dancw3

I was a cop, a detective at that, and I've met a fair share of Thai "detectives" in the last few years.Spent hours talking with them.

Simply put, they generally possess a total lack of even rudimentary training and couldn't detect an elephant in a life raft.

So, in many cases, it's not that they are "covering something up," it's that they lack the skills, techniques, experience and facilities to uncover anything. Therefore it is easier to claim it a coincidence than to admit they are stymied, and are clueless as to what to do next.

It's more the old "saving face" thing than mai pen rai.

Without even speaking to any so called detective, i have to agree with you.

I do not think there even is a police academy or detective school, i do not think they have forensic labs, if they do, i doubt its well equipped or even equipped at all(just look at police stations and police vehicles, including bikes)

Autopsy cost money(which again they do not have or do not want to spend) and again may not have properly trained staff, just look at public hospitals, some docs can not even diagnose appendix.

So its no alternative but to declare every death as suicide or accident, unless its so clear, that they simply can not make such a statement, but then the killers are hardly every found,unless police is tipped off

TAT--this is only another 4 that won't be coming back through Swampy. But with 40 million +--who cares.

Don't know why you picked apendicitis as an example, but it is often difficult to diagnose. Its mis-diagnosed in some of the best hospitals in the USA also. Easy to cure, but not to diagnose. Also, though I have no personal experience, some expats swear by the public hospitals here, really like them and think they give good care.

come on the op was in los 15yrs and went native, i am amazed his liver still works after 15yrs of bad booze, and lets be honest his choice of Houston is not the model of what the USA has to offer, it is hot, stinks, and is full of red necks with 2 first names i.e. billie bob. I have been in the los for 11yrs and have no desire to ride a motorcycle taxi, drink beer loa, or eat fresh road kill. Is America for everyone? No! Does America offer the ambitious, hard working of any race, education, sex or sexual prefrence an opportunity to see their dreams come true? Absolutly! If you have Child where would they have more opportunities to succeed? los or USA?

You are absolutely right. If you made your money in the west, Thailand is a great place to spend it. But if you are a child or have children, you can't do any better than the US to learn, develop and exploit your opportunities. Good education here is expensive and for the elite. In the US, its free. If you are a well grounded adult with a reasonable stream of income, the freedom and diversity of choices here provide a very rich and interesting lifestyle -- no "nanny state" here. If you are reckless (and not careful), this place can kill you. For me, its great. For my kids, I think that they are destined to grow up in the US (probably the northeast; the rest is uninhabitable (at least by civilized people)).

Education in the USA free??? Your kidding, right? Or are you referring to just a high school education? I'm from the USA and a college education is extremely expensive these days. People typically pay over $100,000 these days for a four year degree, though you can pay less or a lot more, depending on the college.

Very hard to disagree with the general consensus here.

Thailand is still cheapish, but what price clean water, safe drivers and conversations that talk about ideas, not people?

Thailand has its place for the lonely, the perverse and those unable to make much money back home. Unfortunately that includes me, lol

What consensus? A lot of people including my self love living in Thailand. Thailand is one of the most popular expat destinations. I gave up a high paying job in the USA to move to Thailand and am happy I did. And despite all the horror stories about Thai women on these blogs I'm happily married to a Thai woman. Take a Thai woman over an American woman any day. One of the best decisions I ever made.

If you drive in Bangkok often then the high end Garmin nuvi GPS units, with lane assist and junction view, are worthwhile. Any Garmin model currently sold in Thailand, with Thailand Street Map included, will get the job done. The 4.3 or 5 inch screen units are easier to see at a glance. Check out this link to Eagle GPS, Chiang Mia for descriptions of Garmin units available in Thailand: Eagle GPS .

I bought my Garmin in the USA for about $120. Got a Rotweiler Thailand map for a "donation" of $100 as apposed to about $150.00 for a Garmin southeast asia map and it works just fine. And with Rotweiler you get free updates also which seem to come out every few months, while with Garmin there hasn't been an update in years and you'll probably have to pay another $150 for an update if another one ever comes out..

http://rotweilermaps.com/index.cfm

Anyone had any luck using addresses with GPSs? I've never been able to use addresses. If the place wasn't in the favorites, I've had to either just add it once I actually found the place or added it with lattitude and longitude coordinates which are rarely available as far as I know .

Many have noticed before that much of America has a third world feeling these days. That's not entirely uninteresting though, depending on your point of view.

I disagree about the Thai food. I've been visiting Thailand 3 or 4 times a year for the last 5 years, and recently moved here. I find the Thai food in Thailand so much better than that in the USA, that I stopped eating in Thai restaurants in the USA.

You are comparing apples to oranges, my friend

Could you expand on that?

Yes. All this vague "apples and oranges" and "bread and butter" and I haven't a clue as to what your talking about.

dancw3 - may we ask where you saw this information please as this applies to the CTPL and not the voluntary insurance ?

As for your statement "since the farang is almost always considered at fault" - this is a little disingenious - unless it really is the foreigners fault !

Whatever you vehicle as a Thai Visa member you can get an on-line quote HERE

I read it in "The Thai Black Book", which I really didn't like. Found it an awful book, very negative, even paranoid book which I would not recommend, but I wanted to check to see if this particular information was factual ( I suspected it was not). And of course I wanted recommendations for a good auto insurance company.

As for "farang is almost always considered at fault". I also read this in "The Thai Black Book" but also in other books and blogs. I have no personal experience with this.

I read that Thai auto insurance doesn't cover for liability or damage if you are determined to be at fault, and since the farang is almost always considered at fault, the coverage isn't worth much. Is this true? Can anyone recommend some good insurance companies that provide good coverage?

In a few days....

EMS is your best choice for door-to-door tracking. Also the most costly. But it gets there in about 2-4 business days guaranteed. USA would be 4 business days. Do your best to avoid shipping on saturday. Not sure if that counts as a day. You can estimate costs here: http://www.thailandp...vicerate_en.php

I believe you can ship to PO Boxes.

And track here: http://track.thailan...et/Default.aspx

But I found that you can also track with this:

www.track-trace.com and get quicker updates once it leaves Thailand.

They offered a registered mail option for non-expedited services, but the tracking for those are lacking, especially once the package leaves thailand.

EMS looks like the way to go. As long as its reliable and only takes a few business days, it works for me. Thanks.

Fedex and UPS won't deliver to post office boxes in the USA. Is there some service that will deliver mail from Thailand to post office boxes in the USA in a few days instead of a couple weeks or more and preferably tracked?

Pantip Plaza, Fortune Town, Laksi IT Square.

are any of these near MRT or BTS stops?

I recently moved to Bangkok. Where are some good places to buy computer accessories such as printers, routers, etc.?

The 90 day rule has been abandoned so the only limit would be if they got tired of you - and so far no reports of that.

You will not get on your flight to Thailand without proof of onward travel within 30 days. That is a requirement and long haul flights will strictly observe it. Buy a ticket to visit friends before the first 30 day period expires.

Why you do not obtain a one, two or three entry tourist visa I can not imagine. They are free at present and allow a 60 day stay and you would not need to worry about onward travel tickets.

Thank you Lopburi!

I'm not experienced at any of this. Yes, I'm a real newbie.

Thanks for your guidance.

I thought I could use the "return" leg of my LAX-BKK-LAX eTicket as "proof," but apparently not. I was hoping to see a way to spend 6 months traveling around the 3 countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Philipinnes - having Thailand as the main base of my fun. Looks like that idea is a pipe dream.

I think I'll have to go through the route you suggest. FREE is a very nice word. 60 days without having to produce an air ticket is better than getting jammed. Looks like I'll have to pay a visit to the local Los Angeles Thai Embassy and get an multi entry Tourist Visa application.

I guess near the end of the 60 days, could I renew it or get an extension? Or do I have to split back to the USA? I know you've probably discussed this ad infinitum. I apologize in advance.

I'm just trying to figure a way to stay the majority of 6 months in Thailand without having to get a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa (via retirement). I could get the retirement since I'm 50 years old, but not ready to commit the cash requirement. Looks like my "pie in the sky" plan is done.

Again, thank you for putting up with my newbieness. Cheers!

P.S. Since you're here, I would like to ask you a totally unrelated question.

If I get married to a Thai woman and want to move there on a more permanent basis, I know I would try to get a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa here 1st in the USA - good for 90 days.

My question is this. I understand in order to get the 1st extension, I must have at least THB 400,000 cash in a local bank in MY name only for a minimum 2 months before the date of the 1 year extenstion application. Correct?

Do you know of any specific Bangkok based banks that will allow a farang to open in an individual bank account using his USA passport with a Non-immigrant "O" visa? Will Kasikorn do it?

I hear that most banks in Bangkok will only allow a farang to open an individual bank account with a valid Thai "work permit." If I have money, am married to a Thai woman, but don't work - how will I do meet this financial requirement? Will the bank official at least look at my Thai Non-Immigrant Visa "O" and listen to why I need the bank account? If I brought my Thai wife and Marriage Certificate, would that help?

I feel I would be in a Catch 22. In order to get that 1st extension, I would need an individual local bank account - but the banks will not issue me one.

Any name and/or location of a helpful bank that does this for married farangs (to thai ladies) would be AWESOME! Any ideas? If you or anyone else could point me in the right direction, I would be happy as a clam at high tide.

Yes, I am planning ahead! I've dated several ladies in Bangkok, and 1 really really strikes my fancy.

There is no 400,000 baht requirement for an extension. For a 60 day tourist visa from the USA, extendable to 90, the requirement is having at least $500.00 in a USA bank account, about 17,000 baht.

As for a a Thai bank account, you just go into banks until one give you an account. Its kind of crazy. Sometimes even different branches of the same bank will give you different answers. One branch will tell you that you need a work permit and another branch will give you the account. I got my bank account on the second try.

well I'll be darned. if it's a pension or social security, it's exempt by the US-Thai convention, article 20. I've read the convention before but for something else.

so as a general thing, it's true that a pension is not taxed by Thailand. however, teh small issue of whether other income is taxable and whether a Thai tax return should be filed, or could be required still stands. they will need to get tougher, in fact, just to be entirely fair.

ARTICLE 20

Pensions and Social Security Payments

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 21 (Government Service), pensions and other

similar remuneration paid to a resident of a Contracting State in consideration of past employment shall

be taxable only in that State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, social security benefits and other similar public

pensions paid by a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State or a citizen of the

United States shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.

Does this discussion make any sense? For income to be used to meet the 80,000 baht requirement for a retirement visa, it can't be earned in Thailand. Why would you get taxed by Thailand on income earned outside of Thailand, when your not a Thai citizen? Are there people out there who want to pay more tax? If so, why don't you come to the USA. I'm sure neither federal, state or local governments would turn down any tax money you sent them.

Come to think of it, I just picked up the 80,000 baht/month from a previous post. Unless its changed recently its 800,000 baht a year or 66,600 baht/month.

I am about to find out how much it will cost us, our household goods should be in bangkok any day now. Santa Fe are the agent on this end, I am on Non O visa but only my wifes name is on the shipment, she has lived in Australia for the last 7 years. Santa Fe seem to be very good on the phone and have given us some advice how to minimize the duty as tools and a few items that we have 2 of (Computers and TV) will be dutiable.

If you are coming through with an established company (and Santa Fe is one of them) you'll be fine. They all have their relationships with customs pre-oiled so that day to day business carries on without a hitch. If you paid for door to door service in OZ, then that is all you will pay, bar perhaps a couple of hundred baht for port storage (if that).

We moved our stuff from the UK to Thailand in 2005 using the Thai national exemption and it went without a hitch. All they do is stamp the Thai passport with a mark saying that the tax free exemption has been used. Our DVD player was dutiable, but nothing was charged.

I contacted Santa Fe. No go. They said I had to have a non-immigrant B visa to ship personal and household goods without paying duties.

As opposed to tax and duty. Where you been? Google it

I did. Wikipedia definition.

"T-money is a rechargeable series of cards and other "smart" devices used for paying transportation fares in and around Seoul and other areas of South Korea. "

A Thai, having lived abroad for at least 1 year, can import her used (= older than 6 months) household goods duty free when returning to Thailand to reside there again. All items must be of course be imported in her name.

Read the same link again.

That won't help me. My wife is currently living in Thailand and I'm moving to Thailand.

T-money is the only option then. Recommend you send your stuff by sea freight as it is much cheaper in every respect

T-money?

A Thai, having lived abroad for at least 1 year, can import her used (= older than 6 months) household goods duty free when returning to Thailand to reside there again. All items must be of course be imported in her name.

Read the same link again.

That won't help me. My wife is currently living in Thailand and I'm moving to Thailand.

Thai missus? First I've heard of that. My wife is Thai. Can you provide me more details on this?

Yes. I'd read the Thai customs link. It just says that non-residents who make Thailand their residence can get the exemption. If residence means a resident visa, I'm out of luck. I've had people tell me various things. That only a non-immigrant business visa qualified for the exemption. I had someone tell me they thought that a non-immigrant ED would qualify me. Then on this forum that no non-immigrant visa would qualify.

I enrolled in a language school in Thailand and will be traveling to Thailand on a non-immigrant ED Visa. Can I bring personal/household items with me without being subject to import duties? I've heard conflicting answers depending on who I talk to.