Xircal

I have lived in Asia for over twenty five years. I have seen in this time some first time tourists get into similar trouble as the age of a lot of Asian ladies is hard to guess with no experience. However if you have lived here for as long as this gentleman (hic) there is no excuse...........

If he had any doubt about the girl's age, all he had to do was to ask to see her ID. I'm sure he's capable of learning enough Thai to ask the following:

บัตรประชาชนคุณ = in Thai, say "bat bpra chaa chohn" which means "Your ID card"

ขอดูด้วย = then say "kaw do duay kap" which means "May I see (look) please?"

Then deduct 543 from whatever date is shown on the card to get her date of birth.

Love the look on his face though!

Phuketwan(dot)com reports that an as yet unidentified Thai girl has been found murdered in the hills overlooking Patong.

So sad when such a young life is ended abruptly.

Farang can afford the 150 baht transaction fee. However it is almost 1 day work for Thai people.

Why do you think that way? This is another example of the misconception Thais have that all farang are stinking rich. Some are it's true, but the vast majority are quite the opposite and have to work hard all year round for the chance to take a couple of weeks off in your charming country. You reward them by ripping them off for all they're worth.

You and most other Thais fail to take into account the cost of living in Western countries. In Thailand, you can go to a local restaurant and practically gorge yourself to death for a couple of hundred Baht. The same meal in a Europe will set you back at least 40 Euros which is about 1,600 Baht. It's the same with the cost of housing, energy and water bills, local council taxes, clothing etc., etc.

I note with regard to the foreign withdrawal fees now that the banks have also reduced the amount you can withdraw each time. Bangkok bank used to allow you to withdraw 25,000 Baht in one go, but that's now been cutback to 20,000 B. Other banks won't let you withdraw more than 15,000 Baht, and there's one ATM outside Phuket airport that only allows you to withdraw a maximum 5,000 Baht. Charging 150 B to withdraw that miniscule amount is abhorrent to say the least.

Maybe this'll appeal to some. It's a London band called "The Mouth of Ghosts".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz3NTTnz_IQ

Just another quickie if I may. How much notice does Thai Immigration require to extend a Tourist visa by another 30 days?

Presumably the extension begins when the Tourist visa expires.

You can get the 30 day extension anytime before the initial 60 days end, that gives you a total of 90 days in Thailand per entry. Visa expiration date is separate issue. Your second entry into Thailand, for your two journey visa, must be made before the visa expiration date.

I don't think I'll be leaving actually, so I'll just apply for the extension a week or so before the visa expires.

Thanks anyway.

Just another quickie if I may. How much notice does Thai Immigration require to extend a Tourist visa by another 30 days?

Presumably the extension begins when the Tourist visa expires.

Well, according to http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2482.php?id=2487 (see #11), he wouldn't be allowed back in anyway. He just loves being in the limelight I think.

Well, to answer my own question concerning one of the advertisers, namely a guy called Fred whose ad appears in http://classifieds.t...rice-21326.html

I phoned him and he told me he wants 4,500 Baht for one month even though his ad specifically states that that is the rate for 3 months. It's not special deal in any event since his daily rate is only 145 Baht anyway.

I hope the rest aren't going to turn out the same way.

airasiago.com has inclusive package deals from Phuket to Singapore.

Don't forget Nok Air has its base in Don Muang airport, not Suvarnabhumi airport. So if you're arriving on an international flight, you'll need to allow extra time to travel to the other airport for your flight to Ubon.

Join the frequent flyer programs for all the airlines that fly that route and subscribe to their mailing lists. If you accumulate 60,000 airmiles on Asia Miles.com, it'll be enough for a free one way flight from LHR to BKK.

Hate those cattle class seats on Cathay though. Instead of reclining, the seat base moves forward so that you don't intrude on the passenger's space behind you. OK, if you're 5 foot nothing, but if you're a six footer like me, your knees will collide with the seat in front instead. I had a back breaking flight from HKG to AMS the last time I flew Cathay and swore I'd never fly with them again because of that.

Thanks for the information.

I am looking for flights for my kids during the last week in January, but they must be from Manchester. I can't see less than 800GBP. Any ideas.

Cheers, Rick

£615 @ Bravofly.com (it's an Irish company)

I'm proposing to rent a motorbike for 3 months when I arrive in October so that we're not reliant on the local touts for transport.

But has anybody had any experience of renting from any of the following advertisers on Thaivisa classifieds and if so, was your experience negative or positive?

http://classifieds.t...rent-16954.html

http://classifieds.t...rice-21326.html

http://classifieds.t...long-57637.html

http://classifieds.t...thly-19997.html

The so called "forensic" team were inspecting the machine for fingerprints with no gloves on..... hmmmm http://www.pattayaon...0_08_53_2_6.jpg

They're probably the ones who nicked it in the first place.

There's an interesting report on Bangkokpost.com this morning concerning the Thetsaki a.k.a. the "litter police". It seems they deliberately target tourists dishing out maximum fines of 2,000 Baht if you happen to drop a fag in the gutter, yet ignore any Thais who do the same thing. Sounds like another get-rich-quick scheme to ripoff those 'immensely wealthy farangs'.

I've seen a similar thing on the road between Patong and Karon beaches. At the bottom of the hill along the coast road which descends into Karon beach there's a police checkpoint. I was taking a motorbike trip along that route with my GF last year and she pointed out that the police ignore any Thais regardless of how blatantly they might be breaking the law by grossly overloading their motorbikes for example, but grab any unfortunate farang that happens by for the most trivial of reasons just so that they can levy a fine.

It's reminiscent of the double standards we see everywhere in Thailand. The attachments are photos I took of the entrance fees to Pang Sida National in Sakaeo province. Thai nationals pay an entrance fee of 40 Baht while the park levies a "Foreigner Fee" of 200 Baht for anybody else.

Does wonders for Thailand's reputation as a hospitable country that wants to welcome first time visitors I'm sure....

It means you can use the same visa for two entries just as if it were two visas in your passport as long as both entries are made in the validity of the visa.

You can leave anytime and return for a new 60 day visa entry or you can extend your entry and then return for a new 60 days and extend again if you want maximum time.

OK, understood, thanks

I acquired my 60 day Tourist Visa this morning, but note that is valid for "Two Journeys".

Does this mean I can leave Thailand within that period and re-enter the country using the same visa?

How could he have climbed down from the 8th floor when the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Hotel only has four floors to begin with?

So assuming he climbed down the glass windows from the 4th floor, he must have reached ground level before mysteriously succumbing to the excitement of it all.

Sometimes I get a get a halo like bright spot in my field of vision and I have trouble seeing the writing on the screen.

When I close my eyes I can still see it but it eventually expands and disappears after an hour or so.

Please tell me I'm not going to die.

At least not before my money runs out.

You're not going to die. As bunple mentioned, you're more than likely suffering the aura which usually accompanies a violent headache for those who suffer from full blown migraine. I get it occasionally too and it takes the form of a flickering zig-zag in my peripheral vision. I can see it even when I close my eyes and it will gradually grow larger until I can no longer see what's immediately in front of me.

Fortunately for me, the headaches fail to materialize and provided I just go and lie down in a dark room, it will resolve itself in about 20 minutes.

Nothing to worry about in any event.

I went from 94 kilos to my current weight of 65 kilos. How? Very simple actually, just eat plenty of vegetables. Vegetables consume more energy than they produce, so eating plenty of them will make you feel full, but you're body will reduce your fat levels to derive the energy needed to digest them.

Cut out snacks in between meals preferably, but if you do feel hungry, eat a few slices of cucumber and a tomato or two rather than reaching for that Mars bar.

Things to cut out are bread & butter (substitute butter with margarine if you must eat bread) alcohol, crisps, chips, chocolate, cakes and biscuits. Eat only lean meat and only in small portions.

Don't eat more than two eggs a week and eat cereals rather than eggs, bacon and sausages for breakfast.

I gave away most of my oversize clothes to charity when they became too big for me, but kept one pair of size 38 waist trousers as a reminder of what I used to look like. I now fit into a size 31 waist.

montrihotel(dot)com bang opposite the entrance to the old city gate. Has a promotion until end September at 800B a night including breakfast. Also offers a free airport transfer.

As regards US law, the US PROTECT Act 2003 is aimed at pedos and concentrates on US citizens who go abroad to exploit children. I don't think you have anything to fear from that because you're working in Thailand and have a stable relationship with a girl who lives with you, not some pervert hopping between countries to get your rocks off with a 12 year old.

This is totally wrong! The US law is about underage sex by Americans abroad. ANYONE under 18, period. Read the law. There is no distinction made between 17 and 10 and there is no favor made for illicit UNDERAGE relationships. BTW, for US nationals abroad the consent laws in your home US state are totally irrelevant.

To quote from the act itself:

The PROTECT Act of 2003 (Pub.L. 108-21, 117 Stat. 650, S. 151, enacted April 30, 2003) is a United States law with the stated intent of preventing child abuse. "PROTECT" stands for "Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today".

The PROTECT Act incorporates the Truth in Domain Names Act (TDNA) of 2003 (originally two separate Bills, submitted by Senator Orrin Hatch and Congressman Mike Pence), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 2252

In any event, if it came to it, a good defence lawyer would have no problem getting something like this thrown out of court. As I said before, the act is aimed at perverts who go abroad to abuse children and I'm all in favour of putting them behind bars. But this isn't the case here.

I think you've been grossly unfair on her. She's had the courage to tell you the truth about her age and your reaction has been to dump her because you're afraid of the consequences of becoming involved with an underage girl.

But before we go any further, let's get the facts straight. If you have sex with a bargirl who continues to work in that job, then the miminum age of consent is 18 years old.

If you have sex with anybody else who isn't a prostitute, then the minimum age of consent is 15 years years old.

If she comes to live with you, but you support her so that she doesn't have to work as a hooker, then you're in the clear in my opinion.

But there's something else you have to understand and that is that if you become involved with a Thai girl, you'll be expected to support her family financially too.

Thailand isn't like the West where we have welfare programs to fall back on if we lose our jobs, or become ill. She'll be expected to support her family once she's old enough to work and the sex industry provides a means earning a lot of money in a short period of time. But most of what she earns will filter back to the family.

It's sad that her mother is a junkie, but this is part and parcel of her family and you'll just have to get used to the idea if you want to form a relationship with her, or anyone else for that matter. Bargirls always come from poor families, so if you meet another one doing the same job, then the same kind of story is going to repeat itself infinitely.

Finding a girl that really loves you for what you are, not what you can give her is very difficult goal in life and if you've found such a person and you love her too, then go for it. Yes, she comes with a certain amount of baggage, but so does everyone. But if you can attain just 50% of what you really want in someone, then you're a very lucky man in my opinion.

As regards US law, the US PROTECT Act 2003 is aimed at pedos and concentrates on US citizens who go abroad to exploit children. I don't think you have anything to fear from that because you're working in Thailand and have a stable relationship with a girl who lives with you, not some pervert hopping between countries to get your rocks off with a 12 year old.

No. They realise that many extend for a further 30 days

OK, understood, thanks.

4. 90 days will do (as that is what your ticket says)

OK, understand that, but aren't they likely to refuse to issue a Tourist Visa since the maximum stay under those rules is 60 days, not 90?