Somchai Jaidee - Easy Thailand Visa (Page 3)

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Islands & Beaches

Koh Yao Noi: No Cars, 400 Baht From Phuket, and the Ferry Stops at Five

The one Andaman island where the jet skis cannot get in. How to reach it, what it costs, what to do on a beach that changes shape twice a day, and the honest verdict.

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Street Food

The Food You Are Eating Is Not Actually Thai Food Unless You Go East

Central Thai is what the world learned. Isan is what the country eats. A region-by-region map of the actual differences, and why the menu in Bangkok is not the national cuisine.

Street Food

I Paid 1,500 Baht for an Omelette at a Stall With No Sign in English

A Michelin star, a charcoal wok, ski goggles, and the most expensive street food in Bangkok. What it costs, when to go, and whether the queue is worth it.

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Street Food

Boat Noodles, Yen Ta Fo and the Southern Laksa That Almost Ruined Me

A bowl the size of a teacup, four of them per sitting, and a broth you have to know how to ask for. Boat noodles, yen ta fo and southern laksa, with real prices.

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Slow Travel

Thailand Has Twenty-Five National Parks and You Should Only Visit One

The famous ones are crowded, the remote ones are a day of driving, and the one you want depends entirely on whether you want a hike or a swim.

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Practicalities

Your First Seventy-Two Hours Decide Whether the Trip Went Well

There is a sequence that works and it is not the one people follow, and the first two hours are the only time a single decision saves you a hundred dollars.

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Temples & Culture

Why Every Thai Festival Date You Read in January Is Wrong

Most of the country's holidays follow the moon, which is why the Songkran date moves and why a guide written in 2023 is wrong about 2027.

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Visas & Immigration

The Camps Want You and the Immigration Law Does Not Care What the Camps Want

Training as a visitor is easy, fighting for money is a different country entirely, and the visa that fits you is not the one the gym offers.

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Practicalities

Nobody Can Give You a Thai Address Because Thai Addresses Are Not Addresses

A Thai address is a set of coordinates in a chain of containers, it is written differently on the sign than spoken aloud, and the same house has four names.

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Visas & Immigration

The Thai Embassy Process Has a Fixed Order and Everybody Does It Backwards

Almost every Thai visa rejection is a document problem, not a credibility problem, and almost every document problem is a sequencing problem. Here is the order.

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Slow Travel

Choosing Where to Live in Thailand Is Choosing Which Country You Are In

Every base in this country optimises for something different and nothing optimises for everything. The decision is not a preference, it is a personality test.

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Practicalities

The Internet Is Better Than the Country's Reputation and Worse Than the Hotel Says

Fibre in a provincial town, 5G on a motorbike through a valley, and a hotel lobby wifi that cannot carry a video call. Here is what actually works.