I'm going to Vietnam and Thailand in Febraury, assuming no covid shenanigans happen.
tourist visas there are terrible now. they really clamped down on it recently (not that it was ever really my interest or on my radar).
i did think temporarily about pitstopping in vietnam, da nang or somewhere, for a few months, to save together some money and get away from big-city living for a while. but vietnam's maximum tourist visa now is 15 days, extensible to 30. not really conducive to my working patterns and lifestyle.
i've met a bunch of people who did visa runs and nomad working in SEA, and the whole day-trip border-hopping loophole has been closed now.
with that said, you can get a visa to live and stay in thailand for 5 years if you just pay them $13k bucks or something. lol. really confusing system.
i'll get around to that part of the world someday. not a big priority. that's one part of the world where i really do worry about becoming an 'expat' stereotype.
i did think temporarily about pitstopping in vietnam, da nang or somewhere, for a few months, to save together some money and get away from big-city living for a while. but vietnam's maximum tourist visa now is 15 days, extensible to 30. not really conducive to my working patterns and lifestyle.
i've met a bunch of people who did visa runs and nomad working in SEA, and the whole day-trip border-hopping loophole has been closed now.
with that said, you can get a visa to live and stay in thailand for 5 years if you just pay them $13k bucks or something. lol. really confusing system.
i'll get around to that part of the world someday. not a big priority. that's one part of the world where i really do worry about becoming an 'expat' stereotype.
- SuperJail Warden
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How could you party in Vietnam so close in time to the Vietnam War?KEN-JENNINGS wrote:
I'm going to Vietnam and Thailand in Febraury, assuming no covid shenanigans happen.
for US citizens it's 30 days. Used to be able to get a 90 day visa upon arrival but I guess that's changed since covid.uziq wrote:
tourist visas there are terrible now. they really clamped down on it recently (not that it was ever really my interest or on my radar).
i did think temporarily about pitstopping in vietnam, da nang or somewhere, for a few months, to save together some money and get away from big-city living for a while. but vietnam's maximum tourist visa now is 15 days, extensible to 30. not really conducive to my working patterns and lifestyle.
i've met a bunch of people who did visa runs and nomad working in SEA, and the whole day-trip border-hopping loophole has been closed now.
with that said, you can get a visa to live and stay in thailand for 5 years if you just pay them $13k bucks or something. lol. really confusing system.
i'll get around to that part of the world someday. not a big priority. that's one part of the world where i really do worry about becoming an 'expat' stereotype.
I've been to both places before. Thailand too many times to count but over 10.
All those countries have corrupt bureaucracies though so I'm sure I can just pay $20 at the border and get through like I did in Cambodia a few years ago.
yeah i've heard many stories. but now they genuinely do have re-entry rules. maximum number of land re-entries per year, etc.
thailand's new visa is just plain weird. they have a limited-edition 'extended tourist' visa, 45 days that can be extended to 3 months, that's only running for the first few months of 2022 (i guess to try and entice tourists back after covid). but you can only spend something like 60% of the duration in the country consecutively. the visa is basically designed for you to leapfrog around SEA and not stay put in thailand alone. so you can do 2 months there (if you bother to go to the local immigration office to get 45->60 day extension), but then you've gotta leave for 2 weeks before you can use the remaining 30. ... urgh. just let me live and spend my money.
definitely still good for a tourist visit. i just don't like lugging around my entire double-suitcase and remote working ensemble to only have to move on 15/30 days later. kind of makes it more hassle than its worth tbh. plus, i want to settle down into a neighbourhood for a while and really get a feel for the place, inasmuch as i can. ... i'll see. maybe i'll end up being in vietnam or thailand in february too.
ditto for UK citizens. 90 day visa-free travel seems to be the norm for US/UK/etc. travellers. i can go to japan/taiwan/korea and get 3 months, which are then trivially easy to extend to 6 months in the country. that's visa-free tourist entry, zero paperwork. to even get 3 months in SEA is a real mission now. vietnam is impossible, for one.Used to be able to get a 90 day visa upon arrival but I guess that's changed since covid.
thailand's new visa is just plain weird. they have a limited-edition 'extended tourist' visa, 45 days that can be extended to 3 months, that's only running for the first few months of 2022 (i guess to try and entice tourists back after covid). but you can only spend something like 60% of the duration in the country consecutively. the visa is basically designed for you to leapfrog around SEA and not stay put in thailand alone. so you can do 2 months there (if you bother to go to the local immigration office to get 45->60 day extension), but then you've gotta leave for 2 weeks before you can use the remaining 30. ... urgh. just let me live and spend my money.
definitely still good for a tourist visit. i just don't like lugging around my entire double-suitcase and remote working ensemble to only have to move on 15/30 days later. kind of makes it more hassle than its worth tbh. plus, i want to settle down into a neighbourhood for a while and really get a feel for the place, inasmuch as i can. ... i'll see. maybe i'll end up being in vietnam or thailand in february too.
Last edited by uziq (2022-11-03 11:15:57)
zeek choppering into vietnam like
i was more curious about vietnam than thailand tbh, because thailand is really the most backpacker/expat abroad place. bangkok looks hellish. pattaya: overdone. chiang mai is practically westerner's tutorial level version of asia. i'm sure there are many more good places, but at this point you have to spend a lot of effort to just escape the traps.
it's a shame that they've become the strictest place of all for tourists, relatively speaking (don't want to go to china, tibet, or myanmar any time soon). the contrast between north/mid/south vietnam, and between hanoi/saigon, makes it seem like a really good place to travel north–south, perhaps spending a month in each. but 15 days? newp.
the visa run by land takes like 12 hours via shitty roads to the border too. f that. i didn't move abroad for that sort of lifestyle.
it's a shame that they've become the strictest place of all for tourists, relatively speaking (don't want to go to china, tibet, or myanmar any time soon). the contrast between north/mid/south vietnam, and between hanoi/saigon, makes it seem like a really good place to travel north–south, perhaps spending a month in each. but 15 days? newp.
the visa run by land takes like 12 hours via shitty roads to the border too. f that. i didn't move abroad for that sort of lifestyle.
Personally, would probably want to visit south korea before any of the other southeast asian countries.
Bangkok is hellish. Pattaya is cool to just drop in and have a look- that's where all the British ex-pats go to pick up young girls for relationships and sex tourism. They do have a really fun Songkran (Thai New Year) celebration though.
Phuket (excepting Patong), Krabi, Koh Lanta, Koh Samui, Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai are all places I recommend.
I'll probably end up in Pattaya for a day or two since my dad teaches at a university about an hour north, but it has definitely lost the luster for me.
Phuket (excepting Patong), Krabi, Koh Lanta, Koh Samui, Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai are all places I recommend.
I'll probably end up in Pattaya for a day or two since my dad teaches at a university about an hour north, but it has definitely lost the luster for me.
- SuperJail Warden
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Is your dad still dating a young Thai lady?
mimi (1/2 of the band low, who've been operating as a couple for most of their career) passed away from cancer.
good band, last two albums especially.
i was today years old when i realised they were LDS. her partner announced the funeral arrangements on the musk app.
good band, last two albums especially.
i was today years old when i realised they were LDS. her partner announced the funeral arrangements on the musk app.
Cancers are such a fucking scourge. I'm surrounded by it in so many of my circles, online and off. Especial plague on families. Looking forward to getting vaccines. Keeping an eye on the mRNA tech.
Last person I knew online (gaming) with it, we were all telling him to kick its ass. I'll not soon forget one of his replies, "it's kicking my ass bro." He died later. Just a kid.
Always sobering to see memorial groups pop up for friends on Steam, too.
Last person I knew online (gaming) with it, we were all telling him to kick its ass. I'll not soon forget one of his replies, "it's kicking my ass bro." He died later. Just a kid.
Always sobering to see memorial groups pop up for friends on Steam, too.
that's super sad. i don't know anyone very close to me in my peer group to die of cancer (yet). but i am sure that as the 30s and 40s wend on, that shit is going to pop up everywhere.
Common occurrence for my parents. "Welp, there goes an old classmate." "Oh yeah, and that one guitarist we listened to in the 70s bit the dust." "Remember our neighbor we had by our first house? Died of the same thing." "Cancer?" "Yep, cancer."
- SuperJail Warden
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RIP wilko johnson. one of the most influential guitarists of the latter 20th C.
and, incidentally, the subject of one of the greatest movies made about music/musicians, ever.
a pure 100% rating for this one on rotten tomatoes. it's an amazing watch.
and, incidentally, the subject of one of the greatest movies made about music/musicians, ever.
a pure 100% rating for this one on rotten tomatoes. it's an amazing watch.
- SuperJail Warden
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I looked at the Steam profile of an internet friend who died. Last online 1420 days ago. Between that and a Facebook page...that's it. All that's left.
Yeah, the feeling sucks.
It's a pity people can't leave their accounts to friends or family without violating Steam TOS. Maybe family library sharing is a workaround? Dunno. It would probably violate ToS to even have an executor log on to manage all that and leave an obituary.
Digital ownership licensing is so bad. Even with a physical copy, the key is non-transferrable. Couldn't even donate it to a library. As if normal possessions weren't ephemeral enough.
It's a pity people can't leave their accounts to friends or family without violating Steam TOS. Maybe family library sharing is a workaround? Dunno. It would probably violate ToS to even have an executor log on to manage all that and leave an obituary.
Digital ownership licensing is so bad. Even with a physical copy, the key is non-transferrable. Couldn't even donate it to a library. As if normal possessions weren't ephemeral enough.
In hindsight, I should have put this guy on the dead pool.
American journalist Grant Wahl, 48, dies after collapsing at Qatar World Cup
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/09/football … index.html
American journalist Grant Wahl, 48, dies after collapsing at Qatar World Cup
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/09/football … index.html
- SuperJail Warden
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Karen. Why go there to annoy the Muslims?
Annoying and criticizing Qatar (and FIFA) is core to this world cup.SuperJail Warden wrote:
Karen. Why go there to annoy the Muslims?
Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2022-12-10 10:09:43)
Ken Block was killed yesterday, a surprising one
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Jeremy Renner wouldn't have gotten run over by a snow plow if he stayed in LA like every other celebrity.