KillingTime

Great news. Thanks, i'll get one at the airport. My non Im o is single entry i think.

I'm off to Vietnam for a week tomorrow morning, and my non-imm O visa is good till Decemeber. I was under the impression i could pick up a re-entry permit at the airport, but am now reading the rules have changed. Presumably Immigration is closed on a Sunday. Any thoughts?

Send in Sterling to get a much higher rate.

Thank you.

Thanks for the info Joe. Just in the process of transferring now. Do you know if it's ok to keep the money in Sterling, or whether i have to change to Baht?

BTW, what is the best way to transfer that sort of cash to my account here? What are the fees like?

Close to the exact number at today's exchange rate is 9,722 pounds to get 500k baht in the bank that needs to be there for 30 days to apply for the extension.

Thanks for the swift reply Joe.

2.11 In the case of being a family member of an alien who has been permitted a temporary stay in the Kingdom for study in an educational institution according to Clauses 2.8 or 2.9 hereof (applicable only to parents, spouse, children, adopted children, or spouse’s children):

Each permission shall be granted for no more than one year.

1) The alien must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM).

(2) The alien must have proof of relationship.

(3) In the case of spouse, the relationship must be de jure and de facto: or

(4) In the case of children, adopted children, or spouse's children, said children, adopted children, and spouse's children must not be married, must live with the alien as part of the family, and must not be over 20 years of age: or

(5) In the case of parents, funds must be deposited in a bank in Thailand, under the father's or the mother's name, of no less than Baht 500,000 for the past three months. For the first year only, the applicant must have proof of a deposit account in which said amount of funds has been maintained for no less than 30 days prior to the filing date

So i need to put 10k Sterling in my bank for a month prior to going to immigration?

My partner has a work permit and while we're not married, i'm the primary carer for our child so with a combination of paperwork from her employer, and our daughters birth certificate etc, i've always got the visa i needed, though i've had to do 90 day border runs. This time i've only got a 90 day single entry for some reason, though i was told i could upgrade it to a year.

Last month i went to get a non Im o multi entry i year visa in Vientiane Lao but ended up with a single entry 90 day one instead. The woman at the desk assured me i could upgrade this to a year visa by going to immigration. What are the requirements for this visa and will i be able to get it at Chaeng Wattana without leaving the country?

I have previously got one year multiple entry o visas from Yangon and London, but Lao would not give me the visa even though i had the correct paperwork.

It must be admitted that these words and accusing petition are insulting to Thais.

But as Confucius said better there is more than 2500 years: "The invective dishonored its author, only him."

Asians generally approve this wise maxim. So if the evidence is proven and confirmed by observers shame will be on British revilers and more generally on all Western, not the Thais.

And that's how it gradually loses the prominent place that was ours there not long ago.

For your information, Mr Hisseho (Santiano) :

1/ Confucius never wrote or said this. The phrase was made up by René Goscinny (a true genius, by the way) in one of his 'Lucky Luke' albums (called 'Rantanplan's inheritance'). A Chinese character in this album, after being insulted by Joe Dalton, replies "Like Confucius used to say, invective (etc)" but it's entirely made up by Goscinny. You will find it nowhere else, especially not in the works of Kong Foo Tse.

2/ Most Asians do approve of all wise maxims, but then so do most human beings in general, right ? It doesn't imply that they manage to live by those maxims, no matter how wise and true they are. As a matter of fact, you may have observed that most Asians, when insulted, react very strongly, perhaps more so than non-Asians, due to the 'face-losing' factor, a phenomenon not easily understood by Westerners in general and the source of many trans-cultural misunderstandings (or worse).

I don't know if you live here or if you're just visiting, but it seems pretty obvious that you are in a phase of adoration towards Thailand (and a Thai person too probably), but I think in the case on the Koh Tao murders and especially where the investigation is concerned, you need to take these rosy glasses off your nose for a few minutes and accept the fact that a country can be full of wonderful people, great traditions, and nevertheless harbour some serious flaws.

One of these flaws is the way rich and powerful people in this country can get away with just about anything, sometimes at the cost of other peoples' lives, reputation and/or freedom. Sadly the authorities, most of the time (not always, admittedly), are on their side, and framing innocent people has a history on this continent that would give you the creeps if you cared to look into the matter seriously . I'm not saying it doesn't happen in other countries because it does, but I am saying that it's worse in this part of the world.

I got to know a Korean Yakuza many years ago in Japan. He did 20 years for a murder his boss committed. Everyone knew his boss committed the murder in a bar full of witnesses, but the young gang member took the rap and did the time. At least he was well paid for the job. By the time i met him he had a huge Merc and a cushy money collecting job in a nice suburb of Osaka. The cops needed a fall guy, and he'd pissed off his gang (he had stubs for all his smaller fingers and was missing many digits) so was perfect for the "job".

This is Japan in the eighties, a highly developed first world country where the rich like to avoid jail, and the police are happy to oblige.

Since the Uk have (or at least had) the bodies of the murder victims, do we know whether an independent autopsy was carried out with reliable DNA samples? And if not, why not?

If the answer is yes, i don't see how it can be difficult to obtain DNA from the Burmese to match it. Presumably there will be plenty of DNA to be obtained from their family homes without even having to go to Thailand.

Why do the Thai's need to be involved in that side of the investigation at all?

Yeah the thai mafia on the island told them already how to solve this case

That's ridiculous. Complete knee-jerk reaction.

You're absolutely correct of course. It is indeed a "knee-jerk reaction".

You may also want to look at the legal system and ponder why so many well connected wealthy people manage to avoid prison.

Is that also a knee-jerk reaction, or is there more to the story?

Seamen does not mean rape. It could be casual Sex. Some girls might just want to have fun (said Cindy)

Let's just hope the families of the deceased do not read the smutty drivel turning up on this site.

They are trying to shift it to migrant workers now and the explanation because they were buying something from a store.

Watch this space we are going to hear all the BS in the world.

Well, what if the murderers were migrant workers? Should they not investigate migrant workers because some foreigners have knee-jerk reactions claiming that the police want to frame them?

They've already investigated some Thais and foreigners too.

Thais have been convicted many times in the past of killing foreigners, so it is illogical to think they will not convict a Thai person if he (or they) are guilty.

They should check everywhere the leads take them.

Fair enough. But with DNA evidence taken from the insides of the victim they should be fairly definite about those they are charging.

Only yesterday they said they were going to arrest someone in three days time. What kind of "investigation" is this?

I just looked up the percentages of unsolved murders around the world, quite surprising how many go unsolved, even in countries like the USA & the UK.

Some of you chronic Thai bashers should have a look yourselves, you may then realize it does happen in your own countries as well.

Point taken about unsolved murders. However it's highly unlikely that the UK police would fluff an investigation that involved CCTV and Semen on a tiny island.

Of course we don't know what the truth of this case is. It's not beyond the realms of possibility the killer(s) are Burmese. Burma has rapists and murderers too, but the way the case is being handled does not inspire confidence.

This is a huge story in the UK and will be for a long time. The story of the murdered newly wed in South Africa got a one hour Panorama special devoted to it and this could easily go the same way. That would be devastating for the families who desperately need to move on, however i think this story is going to be pursued relentlessly until a believable conclusion has been reached.

The Thai authorities would be well advised to bring in foreign (UK) help to solve the case.

I think this. Idea, whilst it may have merit elsewhere, is a non starter in this case. Any outside help would depend largely on help from the local BIB.

Never mind the incompetence factor, never mind the alleged corruption and cover up factor, but LOSS of FACE would stop it dead in its tracks

My point is that the case will be pursued by the media for years until a conclusion has been reached, and that it would be in the interests of the Thais to get help since they're clearly inept. Of course you're right, and they won't accept the fact and will bumble on.

Even so, there are some very good investagative journalists in the UK who will follow this case if it is left unsolved, or if it appears a miscarriage of justice has occurred. The upshot of that could easily be years of bad publicity, loss of tourism, and worst of all, murderer(s) on the loose.

<deleted>!

Speechless!

These slime balls are the scum of the island, and the only thing that's not to like about it. I was just waiting to hear they were responsible. I've had run ins with the "taxi" driving vermin who charge you 200 baht to go 50 meters up the road. They are also members of these vile families.

I hope Koh Tao can kick out the bottom feeders once and for all.

Thanks for the prompt reply. If i can avoid a trip to Chaeng Wattana that's an added bonus.

So my new passport finally turned up a while back and i was told i also had to go the embassy to get a letter to transfer the visa. I have the letter but have not done anything with it yet.

My non im o Visa runs out in a couple of weeks and i'm planning a trip to Rangoon Burma next week to get a new one. I have the old passport (with clipped corner), the new passport, and the letter from the embassy.

Am i supposed to go to Chaeng Wattana first with these documents, or can it be done at the airport? Obviously there seems little point in transferring a visa that runs out in two weeks, but i want to make sure i'm doing everything correctly.

I don't see Mandarin ever competing with English. India will soon be more populous than China and is an English speaking country. Few people in the world will ever benefit from learning Mandarin, but English is set to continue to be the key tongue for most.

Obviously Chinese is useful in the Far East, just as Spanish is useful in Latin America, but there are others too: Portuguese in South America, Korean, Japanese etc in the East. Even so, the only language that is going to be consistently useful for the majority is English.

I went to VFS yesterday and enquired as to when I could make an appointment with them. First available appointment?...........29 July 2014!

The whole place is a shambles and most of the staff cannot speak English to a level that is required when dealing with English/British people on a daily basis.

So 10 week delay on passports that have been applied for, now add on nearly 4 weeks waiting before you can even apply for one!!

I got my appointment in just over a fortnight. When i went in they asked if i had an appointment, which seemed to suggest i could have turned up and got one without waiting. If you live in Bangkok and have time available i'd consider just turning up bright and early and seeing if you can get one. When i turned up for mine i didn't have to wait a second. The guy was just sitting in a booth twiddling his thumbs. It was not especially busy either. My app was for 9.30.

Don't forget those cretins in Liverpool will find the time to turn off your current passport even though they won't have time to issue a new one for weeks.

Oh, and i hate to rub salt in the wounds of those destined to venture into the horrendously titled "Trendy" building. But if you've ever suffered from claustrophobia stick a sack over your head before getting in the lift.

Well how about this for the Guinness book of records.

My friends daughters documents for a five year child passport were sent off on MARCH 6th 2014.

On March 12 th the payment of 125 pound that was the payment for a child passport plus a DHL fee to deliver the passport back to her house was deducted from her fathers account.After numerous phone calls to HMPO trying to find out how the passport was progressing only to be fobbed off by a variety of different staff.

Nothing was heard about the passport until about the 1st MAY when her mother received a letter from the HMPO that was addressed to the address that was stated on the first application forms on the 6th March.

The letter was a standard proof of residence that required the applicant (a 13 year old girl) to provide a

Tax letter,or a employment record,or a letter from a government department,or a utility bill,etc etc that had to be translated into English showing her address. So she sent back the letter from the HMPO that had her name and address on, that she had received on the 1st May.

She received another standard letter giving the requirements for proof of residence on about the 4th June

plus also stating that they would consider canceling the application if the information was not received by the 24th June.

But please don't tell me common sense could prevail,they had hand written at the bottom of the letter that they would accept a letter from her school saying in English that she went to this school and her address on their records was what she had said all along.

Now what could be simpler than that,if they had stated in the first place that this would be accepted,they would not have put her parents under the stress i know they went through and have them run around like a blue arxsed fly.

Her mother received word on Thursday June 19 th that she could collect her daughters 5 year child passport at the trendy office today June 24th.

So from start to finish on the 6th March to June 24th i make that 111 days or just short of 16 weeks to renew a child passport,and i can assure you that the only issue they had was proof of residence

Oh I forgot the agreement her father entered into and paid 125pound was for the passport to be delivered by DHL to her home.Needless to say her mother caught the overnight bus to Bangkok as that was were the passport was sent to.Surely this must be illegal for the HMPO to deduct from your account a payment to deliver the passport by DHL and then change the rules and make you take a 2,000 k journey to collect the passport.

I find it very hard to describe in words the HMPO only to say Bungling,incompetence,hypercritical parasites,

And beaurocracy in bulk comes to mind

Sorry

It must have been the Thai language problem, but the passport as still not arrived,

The child's mother did go to the trendy office on the 24th June for a visa application and hoping to collect the passport while she was there. She was told that the passport had not arrived and they would email when it arrives,so she can make another 2,000 k journey to collect the passport.

So now its 17 weeks since she applied for a British passport,and I must stress that the only issue the HMPO had over the passport was her proof of address.

Her father paid 125 pound that was the fee before these stupid changes,on the understanding that the passport would be delivered to her home by DHL only for the HMPO to renege on their promise.

Sorry, yes, me too; very sorry..

The child's mother makes a 2,000 km round trip to collect a passport that she was informed, after 111 days, would finally be ready for collection, gets to trendy ...........lo and behold, there's no new passport.

It beggars belief how shoddily we are all being treated, Third Class is the only accurate description of the level of service currently under offer from HMPO and the British Government for passport renewals.

Bureaucracy in bulk? No, it's more than that, a system that fails to deliver like this cannot be even be described as a 'bureaucracy', perhaps the most fitting description is a 'disaster of government'.

As I have posted before, several UK Senior Civil Servants and Politicians deserve to be lined up against the wall for this one.

Bloody Fiasco.

.

When i went on my visa run, the German fellow who organises it said something along the lines of "if you had just arrived in the UK from some 3rd world country with no passport, you'd have far more rights than you do today".

And i'm still paying taxes in the UK. !