

Clear mad as a hatter..........

1 - no-one has written that the wait is the biggest problem in their life. You made that up. 2 - I think you miss the point of the report, which highlights gross inefficiences. 3 - '90% of the people in the world can't afford to vacation in Thailand'. Something else you've made up, unless you have figures to support it.

It's the necessity for 90-day reporting when you have a 1-year visa that needs to be looked at

The art is to adjust to any environment wherever you go and still manage to live a productive and happy life

Stating facts about private hospitals in Thailand is not bashing anyone!

Log out of the web board, and turn off the internet.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday night bragged that America is respected around the world under his leadership. “Tonight, as we stand at the edge of our 250th year of independence, I am thrilled to declare that America is back,” Trump said, then added: “As you know very well, a short time ago we were a dead country. We were dead. Now we’re the hottest country anywhere in the world. We’re respected by everybody. Nobody’s laughing at us anymore. Two years ago, they were laughing. Now, we’re the most respected anywhere ― think of it ― anywhere in the world.” However, the video evidence tells another story. Footage from last year, for example, showed several European leaders laughing over how Trump kept confusing Albania for Armenia. Leaders were also caught on camera laughing at his expense more than once during his prior term in office. Some reactions on X: Well, he's kind of right - USA is not a "joke" because jokes are funny. The US is a tragedy now. He's the joke. Just ask the Iranians. Nope- they’re laughing their asses off. Talk to Italy! Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-world-not-laughing_n_6a3cb116e4b0bbe31500d9e6?origin=home-latest-news-unit

The OP listens to Justin Bieber.

Anyone with a functioning brain should realized that Trump is a psychotic megalomanic with delusions of grandeur which far outstrips his position as the leader of US. If anything, Trump is a danger to US national security. Personally I'd be very happy if he was removed from office ASAP as he's a danger to our Republic. He's quite literal high on his own supply, if you get my drift.

"A spokesman for the foxes said that they take henhouse security very seriously, and are determined to get to the bottom of the accusations made by the hens."

Jesus, not in every thread, please, can you just refrain from posting your paranoid racist nonsense for once.

Never mind Greenland ,release ALL the Trump - Epstein files....and the Golden Shower tapes.... regards Worgeordie