TomTom55

Greetings ThaiVisa. I will be heading out to Penang at the start of the next month and am planning on using the train directly from Hua Hin to Butterworth. I have been to Penang once before but I got the train to Surat Thani and then by road from there. I have a couple of questions.

Firstly how does the entry into Malaysia work with this train journey as you pass the border somewhere and I cannot figure out how and where they would check everyone through.

I have googled this trip and found a few posts about it, but it seems slightly dated. Does anybody know if there is a 1st class on the sleeper train departing Hua Hin at 16.30 or is it only a 2nd class air still? What are the prices?

Lastly I would like to know about the vadility of this statement. I read that not far from the consulate there is an agency where you can book flights back for around 2,500baht per person?

Thanks and would appreciate any help and feedback

Actually your could try Penang and if no go there continue on down to KL. Expect your likely to get in Malaysia.

Okay then, I guess it is off to Maylasia.

@Patrick I have a national Diploma in Graphic design and I could always study here for a degree if I wanted to later. I do have goals as I have decent skills within the design industry but as I have posted prior to this post, Thailand Mai Hii Phom Tam Gnag

Aside from that I have been a practicing Buddhist before I even stepped foot within Asia, I have had thoughts of ordaining before but I think I may intend on doing that when I am older and when the time is right. Everyone has their own path in life and most people live it to the text book, I am not one of those people. You are probably right, well no I know you are right in what you say about being in your 30-40s etc, but that is not the way I live. I am quite content living a very basic and low budhet life, in fact I cherish it. When I was in Surin I stayed with my partenrs family in a small village in a house without a shower. We had to wash out the back from a huge vase full of rain water. I would not trade that life for the city life any day.

PP is a 2 or 4 day wait for visa issue so either Vientiane or Savannakhet might be better options as both are next workday. If flying from Bangkok Udon is the normal place to fly for Vientiane as only an hour away by land.

Savannakhet would be nice long trip, I recently went to visit family in Surin and back and that was quite annoying for 10 hours, what about KL in Malaysia?

Cost is 1,000 baht in local currency and you apply in morning and receive next workday afternoon. Penang will normally not provide a tourist visa if you have previously extended such a stay so may be a problem with your long stay history - there are visa agents there that may be able to advise you by phone or email of your chances if you do a Google search.

Yea I have been to Penang once before and that was to activate my ED visa before the rules were as they are now. I may hop over to Cambodia then instead. I live not too far south of BKK so it may be a good idea to get the plane to Phnom Penh. Or would there be a better country to apply for a tourist visa in? I would rather not go through the agencies and go to Penang to get rejected. Thanks for your post though lopburi3

Hello again, I have decided that I want to head over to Penang or KL, somwhere outside of Thailand and apply for a 60 day tourist visa at a consulate to give me some more time to save more money and gather our thoughts (me and my partner) on what exactly we want to do.

Can somebody please inform me on how long this process will take at the consulate? Is it something I will be easily granted, previously I have had two 1 year visa's, a non O and now an ED. Also how much does it cost for a tourist 60 day visa? DO I simply turn up at the consulate and explain I would like a 60 day tourist visa or do I need to somehow inform them in advance?

Thanks Tom

To be honest, much as me thinks the man is a clown, I doubt very much there'll be floods this year. Up here in the north, reservoirs are fairly low, rainfall has been low. Totally different from last year, when reservoirs were full not long into the rainy season, the rains were very heavy early, continuing throughout the rainy season.

The monsoon season is not over yet, nobody can predict the amount of rainful in the coming weeks, who knows. If Bangkok has set up it's barriers and resources then ares north of Bangkok will suffer greatly. The main issue is deforestation in the north on both sides of the border, without all of thr plantation to soak up the rains it runs of into rivers etc. I personally think there will be flooding of some kind this year, and the future for Bangkok isn't rosey anyway, it is sinking. in 50 years time I doubt it will be what it is today, 100 years maybe it won't even exist.

I was in Bangkok this week as I was coming back from Surin and everytime I am in Bangkok I feel depressed. I cannot understand why farang choose to live there, I really can't. To each their own of course, but I would prefer to live in a rural village with no farang, bars or showers than Bangkok, just my opinion there

But if i understand correct you can not write and read Thai? So even if you are mabey bored of school keep going.Thats you best option I think.

It is not really the fact that I am bored of school, I just need income. I may even hop over to Cambodia as they give work visas on arrival at 25 dollars and do not shun farang anywhere near as much as they do here. Plus in the near future I see potential for a couple of quite bad situations that may come into being. One of them obvioiusly being the fact Bangkok is sinking and the deforestation north is ongoing, so the floods will keep coming each year. Once Bangkok is crippled so in Thailand. The other scenario I will not mention as I cannot speak about it due to laws etc. You know what I refer to most likely.

I do not believe you can get a work permit on arrival in Cambodia for 25 USD as this is for a tourist Visa only. Once you have a tourist visa you can apply for a work visa which l believe costs 200 USD and is renewable every year, Thats as much as l know

THanks for this post, things chang with visas around here so fast, I swear no more than two months ago it was 20 dollars for a tourist visa on arrival and 25 for a business visa on arrival. I remember speaking to a Cambodian national and then looked it up on the Kingdom website. Anyway i just checked their site again and yes you are correct techno.

Thanks for the replies so far people, I have been really quite anxious, depressed and angry recentlty because of all this. I have recently just returned from visiting my GFs familiy in Surin, but not actually Surin itself just outside of Surin. They have made a kind of settlement years ago and it is reall reall rural. I loved it there and if I could I would just live there for a long long time, but that cannot be.

I have narrowed things down to three choices that seem logical, some more than others.

1. I stay here and continue learning Thai and borrowing money from my family ( )

2. I move to Cambodia and try to apply for a business visa.

3. I try to get a teaching job here in Thailand, mainly Hua Hin if possible.

Can I please ask this. Would I go to the consulate in Cambodia to apply for the bussiness visa yes? And it says that a tourist visa needs to be applied for 3 days in advance of arrival, how can this be? Can you not turn up at say Poi Pet and pay 25 dollars?

The other thing is Colabamumbai said that if I found a school here to teach that they would sort out all of the paper work etc. Well would they sort out a visa? What is this paper work?

Thanks for your help so far guys

But if i understand correct you can not write and read Thai? So even if you are mabey bored of school keep going.Thats you best option I think.

It is not really the fact that I am bored of school, I just need income. I may even hop over to Cambodia as they give work visas on arrival at 25 dollars and do not shun farang anywhere near as much as they do here. Plus in the near future I see potential for a couple of quite bad situations that may come into being. One of them obvioiusly being the fact Bangkok is sinking and the deforestation north is ongoing, so the floods will keep coming each year. Once Bangkok is crippled so in Thailand. The other scenario I will not mention as I cannot speak about it due to laws etc. You know what I refer to most likely.

You would have to go to a Thai Consulate in another country and obtain a tourist visa and return for 60 day stay - you would only get a 15 day stay for just crossing border and return.

O okay, thanks for clearing that one up for me, I was still confusing the situation with the time I had a non im O visa.

If I could find a school that would take me on to teach English without a TEFL around Hua Hin then I would jump at the chance, being able to speak Thai at a decent level is obviously a bonus.

Reposting I know, but I have just come to a conclusion of sorts although I am not quite sure how to go about it exactly. If I were to leave Thailand around the time my visa expires at say Ranong or something, then return that would give me 3 months to think things through properly and sort out a job/career, is this possible?

The easiest thing for you to do is look for a teaching job. The school will do the paperwork for W.P. and visa.

I have no TEFL or related tutoring. I have thought about teaching but I am not sure if there are schools willing to take on an English guy with no TEFL or whatever, my friend tried for a while and ended up in Bangkok, he has returned home now because he could not find any work.

You are very unlikely to obtain 3 entry tourist visas in the area and more than 4 visas may get more refused at some locations so yes it is not stable but there are people using it for many years.

It is not really a life I would like to live, it is a nice knowing that you are secure in the country you live in without the fear of getting the boot.

I did some research and the only university that is in Hua Hin is the webster university but it does not offer any courses that are anywhere near to what I would require.

You do not appear to qualify for any non immigrant visa. There are universities here that teach in English and might be a wise investment in your future if you can obtain a degree. Might also enhance your employment chances.

Yes the rules of non im's keep changing and I am only in my 20s as I said, so I am not like 90% of the farang with their pensions and what not. That is a good idea though with regards to the university. I can speak Thai and have conversations but I have yet to learn much about reading and writing, so a university that teaches in English could be a good idea yes. I know google is an option but there is a lot of trash you need to sift through, do you have any links for such universities in and around Hua Hin by any chance? This is the first time I have heard of such universities.

If that is a no go then what about a triple entry visa over and over again? That seems unstable and would require a lot of going to and fro too often maybe.

Greetings all.

I am in my mid 20s and I have lived in Thailand for nearly 3 years now, at first I was using a non im O visa until the rules changed (well according to my knowledge anyway). Then I started using a non im ED visa whilst learning Thai and now I have a very good understanding of the Thai language.

Now here is my issue. I no longer want to continue with my ED visa and am wondering what options are open to me? I understand how DIFFICULT it is for us farang to obtain work here (I have been angry for so long because I desire work so much, different story), and I am confused about the non O visa rules at the moment as they seem to change monthly hehe. What would I need to do to be able to have a non O visa? Travel where, how often etc.

If the non O is not an option, what else can I do? I have been applying for jobs in grapic design on a website daily for a longtime, all in BKK of course but I live south of there. It is still near enough impossible for me to get a job because firstly 99% of the time a Thai national will work for less and does not need a visa, but also 99% of the time they require at least 1 years work experience which I do not have as I left uni and came here basically.

I am really quite desperate and my visa runs out next month so I need to get something settled, so if anybody could offer so advice I would be much appreciative, thanks

LOL 'the crime capital of Asia' give me a break. Go and travel around Tokyo and explore the criminal underworld there, the Yakuza alone will cause 10x the amount of crime that is happening in Phuket. Phuket may be getting worse and could be one of the worse places to be in Thailand, but the crime capital of the world, BS. More crime goes on in Bangkok for heavens sake..

I still believe that all foreign embassies issue a warning to it's citizens planning on visiting Phuket. A boycott of the area would definitely get the attention of all the "Big wheels" there and might even bring a change to this very corrupt area!!!!!

Really? Again?

Try googling "fatal robbery 2012" or "gang rape 2012" or "murder 2012" and you will see quite how numerous these type of violent incidents are worldwide today.

This was a tragic, unnecessary event but take it for what it really was, a bungled robbery that turned sour, clearly no intent to kill, clearly no premeditated murder. If there's one thing that any rational, functional person takes from this sorry tale it's not to resist a street robbery, your bag is not worth your life.

There will always be these type of robberies in areas where the disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor are so massive. Crimes like this should raise awareness of how people can minimise their chances of falling foul of such events, not promote knee jerk responses. I found the video posted quite shocking and the initial response from most people I know who saw that video was "Why did they fight back? Why didn't they just let go of the bag?".

I'd like to make it clear that I don't believe the victims were in any way are responsible for this crime and the guilt lies firmly with the robbers but I know this for sure - I am making it dam_n clear to my daughter, my sons, my friends and my family, that if someone attempts to steal your bag just hand it over and walk away, it's not worth losing your life over.

Far more disturbing events happen daily the world over, http://www.lasvegass...as-teen-killed/ Now that's what I call a disturbing crime, a 34 year old sodomising a 14 year old girl and then setting her on fire. Haven't read any similar reports in Thailand in all the years I've been here, but a surprising number of similar crimes happen in US each year... Quite how many tourists flock to Vegas each year? I don't recall too many foreign embassy warnings...

Please try to comment rationally and with some sense of perspective.

This a hundred times.

But said they had no intention of killing Mrs Smith".

Total Rubbish! Look at the video; already you can see the Thai man continually stab the Australian women many times.

That is no accident and I would expect the full penalty for this either Hang them or death by firing squad

If the Law in Thailand was strict about attacks and crime on westerner's ( Thailand would be Number 1 ) tourist destination in the World if westerner's could come to the land of smiles knowing they are safe and thai police and law's protect them !

A small jail sentence will only bring more shame to Phuket and its law and order.

Im not either going to mention about the reward money but it has been twisted in press like to arrest someone in Thailand you must Pay the Police they will not do that for FREE

Protect westerner's or they will goto burma or vietnam if this keeps up 5 more years there will be no westerners in Thailand and all you Thais with morgage or credt fianance on car;s will have to kiss that goodbye and go back to working in rice fields cos there will be no westerner's here to support you .

Firing squad has been abolished to my knowledge and replaced with the lethal injection. Do you know how you can differ developed countries apart from developing countries aside from economy, landscape etc? If the country uses the death penalty or not, that is with exception of the US though which uses it in certain states still

After seeing the video a few times I think none of us can put ourseleves in the mindset of the Thai guy with the knife, we don't know if he was strung out on drugs (which is no exscuse), we don't know how chaotic the situation would have been and the intention etc. People who rob normally will carry a knife or something for protection, my point is that maybe as the 2 women struggled and didn't give the bag up, in the chaos he just lashed out and didn't stab to kill but ended up killing her. Those situations are not so cut and dry, they are frantic and one must walk in another mans shoes before they can comment in such a way.

All that being said I think the death penalty should not be handed down, rather a life time in prison where the chances of them killing themselves, catching HIV or dying from something else are high.

Funny yesterday people bashing the police saying that the tactics were pure folly. Also that wasn't graphic, unfortunate that she died and well wishes to her loved ones, funerals are for the living not the dead.

Chalerm has a contract on his head, I wouldn't be surprised if he turns up dead somewhere in the not too distant future. At least it isn't Mexico, I remember a police chief being appointed and he claimed he would take down the cartels. Literally 6 hours later the guy was dead.

Tramadol not going to cause any worries when combined with alcohol.

Are you sure about that??? Tramadol is a synthetic opiate is it not?

Trust me, very sure about all opiate prescription pain medications. Not an opiate, but does have an affinity for mu receptor. Hesitant to say this the way some pick up on things and run with it, but Tramadol does have a slight selective seratonin reuptake inhibtor. Nothing nearly as powerful as the true SSRI anti depressants and the actions is a bit different. The SSRI properties combined with the mu receptor affinity can make trammies cause particularly nasty withdrawals when taken in large doses for long periods of time.

The only problem Tramadol present is that it lowers the seizure threshold if you take way too much of it. I know a doctor who was addicted to this stuff taking like 40 to 50 day. I have taken Ultram/Tramadol many times and drank like a fish on them. Drinking on opiates is also no big deal either. The only real devastating combination I know of it taking benzos with methadone. This can slow the respiratory rate down sufficient to cause death if not careful.

There have been 2 different times where I have gotten myself into a serious situation due to alcohol and benzos/opiates here. One I have already described and it seems to paint a similar picture to the vomit covered room. I was taking a lot of valium as my tolerance was way high, 300-400mgs a day, yes 300-400 not 30-40 and I drank a lot of whisky one day and boom, 2 days gone from my memory entirely. My GF found me in a room full of vomit half dead, bluish lips and a kind of white foam around my mouth. Bad times. I am not saying that this is what happened to the 2 women, I am saying that benzos and alcohol can be dangerous and the combination has killed.

Another time it was my birthday and I was out with a few people and my GF drinking, I was taking xanax, valium and clonazepam as well, also as my friend had a broken leg he gave me 60mg of morphine oral. When we came home I fell asleep in a wooden armchair on a kind of decking area which was also a large balcony, but I fell asleep with all of my weight on my left arm. When I woke up I realized my left hand was totally numb and I could not move it. It stayed that way for 4 months not being able to move it whatsoever, it would just flop around. I thought it was going to be like that forever as hospital treatment was not helping, funnily enough when I stopped going to the hospital for therapy it started to get better and returned to 100%.

After contemplating this situation with these 2 unfortunate women, I don't know what to think. I throw out the idea that they were using benzos but maybe they were given a roofy at too high of a dose. The thing that needs to be taken into account though is the fact they have both died in a similar fashion. People can throw their opinions around all day long, but the only way this is going to be resolved is after the autopsy and toxicology report.

Really, ibuprofen is the most dangerous drug they found in their room?

I've never been a basher but this one has finally got to me.

Good god, where is Columbo when we need him.

He died 23 june 2011...

I don't think it mentioned that ibuprofen was the most dangerous drug they found, they can have reasons for not mentioned the other over teh counter drugs they did find.

It is a no win situation for the police. If they say nothing they are covering up and if they say something they get bashed. Foreigners in this country amaze me, they are the biggest bunch of cry babies I have ever seen. Oh by the way I am not Thai.

I know what you mean. I have been browsing and posting on this forum for ages and whenever I read a headline title I know all of the bashing people here will be doing. I put it down to the fact most expats are old men who like to try and find faults in things and feel superior, that is just my point of view. I admit there are many things wrong with this country, there are things wrong with every country, but if people complain and complain daily here, why the hell don't you move away?

The fact that they did not seek medical help suggests ingestion of illicit substances.

It stated that over the counter drugs were found, if my personal hunch is correct and all 4 of them were drinking and using things like xanax, valium whatever, these 2 guys could have been intoxicated for days due to benzodiazepine use. It can lead you to make really impulsive decisions and not care about anything for a long while, maybe the 2 guys saw that these girls were dead and literally thought, "shit we need to get out of here"

What gives me this hunch about benzodiazepine and alcohol use resulting in their deaths is the fact that 'over the counter drugs' were found and also the fact they were laying in a room full of vomit which as I have posted already happened to me and I was close to death. Maybe the 2 guys were trying to date rape the girls and put too high of a dose in their drinks..

"There were neither signs of fighting, nor robbery, but we found many kinds of over-the-counter-drugs, including ibuprofen, which can cause serious effects on the stomach."

Really, ibuprofen is the most dangerous drug they found in their room?

I've never been a basher but this one has finally got to me.

Good god, where is Columbo when we need him.

You can buy valium, clonazepam, xanax, tramadol, you name it, it can be bought without script in a lot of pharmacies here. If you mix benzos with alcohol and maybe a little opiates, you can get yourself into a very very intoxicated state where you pass out and can choke on your own vomit or die from where your breathing becomes so shallow it eventually stops. I should know, way back I was using valium and other benzos daily and one day I drank a lot of whisky with a lot of benzos and I don't remember 2 whole days after that incident. My GF came back from work to find me in a room full of vomit and with blue lips, but I was not dead luckily. She helped me back to recovery and everything from that point for a good week is hazy. I honestly think these girls maybe were very intoxicated and ended up dying because of it, alcohol plus benzos is really quite a dangerous mix. I could be wrong because they have both died, we shall have to wait and see.