sunluvr

Looking for an effective but reasonably priced software for managing reservations/bookings for medium sized guesthouse. Have tried Angelfish B&B and find it pretty good but very pricey. Also trying out RezEasy by Hallisoft but am not finding it too suitable.Any other suggestions/comments are welcomed.

The story on Nanai outside the Family Mart is a totally different story. It seems the Tessa Bahn rerouted a drainage pipe across a Thai gentleman's property without his permission so he has shut off the supply where it reaches his property. The net effect is that the road floods outside the Family Mart and adjacent to the estate. Said Tessa Bahn has apparently offered money which has been rejected, stay tuned. All sounds reminiscent of the incident in Rawaii where the road was widened without permission!.

As I drove through that flooded area yesterday with a seemingly knowledgeable expat, he explained about that to me and said the Thai gentleman was seeking 50 million baht to re-open up the drainage pipe in order to alleviate the problem. I suspect the rejected offer was somewhat less than that..

VERY intrusive and ANNOYING!!!

my 2 baht's worth...

The actual cost ended up being 1900 baht, shipped from the Post Office in Pattaya, for anyone that's interested...

Post office plus bubble wrap.. Dont know phuket to Patts price but Phuket to CM was something like 2300 for <125 and 2600 for >125..

Worth removing mirrors and really bubble wrapping them as they do get dinged up a bit.

I want to have a 125cc motorbike shipped from Pattaya to Phuket town and wondering what the best way to do so is and the approximate cost.

I searched before I posted, and have just searched further, without any luck...

Try searching. There are at least two recent threads on the subject.

I'm a Canadian returning to Phuket next month, and I hope to set up a Thai limited company in the hope of acquiring a business there. Wondering if any of you have experiences with lawyers in the Patong/Phuket area that you would recommend for assisting in what I want to do.

Reply here or email me privately if you wish...

Thanks.

I would avoid Ottawa (even tho I live less than 2 hours drive from there) and deal with Vancouver. When I applied for a non-immigrant O visa last year, Ottawa wouldn't even consider accepting my application - said they didn't issue them, so I dealt with Vancouver and they were very accommodating - 1 day turnaround service.

I'm in Canada. Would Ottawa or Vancouver office be more easy going?

Sorry, i've been away from TV for a few weeks... but unfortunately no, his visa application was denied... for many reasons, most of them I would say were invalid reasons but I know there's no point in arguing... I don't think they even read any of the supporting letters I wrote to accompany his application, or if they did read them, they didn't believe a word of it.. it's been very disappointing for both of us.. but we will manage, I will be back in Thailand later this year and at the beginning of next year he will be able to apply for permanent residency in Canada as my spouse, a totally different application process and thankfully, not through the embassy office in BKK but in Singapore... its a longer approval process but with a much higher success rate.. and never any further need for a visa...

I know this a bit late for the poster, but did he get the visa. My experience with Bangkok Embassy is terrible. Supervisor Mr Anderson is incompetent and has poor staff

Unless applicant clearly has a good job money in the bank and property a visa is unlikely. Staff seem unable to look at other aspects of an application. Also they discriminate against Lao persons.....think they are want to flee a communist state!

no.

*wonders why one would wait hours to find out rather than taking a minute to check out their wbesites for the answer..*

I hope to fly from Phnom Penh to Phuket without a stopover

at Soyouwannapoo airport.Anyone know if Bangkok Airways or Airasia may have direct flts?

Thanks much!

mel2surf

maybe this belongs in one of the travel related forums but i think it's more appropriate to the gay forum to start...

My Thai bf is about to apply for a temporary resident (tourist) visa to come to Canada to visit me this summer and I have a general idea what's required in order to apply but wondering if there is anyone out there that has had direct experience in doing the same thing... either successfully or not... I have downloaded the application form and the guidelines/instructions already... and I am aware of the kinds of things that they look for in the Thai applicant - i.e. any property ownership, letter from employer indicating job will be available upon his return, proof of personal financial situation, close family ties, etc...

depending on the response I get from here, I may provide more details about our situation here, or do it privately. Feel free to reply here or send me private message and we can discuss further one-on-one...

cheers..

A couple of further comments to your response,

re the underage workers, I doubt that will ever change...

re the new location being any different from the 'noise and dirt in paradise', with all the other ongoing contruction in that new area now, that's not likely to change either for some time....

The opening event was basically for the other bar owners and some select clients. As you may or may not know,the gay bar operators are a close lot and this acts to restrict movement of the boys between the bars in the Paradise zone. By ensuring that alternative employment is limited, the working conditions can be kept in favour of the operators.

And now a question for the bar operator. Will you be able to offer a guarantee that your bar will not employ underage workers?

It seems a great many bars in Paradise have minors in their employ now and it is uncomfortable for some patrons, particularly the under 30 types.

Not such a bad idea to get away from the Paradise high rent zone. Depressing area just because of the noise and dirt. Best of luck.

I'm quite familiar with the boy bar scene in paradise and the way the owners control their 'staff' but no need to go into details about that here .... this afternoon I tried locating the new location according to the map on the jamesdeanbar website but was unable to find it.... i'm sure i was in the right place but i'm guessing that there is no sign up and during the day when it's closed its just one of the 100 or more new shops opening there with the metal front door all closed up until they open in the evening....

maybe i'll try having another look again tonite... would be nice to find an alternative to the existing paradise area...

seems like a kind of backwards marketing strategy tho, if your intention is to generate future business from the general gay population, why focus your opening towards your existing 'competition' and not your potential new customers?

The opening event was basically for the other bar owners and some select clients. As you may or may not know,the gay bar operators are a close lot and this acts to restrict movement of the boys between the bars in the Paradise zone. By ensuring that alternative employment is limited, the working conditions can be kept in favour of the operators.

And now a question for the bar operator. Will you be able to offer a guarantee that your bar will not employ underage workers?

It seems a great many bars in Paradise have minors in their employ now and it is uncomfortable for some patrons, particularly the under 30 types.

Not such a bad idea to get away from the Paradise high rent zone. Depressing area just because of the noise and dirt. Best of luck.

i might have been encouraged to attend, had you posted notice about it BEFORE the event rather than after...

You have to collect your luggage AND clear it through Customs at your first entry point into the U.S., regardless of your final destination. You then check in your luggage again for your onward flight. This applies even if your connecting flight was an international one and you were simply transiting to another flight out of the country. The only exception I have heard to this is when transiting through Anchorage, Alaska, as it is only a refuelling stop and passengers do not get off the plane.

Cathay Pacific is partnered with American Airlines if I book HK-JFK-MCO

Will they move our luggage to the MCO flight, just letting us change terminals, or do we have to collect our luggage ourselves no matter what? I cant remember but I have a suspicion that all luggage must go through customs at the entry point and not final destination????

Thanks.

wow - what a great site!

I see a few places under construction on the beach road in Patong that I recall seeing at this time 1 year ago now...

Send your visa application by courier to the Thai Consulate in Vancouver - they will process it either the same day or next day and courier back to you right away, so you have sufficient time now... I dealt with them last November getting mine and they were very fast turnaround. Although on the return, my passport/visa disappeared in the Vancouver post office for almost a week, but turned up eventually before my departure date, and this appeared to be no fault of the Thai consulate - Canada Post lost track of it temporarily...

http://www.thaicongenvancouver.org/

Ahh ok, that's good to know... no big deal either... another trip to the Phuket immigration office before I leave is not a problem... now I will know for nest time.. My original thinking was that I could get the re-entry permit at Suvarnabhummi immigration control gate on the way home, but I guess that option doesn't exist any more...

You could of applied for your re-entry permit at the same time you got your extension.

A re-entry permit is valid for the length of your permit to stay. It has blanks for planned travel dates on the form but those do not matter once they put the stamp in your passport. You just choose a date to fill in blanks.

You should get your re-entry permit in Phuket.

TM 8 download here: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/pdf/tm8.pdf

Today I went to the Phuket immigration office to get my first 1-year retirement extension on my O-A visa. I had gone to BKK a week ago and obtained a certifying letter from my embassy there confirming that I had the qualifying pension income. I went there not totally prepared with everything, but I had my passport, pension letter and Thai bankbook. When I got there about 1/2 hour after they opened in the morning, it was getting busy, but they have a separate counter to handle retirement extensions and a few other things and it was not as busy as the main counter where it seemed most were processing short term extensions. It wasnt long before I was assisted, and even though I didnt even have the proper form or the necessary photograph, the clerk provided the form, helped me fill it out, told me I also needed a photo for the form and photocopies of my bankbook and passport, both of which were available in a small building adjacent to the main immigration building... A 5 minute visit there and a run to the nearest ATM to get the 1900 baht fee and I was back at the immigration office with everything I needed. When I went back in, I noticed by then they had two English speaking caucasians working there, sort of screening everyone as they first came in, finding out what they were there for and making sure they had all the necessary documents before they got in the queue which I thought was quite helpful. I didnt have to re-queue when I went back in, and in about another 10 minutes, I was all processed and out of there with my visa extension approved. From beginning to end, it only took about 45 minutes, including my run to the ATM...

On the way out, I asked the clerk about getting a re-entry permit, as I will make a return trip to Canada and back before my visa expires and I wanted to know if I could get the permit in BKK on my way back or if I had to get it in Phuket, which according to the new regulations that I read, I understand the permit has to be obtained in the area that I am residing (which is Patong/Phuket) and the response I got was "either is ok... up to you..". That phrase is all too familiar to me here in Thailand and I think I will be seeking further clarification before I need to get the permit, or just not take any chances and get it here in Phuket before I leave on my way back to Canada.

All in all, it was an easy experience and less complicated or time-consuming than I expected. Now I only need to repeat that process once a year before it expires and need no more visas or visa runs to continue living here... i like it...

you might also try gayromeo as a resourcre, as there's currently almost 500 vietnamese registered there....

I want to go to Vietnam for 4 or 5 days. I have no idea where to go. Saigon? Hanoi?

I am not really interested in museums etc. I want to meet Viet lads. Is is mainly a money boy thing or can you meet normal guys, students etc?

Where is the 'scene'? saunas? anybody know of a 'gay hotel' or can you just take people back anywhere? (I am not looking for backpacker hotels and can pay for reasonable quality)

Any info welcomed.

Eddy

Was in Vietnam during March this year in both HCMC(saigon) and Hanoi, saigon comes off a bit more relaxed and cosmopolitan then Hanoi for me was very conservative, as its the bigger business city of the two.

There is no totally gay clubs that I found out about in vietnam have a look at uptopia website they have a more info on clubs, saunas, hotels and cruise spots . A few gay friendly ones (allthough there was one sauna in Hanoi but never went there(was told by a friend who went there it was quite busy), they tend to get shutdown now and then, most of the people I met were through gaydar, didint run into a money boy all the time I was there.

I used a gay tour guide while I was there for sight seeing tours (not sure if i can post the link to his website hee so email pm me for it if you want it). Was cheap provided transport (motobike) to get around the city or can hire a car for you, saw places most probably wouldnt see if i was just doing normaly tours or LPing it. Went to couple of interesting bars (str8 ones) can take you to gay ones if you want.

Taking back depends on the hotel they will nearly always ask for the persons id though. You can get reasonable hotels for 30 to 50 dollars.

Best thing for me was meeting people through gaydar and meeting mates of theres , let me know if you want more info on somthing

Question 1 was not a Yes or No one.

1) Will the 1-year extension begin from the end of my 90 day visa expiry OR the date I apply for the extension?

1. Yes

2. Yes

When you have your annual extension of stay, get a re-entry permit from an immigration office before you leave Thailand to keep that permission to stay alive.

--

Maestro

I'm in Thailand from Canada on a 90 day non-immigrant O visa, and I'm staying here for 4 months this trip. I entered Thailand at the end of November, and once I've been here for around 69 days (90-21) I will be applying for a 1 year retirement extension, being over 50 and having a qualifying pension income, and have a few questions related to my extension.

1) Will the 1-year extension begin from the end of my 90 day visa expiry or the date I apply for the extension?

2) I intend to return to Canada for about 7 months at the end of March, obtaining a re-entry permit before I leave, returning to Thailand again around next November for another 4-6 months... and do the same thing each year after that... will I be able to apply for the 1-year extension each year in the last 21 days of the 1-year period without requiring another visa?

I'm here from Canada on a 90 day O-A visa and plan on applying for a 1-year retirement extension within the last 30 days and have a few questions related to that:

1) I am living in Phuket and when it comes time to apply for the extension, I will need a letter from the Canadian embassy verifying that I have the qualifying pension income - is the only way I can obtain such a letter to go the BKK embassy in person to get it?

2) Is there an immigration office in Phuket where I can make application for the extension or do I have to go to BKK to do that?

3) I remember reading about having to report your address every 90 days - if you change your address within that 90 days are you required to report the change immediately or just notify within every 90 day period what your address is?

Unlike BA, Eva Air and Thai Airways have flown out of LHR to Bangkok tonight.

BKK Bangkok BR 68 EVA Air 9:30 PM Take Off 9:48 PM T-3 En Route

747

BKK Bangkok TG 917 Thai Airways International 9:35 PM Take Off 9:25 PM T-3 En Route

On-time 744

Wonder what these passengers will be flying into. Hope it's all cleared up for them when they land.

I'm sitting in HK, enroute from Canada, was supposed to be on Cathay flight CX713 leaving to BKK at 910am this morning - they are showing it as delayed until about noon 12:00 pm, but no further word available from Cathay at the moment... so I am anxiously waiting to see if I can get to BKK today....

if i come to patong or near, to live, then can you tell me some long term gym prices..yearly or monthly. im after a gym with free weights,good and heavy machines,open late,air con,music and good value as im a cheap charlie haha.which is the one for me???thanks

ps if it has any hot women or any women go then is a bonus.

Phuket Gym aka Patong Gym info here - http://phuket-gym.com/ much less info on their website compared to a year ago... last winter, monthly rates were 1500 and i think daily rates were 150... they had aircon, but only running in the afternoon, not in the morning when I usually went there.. hot women and men, depending on your tastes...