Not worth buying lots of Beer Lao just to save 20+ Baht a bottle. Buy something to bring back that you can't find in Thailand, such as Somersby Ciders (incidentally, also brewed under license by Beer Lao).

@Wannikea ********

You're getting ripped off. Where do you live? Tops sells it for a standard price all over the country. Sounds like you live in Nakorn nowhere.

@Amir ********

It's 59 Baht at Tops for the normal Beer Lao and 68-70 for the other varieties. Naturally it will be more expensive than in Laos as it has to be transported here and distributed.

Yes correct. Reporting is only if you spend at least 90 days in the country on any one trip.

Flight from Bangkok should be more like 2h45m, not 3h30.

@Diana ******

Employer based ones are good. If you're not working in Thailand, there are several big name ones you could look at. Search "expat insurance Thailand" for options. AIG, Allianz etc would probably offer something but they may not be the best in terms of price or coverage.

Anonymous participant You can. He means you can't settle in Thailand on a DTV. You can only spend 6 months per entry, or 180 + 180 days if you're able to get it extended.

@Diana ******

No. For medical services, you don't get any privileges over and above what a tourist gets, while on a DTV. At many public hospitals, Thais pay less than foreigners. At some of them there is a 3 or 4 tier pricing system. While on a DTV, you'll pay the highest price out of these tiers (work permit holders pay less, while migrants from neighboring countries pay even less and Thais pay the least).

At private hospitals, in theory at least, everyone pays the same but it's recommended you're insured.

Expat insurance is an option.

Yes but the question is, will it be a 2 year license or for existing license holders, a 5 year one? This depends on what office you use.

@Jason ****

Not just that, but most banks will charge you a withdrawal fee on their end (AUD / CHF / USD/ EUR 5) usually and a percentage charge of up to 3-3.5% of the amount withdrawn.

Only a small handful of banks refund these charges.

Thus withdrawing money from a Thai ATM can be very costly using a foreign card.