Expatriates resident in Thailand were told by a senior immigration officer on Thursday evening in Bangkok that complying with a controversial immigration regulation known as TM30 should not really be "that hard" – but social media comments afterwards revealed that many of the country's expats remain unconvinced.

A petition being promoted by expatriates living in Thailand that calls on the country’s Immigration Bureau to scrap a controversial reporting requirement for foreigners living there has secured the support of more than 4,000 people in less than two weeks.

 The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok has issued "an advisory warning" to Americans in Thailand "to ensure they have adequate medical coverage if staying long-term in the country, especially if they are of retirement age," according to English language media reports out of Thailand.

The warning was issued days  after the Thai government moved to require foreigners staying on certain visas to be insured.

Like resolutions to eat less and exercise more, vows to spend less and save more are a traditional feature of many of individuals' Januaries, including Americans who are living outside of the U.S., financial advisers report.

When the Hollywood version of Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel, Crazy Rich Asians, hit the world's cinemas recently, English-language commentators familiar with the multi-cultural Singaporean dialect took note of the "Singlish" words used in the film – such as "lah", which Singaporeans like to add to the end of a phrase for emphasis.