fab99

It's the first time in 12 years here that I start worrying about security, living in the middle of nowhere.

Never had any problem, and my house is not flashy at all (but more than most around here though).

When you combine unemployment, lack of government help and debts, there is a high chance of crime rising (add to that the drugs/alcohol problems or the fact that there are many firearms in Thailand...).

Anybody else is feeling the same? I don't see that mentionned in the comments...

Before, Thaïs could live on very very little, even food from the temple (donations have probably suffered recently), but now, with the love for smartphones/tv/cars a lot of debts have to be repaid and they risk losing everything. When you have nothing to lose...

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, was it by chance your first marriage extension ? Reason I ask is when I did my first marriage extension (switched from retire) a year ago they wanted a TM30 but the 2nd extension 2 weeks ago, they didnt ask.

 

It was my 5th or 6th extension actually.

Just to update, my wife told the person at counter 10 she was waiting for the password for the online TM30 and was surprised at the new requirement, I don't know if we were lucky but we didn't get fined and got our TM30 and completed the extension of stay in time.

Lesson learned, and this one was free for once, except it took us about 3H instead of the usual 30mn...

But like it is often said, the experience varies depending on the type of visa, thje immigration office and apparently even on the counter... so try to follow the rule if you can or the fines will come eventually.

1 hour ago, HampiK said:

If you have an online account then it's not really a problem. When you leave the province (I would even say, as soon you sleep in a hotel somewhere) they should report you. So when you back... do the online regristration for yourself again. Finish. Of course without it would be better but with an account not that much problem. At least no Issue that someone should stay at home only.

I can understand when the online system for some reason is not working  then this could be a real problem, as this could be time consuming.

If it works, yes, I guess it will be ok, but I kind of doubt it...

Otherwise, need to go in person and wait about 2h, plus I live about an hour from Pattaya...

I guess we will see. But I agree, for those that can do the TM30 themselves it's not that bad, but I wouldn't like to be renting right now... Or being a landlord either with multiple properties.

56 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

 

My bad. However when regulations come from head of immigration, it's just a matter of time before every place is affected. I guess best would be for your wife to register her account for mobile app or webpage, so you don't need to give them a visit each time you return. Assuming you're still at immigration waiting for the queue, it might be good to ask for it now to save time later.

She did that a few days ago, waiting for the password.

We will follow the rules from now on, but it will make me think twice before I leave the province.

They seem to focus only on trips outside of Thailand for now (again talking about Jomtien for an extension of stay of a marriage visa, not anywhere with any visa).

1 minute ago, tomazbodner said:

You don't read this forum or the news very often, I'd guess...

 

Search for TM30 and gazillion threads will show up about exactly what you wrote...

No... In Jomtien until now they didn't care for extensions of stay for marriage or retirement. I guess this was easy to predict as it is an easy way to get money, but I won't be fooled twice

Just now, jacko45k said:

Not good news, shall have to be ready come Ext renewal.

Yes, reading the latest reports of extensions, I was confident I was ok but this rejection didn't come from the front counter but from the extension counter so it is not misinformation...

Just to let people know that today my wife (owner of the house I stay in) was told she had to file a tm30 when I returned from a trip abroad in May.

Nobody told us at the front counter but the lady checking all the paperwork for the extension at the specific counter told us she couldn't validate the application until we go to counter 10 for the TM30.

There are 35 people in the queue before me... and I have the feeling my wife (so... me) will have to pay a fine for this. I have stayed here for 10 years and it is the first time I get this kind of problem...

So probably no shopping or fancy restaurant today and I will think twice about leaving the province now or inviting friends and family to stay. I won't be the one suffering from that the most...

Just have to stay zen, nothing else to do.

My last visit in Bali, I was very impressed by bluebird, a taxi company that is famous for always using the meter. They have an app that works really well to book a cab and give you an estimation (reliable) of the fare. Only had great experiences. But you have to leave the main touristic places to take these cabs, the taxi mafia is quite unhappy with them. I didn't use grab once and my only bad experience was with a trip on a fix price basis because there was no other choice (in Padang Bai, no meter taxi and forbidden to grab and bluebird...). I wish there was a taxi group in Thailand that would do the same but it would be attacked by the mafia as an unfair competitor... I don't care so much, in 10 years I can count on my 10 fingers the number of times I used taxi and most of them was not a good memory. They deserve to disappear, if competition was real, they would have already... 

14 minutes ago, insouciant said:

Hard evidence like the following?

https://www.prosperousamerica.org/top_five_cases_of_huawei_ip_theft_and_patent_infringement

Or

https://www.secureworldexpo.com/industry-news/8-steps-huawei-steals-t-mobile-intellectual-property

Or

https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-sacks-chinese-employee-arrested-on-spying-charges-in-poland/

 

Maybe Huawei is a good company in fairyland?

Copyright infringement and national security are not the same thing... the US is using the second without any proof and most of the justifications I see (I saw a stupid interview on Fox News...) are using the first one.

Again, there is not a single proof of a backdoor in Huawei products : http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/20/c_138074690.htm

Some more links, showing everything is not black and white...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/us-business/article-huawei-asks-verizon-to-pay-over-us1-billion-for-over-230-patents/

I believe Huawei stole some ot its technologies in the past and should be punished for that (and it has been in the past already), but it is now in a whole different categoy with its huge R&D budget and its patents... just like Japan started its development copying and producing cheap stuff then moved to better and better quality.

I suspect the USA want to have a monopoly on spying and are worried not being able to put backdoors in Huawei 5G equipment...

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/05/02/cisco_vulnerabilities/

By the way, the main reason the CFO of Huawei is detained in Canada is because of deals Huawei made with Iran, the USA trying to dictate its terms even outside its borders and to foreign companies is something unique in the world and it won't last.

5 minutes ago, JAG said:

That Camembert will have been transported halfway around the world, in a refrigerated container, before being distributed in very small quantities throughout a tropical country in refrigerated lorries.

 

That costs a lot...

Plus for your example you chose the best brand at a promotional price and not a casino product, the casino Camembert is between 170 and 190 baht at BigC, and for me it's ok value, I eat portions of about 30 to 40 baht at a time and I enjoy it more than a small beer, but hey everybody has different priorities and values, it's ok.

BigC and its products (the bakery is really nice with the fresh "pâte feuilletée", thé quiche and the lemon tarts...) is one of the reasons why I don't feel homesick at all here, I eat Thai food most of the time but having options is nice and in the end the cost is reasonable if you don't want to eat exclusively imported products (but the why did you move here?).

Just hope they keep most products I like the way it is.

The casino chocolate for baking cakes is one of them, u can't find it anywhere (this quality at that price 70 baht for 200g it may seem like a lot, but you can make a big cake with that...).

But obviously the prices have gone up in the last 10 years (but everywhere else too) I am just checking promotions and coupon and in my opinion I get good value.

But I have to say, having lived in Tahiti for a while, one of the most expensive places in the world (everything is imported and it's very remote) I tend to have a different way to compare...

4 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

Casino products in Big C are sold at an average 300% of the price in France. Some of them at 1000%

That's absolutely not true... Most have quite similar price given that the vat here is 7% vs 20 in France.

I really hope they keep selling the casino product, the quality is so much better than products at Tesco (for my taste) or imported cheese from Australia for example...

Thanks for your answer.

I'll do that as I think resetting my router to factory settings is the safest thing to do.

I'll have to check if I can update its firmware, maybe they corrected the vulnerability...

Hi, I have the same router from TOT and I have been having some problems lately, my computers open tabs randomly when I browse the web, no matter what computer I use or what browser I use...

I just saw today that my router IP was also changed to 192.168.1.254 instead of 192.168.1.1 and that a not very polite username was set up in Tr-069 (i wouldnt be able to write the username here...) I changed the user and changed a DNS address that was suspicious, but I am still having problems...

I guess my router was hacked and the only way would be to make a factory reset, but I am not sure I would be able to make it work after that with the TOT configuration and I can't take the risk to loose internet for more than a few hours...

I don't want to contact TOT because I know how helpful they usually are.

Any news on this matter, do you also have problem with websites opening randomly?

Did you do a factory reset ?

2 hours ago, somtamjames said:

Did you not have a work permit, or Thai driver's license? That usually makes it to the normal fee. 

No, it doesn't, in national parks at least. In private businesses it often does (it should be the opposite but hey Thai logic...).

I was in Koh Chang last week, and my wife and the kids wanted to go to a waterfall, I told my wife that I wouldn't go in if they charged me the farang price that is an outrageous 10x more than the Thai price, she still bought the tickets as she was too shy to say anything, I went back and got a refund, saying I have a work permit, I pay my taxes and more VAT than most Thai do, I take care of my Thai family and teach in a government school and I have been here for 9 years, I spoke Thai to the guy at the counter and all he replied was "but you are not Thai" not even feeling sorry or not agreeing that it wasn't fair... So I got my money back and read a book waiting for my wife and two children to come back from the lousy waterfall, and I ll never go back to a national park facility... It's not about the money, but the principle and in the end I had a one hour massage instead of going to a crowded underwhelming waterfall and I got to finish my book.

I really think Thai should be treated abroad the same way they treat foreigner : no way to buy land and double pricing.

28 minutes ago, Thian said:

I bet he won't go to jail like the old couple picking mushrooms.

That is exactly what i was thinking, I guess we will see if a beautiful endangered leopard has more value to them than a few mushrooms...

So... Taxing those who already struggle is more logical than making those with huge amount of money pay a fair amount of tax and not try to always avoid it.

This is not only happening in Thailand, there is no more middle class in many places and even people with jobs struggle to make ends meet. But I guess one day the suffering majority will say no more of this and start to fight.

They hurt the base and they wonder why they can't win in fair elections...

School bus and school van drivers are just like most drivers in Thailand... Driving badly, fast and with no care for others (you can say I generalize or that other countries are worse, but you can't deny there is huge room for improvement).

it comforts me in my choice to take my children to school myself, even if I loose valuable time, I just can't let these maniacs take care of the people I love the most who happen to be defenseless.

But as with many other matters, if you don't face real punishment, there is no incentive to get better...

Things would be better if laws were actually just applied (I am not asking for the level of control that western countries have though, I enjoy the general freedom you can experience here as opposed to many nanny states).

Even if I have been living here for 7 years and understand the Thai way of thinking quite well, I am still shocked when I read that the driver says he will fully compensate the family for killing their daughter... How can money make things better is beyond my comprehension?

But as officials in the Koh Tao said to the family of the poor murdered Hannah, the parents just have to make another one...

Reading the news is usually a good way to loose faith in humanity as a whole, but at the rate things are going it won't be too long before this planet is free of us... Just a glitch in the evolution, a bad experiment...

That's right -- I enjoy seeing self-righteous self-important persons make fools of themselves in assuming they know or on on a holy mission for the truth and that anyone who might disagree with them is a troll or a person with a sad lonely life or that they have a fundamental misunderstanding of Thai behavior a great understanding of which they presume to have themselves.

Two young persons have been brutally murdered and they should treated with the proper decorum but that doesn't mean that anyone who choses to write or express their opinion unfounded or otherwise about those murders should be de facto treated with the same decorum.

The mod on here has many times noted that nothing that gets written on here will almost surely make any difference in the eventual outcome and people on here continue to ignore that advisement.

It does make a difference... for us at least, call us what you want, we don't care about your judgment. It keeps the story alive and when people are looking for information about Koh Tao that you seem to defend so much, some of them might end up on a TV thread by the magic of google...

I now at least I do my part in preventing anybody I know and care about to spend a minute and 1 baht on this filthy place.

The fact you clearly and unequivocaly said you enjoyed antagonizing people here who don't accept the verdict and the joke of a trial that took place is quite revealing.

I have no respect for you and the fact someone like you keeps defending the death island makes me like this place even less if it is possible.

This trial has not shown Thailand up in a good light.

But I fear the appeal will simply fail. Why? The ex Chief of Police and the Leader of the Military Junta have both put thieir considerable reputations on the line. In Thailand the loss of face of two very senior elitest fugures will not be allowed to pass.

I do think the Burmese have a case to answer, and their defence lawyers did a simply appaling job in the original trial.

But this whole incident has been a tragedy.

I just don't understand what your stance is runt.

In 1 sentence you say the are scared of losing and that's why the b2 will not win.

In another you say the b2 have things to answer and the defense did an appalling job.

I personally think there was so much to answer, the defence ran out of answers. They had so much against those boys, the case became undefendable. They will be lucky indeed if the death sentence is overturned.

Greenchair I accept you think the B2 are guilty , but is there any explanation / reason forthcoming from yourself as to their guilt

Robin we have all been down a long road together. Yes people, no people, not sure people. I do believe we all including aleg wanted them to be innocent.

I found reasonable explanations for them for many things.

They were on the beach.

They left their butts there.

The confession.

The dna .

The wine bottle.

The midnight swim.

In the rain.

The clothes left at the beach.

The shoes left at the beach.

The guitar left at the beach.

The phone being planted by rtp.

I defended all of it.

On the last day of court andies fb post popped up on my fb.

People were going nuts when they found out that in fact wp had davids phone.

But worse wp was not sleeping at 4am. He was down at the beach cleaning up.

It just got too much to continue justifying it any longer.

That moment hit me like a brick robyn.I shall never forget it.

Let's remember that poor girls last moments of life. ??

And the fact they had the phone doesn't prove they raped and kill, does it?

It barrely proves they might have stolen it or simply found on the beach and maybe, just maybe they were involved, but I really dont believe either way they were alone, and it is just not just if some escape justice...

This trial has not shown Thailand up in a good light.

But I fear the appeal will simply fail. Why? The ex Chief of Police and the Leader of the Military Junta have both put thieir considerable reputations on the line. In Thailand the loss of face of two very senior elitest fugures will not be allowed to pass.

I do think the Burmese have a case to answer, and their defence lawyers did a simply appaling job in the original trial.

But this whole incident has been a tragedy.

I just don't understand what your stance is runt.

In 1 sentence you say the are scared of losing and that's why the b2 will not win.

In another you say the b2 have things to answer and the defense did an appalling job.

I personally think there was so much to answer, the defence ran out of answers. They had so much against those boys, the case became undefendable. They will be lucky indeed if the death sentence is overturned.

Greenchair I accept you think the B2 are guilty , but is there any explanation / reason forthcoming from yourself as to their guilt

Robin we have all been down a long road together. Yes people, no people, not sure people. I do believe we all including aleg wanted them to be innocent.

I found reasonable explanations for them for many things.

They were on the beach.

They left their butts there.

The confession.

The dna .

The wine bottle.

The midnight swim.

In the rain.

The clothes left at the beach.

The shoes left at the beach.

The guitar left at the beach.

The phone being planted by rtp.

I defended all of it.

On the last day of court andies fb post popped up on my fb.

People were going nuts when they found out that in fact wp had davids phone.

But worse wp was not sleeping at 4am. He was down at the beach cleaning up.

It just got too much to continue justifying it any longer.

That moment hit me like a brick robyn.I shall never forget it.

Let's remember that poor girls last moments of life. ??

Yes, let's remember for sure, but it is difficult to accept the uncertainty and the scenario described by the RTP saying the B2 saw the victims intimate and felt horny then decided to kill them being so drunk just doesn't add up.

Really, have you seen them, how could they kill the couple without even the element of surprise (because as was proven by DNA on the hoe both the victims DNA was found on the handle, they had the weapon in their hands) and how come David's blood has never been found on the hoe ? how can it be the only murder weapon then ?

Plus all the small wounds on his body just don't add up either, how was he killed, he fought for his life, did 2 small burmese guys really managed to fight this big guy, and what was Hannah doing then...

The scenario just isn't clear and with so many doubts, it is just not acceptable to see them convicted on just small evidences, I won't waste my time going through your list, we all know what it's worth...

"Technicalities" include...

- confession made under torture

- no lawyer present during "questioning"

- DNA- evidence more than questionable, because (among others) chain of custody was broken, DNA- samples are used up and can not be retested...

- several questionable practices during evidence collection (messing with the clothes, trampling of "outsiders, all over the crime- scene)

- "evidence" produced out of thin air

- several possibly/ probably involved persons just left of the hook

- several leads not followed

...

...

...

the list is -literally- endless!

Have no idea if any or all of the above occurred bur regardless of what you have stated it is the death sentence they are appealing, nothing more, nothing less.

Untrue, did you even bother to read the source of this OP ?

First paragraph :

"Lawyers filed an appeal on Monday against the conviction of two Myanmar migrant workers sentenced to death in Thailand for the 2014 murder of two British backpackers on a holiday island, another twist in a case mired in controversy and dispute."

Appeal against the conviction, not against the death sentence only...

The DNA that was the main reason for convicting the B2 is just non existent if it can't be properly retested and before somebody says the defense refused to retest it, again, it is untrue, they refused the conditions of the retesting, under the RTP supervision and with processed sample whose source couldn't be traced, could have been saliva, sperm, blood... DNA is irrefutable evidence only with perfect chain of custody, otherwise, it can be very easliy falsified, that is the whole point here...

See. They will fight on the technicalies of the case.

The new mantra.

Maybe they are innocent.

Maybe they are guilty.

It doesn't matter ☺☺

Protocol was not followed.

Bullshit.

Guilty as sin. even their own lawyers don't shout their innocence anymore.

Would like to see the death sentence overturned. Other than that, right where they should be.

We are way over simple technicalities in this case, the amount of unprofessionalism on the prosecution side is just staggering (I am not saying the defense did a perfect job either, but they apparently couldnt be too pushy, not the thai way of doing things...).

The examples casting doubts on this case are just countless, and doubt is all you need to prevent conviction, that is the way justice is supposed to be.

I know you are unable to do so, but just put yourself in their shoes IF they were innocent, I don't get how you could have absolutely no doubt about their culpability like you seem to...

Thanks to all the other posters who answered calmy and in quite a large number.

Greenchair, you were the first to answer, makes me wonder if you spend your day watching for news about this case and why is it so important for you to convince people.

By the way you seem to have forgotten about the fact that you said yourself that you believe the B2 aren't the only guilty people and more were involved, do you think justice has been done if this is the case ?

Anyone who says the trial was fair and that the evidence presented would have been enough to convict the B2 in most countries is just delusional (or dishonest) in my opinion.

I am amazed by how fast the usual posters strongly convinced of the B2's guilt are to react to any new post about the case, flooding them with their distorted reality...

Most people are convinced that the B2 are probably not guilty of rape and even less of murder, and we all have seen how the prosecution case was flawed, there have been so many posts about it, but reading the new posts from a few here just disgusts me, they are just plain dishonest in the way they present information.

For the death penalty to be given, the guilt MUST be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and doubts there are, for sure.

The usual posters are actually winning sadly, because most of us are just tired of answering and trying to give facts again and again to counter their deliberate inaccuracies.

But in the end, when you consider this case and others similar what do you really expect in a country where people with power can kill in total impunity, without spending a single day in prison, just a few days in a temple, a few million to the victim's family if their involvment is too obvious and voila, all is forgiven.

Kirsty Jones comes to mind but almost daily examples in the news concerning thai people and not foreigners, as the Redbull heir (who killed a cop...), Chalerm's son (again, killed a cop with numerous witnesses and is now... a cop), the 16 year old driver who killed 9 persons, the speeding intoxicated Benz drivers killing 2 students in their car... it is just overwhelming and just shows that there is not much hope for the B2.

And I am quite sad to say that I don't think it's going to change soon... at least the image of Thailand is starting to shift and people start to realize there is a difference between the brochures and the sad reality, it is true everywhere, but the gap is so much wider in Thailand.

Wondering about the DNA of 2 unknown Asian men on the hoe, how many times was that hoe handled before Khun Porntip tested it?

They talk about two men DNA on the hoe, they don't mention Asian I think , but these were the initial results of the tests conducted during the trial (the hoe hadn't been tested before the trial by the RTP, could you believe that? the -alleged- murder weapon, not tested...).

The second set of results reported during the trial gave more precisions if I recall correctly and it was mentioned that both victims DNA was on the handle of the hoe (which could mean they had it in their hands according to the expert) and another unidentified male (only a 25% match with one of the B2 which everybody knows isn't even close to a significant result). Didi they even try to match it with the owner of the hoe, I struggle to see how his own DNA wouldn't be on it...

I wonder why the documentary only talked about the first results.

But personaly I don't believe the absence of anybodys DNA on the hoe is a complete proof of innocence (the presence of DNA though would have been daming for the B2), I think you don't necessarily leave your DNA when you handle a hoe, but what I find strange though is the fact that :

> the victims DNA were on the handle which could mean they handle it, again contradicting the RTP scenario relying on the element of surprise to explain how two shorts guys could attack the 2 victims

> the absence of David's blood one the blade of the hoe is particularly strange, how is it possible? I and many others believe that there was more than one murder weapons, and it is simply not normal that more attention is not given to this.