CMHomeboy78

So does the Daily Mail................

True enough... but the New York Times has a more educated [and influential] readership worldwide.

I think he means in 'the American speaking world".

The Times (UK) and the Guardian (UK) are high quality papers also.

The NYT might have the circulation and influence in the USA, but let's not get carried away.

The New York Times has a readership and influence that go far beyond "the American speaking world."

" most influential newspaper in English speaking world. "

Really?

Yes really.

Remember Marshall McLuhan's perceptive comment years ago: "You don't read the Sunday NY Times, you enter it like a warm bath."

It's not nonsense.

A discussion about the public behaviour of farangs in Thailand concerns us all. Especially those of us who are settled here with Thai families.

Why? How I behave in public is absolutely NONE of your concern. Get over yourself....

Yes it is our concern.

The public behaviour of some high-profile minorities effects the rest of them.

An example would be the Nigerian scammers and how they have impacted the mainly law-abiding and decent Africans who come here. Who would trust any of them now?

Incidentally, the issue isn't about merely holding hands, which isn't so bad, it's about treating Thai women in a way that is contrary to ways that are accepted in their culture.

There is a Golden Rule for farangs in Thailand... "Let Thais front for you."

Follow this rule as often as you can. It has always worked for me in serious matters like this.

I would have to agree with you on this CMH78, my girlfriend has saved me a lot of grief the last few years. Be it on simple matters like overpricing or double pricing to things like vehicle maintenance repairs. I normally identify the problem, but if I get involved in negotiations then the outcome ends up worse for me.

It is sometimes bloody frustrating have to operate in this fashion but once I learnt it isnt worth the effort or stress to get into a disagreement with some of these less than honorable types.

In relation to the OP, Im not sure if insurance companies here have the replacement vehicle system for while your vehicle is getting repaired. Possibly not as that would go some ways to ensuring you got your car/truck back in a timely fashion.

Gd luck either ways and I hope when you do get your vehicle back it is repaired correctly.

Glad you agree... excuse me for sounding didactic on this point, but it's the fruit of long [and sometimes bitter] experience.

No matter how well you speak Thai, or how street-smart you are, your initial dealings with tradesmen and business people here are best done by Thais who have your financial interests in mind.

If you can establish a good relationship with those who do work for you or provide services, then - obviously - you no longer need go-betweens.

But until then, accept the situation as it is, and follow the Golden Rule.

What, people that use their brain scare you?

The OP is definitely not using his brain for anything useful or important if this is what he spends his time thinking about. I have a great admiration for intellectuals and critical thinkers.

Spending your time thinking about this nonsense is just pathetic.

Whereas posting replies to a topic you consider nonsense is a worthwhile use of your time, I guess?

It's not nonsense.

A discussion about the public behaviour of farangs in Thailand concerns us all. Especially those of us who are settled here with Thai families.

Most of those bashers are just ignorant of the reality. As you say it would be Road Warrior or Mad Max with out them. Also I wonder how many of them are just trying to scam the system. The OP i9s a prime example he spends six months a year here and is illegally driving for three months of them. He has been getting away with it for years and when finally called on it cries foul.

What makes it "illegal"? Is there a law or regulation?

This sounds like the must carry your passport thing. No one has shown a law that I have seen..... I wish I could see a law for both of these situations.

+1

Just another gray area in Thai law... it keeps everybody confused and makes it easier to collect those "special fines."

Great visuals!... and a graphic reminder of what could happen to the city's modern facade in a short time.

What happened to all the farangs - did they leave so soon?

It's all about affection. That's all.

No, it's not all... affection is only half of it.

The other half is respect.

Respect for the girl, and respect for the values she was taught from childhood.

By all accounts this seems to be a raid that failed its objective due to bad intelligence prior to the strike.

No one was found to be illegally employed or on overstay, and all were released within hours.

What could have been a photo-op for police brass, with a lot of pointing and smiling, followed by a group of hapless farangs being frog-marched off to an immigration holding pen, didn't happen.

The confusion and turmoil among young farangs working here under-the-radar must have been considerable. Something like a raid by the Keystone Kops - nobody arrested or seriously injured, but chaos in their wake.

If any harm was done, it was psychological. It wasn't an intelligence failure of the type that led to a drone attack with Hellfire missles on a wedding party... TIT after all.

There are still some smiles left in the land.

Y'all can go back to work now.

Chiang Mai has quite a few good photo finishing shops - Photo Bug comes to mind.

For something out of the ordinary, like canvas, or for top quality prints as well as hi-resolution scans, giclee prints, etc., try:

Pattrara Prepress

242/2 Manee Noparat

Tel. 053 210816

Near Chang Puak Gate.

Good luck.

My wife holds those two citizenship's you mention

When we leave Thailand she uses the same passport she used to enter Thailand

which is course is her Thai Passport

At which point when leaving Thailand they will ask to see either a visa or green card to go to the US

or a US passport which she shows them hers.

She then of course enters the US on her US passport which requires no visa for her

Leave US with US passport & re-enters Thailand on Thai Passport

As to your stamps question again just show your a dual citizen & show the stamps in the corresponding passport

you used to leave your other country of citizenship

Any citizen of any country would never want to enter a country to which they hold citizenship with anything other than the passport they hold for that country.

Otherwise even though they are a citizen they are for all intents & purpose bound by the immigration laws that apply to non-citizens

My second daughter has Thai and US passports. During the past three years she has travelled several times between the two countries the way your wife does it.

No problem in the USA... my mee pahn-hah in Muang Thai.

"off the grid" or "under the radar"...?

Sorry guys I stand corrected.

There is really no good answer on this, as all it takes is one policeman or immigration officer somewhere that interprets things their own way and decides to give you a hard time. An argument with them would surely go nowhere.

That pretty well sums it up.

The July 31st 2014 proclamation from on high was just the latest in a series of contradictory statements that come out from time to time.

I don't think it will be the last one.

Where is this regulation?

Search engines exist. Use them.

I have searched for years... I have never found a regulation that says that. No one, including Thai attorneys, have ever given a link to such a regulation.

If you are sure I wish you could provide a link because any people have been searching for a very long time.

I don't think such a law exists.

If it did, surely someone would have found it by now.

This is the latest incident in the long running controversy regarding the question: do foreigners have to carry their passports with them at all times?

It would be nice to know whether or not a law exists that says so.

There is no controversy. The regulation exists.

It just isn't enforced often. But if you come to the attention of the authorities for any reason, you must be able to produce it on demand.

There is a controversy and it has been going on for some time now. Where have you been... ?

In the mid-'90s an authoritarian zealot named Purachai - recently promoted to a high position in the national police - gave a long interview to the leading English language newspaper where he stated categorically that foreigners must carry their passports at all times. Photocopies were unacceptable because they were too easily altered.

Since then there have been mixed and confusing signals [re: post #44] coming from the authorities.

A while back I started a topic on this subject but nobody could cite a specific law.

I am still waiting - along with many other farangs - to see it in writing that foreigners must carry their passports.

If indeed such a law exists, it will be a burden for all of us. Until now, photocopies or alternate forms of ID have seemed to satisfy them. But how long will it be before this too becomes an issue and another excuse for extortion in the name of law enforcement?

In reading the full blog posting, it seems that everyone who could produce a passport with a valid visa or current visa-exempt status was left alone. And perhaps a misunderstanding that the people were working (employed by) PunSpace.

So, I wonder if it's really an exercise in harassing digital nomads, or just an opportunity to check visa status for a group of foreigners who are congregated together. I wonder what's next? Will they storm the next Expats Ladies Lunch and ask to see that we all have our passports with valid retirement visas?

I now carry my passport with me at all times. Yeah, I know it's a hassle. I put it in a plastic bag and hopefully it won't get stolen or trashed out.

This is the latest incident in the long running controversy regarding the question: do foreigners have to carry their passports with them at all times?

It would be nice to know whether or not a law exists that says so.

Own a condo there for the past 12 years, never had a problem. A few years back I was in the lobby early in the morning a guest was waiting for a ambulance in a very distressed state. A staff member was sitting with him holding his hand, comforting him.

I was touched by it, it never left me. A good a place as any to hang your hat.

Welcome to the forum Eramus.

It's good to have someone posting who has experience of Chiang Mai, along with insight, and sensibility.

I agree about Wat Phumin. Also the museum, near this temple, is worth a visit. It is located in the former palace of the Lords of Nan, who ruled longer than the CM dynasty and much longer than Bangkok.

Excuse me for bluntly contradicting you, but it should be pointed out that the last ruler of Chiang Mai, Chao Kaew Nawarat died in 1939, and was predeceased by the last ruler of Nan, Chao Mahaprom Surathada who died in 1931. As for the Chakri Dynasty in Bangkok, it continues to this day in the person of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

A comprehensive history of Nan has yet to be written; but what might be of interest to you is The Nan Chronicle. [David Wyatt trans. Cornell. 1994]. Translated from a palm-leaf manuscript written in 1894, it draws on sources dating from the founding of the city in 1368.

Nan played an important part in Lanna T'ai history during the reign of King Tilokarat of Chiang Mai in the 15th century. In 1480, Nan along with the neighbouring kingdom of Lan Chang and its capital, Luang Prabang were seized by the Dai Viet Empire based in Hanoi. The Lao king and his two sons lost their lives in the fighting. Tilokarat helped the youngest son Phaya Saikhao to safety. The Lanna T'ai troops counterattacked, retaking Nan then launched an assault on Luang Prabang forcing the Dai Viet to withdraw.

The French occupation of the Lan Chang kingdom in 1893 ended the importance of Nan. The Chao Luang overnight lost half or more of his territory. and the wealth and power that went with it. Nan was no longer on the trade routes heading east. It became a backwater on the road to nowhere.

So it remained throughout the 20th century. The positive aspect is that so far Nan has escaped the disaster of mass-tourism.

Let's hope that continues.

The 19th century murals in the viharn of Wat Phumin are worth seeing. They were the subject of a very interesting study by the distinguished historian David Wyatt... Temple Murals as an Historical Source. The Case of Wat Phumin, Nan. [Chulalongkorn University Press 1993].

These fresco secco paintings depict the usual Jataka Tales seen in most wats, but here farangs are included. French army troops and gunboats; civilian men. women, and children; and a few oddly dressed figures who have been tentatively identified as clerics.

The various theories surrounding these paintings are studied and explained in detail by Professor Wyatt.

What's it to you?

You aren't a policeman, you don't have a work permit.

Too many old weirdos, watching other old weirdos, get a life, mind your own business.

No, sorry I don't want to drop my kids off somewhere and have them subjected to weirdos like that. Some of those people are child molesters. It's another thing to worry about when you have kids.

Spot on.

My two daughters are grown and can take care of themselves because their mother taught them from an early age that no older man who is not one of the family or one of their circle of friends would make an advance to them with anything other than evil intentions.

Not always true perhaps, but it was a part of their traditional upbringing that I never argued with.