fivevenoms

Hmmm. I suppose I meant re-entries, then! But if it's less likely to get approved in HK, I may as well go to Penang then. Cheaper to get there, albeit not as 'exciting'.

So to properly phrase the question, do you think (in either location, or Cambodia for that matter) I'd have problems getting multiple entries on my Non-O? The whole point of this is to be able to stay long enough to get my job situation in order so I can get extensions in the future, so aside from the marriage license and my delightfully average conversational Thai, I won't be able to give them any evidence other than that.

Well, that's considerable peace of mind, thanks! Any chance they'll give me extensions, you think?

I was also thinking about possibly hitting up the Consulate in Hong Kong instead, since I'd like to visit there. But while the main page here on TV says it would be excrutiating and I'd probably be turned down, the one trip report here on the forums I saw said it was quite pleasant.

Plus I understand Penang is fairly boring, so there's that too.

Well, my visas run out at the beginning of August, and since I only have about one month's income to show for support, I was hoping to try and get a new Non-O visa in Penang.

So, two questions: My Marriage License (to a Thai Woman) is from the United States, and I was curious as to whether or not I needed a certified translation, or they'd just accept a copy of the marriage license and her Thai passport. If I DO need to get all these things certified (copies, translations, etc.) any ideas where?

Secondly, CAN I get a new Non-O outside of the US in this fashion? I'm out of extensions from my last visa, and don't have the qualifications to renew it inside LOS (No work permit, and only one month showing the 40K+ income). If there's any critical flaws in my schemes, please suggest an alternative, so I can get all my preparations in order...

And thanks again for everyone's help!

Now I am going to make a suggestion. I like Laab Moo. One day I finished my sticky rice, and still had some Laab left. A lightbulb went off in my head, and I asked my wife to heat up some taco shells. I stuffed the laab in those, and ###### if they weren't delicious. Don't take my word for it, try it. You might find that you can attract more Thai customers with a few Thai-Mex items like that.

I will try it. By the way,Thai chicken is very popular at one Taco Shop in the States. Some use lemongrass and coconut milk in the marinade for carnitas as well.

Greg

That was actually my thought when I read your first post. Most of the successful 'western' food chains I've seen here to date seem to incorporate a good deal of Thai aspected food items (although the supersaturated advertising doesn't hurt either) to help their popularity. Possibly a slightly discounted set with a 'larb taco' or a 'tom yum taco' (I have no idea what that might be, just an idea) with some regular mexican tacos would help otherwise reluctant Thais to try out your wares. I suppose there's the downside that they may want to order the 'fusion tacos' from there on out, but it still amounts to customers! Hope to be down there soon, btw.

Oh wow!

I recall having one of those living in the house I was staying at in Chiang Mai earlier this year. Before I saw it I would have SWORN that was some crazy bastard running around yelling "Tuk-Ee"!! Everyone had a good laugh and informed me otherwise (goes to show you what a lifetime of metropolitan living won't teach you). Then one showed up in my bedroom, and I was quite fond of it. Ate the mosquitoes, evidently.

I thought Sin City was um..........decent. Didn't particularly care for most of the graphic novels as well, but more to the point:

The stories are non-linear (not for any particular reason, just for "style" value, I'm afraid), and thus you see Marv (from the first story) at the bar in the last scene, as do you see Kevin (the kung-<deleted> fighting glasses-wearing cannibal).

The ending scene is a reference to the beginning-the doctor in the elevator who offers a cigarette is the same character as the very first character in the opening: A hitman who has been dispatched to kill the girl from the second story.

And, incidentally, Tarantino did not, as far as I'm aware, write any of the script. He directed a section of the second story, where Dwight is in the car talking to the corpse.

Two plus years with my Thai wife and her semi-English literate sisters (some more than others) basically taught me enough Thai to get by for the time being, but I'd still modestly say that I suck. Of course, my cadre of (formerly) hard drinking Thai friends helped with some of the other less uh, academic Thai words, but all in all it's been okay. Still, I probably doubled my vocabulary during my (too brief) two months in Thailand. Can't read a thing though.

At the risk of sounding horribly out of the loop (but then again, that's the American specialty), I would say that this is, like with most things, a matter of individuals. Of my Thai friends (many) and American friends (likewise), I would say that I've encountered the hard grudge more often than not from the Americans. More often than not in scenarios that best exemplify "Loss of Face" as best as I understand it.

Now I can't think of a situation with my Thai friends where anything remotely close to that has happened, perhaps more likely than not because they virtually NEVER put themselves in positions where something in that vein is likely to happen. This might, in fact, explain the severity of "lost face" grudges amongst Thai people, just because the instances in which it happens are so rare. This is, however, just my own observations. I'd be interested in knowing, since a lot of you super-posters here have longer experience than I with all things Thai, has anyone else NOT had any problems in this regard?

Exactly what I remember being told. The part about the Phi Pret being tall, that is. My mother-in-law evidently saw one once, but I never bothered to ask for details. Though I don't believe the Phi Pret is a particularly fearsome ghost, they don't do anything that I know of, other than ask for food, which they can't eat regardless, because of their tiny mouths. So you give their food to a monk, who will "send" the food in the same sense as when you give food to a Shrine. Or so I'm told. There really is a dizzying array of Thai ghosts, few of which I recall at the moment. I'll wait for my sister-in-law to come back-she's very vocal on the subject.

Does anyone know about the khraseu or khraheng?

I think I recall hearing about this one. I'm not sure if it's the same one as the woman who died in childbirth, but I think so. They're beautiful by day, and floating heads by night-if they spit in your drink, and you subsequently drink it, you'll become a ghost too, if you're a woman. I forget what happens if you're a man though. Maybe she runs off with your credit cards.

I also remember that there's a tall emaciated ghost with a pinhole sized mouth, which is evidently what happens to really miserable stingy misers when they die. Don't recall what they're called though...

I actually do recall reading something to that effect about the 200 baht "fee" in another thread. Fair enough. Still though, it occurred to me at about half way through the process that only about 1/3 of the people I'd been dealing with actually appeared to be government officers, and that it didn't particularly matter that the other 2/3rds weren't. When I saw one of the "visa helpers" giving one of the border officials a massage in his chair, it painted a somewhat clearer picture of what was going on. I assumed if everyone at the border was "at the same party" so to speak, not paying the 200 baht fee was....well......., hey, at least they stood in line for me. Is it that bad everywhere, or only/mostly in Poipet?

Thank you sincerely everyone:

The answer I can now give everyone for future reference is:

The process takes about 30 minutes to sign out from Thailand, and get everything done on the Cambodia side in Poipet. The fact that there was an enormous downpour may have helped, given that there was nobody in front of me. The fee seemed to be 1000 baht, but I ended up paying 200 baht additionally for an entry and departure stamp that I suspect went in the pockets of the jerk-offs who enigmatically drift back and forth across the border and "help" you with your visa. And lastly, nobody cared about my exit status from Thailand, or means of income when I arrived, as there was a rather sizable line of eager Thai gamblers waiting to get back to Thailand while I was there. I would also assume that anybody with paperwork and a pen would be able to do this process themselves without the help of the uh....."kindly assistants" waiting at the border.

Thanks again!

Hmmm. Excess beer probably fouled up any potential clear statements on my part.

Okay, I'm in Thailand right now, with a tourist visa that is good until june 2nd.

However, my Thai family would like to go to Cambodia, so I will have to cross the border from Thailand, to Cambodia, and then back to Thailand.

However, to do this I would have to get a 30 day "on arrival" visa when I come back from Cambodia. Unfortunately, I no longer have any plane tickets or other documents that show that I will be leaving Thailand within 30 days (since my flight on May 17th was pushed back to May 31st as of today). I hope that made sense.

Does this, in effect, make me screwed?

A quick follow-up to a question I had about running to Cambodia for a day to humour the Thai family's desire to gamble (in Poipet, I guess-It's the closest to Bangkok, right?). My US Passport has a tourist visa good until June, but my wife pushed back our plane tickets for the return flight from the 17th until the 31st. Would this, in effect, screw me over when I come back from Cambodia? I don't have a copy of the new tickets, so would they give me trouble when I come back asking for a 30 day stamp, since the 17th is long gone, and I have nothing to prove I'm leaving Thailand on the 31st? What if my Thai family pleads my case? That seems to strangely work on occasion....

Thanks (yet) again...

After quickly running through the posts here, I've gathered that if I were to end up in Cambodia across the border near Aranyaprathet that the visa process there is fairly common place for visa runners. I have a tourist visa to Thailand right now, but nothing for Cambodia. So, in an attempt to be concise....

The Thai family is planning on going gambling for the day in Cambodia across the border there (or so I assume-they said it's 2 1/2 hr-3hr drive from Bangkok, and that there are lots of casinos-does near Aranyaprathet sound right?)-

1) They don't have anything visa related to worry about, correct (they are all Thai citizens)? I assumed as much, given the somewhat blase attitude about the trip.

2) When I get there, they have an on-arrival Visa station, correct? How much does it cost (I figure I'll only be there one day), and how long does the processing generally take?

3) What's this I hear about having to bribe officials?

I'll follow this up on the Thailand visas forum, but I considered one other complication. I arrived on a tourist visa, so I'm good until June 2nd as long as I don't leave Thailand-BUT, my wife already delayed our flight from the 17th of May to the 31st-Will the plane ticket I have do jack for me when I try and come BACK from Cambodia? Can I get a 30 day stamp if my plane ticket reads for the 17th? What if my Thai family pleads my case with the Visa officials? *ahem* Thanks you for your information yet again.

My sister-in-law was talking with her American friend the other night, when mysteriously, she passes the phone on to me so he can relate the following story, he has to leave for work, so he tells her: "I've got to take off"

Sister in law: "Take off what?"

It was funny at the time.

I've been told the most common of the taxi-scams is the "I don't have exact change" one. From what I've seen, Thais generally don't tip taxi drivers, so it's not uncommon for a taxi driver to claim they "don't have change"for your 100 baht, etc., in the hopes of getting the extra as a little illegitimate tip. This happened to me once after everyone else had gotten out of the cab, leaving me to pay, but I was promptly informed by the entire family after the fact, that there was no chance in ###### that the driver didn't have the change on hand. Apparently this is a somewhat common scam that they try on Thais as well as us wealthy generous Farangs.

Well, the film you referenced, 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, was one of many, many, Shaw Brothers films featuring Buddhist kung-<deleted> fighters, all of whom can be more or less leaked back to a single source.

The perhaps overly-referenced Shaolin Temple was famous for it's practitioners of Kung-<deleted>, which in turn helped them in their meditations, and depending on whom you listen to, the defence of the temple/monks. Despite its fame as a center of martial arts, there was no evidence I'm aware of that the monks wandered the countryside kicking ass, as shown in film. They are also often seen in opposition to the Daoists of WuDang (Wu Tang) mountain, who of course, are also kung <deleted> masters. Eventually, the Shaolin temple was burned to the ground by the Qing Dynasty, who were afraid of a group of well trained monks who could theoretically pass their martial knowledge along, or act as soldiers, which apparently also happened. The temple was burned, and some monks, did, in fact escape and pass on the teachings of the Shaolin Temple. Many kung <deleted> schools today can trace their lineages back to some of these monks. It was later rebuilt, burned again, and I believe hence rebuilt.

This is the root for many of the films you mentioned. 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, and some other films, were directed and occasionally written by a director named Lau Kar Leung, or Liu Chia Liang, depending on Cantonese vs Mandarin language reference, who has a VERY strong background in traditional kung <deleted>, which probably explains his respect for some of the Buddhist references in his films. However, the Shaw Brothers studios made so many films that the elements in them became more than a little cliche, so you see "monks" randomly appearing in other films indiscriminately wandering around breaking limbs and such, in such films that incorporate only the elements of the original Shaw Brothers films, without regard to the backgrounds of the monks, etc.

This bout of too much information comes to you courtesy of Singha beer and too many Kung <deleted> movies viewed.

Has anybody in Bangkok seen a hat store anywhere? Not like the straw ones and cheap numbers they sell in every night market in the country, but an honest to god good quality hat shop-I would imagine there must be one somewhere here, given the popularity/neccesity of hats in Thailand, but all I keep seeing is the same array of straw numbers and those tiny porkpie hat looking ones that look like they're made of cardboard. Yet another thing I'd like to cross off of my dwindling list of things I've yet to find here.

I was wondering if anybody was around Koh Chang and Trat right now who could tell what the weather is like. The internet claims it's raining, and will be raining for the rest of the week. This is probably my last chance to hit an island before I leave Thailand and the wife wants to go to Koh Kood over the weekend/next week.

I ask due to my novel-worthy bad luck in Krabi last week-Arrived to decent weather, a little overcast, but that's all. Almost literally as soon as we'd booked a boat to go out to the islands, it started raining ferociously, thereby ruining any island visit opportunities. It only let up for an hour or so........until we were heading in the shuttle back to the airport two days later. Then the sun came out a bit......

As it so happens, there's evidently two varieties of durian. My mother in law bought one that lacks that distinctive durian stench, or at least in as offensive a quantity as normal durian. It's slightly more expensive, and as mentioned, considerably less malodorous. I was quizzical myself about it, but it's actually pretty ###### tasty. Plus it's another one of those "Oh really?!?" topics you'll get from Thai people.

"Can he eat durian?"

"Oh yeah. He says it's tasty."

"Oh really?!?"

I've found that Thais generally find it amusing when you break into Thai "slang". Khot aroi for food, "Khot Lawn" in the blazing sun, seems to always get an entertained response. I've been told by my Thai friends that the closest translation for "Khot" is indeed f**king, but I don't think it's that severe of a term in Thai. The closer I think is "ship-hai" at the end of a phrase which always gets a good laugh, but I'm fairly sure it's a lot more vulgar than "Khot".

I was at Chatuchak market a few weeks back complaining about the weather. My relatives show up and I promptly complained "Lawn Ship-hai!", at which a thai guy waiting next to us broke out laughing.

So, no, I've never gotten the impression anyone was offended, though.

No, no, this is a good start. Sign up little Ozzy to get his fight on in Lumphini here in Bangkok some time soon.

Nothing like a fair, evenly matched fight to bring out the best in this upcoming Muay Thai superstar.....

I think it is a fair comment. Thai's are stupid, generally speaking. They are poorly educated, lack common sense, ignorant and stuck in their ways. Thais are naive, ignorant, unwilling to accept advice. They have no idea how to offer services, run a business, look after customers etc. There are exceptions, I am generalising here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see your point. But be careful, since all Asian men know martial arts, and will beat you senseless if you point out their tragic racial failings.

That being said, it should be noted that the tonal nature of Thai, from street names to the "tiger vs shirt" example, seems to hold a LOT of sway in Thais comprehending the Thai language. Even with similar sounding words that ONLY have the tonal difference, I've found that screwing up the tone will render your attempts to say the word completely. Thai people just won't comprehend the difference if you mess it up. I couldn't daresay why, but then again, I can only imagine it's hard for any native English (or more Romance languages) speaker to fully internalize the aspects of a tonal language and what effects that may have on your language comprehension skills.

Admittedly, I've been in a lot of placed that have a lower concentration of farangs, but I've found that breaking the ice with pidgin Thai tends to provoke almost scary levels of enthusiasm with the Thais I've spoken to. They promptly begin to attempt incoherently complex levels of conversatio with me. To which I can only smile and mutter the occasional phrase when I recognize something.

But then again, as I'm sure most of us are aware, the nuances between different Thai phrases are so miniscule as to defy imagination. Or at the very least, induce headache.