TMax

My carrier here in Australia has much the same plan at $10 a day whilst overseas. My usual way of doing things is thus, when I take my regular phone I only power it up once a week to check messages but that will change as of next trip. I take my old phone with me and on arrival buy a sim card at the airport and use the old phone for Thailand and will sms my Thai number to my family in case they need to get in touch. Future trips I will leave my main phone home and have my brother look after it for me. If you don't have an old phone laying around you could maybe look for a cheap used one in Thailand (or at home) and just use that with a Thai sim card whenever you're over there.

You have a few of my personal hates listed there forky, I would also add tossers that wear their backpacks onto planes and then keeep hitting others with them when trying to take them off in narrow aisles, they should be made to remove them before they get on the plane or not be allowed on until they do.

Good luck

Yeah but not where the top 3 are concerned, as far as they care the rest are just speed bumps

Haha they only just figured this out? I have known this for years, certainly since my first visit. My golden rules with traffic laws in Thailand are thus and based purely on observations of road users and physical size of the vehicles. 1. Trucks have right of way over everything. 2. Busses are next in line for right of way. 3. Cars, including vans and 4 wheel drives etc are 3rd on the Thai road food chain. 4. Motor cyclists and pedestrians come last. 5. Stay well clear of idiot drunken tourists that "think" they can drive or ride, Thai roads are not for the faint of heart nor for the foolhardy I have been riding motor bikes since I was 12 years old and consider myself a good rider but would never even contemplate riding over there.

Well I have no idea what their on about, I have eaten at G's several times now and have enjoyed the food (the German food) , beer and prompt service every time and I will be eating there again next trip

There was very little transit through Denpasar airport at that time, mostly if you flew Garuda airlines (into and out of Bali) you could get met and taken through to transit, unfortunately from the town I was flying from there was only the one airline and it wasn't Garuda. Even now if I were to fly from my old town via Bali and the new terminal I would still need to clear immigration and customs and then make my way to the international departures (my last 2 flights were through the new terminal). Even with just carry on luggage it's the same deal, no escaping it really and it was required to clear customs. I guess they look at it that when people fly to Bali they will be stopping over for at least a few days rather than just going transit. The other thing for me was I needed to get to the airline check in counter to confirm the credit card and to check in the luggage. Bit hard for some to understand really but it's a weird set up that kind of works.

Hope this is not going off track but just some experiences I had in the past. Back when I lived up in the north of West Australia I used to fly business class all the time to Bangkok, in part because I was in a high paying job and could afford it. Here's how that worked out for me, my flight from Port Hedland to Bali (direct, 2hr flight) cost about the same as the fare down to Perth, 3 to 4 hr "transit" in Bali then Thai Airways business class to Bangkok (about 4 - 4.5hr fight) for roughly the same cost as an economy fare from Perth to Bangkok on Thai. Some things I had to do or be aware of doing it that way, the Thai Air flight was booked direct with Thai Airways in Indonesia (online booking) and just had to produce a credit card when I got to the airline counter in Bali, also any delays from leaving my home town could make it difficult to meet the connecting flight. I used to look up the online booking sites and from my then home town they all wanted me to fly here there and everywhere and usually meant via Perth and the cost at the time was ridiculous with most of them quoting over $2500 with at least 2 stops (this was between 4 and 8 years back now). Even did a trip to the Philippines this way and flying Singapore airlines from Bali. At the times when I arrived in Bali I had to purchase a visa at the airport, go through immigration and customs, exit the terminal and walk up to the departures and of course pay departure tax, this was all in the old airport terminal and there was no actual transit for me as it was 2 different airlines. The catch doing it this way, once a flight was delayed leaving my home town and when I arrived in Bali the queue at immigration was massive and I knew that if I stayed in line there was no way in hell I was going to get through to my next flight. Luckily for me an airport worker / official was walking past and I showed him my itinerary and asked nicely if there was any way I could get through quicker, he took me straight over to the ASEAN passport holders section at immigration and I was through in about 10 minutes. After that I got a porter to help me (first time I ever used one) and he got me through in time for my ongoing flight, with about 1hr to spare. Then Virgin took over the flights to Bali and started screwing me around by changing flight rimes all the time but that's another story, more like a battle.

I must fly out from the dark side of the moon, I always now book direct with the airline, reason for this is that everytime I checked with travel agents or the online booking sites the only cheap fares were with obscure airlines I've never heard of or airlines that require multiple stops. Others just charge like wounded bulls and are what I would refer to as price gouging. Flying Thai Airways to Thailand I get a direct flight of about 7hrs be it to either Bangkok or Phuket (not flown direct to Phuket for several years though). I also like to try and get a seat close to the front of economy, that costs a bit more but it also cuts back on the chances of me getting stuck next to or very near screaming kids, they drive me crazy on planes. Avoiding school holiday times helps but doesn't solve that issue completely. Likewise I also deal direct with hotels. I once got ripped off on the cost of a visa to the Philippines by a travel agent so decided there and then to avoid them where possible, at that time I was living far out in the country and had to deal with travel agents. A friend of mine used to always book with Expedia but when he needed to make changes to his flight booking he found it very difficult, granted this was a while back and may be different now but I hate hassles when on holidays.

Agreed

Pretty sure Ice is illegal the world over, it's a terrible drug and from all accounts highly addictive and very harsh on the body

Just walk into Golden Cock with a pocket full of baht

Cash for me, although I do take a credit card I leave it in the safe in the room, only use it for paying hotel or in case of emergency. Never had the displeasure of pick pocketing but know several people that have, mostly in the Philippines.

For me it looks good, at the time I arrive at swampy the trains to Sala Daeng are packed like sardine cans and with a main bag and the carry on makes it a bit hard

Could be an option for those that catch taxis and don't use the airport link BTS (like me), Certainly looks interesting http://www.thaitravelblogs.com/2018/11/airport-limobus-express-service-launched-at-don-mueang-and-suvarnabhumi-airports/?fbclid=IwAR1QrwKdoYgx2Fhox-IVoj-duBwhbNVULhMYj89A_ckUnXeWWav2WhjU3N4

mmmm heaven in a hollowed out pineapple

True, I usually eat there twice per trip, really like the food and especially their bbq duck red curry. Also enjoy Oasis for a quiet and good meal.

Is that After Hours? I like that one a lot, good food at reasonable prices, also G's on Soi 4 and also The Mango Tree

Thought half of it was being taken over by the condo complex that's going up in that area?

Well they reopened Boracay, on a limited basis though, the hotels / resorts that came up to scratch were allowed a certain number of rooms each and all visitors now have to register on their arrival. Alas, what did they find after day one's reopening? Rubbish on the beaches, it seems that Boracay attracts a fair number of pigs as tourists, they even placed extra rubbish bins on the beaches but the pigs prefer to just drop their crap anywhere. Don't be surprised if it continues that Duterte will close it down again, unlikely but still an option if people don't improve their ways. I would say the locals would be mighty pissed off with the litter and those dropping it.

Your wish is my command. Just another piece of advice given to me many years ago, it was that if I ever moved to Thailand or the Philippines to retire it's best to keep my house here in Australia, that way if things don't work out in the chosen retirement country I would have something to return to.

Actually anddy, Richard still uses the shrunken version and hasn't had any problems with it when asked for his passport, he's been living there for quite some time now. I follow him on Facebook as he shares interesting photos and info

As stated above you most likely will not find an apartment / condo in central Bangkok (or anywhere in Bangkok) for that price range. You also need to be aware of the current problems with airbnb, they have lost two court cases that have ruled airbnb illegal on the grounds that it breeches the hotels act, this is mostly affecting the nightly / weekly rentals (the main rentals on airbnb) but they say monthly or longer are okay but for how long is anyones guess. I retired 3 years ago and have toyed with the idea of purchasing a condo but so far have resisted, most likely if I ever do decide to move to Thailand to live I might buy one. Check out the link below, it will give you a good idea of condos for sale and the prices https://www.hipflat.co.th/en Some advice given to me by a friend that has purchased there, if buying, always go through a reputable real estate agent and not be tempted to a purchase from a private seller as some people have been taken for a ride that way. Also it may pay to have a legal firm check everything out for you, just to be on the safe side. Oh a link about airbnb and whether it's legal or not. https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1467442/airbnb-bookings-illegal-court-declares

Hahaha

I do remember before where the head of immigration said that a photo copy of ypur passport and of the visa is sufficient. I have a new scan and print of my relevant passport page before I go and when the hotel scan the passport I ask them if they can print me a copy of the visa. Some good advice here http://www.richardbarrow.com/2013/08/always-carry-your-passport-or-a-copy-while-in-thailand/