dundas

I suggest you spend a  bit more time on Thai Visa, with the aim of learning all you need to know about how to gain status, and your own place in the pecking order. TV is a great social test lab, made more convenient and accessible by its cyberspace location. Then apply what you have learned to other human systems, such as the Thai one, in real life. 

You'll need a proper VAT receipt (i's dotted, t's crossed and stamped in the correct place/s) when you go to the inspection desk and refund station. 

My experience of Air Asia is that if you are in a group and have someone hiding all your carry on  behind a pillar somewhere where the check in staff cannot see you) while each person takes it in turn to check in,  they won't enforce that limit when you and your friends eventually get to the gate, each with lots of hand luggage. Unfair, yes. Guarantees, none. 

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Last time I was in Thailand at this time of year, I started having all night dreams of steam locomotives, could not help but wonder why ... 

This is a great question.

Not sure about using Bitcoin, maybe because of its early association with drugs etc etc. 

Also not sure about bringing large amounts of cash with me from anywhere to anywhere, unless there were no other options. Maybe cash rates in Thailand give the best result, but I would try using an online service such as au.ofx.com. 

I've used them in the past for transfers from Oz to Thailand, and generally speaking they offer far better rates than the banks, and much smaller fees. 

You can check out the costs online, pretty well instantly (assuming you already have an account). Getting an account does require a bit of setting up initially (proof of identity etc etc). Make sure you are 100% sure of the bank account details you are transferring the money to. Maybe try a small amount first, just to be sure. 

I normally bank with ANZ but I will never do international transfers with them or any of the other three big Aussie banks. They're rapacious with their fees and s***box rates. Don't feed gougers, is my advice. 

I often use Canstar.com.au (a commercial provider, but normally pretty direct and honest) for comparing financial products. They do compare international transfer rates and fees -- might be with a look at. They rate ofx highly, along with Citi. 

https://www.canstar.com.au/compare/international-money-transfers?profile=default&country=Other&amount=1000

This is an interesting thread. I might also look at some of the recommendations from other posters. It's good to know there's a bit of competition in the market place. 

2 hours ago, Thailand J said:

Next bet is the airline, I guess. I would try to contact the airline to see if they can produce any document to show your flight.  I have an AirAsia account where i can print my previous travels.

I have used my frequent flyer account with Thai Airways to show when I've been in and out of my own country. Don't know if Thai Immigration would be interested, though. 

I think modern medications can work very well, but from what I've seen they're not for everyone. In the case of one person I'm thinking of, they complained about the effects of the drugs and how that impacted on their work. In the end they solved the problem themselves -- they moved to a new work location and that changed everything, not that I am suggesting that as a solution for the OP! 

At the time I couldn't help but wonder if a sympathetic ear in addition to the prescription of drugs might have resulted in way better outcomes. 

1 hour ago, lungnorm said:

Sorry but you do qualify for an Australian age pension irrigardless of weather you live in Australia or overseas.

You must be a resident of Australia at the time you become eligible to apply for the OAP, and (from memory) you must also be in Australia on the day that you apply (normally the same day that you become eligible).  That means you have to have spent more than (from memory) 180 days in Australia in each of the two years before you become eligible to apply. I'm not sure what the rules are for the two years AFTER the pension starts (i.e., if you live overseas and cease to be an Australia "resident" for Centrelink purposes).  If you are out of Australia for more than six weeks,  the pension itself remains the same, but the overall payment goes down slightly because allowances are cut. 

Another poster made the point about you're doing it for love, she's doing it for her family.

Well, I've done it for my partner, and I know from experience the truth of the love/family thing.  It's as if the sacrifices I made to buy that property are forgotten. 

I'm very fortunate because my partner and I also share a business which is a great reason for keeping the relationship alive, and in the short to medium term, I'm not worried about the house, which I stay in whenever I'm in Thailand -- but it's also true that apart from staying in the house, I don't have the use of that money, and that's had a considerable impact on my life. 

If I had my choice over, I'd do what another poster suggested and buy a decent condo in my name. If the relationship fails after that, what I own is what I own, I can sell it if needs be, and if I own it when I die, what happens to it is according to what's in my will. 

Or even better, I'd buy nothing in Thailand at all. If my partner was that keen, I'd let them borrow from the bank and I would contribute to the repayments as part of my living expenses for as long as the relationship lasted. It's a way of keeping a measure of financial equity in the relationship. As farang cannot really own a house in Thailand, if you don't have on-going financial equity (i.e.,  a financial reason for the other party to stay in the relationship), you're either very fortunate (and have found true love and I know that happens), or you're at high risk of losing all your money. 

I'd agree with what the previous poster (Pik) said about usufruct. Sounds a whole lot more plausible than it might turn out to be. Once again, there's more luck/good management than there is the protection of law in how this might work out. 

i'd also agree with the posters who say that building costs tend to rise way beyond the initial quote. A farang friend who managed to build a wonderful house said to me "In Thailand, signing the building contract is only the start of the negotiations...." That's likely to be even more the case if the builder can smell farang in the air - in fairness, there are decent Thai builders around, and price gouging of farang doesn't happen in every build but it's still a risk to be reckoned with. 

Don't rush in, in other words. 

My first response was "For whom is that true?" 

"No man is an island" -- there are normally two people in a marriage. It's worth looking at the plus/minus aspects of marriage for each party and then thinking about how the dynamics might play out 

My last time in the low cost terminal at KL - the Air Asia plane left CNX well over an hour late. Lots of anxious passengers in CNX milling around and asking questions about the flights they were connecting to in KL. No info about our flight from CNX was forthcoming until just a few minutes before boarding, it wasn't the best customer service I've seen.

My transfer time at KLIA2 was an hour and half, something like that. At that time KLIA2 was brand new, was poorly sign-posted, and it had (and still has) immense distances. When we arrived in KL, it was a matter of each man for himself - no AA staff were on hand to help pax from the incoming fight.

Twenty minutes after boarding my flight back to Australia, I was still sweating from running what seemed like miles ... Never again.

Air Asia does make connecting in KL a little easier if you have a "fly thru" fare (as I did), but i doubt they would offer a "fly thru" fare for a return flight on the same day. The airline's "help" on a fly-thru fare seems limited to giving you a seat on the "next available flight," without penalty. Any expenses you incur while you're hanging around waiting are your own. Otherwise they're point to point, and the airline isn't going to be too concerned about you missing your return flight.

In the past, I have done a visa run, and stayed overnight in KL. Nowadays the low cost terminal also has a convenient train service into Sentral, and the place I stayed in was the modest Hotel Sentral. No doubt there are better choices for location and hotel, but it was OK - check out their reviews on Trip Advisor. As another poster has mentioned, it's a chance to check out the Indian food and explore the area - and yes, it can be seedy. Overall, staying the night was worth it, though, a lot less stress. I would take the earlier flight from CNX just to give myself more of a chance of getting to KL the same day if there were problems with that flight. In the past, I've booked on the last flight of the day (this time with Jetstar between another city pair) and then found it cancelled moments before I was due to board. If that were to happen, I've probably lost the costs of my return ticket, and my hotel accommodation.

I have already described my experience of the Embassy in Canberra in another thread. I won't go into it here again, just that I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.

If I were in your shoes, I would take the gentle hint from Ubonjoe and go to one of the honorary consulates in Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide or Hobart.

If you're applying for a visa in Australia, good luck.

In fairness, my experience with the Embassy in Canberra goes back a while (OK, 2010), and maybe things have changed since then. I certainly hope so.

The person at the Embassy kept asking (in successive email) for more and more information, culminating in a requirement for proof that the Thai director of the school was actually a Thai. The school said no other post anywhere in the world had ever asked for such information before.

One day before my planned departure I called the person at the Embassy. Yes, she said, good news, your visa is ready and I'll post it out to you today. She always knew that my departure was the next day and there was no way posting it was going to get it to me in time.

I wasn't in Canberra, and I briefly contemplated going there to pick it up, but in the end it was more cost-effective to pay something like $180 to have my passport couriered to me. I did have a flexible ticket and could have changed the flight to Thailand without penalty, but I also had a lot of arrangements in Thailand that I didn't want to change.

After the first couple of interactions with the person at the Embassy, I felt (no proof, mind you) that she was gaming me. It seemed like passive-aggressiveness taken to new heights.

I suggest you apply well in advance, and make sure your documentation is all sorted.

My Thai teacher made a point of saying that Thai has no concept of "self-made man," more like "rich" and "poor." Even if you had what my Thai teacher regarded as that missing concept, I think you'd need luck and help from others as well as an entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to work hard.

This has been one of the more fun TV threads, in my opinion.

I found my own personal fortune teller (OK, he wasn't an astrologer) in his Sky-office, back in 2010. Well, he found me on a Chiang Mai footpath, but same difference. He was amazed when I told him my age - he turned out to be exactly the same age as me ! I was amazed, too! We were both amazed! I realised then that he was a fantastic guy, that fate had somehow pushed him in my way, and that I should listen very, very carefully to whatever important messages he had for me. He went on to tell me I'd live until I'm 89. Works for me! I've gone on to live my life with that reassurance ever since and believe me, it's a great feeling.

Definitely worth 100 Baht.

I fly to Thailand two or three times a year using visa exemption entries, and so far I've never been questioned.

My memories of living in Chiang Mai, March, 2010 ... each night I would dream of steam locomotives. It didn't take long to work out why.

Like Rancid, i also have had an implant at a clinic "near the railway." Don't know if it's the same clinic. It was somewhat cheaper than Chiang Mai Ram, although I noticed that the dentist (not the surgeon) was very keen on finding extra items to pad the bill. I resisted those attempts, but it was hard work.

The implant was three or four months ago and has settled down quite OK.

I haven't had the crown put in yet, and after Rancid's comment, am now thinking I'll get the crown done in Australia, where my insurance will cover the cost of more than half of it. That's when I might find out if the top-tier implant I paid for is also the genuine article.

Buyer beware, as always.

If you are in Canada, part of feeling down may be due to the change in living arrangements and conditions. The darker, colder weather can have an affect on people as well.

I worked in a lot of different countries and quite a few were war zone areas. I wasn't in any serious danger if I took care, but these jobs often meant a major adjustment period. This included no electricity, television and limited social contacts. Each time I would go into a depression that would last for a time and everything looked dark. I would regurgitate things from past and dwell on them. It would pass.

If you have seriously and intentionally wronged people (and you probably haven't done as much damage as you think), you should try to make amends and that can be as simple as an apology.

You need to try to get out and meet some people and form some friendships. Given your past, you might want to try not to hop into bed with them immediately and make them think there is more to the relationship than there really is.

Writing is a good way to help sort things out, but it doesn't undo the past. It may help you sort through stuff though.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

I'm would add to what Scott says that I hope you can be kind to yourself. If you can't have compassion for yourself, it's difficult to have compassion for anyone else.

I find the thing I can do best for myself when I'm not feeling so great is to get out of the house, and do something. Take a walk in the park, go to the gym, swim, wander through a market ... just get out in the world.

And do my best to stay connected with other people. I've joined a few groups whose activities interest me - nothing sexual at all in any of the friendships I've formed from being in those groups but I value the friendships, and the feeling that I'm a part of something bigger than just me.

Can you quote the law that says that for any riding you need an Intl DL?

I have one, but in 4 stops (just minor stop/check everyone type checkpoints) I've never been asked for it. Only my home country DL. I was under the impression that there is a 30 day grace period under which you are allowed to ride a motorbike with only your DL from home. If you stay longer, you're then expected to either have an Intl DL or get a Thai one. I'm speaking in reference to the Thai laws, not insurance rules... they may be 2 very different things.

I do fully agree that there are far too many people coming here that get way too comfortable with flaunting the rules and/or their own limits... and end up paying for it. It's not always their fault, but it often is. The vast majority of accidents I've seen foreigners involved with here did also involve someone who was consuming alcohol. And that person may or may not have been wearing a helmet. Lack of familiarity with Thai driving styles + no safety gear worn + alcohol is a bad recipe.

Gear up, ride sober, be very aware and ride defensively... it wont 100% guarantee you wont have an accident, but it will greatly reduce the chances.

My understanding is that Thailand requires an International Driving Licence - but it's only good for a stay of up to three months - sorry I don't know where the law is that says that.

I've had a similar experience when it came to checkpoints - on one occasion, the policeman even took photos of my Australian licence, but ignored my IDL.

I have my IDL because I need it for travel insurance cover in the event of a motorcycle accident. And when I read through the fine print of my IDL - somewhere it states very clearly that the issuing authority will never issue an IDL retrospectively. In other words, if I don't have an IDL at the time of the accident, I'm in for financial Armageddon. And my insurance company's T&Cs don't allow for any 30 day grace periods, regardless of how the police might see it.

Agree totally about gear, riding sober etc etc and riding defensively. Even doing all of that, I'm still amazed at the risks some drivers are happy to take with my life. So far it's been like "Get Smart" - missed me by thaaaaat much!! But I agree - it's still worth doing everything to reduce the chances.

They need a international budget airline like qantas has jetstar. Flying to australua with three full meals is a waiste. Can fly jetstar business class for the same price as there economy.

Not sure that's true in every case. I just priced a Jetstar ticket Melbourne-Bangkok for approximately $920 - that's after buying the extras to get some flexibility, meals, baggage etc. Buying an equivalent promotional ticket on TG (Q class) to CNX instead of BKK will cost me just over a hundred dollars more, gives me a better choice of flights, and CNX is my destination in Thailand anyway - I priced Jetstar to Bangkok because that's as far as they fly.

Whatever TG's faults, my airline of choice ain't Jetstar. Their so-called business class isn't much better than TG economy anyway.

Having said all of that ... Thai probably do need to get rid of some of their more disinterested staff, not just the planes that nobody else wants.

Your authority over a dog diminishes with absence, even though when you return to the scene you can re-assert it.

Reminds me of the people who had a dog who had been "trained" to never sleep on a large rug in the living room. Every morning they would get up and the dog would greet them, wagging his tail. He was never on the rug when this happened, but if they put their hand down on one particular corner, they would feel the warmth of where he had been ....

I'm for building the fence.

Just think twice before you send anything to the Embassy in Canberra. Last time I applied for a visa there the Embassy stalled my application for many weeks, simply by asking for more and more documentary evidence.

Finally, the day before i was due to fly out I called the Embassy and was told the good news: my passport and visa were ready to be posted out to me, that very day. They knew my planned date of departure was the following day, a Saturday - the whole pattern of behaviour was passive-aggressive behaviour to the max.

This wasn't a case for Australia Post. I paid nearly $200 to a courier for same day delivery and so I still managed to fly out on time, but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

When I finally got to Thailand, I found no-one else in circumstances similar to mine was ever asked for the amount of documentary information that i was. So do whatever you can in Perth, and avoid any dealings with Canberra!