mrireland

Hi,

Im staying long term in Chiang Mai and im thinking of renting a bike. Just want something very basic. Ive never really rode a bike before so ill go for a standard scooter type.

Im looking for a shop that

1 - Doesnt look for a huge deposit, hoping for something around 1k deposit and 1 months rent in advance

2 - Doesn't hold my passport and will accept a copy

3 - Is reputable and isnt likely to try and scam me for false damages

Would appreciate any advice on a good place and im currently staying near Thae Pae Gate

Other question is price, i want something basic, so i can expect to pay 2k-2.5k from what ive read on the topic, is this correct for a scooter type basic model?

Lastly i have an Irish drivers license which i didnt bring with me so i guess thats the same as having no license, im on a tourist visa so is it possible for me to apply for a thai bike license? If not will shops still give me a rental bike?

If i get stopped by police without a license what are the consequences, im assuming if i have any damage or crash or the bike is stolen i will then be responsible for the full price of the bike, for the bottom of the range scooter what would that set me back?

Thanks for any help

Well just for anyone else the municipal worked out great, much more quieter in the day from 2-3pm, couple of courts still free when leaving at 3pm and its close by, think it was 55b per hour which is great too. Thanks for all the help

Hey, theres a game on tomorrow at 6pm against Bangkok? Might go along with the gf for the game, do they run a bus from the Red Lion or is it just people offering rides on the back of their bikes? How much is a tuk tuk/taxi out that far and what time should i leave to get their for kick off considering traffic, 20 mins before kick off?

One more thing, i just want to play today so for now until i find something closer i might try the CMX centre or the 700 anniversary stadium again. Giving i dont have my own transport what is a fair rate for a tuk tuk to either of those locations each way? The last time it cost me 150 each way but i have no idea of the price, its a fair distance so that may be a fair price but seems a bit expensive

Thanks for clarifying, i think that answers all my questions, i was probably tipping too much by the sounds of it but as mentioned its really up to the individual but i was looking for more of "whats the standard" and i think everyone answered my questions on that so thanks very much

Oh God, a tipping topic. I'm expecting 5 pages before the weekend is out.

I don't tip for anything, anywhere.

Go.

p.s i rang Imperial Chiang Mai Resort & Sports Club and they said its 400b per hour so i can rule that one out, pity as it was close by. Id pay up to 200b per hour if it was close by

Im sure this has been done to death before but the search feature didnt seem to bring back anything useful. What is the standard tipping rate for eating out, ive generally been giving 10-15% since im planning to stay for a year+ so i'm not being as generous as would be if i was on holidays. Also should you tip tuk tuk drivers, if you dont is it frowned upon or is it basically an unexpected bonus? What about buying drinks in a bar, ill be with my girlfriend so are we expected to tip everytime we get a round or is that standard or not. I often tipped when i was on holidays when we ran up a bill but im not sure if its the same if your just buying 2 drinks for example.

What about things like paying to use a pool, gym, tennis court etc i presume your not expected to tip for those type of things. Coming from a country where tipping is not standard i was hoping someone could fill in the blanks for me. As far as restaurants go i will most likely be frequent the same couple of places so i will be a regular customer, not sure if this affects what i should give or not?

Thanks the Municipal stadium is perfect since its not too far from me but went there around 7pm last night and it was wedged. Is there a certain time of day its usually more quiet?

Also do you book in advance or just show up and wait for a free court and is the office in the same area where the courts are or another area? If anyone knows of any other courts you can hire out that's near thae Pae gate then please let me know, would be nice to have a backup if municipal is crowded again. The one on Tunghotel road would be also a bit far from me so i would prefer something closer.

Cheers for all the help

Hi, i played badminton in the 700th anniversary stadium with the girlfriend today and really enjoyed it. Going to start playing 5-7 days a week however since i'm staying around Thae Pae Gate and i dont have my own transport its too far and a bit too expensive to be getting tuk tuk's in and out, i paid 300 baht for out and back and he waited around which was probably too much but either way i would rather have something close by since im going to be playing it most days of the week.

I dont mind paying a membership if i have to. Id prefer indoor and somewhere with a few courts so im not waiting around for someone else to finish. Anyone got any recommendations? Ill probably play between 2-6pm most days.

Hi,

do you mean that we probably wont be welcome if were just playing for fun and fitness rather than playing serious? If so that's fine and basically what i was asking, i dont want to be holding up someone looking at us saying look at those two twits who cant hit a ball between them. Were not that bad just learning really but I can understand regulars being frustrated having to wait to play when were just having a laugh and basically trying to take up a new sport. So if most of the places are like this I guess tennis isn't for me or is there any place that isn't too busy where we wouldn't be holding serious players up? We actually went down to http://www.chiengmaigymkhana.com/contact-us--location-map.html and it was quite enjoyable, nobody on the 2 courts when we arrived.

One thing was we were charged 300 baht for 1 hour, i'm probably wrong but i thought it was 120 baht per hour plus 40 baht per person for renting the racquets which would 200 baht, i double checked with him and he said 300, didnt want to make a fuss since it was my first time playing there and he seemed a nice enough man, friendly and helpful so if i was done i guess well call it a tip.

So i guess my main question:

Is there any place that isn't too busy where we wouldn't be holding serious players up? The closer to Tha Pae Gate the better but i wouldn't mind travelling a small bit, I was thinking of playing most days of the week and taking lessons too but its a catch 22 if there isnt really any place for beginners to play to learn in the first place.

Ok cool, things looking up so

Do not believe you need to visit immigration at all on a visa entry - they will take care of it on exit from recent reports.

Scratch that - you want to extend stay so use of new passport will be required for that so in your case you will have to have details transferred prior to departure.

Hi, just to update this for anyone in the same boat. I rang the Irish Consulate in Bangkok and they said there is an express passport renewal which takes 2-3 weeks.

So this is my plan, i would greatly appreciate if you can tell me im on track or not.

Get my passport renewed, visit the immigration centre and get my visa details transferred to the new passport. Return a week before my visa expires on the 16th January and extend it for a further month.

Now that passport will be valid for 10 years i can leave the country and apply for a double entry on a border run (on top of my single entry) and ill get another 6 months

Is there any flaws/issues with my plan?

Anyway thanks everyone for the help, this is a great site....

Just looking to play a bit of tennis a few days a week to keep fit, staying near Tha pae Gate. Have a sparring partner but were newbies, not looking for anything mad fancy, something reasonably close by if possible.

Dont want somewhere that your expected to wear tennis gear or is really busy and people will be waiting for us to finish (dont want the embarrassment of them seeing how bad i am) and dont want somewhere hard to find in a tuk tuk as i dont know the area well

Probably a stupid question but do they provide rackets and balls or should i bring my own, if i should bring my own wheres the best place, seen rackets for 1,500 in tesco yesterday, bit expensive IMO but i dont mind paying it if theyre good value just have no idea what they usually cost.

If the place is far out give me a rough price in a tuk tuk

ok so thinking about this i might be able to solve this issue with the answer of 3 questions:

1 - I have a single entry visa right now, can i go tomorrow and extend this and get my extra 30 days to give me 90 days total or do you have to wait until your 60 days run out first?

2 - Once i get my passport renewed and bring it to the immigration office can i leave the country and add a double entry to make it a triple entry all together even though i originally just got a single entry?

3 - If i want to renew my passport can i just get the documents posted and fill them out and return them or do i need to visit Bangkok in person?

So if 1 above works out i will plenty of time to renew my passport and then i can get a new double entry visa added, is this possible?

Thanks Marco,

as you will need to travel to a neighbouring country and they have different rules regarding validity.

Not sure what ed visa and travelling to a neighbouring country come into play or are they 2 separate comments.

Thats great news i can extend it, will give me some time to get the passport back which is a huge huge relief

How long does it usually take to organise an ed visa or could i simply extend my single entry to a triple entry to get more time and get the ed visa later (my girlfriend has triple entry already) now that my passport is valid again?

Both our visa say were admitted until Jan 16th 2012, how soon can i extend my visa for the extra month, the problem is if i send the passport away now and it doesnt get back before 16th January then i have no passport to get it extended with and no way to avoid overstaying. If i could get it extended now and then send the passport for renewal that would be great.

Anyway thanks so much for your help

Hi,

I messed up and didn't realise until the last minute my passport was expiring in just over 6 months, this meant i could only get a single entry tourist visa instead of a triple entry.

I came into the country on 18th November so i presume that the visa ends on 18th January? Normally you can extend for another month but will i be allowed to because from next week on i have less than 6 months on my passport.

I'm going to renew my Irish passport and then apply for a education visa while over here as im interested in learning thai however looking here: http://www.irelandinthailand.com/10yrstdpp.html it says it will take 6-8 weeks.

So what happens if my passport isnt returned before its renewed? Will they even renew it giving my visa runs out in 8 weeks. If it doesn't return before my visa expires then will I be able to still apply for the visa, or will i be refused because i overstayed?

Finally im in Chiang Mai, will i be required to visit Bangkok to do the paperwork or can i get forms here and post to bangkok.

So my main questions are:

1 - Can you extend your single entry if your passport has less than 10 months?

2 - What happens if i apply for it and my passport isnt returned in time and im forced to overstay?

3 - How does the application process work for the education visa, what forms etc do i need and can i apply while my passport is sent for renewal or is a copy of the passport sufficent?

4 - Will i have to go to Bangkok or can i post the information?

5 - Cant i just ship the passport back to Ireland and get the 10 day express done or is that not allowed when im already out of the country?

6 - What happens when i renew it, will my visa just be transferred to the new passport?

Really appreciate any help as time is not on my side. If worst comes to worst and i have to leave, go home renew my passport and return with new visa is there any issues in returning on a 2nd visa so quickly?

Hi,

I want to rent a condo in Chiang Mai but its really important the internet is good, from what i was reading on the forums i got the impression that there was a large excess of apartments and so prices were competitive and id have a lot to choose from, Solid internet, not super fast just solid for Skype and basics is my main concern but my first choices of the Galore, Smiths residence and the Airport Greenery are all booked out for a good while. This leaves me in a situation because i need to find a place quickly and settle down as i cant be travelling around from hotel to hotel and i really want to be in something for tomorrow. Now that my bankers are all booked up i rang Chiang Mai properties to see what they might have. They said that nearly all their condos required 6months + but i dont want to commit to something for 6 months plus without knowing internet is solid so if i want something on a month to month basis they basically have only 1 suitable condo for my price range of 5k-9k.

Now if i choose somewhere for 6 month and it didn't work out then i wouldn't mind losing my 2 months deposit (thats what they asked for the condo, although i thought 1 month was standard) but im not sure if i explain this to the girl now that i have said i can only stay for 1-2 months that she might think im messing her about. Conversation on the phone was difficult enough as it was as she didn't have brilliant english so trying to explain this might be awkward. At the same time if i do commit to 6 months + and have to leave this might alienate me from all the property they rent. So my question is what are my options giving this scenario, what happens if i want to leave before the end of the contract, i presume im expected to pay up the remainder?

Ideally id love to stay for a few days and try it out and then i can make a confident decision but thats not possible with most of these as its only 6 months+

Ok so heres a summary of my problem:

Misread passport and its expiring 6 months after i arrive in Thailand

Me and girlfriend applied for triple entry tourist visa

Leave in 2 weeks and passport office in Ireland wont do emergency passport for me, only will issue passport day before i leave

Nice lady in Thai consulate in Dublin rang me and explained that although my passport is valid for 6 months from the date of entering on the 1st entry it wont be for the other 2 entries and thus they can only issue me a single entry visa. So now i have a single entry and my girlfriend has a triple entry.

My dilemma for being stupid is how do i extend my single entry so we can both stay there for 8 months + considering my visa will have 6 months and 1 week left to expiry from the date i arrive.

My plan would be to apply for a new passport shortly after i arrive in thailand, what im not sure about is what happens to my thai visa, do they just stamp it in the new passport? Also you know the way you can extend single entry for extra 30 days, will i not be able because my passport wont be in date for 6 months, i expect thats the case but just confirming, will i have issues extending it if i get the new passport and they transfer my single entry into the new passport.

If they do transfer my visa is it possible for me to apply for a new double entry with the new passport and if so who do i apply somewhere in thailand or back to Thai embassy in Dublin? Can you just extend a single entry like that or is it possible.

My actual plan going by previous advice i got here was to stay on a triple entry and then apply for a special ed visa before that ran out as i would like to stay more than 9 months anyway plus i want to learn the language and will be doing language course while im out here anyway so it makes sense. Someone mentioned you can apply for the ed visa while on the tourist visa. So would the better option be that both me and my girlfriend both apply for the ed visa before the single entry expires and obviously after i get new passport issued.

Any ideas how it works or what my options are? I realize this was caused by my own stupidity.

It takes time to find an apartment here at the right price, I suggest you take a short term room and hit the streets, the prices you can get by searching ads on notice boards inside buildings are considerably less than the same apartment advertised via an agent online. I have been looking the past two weeks, there are more bargains appearing, some buildings give you quality Wi-Fi at 500 baht a month. I have stayed in Mini Cost Apartments - good Wi-Fi included, and a central location from which to scout out a condo. See - http://www.minicostcm.com/ - they are very popular, so book early, there is also a new place in Soi 3 ? Loy Kroh called "Mums Place" believe it or not, full service new - 6 months old all inclusive for 13,000 to 15,000 a month, good size rooms, new LCD flat screen TV, full size fridge etc - just dandy !

Thanks for the advice

Are you morny from Holdemmanger?

I used AIS USB before I moved into an apartment and it was rock solid for 2 weeks. Its 800 baht [20 euro] for 3 gigs though, so its a very expensive option for downloading files, but for general use its fine.

I got a bit freaked out there for a minute until i seen i signed morny but yeah thats me, thanks that should do me fine for the first few days while im staying in hotels and scouting for an apartment.

I stayed in a great apartment with really good internet for 1 year. It was managed by a Farrang from the US and his Thai wife. It's right off the moat at Chiang Mai gate, near the Saturday night market. It's just 3 minutes from Airport Plaza. Great location.

I only paid 4,000 baht a month! It included internet, cable, nice new fridge, a TV, a bed, closet and hot water. If you want to PM me I can give you their phone number.

Sethee Court

30 Sripingmuang Rd; Soi 3

Changklan Muang Chiang Mai 50100

Ill pm you, thanks appreciate it

Get a D-Link USB dongle and plug it into your laptop with a service that offers 3G. If your not a gambler and dont watch videos, DTAC EDGE is by far good enough.

Thanks for the suggestion, i know here in Ireland the dongles are usually pretty crap, is it the same over there or are they better. I'll be using it 8+ hours a day so although it doesnt need to be super fast if its only usable 5-6 of those 8 hours thats going to be bad so i dont mind paying extra for reliability

Morny

Ok im moving to Chiang Mai in a couple of weeks and so far ive used these 2 websites to narrow down possible apartments:

http://chiangmaiproperties.co.th

http://chiangmai.thaiapartments.net

Now the plan is to visit the ones ive it narrowed down to when i get there as im sure what you see isnt always what you get. Ill probably be staying for about 9 months or longer. Are there any other good websites i missed?

Also i need a good skype connection and also reliable internet connection, i know that might not be 100% possible but i obviously want to go with a company that will be as close to that as possible, from what i read true and bb are the best?

The internet is probably more important than the apartment, i would pay up to 50 euro maybe 60 a month if it meant solid internet but i dont want to pay double either if the difference isnt that much. Its more reliability rather than speed im looking for, i would love if someone had a suggestion for an apartment that had one of the reliable internet companies, im looking for something in the bedsit 150-200 euro range but im willng to go as high as 350 if all the lower priced ones have crap internet. None of the sites advertising mention what type of internet is available.

Also is it just a matter of going into these apartments and ringing up and getting connected or is there a wait time? If so what are my best options in the meantime with some sort of mobile broadband, ideally ill need internet setup immediately.

Finally if youve any tips for when looking to rent apartments, go through agents or not, can you bargain on the price much or is it basically as set, any hidden charges to watch out for, whats electricity typically if im basically living there most days and using air con a lot?

Really appreciate any help

Polite Bump, hopefully someone can shed some light, probably anal questions but im nervous ill put the wrong thing and cause hassle at immigration

Hi, me again. So im applying for my visa and just hoped someone could clarify something as im going in just under a month so i dont want to get something wrong and delay things:

On the visa application what should i put for:

Duration of proposed stay:

I plan to stay for the longest i can on the triple entry visa and then possibly extend it via the education visa but im not sure if ill come home for a month in between so my plans aint set in stone. I dont want to put down too long in case they question how i can support myself and that could open a can of worms, does it really matter what i put, 3-5 months sounds fine to me, if i said 5 month i presume that they dont put the expiry at 5 months.

Proposed Address:

I'll stay in Bangkok overnight and head to chiang mai, i'm going to spend the weekend looking at apartments so i havent a permanent address, should i just book a hotel in bangkok for the 1st night and then use this as the address?

Purpose of stay:

I presume i just put leisure?

Number of entries desired:

3 is the plan, any reason to put anything else

Super stuff, this is a great forum, hours searching the net and i was just bamboozled with all the info, couple of posts here and i know exactly what i need.

One last question, for any of these Visa be it triple entry or ed visa do they look for proof you can sustain yourself during that period, don't have much saving's just a steady monthly income however i cant tell them this because i'm not supposed to be working while in the Kingdom. Do they usually ask for bank statements etc?

Thanks for that info, very helpful. Couple of followup questions:

Whats involved in triple entry?

60 days initially, then i get an extension (is there usually any issues with extension?)

Then i do a border run and use the 2nd entry, if i do a border run can i re-enter the same day?

Repeat for the 3rd visa entry?

Also after the 9 months do i have to leave or are there any other extension options and if i have to leave when is the earliest i can return? Maybe i can do 9months thailand/3 months ireland every year if its possible, i could live with that.

Finally can i do the triple entry initially and then go for the ed visa option after a couple of months before it expires?

Anyway really appreciate the help so far.