Unwisemonkey

Hopefully they don't give him bail

how about Thailand becoming a signatory the Hague convention? Or adopting labor and immigration policies for visa's that strengthen family units instead of tearing them apart? How about paying the police a salary that makes corruption a less lucrative option, Maybe even some traffic signals while your at it.

Most of you aren't reading between the lines.

They say, that the spending via debit cards is mostly through cash withdrawals. 2.35Trillion worth.

Banks make roughly 2% off debit card purchases - that's their "transaction processing fee" to the vendor (small vendors cannot negotiate their fees down to 2%, many are paying 4% or more). 2% of 2.35Trillion is 47 BILLION baht.

So, they want to 'educate' people to use their debit cards in-store rather than withdrawing cash and paying with that, because they're 'losing' at least 47 Billion baht in pure profit.

Nothing to see here other than the bankers' increasingly frantic cash grabbing. Banking, biggest legalised fraud ever.

As for the posters moaning about 'unscrupulous' vendors passing this extortion of their profits on to customers that use cards - wake up.

Agreed, I've yet to meet a Thai that doesn't understand when they are getting fleeced for cash by the banks. This is why they have multiple accounts at different banks. Even the company you may work for requires you to hold an account at a specific bank so they can avoid deposit fees. As an American I am used to getting so much of my banking for free. But charging for deposits is just slimy and greedy. I was appalled by the banking practices here when I first arrived. They charge so much that they are actually hurting the prosperity of Thai's because they have to hold multiple accounts to do transactions and cannot keep their monies in one interest bearing account.

Watch the seven samurai by Akira Kurosawa. There is no such thing as a poor farmer/landowner in Thailand. The rice scheme by the government is just a fancy word for subsidy.

Thailand doesn't have enough cheap crappy furniture already?

I've been explaining to my S.O. when we are stuck in traffic and she is talking to me about getting her tax rebate for buying a car this last year that it is all a scheme by the government. That they have covered their butts and Thai people fell for it hook line and sinker (not that Americans didn't either back in 2008) I explained to her that the auto companies namely Toyota and Honda were about to leave the country after the floods so the government had to keep them here. By refunding your taxes it's guarantees a certain amount of sales and in Thailand that means huge profits for auto manufacturers. So they stayed, Thai's got to keep their jobs, and that's a good thing, and Bangkok gets to suffer with more traffic congestion, and pollution. I swear I saw a light bulb light up over her head.

I'll offer up this bit if it has not been proposed already. The reason no more Non-B multiple entry Visa's in KL could be simply a measure to curb corruption. We've all seen the news bits about Malaysians not standing for corruption and while individually that may be so but it is naive to think it does not exist there too. I recently went to work in Phuket and was promised a Non-B from a new club opening up there. The long and the short of that experience is it didn't work out because I was not able to condense 3 months of work into 3 weeks, in a part of Thailand I was unfamiliar with. Whatever, but I had a visa mishap while trying to get my Non-B. My paperwork went missing after I arrived in KL. I called my hotel in Phuket, and it was there. I searched flight, I sought options, but there were none. I came back to Phuket from KL disgraced, but moved on and made plans for another trip at my expense this time round. I spoke with the manager of the hotel I was staying at, a friendly Thai lady, and I said I will go to Penang if it is cheaper then KL.

She explained to me that Penang was not an option because my paperwork was incomplete. I was missing a document from the Thai ministry of labor. She informed me that Penang Immigration is more strict because that's where lots of people go for Non-B's Because it is cheaper. Thus you get a lot of kickbacks and payoffs there from all sorts, Cambodian, Malays, Russians, Burmese, you name it. So the government cracked down on Penang Immigration, as with any government it looks like they figured out foreigners of means i.e. Russian mobsters, rich Phuket elitists and what not have the means of sending workers to KL at a marginally higher cost, but with less hassle and oversight. In other words KL immigration is not as thorough on the paperwork and needless to say a multiple entry stamp allows for all sorts of nefarious cross border stuff to go on. I could be wrong, but I don't think they "Thai's are all xenophobes and want us out" crowd is 100% correct either.

Take all the emotion and hyperbole out of this and the man was protecting his property. This dog was a repeat offender and terrorizing the neighborhood. He was a good neighbor and asked them to fix the situation without ratting them out to local authorities, but in hindsight maybe he ought to have done that as well just to cover his butt. There are a lot of Thai animal activist groups springing up lately and I guess it's good but they ought to consider getting a consultation from a western country to help get them on the right track. Harassing this man outside his home in protest is exactly that, harassment. Thai's want animal rights but typical most don't want the responsibility that comes with it. Responsibility is socializing your domestic animals, and there are no if, and's or but's about it. Most domesticated dogs in Thailand are borderline feral and only socialized within the confines of their townhouse family. I've met friendlier soi dogs then some of these domesticated ones.

Dog's left to roam free in a neighborhood without proper socialization will always revert to their instinctive behavior. While everyone is up in arms about this poor animal and it's owner, with a Kodak moment perfect picture of some poor Thai woman knelt over the corpse of her dog has anyone considered the possibilities of what could have happened if no action was taken.

Two scenarios:

1. German man does like most foreigners and ends up hiding away in his house quietly cursing the second class citizen system we live in, his Rottweiler grows older bigger, wiser and stronger. Eventually he has enough and takes his pooch for a walk. Goldilocks decides it's still king <deleted> of the neighborhood and goes in to pick on his old friend from Deutschland. UBERMUTT decides enough is enough and takes out Thai Goldilocks. Now Thai's are demanding justice for this poor innocent family dog.
   
2. Same as before only this time the German man and UBERMUTT stay indoors. The family down the street has a child who's old enough to turn into a feral Thai Soi kid and they let it play unsupervised... par for the course. Goldilocks by this time is completely feral and his territorial pissing extend way outside the boundaries of the house and see's a small human animal and decides it's lunchtime. Now we have a dead child mauled by a vicious near feral animal, and the dog dies anyways because no one, not even a Thai is going to stand for a canine baby killer
   

It's a sticky situation but the fact is and remains the same. Thai's need to step up to the plate in this small manner and accept social responsibility for their friends, neighbors, children and elderly, and do the right thing by properly socializing their domesticated animals. Some will argue it is natural for dogs to fight, and it is... if they are wild. Once a human being takes on the responsibility of animal ownership, it is their duty to train those animals to curb those instincts and obey the law, human law for the good and well being of the rest of society.

On another note these so called animal rights groups are loudmouth obnoxious Thai at it's worst. For three years now I've gone to a fair at Kasetsart university where the puppy mills are operating in full swing selling sick dogs and puppies and cats for choice prices with no registration or breeding history to speak of, just a stones throw away from the Kasetsart Veterinary college. Get real Thai animal rights activists. Poseurs the whole lot of you.

Bangkok has 1,000 things which need improving. Where to start? Best would be to relocate to higher ground, as it's going to be under a meter of year 'round standing water in the near future.

as for traffic, here are some things Bangkokian big shots can do:

>>>. develop dedicated 'turn lanes' at intersections. Instead of 3 lanes stopped to enable one to move, two lanes could move while two are stopped. More traffic would be moving rather than standing still and idling.

>>> get those black smoke belching buses off the streets. Last time I was in Bkk (I go there as seldom as possible), I had to wait for a bus and nearly died (no exaggeration) from constant black smoke blown in my face. It was awful!

>>> develop parks. Bkk, like all Thai cities, has a paucity of parks. Even when Thais build a park, they are compelled to pour cement over most of it. Is it just Thais, or do all Asians have an aversion to grass and trees?

.....just a smattering of improvements which could help Bkk progress from crappy to moderately bad.

This would require civil engineering to be taken off the list of jobs foreigners are prohibited from doing. The whole culture might disappear if a few hundred western civil engineers came and designed some streets while teaching the trade to the locals. Pretty soon Thai language would disappear, they would no longer wai to greet one another and would not be able to say no it's good because it's Thai style.

It's funny my S.O. lets me drive her around sometimes and would give me the usual schlep all Thai's say about it's their right or up to them. I've been steadily re-enforcing my ideology upon her that no one has the right to do things if it is negative to the greater good. She's starting to get it and gets irritated with inconsiderate drivers and the lack of traffic signals and buses driving in the fast lane and two way traffic on soi's that are only big enough for maybe 1.5 cars and....

My take (and merely my opinion based on what I have read, along with other examples of similar behaviour I have heard about)

Woman says she is going out to meet friends for some food. Will be about 2 hours.

Comes back 7 hours later smashed on Leo.

Boyfriend who has been at home looking after the young baby who may still be breastfeeding is unhappy with mother getting smashed when she said she was just popping out for a bit. Also stessed because baby crying, hungry misses mother etc.

Tells her to sort herself out, she is a mother and needs to be responsible for the child's sake.

All too common Thai reaction of not accepting fault along with intoxicated state kicks in and instead of accepting any blame says she will jump off the balcony to deflect attention away from her own failings.

Boyfriend who by that time was pissed off not only with the drunken staying out but also childish mind games says "go on then I dont care"

Mother then unable to back down due to loss of face as well as having no other tricks up her sleeve to get herself off the hook does it to spite him.

Seems pretty accurate albeit sparse on the amateur psychiatry. I would have added in the Thai's general low EQ as well, as well as a cultural stigma attached to mental illness of any sort, even depression that makes outreach service all but non-existent. I went through post partem depression with my ex twice and I can say from experience, even in grown up countries (supposedly) like the U.S. where I am from, they give the husbands no resources or supplementary documentation to look after their wives, what the symptoms are, and most importantly how deal with a person in such a state. This poor guy man didn't have the tools necessary to cope I'm sure of it. I know I didn't and you can hardly blame a person in that situation for not reacting in a manner such as you described. If that indeed is close to the truth.

I think the reality is most Thai women are not prepared to have children until they are at least 30 years old and have some modicum of self sufficiency in their lives. By then that age they seem mature enough to process what emotions may come and have enough education on women's health issues and modern childbearing literature to know it's not a good idea to drink while pregnant or nursing.

Slow and steady, my lawyer friend has been working pro-bono for me which is nice however I can't expect a lot of instant gratification when I'm getting services for free (on a side not my friend specializes in helping foreigners particularly with property and business, and visa issues if anyone is in need) So apparently my marriage that took place in the U.S. was never registered here in Thailand. Thailand however recognizes the validity of marriages that took place in the U.S. I suppose this is why I've been able to get a Non-O Visa without a Thai marriage certificate. My question is, will I be able to divorce in the courts here since it is not registered at our Local Amphur?

I find abortion to be barbaric and murderous. I am pro-life. However it's not an opinion I think should be mandated by governments or individuals with agendas because I believe civil liberties trump opinions such as these. Furthermore Thailand has a long way to go in the way of securing a woman's rights as a human being. Let alone a host of other civil rights for individuals. I was not always pro-life either but in a country that has only prospered since giving women more reproductive rights, Thailand needs to quit persecuting women and the people who choose to aid them in making such a difficult decision. Otherwise you'll end up with dead mothers and fetus's as they force them further into underground clinics and unsafe procedures.

So at what age should a child be before they are protected by law? Should we have a trial period, say, five months, and if the mother doesn't find it convenient, she has the right to off them? No offense, but if you're pro-life, it doesn't make sense to say "I think it's murder, but other people must have their civil liberties." If it's murder [and it is], it's wrong.

My point is it's not my decision to make for another person regardless of my beliefs, and people will continue to do it anyways. The best possible outcome for everyone and society is without dispute to give women avenues of choice be it abortion which I find horrific or adoption, or whatever choices are available. We can not live in the dark ages on this topic don't be so naive. Women have been aborting pregnancies for hundreds of years and now we have advanced enough to make it safe instead of risking the death of two people. I'd love for the world to be ideal and every unwanted pregnancy could be brought to term and into an adoptive loving family, but that's just not the real world. Go to an orphanage in Bangkok (I have) and you'll see what happens to these unwanted children if they are brought into this world. They are victims of human trafficking and who know's what horrors they have had to endure.

It is high time, that Thai- men are held responsible for their "offspring"! Not only in theory, but enforcing it! I guess, that would get unwanted pregnancies down to a record low.

I agree for the most part, but there is a culture of shutting a father out of the child's life completely when things go sour; regardless of mitigating circumstances. The pendulum swings both ways and while there are probably a majority of detestable deadbeat Dads out there in the LOS there are also good fathers out there that get a raw deal. What father is going to feel compelled to pay monies and never see the child they love, while the maternal family openly chastises the father in front of the child, and he has no rights to making any meaningful decisions about the child's welfare. In affect paying to let the child be raised in a manner that the father thinks is inappropriate. Thai men get a raw deal as much as any Farang. The ideology of maternal wisdom trumping all is just as bad here as it is in the west and there are several cases, even recently that illustrate this: What of the boy who killed his mother for not allowing him to play video games. The father was much more sensitive to the needs of the boy and warned his ex to not chastise him. Another case about a year ago involved a police officer who dutifully came to visit his children living with his ex every weekend. The police officer couldn't take the alienation anymore and ended up murdering his ex. Murder of course is not justifiable but it illustrates my point, There seems to be no accountability for both parties. The vile actions and words spoken from a woman's mouth, can not be ignored.

I find abortion to be barbaric and murderous. I am pro-life. However it's not an opinion I think should be mandated by governments or individuals with agendas because I believe civil liberties trump opinions such as these. Furthermore Thailand has a long way to go in the way of securing a woman's rights as a human being. Let alone a host of other civil rights for individuals. I was not always pro-life either but in a country that has only prospered since giving women more reproductive rights, Thailand needs to quit persecuting women and the people who choose to aid them in making such a difficult decision. Otherwise you'll end up with dead mothers and fetus's as they force them further into underground clinics and unsafe procedures.

Just a word of advice. If your income level is so low that you can not sponsor your wife by yourself, stay in Thailand. If you value your marriage, stay in Thailand, go to school, get your wife in school, and prepare to return to the States. While you may make enough to live on by yourself back home, what your income is for a two person household means you fall below the poverty line back in the states. From the governments perspective you they will now have essentially two wards to help support instead of none.

Family in the states is different then it is here, and in my experience they are unreliable. They may say they will help with xyz but then when you call on them to do something like take your wife out while you are at work or help invite her on social outings etc. they will have some excuse as to why now suddenly they can not do what they promised.

What ends up happening is you have a foreign girl in a foreign land completely isolated. I don't know about your wife, her personality or your family but this seems like a risky to me. In my own experience my ex could not socialize even when there were other Thai's in our community. My ex has some psychological issues and this is confirmed, so I don't mean to be contrary but irregardless it takes a strong woman to leave her family and start a new life in a new country where she has no support system and statistically speaking (psychological issues aside) the deck is stacked against you.

Think it through, have a job lined up for both of you and plan it out. I went back to the states recently and the economy is not doing that great still. The costs of University here as a foreigner are the same as they would be back home and the both of you could come back to the states with skills in demand. Check out the Department of Labors website for what the U.S. is looking for. There are shortages of engineers in many fields and these will be skills that you can use in any country.

Obama leaves town and all hell breaks loose.

It would be prudent to check if he had been drinking energy drinks. Monster energy drink in the U.S. is being sued now for the death of a young girl. I've never thought those things were particularly safe.

I wonder if those statistics are applied to tourists and expats alike. I think the Expat crowd overall has a better grip on driving in Thailand then the majority of Thais. They sound off to me though but maybe because I am an American. In the states, statistically you are more safe on a motorcycle. The Majority of accidents are between Cars and trucks. Insurance rates and data reflect this notion too.

Thai's need to socialize their dogs properly, end of story.The natural order is completely out of whack http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBwPF-u0AjU

It's good to see old, old allies (the country that defended Thailand from British repayment schemes after WWII again working with the country that angrily, as a result of treatment by the French during the colonial period, succumbed to the overwhelming force of the Japanese and officially [though without committing soldiers, financing or equipage] declared war on France and Britain) working together. It's sure starting out a chipper news day in Thailand. Gotta love the Asian 'Truman Show'-effect with the media.

Thailand would have succumbed to communism if the U.S. had not defended it and you would not be commenting on this thread now. Thai's made the best decison in a catch 22 situation. Don't go all sour grapes.

people who live in places like Bangkok, Phuket, or Pattaya. They seem more engaged in life.

You mean going to bars every day/night?

I live in Bangkok and I don't go to Bars every night. In fact I did something I wanted to for a long time recently and went to the Boys orphanage to volunteer my time coloring with them and give them food.

I think you can apply for an extension of stay based on this, regardless of your visa.

If you want to apply for a visa in Laos, this would be a non-O visa. But no idea what docuemtns would be required to obtain the visa. I guess you will need to have at least filed for divorce at the court and have courts documents to proof that.

But with marriage certificate you might get a non-O (single entry) anyway. With some documents form your wife (copy ID-card and houshold registration), wedding certificate (khor rhor 3 form) and entry into wedding register (khor rhor 2 form) and preferably a small note from the misses you might get a multiple non-O in savanahkhet.

I've done the non-O route before in Vientienne but I don't think I had the wedding certificate (thai) but I had the certificate from the states. I've already looked into Savannakhet as an option but like I said my schedule is not flexible at the moment, not unless there is a mail in service but there are none that I am aware of anymore.

You can extend for 60 days based on visiting your wife on any kind of entry, but will need the cooperation of the wife and she will need to join you to immirgaiton. (It is to visit her).

What you are talking about is getting an extension because of being involved in a legal proceeding.

2.26 In the case of litigation or court proceedings:

Each permission shall be granted for no more than 90 days.

(1) There must be evidence confirming that the applicant is involved in a litigation or court proceedings as accuser, injured person, accused, plaintiff, defendant, or witness.

havent seen many of them, but it is necesarry that you show that there is a court case.

Thank you Mario, am I right in assuming that this visa type falls under the Non-O category?

Have you filed for divorce with the courts? If so, you should have the papers with court date.

Would recommend taking these to immigration to try and get an extension

Although if the case is not registered with the court and no court date set, likely no chance for this type of extension

Not yet I have been giving my ex (too much) opportunity to reconcile outside of court and cool off. I had to file a police report the other day after she attempted to run me down with her car because we disagreed about some particular issues I was jai yen yen the entire time because I've been through this too many times before. Just get the police to deal with her now. That is a good suggestion though I will go to the court and file tomorrow. I would go to the local district office and file for a contested divorce right?

Possibly but I am on a tourist visa a.t.m. are you suggesting that I extend a tourist visa for sixty days to visit my wife? If so would I could do that but would I need her signature or supporting documents of some sort? We did this when I first arrived over two years ago but I am not staying with her. They asked at immigration if I had a Thai wife and I explained we are separated so I assume there is a requirement that I am staying with them. Hence why I was able to do that with them two years ago.