bangarang

Depends on where you're coming from but for me I always have people bring me some proper american specialty seasonings and spices for steaks and other meats. McCormick in thailand can only take you so far...

So you have to blur the glass of alcohol only if its being drunk but not drinking it is ok to show the glass and same with guns... but yet its ok to show the act of rape....

@merjin

I wouldn't really say its bad behavior as just they seemed condescending. Given what thais employers put up with in this country I highly doubt any such complaint would do anything as they are volunteers and are lucky to have the extra help its just a shame that they are not well informed about the processes. But thanks for the email, I didnt know they had a complaint hotline. Good to know!

Your are correct - best to go upstairs for anything longer than the regular 30 day extension.

And yes, I often overhear these volunteers offering inappropriate information to extension applicants. It really annoys me when some (not all) of these volunteers talk about a visa renewal (nonsense) when it's an extension application. No point in me trying to correct that misinformation as the volunteers get annoyed and the newbie applicant always believes the volunteers. These days I just keep my mouth shut.

The best part was that when I was done I wanted to say to the sassy lady... hey, I did get the 60 days. I guess I was hoping she was ask about it to maybe get herself more informed to be able to help others, but she only came back with a snide "yeah I knew you would get it. My partner just didnt get it..." yeah, thanks for the help.

LoL... totally blew my mind and that was the exact moment my faith was lost in their help 100%.

The kicker was when I was about to leave the brief remark and she said I could avoid all of this with the Thai Elite card... I wanted to say... I think If I had the money for that I wouldn't have to deal with you... but just shrugged it off and walked away.

I just wanted to share my experience today with our friendly immigration team...

Sorry if this gets long but this is my story and hopefully you do you're homework before going to find out whats possible on your visa because there is a high chance you these so called helpers will just leave you completely stressed out spouting out nonsense thinking they know everything. I got 5 completely different answers regarding getting a simple extension. But I only asked these nimwits because I didnt know the forms I needed to fill out.

Day 1:

I have a Non-O multi entry visa and my last stamp was set to expire in 4 days. I went to immigration to juice out those extra 60 days before heading over for a new one since I dont have the money in the bank. I asked the aussie information guy what forms I needed to extend my stay based on marriage and family for another 60 days. He seemed puzzled at first but eventually knew what I was asking. I filled out the forms to report my address and then another set to take up stairs. When my number was called for the address reporting the thai lady at the desk told me 60 days is not possible and that it has to be done in 2 steps... first is a 30 day stamp, then after that I come back for a 60 day stamp. I didnt have my landlord contract and copy of her ID at the time so I had to regroup and come back the next day. Strange how the information is different but ok.

Day 2:
This is where it gets really annoying. The sassy black lady and some british guy were working the information desk down stairs today. Here i get 2 completely different versions of mis-information.

Sassy Black Lady:
She said that as of 2 weeks ago there is only 30 day extensions, but I will have to leave my passport and apply for new visa upstairs. Thinking to myself I had no idea you can get a new visa inside the country but she insisted they do. And leaving my passport for an extension stamp seemed excessive but I remembered last year I requested the same thing and ignored her and they took care of everything including reporting my address. She also kept on mentioning changing from a tourist visa, but I never said or indicated anything about having a visa and my thai wife and half thai daughter were standing right next to me.

British Guy:
He said but also checked with someone behind the desk and came back with information also about getting new visa but I would only be allowed a 7 day extension only to make up for the time (my passport would stay at the office?).

Both people said my 60 day extension on a Non-O stamp from ranong would not be possible. I decided to just go upstairs because I was getting no where with these mis-informed people and a different british guy said I can get extension but only 30 days. Thinking of cutting a 30day loss on a visa I decided to just proceed because it was better than scrambling to find a flight in a couple days to KL or Laos. He has me go downstairs to get the slip for updating my address so when I see the sassy black lady I just ask for number to update address no other words exchanged. Go back upstairs and present my complete documents. The Thai officer calls me over along with my wife and daughter. Says nothing to us looking over the document and I just decided to ask... "So how many days will I get with this extension?" he replied "60 days"....

In total I get 5 completely different answers... but the end result was the one I was expecting. The lesson here is to ignore the advice of these so called immigration information helpers because they dont know anything other than maybe helping tourists. They seem to know nothing above having a tourist visa.

Avoid down stairs as much as you can. All you have to do is update and report your address there. After that go upstairs, don't give that sassy black lady. Im sure outside of immigration she is amazing at parties, but inside immigration she is a nightmare making you think that maybe there is a new immigration rule you missed when in fact she doesnt really know what she is talking about.

Thanks for listening!

Cheers!

Quite an amusing thread, about this lady. I don't have to go to that office, but if I would have to, I would almost feel disappointed not to be hassled by her, you're fully prepared for it mentally, and if it doesn't happen, it's all for nothing.

Would "excusez moi, no English speak" be the easiest way to disable her?

LoL!

My first run in with her was last year, and just had my second today! I refer to her as the sassy black lady. Totally gave me mis-information and said that I couldnt extend my latest Non-O based on marriage stamp for 60 days and they could do it for 30 days maybe. She kept mentioning something about changing tourist to marriage visa and I never even mentioned anything about being a tourist. The english guy next to her said I can only do an extension for 7 days and would keep my passport to switch visas?!? I forgot my landlords rental contract for the updating address part, but the aussie guy said 60 days ok and the thai lady who found that I was missing my rental contract said I have to do extension in 2 parts... first 30 days for 1900thb and then after 30 days I can do 60 for another 1900thb...

I just updated my address and went upstairs and even the information guy only told me 30 days was possible. I just did it anyway and when the Thai officer had me at his desk I asked how many days this extension was good for and he said 60day... what a nightmare these "helpers" are.

I get 600mg ibuprofen without prescription at my local pharmacy no problem.

Who needs to restore order to the people when you have more important things to do like stripping away army and police ranks over the course of months.... time well spent.

And apparently during the "7 days of danger" campaigns we always seem to have the fewest incidents... something is wrong with the numbers in thailand... which is it?

And now there was a bomb in bangkok... coincidence?

I will be absolutely clear about my feelings when a tragedy such as this occurs.

The ONLY people who should be in the immediate area of such a disaster are MEDICAL, FIRE, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT personnel. NOT MEDIA! There is NOTHING that the media can add to this kind of situation at this time - NOTHING! They should GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY, and let the aforementioned people do their important jobs!

The details of what happened will be investigated by the experts AFTER the dead and injured are attended to. The media can not add anything by sensationalism to that effort! It is MUCH too early for the media to learn anything of importance until after the experts investigate.

Yes, in case you're not sure, I HATE THE MODERN DAY MEDIA!!

I disagree. The media play and extremely important role in these situations.

Come on, Tropo! What "important role" does the media play? Sensational video of dead and injured people, and property destruction? We KNOW that. We don't need to see it to feel the impact of that! As I said, the media should just get the hell out of the way, and report FACTS, when they become available, that pertain to the source and motivation for this apparent intentional act. The media can NOT solve the crime. Their video and audio reports in the moments immediately following such an event can report the general fact that a massive explosion has occurred, with many people dead an injured. Beyond that, they can contribute NOTHING, at this point. GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Got to agree. This is a crime scene and the nature of explosive devices is for bits of evidence to be propelled hundreds of meters from the center. All the media are doing at this point is traipsing through a huge evidence field. They should leave that job to the authorities.

Another point of view is that the media outrages the online thai community and that will push the police to do their job better. Thai "netizens" seem to get the police to do their job when they get outraged. Atleast thats what I have noticed in my 4 years here.

Sympathies to the family and friends of those lost and injured, and god-speed and god's-truth to the authorities investigating!!

Oh....!!! AND BAD WISHES TO ANY MEDIA THAT DISTORTS THE TRUTH

Like the media has a choice anyways.

If only the US would divert the money it gives to thailand and keep it for its own citizens...

I know nothing about this school. However, as a general rule-of-thumb, I've often found that if a company has a poorly made website they're likely to have a poorly-made company.

With that thinking then 95% of companies in Thailand are poorly made because nearly every website I have seen here is terrible.

Germany

UK

China

Thailand

where is the free Internet?

Are you suggesting for a moment that the interweb is no more free in Germany and the UK than in China and Thailand?

Well, in Thailand I never went on a page that was blocked, but I am not into discussing the royal family or gambling.

In UK I read in the newspaper (no own experience) that they block everything p0rn and they start now to block hate speech (which is a great excuse to block other political opinions).

Last time I was in Germany thepiratebay was blocked, considering how many video games, music, books are illegal/banned in Germany I guess there is a lot blocked on the internet as well.

China is blocking Gmail (or all Google) I got told which I would notice, which is strange considering how much censoring Google is doing already.

But as I told I never saw any news in Thailand blocked. I am sure there are things blocked but I think 99% are casinos and red shirt propaganda.

Still I think it is wrong but not that hot, shocking news that some Asian country is blocking some content on the internet.

Try going to the Daily Mail's website from the UK

In other news the economy is said to be rapidly slipping. What leader can bring happiness with a falling economy? I've never seen a leader stay popular unless the economy was good. I think that's going to be his Achilles heel.

At the moment I am enjoying the slipping value of the THB. When Yingluck was PM it was 28thb per USD... horrible times! Now its nearly 34thb per USD... Happy Times! I welcome Prayut to stay as long as possible according to the currency trend im noticing.

As a great railway enthusiast I only hope I only hope I live long enough to see these projects completed. Long overdue. 2017 and 2019 completion dates will make me 74 and 76 yo! I better get more exercise! Maybe become a cycling enthusiast too!

Cycling Enthusiast in Thailand? Do you want to die?

Kill somebody and get a $200 fine.

It's not even $200...

Local Drunk go home... The current conversion rate is $223.78.

Also you should wear footwear with rubber bottoms unless you want to re-wire your house properly which it seems like most thai houses are not.

The electric shock lets you know its working.

is the 1155 meant to say "Ha Ha" no help here! Might as well just use the number 5555

1111 for serious life-threatening matters

5555 for anything else

I see another drop in TATs "quality tourists"coming soon if it actually goes through. Keep the westerners out but bring in more Chinese... then complain about how disrespectful they are and wonder where all the quality tourists went.

Well you have to get in the far right lane if you are coming up to a U-Turn you will be using. That is certainly one valid reason to be there.

Or also making a right hand turn...

This is news because.....?