shdmn

As opposed to before when it had a reputation for being a chilled out hippy hang out? 🤔

Lol.... So I guess just saying "Estimates suggest", which is peppered all through that article, makes it all fact. 🤣 How do I know this story is complete nonsense? Yes yes, marijuana is well known to cause addiction problems. 🤦‍♂️ But gambling. Nah, Thai's don't have a problem with that, so let's make that legal. 🤡 In the western world, where there are actual scientific studies, usage always goes down. Especially among younger people, who apparently no longer see it as a form of rebellion once it is legal.

Still amazes me that there are stable people who actually WANT to be around for this. Almost always newbies. Very few repeats.

Is this true? I was seriously looking at VT5D instead of VT2A but no fiber would be a deal breaker for me.

It's not for a few days, only a few minutes. Just long enough for you to sign the paperwork at the bank. TIT

Yes, farangs are some of the worst scooter drivers on the road. I guess they see Thai guys driving like idiots and figure they need to show them that they can be an even bigger idiot. Watch how most Thai women drive scooters. That is the example people should be following. Not the young Thai guys who seem to have a death wish.

Now that you mention it, the immigration officer that pulled me aside was a younger female who was fairly easy on the eyes. So the girlfriend question she asked could have been more than just for professional reasons, but who knows.

I rented most bikes out there and drove them several days to get a good feel for them. Grand Filano hybrid was my favorite. Also one of the cheaper ones and even comes with front disk brakes and ABS. I like it better than a PCX (way overpriced imo) or NMAX. Clicks have the gas tank under the seat which is inconvenient and limits storage. Grand Filano has tons of storage under the seat. Also a nice wide comfortable seat. More maneuverable and narrower than a lot of other bikes, so good for weaving around and going in between traffic. Also very fun to drive. Unlike something like a Scoopy or Lead, it's good for a taller person. You sit higher so your knees are not up to your chest. You see lots of little thai girls riding them as well, they just need to sit a little further forward. I haven't had the opportunity to rent a Giorno yet, so that is still on my todo list. Visually, I prefer the look of the Filano, but I could probably get used to the look of the Giorno if I liked everything else about it.

I was well within all those rules as well. I only did one land border entry that renewed my METV for another 60 days. The ONLY visa waiver I got was re-entering by air one time. I had previously been in Thailand only about 4.5 months with a legit return ticket within 30 days. So I was still well below the 6 months with proof I did not plan to stay that long. One of the problems with the METV is that the 6 months starts after it is issued, not after you first enter the country. My consulate can sometimes take up to 2 weeks or more to issue them, so I can't wait till the last minute to get it before I go to maximize the 6 month duration. Also, I hate leaving anything till the last minute so I got it about 45 days before. That is why it expired after only about 4.5 months in country. This trip was the first time I tried staying for more than a couple months as a trial to see if want to retire in Thailand part time. This experience didn't make me feel very welcome. That and all the hassle with renewals, border runs, extensions, is making me rethink things. They even wanted me to produce a TM.30 when I tried to extend for 30 days. It's all a big hassle. I might give the Philippines a go next winter since their visa process sounds easier. If I do decide to make Thailand my asian base I'll probaby just bite the bullet and get a retirement visa. I'll still need to produce a TM.30. This new tax thing will probably mean even more paperwork at a minimum. It's definitely making me re-evaluate things.

Did you actually read what I did or are you just trying to make stuff up so you can argue with me about it? Do you even know how an METV works and that it is different than a visa waiver? For anyone else who can't be bothered to read my OP. I had ONE multi-entry tourist visa. That is supposed to allow me to re-enter for up to 6 months. I extended that by 30 days ONE time. I did a land border run ONE time. I went to Vietnam for a week and came back after my METV expired and they didn't want to issue a visa waiver even though I had previously been in Thailand only about 4.5 months and have a legit return ticket proving I am staying less than 6 months. No grey areas, all well within the rules.

What a miraculous recovery from his supposed medical problems that were used as the excuse to release him.

A lot of people come to this forum just to argue with other people. There was only one person in all of the comments who offered a reasonable opinion on the situation and how to avoid it in the future.

The expiry date is stamped in your passport, so unless you cannot read it's pretty hard to get that wrong. But I am sure you will try find some other excuse to argue about it.

Atta boy Saul.

Are you seriously going to try disagree with me because 3 months is not always exactly 90 days? Really?? 🤦‍♂️ This forum cracks me up sometimes. If you say the sky is blue people would be trying to find reasons to disagree.

I guess if you live in the same city as your consulate where you can drop off and pick up your passport in person it's not that big a deal. I don't, so the Evisa system has made things much easier for me.

You are doing exactly the same thing as I am in that case. I totally agree that it's the correct visa and that using a visa exempt entry after it expires should not be an issue, so it was a surprise when I had problems. I went into an agent and asked about a retirement visa. It's around 30,000b the first time. That gets me the initial 3 month visa + the 12 month renewable multi-entry visa. After that it's around 14,000b to renew each year if I get an agent to do it. Apparently, they do pretty much do everything for you. After factoring in my cost for a METV each trip + extensions + border runs, it's not much more expensive to just get the retirement visa and be done with it. No need to go through the extra hassle and all the paperwork, and I won't need to carefully plan my travel dates anymore. So I might just do that.

Why are you still getting stickers in your passport? Is that still a thing in AUS? EVisa is much easier and doesn't use up a page in your passport. It's just a one page letter you print out and show to them.

I stood there and calmly answered their questions and even threw in a little bit of Thai. It's hilarious reading these comments from the peanut gallery speculating that I must smell bad, be wearing offensive clothes, have offensive tattoos, and was arguing with them. 🤣

Besides the buffering problems, the other problem with Wizz is that it is more UK focused. They have lots of UK/EU sports channels, especially soccer, which I have no interest in. They have some US channels and sports channels as well but not as many as other more US oriented streaming services. You can switch servers with their service, so I have been using the US/EU servers lately. Those seem to have less buffering than their Asian servers. The main reason I got Wizz was because of the Asian servers to avoid buffering while in Thailand, which doesn't seem to be the case, so I don't see any technical advantage with them in Thailand.

Don't believe these sham reviews from sockpuppet accounts with only 2 posts. They must pay someone to post these on various forums. It's been a horrible service for me in Thailand and now I am stuck with it for a year. I also have a US based service with more US programming that has not had nearly as much buffering as this does, also a lot more of the US based programming I want to watch. So now I am paying for two services when only one is of any use. It was supposed to be better than other services because they have Asia-based servers. That has not been my experience. Waste of money. No it's not just me. It's been so bad they even sent out an email about it trying to blame Thailand internet providers. Spoiler, the changes they claimed would fix it didn't. I was having problems before this and these new apparent problems and changes have only made it worse. MUCH worse.

This has been my experience as well. I used to need at least 8-9. Now I can get by with 7-8. Six is ok sometimes but I will often feel like a nap in the afternoon if I only get that.

The easiest for beginners is to breath in and count on exhale. Do that up to 4 then repeat. Only focus on that and nothing else. I use that to help me take a nap in the afternoon. It's technically not supposed to be used for that but that is what often happens to me when I do it. If you get really good at it and can totally clear your mind, without falling asleep, then it gives you the some of same benefit as sleep.

I have exactly the same problem as OP. Good to know I am not the only one. I've been tested for sleep apnea and snoring and it's not that. I don't need to get up to pee that often either. Tried some of the suggestions here by eating a banana before bed and taking a melatonin. Didn't really help. The biggest annoyance is waking up several times at night then often not being able to fall back asleep. I found that getting some direct sunlight (no sunglasses) first thing in the morning (before 9am) helps me a little bit. I read that it helps to reset your circadian clock. I also quit drinking coffee completely and avoid any other caffeine beverages. Both those seem to help a little bit as well. Especially when it comes to taking a nap in the afternoons, which I also recently started doing. It is still a problem sometimes though. Taking some diphenhydramine early in the morning when I wake up and can't get back to sleep seems to work pretty well. That's not a long term solution though.

Could be just about anywhere as it's a problem almost everywhere. That is just one reason why I would never want to buy a place and try avoid any kind of long term lease I would not be willing to walk away from.