sezzo

A norwegian friend of mine from our area has some norwegian friends up that way. I know he goes up there all the time to visit and party on with them.

I also have stayed there a few weeks ago when I was down in Surin for the Farang Connection party. Very impressed by the hotel and the price was excellant value for money.

Will definately be staying there again next time in Surin.

It would be nice if they had a restaurant but when I stayed there it was only opened a few days.

ABC Asia Pacific are broadcasting it to Thailand.

6:30am - 9am and  10:30 - 13:30

Mt Panorama is a great circuit.

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Spewing. Still cant find a place around here that has ABC asia pacific. Missed both grand finals because of that.

Shall be monitoring this subject when back in Aus. When we come back in Jan we will move into our new home without phone line. If cheap enough will go with this option.

Fingers crossed

ive got a few rai of rubber in udon area and was just wondering if theres anybody out there who as any land that they also grow rubber on/ would you say 50 rai could keep you in thailand at present rates per kilo

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We also have about 70 rai under rubber but only one year old so we have a few years to go to earn some baht but a few weeks ago we visited a working rubber farm about 20 ks from ours. This place had 11 rai of 15 year old rubber trees so it had been producing for 8 years. These guys are living quite well on there income from the rubber. When we visited them they were receiving 55 baht per kilo for C grade rubber. The rainy season was the reason for the C grade.

I didnt get specifics of their monthly income from there 11 rai but they seemed to be happy with their lot.

I have just had an operation to re-attach the retina in my right eye at Bumrangrad Hospital and cannot speak highly enough of the surgeon, staff and facilities there.

The price was high but for the type of operation it was and the treatment I received afterwards I was happy to pay that much. The service by all the nursing staff was excellant. Much better than I would have received in any hospital in Australia.

Prior to the operation I had it priced in Australia at two hospitals and here in Bangkok it was about half that I would have paid there.

One satisfied customer.

I opened a passbook account with access to a debit card with Bangkok Bank about 12 months ago while only on a tourist visa. There seemed to be no problems there at all.

Earlier this year when I had upgraded to a Non Imm O visa I requested internet banking through the bank and was told there was no problems getting it and duly waited for the username and PIN to come through the mail. After 4 months I went and asked the bank where the internet banking details were. I was told that I need a work permit to get internet banking and a credit card.

Maybe they have changed their requirements for opening banking accounts and facilities.

I would check up on the various banks websites and see what their requirements are and if it seems that you meet these requirements sign up with that particular bank.

Its definately 400k in the thai bank account or 40k deposited in a thai bank account each month or a combination of both. The statement quoted in the post above must be a couple of years old as those are the old amounts required and have been upgraded since.

Each immigration from what I have seen so far have their own interpretation of the rules as such. From my experience the more you have in your bank account will help you even if you can show the 40k deposit per month.

When you get your letter or stat dec from your embassy verifying your monthly income a good idea is to get that translated into Thai as I had considerable trouble getting the Phi Bun Mangsahan immigration people to understand mine. Just a tip to save you some hassle.

thanks for the link, Totster.  i appreciate the help. 

unfortunately it didn't answer many of my questions as no one has yet to report actually getting a Non O (based on marriage to a Thai) in Savanaket.

anyone have a success story to share?

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I have done that trip but it was a few years back.

I got a Non Imm based on marraige but only one entry.

The consulate staff were very helpful.

SavanaKhet is a nice town

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Great news! Cheers, Thetyim!

Where did you get the Laos visa? What was the cost?

What was the cost of the Non O? How many days to process?

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You can get the lao visa in the ferry terminal at Savannakhet. Just buy the ferry ticket in Mukdahan, go across and when you go thru the ferry terminal you will see the signs for the visa.

Very easily done.

Please post the actual time from lodging the application to receiving your visa, as that is really the true measure of their service.

I have a visa pending for my Thai, also 3rd visit, but we did it by courier from Chiang Mai.  Courier agent said it would be ten days.  Said the courier did the run overnight.

We are expecting a call anyday from the courier service, as it has been 9 days, although with aweekends involved, I expect to wait until the 14th  elpased day before I call to see about it.

We have requested a multi-entry visa, fingers crossed.

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6 working days for a single entry lodged in Bangkok.

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Same here. 6 working days from lodgement to pickup of passport. We arrived at 8.30 am with everything ready for lodgement and were out of the office before 9.00 am. Upon picking up of passport and visa we would have been in the office no longer than 20 mins before we walked out with a smile on our faces.

Maybe the bugs have been ironed out of the process and everything seems to be working smoothly now. I hope this continues in the future.

What accent? Aussies dont have accents

Well at least not that I have heard

biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

I was there last month in Brisabane, and in the bookies or tab as they call it, there were two country guys who I honestly hadn't a clue what they were on about. They probably couldn't understand a word of what I said either.

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Well Brisband/queensland is a different kettle of fish.

They are a bit slow up there

Happens all the time on US TV when an English speaker has a strong regional accent.

What accent? Aussies dont have accents

Well at least not that I have heard

have one friend from Tasmania, another from Australia - Tasmania is part of Australia but it fully understandable that you have difficulty understanding the one from Tasmania especially over the phone, Tasmanians have two heads eat mutton birds and are all part of the same family.

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######,

You beat me to it!!

whichever way it goes no victorian teams are in the big one again

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Yes it is good to see the latest tradition of the AFL premiership going outside Victoria will be continued. Nothing really p***es off the victorians more than a non victorian team winning the grand final.

Personally the only problem with that is that my poor old cats are still without a premiership since '63.

Next year maybe. (Been saying that for a few years now)

Fingers crossed I hope to be able to watch the game somewhere next week.

Go Sydney

I know that I am probably clutching at straws here but does anybody who lives in Ubon city itself know of a place, bar or hotel that would be televising the AFL aussie rules grand final next saturday 24th Sept.

A few aussies from around our area are very keen to watch this game. I am guessing that it would be on ABC Asiapacific satellite channel but dont know of any such place that has it.

If anybody does know of a place in Ubon to watch it, it might be a good excuse for a few beers and a few farangs to get together and watch bit of sport.

Congratulations mate

Hope everything goes well with your bride back in Aus.

Good luck to you both

We went into the Visa Application Centre about 4 weeks ago to apply for a visa for my wife. Beforehand I had read the VAC's website and duly went to the bank to get a bank draft for the 2150 baht fee. On applying for the visa we found out that the fee was now 2300 baht.

Started to panic about this but the young lady just said go to the counter and pay by cash. This was also the case for the service fee. With the bank draft it was just a case of going back to the issuing bank and getting a refund.

So as far as I can remember there should be no problem paying by cash.

Sezzo

Thanks a lot. So the Thai consulate in Savannakhet is customer friendly.

Before I did a visa run over there last year I read up on this forum about the consulate staff there and saw some horror stories about an employee there. Thankfully she has been replaced by some younger guys there. They were very helpful and I had no probs getting the tourist visa.

Like I said before I was advised there by another more senior guy there to apply for a Non Imm visa next time.

I was advised by another Australian " you can not obtain a visa for entering Laos at Mukdahan, you must obtain one at the Lao consulate in Khon Kaen prior to making the trip.

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Lao visa can be obtained at the ferry terminal at Savannakhet prior to going through the Lao immigration point for 1500 baht for a 15 day visa. The visa window is about 5 metres from the immigration windows.

At Mukdahan you simply buy the ferry ticket and board the ferry. Once you get across the river you go into the ferry terminal and pay for the visa.

A couple of my aussie mates who are on Non Imm B visaa have been using Mukdahan/Savannakhet as their visa runs for the past couple of years.

I dont know about a Non Imm O but last year I got a new tourist visa there. When they gave it to me I was told to apply for a Non Imm next time I come. Since then I have been back to Aus and got a Non Imm there.

I will need a new visa in Mar of next year so will try Savannakhet for that.

If you decide to go to Savannakhet, I would be interested in seeing how you go.

The actual consulate is only about 5 mins walk from the ferry terminal. Not sure what the opening hours are but last time we got there about 9.30 am and put in the application for tourist visa. We were told to come back at 2.30 and it would be issue. Right on 2.30 they came out with the passports for all that were waiting. Back across the river into Mukdahan by 4pm and home by 5pm.

Looking forward to hearing your results for the visa run.

I just transferred some money using ANZ online banking. I think there was a fee that was about $15. The exchange rate used was about 27B to AUD$1, so this would probably be costly if done on a regular basis.

Bankei

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I have a regular monthly transfer from my Commonwealth bank account to my thai bank account. The first time I transferred the bank teller suggested that I should change it into thai baht first then transfer as they said its a better exchange rate. WRONG The exchange rate they gave me in aust was about 3 baht less than in Thailand.

My advice to anybody who is transferring money using the aust banks is to transfer it in Australian dollar. When it arrives in thailand the thai bank will give you a much better exchange rate. I have done this now for the past 12 months and always get the same exchange rate as quoted in the media etc.

Also my bank charges me $28 for each transfer so its better to make the transfer a sizeable one so as to justify the transfer fee. ie. not worth it for a couple of hundred dollars every time.

I find if it for only small amounts (5000 baht a couple of times per month) then the $5 non-bank atm fee is better than the overseas transfer fee.

I have just got a tourist visa for my wife in the past 3 weeks. They issued it on 8 Aug and is to be used before the 8th of Nov. So apply for it less than 3 months before you plan to travel.

A mate of mine has just got their 3rd tourist visa for his gf and same story. Has to be used within 3 months of issue.

Hope this has been a bit of help.

Good luck

I am on my first extension for my Non Imm O visa and have just started doing the 90 day reporting process. My first reporting is to occur in mid Oct. Towards the end of oct I am off to Australia with the wife for 3 months.

My questions are:

1. Do I inform the immigration who I got the extension through to tell them that I will be overseas and using a re-entry permit and therfore wont be able to make the next reporting date.

2. What is the procedure when I arrive back in Thailand and wish to use the rest of my extension.

Thanks in advance

One big question, how are the police with the farang driving.  It seems that there are a lot of the police shacks around since it is close to Laos.  Is that just my imagination.  Thanks again.

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Having been driving around Ubon and surrounding provinces for the past 12 months on Australian, International Driving Permit and now a thai licence I can tell you that the majority of the time that I have been pulled over that when the police see the farang as the driver they either quickly check my license or passport or wave you through.

Even once when I was pulled over by the highway police for an obvious speeding infringement, once they saw the farang head sticking out of the window they just waved me on.

During Songkran when every village has a police checkpoint I was quickly waved through. Sometimes the police used the opportunity to use their limited english skills.

Just be friendly, smile and everything is fine.

As you walk out of the Aust embassy turn right and within 20 or 30 metres there is a restaurant with a driveway next to it. Go down this driveway (its actually the driveway to a hotel) and on the right hand side is a translation service. I used this one and everything was done in less than an hour.

From there we took the taxi accross to the Dept of Immigration and that process took about 3 or 4 hours.

We live in a small town and our amphur did not require any witnesses but Im sure every one has their own rules to go by. Once in the amphur it was all over in about 15 mins. The wife had to get a new ID card in her new name, which took about 10 mins.

While at the embassy you might like to fill out a stat dec stating where your residential address in Thailand. This is handy for when you go for your thai driving licence as well as was useful for applying for the extension to the Non Imm O visa.

Good luck