fester

More cheap hotels here:

thaivisa.com - Hotel bookings online

Try this link, it has every info you would need:

thaivisa.com : Visa run

Or do a simple search on this forum for:

- Penang

- Kota Baru

- Kuala Lumpur

As you didn't mention if you need a NON or TR visa, or how many entries you want, I can not advise further.

Tourist visa: 60 days (can be extended further 30 days)

http://www.thaivisa.com/272.0.html

Non-Immigrant: 90 days (can be extended vith further documentation - thai marriage - employment with work permit - investment - studies etc)

http://www.thaivisa.com/275.0.html

This applies to all passport holders, irrespectively of country of origin.

I belive you are referring to this article from today's news:

Thai Airways' pilots say country's domestic airports not safe

One really interesting point is why THAI sacked all these 38 pilots?? Did they spoke too much ??  

(Report from our friends at khaosanroad.com - 13 April 2003)

OK - so officially everything was supposed to start on 13 April 2003, but put a Saturday before Songkran and you can guess what's going to happen... Thousands of revellers turned up to Khaosan Road to warm up for the main event today (Sunday 13 April 2003). If yesterday was anything to go by, Songkran is going to be pretty spectacular this year. There are some pretty solid sound systems pumping out some pretty good sounds so the stage is set for a great time! Get down there!

The build up to Songkran this year has been less than usual though - there have been attempts to stamp out water pistol use and the smearing of powder. On the Tanao Road end of Khaosan there was a stall set up by Thailand's Ministry of Culture. They were giving away small plastic bowls to encourage the traditional 'sprinkling' of water and discourage the ritual dousings that Songkran on Khaosan Road is famous for. Even stranger - recorded messages going out through loudspeakers suggesting people have a 'Thai-style' Songkran. Needless to say people got caught up in procedings - the plastic bowls were simply used to mix up white powder and water! The local press followed a pretty fierce debate by Thai standards. Subject: Appropriate attire for women during Songkran. Check out the Bangkok Post's coverage of the debate which included a visit to Khaosan by a member of the government!

Anyway, fact is people are going down to Khao San to enjoy themselves and it's business as usual. Have a great time! Click here to find out just exactly what Thai people are saying as they throw water at you!

Two GOOD NEWS from todays media:

Breakthrough on SARS virus

Thailand eased up a bit on Thursday, saying tourists arriving from countries affected by SARS are no longer required to wear masks, as a World Health Organization official praised the country's efforts to prevent the illness.

---

Scientists say they have identified the virus behind the deadly respiratory illness spreading worldwide, and have suggested it be named after a doctor who first identified the disease and later became a victim.

The new coronavirus, a relative of one of the viruses that cause the common cold, is new to humans, two research teams reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The finding means that doctors can now concentrate on developing a simple test for the virus that will tell them right away whether a patient has SARS.

Fiji is under Australian jurisdiction regarding Thai visas.

Send your application and passport to the Thai consulate in Brisbane, Australia

email: [email protected]

I think the fee is AUS 65 + DHL return another AUS 50

Another way is International Registered post at around 15 bucks. That gives you a One year multiple entry visa.

April 4, 2003:

Don Muang Airport chaos as health checks greet travellers

Arrival terminal like an out-patients room

Read more:

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=241

KILLER VIRUS: 9-year-old has SARS symptoms

Published on Apr 3, 2003 (The Nation, Thailand)

A medical team in Songkhla has quarantined a nine-year-old girl who fell ill after coming into contact with a Thai-born Hong Kong citizen who died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on Tuesday.

Around 20 other people who came into contact with the SARS victim have also been quarantined - some at a Songkhla hospital and the others at home in Ratchaburi for two weeks.

Hiangchiang Lim, 72, was visiting relatives in Songkhla and Ratchaburi during the Chinese Qing Ming festival when he was admitted to Songkhla Nakharin Hospital last week.

Hiangchiang came to Thailand every year to pay respect to his ancestors even though he had moved and changed his citizenship after marrying his Hong Kong wife.

After his death, his seven |relatives, including the girl, were taken from their Sadao home and placed under compulsory quarantine at Songkhla Nakharin Hospital, Public Health Permanent Secretary Wallop Thainua said.

The girl was later isolated from the others after she showed early flu symptoms, Wallop said.

Meanwhile, hospital director Sutham Pincharoen said an autopsy would be performed on Hiangchiang, and his next of kin could claim the body within three days.

Sutham said his hospital was bracing to screen visitors from Malaysia and Singapore who are expected to arrive during the Songkran festival in Hat Yai.

In Ratchaburi, provincial health authorities have ordered relatives of Hiangchiang to quarantine themselves in their homes for two weeks, as they showed no signs of contracting the killer disease.

Hiangkiang Lim, the elder brother of the SARS victim, and his wife last met his brother for dinner on March 24. The two have been ordered to stay home for five more days.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said health authorities are tracking down 20 other people who came into contact with the dead man in order to quarantine them.

I'm aware of the difficulties of owning a property in Thailand. However, I hear very contradictory stories. Some people told me, you actually CAN buy property, which is totally owned by a farang, others point me out the only way to have a property is by sharing the property with a Thai (51% share). Others tell me it is possible to totally own your property if you have a business reaching a specific level of sales. Depending on the value of money you enter into the country, the higher the value of your property you can own.

wolf, welcome to Thailand Expat Forum.

Please have a look at our FAQ (Frequent Asked Questions), and especially look at the left yellow menu there.

There you find everything you'll need to know about owning, house, owning land, owning condominium in Thailand.

Here it is:

http://www.thaivisa.com/349.0.html

Have a look there and come back here for your follow ups!

I want a visa that will be good for a year if possible. I can get a company to write me an appropriate letter but it is not realistic that I will end up employed by them. Thus, would I be able to repeat the process after one year (and year after that, etc.)? I currently work in Intl trade and want to be able to travel around but be "based" in Thailand.

Or, is it possible (better) to just use Non Imm B visa's and just keep renewing them each three months outside of Thailand? How long would I be allowed to do this?

The best you can do is to be issued a NON-B guarantee letter,

an example is here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/332.0.html

Take that letter and go and see a visa friendly Thai consulate, and ask for a Non-Immigrant Visa "B" with multiple entries. Which consulate? Not available in Asia normally, Use the search function on this forum and serach for Hull, Brisbane or Houston.

Remember that the issuing company are saying that they are "planning to emply you". They could change their minds along the road without penalty...

Where do you stay now?

I have now moved all job search postings that I could find, but if I have missed some posts that should be moved here, please let me know!  

/[email protected]

Another email to us regarding Thai Time:

[email protected]

You got me!!!!! APRIL FOOL

I fell for your article about the time change as it is something your current PM would do. i fell for it all the way and in fact called several friends here in the US and then called my family in bangkok.

when my neice said they had heard nothing about it i then realized it was april 1st. APRIL FOOLS DAY thanks!!! your page is excellent and that's not an april fools joke  

We have got some emails regarding the thaivisa April Fools article, here is a few of them:

[email protected]

What was the source of the article on Time Chaos? If it was an April Fools Day prank, I find it in very poor taste.

PHONE

HONG KONG TRAVEL WARNING

Britain has advised its citizens not to travel to Hong Kong and China's southern Guangdong province because of the spread of a mysterious killer disease.

The Department of Health said in a statement: "The UK public is strongly advised not to travel to these areas. This advice is being reviewed daily and this travel warning may be extended to other countries later."

The advice matched an earlier warning from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which said the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) epidemic had yet to peak.

WHO said it was taking the action because at least nine foreign businessmen have caught Sars in Hong Kong and carried it back to their home countries. The disease causes breathing difficulties, high fever, flu-like symptoms and pneumonia.

China now says 46 people have died from Sars. There are about 1,200 cases in the country and three provinces have been hit. More than 70 deaths and over 2,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide.

Quarantine

More than 200 people suffering from the virus have been quarantined in an apartment block in Hong Kong.

Worker disinfects Philippine Airlines aircraft from Hong Kong

Until now, WHO had said travellers could continue to go to the affected areas but should be aware of the symptoms of the disease and seek medical help quickly if they felt ill.

Health authorities feel confident they have identified the new virus, which is believed to have begun in Guangdong in November and has since been spread around the world by air travellers.

Panic

But they have still not found a cure to a disease that has caused panic in southeast Asia.

Airlines are reporting that passenger numbers are down on flights to affected areas, and the alert has had a big impact on Hong Kong business.

Malaysia has stopped hiring workers from infected areas while Thailand has told visitors from those countries they must wear masks or face six months in jail.

Cases have been confirmed in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, France, Ireland and Italy.

The WHO says the outbreak appears to be under control in Vietnam and work to contain it in Singapore and Canada seems to be succeeding.

Many members want to have a job and jobs forum, instead of a strict business related forum branch, so you got it now....

I did a little hack, and changed the topic description for the Business forum to concentrate more on jobs and job search etc. OK?

Please let me know if you like the new description, or if we can make it better or more clear to the users?

I try to find the related topics that are directly related to jobs and job search, and try to MOVE them to here. It can be a bit messy the next few hours.

Hope it will be a bit more action in this branch now, as proposed!

Cheers! /Fester

Thailand to ban foreigners suspected of SARS

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand said Wednesday it will turn back foreigners suspected of suffering from a deadly new flu-like disease, and will force those allowed in from affected countries to wear masks in public.

The strict measures were announced by Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphun after a second person died in the country of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

Sudarat said foreigners arriving in Thailand from affected countries will undergo "careful medical checkups'' at airports and seaports.

"Anyone suspected of having the illness will not be allowed in Thailand, and will be sent back home,'' she said.

Foreigners _ including tourists and businesspeople _ allowed in from affected countries will have to wear masks during their stay in Thailand, even if they show no symptoms, she said.

Tour companies will be responsible for overseeing the mask regulation, and risk being closed down if they fail to comply, Sudarat said.

Individual foreigners found without masks will also face prosecution, she said, without elaborating.

Employers will have to provide masks and gloves to new foreign workers from countries affected by SARS, Sudarat said.

She did not provide a list of affected countries. At least 78 people have died of SARS worldwide and more than 1,800 have been sickened in more than a dozen countries. The majority of deaths have been in China, followed by Hong Kong, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.

A 78-year-old man, a Thai with a Hong Kong passport, died Tuesday in the southern city of Hat Yai. He had arrived in Thailand from Hong Kong on March 22 to visit relatives.

Nine of his relatives and friends have been put under quarantine in hospitals but have showed no symptoms of SARS, Sudarat told reporters.

Sudarat had said Tuesday that anyone arriving from affected countries would have to stay at home for 14 days. Violators face six months in jail and a 10,000 baht (US$230) fine, she said. But Wednesday's order requiring foreigners and tourists to wear masks suggested that the 14-day quarantine order applied only to Thais. Sudarat and health officials, however, did not immediately confirm that was the case.

"All people who have returned from affected countries, even if they don't have symptoms, are required by law to isolate themselves at home in order to control this disease,'' Sudarat said Wednesday.

"Don't get close to other people in the house and do not leave the house to go to work, to school or to participate in social activities,'' she said.

Health officials would not specify how the regulations would be enforced.

Dr. Charal Trinvuthipong, director-general of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, said a national effort will be needed to make sure that foreigners wear masks.

"The public, the police and public health officials will see that people are not violating this measure,'' he said, without elaborating.

Thailand has detected 11 suspected SARS cases, of whom two have died, including the Hong Kong man. The other was an Italian doctor working for the World Health Organization who contracted the disease in Vietnam and was hospitalized in Thailand.

Of the other suspected cases, four were declared healthy and sent home and the remaining five were placed in isolation wards. In addition, more than 100 people have been quarantined.

-AP

Source: AP, April 2, 2003

Use swedish passports while entering and exiting Sweden, and use Thai passports when entering and exiting Thailand.

Same at airport checkin point, they might ask for visa, if then show the second passport.

Voila!

No Dazdaz, the work permit book is strictly personal and are valid only on the premises granted in the permit, normally in one location only.

If a foreigner resigns, his work permit must be cancelled and a new applied for.

If a work permit holder changes his occupation or the type of work in the company, it must be approved again by the Labour Department.

Have you set your clocks already, dear members? Seems to be a lot of confusion about the new time zones, because it's not very much information available.

Thailand have Daylight Savings Time from today, and the Kingdom is divided into four different time zones:

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=221

No cure for deadly epidemic

31mar03

US health officials have warned that none of the anti-viral drugs and other treatments tested were effective against a flu-like disease that has killed 56 people and made another 1500 sick around the world.

They also expanded their travel advisory, suggesting that anyone planning non-essential travel to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore or Hanoi, Vietnam, "may wish to postpone their trips until further notice".

"The global epidemic continues to expand," said Dr Julie Gerberding, head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. "We recognise this as an epidemic that is evolving."

The CDC has reported 62 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in the United States, and at least 35 cases have been reported in Canada, where three people have died.

But the majority of the cases have been in Asia, where the illness is believed to have originated.

Yesterday, the first doctor to realise the world was dealing with an unfamiliar disease died of the illness in Thailand.

Dr Carlo Urbani, 46, of Italy, a World Health Organisation expert on communicable diseases, became infected while working in Vietnam, where he diagnosed a US businessman in a Hanoi hospital, the UN agency said. The businessman later died.

US health officials believe the illness comes from a new form of coronavirus, the virus that causes about a fifth of all colds.

Dr Gerberding said no successful drugs or treatments had yet been found.

"We have no evidence that any specific anti-viral, steroid treatment or other agents that are targeting this virus have any benefit to patients," she said.

Two possible diagnostic tests that detect antibodies, indicating a person's immune system has reacted to the virus, are under development, and CDC officials hope to soon be able to supply those tests to state health departments, CDC officials said.

In Hong Kong, the number of people suffering from the disease increased sharply yesterday to 12 people killed and 470 sick.

Thousands of Hong Kong residents donned surgical masks but many others refused to venture out, and activity in the usually bustling city stopped.

In Canada, health officials said yesterday that as many as 100 people – mostly health care workers – may be sick from an outbreak of a deadly respiratory illness in Ontario, Canada's largest province.

Singapore, which has had two deaths, nearly doubled the number of people quarantined to more than 1500 yesterday.

The illness appears to have originated in China, which has been criticised for being slow in reporting cases.

---AFP

Regarding your long stay:

This thread explains why you have to see the Thai consul in Hull, UK, to get a one year multiple entry visa "B" visa:

http://forum.thaivisa.com/cgi-bin/ikonboar...ct=ST;f=1;t=545

That will be a good start, but you will need to do visa runs every 90 days.

British Super Farangs go to Royal Thai Consulatem Hull, UK.

Others, including expats living in Thailand goes to the Brisbane Thai Consulate, QLD, Australia.

The Yankees visits Houston Thai Consulate.

All of these Thai consuls are visa friendly, and like farangs!

I should rellay write a book about these great Consuls, which require a minimum of paper work.  

Search the forum for Brisbane, Hull or Houston for additional info. The search button is on the upper right at every forum page.

Hello Alex and welcome to Thailand Expat Forum.

Please have a look at http://www.thaivisa.com for all visa options. Click on Non-Immigrant.

Bupa Thailand can arrange your medical insurance

http://www.bupathailand.com

Medical services are cheap in Thailand, the best seems to be Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, http://www.bumrungrad.com/

I have answerd a few of your questions, maybe some other member can fill in the rest...  :cool: