razer

It is so illogical to have local immigration authorities make up their own rules. They need to standardise nationwide.

Jet ski rentals should be licensed and have proof of insurance.

Nice story for a change.

Hey ... this is fair. I've lived internationally 40 years and always carry a copy of my passport and visa but rarely carry my original passport. Had it nicked once and that was a real mess. I think Ex-patriot ID cards are the way to go. Sure they can make fake ones but if it is ever checked with a database game over for the fraud.

If you choose to live and work in a country, just do it legally. It is your choice to live in Thailand so just like in every western country, do it legally.

Seems to me the condo market is saturated but they keep building. Anyone know the occupancy rate of these higher end condos and apartments in BKK?

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

If you live in Pattaya you will probably never see a farang criminal......they all live in Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Pooket.    alt=biggrin.png>

True about Samui...Many Farang Criminals.... And Mafia Farang Along with the Thai side. Hoping the Military will do a Big cleaning on Samui Soon 

 

I think they should send all the farang criminals back to Farang, where ever that is.

"Records show smoking causes the nation 52 million baht in economic loss." .... like to see the evidence on that ... sounds a bit dodgy.

Why can't Immigration just issue a plastic photo ID card with our visa and expiration date? I lived in Malaysia, S. Korea, Morocco and Taiwan and they ALL do this. So damn simple. Sorry ... First time I ever uploaded a jpeg image [attachment=277274:Capture.JPG]

In my experience, it is unusual for Thai blue bloods to be so generous. Hope this sets an example of doing the right thing as opposed to being forced to do what is mandatory by law.

Damn.  This was like when I was in the old Soviet Union and East Germany. Exactly. And I thought it was Communist oppression especially when going to another sector (province). This screws up the simple three day weekend ... doesn't it?

Education reform in Thailand officially began in 1997. Cronyism and nepotism  in the Ministry of Education, poorly trained, corrupted and unenthusiastic teachers have been at the heart of the problem. (It has all been documented) I would suggest The Thai government look at some of the successful education models and get some advice form Taiwan, south Korea and other countries who have risen to prominence in the past 30 years.

The cycle of not very good teachers teaching the future teachers has to be broken.

I think there will be a continued rise in unemployment of university graduates after ASEAN kicks in, simply because multinational companies will be able to find better educated graduates within the ASEAN community who have very good English skills. This will balance out and decline when the Thai education system improves to match university education with business needs.

It is the education system. Everything begins there.

On topic - Need to look no farther than Malaysia for the training, materials and know-how.

Well done

Mr. Big is obviously a conduit in the mafia chain of command. Strict government regulation and enforcement is required in public transport services. When this happens, public transport will evolve to the quality you find in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and other Asian countries... There can be no corruption for things to work well.

were found to have unusual rice, and the type of rice in storage was not the same as that listed on the records,

Would that "unusual rice" be remarkably similar to rice grown in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Lao?

Yes. The Economist did a piece on this about two years ago.

Thailand and North Africa have a lot in common when it comes to taxi drivers. In my experience of 7 years here about 60% of the Thai taxi drivers are rude, will not hesitate to refuse a customer and on occasion they don't know their way around Bangkok. I have been kicked out of a taxi more than once in the street and once on the tollway because I refused to pay their NEW on the road price. I'm talking about a pick up at a five star hotels and Don Muang airport. BUT I was never attacked with a Samurai sword thank God.

There are plenty of good models out there. I lived in Taiwan 7 years and watched the professionalism of taxi drivers evolve. Now they are dressed well, they are clean and polite and they cannot refuse (by law) to take a passenger anywhere the passenger wants to go.

ps Taxis are a public face of Thailand for tourists. I agree that many tourists are drunk and rude, but taxis are service providers ... nothing personal ... just do the job and get the pay. I'm not a big drinker but when my mates come here their tips for a good taxi driver are ... well ... too much.

I would get my Retirement visa and single entry ASAP. You are not working in country so you don't need a work permit. The process is strait forward. If you meet requirements ... Change of visa application. Wait 90 days. Get an extension with a multiple entry.

So .... What has the US Embassy been doing about the case all this time?

Don't have numbers but I do know it used to cost a lot of black money just to build on an existing university campus and more black money to open the building for use after it is built.

I think perhaps the front line immigration officers are not that well trained and simply do what they are told. If you are from a country where Thailand has a treaty for 30 day visa on arrival (by air), they shouldn't refuse because it may be violating the international agreement. Perhaps they could amend the 30 day visa for business travelers and oilfield workers requiring a 3-4 weekday stay out of country before reentry which would screw-up the illegal workers.

I think they are targeting the visa runners who abuse the system to stay here. If someone is working without a work permit and using visa runs to stay in country, it is highly unlikely they will have the time or money to fly to Europe to get a new visa.