MrMo

For two years we've been threatening to get rid of TrueVision. On the Gold package the channels of interest were limited to no more than 12 and many of them seemed to repeat just 24 hours of new programs a week.

At the beginning of June we dropped them. Don't miss a thing. The wife still gets her Thai terrestrial channels and I can always get the world news and sports on the internet.

Bye-bye TrueVision.

“….. including 30 passenger buses and 10 trucks from Cambodia to Thailand and 10 passenger buses and 30 trucks from Thailand to Cambodia.”

Who writes these things up ? Is this a quote from an official press release or an example of some reporter’s ramblings somewhere along the information trail ?

At this rate I’d be interested to know, just for the sake of curiosity, will Thailand run out of trucks before Cambodia runs out of buses ?

I recall years back a part of British Rail claimed they took 2 million people to work each morning and took 1,950,000 back home in the evening. I’ve always wondered where those other 50,000 went to each day. Guess it must have been a good time to be a taxi driver on the evening shift.

For family reasons I have recently taken an interest in dyslexia.

I can find only one study of dyslexia in Thailand. That was made of a single school by a very reputable Thai university in 2002. The findings were "prevalence of dyslexia and probable dyslexia were found to be 6.3 per cent and 12.6 per cent, respectively". "The male to female ratio of dyslexia was 3.4:1." (Could this be why boys tend to do less well academically than girls?) http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/12549782

It would seem that the reports recommendation that a wider study be carried out hasn't been followed up or, if it has, I haven't been able to find it in English.

As to other countries, USA is 5% to 15% with some studies suggesting the upper end should be closer to 20%. Most European studies show similar 5% to 15%. Japan and China are lower. Could this be because they're script is not alphabet based but are rather pictorial ? Pictures are something dyslexics are good at.

Dyslexia is hereditary through the male line. Each generation doesn't necessarily outwardly show signs of the condition. My generation of three boys and two girls didn't outwardly show any signs but the next generation (also of three boys and two girls) has two of the boys, by different fathers, with dyslexia. Dyslexic charateristics can also be brought on as a result of a head trauma.

LaoPo is basically correct to say that tests didn't really come in to being until the 60's though the condition was beginning to be recognised in the 20's. I could go on and on identifying famous people who showed classic signs of one or more types of dyslexia. But suffice to say people such as Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson, Henry Ford, Winston Churchill, Graham Alexander Bell, Walt Disney and George Patton quite possibly wouldn't have achieved what they did if they hadn't the condition. The list would also have include many, many people from the stage and screen.

In a similar way to the other senses of a person who is deaf or blind are often enhanced, so does the brain "compensate" for the dyslexic condition by enhancing other skills, spatial awareness and higher intelligence are two good example.

An interesting short read to help understand the basic condition can be found at

http://www.post-gaze...nt-meet-471693/

I'll include one final point to stamp on any use of mental handicap / mentally challenged / etc / etc. The IQ of dyslexics is generally higher than that of non-dyslexics.

If anyone out there knows of any organisations in Thailand that provides guidance and support to dyslexics and their families I would be very pleased to hear from you.

Banchang,

I have a nine year old son who has recently been identified as dyslexic. This has resulted in me doing much research on the subject and discovering many surprising facts.

One of those facts is that there appears to be next to zero support in Thailand for people with the condition. Do you know of any organisations or publications (particularly in Thai to help his mother understand the issues) in this country ?

With much thanks in advance should you get to see this.

But not friendly enough to let us do 90-day reporting by post ! But then, that's a different thread.

At no time was the child present at any point in either the initial application process or at the "renewal", This includes the visits to the Ampur office. His consent has never asked for.

At the time of the initially discussion on what I needed to get together to make such an application, no mention was made of his age or need for his approval.

The real point here is ThaiVisa gives a guide as to what may or may not be possible in Thailand.

If you really want to know, put on your best clothes and your best manners and go ask Immigration. Then as, johnlandy puts it, you'll have some idea of how many hoops there are, what colour they are, what size they are and how high they are.

My son was seven years old when I first applied for an extension based on Guardianship. I had been on retirement extensions since shortly before he was born.

According to Korat Immig., Guardian extension applications are rare. They reckon to process just about ten a year as against thousands and thousands of Marriage and Retirement extensions.

I note an error in the first line of my initial response. It should read "and then in 2011 "renewing" for a further 12 months" - not 2012.

Having obtained a 12 month extension in 2010 through the Korat Immigation for caring for a child and then in 2012 "renewing" for a further 12 months perhaps give you some guidance on what is needed to take that route.

Previously, I had a retirement visa but had miscounted the months and was in danger of not having sufficient funds in for three months. I took the Caring for a Child option as the Immigration Officer advised that then I'd only need to have 400,000 in for two months. (In fact, if you read the Police Order carefully - available on ThaiVisa, the two months applies for marriage, for child care there is NO time requirement.)

What I needed to do was get together:

• The child’s birth certificate with my name as father.
  
• Bank letter and bank statement/passbook showing 400,000.
  
• Three photographs of myself with my son at the home (note that these do NOT get returned to you)
  
• A letter from the Ampur office stating that I am looking after the child. The Ampur will need two witnesses other than the mother. Our Ampur needed the mother present as well but could not explain how they would handle the situation if the mother was not available (e.g. deceased). Also note that the Immigration Officer kept referring to this letter as a "letter from a lawyer" which took some effort to sort out what it was they actually wanted.
  
• Then there was the regular stuff of photocopies of the house-book, my passport, etc.
  

It was NOT necessary for the mother and child to go to the Immigration office (or at least not at Korat Immig.).

An additional problem with the Caring for a Child route is that the local Immigration Office has to send the extension application off to Bangkok for approval EVERY year which is not the case for "renewing" Marriage and Retirement extensions. This then necessitates a trip to submit the application at which you automatically get a one month extension to cover the Bangkok approval period and then a second trip at the end of that one month to get the following eleven months.

Good luck whichever way you go.

Brilliant ! Thanks Mario2008.

In the "good, old days" we could complete and post off the 90 day report form to Bangkok. This eliminated the need for many to do as much a 400km trip every 3 months.

When Immigration Bangkok moved to it new offices this service was withdrawn.

I have recently heard that it is now available but no-one can confirm it or provide an address to which the form should be sent.

Please, is there anyone out there who can put my mind at rest on this point ?

I can't tell you about a getting a non-Imm visa based on having a Thai child but, based on very recent experience, I can on the 12-month extension.

It's a pain and, having done it for two years, I will not be doing it again. What you need in addition to the regular passport photocopies, mini-photos, etc is :

- birth certificate (in Thai)

- 400,000 in the bank (it must be in Thailand though not necessarily in Baht depending on which Immigration office you attend). There is some confusion as to how long the money must have been there. Immig wanted it there for three months but the police regulations, as available in Thai RTP777_2551 (2).pdf and English courtesy of Isaan Lawyers Police Order 2008 (2).pdf on ThaiVisa (see attachments, state just the amount - not a duration. (In the same section, the regulations state that for an extension based on marriage 400,000 for two months is required.) Play safe and make it three months. These regulation, however, appear to apply only to the initial application for a twelve month extension, not for a subsequent 12 month extension.

- a letter from the Ampur office stating that you are caring for the child. In my case, the Ampur office wouldn't issue it to me. The mother had to request it. (The boss in the Ampur office was far to busy looking at magazine about guns to bother about responding to questions such what happens if the mother is dead, run off, out of the country, whatever.) The Ampur office also needs two other people to witness that you take care of the child - grandma and Pu Yai Baan worked. There also seems to be some confusion as to whether you need to get this every year or can use a photocopy the same letter each year. Immigation officers seem to always refer to this letter as "the letter from the lawyer" which caused great confusion until eventually I worked out what they wanted.

- three normal sized family photos of you with the child at the Thai home. You will NOT get them back.

Once you have these together you can then submit them at the Immig office. They will then be sent to Bangkok. You then return at the end of the month follow to find out whether your application has been successful. This submitting to Bangkok happens EVERY year, not just on the first application.

An officer at Korat Immigration told me they get only about ten such applications a year. Korat Immig deals with a lot of 12-month extensions as it covers at least three large provinces, Nakorn Ratchasima, Buriram and Surin, and is always a busy office.

Perhaps you understand why in October this year I'll be reverting to the retirement extension.

On the concept of using 60 day extensions, that is fine so long as you are near an Immigration office. If you have to do 300+km round-trip every 60 days to get a new extension it works out about the same as getting a 12 month extension.TP777

In the early 2000s during the time of the old main Immigration Office in Suan Pau (excuse the spelling) and the Dom Mueng, there was a special counter in the Immig.Office with the sole task of correcting errors made by Dom Mueng Immigation Officers.

Perhaps you should contact the new main Immigration Office.

A BIG, BIG issue that I do NOT see mentioned is whether you are LEGALLY MARRIED to your daughter's mother and / or whether the mother is a British Citizen. <br><br>If you are legally married to the mother or the mother is a British Citizen then I believe that what others have advised you is correct.<br><br>However, if you are NOT legally married to the mother and the mother is NOT a British Citizen you first have to apply for British Citizenship for your daughter.   Technically, this may or may not be granted according to the Foreign Secretary's discretion when the application is made based on the father being British.   (It's interesting to note that if the mother is British the child has a right to British Citizenship - a touch of sexual discrimination perhaps.)   I provide this advice from having had to jump through the right hoops on behalf of my son.<br><br>There is also the issue of where you were born.  If you and the mother were NOT born in Britain your children there are other higher hoops you will have to go through.   Even Boris Johnson gave up on this on behalf of his daughter as she was born in Belgium and he in India.   She now has to live with a Belgium passport.<br>

Isn't the use of the word "illegal" in both the head-line to and the body of the article redundant in Thailand ? ! ? ! ? !

Good to see that coming but doesn't tackle the problem of litter everywhere. Of the 14 or so countries I have lived in for at least a year, Thailand has to be the most "litter happy". Until Thais can learn to not just thoughtlessly discard litter at the street side and shops not pointlessly put every thing purchased into plastic bags, Thailand will remain looking like a garbage dump.

What is the point of putting a newspaper it to a plastic bag?

Education and a tax on plastic bags ar what is need.

That bio-degradeable plastic bag at the roadside is still going to take an absolute minimum of 60 days to degrade.

One other point on the work permit.

I was advised by the lawyer that the work permit should be CANCELLED. This was done at what then was known as the OneStop Work Permit office; do not know whether this still operates. It should have been done by the companies business consultants but was not. All they did was deregister me from the list of foreign workers in the company.

If it was was not cancelled, any opportunity to take on any further work in the country would be hampered to the extent that it would be necessary to attend a court for not having cancelled it. Apparently, just paying a fine would not be permitted.

Just about 8 years ago I had the exact same situation. I do not think that the rules will have changed significantly.

I was informed I had 6 (not 7) days to leave the country OR get a 12 month retirement extension.

This entailed going to (the old) immigration in Bangkok (which was where I had worked) with the regular papers for 12 month retirement extension PLUS a certificate from the Thai tax authorities acknowledging that I had paid all taxes.

The tax certificate so happenned to arrive unsolicited at the office on the day I was going to see the Bangkok lawyer who was to guide me through. I do not know what you need to do get one issued. Its issuance may well have been instigated by the business / accounting consultancy firm the company used in Bangkok

The Bangkok lawyer did cost a few thousand but nowhere near what a trip out of the country and applying for a new non-Imm O (or O-A) would have cost.

The whole thing with the lawyer took less than 15 minutes at the immigration office.

If you are interest in the lawyer's contact details, respond to this.

Good luck