Beetlejuice

How will he suffer? He can teach English!

Exactly, and he won`t need a visa and have to go through all the crap us farangs have to endure to gain employment in Thailand.

I would not describe stealing £2300 from his employer as a stupid crime, but rather a very serious crime indeed and proves this is a character who can`t be trusted.

I see this as Thailand`s loss and England`s gain.

In incidents such as these, the airline crews should be given powers to arrest and restrain passengers that are considered a threat to the safety of the flight and other passengers.

I have learnt something here today.

In all my years in Thailand I`ve always believed these creatures were some kind of worm. If I found one in the house I would brush it into a dustpan and flush it down the toilet. Regret that now.

Does prove that Thai visa can be a wealth of information for us Thailand dwellers, plus that the wonders of nature never cease to amaze us.

I've been aware the Japanese Long Stay Club was doing this for a long time. We've talked with Immigration about this as being something the Chiang Mai Expats Club could offer and we had to "guarantee" a certain number of participants with their documents all in order. It seemed we would have to find a venue with a copy service because I know, frankly, many people show up without their documents in order. Our current venues of Le Meridien Hotel and River Market don't offer copy services. It just didn't seem like something we could offer in conjunction with our regular monthly General Meetings.

We did have a very good meeting with Immigration officials in October and produced a nice video that is a good overview of Immigration procedures:

http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/immigration-2014/

I`m a little gob smacked on reading this thread.

Are you saying that if the Chiang Mai Expats Club found a venue with copying facilities and with the attendance of certain number of participants that something could be arranged similar to the Japanese Long Stay Club for westerners?

This is the first time I have heard of the Long Stay Club and surely if such an arrangement is possible for us, can this be investigated further?

It can be completed using a third party.

All the required paperwork and signatories can be done by post using a trusted Thailand based Thai third party (assuming that the person is savvy and knows what he/she is doing) who can be nominated as an agent by the buyer and as an intermediary between the buyer and the seller, or if the buyer and the seller are known to each other, than the seller can also act as an agent, sending on paperwork to be completed by the buyer.

But remember the same rules apply as if the buyer is actually in Thailand, the purchase has to be financed by the Thai persons money, this is not a loophole to bypass the legal procedures regarding foreigners purchasing land and real estate in Thailand.

Of course using a third party or the help of the seller to conduct the said purchase via post from Thailand means there is a certain amount of trust required as money for the purchase, tax, fees involved and so on will have to sent from the resident country of the buyer into the third party`s or the sellers bank account in order to proceed with the business of property purchase.

Conducting the purchase using this method without being on the scene, is done at the buyers own risk and discretion.

I met my Thai wife in the United States over 32 years ago. She was a rep for a then well known Thai cosmetics company that she gave up after we were married.

It seems that the OP does not trust the loyalties and good judgements of his Thai wife, perhaps concerned that she will be led astray. My wife met many of her Thai friends abroad at the Thai Temples, both in the States and in London. Although I had a good career and earning big bucks at the time, my wife still wanted some independence and took a part time waitress job at a Thai restaurant so she could earn a bit of money for herself and also for the companionship of other Thai people. In fact 3 of her Thai friends she met at the Thai Temple at Wimbledon in London recommended her the job and worked with her.

No worries, because she was not the type to be irresponsible and also very choosy with who she associated with. Most of her Thai friends were married to farangs and we all became friends as married couples mostly on the same levels. In fact letting my Thai wife do her own thing became beneficial, because we met and made some great lifelong friends and even becoming god parents to their children and vice versa.

My point being that one has to let go and cannot completely lay down ground rules and restrictions on their married partners. If the OP has doubts about his wife not being 100% trust worthy, then he shouldn`t be married and as the wise man says; men only get the women they deserve.

Is the OP a fully qualified English teacher and what is his primary field?

Considering the information the OP has given it seems he knows very little about Chiang Mai. My advice to him is; first visit Chiang Mai for about a month and do his own research regarding work availabilities and requirements, plus costs and so on.

The idea and belief that the Chinese tourists are going to bring prosperity and be a major boost to the Thai economy is a fallacy. Many of the Chinese visitors to Thailand are of little wealth holidaying on budgets and as described in the OP, bringing with them a whole new set of problems. The wealthy Chinese go more upmarket, holidaying in Europe, the UK, America and other more prominent south East Asian countries including Singapore.

For example in Chiang Mai the powers that be have deliberately failed to put resources into the western tourist industry, including placing restrictions on most of it`s adult entertainments venues and western style night-life, but instead are concentrating efforts into what is believed to be the more affluent Chinese tourist markets, that I am sure over the next few years will prove to be a great error in judgement or in other words, they are backing the wrong horse.

I do not think the question of mailing address for 90 day report was answered,or did I miss it? Mine is due on the 21st of july and would hate to mail it to the old office and be late.Any knowlege about new street address.

My advice to you and others in similar situations is to go in person to complete your 90 day report on this one occasion until everything is established.

A few days after Immigration has opened in the Promenada, I intend to make a visit and survey the situation so at least I will know exactly where to go and what`s what when I visit for my visa extensions and 90 day reports.

Hopefully the 90 days online report system will be fully operational in the future that will take another load off Immigration and save us some visits.

For the moment there are still too many uncertainties that will not be clear until the new premises is in operation.

The Thai sex industry has always been a prevalent part of Thailand throughout the centuries, but back in the old days it was mostly kept within the local communities. It could be described as part of the Thai cultural way of life. Prostitution was not frowned upon or considered a taboo subject as in the western countries. As a matter of fact being a cleaner or a servant was considered a lower grade of work than prostitution.

Then when the Japanese troops arrived on mass during WW2, they created large brothels for the servicing of their armies, the prostitutes being known as comfort women These became widespread throughout the country and especially in Bangkok, in areas that later developed into the entertainment complex, PatPong.

During the Vietnam war, American and Australian troops came over on mass that revitalised the sex industry here, what could be described as the first commercialised adult entertainments venues.

Then after the Vietnam war these establishments began to cater for western tourists, many actually holidaying in Thailand because of the lure of it`s women, that in Thai society were considered as a commodity to bring in those $$$$$$$$$$$, plus created employment for millions.

Over the last few years Thailand has tried to suppress it`s commercial sex industry, that has already happened in the northern regions and is now largely contained in certain areas of Bangkok and Pattaya.

The problem being that the sex industry in Thailand was a huge tourist attraction, even if no one wants to admit it or did not like the types of tourists it attracted. The availability of Thailand’s beautiful maidens was as famous and well known as gambling is to Las Vegas. For wine, women and song, Thailand was the country to visit.

If they decide to totally dismantle the commercial sex industry in Thailand, then that will result in the loss of billions each year in tourism revenue, including placing many people, probably in the millions out of work.

Like it or not, these are the facts.

Nice, informative post about sex tourism or Thai-foreigner sex, but you failed to mention the current domestic Thai-Thai sex trade and it's magnitude as compared to 'sex tourism' or Thai-foreigner sex It's much better to tell the complete story, otherwise your information then tends to look biased. But I will agree with you, if the government choose to dismantle the commercial sex industry, regardless of who the customers are, it would actually impact the Thai GDP negative. But I doubt it will happen. The same people promoting moralism and 'cleaning it up' are more than likely wading the the same pool during their free time so to speak. lol

Let us try and compare the Thai to Thai sex trade with that of the United Kingdom.

In the UK it is legal for a woman to sell sexual favours from her own home, providing she does not have a pimp, otherwise that`s classified as living off immoral earnings or that there is no more than one working person, otherwise it`s considered running a brothel. But of course brothels are still operating in the UK, usually with the authorities turning a blind eye, similar to that in Thailand.

The UK local free newspapers that are full of classified ads have hundreds of women advertising in the personal sections on the back pages offering massage, that everyone knows really means sexual services described as massage for legal reasons.

Throughout the UK there must be thousands and thousands of prostitutes offering sexual services via local newspapers and online classifieds. My guess is that the number of working prostitutes in the UK could well equal that of Thailand, perhaps more since the mass immigration of East Europeans into Britain and there are huge numbers of Asian, Indian and Thai prostitutes working in the UK. I would guess that the same applies to Australia, where prostitution is actually legal in many States..

The difference between sex workers in Thailand is that it`s done much more discretely between Thais and we mainly visualise Thai prostitutes as bar girls or those working at soapy massage parlours, so therefore Thai prostitutes are likely to be more evident to us than those in the UK.

Whatever country, prostitution is always there, whether it`s called another name, practiced behind closed doors or openly in bars and clubs. Men are willing to pay for sexual services and there are women willing to provide those services, it`s that simple.

In this day and age I believe prostitution should no longer be a taboo subject, Internationally recognised as a legitimate service, the seediness taken out the equation and completely legalised under Government controls with laws governing the industry, as is already practiced in Holland, the Red Light district for example, instead of trying to pretend this is not happening on a mass scale.

The Thai sex industry has always been a prevalent part of Thailand throughout the centuries, but back in the old days it was mostly kept within the local communities. It could be described as part of the Thai cultural way of life. Prostitution was not frowned upon or considered a taboo subject as in the western countries. As a matter of fact being a cleaner or a servant was considered a lower grade of work than prostitution.

Then when the Japanese troops arrived on mass during WW2, they created large brothels for the servicing of their armies, the prostitutes being known as comfort women These became widespread throughout the country and especially in Bangkok, in areas that later developed into the entertainment complex, PatPong.
During the Vietnam war, American and Australian troops came over on mass that revitalised the sex industry here, what could be described as the first commercialised adult entertainments venues.

Then after the Vietnam war these establishments began to cater for western tourists, many actually holidaying in Thailand because of the lure of it`s women, that in Thai society were considered as a commodity to bring in those $$$$$$$$$$$, plus created employment for millions.

Over the last few years Thailand has tried to suppress it`s commercial sex industry, that has already happened in the northern regions and is now largely contained in certain areas of Bangkok and Pattaya.

The problem being that the sex industry in Thailand was a huge tourist attraction, even if no one wants to admit it or did not like the types of tourists it attracted. The availability of Thailand’s beautiful maidens was as famous and well known as gambling is to Las Vegas. For wine, women and song, Thailand was the country to visit.

If they decide to totally dismantle the commercial sex industry in Thailand, then that will result in the loss of billions each year in tourism revenue, including placing many people, probably in the millions out of work.

Like it or not, these are the facts.

In answer to your heading, there are a lot of people teaching English but few English teachers.

Like this one for example. Hope she`s not teaching in Chiang Mai:

Nicholas Winton saved my aunt, the wife of my mother`s brother, who was one of the children on his Kindertransport (children’s transports) from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

Her parents went into hiding. My aunt’s father and grandparents were betrayed and all sent to the gas, her mother managed to escape to neutral Sweden with the help of a Swedish diplomat and later reunited with my aunt in Britain. Prior to that, both mother and daughter had no idea if the other had survived or not.

After the war my aunt and her mother visited their home town in Czechoslovakia to claim back what was confiscated from them by the Nazis, only to discovered that the then Communist regime had stolen all their assets, including their home and bank accounts. I can remember they fought for many years to reclaim back what was stolen from them in their own country, but they never succeeded.

I think the two Burmese patsies have no chance. If I remember correctly word on the streets in Koh Tao was that 112m THB were paid to make all this go away by the island mafia family of the real murderers. The investigation was a shameful travesty, but the most disgusting part of all was when the parents of David and Hannah openly stated that they were "happy with the investigation and its outcome". They must be either braindead, blind and deaf or were threatened to keep their mouths shut, I don't know, but to me that was the most horrifying part of the whole sharade. May the true culprits, their families and all RTP officers involved in the cover up and the lowlife scum pancake vendor mainly responsible for what happened in the "safe house" rot in hell!

That`s a serious accusation. Please give your sources for this information? Or is this something you were told by a man you met in a bar?

Are you associated with or supporting with your name that facebook page you seem to advocate so much? If not than you are not practicing what you preach.

Do you reside or work in Thailand? Because I am interested to know what makes you so interested in this event?

If activists like you keep making such statements, at least without any credible convincing evidence or sources to back up your rants, then you are leaving ourself open to being classified as an enemy of the state.

If you or anyone else have credible evidence or have witnessed anything or know someone that could help the 2 lads already in custody prove they are innocent, then please go public, rather than vomiting up hearsay and conspiracy theories on social networking sites and open forums.

What`s the source of the water?

Is it Government, local community run or from a well?

Why, why, why do these people do it?

This guy is only 26 years old, his whole life in front of him and now his actions have sent him to hell. I would rather face the death penalty than have to spend the rest of my life in a Thailand stink hole.

Although this guy was dealing drugs without a thought for those who`s lives get destroyed by drugs, it`s still tragic just the same and especially for his family, with whom my main sympathies lie.

The moral rights and wrongs of this is all a matter of opinion. Ruined lives for 200 pills. Was the gamble worth it?

Do's in Thailand - Dating Etiquette

I advise the OP to be careful when using his US hair driers in Thailand. Otherwise this could be an horrific accident waiting to happen, and I`m deadly serious. If he continues to use these electrical appliances, he does so at his own risk and discretion.

2 stores come into mind, the Amorn Center now located in the Computer City by the moat and Global House. But as other posters have mentioned, best to buy new electrical appliances here in Thailand, they`re cheap enough.

Better safe than sorry.

Wow, 3800 baht per month electric bill. Are you running appliances on an industrial scale?

We have the government water supply and our water bills on average are around 80 to 120 baht per month. That includes shower water, water for washing the dishes, washing machine, watering the garden and cleaning out the goldfish tanks a couple of times a month. We also receive a hand written bill. A nice little old lady turns up at our gate once a month and presents the bill, which we pay on the spot.

Sorry, 500 baht, no way. As some posters have already mentioned, it could be a case of a leak or overflow somewhere. Otherwise, I suggest you have a word with your landlord or the juristic management agents.

In fairness you would be surprised what a fridge, hot plate, computer and old air-con can use up in a month

I haven't seen an electricity bill under 3k in a long long time

Water bill is generally around 250 baht mark that's with five people showering twice a day, dishes being washed and a laundry machine. You should get your place checked out for leaks we had one nasty one once and our water bill came in at 970 baht one month

Our electric bills are on average 1200 baht per month. We use most of what you mentioned except we have several fans running 24 hours per day but don`t use air con.

Yes, I agree that the good old air con can whack up the bills, but still, 3800 baht sounds excessive, unless the OP has large BTU air con systems running throughout the days and nights.

Wow, 3800 baht per month electric bill. Are you running appliances on an industrial scale?

We have the government water supply and our water bills on average are around 80 to 120 baht per month. That includes shower water, water for washing the dishes, washing machine, watering the garden and cleaning out the goldfish tanks a couple of times a month. We also receive a hand written bill. A nice little old lady turns up at our gate once a month and presents the bill, which we pay on the spot.

Sorry, 500 baht, no way. As some posters have already mentioned, it could be a case of a leak or overflow somewhere. Otherwise, I suggest you have a word with your landlord or the juristic management agents.

BJ if you are getting a hand written bill you ain't on government water.

Local moobaan well is more like it.

Government water has a similar scanned and printed bill to electric.

My error, you are right, we are on the local water here. I won`t say that all our water is passed by the management.

Wow, 3800 baht per month electric bill. Are you running appliances on an industrial scale?

We have the government water supply and our water bills on average are around 80 to 120 baht per month. That includes shower water, water for washing the dishes, washing machine, watering the garden and cleaning out the goldfish tanks a couple of times a month. We also receive a hand written bill. A nice little old lady turns up at our gate once a month and presents the bill, which we pay on the spot.

Sorry, 500 baht, no way. As some posters have already mentioned, it could be a case of a leak or overflow somewhere. Otherwise, I suggest you have a word with your landlord or the juristic management agents.

Some years ago while my youngest son at the age of 13 was attending International school, he befriended a Thai lad who also in his school class.

The boy`s father owned 3 high profile karaoke clubs and some other shady adult themed establishments in Chiang Mai. On one weekend the lad took my boy to meet his family including the father. My son told me that the father had to hire bodyguards everywhere he went, including a bodyguard to take and collect his son from school and even accompany the boy`s mother while she went shopping. After that, I insisted my son distance himself from that mob, which he did.

At the time I thought to myself, although the father was probably worth millions, drives a custom built Mercedes and lives in a multi million baht home, who would want to live that sort of lifestyle where one is having to look over their shoulder and be on the alert 24 hours?

What I have said many times in the past here on Thai visa still stands, don`t get involved in Thailand.

Murdered, not assassinated

Murdered or assassinated = you still end up dead.

Said incident has brought "great shame" to the popular beach town.

Great shame, what, in Pattaya? My god, this must have been bad.

She is damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. If she says nothing she is heartless, if she goes and asks for forgiveness (Buddhist style) she is selfish and making it about her etc.

I think she has behaved better than the little wench that killed 9 people in the van by ramming of the tollway. She has shown NO remorse, not spoken a word to the families and is even appealing the absolute joke of a sentence she was given. At least this lady has shown some semblance of remorse.

If she was indeed drunk then she should be locked up (won't happen). A massive payout will see her free. That is sick in itself but not exactly unexpected when a High so kills.

Sorry, don`t agree.

This woman should be in jail awaiting a court appearance. I can assure you if this was one of us we would be in be jail with no option of being given a get out of jail free card with an opportunity to give press conferences and attend the funeral of our victim.

One way or another she knows this indecent is going to cost her, either by buying her way out one way or another or serving a long jail sentence. She`s opting for the payoff. Although claiming she was distraught at the scene, she still managed to conjure up the tale regarding a phantom motorcyclist that I wager will never be found.

She is pleading to save her own skin, it`s all about her and not the horrific trauma she has inflicted upon the victim and his family.