mrjohn

Consider spending the night at Club Andaman, the casino hotel just inside Burma on a small island opposite Ranong. You don't need a visa to go there. You are stamped out of Thailand at the immigration office at the pier ,and taking the boat back to Ranong the next morning you get your Thai entry stamp at the same office. Club Andaman has its own pier, and at the hotel you simply pay with Thai currency.

It costs roughly 2000-2500 baht to spend the night there (!5 star facilities, breakfast included), their number is 077830461, or for reservations 0818942583. They have a great swimming pool, a nice restaurant which isn't too expensive, you can buy taxfree booze and maybe you'll strike it rich at the slot machines.

Club Andaman is owned by the Burmese Govt.

If you want to make a contribution to the coffers of one of the worlds most evil and abhorrent regimes then go ahead. That same Govt. oppresses it's own people so much that they risk their lives to flee the country and work for less than 100Bht a day in Phuket's insane construction industry. If you can justify paying 2500 Bht to for a room in such a place then do so.

After all it's only your conscience at stake.

Snake

A snake came to my water-trough

On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,

To drink there.

In the deep, strange-scented shade of the great dark carob tree

I came down the steps with my pitcher

And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before me.

He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom

And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the

edge of the stone trough

And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,

And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,

He sipped with his straight mouth,

Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,

Silently.

Someone was before me at my water-trough,

And I, like a second-comer, waiting.

He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do,

And looked at me vaguely, as drinking cattle do,

And flickered his two-forked tongue from his lips, and mused a moment,

And stooped and drank a little more,

Being earth-brown, earth-golden from the burning bowels of the earth

On the day of Sicilian July, with Etna smoking.

The voice of my education said to me

He must be killed,

For in Sicily the black, black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous.

And voices in me said, If you were a man

You would take a stick and break him now, and finish him off.

But must I confess how I liked him,

How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough

And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,

Into the burning bowels of this earth?

Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?

Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?

Was it humility, to feel so honoured?

I felt so honoured.

And yet those voices:

If you were not afraid, you would kill him!

And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid,

But even so, honoured still more

That he should seek my hospitality

From out the dark door of the secret earth.

He drank enough

And lifted his head, dreamily, as one who has drunken,

And flickered his tongue like a forked night on the air, so black,

Seeming to lick his lips,

And looked around like a god, unseeing, into the air,

And slowly turned his head,

And slowly, very slowly, as if thrice adream,

Proceeded to draw his slow length curving round

And climb again the broken bank of my wall-face.

And as he put his head into that dreadful hole,

And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered farther,

A sort of horror, a sort of protest against his withdrawing into

that horrid black hole,

Deliberately going into the blackness, and slowly drawing himself after,

Overcame me now his back was turned.

I looked round, I put down my pitcher,

I picked up a clumsy log

And threw it at the water-trough with a clatter.

I think it did not hit him,

But suddenly that part of him that was left behind convulsed in

undignified haste,

Writhed like lightning, and was gone

Into the black hole, the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,

At which, in the intense still noon, I stared with fascination.

And immediately I regretted it.

I thought how paltry, how vulgar, what a mean act!

I despised myself and the voices of my accursed human education.

And I thought of the albatross,

And I wished he would come back, my snake.

For he seemed to me again like a king,

Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,

Now due to be crowned again.

And so, I missed my chance with one of the lords

Of life.

And I have something to expiate:

A pettiness.

DH Lawrence

I was watching Thai TV late last night and the live scenes on the streets in Bangkok were very ugly indeed. At least three channels gave it blanket coverage. Opponents of the PAD roamed the streets armed with pool cues and baseball bats and a number of people were brutally beaten in full view of TV cameras.

The thugs,many of whom appeared to be drunk, marched on unhindered by the police who seemed unwilling to intervene.

One report on BBC suggested that the mob broke through police lines which is not how it looked to me. Rather the police allowed them through.

Much more to this than meets the eye

Yes The 14000 GBP is more than enough to meet the requirements.

And to be fair, although Phuket Imm are usually less than helpful this was the first time they (or at least one of them has been rude)

Never mind its all sorted for another year. Let's hope the new govt don't see fit to shift the goalposts too much!!

I went for my new retirement visa on Tuesday and, as requested here is a short description of what happened.

I was applying for the visa under the 65,000 a month system for the first time. My old visa was due to expire on the 23rd and the Embassy authorisation letter had only arrived on the afternoon of the 21st so I tried to make certain I had everything in place.

I went into Phuket Immigration at about 9 am on the 22nd well prepared with all the copies needed of my passport etc neatly arranged in a folder.

I sat down in front of the official with a sign saying “Retirement Visa” above him. He was stamping pile of papers. Without looking up he said, “Have bank book? Copy?”

“Yes,” I said, “I have a bank book but I also have a letter from my embassy.” the official repeated, “Have bankbook? Copy?” So I showed him a bankbook and he said, “No have big money! Cannot!” And waved me away with a dismissive gesture. I said. “I know here is the letter for my Embassy.” “What this?” I pointed to the £14,000 income per annum. “This one-month?” “No, this one year.” How much this?” I said, about 75, 000 baht per month.”

He looked through my passport and without looking at the copies I had already done made me get three more. I suspect that no matter how many copies of various documents you turn up with they will always ask for more.

He grudgingly gave me the form to apply for the visa which I filled in.

After everything was checked and signed I was sent over to the top man who also looked through and signed it all, having first checked the day’s exchange rate online! Beware of this the Thai baht is quite strong at the moment.

He then filled in a date for me to report back in 90 days.

I did not look at this closely until I got back home. I was a bit confused as to why I had to go back on the 8th march. After some time it dawned on me that this was 90 days from the last time I had entered the country. Presumably, if I had entered the country 88 days before I would have had to report back two days after the new visa had been issued!

The first official was astonishingly rude throughout, but then, that’s Phuket for you! Let’s hope they’ll be in a better frame of mind when their new swanky office is completed.

I agree with you Onnutrd... I have been in Thailand long enough to know that losing you temper, raisng your voice gets you nowhere.

But if your case has been mishandled whom do you turn to?

A short tale about complaining:

Last year I shipped over my last few possessions from the UK

When it arrived in Bangkok TNT, the shippers, called to ask me to come and pick it up.

There would be a customs charge of 6000Bht.

I complained; for one thing I had paid for it to be delivered to Phuket and I certainly had no intention of paying any extra charges without seeing the bills from customs etc.

After a number of calls and emails the customs and airport handling bills were sent to me with a hastily revised total to pay of 3000Bht!

Again I complained, informing them that according to the Thai customs website, a holder of a retirement visa could import their own personal possessions free of duty (remarkably magnanimous of HM Customs I think all will agree)

More emails and calls ensued; the whole process took over three weeks and I made it absolutely clear I had no intention of paying a single satang for second hand items of no value. The price went down to 1500 but I still refused and two days later after a short detour via Nakhon Si Thamarrat the crate finally arrived and no fee was asked for. I have veard nothing since

And that is why complaining is useful.

Complaining changes things. Complaining exposes corruption, rights wrongs and stops injustice.

Now all I was trying to ascertain was does any sort of complaints procedure exist if you feel your visa application has been unfairly handled??

"I honestly think you should put it in the "too hard basket" ... and leave it there.

No good will come to you from making a fuss, I fear."

Thank You Naka,

I have gained a great deal of invaluable information here over the last few years. But your pointless and nonsensical response is typical of the sort of rubbish that can often make this forum so frustrating

It does indeed sound like a communication problem and not vindictive.

Naka.

I was'nt suggesting any vindictiveness just an unwillingness to help. Once again my point was where to go when confronted by a problem, unhelpful staff or widely differing interpretations of the rules?

This forum's very existence is itself testimony to the fact that despite having everything in place, time and time again people come up against corrupt, ill informed and poorly trained officials.

Thanks again Lopburi

I really can't remember, I just gave it as an example but that may well be the reason for their refusal. Such a pity they could not explain that to me themselves.

My real point any way was about trying to get a proper explanation when you are actually in the Immigration office.

New development.

I have already received a copy of the Embassy letter by e-mail. They assured me that they would post it to me by EMS on Friday. The postman has just been at about 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon and no letter from my Embassy.

It had been my intention to go into the office first thing on Monday morning. Are they likely to issue me with the visa on the strength of the printed the e-mail? Will they insist on the original Hard Copy? Can I get them to phone Embassy for confirmation?

I live about 15 kilometres from the immigration office. The letter will probably arrive on Monday in the early afternoon so it will be cutting it a bit fine to get into the office before they close. Just in case it didn't mention it before my current visa expires on 23rd!

What would you do?

Any tips here will be truly and very gratefully received

I was just wondering who you can complain to if confronted by an immigration official who has his own bizarre interpretation of the rules.

For example, last year I was caught out by the new three-month rule about the 800,000 Bht in the bank.

The advice I was given on this forum was to re-enter on the 30 day exemption and then apply for a three-month O visa on the basis that I had sufficient funds in the bank. After the three-month period I would then be able to change it to a one-year visa. The immigration officials in Phuket steadfastly refused to do this but quietly told me that if I did two visa runs rather than three they would then give me the visa. Needless to say when I went back two months later having completed two visa runs they denied all knowledge of our previous conversation.

It was 4.30 on a Friday afternoon so I politely insisted and in the end, just to get rid of me, they gave me a one-year retirement visa.

But my question is this: There you are in the immigration office confronted by a complete a×××hole or even a corrupt one who do you turn to?

You can't really say “but a well-informed chap on Thai visa.com told me...”

Is there are complaints procedure?

Well there I was perfectly happy with Lopburi’s reply and suddenly someone sows seeds of doubt and this thread seems to go off on a slightly different track.

Getting back to my situation I have a letter from my embassy (presumably the letter which they write all the time) stating that I have more than sufficient funds from my pension.

I shall also be taking my bank book (which is up to date) and shows that I have drawn out money for living expenses over the year from the 800,000 baht that I moved here last time. I asked in the bank for a letter to verify the bankbook. The official refused, saying that they only do that when you've got 800,000 in the bank. I am currently quite ill with a shingles, a condition which I don't recommend to anyone, so I could not be bothered to argue.

I just want to make sure I have all the documents in place as per Lopburi’s original reply! I am not well enough to cope with any unnecessary hassle from some power crazed jobsworth in immigration.

One further question:

There are two immigration offices here, one in the City and one in Patong. I have always used the City branch where they often seem to bend over backwards to find a reason not to issue a visa.

Has anybody any real experience of the two? Which one is better?

Any recommendations on this one please???

You should really do three or four week before expiration but definitely before it expires. You should have passport/copies, arrival card/copy, and Embassy letter. They may like a bank letter of account balance and passbook/copies for there file (but may not be required). You will need a new 4x6cm photo for the application.

Thanks for that, but my pension only matured about six weeks ago so what with xmas etc it has taken this long to get the embassy letter. So I know I am cutting it a bit fine but will it really be a problem if I have all the documentation in place?

I am going to renew my retirement visa in Phuket next week.

Last year I used the 800,000 in the bank method but this year I have a pension income. I have just received the letter of confirmation of that income from my embassy by e-mail and hopefully a hard copy will arrive tomorrow.

Just want to make absolutely certain I have all the forms and papers in place when I go in on Monday. As far as I can see, all I really need is my passport and copy thereof and the letter from the embassy.

Is there anything else I should take with me?

Also my visa expires on the 23rd January so I will be going for the renewal the day before which is why I want to make sure I have all the necessary documentation in place.

Thanks for any advice.

I am going for my second year of retirement visa. Last year I used the 800k in bank method.

My savings are now in an investment bond so in fact I can nominate my own income, for example, just over the 65,000 BHT requirement.

As I understand it the embassy ( in my case the British one) merely has to verify the income is genuine and from a legitimate source. Is it really that simple? Or has anyone had any problems with this?

Sorry if this is covered, I have done a search but can find nothing.

I am driving up from Phuket I am assuming there are plenty of car parks at the airport but does anyone know how much it costs??

My retirement visa expires in four months time so I already have to start planning for the new one. Whenever the 65,000 Bht monthly income is mentioned it is usually called a "pension". I have a pension but it is very small. The rest of my income will come from a UK investment company which, although it provides a regular income is not, strictly speaking, a pension.

Has anybody any experience of this?

Thanks. Is the photo all that I need. Presumably the reentry permit runs until the expiration of the visa...right?

Looks like I may have to fly back to the Uk soon due to parent's illness. Have only just got retirement visa what is the best way to get the reentry permit. I've heard they are available at the airport but takes time.

Anybody know how I can get a radio commentary on the internet? The BBC is blocked since they do not have the rights outside the UK. I am even prepared to pay for it!!

Before the "O" visa expires. Cross the border and get a 30 day tourist visa exemption stamp. Then change this 30 day stamp into a 90 day 'O" visa inside Thailand. Before the 90 day visa expires, you then do the extension of stay with the money being in the bank for 90 days.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Sorry can't quite follow this. How do I change the 30 day stamp into a 90 day O ??

I should add that my original visa "expired" on 4 Oct so I am now on the last three month period having reentered Thailand on 3rd Oct

There I was all ready to extend my Non Imm O visa as per the info recieved on this board and advice previously given by police in Songkhla. I have recently moved to Phuket and made the mistake of not keeping up with the shifting of the goalposts. Yesterday I was told by Phuket police that I could not extend the visa because I had not had the funds in my account for three months. The same officer told me to transfer the 800000 bht and then leave the country returning on the 30 day entry permit until the money had been in my account for the required period. He informed me that I could then apply for a non imm O here in Phuket which I find hard to believe.

I then went to see a Thai lawyer/visa consultant who suggested that I go to Kuala Lumpur where obtaining the visa was easy. I find this hard to belive as well. I have the money sitting in my UK account but have been screwed by the rule change. Any help please.....my visa expires at the end of Dec.

.. As well as effecting the live here border hoppers these rules drastically effect others too.

On another forum we are discussing who is effected so far its only legit tourists.

Whilst you may not be a "low-life border hopper" I am somewhat concerned that you have apparently managed to gain employment as an English Teacher.

Just an observation!!

Thanks again but what if I left the country during that three months??