Wordworx

tell her she needs permission from you and you have decided not to grant it

This is the best and most succinct piece of advice you will get on this post. In the land of counterfeit, in the age of bittorrent, people are going to pay a rental fee then actually RETURN the disc? And when the next big business concept comes up, quash that one, too.

We're really none the wiser, but, the immigration officer could have been doing you a favour. We will never know.

We know. He did.

Apologies in advance for offending OP and others, but very much doubt the car accident story. Seems a typical sympathy ploy. Could be (perhaps likely) a police record popped at immigration check. Or just all the usual indications were evident. Also I note OP did not specify "the place they worked..."

Take a look at Koh Lipe. Flight to Hat Yai - minivan to Satun - ferry or speed boat to Lipe. I think Nok Air lets you book all - flight - van - boat. If not, easy enough to do it yourself. Only thing: Lipe is nice, but if you are not major into laying around on beaches, not much to do if you don't scuba or freedive. Can snorkel off beaches. Reefs still mostly alive, last I was there. (See it before they trash that island and surrounding waters, too.)

if he is just a colleague stay out of it.if he is a very very close friend you have to find a way to let him know.

he's a colleague and I would say a friend, but not "very very" close. We sit next to each other every day and eat lunch together 3/5 days and thus we have gotten to know each other very well the past couple years....

but Im putting myself in his shoes and imagining if I was a 60 yr old Brit who had been in TH for 30 years, would I appreciate an American half my age letting me know that im being duped? It would be hard to swallow especially as "my gfs resort" has become a point of pride for him. Im staying quiet..but its hard.

Right. if you hit him with the bad news, be prepared to have him come back at you negatively. My humble suggestion: If you are working with him, not an associate easily avoided, 100% stay the hell out of it. Bottom line: A guy here 30 years gets run-through this sort of typical scam? ...

Down in Northwest Bali I paid off the farmer on the other side of the wall, got him to relocate his many roosters (started up about 03:00). But could not come up with a similar solution for his constantly howling, demand-shrieking, banging on pots and pans small male child.

I relocated.

Unrestrained constantly barking dogs, screaming kids, blasting crap pop music, TVs at full volume nobody is watching, shouting down hotel corridors late at night and early morning, leaving hotel room doors open so they can *converse* with their associates and family in the rooms down the hall, letting their spoiled children cut loose in residential common areas and restaurants, chintzy speakers at shop storefronts slamming pedestrians with distorted, Gitmo-style audio assaults, yelling to speak to their comrades rows down the aircraft cabin... Some of those are more mainland China-style, but most you can’t escape down here, either.

Best to give up and move, perhaps with more strategic parameters of location for the future.

This suggests you completed everything the same day, in a few hours. Vientiane is apply day 1 and get back day 2.

Not intended, just the *Visa App* part, as in title. I also mention in followup about returning the next day for pickup. I thought sort of a given that pick up next day is understood. If you need me to edit, will do if so enabled. Or feel free to delete the post.

What visa did you get?

Tourist two entry, 2000 THB

You can arrive late and still get visas processed. Just ask the guy over the road sitting in his little tent. I didn't get there till 12.30 or so, though I had no chance, and he got it all processed for me that day. Never even had to go in the consulate. Have to pay a bit to get the visa staff to work late but they do it. And yeah, it is a genuine visa

I too used the guy in the tent, travelled overnight from CM, arrived at Thai Consul about 7.30am, queue was already forming. Got the tout guy to do it all, didnt wait for Consulate to open, just left it with him. We were booked into Hotel by about 8.15am, and enjoying a hot shower before consul opened.Guy delivered PP with visa to our hotel at lunchtime the next day. Well worth the 1500 baht he charged me.

Ah, so. The guys I described as *shysters*, if the tent gent's *agents*, are more like *facilitators*. (Still, should not have laid on me that "Internet form no good" line.) In both your cases, well worth the fee. Good to know for future. Anything to avoid having to deal with that substantially confused crowd. And last time I did this the visa companies piled in. (Will withhold commentary on their clientele.) Big fun. This time, though, did okay do-it-yourself.

After applying day one, caught a Beer Lao and a meal at homestyle open-air place across the street (good food, btw), watched the line form for visa pickup, about 1.5 hours before the consulate opens doors at 1:30. Looked like about 30-40 people standing in the sun when I departed at maybe 12:45. Today dropped back at 2:45 to pickup, place was empty. Walked up to window, passport returned with double entry visa, done.

>>> And thanks for added info.

May be old news for veterans, but for others perhaps not aware –

• Departed CNX on Nok Air at 07:25.
• Van for Friendship Bridge departed Udon Thani Airport about 20 minutes after arrival.
• Clearing Lao immigration grabbed taxi (300 THB) for Thai consulate (cut that cost for shared taxi).
• Arrived consulate corner at 10:55.
• Made copy of Lao visa stamp at stall just outside gate (already had all other paperwork done).
• Got my number at window, dumped gear on back row seats and smoked a small cigar in smoking corner a few yards away.
• At 11:30 (the cutoff) looked like they were starting to shutdown the windows at number 132.
• I walked up, showed my 134, they waved me in for a landing, accepted paperwork and passport.
• About 30 minutes later paid fee inside, done.

Entire process maybe 60-70 minutes. Out of there about 12:05.

Transit Deadline Note: If you clear Lao immigration and are in a taxi by maybe 10:30-1040, you should be able to get it all done in one morning (about 30 minutes to consulate). But you must have your paperwork ready to go. Completed form with two photos, photocopy of passport photo page, photocopy of Lao visa stamp and (only) Thai baht to pay. (The Thai staff at V-town consulate do not suffer fools. They are obviously pretty sick of dealing with the unprepared and misguided, and understandably so.)

Annoying Shyster Note: The guys with visa forms on clipboards outside the gate saw my competed form in hand as I exited taxi: “Internet form no good…” Right. If I wasted more than the five seconds I did on those jerks, might have missed the cutoff.

I Hate Lines (Cues) Note: I concur with others who have posted about the V-town consulate crowd scene. There seems to be no advantage to showing up early. I did that about a year ago, exited hotel across the street to be about 15^th in line, sucked. Was there milling around for about 2.5 hours.

Could also be the video card or even motherboard. Some will tell you different, but video cards can be repaired. Same for motherboard. I know a tech who does both and more, but in Chiang Mai (also some cats in a roadside stall in NW Bali, but don't think that will help).

Cost me 1000 THB for repair of video card and cleaning (and yeah, clean the fans). Symptoms there were display would flash, color pixelate, laptop would freeze. Then some months later the thing completely died. Would not boot. Thought that was it, but two guys at dusty little roadside stall out in the sticks in Bali fixed motherboard for equal of about 1300 THB. Laptop has been running like new ever since.

In short, very likely can be repaired pretty cheap, just gotta find the right guy. If, indeed, the display itself is shot, you'll need to hit the stalls to find a used replacement, for a practical price. There, again, a talented and resourceful tech would be good to know, save some legwork, bargaining and other hassle.

Now you know what AWOL stands for . . . . . Alex Walton.

Classic.

Luang Prabang. Great place for a couple. Quick and easy flight, but you will drop maybe more than you want to on airfare. Can train and bus it (I think), but that's gotta be an arduous hassle. In any case, this or another trip, you should check it out before they trash the town.

Let's hope a young innocent stuck for (and perhaps coerced into) the ride was not one of the victims.

What is that story with Danish backpackers?

Yeah. Sort of wishful thinking, right? The poster talking dudes, or what?

And some (some) get the occasional bonus from the ignorant farang.

Sorting things out in Chiang Mai after arrival, trying a few different shops, the one closest whacked me pretty good. Real good, in fact. Because they were close and did a decent job I let it slide at first, noting the times they did not give me a ticket with price in advance were the times the price shot up when I returned for pickup.

After a few run-throughs was dealing with husband part of the team at pickup, I asked, "Wait, how much?" Price immediately dropped 100 baht. So I thought had that sorted out; we had an understanding.

Then went back to pickup one day when the wife was on counter duty. She went for the BIG score, tried to whack me for 300 baht -- and this is fold only, not ironed. Can't detail kilos or pieces, but let's say stacked and folded, less than a foot in height. About what others would be charging 75-100 baht.

I have to admit, did not take it well. Went sort of ugly American. She dropped it 100 baht, so basically ended up only overcharging me by about 100%. And that was it for False-smile Laundry. They lost a year+ of regular business (and pretty sure they don't give a crap).

A reasonable farang surcharge: okay. But the wildly greedy gouging and assumption that you are an idiot foreigner with too much money, that gets old.

Learn from this guy's mistakes: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/662677-been-in-thailand-for-about-3-weeks-now-my-overall-thoughts/. Main thing is don't lock-in plans well in advance, And don't blow $20-k. See below.

2013-08-23 10:23:16

Forget China. If a few years back would have suggested Tibet via Chengdu, but last I checked still on semi-lock-down. Meaning Tibet entry permit only available when part of authorized group tour. And that'd suck. Too bad, mind-blowing, the Plateau. Far west Xinjiang at elevation is remarkable, but tough to get to. Otherwise, more easily reached Chinese snow resorts will be jammed up with mainlanders. Maybe talk her out it. If you don't ski or snowboard, throw a couple of snowballs and roll around in it once or twice, your done. And stuck.

Too bad. Was only about a year ago (or was it 1.5) I extended twice. Walk down to the little dusty office in LP, disturb their (perpetual) lunch, come back the next day, pay them and pickup passport. Good for another 30 days. Hung around for three months.

Right, flying into LP I once had to stand in line 30 minutes for VOA, but that's because the dude who had to sign off was at lunch. Other times over the bridge, never waited more than 10 minutes. Dare I add while in country you can extend your visa three times (if I recall correctly) with about zero hassle, cost two US bucks a day, last I checked. [but lunch sounds nice.]

May be off topic, but I have an F310, new condition with soft case. Ad on Thaivisa classified under this user name. (Don't think I can post link here.) Recently dropped price (see below). Will drop another 200 for quick sale.