Potter

Why not Phetchabun,unless I missed something.

In my living years there has been gun fights between communist rebels in provinces like Petchaboon, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, and possible some more that I do not remember. Some provinces shown by history, causes more problems than other provinces. Therefore it does make some sense. Also remember, that Phayao used to be a part of Chiang Rai.

I was in thailand for 3 months when this pregnancy issue happened.

Get a DNA test.

Chinese Zodiac Year should work, until they get a read on why we are asking that question.

Just ask to see the ID card, nothing odd with this, and from the beginning she will be less likely to "play games" with you. If she hesitates, it might be for a reason. If you don't like lies etc. then just move on.

Yes, I believe they are checking for your stamp in Laos/Myanmar.

The government goes ahead and charges more for non Thais as a standard at national parks, museums etc. In the north we just show our Thai driving license and get the Thai price. In the south it doesn't matter what papers we show. They don't want to give the Thai price. Which is one of many factors for me to avoid the south. In the north we say, If it becomes crazy like down south, then it is time to leave Thailand. Corruption is less up here.

For a couple of advice. If I order a noodle soup at a shop where nobody knows me. If I order "normal". Then it is about 50-50 whether I pay "special" or "normal". If I ask a question like "think how". Then it is 90%+ chance they will tell me the "normal" price. At the market my wife asks me what shop to buy vegestables and fruits. I reply loud so all people hear. "WE WANT BUY AT HAVE TAG PRICE".

I think Bangkok taxis are great and very good value. I use them a lot if in Bangkok.

In Chiang Mai they don't go by the meter. They have fixed fares. I guess, they should have picked an other name taxi meter. But then somehow, it is same same. If I arrive at the bus station and need to go to town, they are cheaper and safer than a tuk tuk. And even the motorbike taxi wants more money than the air conditioned car (120/150/200 for a couple of kilometers).

In many places in the world, arriving at airports, it is normal you pay an additional price to the normal price. This is because the taxi driver have spend time waiting to pick you up. And those airports where there are no taxis. I guess I don't need to say what I think about those.

If in Chiang Mai. Usually I drive when going back home. I guess if the taxi system was more well developed I would be taking air conditioned by the meter a lot more instead of driving myself. I simply refuse to get ripped off by the tuk tuk.

This is weird. I have the exact opposite experience. If I explain somebody to come to my house in Thai, they can 100% find it. If I explain somebody in English language to where my house is. There is a 50% chance they can find it. Also I have been here long enough, so that if I happen to talk English, it is usually with a strong Thai dialect. One factor to consider, might be the education level in between of the people who are communicating.

Went to do my 90 day report. But I was now allowed to do it. I was told, I had left the country, and they were counting from the day I last arrived Thailand. Just a bit confusing, because I still got my old papers stating a date weeks ago to do my 90 day report. Normal, no need to worry?

Bangkok confirmed it was police order 777 that was currently in use. Just weird they turned my documents down so quick. Weird their document was the same document as what we read under frequently asked questions. Weird that Chiang Mai told me the same as Mae Sai. Any clue if there might have been information written under my passport in their computers, so they look at the same information when I go to an other immigration office?

Good it is all cleared now.

For the short happy message. I got my 1 year visa extension today. I will go in details further down for those interested in what happened. In short it was in the category of miss reading. I am thank full for all the nice advice I have gotten in this thread.

I have phoned bangkok many times. Most of the times, they did not pick up the phone. And when I finally got to speak with somebody, they gave me an other number. They were numbers such as 0214178xx. The last 2 numbers change a lot. I had even googled every telephone number, and had found some other threads on other topics with people having weird problems with the immigration requesting documents.

On number 1111 I was adviced to print the law and bring to the immigration office. I had alrady done this.Then he said, that the immigration might have a reason not to issue my visa. And adviced me to call the head quarter in Bangkok. It seemed like they never picked up the phone. And when I get through, the give me an other number to call. We tried to let my girlfriend call and speak in thai and only ask about what the law was. He read up from some document. It later turned out this is (almost) similar to the one the local immigration had shown me. But at that time, we did not know it. http://immigration.go.th/FAQs/faq01/sv_stay2.5.html It is available only in Thai under frequently asked questions. We later found this document and printed it. It is exactly point number 6 that says it allows me to the visa the way I want to do it. This document might have been updated on December 17. Therefor, the documents that I was shown in Mae sai, the first time, might not have had point number 6 on it. Because last time, my GF said, point number 6 was not on the document.

This morning we went to Mae sai. We had spoken with a local high in society. He had instructed my girlfriend how to speak. And to request a copy of their law, if we were declined the visa. We were declined the visa. I asked for a copy of the law. My GF said she had talked with immigration in Bangkok and they had said yes, and confirmed it was the same law all around Thailand. We were speaking with the local head of immigration. I asked what about point number 6 in her papers. She read point number 6. Immidiately she turned around and told the other person what it said. I was then requested all the documents it says I must provide. I had them all prepared. I got my 1 year visa extension.

I phoned 1178. It is an answering and is referring to other numbers and speaking fast. Not sure which one I should try or try later. On 1111 they picked up the phone quite fast. They checked the law on the internet and said they read the same as me. I told them my story about Mae Sai. They adviced me to contact with the head office in Bangkok, and gave me the number to there, because there might be other reasons to why Mae Sai immigration would not issue my visa on my documents. On number 021417887 they told me to call 021417890. The last number nobody picks up. I found some other posts in here with people having documents, and local immigration still denied renewing their visas. It all makes me feel paranoid and uncomfortable.

So it is about time to renew my investment visa. I have bought some government bonds. But not yet the full 10m. Because when buying government bonds, it is usually allowed to purchase only 1m at a time. Therefor I have a mix between government bonds and money on my bank accounts. When I went to do my last 90 day report, I wanted to make sure I had the right documents for my renewal. They told me I could no longer do a mix between government bonds and money on my bank account. It must be either 10m in the bank or 10m in government bonds. That does not make much sense to me, because usually when the bank of thailand issues government bonds, they allow for a maximum of 1m purchase. They showed me some Thai law from 2553. I showed them my copies of the law. Obviously they trusted their own documents more. I went to Mae Sai immigration office, and also asked in Chiang Mai. Both places sais it must be either 10m in one, and a mix is not allowed. I mean, is this some trick for people not to be able to renew their investment visas?

I have tried to google.

1) Can anobody confirm or deny this new law on the renewal of the investment visa? All places I can find they say a combination is allowed. Fx. here http://www.sunbeltlegaladvisors.com/Thailand-Investment-Visa.php#

2) Does anybody have a link or pdf file for the law of 2553? I am interested in both the english and thai version.

Time is short. My visa expires on monday.

Thanks

Potter

Police Order 2008(1).pdf

I live in Chiang Rai and am currently in Chiang Mai for a couple of days. Please send me a PM of how and where I can check my blood type.

As you are under 50, and you are considering other obtions for countries. If you transfer 10m baht into Thailand, then you can do an investment visa.

That being said, I am in a similar situation as you. To my the big market is a jungle. My bank recommended me to buy some kind of derivate with an insurrance company. Money to be locked for 10 years. 10% interest rate. I ended dividing my money between 2 banks, and invest in 2 similar equities. Government bonds combined with bank bonds. They pay about 2% per year. Investment will run for less than 1 year. Then I will need to look for investments again. 2% per years sounds not like a lot to me. But I am told it is about fair for a safe investment.

I plan in 3 years time to apply for permanent ressidence permit. If and when I get that, I will try to look into Thai stocks. But for now, I dont want to risk the market crashing and not have obtion to do my visa. I also believe there is a lot of good advice for you in this thread.

I transferred 10m baht into Thailand to do my investment visa. I did this in 5 wires over 2-3 weeks. At some point I was requested some documentation, where the money came from, and what was the supose for the money in Thailand. I gave them the answer (in an email), and asked if they could wait with the paperwork untill all the money had arrived. Next time I used my ATM card it was frozen. I went to the bank, and filled in the papers and since then I have had no problems what so ever. The law might say 20k USD, but in actually, it might be 50k USD, and they request the paperwork. And each bank might have their own procedures. I think this, because I had already done the paperwork, when the last wire arrived, and I asked them if they needed any paper work, they said no, because the amount was less than 50k USD.

I have just transferred 10m baht into Thailand to do my investment visa. A friend recommended me to do some paperwork, now that money has arrived. Something called a toto sarm, or I might be able to transfer my money out of Thailand in the future. I am not planning to transfer them out of Thailand, but it is a nice obtion to have. I asked my bank about this, and they seem to know nothing about a so called toto sarm. Does anybody know about this paperwork I need to do?

(Made a small search, but nothing came up)

Thanks

Potter

Years ago when the investment visa got reintroduced, I asked about this at a friendly Thai consulate. They told me to bring a letter from the local immigration office. When I went to the local immigration office they did not know much about this. I told somebody else about the local immigration office not knowing much about my case.

I tried to google "investment visa" rather than investment visa. I had a lot more usefull hits coming up. The best advice I could find is in a post from Lobburi3, where he recommends to talk with the local immigration first. I believe this is the best approach to take.

Tried to search on this topic, but nothing much came up. I am about to apply for a 10m baht investment visa. Plan is to buy thai government bonds. Anybody has done this before? Is it hassle free? Anything I should be aware off?

Thanks Potter :jap:

Been to Rico's once. Had a cheap spaghetti that turned out to have plastic in it. Prefer to pay more for my food and drinks...

The farrang community is near and on the Jed yod road. There are many places up and down. Probably best if you take a walk up at day and night, because it can be a very different place. Then you can pick whatever you like. Also it is very near walking of the night bazar.

Places to stay? Plenty. There are the older 4 star hotels wangcome and wiang inn. How much, is depending on season and your bargain skills. You can probably google it. Also the newer star bright as mentioned earlier is very nice (but no swimming pool). And if I remember correct star bright is both more expensive and (in my opinion) better than the 4 star hotels mentioned.

You can also go 3 star with choices like orchid guest house, diamond hotel and others I can not remember the name for.

I have done this trip quite a few times on motorbike. I have stayed at different cities. Where you want to stay depends on different factors, like your budget, and how many stops you want to make. If you want to make just one stop, then probably nakon sawan is the place to stop.

Nakon sawan is a big city. So sure there are many hotels there. I have never stopped there, so I can not give you advice for this place.

Phitsanoluk got a nice cheap hotel called sri song kwae (pronounced see song kwaa). You turn towards phitsanoluk. Road number 11 I believe it is. Or when the road finished in a T-cross. It is right before the bridge. And now I am sorry, I can not remember whether you need to make a u-turn to get there. It is right next to the big temple there. So if you dont find it, you can just make a couple of u-turns. You can walk and see the temple in the morning before you leave, and in the evening there is the nice night bazar to go out, and a couple of nice places to go out for drink as well.

Then there is uttaradit. The best place to play here is Arlee Mansion. I can not remember the direction, but the locals should know where it is. Uttaradit has a lot less night life than Phitsanoluk. Both arlee mansion and sri song kwae has wireless internet, new air con, quiet and less than 500 baht.

You can also stop in lopburi. You should know there are lots of monkey in this town, and they steal from you quite easy. I dont believe they carry rabbies, but I would not deny it. Around the train station (satanee rotfai) there are lots of cheap places to stay. They are somewhat cheap, so not sure you can get like hot water, but you should be able to get a room with an old air con. There are also some nicer hotels (a couple of streets from the train station), but when I was there, they were full.

Being on the road in Thailand and not finding a place to stay. I would not be too worried. I am been on the road in some weird spots. Dont worry. Every single little amphur has at least a couple of places to stay. I am sure your wife knows enough thai to ask rong raam yuu tee nai kha?

Many forreigners are living in the sinthanee villages. So check them out, except for sinthanee 4 (small townhouses). There is also sinthanee 1 village behind bigc, and sinthanee 5 near the airport, and an other sinthanee village has opened behind the old airport. There are many more obtions. Try to google lanna realty and something like chiang rai house rent. Also try to go out in the farrang are around thanon jetyod, there might be english speaking people people who knows where there is a house for rent.

You do need that trip to Mae sai. The other way to get that certificate with your address is to contact your embassy/consulate. They can issue this as well.

It is always up to the local authorities how they handle the rules. I think in chiang rai province you do need all your paperwork ok before going. Or you will be send back. At mae sai immigration office, they also charge 100 baht for this document. And they do not give you a receive.

I found this site. But I can not seem to get it work proberly.

http://www.themobiletracker.com/english/index.html

I heard of a program that tells where a cell phone is located. I am surprised is such a program exists. Does anybody know more about this? Like where it can be downloaded, price etc?

Thanks

Went to the local Cat telekom office today. They talked about an installation fee of 2140 baht when living more than 1km away from the service. Is this right? Do they have such a fee? And why is there no fee when it is closer than 1km? And if I took a premium package there would not be any fee at all.