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Anyone know of any good visa agents that can help Thais with their applications to work overseas? The agents that have websites seem really expensive. I've previously worked with one agent in BKK who did a Schengen visa for 7000 THB (visa cost included), but he's not available right now.

Thanks!

Hi there,

I have had Ed visas for the past 2 years and with it's totally fine to just get a re-entry permit for the time you are away. My friend has an Ed visa too and just went away for 2 months (came back to Thailand in late December) using a re-entry permit and had no problems.

You can also get a multiple entry Ed visa which costs more, but allows you to go in and out as many times as you want without paying any fees. That also means that instead of 90 day reporting you can just do a border run if that's more convenient (on re-entry you'll just get another 90 day stamp). For me this is much easier because the immigration office is further away than the local border crossing.

NB when getting an ed visa for studying muay thai -- there are only a few gyms that are registered with the Ministry of Education and regarded as "schools" by Immigration. 99% of the gyms in Thailand don't have that accreditation so just make sure the gym is authorised to endorse ED visas.

Good luck

If its an illegal loan then it will have to be collected illegally.

Do you really think that TV members on here will tell you who to use to collect the debt?

<snip>

No I don't think that, nor did my post or any subsequent responses give any indication I was looking for that sort of information.

I have had people attempt to take me for a similar ride. I spent three years pursuing one of these guys. I did not leave him alone. I used every possible means to contact him, and harass him over the money. Eventually he paid me back, in full. And he told me that I was the first one to ever harass him like that. And he admitted to me that he took someone else for a ride, to pay me back. He told me he would have done anything to get me off his back. That is what these guys do. If your friend puts enough pressure on him, he will get paid back. The worst thing you can do with a weasel like this, is to leave him be. Interrupt his routine. Hassle him, harangue him. Bother him. Don't let it rest. Don't let him get away with it. Forget about legal remedies.

Thanks -- this is helpful.

OMG...

I am thinking that the guy who owes money is the same one I met there in Phuket before. He befriends people who have connections with others people that have good money. The guy I am thinking of has a yahoo id of burger something...like burgerkingman..or similar. He lived in the Philippines and owes 2000 to one of my best friends. In fact, he destroyed my credibility with my friend, as I vouched for his honest. He brags about his ability to "trade up". His story is that his father traded an old shotgun for something else. Then through a series of trade ups, his father would eventually end up with a brand new car. Jack lived in Chiang Mai, and owes money here too. He is unemployed..and last time I seen him, he was in Krabi. He told me he was moving to Hawaii. Avoid this man at all costs...he is a loser.

I think he is about 60...and very fat. An excellent talker....

Bottom line...he never pays back. Never. Money gone forever. He pretty much told me my friend could afford to lose 2000 dollars.

Let me say this...he gets involved with locals that deal drugs.. stay away.

Hi there -- thanks for your help. It's not the same guy though he operates the same way. The debtor in this case is a young lad in his 20s. Thanks for posting though.

try this guyimages (1).jpg

looks like he's otherwise engaged.

A contract made in writing by two foreigners residing in Thailand, is enforceable in the Thai courts.

Any loan/contract made by someone who is not resident in Thailand is not.

If the loan was made by two residents who still reside here and there is a signed, witnessed contract with terms and conditions for repayment, there would be a need for a fluent Thai speaker (usually a lawyer) who has knowledge of Thai contract law to get involved, as there are a lot of court papers to file. There would also be multiple court appearances and I wonder how much your friend would get back after 3-4 years or more of court visits? Not turning up personally (or your lawyer) even if it's for a 2 minute clarification and the judge will throw it out.

Lending money of any significance to a foreigner here is basically saying goodbye to it, but it is collectible through the right channels with perseverance a lot of it!!.

If the amount was 20,000 + I'd say go for it, but for 2,000 I'd let it slide, even if it is a matter of principle and learn a lesson.

You could always send for Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Thank you. This is very helpful and just what I was looking for.

A good friend of mine who lives in France loaned about 2000 quid to an American who is currently living in Phuket. The American has no intention of paying him back voluntarily, so my friend is looking for ways to try to collect on his debt. I said I'd tried to help by asking around. The guy that borrowed the money is a total con artist -- he has done this to a few other people, telling elaborate lies that sound really convincing at the time.

Are there any firms or bounty hunter types here that can collect debts (legally)? Please only useful responses!
I've asked my Thai friend, who's very well connected, but he said there's no way to legally collect on private loans. I'm wondering therefore if there are any foreigners that offer such services?

A friend travelled to the Kanchanaburi-Myanmar border yesterday (September 12th) and when he got there was told the border was closed to foreigners.

Thailand has a shame culture. Authorities make the perpetrators pay emotionally for their wrongdoings by being publicly humiliated. You'll always see the disgraced party in the photos or video footage with their eyes downcast, looking suitably penitent, or literally trying to hide their faces from the loss of "face". They like to reinforce the moral notions of "good" and "bad" so that people will tow the line.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the all the replies. I am actually leaving Thailand to go to the UK for a couple of weeks, so I was enquiring about changing THB to GBP and not the other way around, as a few people have already pointed out. If I was changing pounds to baht, I know it's cheapest in BKK by far.

It's pretty clear though now that it's also best to do it here in Thailand. I had wanted to avoid the queues at Super Rich, but I'll just go first thing in the morning.

BTW, just for reference, I'm a woman. Thanks again for the responses, they've been very helpful.

Last year I went to SuperRich and got it changed there, but I've heard you'll always get a better rate in your destination country. That said, it's very difficult to get the rates from the UK money changers - they don't advertise them on their websites. Can anyone kindly advise? I leave in 3 days so I need to make my mind up.

I'd rethink your marriage plans. This woman and her mother only have one thing on their mind. Thai women are great actresses.

Perfect. Thanks so much.

Hello everyone. I've been asked to help get visas for a couple of Thai friends who have been invited to Italy for a short visit. The last time I helped with a visa application it was really time consuming and there was so much room for error, so I'd like to hire someone this time. If anyone can recommend an agency or a person, I'd be very grateful.

I am also looking for a certified translator to have some documents translated from Thai to English for another visa application, so I am also looking for relevant referrals.

I know I can find the services online, but I don't want to just choose someone randomly.

Many thanks in advance for the help.

hello again and thanks once more to all the people who responded to my desperate plea for insights and experience about this issue. i'm definitely aware that this is my problem as 2unique says in his comments. I've definitely got a very deep fear of being betrayed and so this experience has made me look at that and reach out to others for help.

we actually had a breakthrough conversation today about being able to talk about problems in our relationship though. for the first time i think he really understood that talking about an issue doesn't mean that i'm criticizing him or saying he did something wrong. at the end of the day though we are from two different cultures and though our love is transcending the differences i still have difficulty knowing how to deal with something that doesn't feel right to me.

anyway thanks again for all your insights and help. oh and by the way, jawny i like your idea -- i totally agree that i should probably get to know the kid as well. he's probably just a nice guy who is fanatical about amulets like my bf.

I think a lot of people have already said this but it's a very Thai thing, in my opinion. I have a Thai boyfriend of 2 years and he also shuts down and refuses to talk about small problems, miscommunications. From what I understand, having talked to people here in similar relationships and having talked to Thai people now living abroad, Thais are conditioned to think that any kind of talk of a problem is akin to being criticized or told their doing something wrong or being a "bad" person. They hate any kind of confrontation and so they are unable to talk about things they way we do. I often wonder if it will be the demise of my relationship because I think unless we can fix these small parts, the whole will not work eventually. But who knows. He is coming around a little bit and starting to understand where I am coming from but very very difficult for him to understand the concept of talking through things and clearing the problem. In his mind it only goes away if you pretend it isn't there.

I noticed even children aren't really scolded. Or at least the ones I know. The parents just let them do what they want and if they cry because they can't have something -- it is immediately given to them to avoid the spectacle of them crying. I've seen it countless times and now I am a mother -- so when my baby cries and I don't immediately give in to his demands, other Thais act as though I'm heartless.

Anyway good luck with your challenge. If you love this girl as you appear to do just be patient and try to make her see where you're coming from. Maybe she'll only really be able though once/if she travels to the west and lives there for a while.

Hi everyone and thank you so much for all the thoughts and insights. It's all helping quite a bit. Just the support from people who understand the Thainess of all of this

The more things sit the more I think I should just sit back and let things settle. I think like tinfoil said, it'll just lose its intensity after a while. I did find out that the kid is actually straight and he's got a girlfriend so that shut me up a bit. He's just very effeminate I guess -- or maybe seems so cause of his age and the fact he's shy and so on.

I appreciate what you say oxfordwill. Yes i do think it's some projection on my part -- the culmination of frustrations over the communication. And I sometimes just just get scared and suspicious when I shouldn't be.

Thanks to Miss Sorapong too. My BF is from the Northeast -- Isaan -- but has grown up in the greater BKK area since he was a kid. I don't think my boyfriend thought he was gay so I think it might be just a sweet brotherly thing to say. When I looked through the other emails the communication is very "normal" just discussing amulets and so on, sending links, talking about prices and age and so on. It's prolly just a little bromance that will cool in intensity after a while.

Also thanks to Lesley99 -- I know he's definitely like that on the internet -- loses track of time when he's doing something and he can be on there for hours (me too lol).

I'll keep you all posted but thanks for all the support in the meantime.

Yeah that's it! -- it's the intensity lol. It just seems so full on. I think you're right tinfoil, I'm probably just going to have to step back and see what happens.

By the way while he's online chatting to this guy he's also surfing the web and doing other things so it's not like they're just talking continuously. I didn't want to misrepresent things. And while he's doing that I'm usually online doing my own stuff so I can't really say it's taking his time away from me, to be fair. It's just so excessive though!

Thanks so much for all the input so far. I appreciate all your insights. I'd have to say I don't worry that my BF is bi or anything. He's got a lovely feminine side -- a real softie and he is gentle and loving with everyone he meets in that sense but he's definitely fully comfortable with both his masculine and feminine and not inclined sexually to other men. I think it's more of an emotional thing -- and that's what's bothering me the more I think about it. I don't think he'd go off with this guy and have an affair or even think of it for that matter. It's more that he's connecting with this guy so strongly in a way I can't. He's developing a heart relationship and it's in territory that I don't and can't relate to. Maybe I feel threatened by that. I don't know.

I did check the emails that were sent back and forth -- even though I knew that would just plunge me deeper into the conflict -- but they were all related to exercise and the buddhist amulets. They were all very sweet and kind "krab" and so on. It's only that last one (my boyfriend calling him 'nong rak') that got me thinking something was not right and I still can't figure out why it's such a trigger point. I feel almost like this kid is trying to get my BF's attention and maybe he has a crush on him (I could definitely see 'Ae' being bi or gay) and I just don't feel comfortable with my BF engaging with him so much.

This feels like a couple of other big issues that have come up in our relationship and we've come through them and gotten stronger and it's allowed me to trust him more. I just don't know if I should completely step back or how I can voice my discomfort with him without him feeling like I'm trying to control his friendships or his life. I want him to have friends, just this one makes me feel emotionally cheated on or something.

I guess one thing is I didn't know how common it was to use the term "nong rak" among brotherly friends. I definitely feel like my bf feels like an older brother to him and likes that he is looked up to by this kid.

Thanks again for all your input. Part of me knows I'll find the answer in my heart, but sometimes I just wish I could understand relationships here a little more fully so I can navigate these emotional waters with a little more acceptance or clarity.

I live with a Thai man and have for 2 years. We have a young son (from his previous relationship). He's a really wonderful guy -- very honest and faithful and he has a good heart. He is a practicing Buddhist and goes on meditation retreats and we go to the temple regularly to "tam boon". He doesn't drink and he's not a womanizer -- he's a simple guy with a broad mind.

We live in the countryside so we don't have much of a social life -- although we live with a lot of friends and family nearby. It's mostly just the three of us living our lives together. We have a pretty good relationship but for a couple of things -- he doesn't speak English and my Thai, while pretty good, is not perfectly fluent. But we are so attuned to each other we know what each other is thinking and so the words sometimes aren't that important.

We fight like most couples I think but I find it challenging to get over an issue because he -- like most Thais -- doesn't like a confrontation. He thinks I'm scolding him if I want to discuss something that's bothering me and he gets very defensive. It doesn't matter if I speak in a loving voice and try to explain that I want to talk about it neutrally just so we can clear the air -- he always seems to get upset, withdrawn, "noi Jai" and then he tries to make up with me later and it's forgotten . . . till next time.

Recently however we've been arguing a lot and it's making me question our relationship. A new person has entered our little world and seems to be shaking things up. The new kid is a young teenager who my BF met at the gym we train at. He has been communicating with my BF on Facebook since they met --- about 2 weeks now. He is a very feminine guy, this teenager, and looks up to my boyfriend quite a bit (he's 15 and my bf is 27). Since they connected on FB, every time my boyfriend is online, this guy -- I'll call him Ae -- writes to him. Every single time he sits down to the computer (morning or evening) I hear the 'bloop' and a new message appears. So for the past week or so they've been online 2 hours a day and for some reason it really triggers me. I don't like that this kid is so attached to my boyfriend (does he have a crush on him?) and that he has no boundaries (another Thai thing). When I bring it up with my BF he gets angry and says he likes the kid and enjoys talking to him.

I feel so confused because I know I should back off and let him do what he wants, but I don't like the way this kid is relating to my boyfriend or vice versa, and how much time he's taking up of my BF. It's like he's crossing our family boundaries by always trying to chat with him, but my boyfriend, like most Thais, don't see boundaries they way we do. Now I feel almost like they're flirting with each other -- it's so weird. It could just be my confusion because of the way Thai guys relate to each other -- for instance Ae always calls my bf 'older brother'. They mainly talk about Buddhist amulets it seems but when I saw him wrapping up their conversation today I noticed he wrote Goodnight "nong rak" and I had a sick feeling in my gut. I asked him about it (calmly, asking what that meant) and he got really mad and said I was talking crazy and basically "gross" (lol can't think of another word) for even thinking that there was something else to their conversations. He said it's normal for one to say that to a younger brother, but to me it seems weird, especially since they've only known each other for 2 weeks.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has any experience of this kind. I'm utterly alone here and can't seem to get perspective on this. My boyfriend has always been honest with me and he's totally faithful and devoted to us as a family. This new dynamic just really gets to me and I can't figure out why. I'm between beating myself up about it for acting crazy one moment and the next I feel like it's natural to feel like this and the cultural/language issues exaggerate everything. I know I need to give him space and figure out why I'm getting so bothered by this but I'd love to hear if anyone else has any similar stories.

Anyway any help, advice, counsel, suggestions would be welcome. And I'd be happy to share any of my experience if it helps. I think we farang women in relationships with Thai man are few and far between so I'd love to compare notes. THANK YOU!

That was great advice -- thanks so much. You may have saved me a lot of time and money. I just spoke to someone at the Kanchanaburi office and she said that if I got a note from the doctor I can at least get 7 days mercy. But she said if the doctor said I am not able to travel for 1 month, or what have you, then I can just get the paperwork sorted there -- an extension and no overpay. They were really helpful.

Thanks again

If you can get a lettrer from the hospital/doctor stating that you were/are to sick to travel, it's possible that you may be able to get a 60 day extension from the local immigration office. It's worth a try and will give you time to work out the other details. But it will also raise the flag that you have overstayed if they don't buy it!

I was wondering whether or not that was an option. Thanks so much for the speedy reply. Does anyone know if Kanchanaburi City has an immigration office by the way? If so I'll try it there. I am sure the hospital will issue something for me.

Hello everyone

I currently have a 90 day non-immigrant B visa for employment issued by the Thai consulate in Los Angeles. When I applied for it I was hoping my employers would be able to get me a work permit but as of yet they haven't and it doesn't look likely because of the amounts of paperwork they have to produce. (I've been here for 3 years on back-to-back tourist visas with a Canadian passport, but changed on my last trip out of the country to my UK passport, which doesn't have any Thai visas in it, just the 90 day non-. The non B expired on November 30th and a hospital visit has made me unable to get out to do a visa run, so I, as of today, have overstayed my visa 7 days. I have been told the best thing to do would be to go to Vientiane, pay the overstay and apply for a double entry tourist visa since it would be difficult to get the non-B again.

I have a couple of questions that I hope I'll be able to get some help with. Thanks in advance for the input.

What is the closest and/or easiest border to do the run? I live near Kanchanaburi city, a couple of hours from Bangkok. In the past I have always gone to Vientiane by minibus or train to get a new double entry tourist visa but I know they have become pretty strict of late. Also it would be kind of nice to just to go somewhere else. Myanmar is closer to me but I've heard it's difficult cause there's only a few places to do the crossings.I'm okay about paying more for convenience as well -- so indeed if anyone knows a service that takes care of everything (overstay processing, etc) (and better still, without me having to be there) that would be great!

I've thought about flying to Vientiane or Phonm Penh just because when I went overland last time it took ages to get the overpayment processed and then the visas were late the next day. I imagined it would be a lot quicker at the airport but I guess I would still have to go to the embassy, submit the forms, etc., unless you can do that at the airport too. Another thing I heard is that the train to Vientiane itself (instead of Nong Khai and then tuktuk, etc) is also easier. Does anyone know if there is a separate border crossing for the train or is it the same one you get if you go from Nong Khai and can you do all the overstay stuff there?

Thanks once again for your consideration.