Lemsta69

why is Soi Dogs and do the bars there have a happy hour?

geez that's a long way away. according to Nige and Neeranam I'll be in gaol by then because I used an agent for my retirement visa ????

so kee niaow. markets turned against you?

I've heard about this place for a while but never been. your shout? ????

Kampot was a cute little place when I went there in 2018. would love to spend more time there but I don't know if it would hold my interest for too long. there were some nice little places to eat and the river is very pretty but I'm not really a small town guy so if I ever ditch Thailand for the Bodja I'd be looking at dividing time between Phnom Penh and other places.

why do you say they? too many mosques and kretek cigarettes? ????

why strangely? I plan on spending some time there in the future as I have some bule mates who live there. Bali's a great little place and easy to avoid the bogans if they upset you that much. they don't worry me too much because I'm a bit of a bogan myself ????

of course I did, I just didn't come to the same rediculous conclusion that you did. those costs are part of the hotel's normal operating budget and and are defrayed over many years. I suspect that they quote such silly prices so as to put the fear of God up their customers so that they'll take extra care of the keys. replacing them ten times a day can't be particularly pleasant. but actually charging the penalty? that's just a wee bit silly and will lose them goodwill and repeat custom.

howdy. yes you can convert from visa exempt to non-O. here's a thread that covers the basics. have a read and then come back here with any additional questions or any points for wish to be clarified. https://aseannow.com/topic/1273366-exempt-to-non-o-retirement-in-pattaya/

Thailand has no morals. That's why I love the place and is why I moved here at 52 rather than festering for the rest of my life in the supposedly squeaky clean but actually deeply corrupt West. me paying a few baht for a retirement visa has absolutely zero effect on the moral fabric of the Kingdom. the Merc-driving boys in their fancy uniforms call the shots, not me or any other insignificant farang (including the naturalised ones lol)

apparently the "new boss" at Jomtien wants it done that way now, but that's all I'm saying on unsecured comms ????

ser, I don't understand what that means. I don't use the B65k per month method either. using an agent means I'm free of any obligation to bring money into the country. I could live in a shack if I wanted to, and eat Mama noodles every day and no-one would care that I only spent only 1000 per month.

haters gonna hate..

enough already with the blanket statements about why people use agents. 800k is chump change for some of us but we don't feel the need to have it fester in a Thai bank account for 20+ years.

except when a dirty foreigner, for example, questions the inflated price that you're trying to charge him. then you drop the smile and go into beast mode. but I expect you've either never seen that because you're too holy to have ever gone to a tourist area or you believe that the scumbag foreigner had it coming because he was poorly behaved or unwashed or some other flimsy excuse. ps. I love Thailand otherwise I wouldn't have retired here and made it my home. but I've seen the smile quickly turn into snarls so I'm under no illusions. my theory is that everything you posted makes them bottle stuff up. they can't take it out on the Mercedes-driving guy from the big house and foreigners are easy prey so have at it.

charging 1k for a 20 baht keycard is peak dishonesty.

yep. I've been made to wait on checkout on quite a few occasions whilst reception radio housekeeping so that they can conduct a room inspection. mostly lower-end hotels because I'm too poor to stay at the Ritz.

I see "Indian" and I immediately get hungry for some garlic cheese naan bread and a lamb rogan josh.

sorry bro but that's kinda off-topic and I've already got enough non-expiring points ???? peace out ✌️

same diff

very first day? yeah nah I was in quarantine on the first day and when they let me out I walked around the Cow until I found the first bar that was serving alkhyhol despite the Covid prohibition. I didn't get around to sorting the retirement visa until day 8. why come to Thailand if you don't want to adapt to the local way of doing things? ????

ps. I dunno what the renewal cost is because I forgot to ask. but the mate who introduced me to Maneerat said it was B12.5k or 14k if you don't want to visit Immigration.

in Dec 2021 I paid B25k for conversion to non-O and one-year extension, B4k for multiple re-entry permit, and B3,700 for bank account. they actually put B512 in the bank account as the initial deposit so I guess the net cost was B3,188.

the one I use includes it as part of their package.

yes and there's a very good reason for that but I don't like to talk about Fight Club so I'm keeping schtum ????