jacko

If you were a vegetarian, why would you need to eat something that looks like meat or indeed impersonates closely something that epitomizes a meat meal. Do we expect to see KFC, made from soybeans, wrapped around plastic bones, coated in shit and deep fried? Or is this simply targeting those who have recently given up meat, or simply want to skip meat for the day, without really knowing? I have often had a subway sandwich, and the meat component is well disguised by the time I have made my selection of toppings, may well have left out those miserly slices of ham or salami. Should I try their veggie option? I recently spent 200 baht on a few Brussels Sprouts in Villa, for some reason I fancied them more than a steak. Congrats to Biggles for returning us to sex from an unlikely starting point.

The Fifth Element.

I was in Europe with a group of Muslims and they got quite upset over finding ham in their salad, wouldn't touch it or order again. Although I caught another munching on a bag of scratchings once, when I told him, he said 'tastes good'.

I have often watched as my bacon is cooked on a flat grill and wondered if the Muslims complain or go for poached.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy..

If someone using this then did a runner on a hospital bill or two.... It is public here.

Well, if more people have to show insurance, and at this time not so, for non-imm-o based retirement extensions, I would certainly expect agent demand to increase.....and with that price. But who knows, many people might decide enough.

Good feedback.... agent fees expected to rise!

Moving to Expat Issues.

I thought Insurances had to come from an approved list , and Thai companies, I believe. You would need to check your own Embassy website. Blue Cross / Blue Shield copies seems easy and I can only bow to the OP's experience. Here is what the London Embassy States. Copy of evidence stating that applicants have insurance as stipulated by the Office of Insurance Commission and health insurance of Thailand which has insurance coverage for outpatient not less than 40,000 Baht and for inpatient not less than 400,000 Baht. Please check < http://longstay.tgia.org> for more information regarding the insurance requirement.

Re-entry permits are based on your Permitted to Stay date, not the visa validity. I am quite convinced the previous changes to keeping the money in the bank (retirement extensions), were a bit more about pushing people towards agents than really making evasion of requirements tougher. I could only imagine it stopped people borrowing money for 3 months, or a few guys circulating the same money. In your case, you got 800,000 baht released I expect, and less effort. This new O-A requirement is likely to seriously reduce applications for the visa. As to those on O-A based retirement extensions , I guess they need to change to a regular 'O', or a married extension, or get insurance if they can. Scaremongering here,( so far not required) are we testing the ground for future obligatory insurance for all retirees?

All O-A Visas are requiring health insurance now since Oct 31st. But it does not end there. On arrival you would normally be stamped in for a year, now it is expected you will only get a Permission to Stay up to the expiration of your insurance. As the O-A is a multiple entry, this also means you would expect to be stamped in only until that same date, when the insurance cover ends on subsequent entries (previously you would get another full year if Visa still valid). The previous benefits of an O-A, that you could stay in Thailand up to 2 years, and leave your money at home, seem to have been defeated. And worse, it is reported that those seeking retirement extensions at Pattaya Immigration, whose initial permit to stay stemmed from an entry on an O-A, are also being asked to show medical insurance of minimum 400,000 baht cover and 40,000 baht out patient. This is all quite new and we may be in a state of flux wrt the retirement extensions. Extensions originating from other Non-Imm Visas (eg O or B ) are not required to have insurance and marriage extensions are not affected. Please do not take my post as verbatim, it is simply gleaned from Thai Visa site.

Just plug Western Union Jomtiem into Google Maps. There is one at the Post Office on Soi 5, towards the beach from immigration..

Two for one....

Dragonflies...it is the season for them. Get them over my pool and many now, sometimes 2 stuck together in sexual multi-winged Chinook impersonation dipping its tail .

Here we seem to be doing the opposite. Are Thais especially more kind do you think than the people back home? It will likely depend on your origins, but as a kid growing up in Northern UK, people were kind frequently.

I often wonder if I will one day return to living in the UK....reacquaint myself with sausages, savoury pies and cheeses, to never ever eat boiled rice again, and maybe not shrimp either.

I wonder, the massive order book and investment make that likely, but apparent arrogance and ineptitude at Boeing have done the damage. That along with the 346 corpses I guess. There was a gap of over 4 months between Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian 302 where some input from Boeing may have saved the latter 157 lives.

Well they have been grounded some time now and it is a slow enduring process. I expect there will be people like yourselves in the future when they try and re-introduce them, perhaps with a new name. There have been 4900 ordered and 387 delivered. Southwest and the Leasing company GECAS have the most, and order wise Southwest, GECAS, Flydubai, Lion Air ,Vietjet, Ryan Air have large orders. I don't yet hear of orders being cancelled, although Flydeal (Saudi Arabia) cancelled 30.... that in itself is more astounding than surprising.

Wasn't that made by McDonnell Douglas ... the old MD95. No issue with ground clearance and moving engines around here, as Boeing didn't upgrade it.

Methinks you could swallow one of them balls about now!

I see it simpler. A system that can put the aircraft into a forced nose down situation and ignore whatever the pilots try to do, pulling back for example, is just nonsense.

Indonesian investigators release final Lion Air 610 crash report. https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/indonesian-investigators-release-final-lion-air-610-crash-report/ I struggle to blame the crew even though they seemingly did not know how to defeat the MCAS system. A system which effectively took the control of an aircraft off the pilots and nosedived the aircraft.

I'll add the one I took last night Bazle, a few more currencies, including NZ$ .

I have also been with True for some years and it's been okay. Recently switched to Fibre. That includes TV for 850 baht p.c.m, but the basic package, loads of Thai channels to keep the Mrs happy, superb pic quality. I also have Sophon, a hangup from some years ago, I struggle to recommend it. Just lost a few of the better English language channels. I also stream from my laptop, UK TV.