spha6092

Okay I just found a service, has anyone used this and do they deliver as promised? http://www.pol-lt.blogspot.com.au

Thanks. I got that same advice and that bit doesn't seem too bad. But I'm stuck on the steps after that. Translating and/or legalising. I've been told I have to do that in order for the police check to be used for the purposes of a student visa.

Also, the link to the application form seems to be broken?

...and the big catch is that I'm living in Australia now. I lived in Chiang Mai 2010-2011 and I'm moving to Belgium to study. Well, that's the hope anyway. The visa application requires police record checks from every country you've lived in over the past five years so that means Australia and Thailand for me.

I'm getting the runaround from embassies. I called the Belgian embassy in Bangkok and the guy said that I had no choice but to fly to Bangkok - which is not possible for me to do due to cost and time.

Does anyone have experience with this problem? What did you do?

I have friends in Bangkok I could rely on to help a little, though it's feeling like a lot of tedious work at the moment and quite complicated so I don't want to burden them with all the back and forth that seems to be required to first of all obtain the document from the police, then get it legalised (do I need to get it translated too?).

Is there a service I can call upon? I guess I'll have to pay to get this done, otherwise I won't be able to get to Belgium just because of a technicality :-/

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Oh well, Lincoln's Lawyer is now gone, to be replaced by the latest Pirates movie which has about half the rating as Lincoln Lawyer on

Rotten Tomatoes. Kung <deleted> Panda 2 is getting good reviews, but I'm just not into animated movies (cartoons) that much.

Meanwhile, we still haven't figured out if Thomas Ohlson will return or if he's OK.

I've heard back from Thomas now...he's taking an indefinite break from his blog and newsletter.

I regularly check out his film blog and for more than a month I've been concerned that it hasn't been updated. When he's away he says so...is he unwell? I know he has had some health problems. Hope he is okay :-/ If anyone knows him, it would be good to know what's happened. Thanks.

The My Vietnamese Food chain sells it, though I didn't really like the brand they use. Still, it's authentic from Vietnam.

Do you still need help with this? I might be able to help or know someone who can. What exactly do you need to change on your site -- the design or text or both?

OP: I noticed a studio on the 14th floor (mountain view) has a huge sign on the door that says for rent... maybe they would sell if there was an offer? If you're interested I'll look up the number for you next time I walk past the door.

This is so sad, what a tragedy :-( A friend from Australia just emailed me about this too. I feel like it's a timely reminder to be more careful, as I have never been particularly wary of eating street food here. I guess I should be!

Thank you so much for all the replies. I finally went to the post office yesterday to pick up the parcel. Glad I repressed the urge to argue; the guy at the counter was pretty grumpy.

But I know why I got charged now...my friend had declared a value (HK$2000) and posted it using EMS. I haven't had experience with this sort of thing before so didn't give her any instructions about writing 'gift' on the box. Luckily, she undervalued my camera by half, otherwise I would have paid a lot more than what I did. I don't think the box was actually opened on the Thai side.

I sent it to Hong Kong because that's only where the warranty was valid (plus China)...in future I will not buy a Nikon for this reason. I'm only going to buy a camera that has international warranty so I can get it fixed locally, wherever I happen to be!

Ok, thanks for the all help. Won't bother then and just pay

Yes I realise that taxes are paid on items bought outside of Thailand but in this case it still doesn't make sense anyway.

Thanks again!

Thanks for replies. Yes, lucky it is only 600 baht, but annoyed that it's often so hard to argue simple things like this.

If you bought it here, show them the receipt. If no receipt, you'll have to pay as there won't be any evidence it left Thailand.

I have a receipt that I bought it in Hong Kong last year, and maybe the service docket that it was getting fixed in Hong Kong, do you think these will help?!

Wondering if I could get some advice about this. I have a Nikon camera which I needed to get fixed under warranty, so a friend of mine dropped it off in Hong Kong for me at the end of last year, and last week another friend picked it up and has mailed it back to me here in CM. But now I get a notice from the post office saying that I need to pay 600 baht taxes, even though this is not an item I have bought.

I'm going to the post office tomorrow to collect it, but just wondering whether other people have been in this sort of situation before and whether arguing this will be successful; or whether I'll have to grin and pay?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I'm an Australian citizen, currently living in Chiang Mai on a work-sponsored visa. I plan to do short little trips to other countries in Asia over the coming six months, what's my best bet for travel insurance (including overseas medical)? I've been searching online and can't find anything based in Thailand that seems to suit my needs. If I can't find anything here I guess I will go with Australian-based insurance. Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi all, had some bad luck the other night -- had the back window smashed by a falling tree branch during the storm two nights ago. And the car battery died last night as well. The local mechanics quoted 7000 for a brand new back windscreen and almost 3000 for a new battery. I agreed because I just don't have any other choice atm. But I wanted to check whether these prices are reasonable?!

I have a Toyota Soluna, bought second hand. It's about 8 years old I think.

Thanks!

Boyfriend bought a fake one from China the other week (called an "aPad" I believe) and it was delivered here to CM in the last week or so... so far he loves it!

In the USA, they have special trained people who come and talk to the jumpers. It's a very interesting profession, for sure. A friend of mine once interviewed a few of these guys in San Francisco. Many people trying to jump from the bridge every month.

There is an organisation of volunteers in the UK called the Samaritans who man locally based 24/7 phone lines to try to aid those who are considering suicide. The volunteers have to undergo a personal evaluation and extensive training and I've known some people who have given time to this very worthy cause. Hugely stressful for the helper too.

The Samaritans are fantastic. I called them once when I lived in the UK and it really helped a lot. It was no surprise that when I returned to Australia a few months later I immediately signed up for the Australian equivalent, and underwent five months of training.

This is really tragic. I know in some places with expat communities they have emotional support lines (and by email)... it seems it might be worth setting one up here? Though of course the hours would be limited.

I've worked in mental health over the years and was volunteering with a service back in Australia for three years (Lifeline) just before I moved here, so I have a decent amount of experience manning a crisis telephone line. If there are others out there who are interested, perhaps we could set something up? Or we could even do it as an emotional support group, that's facilitated by people like me who know how to deal.

I have come across a few people here who have backgrounds as counsellors/psychs... it seems there might be a need here.

Hi there, I have a bike I could sell. Just a regular town bike with a couple of gears and a basket etc. I bought it in April for 2500 (off someone else) and it hasn't been used since, though the tyres have since been replaced with new ones because there was something dodgy about the tires that came with the bike.

I have been given another bike so if you want to buy it off me I could sell it to you for the same price (since it has new tyres and hasn't been used). PM me if interested

Sorry for what happened, and even if i can understand what you feel, an "awful crime" crime is in my opinion when life is involved or when kids are suffering, not when material things are stolen...

With all due respect, I think I am allowed to say that this was an "awful" crime, even if it was 'just' 100,000THB worth of stuff that was stolen. The word "awful" is just an adjective that seems appropriate here, I am not saying that the burglary has completely shattered me, but I am a young woman in my 20s, having just moved here less than six months ago, and have spent most of my life living with my immediate family in a very safe home in Australia that has never been violated. When I have children, my perspective on what's awful or not will change, but so far this is the worst crime that I have been a victim of. Especially as I now realise that the guy/s were in the house at the same time as I was, and that when I left they had already stolen some cash and my phone. I have found it very hard to sleep since this happened last week.

Gosh I'm a little overwhelmed by all the stories along with the useful tips and wealth of experience and support otherwise. Thanks so much. I honestly wish I had read all of this before when I was looking for a place to live when I first arrived in CM but I haven't seen anyone post about burglary and only heard about bag snatching from various associates which I'm always conscious of.

I don't have much experience with picking houses and thinking about security and I actually have no idea if the new condo I'm moving into has great security on the front door. I will double check pronto and sort it out before moving in. I assume Hillside 4 is pretty okay on the whole though?

Now that the shock has worn off and I'm recovering, I've been reevaluating a lot of things and some good will come out of this. One thing is I've decided to downgrade my possessions so that I don't have so much valuable stuff lying around worth stealing. And I will learn to back up my files regularly! And keep the back up away from the apartment in my office if possible.

Thanks again everyone, it's really helped to hear from everyone about this.

we lost similar items to OP in April this year, between about 12-3pm on a Sunday, bungalow in a compound of six.

New Nikon camera (still in box), laptop, watch, jewellery, phone, even my partner's Buddhas, etc.

Burglar had failed to force door lock and instead popped a window from the frame. Policeman showed us how easy it was with a small screwdriver - worrying as all six bungalows had same aluminium joinery.Police helpfully suggested it would have been exchanged for yaba or a box of Chang by that evening.

Oh, so sorry to hear this. Sounds like you lost a similar amount of things to us. Our place is easy to break in too, and because I was just subletting until 1 October, it wasn't really up to me to fix the security of the place unfortunately.

Thanks to everyone for their sympathy and feedback and tips. I will certainly be more careful in future. Now I have the unenviable task of having to replace my things, which were not that old, and learning to feel safe again.

Sansai Sam - I live really close to that shop you mention, and hadn't heard about that. Eeek!

i lived on nimmanhaemin soi 2 a couple of years ago. just before we moved in the farang woman who was renting it was badly robbed so the owner put bars on the doors. we didn't get robbed. but in my new house one of the doors wasn't that secure and we were robbed last year. took cash and a camera. they tried to pry the bars off the window before they discovered that the door was an easier target. now i've got bars on the weak door.

was robbed years ago in the suthep university area too. after we moved out the thai lady who replaced us was totally wiped out - they even stole her watchdogs. so it's not just farang who are targets.

one thing i'd recommend is getting a deadbolt - too many houses here have padlocks on the outside. it's basically an advertisement saying "i'm not home."

have heard of a serious uptick in house robberies this year. two houses were robbed while my friends were at home and awake!

the police are useless in this regard. only reason to contact them is if you need an insurance claim. i've never heard of them catching anyone. sometimes they even want you to pay them for coming over.

i agree that it's not the stuff. it's the sense of being violated. and the data loss if you've got irreplaceable work and photos.

well the place i'm renting is not very secure at all -- and i've felt nervous at times at night. it's okay when my boyfriend is around but last night i had nightmarish visions of how useless i would be if someone tried to attack me. i can't believe they opened drawers i didn't even know existed, like under the bed.

where do these crooks end up getting rid of the stuff they steal, anyway?

Thanks guys. Yeah it's true, things can be replaced. Unfortunately my sense of security is a little more fragile.

Actually, my bicycle was stolen in the middle of the night from the front of my house about two weeks ago...probably the same people for all I know.

Just wondering if anyone else has been robbed, particularly those living in the Nimman area. I had the rather traumatic experience last night of coming home to find my small house completely ransacked, and all of the valuables I have in the world taken away. Laptops, cameras, a bit of cash, my little ipod shuffle...all gone. I hadn't backed up my files since I got here so I have almost no record now of the last six months of my life here in Thailand.

I've been hearing that there has been a rise in break-ins but is it just hearsay? If not, you may want to up your security and be a little more vigilant than usual. The police were pretty useless last night, and it's doubtful they will ever be the ones to catch the people who are doing this.

I never dreamed that I would be the victim of such an awful crime living here...my own naivety I guess. Going to move into a high-rise condo shortly, hope that the security will be far better. Not that there's anything left for those bastards to steal :-(