bangarang

24 minutes ago, steve187 said:

no letter would be required for a Thai wife 60 day extension

letter may be required for any further short term extensions

Lots of people lately were getting confused with the tourist visa news and embassy letters for extensions of stay I noticed, so I just wanted to confirm that it does not apply to us as I was not asked for it and just got my extension today. Hopefully the land borders open back up by mid june.

Dont forget to look for the 90day reporting (TM47) location and report foreigner living (TM30). Its by the pen shop across from the main building where the bikes usually park. Officer said they opened that part up today.

Any idea how this affects our regular border-runs on a non-o multi visa if we are a citizen of one of the countries on that list?

Im asking because im a US citizen and have until april 14th to do a border run for a new 90-day stamp. I would most-likely go to the andaman club by Ranong.

Thanks @anto I was just curious because I just booked my flight moments ago hoping nothing had changed. Glad to hear its business as usual. I always stay at the Avalon as well. Perfect location! No need for taxis. just a nice brisk walk to the bus station and the consulate.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I know 1,000 would be too high but like I mentioned it was the first time in 5 years this has happened so I really had no idea. But thanks for the advice on a MUCH lower amount. I thought 100 would be offensive but I know that I can go much lower in the future. Not sure if I will be marked as you say for the future because I will have to go Laos next time in 5months, so I figure I wouldnt be back to Ranong Immigration for 8-10mo so im sure its fine and its a 1-off time thing but at least I have the info for next time.

Also thanks for the #1178 immigration hotline. I will definitely give a call next time if that happens. I really had no idea who I could call about the situation but I will keep it handy for next time. Yeah it seemed really bizarre why I couldn't leave.

Thanks guys for the backup advice for the future. Thats why I try to help out posting my experiences so at least you know that there is a guy there doing this and you guys offer some advice. Nice that we all help each other in a place that tries to take advantage of us at every moment possible.

Cheers!

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share the experience I just had to prepare any other fellow travelers. This morning I went to the Andaman club pier to catch the first boat to do a visa run. I have been doing the Ranong visa run for the past 5 years without incident. I have a Multi Non O family visa. The guy told me that I cannot do visa run anymore because I do too much I think. It was a bit hard to understand his english but it seems like he was making excuses. Another american on some other type of visa had no issue at the same time while my guy was explaining that I could not do a visa run. He stated its the law for many years, blah blah blah... as I have been doing this for 5 years this just seemed strange. But the girl in the black tshirt which I think is his assistant pulled me a side and not directly but pretty much told me to put money in my passport as he would accept this time. I was shocked but she said " up to you" as to how much to put in. I just put in 1,000thb and went on my way because I made a whole trip to travel with family and my stamp expired the following day.

I dont know if anyone has had any similar experiences lately or if I was singled out for this because I was early and they thought a lone foreigner at the time was easy to extort but I just wanted to warn you all that this did just happen at this point so be aware. 

Also, if any of you have any advice for the future as this is the first time I had ever been in a position to give tea money. Do I have my wife report this? Anything I should do or just move along. I know this is Thailand and I know this stuff happens but this extortion is so dirty especially since I had a proper family visa.

Cheers!

Illuzion, White Room, VIP Room and Seduction are probably the best in Patong for entertainment value. Lowest ratio of hookers I think is White Room but then again this is Thailand. If a girl approaches you first its a good chance she is a hooker and the other ones with hawkish stares. The ones without those traits are what you are looking for.

For the people against the death penalty, please read this story and have a rethink.

I am against the death penalty period. Too many innocent people killed without proper appeals in the justice system.

Although im sure this man will get murdered in jail from fellow inmates though. His actions are just revolting.

And yet they are decriminalizing yaba... <deleted>...

Huawei Pro 9 to be released in June. Will sell for about 23000 baht leaves the other 2 smart phones for dead in performance and costs. Why buy an underachieving Mercedes Benz if you getter better outcomes from Toyota Camry Hybrid is an analogy of what I am saying.

Agreed!

Just saw the the P9 on youtube and see that they partnered with Leica for their cams. I cant wait to try that out.

I have the Huawei GR5 and I love it. I am so happy I moved from apple phones. Macbooks are my laptop of choice being a designer though. Mine was only 9,000 and I am so happy with it. You could get the Huawei Mate 8 and I think its 20,000... Personally if you're going android I prefer Huawei over Samsung.

That sounds about right... mine is 4-5k per month and we usually have 2 aircons running nighttime only and my office room 24hr aircon so for 8 hours there are 3 running at the same time.

I was out partying at a local thai disco until 5am the other night in Thalang Phuket. Phuket town has a couple spots open until 3am (thai disco) and Patong can also go into 4-5am as well. If you want late night party action its better to go to the party locations and not the laid back places. You want Bangkok, Pattaya, Patong, Koh Phangan (full/new moon) or Phi Phi Island... not sure about Koh Samui... havent been there yet in my 5 years in the country.

And tomorrows headline... 3 Chinese nationals working (job reserved for thais) illegally for tour company in Phuket detained by police to await deportation.

Not odd at all. Everywhere you go in this country, they want a copy of your passport. Banks, hotels, I have even had to give a copy at HomePro when I bought a new air conditioner (not really sure why).

Seriously? at home pro? haha you must have been up to something more than buying an A/C unit... perhaps signing up for that rewards program?

But yeah I get banks and hotels asking because it needs to be reported and verified by authorities such as the immigration reporting and banks for security reasons and possibly communicating to foreign banks like the US... this is a different situation though.

But all that a side... is there anything of risk in submitting that passport copy.

But also It seemed odd because its like if you were a thai company and you outsourced to India... you wouldn't charge the indian thai taxes when they invoiced you for their services. As far as im aware the person doing the invoicing is responsible for taxing and then reporting that to their own government at tax time.

If it was for taxes it would probably be more than 300 baht. Perhaps there was deduction done by the sending or receiving bank.

Nope, specific reason was taxes. I do have a thai account and it was free bank to bank transfer. Is that why? Because I have thai bank?

And also a follow up question...

If I invoiced for 5000thb for a design and the company sent 4,700thb to my account as a result of taxes... does that make sense? I find it odd that the company I did work for as a contractor overseas would be charging me tax when I sent the invoice. Im a company charging for services. Because im not a thai company I didn't add tax but they felt inclined to send a lower amount due to thai taxes? Is that right?

Hello,

If im working freelance for a thai company while im in another country, is it normal for the thai company to ask for a copy the foreigners passport? I feel like its too personal and not needed but im not sure its safe to give or common practice. I understand a thai freelancer giving a copy of ID card would be normal. But if a foreigner is doing the work in another country, why would the thai company need a copy of my passport?

Any help or guidance on this would be very appreciated. Thank you.

"The seizure at Chiang Mai international airport’s carpark area came after police received a tipoff that there was an attempt to smuggle drugs on board a flight."

Sounds like someone was pissed that they didnt get ther proper cut.

I thought the visa on arrival stamp for Americans/Australians/Europeans/etc... was free. When did you have to pay 1000thb? Or is that something completely different? I have been on an Non-O visa the past 4 years so maybe im out of the loop? Im curious because I have some friends visiting next month.

Attractions? In my experience compared on a world scale, about 30 minutes would be sufficient.

LoL... it takes me 30min to drive from my home in Thalang to Patong on any given Saturday night.

You could buy a new suzuki swift for 400k. Its kind of like the poor-man's mini cooper... in a way. I would love to get one but the wife needs a SUV for the family first.

And here I was thinking this story was about the countdown to when the first market stall would have a "master" copy of the new star wars.... lol