jethro69

3 minutes ago, anto said:

Thats safe other than the shower head fell off .Water does not travel upward .Always check though that the shower water heater is earthed .

I took the shower head off myself, or do you think I should leave it on like that?

Well, I don't usually travel with my multimeter, but of the few earth connections I did test, none did work. I switched to gas. Problem solved, cheaper too.

I was browsing through an hour earlier, and thought the article is a bit....well....over reacting.

That was just before I checked into my hotel and took a shower. One screw missing in the bloody showerhead, spraying water almost right into the lights. Well, still alive and no curly hair, but then I had a haircut yesterday, they too short anyway to get curly 

I see the article now in another perspective.

On Tuesday, June 06, 2017 at 4:35 PM, midas said:

If you are in  PP and things don't work out as you say there you could simply catch one of the many buses over to Ho Chi Minh City and try at that embassy. It's only a six hour journey.

Yep, something to consider as well. I might even go through my old mails, I believe I still have contacts in the Phills, just checking what they say, or I might just stay there ?

13 hours ago, jethro69 said:

Let me warm this up as it's the most recently I found.

Planning for next years SETV, especially as I have to get already the ticket for my METV. Do you have to go to the Embassy in person, as a fact I never liked Manila, so no intention to stay there.

Assumed I provide all the documents, might there be agents, in Angeles or Boracay or wherever (not decided yet) who might handle the visa application?

10 hours ago, mstevens said:

No disrespect intended, but the way things change with visa rules as well as at individual embassies and consulates, I think asking a question several months before you are to venture to a particular embassy and apply for a visa won't be fruitful.  Best to check back in much nearer the time.

You're certainly correct on this, the "problem" is I need to book my flight out of Thailand when applying for my METV in August. I would go back to Phnom Penh, but I was advised not to do, as I had one SETV already from them. After all, I could still use the flight, and in case it doesn't work out with the visa, there's still the 30 day exempt available (maybe).

Let me warm this up as it's the most recently I found.

Planning for next years SETV, especially as I have to get already the ticket for my METV. Do you have to go to the Embassy in person, as a fact I never liked Manila, so no intention to stay there.

Assumed I provide all the documents, might there be agents, in Angeles or Boracay or wherever (not decided yet) who might handle the visa application?

3 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

Sorry don't get your point.  I thought we were talking about basic insurance in Thailand to be levied on all visitors to cover basic hospital costs in case of emergency.

Makes no sense to further discuss it as long nobody knows what the "basic insurance" will cover, but I'm pretty sure with whatever they'll come up, my policy covers it already.

2 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

 

It would likely only be for emergency, and repatriation.  It would not in any way match your existing policy or any health insurance you hold.  I doubt it would cover elective surgery for instance.

My current policy includes repatriation, but it works a bit the other way round. It's meant to get me back into Thailand should I have a major accident somewhere in Loas, Cambodia or the like. Should maybe read the 25 pages fine print one day.

Let's assume it's gonna happen, and they might hide it in the plane ticket, or make it mandatory that only the gov insurance (purchased @ point of entry) is the right one. So I guess I would just cancel my existing policy. A lot of Insurance (Thai) companies would be happy.

8 hours ago, YetAnother said:

is that true ? dragged my wife to the usa for 11 years, that was 7 years ago when we then moved here; i dont recall anything like this (18 years ago)

Yep, but how many in the US are uninsured anyway ?

4 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

She can just write a short statement in Thai that you are living with her and attach  a copy of her ID card and house book registry to it.

OK, thanks for that.

1 hour ago, bamukloy said:

So what country would have drivers test written in several languages? 

 

China PDR for exemple. I know that for a fact, as I did mine in English. I don't know how many other Languages did exist, but German and Russian was among them. Most Germans I know did the test in English however because the translations were so bad that they became unusable, as a Russian air crew found out. (For the Russian translation, not the German of course)

It's almost 10 years ago I did the test there, and they had already the 90% rule, with the difference they were asking 100 questions in the test. All possible questions came somewhat close to 1500. From this number there were 100 specially for motorcycles, 100-200 for trucks, 100 for machinery like cranes a.s.o. so depending what license you went for, you still went over 1000 possible questions, and here they complain about 100 ??

OK, if you see Chinese driving, the test does not really reflect the behaviour on the streets.

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Is you wife Thai. If yes why don't you get a multiple entry non-o visa,

We're not married, prefer to stay on a lease , however that's the option to consider if they make it even more trouble than already now, or even better just move on.

25 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

English subtitles. But when taking mine this year most of the Thais were ion their phones, 2 were asleep and yet all passed.

Well, same like school then. Never touch a running system!!! OK, that was ironic, b4 some one asks.

While still here in Thailand, I slowly start preparing for my 2.nd METV.

The embassy/consulate website states as follows.

1 copy of a confirmed hotel reservation OR an

invitation letter/mail from a person in Thailand with a

full address and 1 copy of this person’s identity card + proof

that this person lives in Thailand

(confirmation for at least half of your stay!)

Last year I didn't check in advance, and the misses cancelled the trip last minute because death in the family, I didn’t travel with my computer so I had no copy of her Tambien baan either. So I choose the first option and booked like a dozen hotels for 2 weeks over Agoda, which I later cancelled w/o costs. That worked fine, but no one except bureaucrats really believe that you book 6 months of hotels in advance??

So I wonder about that invitation letter, should that be in English or Thai? If in English I would bet 80% of the Landlords cannot produce one, so I wonder if there are some pre-print forms available (best dual language) or if a rental contract would do as well? (Those forms you get in the book stores). Honestly, I’m on my second rental here in 4 years, and neither I nor my Landlords did need a rental contract. So, if I go that way, I might just use the misses Tambien Ban, and whatever more is needed.  

Would like to hear your ideas about this.

Just wonder, was the wife now cheating or not, or maybe a little ???

6 minutes ago, Essecola said:

Surprising that Vientiane consulate didn't put the warning stamp after the third SETV. Getting tourist visas is getting hectic now.

Yep, I got already one on my second SETV last year.

29 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

One should be OK - but be aware, they gave me the "travels here frequently" stamp on my 2nd one from them (both through Lucky Moto) - which means I could not get a TR visa in Vientiane, either (I tried - proof of money, foreign income-source, residence, etc made no difference).  I did manage to get one in Savanahket with their list of needed-items to spite PP's warning-stamp.

Were that 2 TR in a row? In my case, I would first get a METV before going to Phnom Penh again, otherwise I choose Vientiane. Then I can trow the ticket away as I do this trip always with the bike.

I did mine recentely, paid 52$ in Indochine2 Hotel, I guess you could get it a bit cheaper, but is it worth to run around the whole afternoon just to save maybe 3$. The actual cost is 40$, I had the visa form filled out already on my computer, I had also flight tickets and bank statements, so probably I could have gone myself.

However, another question. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere on Thaivisa in the past that there might be problems if you have "too much history" in your passport. That's also why I avoided Phnom Penh the last 3 years, although I had only one SETV issued from them. Got a new passport now, and so far only a METV, and a SETV from PNH inside. I'm starting already to consider locations for next years SETV, as I need to book a ticket anyway out of Thailand for my METV. Is Phnom Penh a option, or could they make trouble?

On 22/05/2017 at 3:29 PM, JackThompson said:

The best you can do is:

1. Have 20K Baht worth of Cash or Travelers Checks and show them helpfully at the outset of questioning.

2. Have a document showing the precise address where you will be staying while here (at least for the first part of your stay).
3. Be able to explain the following questions:
 - Where you income originates / why you don't need to work At ALL while in Thailand,
 - What you intend to do here / why you are here again,
 - When you plan to leave.

 

So far, the only "rejected at immigration with METV" stories we have are from people who did NOT have the 20K Baht.  That makes it easy for them to refuse entry.  Remember, they will NOT let you go to an ATM and fetch the money - nor will they accept a bank-statement / atm-slip, etc.  If you don't have that cash, they can check off the box on their form which says "Foreigner didn't have money," and reject you.  This is their goal, if you are being questioned.

My guess is if they got a shitty day, they'll accept Thai bath only. Is there any ATM in the airport (Swampy) b4 passing immigration ??

If rejected, what's the next step. I guess many would have a return ticket to their home country, many others not.

In my case I wouldn't, since in the past it was easier just buying one out of Bangkok when another job came up. I still fly this way round, also easier to coordinate tickets with your partner when travelling abroad. However I would have an ticket out of Thailand somewhere nearby, as the consulate needs to see one ticket out of Thailand anyway b4 issuing an METV.

Wouldn't be logical to expect the foreigner to buy a plane ticket back to his home country, when they just stated the "Foreigner did not have money" minutes b4. But then again, Logic and Thailand does not fit well together.

Will you become the responsibility of the airline who brought you in?

On Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 8:34 AM, freebyrd said:

 

I guess some are quicker than others. I had SIDITIO - seen it, done it and ticked it off by age 35.

Didn't tick it off b4 I had 'm all but the mamasan ?

14 hours ago, mike324 said:

 

I'm amazed nobody came to check up on the motorcycle that fell.

That was my thought when I saw it first on FB, I guess people were just to afraid to get an eletric shock. Nothing uncommen here.

On 08/05/2017 at 5:53 PM, natway09 said:

I went to a massage place the other week & the couple next door shared our aircon. Same set up

Hey it worked, although they were a bit noisy

Edit: Upps, that comment was already there...

Found just a gov site from the state of Missouri, but of course, they do nothing for free. I guess if you got a matching state, name/first name/middle name, and birth date, you could be pretty sure to have found the right guy. However, still try to dig a bit, makes fun now.

If I really found the right one he was a SSGT US AIR FORCE with Korea and Vietnam behind him.

Thank you guys, I just found it, he passed away just a couple of months ago.

Thanks for your help guys, had a second glance through the paperwork, to see if I could find a social security number (how many digits ?, I have no clue, not from US), however I found a certified copy of a birth certificate, which I did oversee the other day. I'm pretty sure that will bring me much further in my investigations.