Ken

From the Thaivisa link: http://www.thaivisa.com/extensionsextension-based-on-support-of-a-child.html

It appears that from the information that one cannot get an extension based on support of a Thai child, but if 50 years old or older, one can get an extension based on Thai child supporting parent. Indeed, I know of one Farang in Korat who has been getting his extension this way for several years.

Ok. here is your "fresh" report. My UK friend and an Aussie mate just completed the Nong Khai"visa run". No problem. In fact they Talked with some other Farang who went yesterday. and again no problem. So much for the Unsubstantiated rumors.

Sent from my R8111 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The Thai/Laos border is currently closed. No links sorry.

Edit: Closed to non-Thais.

Not true, I crossed at Nongkhai Friday at 3pm, can show you a Visa stamp if i must....I am not Thai.....

Thank you for the "first hand" report. Sometimes it gets tiresome reading some of these reports based on hearsay and bar talk. My UK friend is on his way to Nong Khai today, hoping to be able to cross the bridge tomorrow. He is on a multi entry O visa and his current 90 day permission to stay expires tomorrow the 25th.

Thanks for the replies folks. As it turned out she has already gone to Nong Khai and somehow managed to exit Thailand on the US passport (with no discussion with any immigration official with what she wanted to do) and then "turn around" without stamping in to Laos and re-enter Thailand on her Thai passport. Apparently no questions asked, so don't know if they just didn't notice or didn't care or what. I'm thinking she was just lucky and I'll make an assumption that the action won't cause any future problem.

My friend's Thai wife is a dual national with USA and Thai passport. She recently returned from an overseas trip and mistakenly entered Thailand using her USA passport instead of her Thai passport. To sort this out she wants to go to Nong Khai and exit Thailand with her USA passport. Then she wants to do a quick turn around without actually going thru Laos immigration, and immediately return to Thailand on her Thai passport. Will she be allowed to do this?

Ok so here's the big question... and again, thanks for the thoughts.

Is it possible to apply for a new passport and request they expedite the process?

Although I realize there are plenty of things to do in BKK... ;-)

10 days of waiting could be costly to say the least. =)

You will still have your old passport. They don't keep it. You cam still do want ever you want to do. Also you they will keep the new one for 90 days so there is no rush to pick it up either.

I renewed my passport a year and half ago using the Khon Kaen outreach program. I asked for the EMS option to post me the new passport. They did keep my old passport which was returned via EMS with the new passport, about 10 days later. So indeed I was without a passport for that short period, but wasn't a big deal for me. I am guessing that if I had chosen to pick up the new passport in Bangkok, that I could have kept the old passport. The old passport was returned with the standard holes punched in it to invalidate it.

Found this link for the Thai license written test. http://apps.dlt.go.th/driving_hp/ELearnning/E-Learning2.swf

Most of the questions are not complete, because the setence does not fit in the line allocated in the flash application. I seriously hope in real life it looks different.

Worked fine on my PC, could see all Q no problems. I got 24 out of 30 without watching the vids or reading the help stuff. Anyone know the pass mark? Be embarrassing if I failed, been driving for about 30 years.

24 out of 30 is a fail.

Don't know where you got your info, but I am told that 23 out of 30 is a pass. 22 out of 30 is a fail.

Found this link for the Thai license written test. http://apps.dlt.go.th/driving_hp/ELearnning/E-Learning2.swf

Most of the questions are not complete, because the setence does not fit in the line allocated in the flash application. I seriously hope in real life it looks different.

Worked fine on my PC, could see all Q no problems. I got 24 out of 30 without watching the vids or reading the help stuff. Anyone know the pass mark? Be embarrassing if I failed, been driving for about 30 years.

Just found the answer to my own question, you need 23 to pass, so I just got through by the skin of my teeth.

Worked fine on PC also. And I failed with only 22 correct. Oh well.

New one is $110. I did not mention cost of new passport in my reply only old one.

Sorry, read your post incorrectly.

You loose what ever is left on old US passport when you renew it. Not that big a financial loss. Just did mine 9 months early which meant I lost $5.25 out of a 10 passport that cost $70. Easy process at embassy and it was 10 days from date I applied for it when I got email telling me it had arrived.

I think the renewal fee is now $110. At least that is what it was last year for my renewal and that is what the government website states.

ok thanks everybody but found it near the market nearby tot office

in a shop selling clocks and watches

30 Thb for a can downside no adapters come with it

I've bought two cans in the past. Both came with adapters, though the lighter I was refilling didn't need them. I still have a set of the adapters (5 sizes), if you can't find, I could post to you.

I think the OP is referring to a butane type gas lighter, and that gas is usually contained in a pressurized can. Many common zippos take the fluid type gas and that is easily found, and probably 7-11. But never seen the pressurized gas at a 7.

I buy the gas in Korat. Weird, but I found it at a watch/clock shop. The shop had a stand outside where they display some repairs etc, and in the stand they had the gas. And I've seen it at more than one shop like this. What the gas has to do with watches or clocks is beyond me, but that is where I have found it.

Go to either of the malls

There is a mall at the back end of town with a lotus

or you could try the mall on the way into the city (from Bkk) that has the BIG C

Thanks for the info. I've been to both places in the past but never really looked at any of the shops outside Lotus or Big C. I'll have a look next time in town. Guess I was thinking more about finding a place like IT City in Korat, or Klang Plaza 4th floor in Korat.

There are other issues with WD enclosures as well, like on the fly encryption. If you WD housing breaks and you put the drive in an alternative one, it is empty. Besides WD drives have a terrible lifetime. I had lots of them failing. And the average turn around time is 5 weeks. You get them back with a sticker: CERTIFIED REPAIRED What the <deleted>... A week later it fails again.

Well, with that I'm glad to say that the drive is not mine, but belongs to a neighbor that I was helping. At any rate, he's stuck with the drive and at the moment it does work fine. And the enclosure that I would look for would just be a generic enclosure and not WD specific.

You could just disable the WD CD ROM (or whatever it's showing up as in device manager). That's always solved any issues with their 'Smartware' for me.

You are correct about disabling the Rom. However at the time, I just wanted to be rid of it once and for all and I wasn't sure that disabling it would solve the problem. And also, I wasn't sure that I would be disabling the enclosure ROM or something in the disk drive itself. So by removing the drive, I know the problem is solved and a new enclosure doesn't cost much.

Well, guess I solved the problem. I removed the hard drive from the enclosure and attached the drive to my computer with a USB Hard Drive Adapter. The WD Smartware was no longer there, which means that it was part of the Enclosure firmware. The hard drive in the enclosure was causing problems, such as lengthy time to recognize drive, to lengthy time to transfer files. Now, with the hard drive connected with the USB adapter, it is working properly.

Time to buy a new enclosure.

I have an external 1TB Western Digital HD that has a UDF partition that I want to remove. It's called WD Smartware and shows up as a CD ROM when I look at it under Administrative Tools...Computer Management...Storage. I'm running Windows 7 home on my computer.

I have tried all the "normal" ways to get rid of it like format. But I cannot get "format" access to this "partition". I've tried google, but so far I haven't come up with anything that works. Anyone have experience with this?

Note: I do have Linux Mint as a partition on my laptop that I could use, but my knowledge of Linux is extremely limited.

Wondering if anyone knows of an IT shop or Plaza in Chaiyaphum City?

What you would get would be a certified copy without the true and correct for the passport.

Although you would think they could do the true and correct part for a passport.

Just having copy with the embassy stamp is normally good enough.

Thanks for the clarification. I had also emailed the embassy and they just replied with pretty much the same information.

The embassy will do a certified copy of passport which will cost you $50. This will satisfy the Amphoe after you get that translated and certified by the MFA.

You should check with local Amphoe because some do not require it.

The reason I ask is because from the embassy website they say:

"Certification of True Copies of Documents

We often get requests to certify true copies of educational transcripts or diplomas, bank statements, court documents, or other such official records. Unfortunately, our offices cannot ordinarily provide certified true copies of documents. Such requests should usually be addressed to the office which issued the document in question. For example, certified true copies of academic records should be requested from the registrar of the institution that originally issued them. For more information, please consult the Department of State Travel site."

When I applied for my yellow book, I had to get a certified true copy of my passport from the US Embassy, have bio page translated into Thai and have that "legalized by the MFA.

I am thinking about getting the yellow house book and it has been mentioned that I need the "certified true copy of my passport". However I am a bit confused as to the process of "certification" at the USA embassy. I know the embassy provides notarial services as well as affidavits (sworn statements). But so called certification doesn't seem to be possible. So can anyone tell me exactly what they did at the USA embassy that met the "certification" requirement for the yellow house book?

I bought a 1 baht gold necklace on June 23rd for 20,000 Baht in Korat. The price of gold has since dropped, so 24,000 Baht seems high to me.

Does anybody know if they have an office in Korat City. I'm looking for satellite service as I live outside the city about 80 km. Emailing them has been useless with no reply.