NomadJoe

I thought they did change it a few years back but got stopped by the tuk tuks. Road arrows were changed & stayed pointing the wrong way for a while after they reversed the decision.

North end of beach road they are still there. The decision to cancel the change came literally the morning of the change after local officials caved, yet again, to threats by the tuk tuk mafia to blockade the streets.

Based on official notification of Phuket Immigration to their staff.

If you don't believe it, Go and ask them.

Are you Phuket immigration staff?

NomadJoe, Send you a PM.

Sounds like a legitimate question as to the source of your information that you posted in an open forum. Why hiding the response in a PM unavailable to others who must assume your O/P is just another rumor?

Not that my opinion matters, but I spoke to merijin in pm and now believe this information is correct. Thank you merijin for sharing.

This is based on what? One persons ability to talk immigration into it in one particular situation or have you seen some document showing this? With out an official source this means nothing and should not relied upon.

Based on official notification of Phuket Immigration to their staff.

If you don't believe it, Go and ask them.

Are you Phuket immigration staff?

This is based on what? One persons ability to talk immigration into it in one particular situation or have you seen some document showing this? With out an official source this means nothing and should not relied upon.

I also agree with the previous posts. The police often let tourists get away with a car license at the checkpoints.

Also, an international drivers permit is not required in Thailand.

What exactly do you mean "International Drivers License." There is no such thing. Do you mean the IDP? Do you have a card that actually says "International Drivers License" on it?

Wow. Here in Pattaya the police will NOT let you show a car license and not get a ticket. Concerning the "International Drivers License", you know he means an IDP. You have nothing else to do today but harass? What a shame....

No, actually I didn't know that, and neither did you though you may have thought you did. Many people fall for the internet "international drivers license" scam and end up with one of these:

And then end up like this guy:

Australian arrested for carrying fake driving license at Pattaya Police Checkpoint

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/536096-australian-arrested-for-carrying-fake-driving-license-at-pattaya-police-checkpoint/

Also see: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/37747-warning-of-fake-international-driving-permits/

What I mean by visa runners.....its not just people that cross border then turn around and re enter.

I over 18 months left Thailand, by plane, and stayed out each time for several days. I WAS a visa runner. Wasn't breaking any law but let's say not acting in the spirit of what the stamps were designed for. That is tourists staying 60 days or so. That's why they allowed the stamp extension.

Vietnam and Cambodia don't let you in without a visa. I think Thailand is generous. Maybe do away with the stamps all together.

You were not a visa runner. A "visa runner" is somebody that only leaves and then immediately returns for another visa exempt entry. But it is truly a misnomer in that sense because you don't get a visa.

What you were doing was and is perfectly legitimate. That is what tourists often do.

Ubonjoe first of all ...thankyou for all the advice you give the members.

Last time i went to hcm I decided to get a tourist visa. I did this just befor the aug 12 , so called crackdown.

I understand what your saying and i await feedback from members that have had many many stamps, all beit travel by plane and staying out say 7 days every month. Wish members would give us an update, positive or negative.

Sort of unrelated but when i was in thai consulate in HCM to apply for tourist visa ( im going to au tonight for isit and will obtain non imm o. When back get extnsion based on retirement)

Anyway the polite io said, after looking at my passport with MANY stamps...." why you no have retirement visa"

Yes i know its only an extension.

Bob Dylan wrote a song .....the times are a changing

You were not a visa runner as defined by Thai immigration.

Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances.

Sounds like police doing policing. So many here LOVE to complain about police not doing their jobs but then complain when they do. FYI, paying authorities for crimes you commit is not blackmail but rather called a fine.

Paying cash directly to the officers in order to avoid arrest is the definition of blackmail and is what jaidam is referring to. This is very, very common in Thailand, not just with tourists.

OMG. what a bunch of whiners. THEN GO TO COURT and asked to be arrested instead of taking the much easier and cheaper way out. It is not extortion, it is a choice you have many times and when I say many times I mean sometimes there is no option to pay a bribe or pay a fine on the street. Not to mention you can also ask for a receipt if paying a legitimate fine on the street. It is as much extortion as it is paying a fine anywhere else in the world when you do something wrong.

If only in my home country you could avoid expensive tickets, court fees, higher in insurance rates by paying $3 or $6 o the spot. And by the way POLICE ACCEPT FINES in Thailand, you have the choice to go to the station or court and post bail and all that but it is perfectly legal and acceptable to pay the fine to the police officer when caught doing something wrong.

Another inaccuracy. At planned traffic check points they do often have a police box or even payment table set up, but that is not paying it directly to the officer, which is 100% not legal, and you will not be getting a receipt.

Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances.

Sounds like police doing policing. So many here LOVE to complain about police not doing their jobs but then complain when they do. FYI, paying authorities for crimes you commit is not blackmail but rather called a fine.

Paying cash directly to the officers in order to avoid arrest is the definition of blackmail and is what jaidam is referring to. This is very, very common in Thailand, not just with tourists.

OMG. what a bunch of whiners. THEN GO TO COURT and asked to be arrested instead of taking the much easier and cheaper way out. It is not extortion, it is a choice you have many times and when I say many times I mean sometimes there is no option to pay a bribe or pay a fine on the street. Not to mention you can also ask for a receipt if paying a legitimate fine on the street. It is as much extortion as it is paying a fine anywhere else in the world when you do something wrong.

If only in my home country you could avoid expensive tickets, court fees, higher in insurance rates by paying $3 or $6 o the spot. And by the way POLICE ACCEPT FINES in Thailand, you have the choice to go to the station or court and post bail and all that but it is perfectly legal and acceptable to pay the fine to the police officer when caught doing something wrong.

No it's not. It may seem like no difference to you, and perhaps you don't care, but there is a big difference between the money going to the government (the people) and the money going to the individual officer, both legally and ethically.

Police on Koh Tao like to find small offences that they can use to blackmail tourists for large amounts of cash, such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances.

Sounds like police doing policing. So many here LOVE to complain about police not doing their jobs but then complain when they do. FYI, paying authorities for crimes you commit is not blackmail but rather called a fine.

Paying cash directly to the officers in order to avoid arrest is the definition of blackmail and is what jaidam is referring to. This is very, very common in Thailand, not just with tourists.

Not if there is an offense, it would only be blackmail if the offense was entirely fabricated. The police may well blackmail people but as he said "small offenses"..."such as visa issues, small amounts of prohibited substances", I feel we can assume that this was what he actually did mean to say, rather than the police making things up.

Incorrect.

I've never seen anything in Thai law requiring the mud guard, nor have I heard of anyone fined for not having one. I have been through countless checkpoints without one.

No. Completely different owners. They often end up with the same sources and reader submitted photos. They cover the same area so naturally they are going to have the same stories. But you will never see the identical story on both sites.

1. Laos, in Cambodia you will only get a single entry.

2. No, you should be fine.

Exactly what I was going to say. You will be totally fine. Vientiane has always been easier, but you can still get a single entry in Phenom Phen.

Immigration has defined "visa runners" as people using the visa exempt rules, going to the border for just minutes then coming back across repeatedly in order to stay in Thailand indefinitely.

But what does this plan look like? We have regulatory legislation on the books. That is not the problem. The problem is a complete lack of enforcement. Did anyone at this meeting dare breach the topic really plaguing the island; the rampant, normalized corruption?

AIP has for a long time been trying to get helmet manufacturers to make affordable helmets for children. The helmet manufactures generally don't because there is no market as Thai parents just don't buy them. But Thai's complain they don't helmet their children because there are no helmets available so it's a catch-22.

More:

http://endcap.eu/dolphinaria/

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/captive-whales-dolphins/global/

https://awionline.org/content/wild-vs-captivity

http://uk.whales.org/wdc-in-action/wdc-reports-and-publications

Monkey Shows, Elephant "trekking", Bird Parks, Tiger "Kingdoms", Zoo's...they all survive....why wouldn't a marine park.

My response is a bit more "why shouldn't" than "why wouldn't", but marine parks shouldn't be allowed because dolphins are vastly more intelligent than those other animals, forming strong social and family units, often mate for life, have a rudimentary language, even creating names for each other, They have shown signs of self awareness, and are capable of experiencing suffering. They live a very shortened life in captivity. Some have even committed suicide, and many die from disease. Wild dolphin numbers are dropping and many species are threatened or endangered, and the vast majority of dolphins wild caught are caught at the Taiji ("The Cove") dolphin cull which is one of the last places in the world that conduct mass dolphin slaughters. Dolphins often range 80-100 miles a day. They are rendered speechless when put in tanks because their form of communication requires open water to work. There simply is no way they can be kept in captivity humanly, certainly not in the tiny pool they have in Phuket where they plan to keep 8 dolphins and two sea lions. It's greed in it's saddest form.

All of those going in this small pool:

Learn more:

http://dolphinproject.org/

http://www.seashepherd.org/

Good article. Let's hope Phuket officials wise up and deny the Nemo Dolphinarium their permits.

I have this international driver's license which you can get for 1 year for Thailand, in different languages (English, French, Spanish, ...). Plus my ordinary driver's license.

Can you describe it? Is it passport size or credit card size?

I also agree with the previous posts. The police often let tourists get away with a car license at the checkpoints.

Also, an international drivers permit is not required in Thailand.

What exactly do you mean "International Drivers License." There is no such thing. Do you mean the IDP? Do you have a card that actually says "International Drivers License" on it?

'an international drivers permit is not required in Thailand.' That's a joke right?

No, very true. Home license is valid provided: license is in English, is valid, has photo.

Seems I'm a bit out of date! This certainly wasn't the case many years back when I first arrived on these shores. So basically, an old paper licence (without photo) cannot be used, but a valid plastic licence - with photo, is accepted. My sister and family will be very happy to know that when they next visit

There is one other requirement that in practice will probably never matter: The country the foreigner was issued the drivers license from and Thailand must have an agreement in place for the mutual acceptance of licenses. That list can be found here. https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/MTDSG/Volume%20I/Chapter%20XI/XI-B-1.en.pdf

I also agree with the previous posts. The police often let tourists get away with a car license at the checkpoints.

Also, an international drivers permit is not required in Thailand.

What exactly do you mean "International Drivers License." There is no such thing. Do you mean the IDP? Do you have a card that actually says "International Drivers License" on it?

'an international drivers permit is not required in Thailand.' That's a joke right?

No.

I have had some similar stories to darkian. Thai people are very, very eager to help stranded motorists/motorcyclists, especially farang. Having run out of gas a few times of the 13 years I have lived here, I was always immediately approached by the first person that saw me and given a ride to the nearest pump or roadside seller. When my truck broke down, a policeman gave me the number of a flat bed tow truck company which came and picked it up right away. They can transport bikes too. Honda has nationwide roadside assistance which can also be purchased from various insurance companies.

I also agree with the previous posts. The police often let tourists get away with a car license at the checkpoints.

Also, an international drivers permit is not required in Thailand.

What exactly do you mean "International Drivers License." There is no such thing. Do you mean the IDP? Do you have a card that actually says "International Drivers License" on it?