mrjohn

Thanks again.

I have a 90 day report due soon so I’ll try and get an answer as to how long the money needs to be in the bank when I go.

One more question, having got the non-O Visa from Savannakhet is that valid for the year? In other words, do I need more to show any further proof of income to my local immigration office.

Thanks for your reply Ubonjoe.

If the worst came to the worst I would only be able to show an income of around 400,000 which would mean having another 400,000 in the bank here.

But let me just get this clear, if I apply for a Visa in Savannakhet I would still need to show them an embassy letter and I would still need the money in the bank.

In that case how long would the money need to be in the bank for?

I have been here for some years on a Non-O visa which I have extended every year for retirement.

I have always just used the embassy letter as proof of income, but it is possible (falling pound and other complications) that I might not manage the full 800,000 this year.

If so, then I  would  have to put some money in the bank as well, which I am assuming would need to be there for 3 months. It is also possible that I will not be able to do this in time.

So my question is, if all else fails, can I get a Non-O visa in Savannakhet?

If the answer is yes, then I assume that since that is a new Visa, when I go to extend it at an immigration office the money will only need to be in the bank were 2 months. Correct?

Incidentally, all the discussion I’ve read on here appears to refer to people applying for visas in Savannakhet by reason of marriage. I am not married but am over 65 so can I still get a Visa?

I would be very grateful for any helpful information.

There was a very detailed description of crossing the border into Laos here:

I have no idea whether the information is still up-to-date, perhaps others could comment.

I do it (withdraw funds over-the-counter, that is) every month and I have done ever since the ATM charge was introduced.

It is not an urban myth. There are no fees charged by the Thai bank and the exchange rate is determined by MasterCard or Visa, i.e. depends on your card. It is an interbank rate, usually the same as the travellers cheques rate shown in the bank.

Whether your home bank charges any fees is another matter but in my experience it will be the same for any foreign withdrawal, either over-the-counter or from an ATM.

It has nothing to do with living in a tourist area as I live in a small town in the North.

If a bank refuses to do it, it’s probably because they can’t be bothered. You don’t have to live here very long to realise that Thais will expend a great deal of effort to avoid doing something they perceive as difficult.

dddave  “10 days from order completion”

Sorry to be pedantic, but does this mean 10 days from the day you actually placed the order or 10 days from the point where they finished making the glasses at the factory?

What I’m trying to determine is, how many days was it from the day you placed the order online to the day the glasses were delivered to your house?

Also, how they were sent i.e., Post Office, DHL, TNT or what?

I ask this because we have to go away for a few days soon and I want to be sure I am here when the glasses are delivered.

Thanks.

Update and more questions…….

Yesterday I went to the opticians I had originally visited to verify the prescription on May 2^nd which was lacking the NV Addition figure needed for progressive lenses.

They determined the NV Addition figure by holding my existing lenses (which are 10 years old) up to the light and gave me the figure of 2.50

The other opticians had given me an NV Addition figure of 1.75

So my questions are:

Can they really tell which lenses are needed by simply holding your glasses up to the light?

Why are the NV figures on two prescriptions so different and does it actually matter?

I got them to write down the figures on a prescription form I had downloaded and I noticed that they had written 90° axis for both eyes whereas the original prescription says 85° and 84°. Again, does this matter?

Once again, very grateful for any advice anybody can give.

The original prescription and the downloaded form which they filled in for me are pictured below.

Update and more questions…….

Yesterday I went to the opticians I had originally visited to verify the prescription on May 2^nd which was lacking the NV Addition figure needed for progressive lenses.

They determined the NV Addition figure by holding my existing lenses (which are 10 years old) up to the light and gave me the figure of 2.50

The other opticians had given me an NV Addition figure of 1.75

So my questions are:

Can they really tell which lenses are needed by simply holding your glasses up to the light?

Why are the NV figures on two prescriptions so different and does it actually matter?

I got them to write down the figures on a prescription form I had downloaded and I noticed that they had written 90° axis for both eyes whereas the original prescription says 85° and 84°. Again, does this matter?

Once again, very grateful for any advice anybody can give.

The original prescription and the downloaded form which they filled in for me are pictured below.

Many thanks for all the replies. Very much appreciated.

Especially Partington for such a detailed response.

I’m still trying to get a reliable prescription.

I tried the dreaded Top Charoen yesterday and was told that it was company policy not to give customers the details of their eye tests. This is in contrast to the UK and the US where they are legally obliged to do so.

Incidentally, one of the prescriptions I posted previously was from a fairly old-fashioned (even ancient) opticians whose prices were considerably lower, than Top Charoen (for both frames and lenses) even after Top Charoen’s so-called “discounts.”

My wife has been moaning about needing new glasses for some time and I have been trying to point her in the direction of buying online. But, despite the fact that she’s quite pushy for a Thai woman, she would not go into an opticians and demand a prescription.

So she bought a new pair from one of the older (family run) shops in town for 3,100 baht.

The same pair of glasses would have cost 1,100 online.

So I shall be going back to the same place where she bought hers to try and get a takeaway prescription from them tomorrow.

If all else fails, I shall follow the advice on here and order a pair of single vision, cheap as possible glasses and see how they go.

BBC Test match special cricket commentary (currently England versus Ireland one-day series) is being streamed on YouTube.

I am assuming that this is the same setup as last year, whereby all the England matches were available for listeners in Thailand.

Search for “BBC sport YouTube.”

Unfortunately, I am reliably informed that my local hospital doesn't do eye tests, otherwise that is where I would go.

I should add that the 1.75 hand written on the back of one of the prescriptions is what I believe to be the near vision addition.

I am trying to order glasses with progressive lenses from Zenni optical, for obvious reasons.

I live in a fairly small town so there aren’t too many opticians available. They only want to sell glasses (at ridiculous prices) and don’t really want to do eye tests without a sale.

I eventually managed to obtain 2 prescriptions from different opticians but they are not the same.

In fact, to my untutored eye they are not even remotely similar. But then, I don’t know much about eyesight prescriptions.

So, I would welcome some advice from anybody on here as to whether these prescriptions are in any way similar or usable.

Perhaps somebody could inform these Thais who are moaning that we “aliens” have to report to an immigration office every 90 days, whereas they only need to get a passport every 5 years. 

White radish (hua pak gat) is dirt cheap and available just about anywhere and to all intents and purposes is the same thing.
It depends what you want to do with them.

1 hour ago, Thechook said:

They also prove they don't think before they act.  This guy obviously didn't realise that by opening his mouth he has got people rolling on floor laughing and the criticism has increased a hundred fold.

But I suspect that they (and only they) actually think they’re doing a good job.

Since some of the dealers on Lazada undercut local prices by 20%, it makes sense to buy online.

I have bought small, cheap items from Lazada before with no problems but not so sure about a more expensive item like a smart phone.

So, is there anything to watch out for on Lazada?

For example, what is the difference between “local manufacturer warranty” and “warranty by service provider” are they both good?

Incidentally, I was thinking of buying the Huawei P9 lite but the GR 5 2017 is only slightly more expensive with much better specs.

The only negative review I could find of the GR 5 2017 was that the interface and Android OS were out of date but it appears that a free update will be available fairly shortly.

So, any views on these phones will also be very welcome.

The Thai “police” bring shame upon themselves and their country across the world’s media every day.

It’s about the only thing they are good at.

I switched to qBitorrent from utorrent about 2 years ago as well.

I was fed up with the advertising and intrusive nonsense.

qBitorrent is a much better and easier to negotiate interface and absolutely no advertising!

I'm not a tourist. I live here.

But farang face = farang price.

Pattaya is the filthiest place I have ever been. And I mean filthy in every sense of the word.

Many thanks for all the replies to this topic.

In common with many other forum members I do not spend as much time here as I used to, so I apologise for not getting back sooner.

However much advice you get from this forum, if you live out in the sticks (well, nearly) like I do, you have to buy whatever is available locally.
So, first I checked my local shops. There was not much choice, in fact a newly opened shop had only one type.
The young guy in the shop assured me that it was very good. The brand was “Team” and made in Taiwan.
It was marked at 680 bht but I could have it for 650.

Anyway, I was 2 days away from having to take a trip to the big city so I thought I’d leave it until I had a look round there.
I checked out two shops and they had the same brand also at 680 but no discount. They also assured me it was a pretty good pump.

I decided that out of some sort of loyalty to my local shop (and, of course because it was 30 bht cheaper) I would wait until I got back home. Anyway, if it turned out to be a piece of junk I could always easily go back and complain about it.

So, the following morning I go into the local shop and was about to buy the pump for 650 when a woman (who I assume was the boss) appeared and immediately cut the price to 600 bht!

I will never understand Thai business practice, without even asking for it I got an 80 Bht discount.

So far it works fine and I’m very happy with it.

Much of the “wine” in Thailand is adulterated in a manner which would be deemed highly illegal in any normal country. Unfortunately Thailand is in the grip of a highly organised alcohol producing pressure group (or Mafia if you prefer) which controls the market and the government.

This situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

As far as I know all the boxed wine in Thailand is adulterated. The only safe bet for genuine wine is to pay through the nose for something that is definitely bottled abroad.

All you need to know about this disgraceful scam is contained in this article:

http://www.thebigchilli.com/news/fruit-wine-is-it-for-real

Many thanks for your reply Paulsingle.

That sounds like just the sort of thing I’m looking for. And just the right sort of price too.
Do you happen to know the model number?

Since I am nowhere near Phuket my best chance of buying one Is probably Lazada.

Does it look like one of these?