chingmai331

Are all TRUE payment kiosks closed?  Could be  due to continued human handling etc.  I'll need to pay soon so will check out the kiosk at Tesco_lotus across from Mee Chok plaza.

And BTW, a google reviewer says 'cannot pay bill at True Regional Office'.

Would be nice, a few decimeters of rain in CM.  Kinda dry here.

I'm sure China wants the Games to continue as planned.  Obviously, if all the Western country athletes have trouble training, due to the chinese virus, and the chinese athletes can hide away and train normally, then the big medal winner will be china.

Seems so obvious to me, and i'll bet you that china is working hard behind the scenes (by offering bags of cash to the IOC leaders) to enforce the chinese  mandate of 'the Games must go on'.

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US$ 100,000, at current rates:  100000 x 32 = 3,200,000 baht.  To whomsoever is considering coming to Thailand now, I can inform you that it ain't worth 3,200,000 baht.

• Education in Thailand?  Don't be daft, man.  Schools here teach 'acceptance of authority' and following your prescribed road to life's end. 

"Noticed fewer chokes in cm, mainly due to the less frequent viewing of double yolkers on the floor of malls."

Hidden racist comment from sharktooth.

chokes = chinese

double yolkers = extra yellow people in pairs 

suggest to mods that he/she be banned till chinese virus has run its course.

90 report in person at promenda.

arrived prom 12:40, filled form TM47, available on-site.  had passport but no other doc/photos/forms etc. 

took a number, sat and waited 15 mins, was processed easily.

big crowds for tourist extensions, other needs, but 90 day went smooth.

what is curious to me is if Thai Immig is so concerned about where i am, why do they permit me to claim, with no proof, my living location?  but who am i to question 'ultimate thainess'.

and as a secondary comment i saw lots of farangs milling about in a small crowded place, most with no mask, jostling for queue position, some arguing for priority, etc.  i thought, in view of the current chinese virus, such a scene was not the best to be amongst.

see you again in june.  or not!

Barbaric?  What i see on the telly,  MMA, (and i use the word 'arts' in protest) is far beyond two hapless roosters having a natural go.

Humans fight, on the telly, only for money. Just like prostitutes who only work for $$.

Aren't Wynn's casinos 98% dependent on chinese gamblers?  If china goes bust, a long shot, Macau would wither up.  

I could see the wuhan virus giving china a good, short haircut.

Sorry folks but my flight to HK cancelled and now i must scramble to do my 90 day report.  Too late for mail-in, online won't work for me so off to Promenada i will go.

What do i need to show to the 90 day IO?  Do i need a TM30 from my hotel? A problem coz they are very slow to provide one and i have limited time.

Big promotion at Alpine, a top course near CM, last Sunday. Thai and Thai resident pay 1300 baht, tourist pays 3000 baht.

Yeah, i get the logic behind the public parks charging 'farang' fees at 2x the local since the locals pay tax and must live with govt.  But how on earth can golf courses charge 2x, or more, simply because of a tourist stamp, not a long-term visa.  Is there a govt reg which  specifies what green fee to pay at private golf courses?

Don't the private courses want more players?  

Alpine was not crowded but my friend stayed home.  

i've read/heard that those ebooks are never really YOUR'S.  that is you cannot sell, trade or give away an ebook. why on earth should i support with my money such an absurd concept?

give me an old paperback any day, one that i can recommend to my friend and give him a copy. 

new idea across from varada place, santitham, some lady is peddling books at 20 baht each and all proceeds go towards dog sterilization, and perhaps dog food.  you donate the books, etc, and she collects for the welfare of society and a bit of merit making for herself.  a great idea and some very interesting titles.

That's nice gunderhill.  My friend has a plot of ground 14x14 meters, needs a house for 4 people, has about 500K baht and knows nothing of house construction. 

May i ask the point of your photo?

Getting this message for departure 17 March, return month later.  All flights at that time, and weeks prior 'unavailable'. No further comments from AA.

Anyone have additional news?

I went about 5pm one night last week, no music on offer. Similar to common chinese restos, but all cooks appeared to be burmese girls. Outdoor tables with beer bottles and smokers plenty.  I ate inside.  Ordered 'ma po dou <deleted>' and 'gan bain dou jiao', two of my favs.

Not bad but swimming in oil, maybe palm oil, which i do not favor.

I'd go back later in the year when the virus, and chinese, are gone. I'd try the chicken/cashew dish. I like the sichuan spicy taste and will check the menu board.

Cost fair, atmos acceptable but no place for a romantic moment.

Does someone think the notice is not accurate, even if promoted by an agent?

And, i would say that it appears that Immig can see many of the same problems we do: too many people in one place seeking widely differing services.  I support the move back to Prom for those listed services.

Jia you! Jia you! Thai Immig.

加油

Thnx for ur input Sunshine but i rather think you do not fully appreciate the deep poverty that many Thai folks are currently swimming in. Low education, ethnic minority, very rural family, no birth cert, early teen pressures on girls hence a mother at age 18, migrated to city with mother when dad died, accepted abandoned nephew when he was 4 yrs old, renting a tiny house and seeing only a  very limited future and continual poverty.  If working every day the min wage per year in Thailand is about 120,000 baht = 10,000 baht per month.  Not much $.

She says she has a cousin who can band together some farmer workers to build a small house on the land she now owns, in a community of 5 other families of similar dispositions. Total estimated max cost half a million baht, all in.

The notion of the shipping container caught her fancy.  I can't see a steel box, which will probably cost nearly as much as a concrete house, as worth the $$ or energy/time, esp after, say 8 years, sitting in the sun and rain of Thailand.

I will advise her to press on with the concrete house and forget the steel box idea. That's the best i can do for her at this time.

Well, off topic, but anything bigger than 4 inches is a 'big one' for the chinese girls.

I went 42 days prior to my visa expiration seeking a one-year retirement extension.  I knew problems could arise, they certainly have in the past. I was well prepared with various docs and plenty of time for corrections, if need be.

Last year they needed a one-year housing lease; this year the lease was never mentioned. Every day a new wrinkle. 

I'm happy to be here for another year. 

could be a good command of english, reading lots of books, listening to western men and women discuss world events might somehow 'corrupt' thai youth who then might question traditional thai cultural systems.  neither the army nor monarchy (god save the king) wants anyone to question the status quo.

and those are the guys in charge of thailand not some dopey educational minister

you think bad air is making me tired?  i'm so weary half the week. the bad air affects my breathing sure, but are my lungs and blood compromised?

currently air in hua hin as bad as CM, so what's the merit in moving there?

Some good ideas and cautions here, so thanks all.  Lady has 2 early teen kids and mother, so all those folks in one house. She cannot get a bank loan as 'tai wai', or minority ethnic. She owns the land now so no condo for her. Plot of ground might take 2 containers side by side, not more. 

And NO, i won't be moving in with them.  

Certainly a secondary roof for sun screening, maybe on a slab or on short concrete posts, she has no male partner to do any work and she works every day at low pay job. 

As said, perhaps a shanty now will better than 30 more years of rent.

the Royal Thai Police run every Immig office and airport Immig inspection station.  Do you have any idea the wages a 5 yr veteran police officer makes per month?

Very low.  In fact, low enough to seek alternative sources of income.  A very common situation in most of the world.  Have state power but no income.