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bubba

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  1. Don't worry about a drop in tourism . Those cheaper lao khao prices will more than offset these fees.
  2. Your Fox News article regarding WE161 is dated 8 November 2019
  3. Thai media are now reporting that he was beating his head bloody against the wall in jail so the authorities have moved him to Suan Prung psychiatric hospital. Just a thought…even if he eventually gets released, what airline is going to allow him to board a flight back to Canada unless he’s in a straight jacket?
  4. Regarding the border run to Laos across the Mekong (not a small river) from Sop Ruak (not close by to Mae Sai), I posted this back in February and presumably it is still accurate. Go to the immigration office in Sop Ruak. They will stamp you out and they also ask if you have at least 10,000 baht in cash and an outbound air ticket. (On arrival, they did not ask to see that). After getting stamped out walk out the back door which leads to the boat dock. The boat across to Lao costs 70 baht if there are at least three passengers and they run on demand. Once on the other side, you disembark and walk up to Lao immigration. The first window checks passports and hands you an arrival form, which you complete, then hand it to the next window and then pay at another window. The visa cost varies by country - for Americans it was 1,500 baht. There is a small duty free shop inside the Lao arrivals hall just after you enter with decent prices on spirits and wine. If you have USD, use those as they were doing 37 baht/dollar for purchases. You can then go to departures, get stamped out and return to Thailand to get stamped in. The boat back to Thailand costs 150 baht. Once back on the Thai side, you just need to go through Thai arrivals and you're stamped back in. The immigration officer advised and confirmed that they will only allow this twice each year. All together this will cost you 1750 baht which is more than the Mae Sai crossing would cost you, but it’s there if you need it while Mae Sai remains closed.
  5. So will these additional 15 million passengers annually arriving at the 28 new gates be dumped into the same immigration arrival area as the already overflowing one?
  6. I do not know what the cost of a Lao visa on arrival is today, but at the Sop Ruak crossing it was definitely 1500 Thai baht for American nationals in the middle of last month.
  7. Just up the road at Sop Ruak (“Golden Triangle”), crossing the Mekong to Laos is an option and you get 45 days. I posted this in another thread. Here's how it worked: Go to the immigration office in Sop Ruak. They will stamp you out and they also ask if you have at least 10,000 baht in cash and an outbound air ticket. (On arrival, they did not ask to see that). After getting stamped out walk out the back door which leads to the boat dock. The boat across to Lao costs 70 baht if there are at least three passengers and they run on demand. Once on the other side, you disembark and walk up to Lao immigration. The first window checks passports and hands you an arrival form, which you complete, then hand it to the next window and then pay at another window. The visa cost varies by country - for Americans it was 1,500 baht. There is a small duty free shop inside the Lao arrivals hall just after you enter with decent prices on spirits and wine. If you have USD, use those as they were doing 37 baht/dollar for purchases. You can then go to departures, get stamped out and return to Thailand to get stamped in. The boat back to Thailand costs 150 baht. Once back on the Thai side, you just need to go through Thai arrivals and you're stamped back in. The immigration officer advised and confirmed that they will only allow this twice each year. All together this will cost you 1750 baht which is more than the Mae Sai crossing would cost you, but it’s there if you need it while Mae Sai remains closed.
  8. An update on that if anyone is interested... Here's how it worked: Go to the immigration office in Sop Ruak. They will stamp you out and they also ask if you have at least 10,000 baht in cash and an outbound air ticket. (On arrival, they did not ask to see that). After getting stamped out walk out the back door which leads to the boat dock. The boat across to Lao costs 70 baht if there are at least three passengers and they run on demand. Once on the other side, you disembark and walk up to Lao immigration. The first window checks passports and hands you an arrival form, which you complete, then hand it to the next window and then pay at another window. The visa cost varies by country - for Americans it was 1,500 baht. You can then go to departures, get stamped out and return to Thailand to get stamped in. The boat back to Thailand costs 150 baht. BTW, there is also a small duty free shop inside the Lao arrivals hall with decent prices on spirits and wine. If you have USD, use those as they were doing 37 baht/dollar for purchases. Once back on the Thai side, you just need to go through Thai arrivals and you're stamped back in. The immigration officer advised and confirmed that they will only allow this twice each year. Seems easy to me if you need to do a border run and maybe faster than going through Chiang Kong and across the bridge there, at least until Tachilek reopens, which of course is faster and cheaper.
  9. You can also do a border run from Sop Ruak ("Golden Triangle") by boat across the river to Laos. Friend of mine confirmed this with Chiang Saen immigration and will be doing that next week. There is immigration there for your exit/entry stamps and you can buy a Lao visit on the other side.
  10. It's not gnarly. Post exposure rabies vaccine protocol specifies one injection in your arm every two weeks for a total of four. You should also receive human rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG) immediately to provide antibodies that will protect you until you begin to generate your own antibodies from the vaccine. HRIG is injected into and around the bite site and is not particularly painful. I know. I've been there and thankfully lived. One thing my physician told me - an older gentleman who had done his residency in rural Isaan decades ago when there was more rabies: go to a sink, put your watch next to it and commence washing the wound with soap and water for a full 20 minutes. He said 20 minutes will seem like a long time and it is, but that alone can be be >95% efficacious in washing the virus out and preventing infection, unless it is a deep puncture wound. And then go get HRIG and vaccines.
  11. Anutin: Clarification: there are no confirmed reports of marijuana overdose; however, there are many cases of paracetamol overdose and casual overuse, particularly with alcohol, is very likely to cause substantial and permanent liver damage.
  12. Our Sinet internet went down abruptly a couple of hours ago. Just tried calling their support line and all I get is a recording, saying: "Now the internet system in Chiang Mai is down. The internet service will be temporarily disrupted. Apologise for the inconvenience" It's impossible to reach a live officer for any advice. Does anyone have any information regarding what's going on? Are they still in business and operational or has someone pulled the plug on them?
  13. Ban Rak Thai is not quite just before Mae Hong Son. The village is actually nearly an hour's drive off of the main highway (1095) and includes some fairly steep climbs. But yes, it is indeed a beautiful little Chinese KMT village, albeit a bit touristy.
  14. Flew BKK-CNX week last week on Thai Smile and the checkin counter agent asked for either a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test (but not both).
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