HarmonicaNomad

I just moved back to CM after a year in Vietnam. I got my Vietnamese Driver License for both Car and Motorcycle.

I read about the Thai Driver License being accepted by all other ASEAN countries. Is the Vietnamese DL recognised here? Do I have to get a Thai DL?

I can highly recommend Da Nang.

I've lived here in Da Nang for over 1.5 years within the last 3 years (with an additional several months in Hanoi) and things have changed a lot during that period around here.

I absolutely love the Vietnamese people in Da Nang. My experience have been nothing but positive. As with everywhere, there is always the odd dumbass but I can't remember the last time I met one here.

I would recommend the beach area (My Khe Beach aka China Beach). It used to be that there was not much to be found on that side of the river but it's changing fast. You can now find Serviced Apartments quite easily, which were non-existent when we first arrived. If you love the beach, it hardly get any better than this. Voted one of the Top 10 best beach in the world a few years ago. And there's even surfing to top it off.

Hoi An is also very nice but much more touristy.

As for driving in Vietnam, I agree 100% with goreme's previous comment. I actualy love driving in Vietnam and once you figured out the organized chaos, I find it no more dangerous than driving in America and other country where road rage is a common occurance.

 I don't mean to say anything negative about you and your wife, but I hope the OP understands why a country might question them about their activities and frequent comings and goings.  If neither of them works in either country then a natural question an immigration official might ask is "how do you make your money"?  Are you independently wealthy?  Good investments in your home country?  Where is your home country?  Do you have a permanent residence anywhere?  

No offense at all, this is a very legitimate question. We are not wealthy by any means but we have savings and a business in Canada that require very, very little time (let's not get into the "you work in Thailand" debate, an hour a week answering emails will not get anyone a working visa) and finance our lifestyle.

I understand that we might have to answer a lot of questions and do not mind it at all. Actually, they should ask a lot of questions. But our opinion is once we answer these questions to their satisfaction, we should be allowed to stay for 6-9 months on Tourist Visa since we are real "long term" tourist, do not work here, not trouble makers at all and contribute (of course at a very small level) to their economy.

But this is Thailand and not our country. They decide how it works, who they want to let in and we respect their decision.
 

Ubonjoe, as you mentioned, no Visa Exempts.

But a lot of our Tourist Visas have been Out-Ins and Extensions for each and every one of them. Isn't it considered the same thing? Isn't it what they are mostly looking for, Out-Ins?

My wife and I have been living between Thailand and Vietnam for the last 2 1/2 years.

We first got a Triple Entry Tourist Visa from Canada when we first moved to Thailand. At the end of the 9 month, we moved to Hanoi for 3 months and came back to Thailand on a Single Entry. We then got a Double Entry from Vientiane, living in Thailand for a total of 9 months on that leg of our trip. The following six months were spent in Vietnam before recently coming back to Chiang Mai for another 6 months on a Double Entry. We got Extensions at the Immigration for every Visas.

We now have to make our way to Mae Sai this week and hope for the best...

We are moving back to Vietnam in November for at least 9 months. We do not work in either Thailand or Vietnam.

So it really look like this:

9 months Thailand

3 months Vietnam

9 months Thailand

6 months Vietnam

6 months Thailand

Next - 9 months Vietnam

Back to Thailand for 6-9 months next year if allowed.

How likely is this scenario be allowed in the future? We really love living back and forth between the 2 countries as REAL long term tourist. Too young to retire and not interested to invest for the Elite Card as we will make our way to other parts of the world very soon if this is no longer possible.

In the very short term, we just hope that they will not refuse to activate our second Tourist Visa in Mae Sai...

Thanks for your opinion.

I was wondering if we'd ever get stuck in Myanmar, how the hell do we make our way out of there. This is fantastic news, Ubonjoe!

The last thing I wanted is to get stuck in Myanmar!

Yes, UbonJoe is right. Don't even try it without a ticket out of Thailand. About a year ago, they were more than willing to give me a Triple Entry Tourist Visa if I could show them my itinerary, hotel bookings and 2 flight tickets out of Thailand.

Make sure that your paperwork is top notch. They are very nice, professional and but firm in what they require to issue Tourist Visas. Very quiet Embassy! Next day pick up.

Yeah, that was our plan, waiting to get more information before making any move. But we will probably try to get out of the lease anyway as this can be time consuming to finalize and there's quite a bit of money involved. No big deal to move, just a couple suitcases.

But instead of going to Myanmar, we might just turn this into a mini-vacation. Maybe go to Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi for a week. Safer than risking Myanmar!

But I agree with you, we might just get a "this is the last time" stamp, which would be just fine with us.

My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that Thailand really need to rework their visa situation. A Freelancer Visa would be a great idea as well as a "Long Term" Tourist visa. Of course, you'd need to have proof of income or proof of "wealth" but I do believe that this would solve the visa issues for many people that are bringing some money into the country without stealing Thai employment.

My wife and I have been living between Vietnam and Thailand for the last few years. We are "long term" tourist, not working in any country. We like to spend 6 months here in Thailand on Double Entry Tourist Visas with extensions and the other 6 months in Vietnam and just renew our 3 months visa while we are in the country (Visas are MUCH easier in Vietnam). We are due to activate our second visa on August 18th and planned to go to Mae Sai. Obviously, we have a history of B2B visas in the Kingdom.

Not sure if we'll even bother to go to Mae Sai. Not interested at all to get stuck in Myanmar... The crappy thing is that we, for the first time, signed a lease on a Condo and a gave a couple months deposit. Should have kept living in Serviced Apartment... We'll talk to the landlord and try to get out of the lease.

This crackdown really suck big time for us, as we are not working here and really love Thailand. We'll probably just move to Vietnam again and, instead of coming back here, we'll make our way to South America instead.

Just came back a couple days ago from Vientiane. I was there on Tuesday and it wasn't busy at all. Got at the Consulate right before it opened and got a number in the 80's when there wasn't that many people around. They seemed to just give random numbers to everyone, regardless on who arrived first.

I was all done before 09H30. Super smooth Visa Run! Got a Double Entry, no fuss at all.

That's good to hear. Ive found the staff at the Consulate to be very good. ..and doing a job that would bug the hell out of me. I take my hat off to them.

Sent from my GT-I8552B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I absolutely agree with you. I have nothing but praises for the Immigration staff. I had my huge share of dealing with them and have only been treated with total respect, a smile and I find them very professional. Lots of bitching about Immigration but it'd be great to have the people complaining spending a day doing that job.

What about the fact that my Passport has multiple Thai Visas, already a Double Entry one from Vientiane from last year? I've read many times that they take that into consideration?

We just spent 6 months in Vietnam and would like the next 2 Double Entry to be back to back. Any issue?

Hello,

My wife and I have been in Asia for almost 2 years now. We move from Thailand to Vietnam about every 3-6 months as we love to live in both countries. We are presently in Vietnam and planning to go back to Thailand again.

How likely is it, after 2 years of going back and forth, to be denied a Double Entry Tourist Visa twice in a row (within the next 12 months) in Vientiane? We'd love to stay for about 8-12 months in Thailand before going back to Vietnam one last time and probably moving to South America after that.

Vietnam is so much better for Visa than Thailand. No trouble at all, come as often as you want, renewal is super easy. Thailand could learn a thing or two about Visas from Vietnam!

BTW, we do not work in any country, just enjoying being real Tourists for a few years.

Thanks,

If anyone is wondering about the Internet speed and connection options in Cuenca and Ecuador in general, I've found this interesting link:

http://www.gringosabroad.com/ecuador-internet-2013/

Very interesting Topic as my wife and I are moving to Ecuador in about a year or so.

Any other recommendation of interesting cities to live in?

So nothing, no one heard or know anything about that school??

Hello,

I'm looking to take some Thai lessons and came across Talk Talk Language but never heard anything about them.

Anyone has some experience with this school?

Thanks!

I was also looking to potentially rent there but also getting turned off by reports about the noise issue. Also read some very bad reviews about the internet connection. Anybody knows if you can get your own, private connection installed?

My wife and I stayed at The Opium, which is just up the road, for over 9 months so I can add more information to Pom66's comment.

Their Internet is fantastic, the best and fastest I've seen at any hotel in CM. Fiber Optic, 30 mbps Download/15-20 mbps Upload. The staff is excellent, very helpful, speak pretty good English (Mr Boom, the owner, speaks perfect English and is always very eager to help! Great guy!) Very, very clean and new. The prices are comparable to Viangbua but the hotel is much newer (I've seen both rooms and facilities at Viangbua) and it can even be lower on monthly, long term rental. I couldn't recommend The Opium more! I would (and will!) stay there again, no hesitation! Viangbua Mansion versus The Opium? The Opium hands down!

I agree with most of the comments made before about Viangbua, so I won't repeat the same things. I've know people staying at Viangbua for many months and what they described is pretty much spot on with the above comments. We ate at their restaurant there on the first floor many times, really liked their Club Sandwich, nice break from daily Thai food. The waitresses were very friendly. I've also used the internet there several time while enjoying a coffee at their Coffe bar and it's definitely not as fast as The Opium.

I love the area! The Thanin Market is awesome and the food excellent and very diversified. I ate food from there most days and never got sick. The food goes very fast and is cooked 3 times a day. For dinner, pick something up around 16H30 and it will be hot and very fresh. The place is very clean as per Thai standard. Actually, I only got sick once in Thailand and it was at the "nicest, cleanest" Western restaurant I ate at! There is also a small diner on the other side of the road from the Seven Eleven near the Opium that serve some great food! It's owned by 3 sisters and they cook some of the best Thai food we enjoyed in Thailand. Nothing fancy, just excellent Thai food cooked with love and served with a smile!

As for the songteows or Tuktuk, never had any problems getting a ride from and to the area, daytime as well as nightime. Getting one before 7am might be a problem though but just get the hotel to call one for you and one will show up pronto!

All in all, great area away from the hordes of tourists, would absolutely recommend The Opium but you could do a hell of a lot worse than Viangbua Mansion!

Enjoy your time in CM!

I was going to take the overnight train to Don Mueang to catch my flight to Ho Chi Minh but they cancelled the train to Bangkok until December.

So I'm looking to take the overnight First Class bus with NakhonChai Air Bus to Bangkok. I looked everywhere but can't find the info on if they make a stop at DM (or anywhere close)

Of course I could fly but tickets are 4 times more expensive than the bus the date and time I could fly in.

Anyone has any experience with this?

Thanks for the feedback.

The studios seems very nice so I might still consider it for 3-6 months.

But another important question is: Is the area safe?

I never felt unsafe in CM and I lived in many different areas. Any different there?

Actually, Thighlander, PP Condo is exactly where i was looking for! Thanks for your advice!

Hello,

I've been in Chiang Mai for over a year but I'm not familiar at all with the neighborhood around the Railway Station. I decided to stay another year and saw some very nice, newer studios for rent there, very cheap. But not sure why so I figure it might potentially be a bad area of Chiang Mai.

I've been around there before but basically just driving around or for catching a train.

Anybody with experience living there or experience with the area?

Thanks!

Well, I wish I would've found this thread before I booked my room...

I just booked a room for 2 days at the Douangpraseuth Hotel, which is the closest hotel near the Consulate... Thought this was very convenient. Anybody has experience staying at this place?

Any recommendation for food?