richard_smith237

Having a child (or more correctly, my Wife having our child) was one of the reasons I was tempted to move back to the UK... the safety here is quite poor. That said, life is good here. Tax in the UK is too high - its cheaper to send my son to an International School. Thailand is great for ‘holiday access’ - beaches etc... The pollution has been an issue lately which has given further pause for thought. Visa is not an issue (Thai Elite). Life is now in Thailand - family, friends, lifestyle... its home - that’s basically why I’m still in Thailand...

How do you not see a bus???? .... What more can be said about this,? Stupidity in the extreme... Thr bus driver did well. The fortune driver needs to be banned before he/she kills someone, imagine if the fortuner pulled out in front of those bikes....

I'm using SIM2fly right now in Japan... It seems to be working OK. Speeds OK, but haven't tried streaming video yet. It's 400b for 5GB for 8 days, then another 300b for a further 3GB. So... It works OK in Japan... No reason to suspect it won't in Europe.

Yes... It's possible. I have the Thai Elite Visa and when I worked here I've had to Exit & re-enter on a type B & apply for extension of stay based on work permit (or something to that effect). ---------- I had a minor issue on entry once after a trip back to the UK. The project I was on was was aborted while I was taking a trip to the UK. I was a work permit & extension of stay which was expiring the day after I landed. The immigration officer stamped me in for one day! I argued that he can stamp me in on my Elite Visa, he said no, it had to be my Extension of stay which meant I wotld have had to depart again the following day!!!! Nor happy with that I stood firm and the Immigration officer called his boss, she listened to me and corrected the stamp for 90 days (TE visa) instead of the 1 day!!!!

You mean they'll return to ship with a dose of the squats?

Tell her it's over... be polite. Don't respond to any further contact. It’s not that hard, but impossible to do without hurting her feelings. She’s already done very well out of you.

Op... You recognised a shakedown for what it was... You handled it well.

Agreed... A loss of life under any circumstance is tragic... However, the lack of compassion on this thread is quite understandable. Fortunately no 'innocents' were hurt or killed.

Not quite.... a number of years ago there was some political jiggery pokery and they tried to close Thai Elite down - 2 separate govournments were unable to do so and now its stronger than ever....

It depends on your priorities... In my early 30’s the TE Visa cost me 1MB for lifetime - I consider it money well spent, I’ve still a while to go before retirement age. I see all these visa threads issues with renewal, visa runners, 800k in the bank threads etc... the TE visa is just simply trouble free. It was a breeze this morning when I didn’t have to queue at Immigration. It’s been easy with the Airport pickup and fast track through the airport - already 5 times in 2019 alone. The financial implications? I’ve lost far more in depreciation of cars over the same time, spent more on flights, holidays etc.... putting it in perspective the TE visa has cost me less than 100k per year so far, and with the perks (Golf, Massage, Airport Transfers, yearly medical checkup)... its works out at less. By the time I’m of retirement age that’s 20 years of visa... 50k baht per year... with the perks... AOT Limo about 20 times per year (1000b per time) a couple of golf games thrown (3000b per round), Yearly Medical (10,000 baht per time)... I’m looking at 36,000 in perks per year alone. Plus.... The trouble free visa - Priceless. The Airport fast track - Priceless... I work hard so I can enjoy life and be where I want when I want and not worry about a visa issues or airport queues if I can get away with it. The Elite Visa has been money very well spent... Would I spend 500,000 baht for 5 years now? No, I’m married (to a Thai) so no longer need to, but I’d miss the fast-tracking, not welcome the paperwork and extensions, I’d miss the other perks....

You have the Compulsory insurance (Por-ror-bor).... A local dealership should / may be able to help you out securing 1st class insurance or something better to cover the cost of scraping the side of a Merc....

I’m about to use it in Japan. usually I use a Japanese company and have a sim diliverd to my hotel (I use about 5GB in a 10 day trip)... I’ll see how the SIM2fly works this time... it’s much cheaper (usually about B3600 for 10 days 5GB - SIM2Fly is B400 for 7 days + B300 for a 4GB top up on the 8th day +)... I’m wondering where the catch is, or if the connection speeds are any good (4G is advertised)....