chaihot

That is what I have - as I made contact direct with the UK office and never anyone in Thailand. My renewal is Feb 24 -- and there are no notes on my account in the online panel.

PattayaMail says: Pol. Col. Kullachart Kullachai Pattaya New in another article: police chief Kunlachart Kunllachai Too bad they don't really know the name of the police chief. ???? hahahaha

I've been back to Pattaya for 3 weeks. I am not finding that service has improved. Yesterday was another good example - small restaurant with foreign owner. Thai server walks to my table and glares, until I order. Not one word spoken. Great food by the way, and I did receive "service", just not what I wanted or expected. Some of my friends have complained the same thing, making the comment that staff do not want to be too nice, because more foreigners might come and they will need to work harder. It is tongue-in-cheek of course, but it shows that the problem exists. It is no longer the land of smiles (at least, not in tourist areas); and now that 2 years has passed, the people who wanted to come to Thailand may have lost interest. I will say the tour busses aren't missed.

Hi, I also have family here and stayed out for over 2 years. I just arrived two weeks ago. If I had realized how SIMPLE the entire process was, I would have returned long before now. Research WHO is getting Covid and being confined to a hospital after arriving? Kids mostly, but also people who are immediately going to nightclubs and crowded parties. TikTok is FULL of kids showing their 170,000 baht Covid hospital bills because they went out partying the first night. I wore a mask in the USA all the time. I had a RT-PCR test before leaving. I arrived in Thailand and had a RT-PCR test and stayed in my hotel until clear. For the next few days, I left the hotel to walk -- but stayed away from people. I stayed the full 6 days --- but that is not necessary any longer and the 5th day test is on the honor system. From someone who just lived it, I think people who want to return for family are making too much of the requirements. It was easy. It all comes down to how bad do you want to return and see your family. Two years was too long.

The key words ... "THIS YEAR".

<putting hand in the air> I haven't been back to Thailand since Jan 2020. Consequently haven't seen my wife (or dogs) for that amount of time. No relevance that they are in the same sentence; "wife" comes first. ???? I booked my air last week. Today I booked my hotel. I decided to book a hotel for 8 days. I was already planning a return and a 7 night quarantine stay, so this will be much better (and is actually cheaper). It will be great if I can really move freely around town on some of the days. Paid and fully cancellable (through Agoda). I already have international expat travel insurance through Cigna; but I priced the government version of COVID insurance and I will buy that as well. They list "asymptomatic" hospitalization is covered (who knows the truth), but I will buy it this time just in case. I didn't buy insurance yet as it is not refundable. I will wait until the 1st to apply for the visa. I'll need to bite the bullet on the insurance before I apply. One can only hope. I'm tired of being here in the USA.

I love it. They can't make a price comparison using the same currency.

This is how I get my morning laugh before working. ????

Wait. Watching a Soap Opera for an hour about being a nicer driver is not "proper"? LOL

hahahahahahhahahahhahahh. A Thai asking for outside help. That is the funnies thing I have ever heard. Millions of Native speaking English visitors combined with expats and NO ONE asks them to review street or building signs because they speak "good enough English" to translate.

What fantasy do you live in? No one comes to Thailand for the things you mentioned. This is a country where hard-working families come to vacation on the beautiful beaches, and swim in the beautiful sea. <insert sarcasm emoji>

That is what I was thinking ... require visa application and nothing more. If you are not from the restricted countries, issue the visas and move on.

My wife told me that when asked about the flooding potential in a Thai publication, Prayut said "all Thais must come together to pray that the weather doesn't affect us". LOL

That acronym is BAE ... and who is going to travel if they aren't going to get any BAE. LOL

Is anyone else surprised that the authorities didn't take the Covid shut down as the opportunity to knock down the beach side of Walking Street to fulfil the "glorious plans" of a years gone by? Most courts were closed; businesses already shut down; I was SURE they would have done this by now.

Now THAT is a winning post!!

They didn't ask my wife or any people near her. lol I am guessing they were working off of a list provided to them by ... someone.

But will it really?? I don't know of anyone who didn't buy property (land and house) because they couldn't own it directly - everyone used a company; which is why there are so many "company lawyers and firms" in Pattaya. So I don't understand how it would change things very much. Also, isn't a major constitutional amendment required to allow nasty foreigners to own the holy land?

Western foreigners - No. Wealthy Asians, quite possibly. Corruption is a 2-way street.

My wife had her second shot yesterday at the stadium in Buriram where there were (allegedly) thousands of people in line. She had the Sinovac-AstraZeneca series, with the second shot being AZ. Pretty good actually -- since we didn't think she would get her vaccines this soon. Apparently Buriram has some pull. LOL

The only thing I read was Prayuth walking this back saying something on the order of ... I said we would open local restaurants and businesses; I didn't say anything about foreigners.

That really tells you something when a copy is willing to admit to murder, but absolutely denies being corrupt. WOW.

For those of you who have also been around here for a long time ... Could you ever imagine that Thailand would be happy reporting that 19,000 tourists arrived? LOL

... only if they are poor.