keestha

Wherever I go swimming, I first walk up and down a bit to check the beach for jellyfish. Jellyfish prefer the somewhat cooler water, so they tend to stay a bit down, but after it has been raining they go right up to the surface. If there are shrimpfarms in the area, the number of jellyfish tends to increase after a shrimpfarm has discarded its wastewater into the sea. There is still shrimpfood in it, which is also excellent food for jellyfish.

Good info,thanks.

Can i just ask,what time did you go to pick up the Passport at KL.

Did you fill out the application form,at the embassy,or in advance.

If in advance,where did you get it from.

Thanks.

Hi Nick,

You will get your passport around 11 AM. This leaves more than enough time to catch a flight back to Thailand the same day.

I downloaded an application form from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but decided not to try and use it when I saw that the embassy was using a different form. Have a nice trip.

Some offices do require 1 million Baht. But, not exactly a new requirement, it was mentioned last year.

Isnt the 1 million baht requirement "Equity" and not necessarily "last years profit"?

You could be right.....What made the balance sheet of my company not pass the bar, is that it is a 2 million Baht company, and accumulative losses for the years 2005 and 2006 were over 3 million. In the balance sheet for 2006, this produced a figure of over 1 million of losses which are not divided among the shareholders yet. I believe that this figure, the official capital the company has, plus undivided profits or minus undivided losses, has to be over 1 million.

One way to solve this problem, could be to change my company into a 5 million Baht company. I don't know if this is relevant, but my company has very little debt and way over 5 million Baht in assets: land, buildings, and equipment. But before I make this investment, I would like to know if this would make my company's balance sheet meet immigration's requirements. It would be very good if the requirements a company's balance sheet has to meet in order to get a one year visa extension for foreign staff, would be published. In order to operate within the framework of the law, we have to know what the law is.

Last of all I might add that my losses over the years 2005 and 2006 were very high because my bungalow resort was razed to the ground by the december 26, 2004 tsunami. I had to invest very heavily to build up everything anew, and replace all the lost equipment. Just that you guys/gals don't think I am a stupid businessman making losses all the time.

Yesterday the consular section of the embassy in Kuala Lumpur issued me a multiple entry non immigrant B. Of course my documentation was supercomplete, everything mentioned in the opening post, and also forms and receipts for the last three months ภ.ม 30 VAT, which is strangely enough not on the list of documents immigration needs to supply a one year extension.

The process at the embassy is straightforward. It is wise to come early, say 8 in the morning, in order not to have to wait around the whole day. Once your paperwork is accepted and you have made your payment, you can count on collecting your visa the next day. The day that you come to collect your passport, you don't even go into the office. You wait outside till they start handing out the passports.

Air Asia, which can very easily be booked online, is good for low cost flights to/from Thailand. From the central railway station there is a train every 20 minutes to the airport, which costs 35 Ringit. Mind you there are 2 airports, government run KLIA and privately run LCC. After I arrived by train at KLIA, I had to take a bus to go to nearby LCC which is used by Air Asia.

There are a lot of low budget hotels in centrally located Chinatown.

Thank you very much Lopburi.

The day before yesterday I received a phone call from the immigration office that the regional head office in Hat Yai had handled my application, and that I should come and get my stamp.

Yesterday this turned out to be a 7 day stamp, the provisional one month "under consideration" stamp was cancelled.

So monday I am off to Kuala Lumpur to try and get a one year multiple entry non immigrant B.

Theoretically I could also apply for a non immigrant O, since I have a Thai daughter and I am listed as the father on the birth certificate. ( not married to the mother). But first I want to try to get a non immigrant B.

Any input from people who have gone to Kuala Lumpur recently for a non immigrant B would be most welcome.

Whatever you decide Nick, please don't forget to let us know how it went once you come back from ?Malaysia? I also hope somebody who has recent experience will chip in.

A friend of mine, who has her own company, went to KL about 2 months ago. Because she could only show a work permit application, she was only given a single entry. She was told though, that if she would have a work permit next time, she would be given a multiple entry. It is up to the discretion of consular officers though. In her case it might have worked in her advantage that she is a frail looking old lady, and she also mentioned to the officer that due to age and health reasons it would be a problem for her to have to travel for a single entry over and over again.

My own( fifth in a row) yearly extension might not be granted because my local immigration office applies the rule that the company must have over a million Baht profit, so I might be heading for KL (or somewhere else?) myself pretty soon. Nickkbh, please keep us posted.

hi has anyone got non O visa in penang can you tell me what docs you need for this visa and how long it takes

First you should explain for what reasons you think you qualify for a non O visa

Along a similar line: I always refuse to speak Thai with other westerners who like me learned this language. It inevatably turns into a competition who can speak Thai the best, which is the last thing that interests me.

As far as the HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE thing is concerned, I view it as kind of a pyramid structure. Tony, who has been on a holiday to Thailand six times, is known among his friends as a real Thailand expert. But Bill lives in Thailand permanently one and a half years already, and for him Tony is just a tourist. Than there is Tom, who lives in Thailand for 5 years, and as far as he is concerned, Bill has little insight. But Kevin, who has lived here 15 years, just smiles and shakes his head when Tom is spouting his wisdom about Thai culture.

To Sir Burr goes the credit for initiating a very interesting thread.

Phuket international youth hostel

Might be a better place to meet young foreign tourists than Soi Bangla.

When I went to the local immigration office on monday march 25 to get my yearly non immigrant B extension, I found out that two things had changed:

1) nowadays you need authorized copies of all your tax forms and receipts, also forms and receipts for the compulsory staff health insurance need to be authorized. And the 2 copies of the company book (nangsue laplawng) and the shareholders list need to be originals, with the red stamp on it. When I went to the provincial tax office to get my authorized copies, I heard them complaining that the immigration office gives them a lot of extra work by requiring this. By no means I was the first one bothering them about this!

2) I was told that in order to get the yearly extension, the balance sheet has to show a profit of at least one million Baht. Mine does not, because my own salary is quite high, the 50.000 Baht per month I need to have in order to qualify for a one year extension.

I was given a provisional one month extension, but the immigration officer told me it was an open question if the local head office in Had Yai would approve my one year extension or not. Guess when the result is negative, I will have to head for Kuala Lumpur to get a one year multiple entry.

Hereunder follows a complete list of the documents I had to submit. You have to make 2 complete sets of all the paperwork.

1) TM 7 application form with a passport picture size 4X6 glued on it.

2) copy of passport, front page and page with the last visa/extension stamp

3) standard letter from the company explaining your position, at immigration they have a form for this

4) acknowledgement of conditions of stay, also a standard form

5)copy of work permit/work permit application

6) most recent tax return form and balance sheet, and if the one for last year is not ready yet, a letter explaining this.

7) forms and receipts of income tax (PND 1) of the last three months

8)form and receipt income tax (PND 91) over the last year

9) company book (nangsue laplawng) and shareholders list, shouldn't be more than 6 months old

10) 01 form concerning VAT registration

11) map indicating the location

12) form and receipt PND 1ก tax

13)forms and receipts for the compulsory staff insurance, last 3 months

14) form and receipt PND 51 tax

15) yellow company registration paper (tabbian kom gan kha), looks like a diploma

16) a chart showing which tasks in the company are done by whom.

hi all would like to have a look at Vientian Lao . [not spelled right]

Some one said take the train from surat. have to leave truck there ? then I read a little about a posters trip Via Kon Ken ?

fly direct. can one from phuket . drive all the way ?? what have / how have, the intrepid travellers done it recently.

visa ? re entry permit ? from immigration ?

your help. fellow posters would be welcome yaimar

p/s how long can one stay in Lao, tourist

Just to get you started with your research: go into airasia.com, check out flights from Phuket to Bangkok and flights from Bangkok to Udon Thani, which is close to Nongkai almost across the river from Vientane. Depending upon with how many people you intend to travel, it might very well be cheaper than driving all the way. Have a nice trip.

Snorkeling at Coral Island you will see only one type of fish, a small striped species that is there in massive numbers because the tourists are feeding them bread. You might contemplate going to Koh Racha instead, it is also quite close to Phuket.

Krabi Airport-minivan or taxi to Ao Nang-ticket booth for your longtail ride to Railei. Don't buy a return ticket at the ticket booth, complete scam, the boat guys coming back end up charging you anyways.

Just pay cash on the way back.

Hello Huggy,

My experience is completely different. October 2007 I was in Ao Nang for a day, and at the ticket booth I bought a one way ticket to Railei. Later getting back to Ao Nang proved to be a problem, there was no ticket booth at Railei, and the boat guys refused to take me because I didn't have a return ticket. I was told to wait till there would not be enough return ticket holders to fill up the next boat leaving. Together with a likewise ticketless Singaporean guy I waited for over one hour till we were finally allowed on a boat. The Singaporean and me were already seriously contemplating to take a boat to Krabi, and to proceed to Ao Nang from there

Oh well, maybe the situation has changed in the meantime.

Can someone give me the English phonetics for the Thai pronunciation of "work permit" ?

bai ah no yaat tam ngaan

Usually this forum does not provide answers to specialized legal questions unless it is about immigration rules. One thing you could do is enquire at a municipal land office (kom tee din), if you cannot speak Thai take somebody along who does.

Normally the person whose name is on the Chanot or other land title deed will also be the owner of whatever is built on the land. Yes somebody (also a foreigner) can own a house without owning the land it has been built on. I figure in that case this has to be written on the Chanot or other land paper.

Air Asia can very easily be booked online if you have a credit card. The price fluctuates depending on how many seats are still available. I think this season at least 20 guests staying at my resort booked this way, and only once they changed the departure time with one hour. One Two Go is far less reliable.

I had some very mixed info about Khao Lak's beaches...

Some say the beaches are STILL in very bad shape after the Tsunami (dead corals on the beach-> hard to walk and stuff like that).

Some say the beaches aren't very nice at all (the ocean is brown, not blue like in postcards, water is very murky...).

And some say totally opposite.

Any comments about the "White Sand Beach"?

I think it is in the Pakarang area (some kilometers up north from Khao Lak)?

Anyone knows good site to see some recent beach pictures from Khao Lak?

And how is the road from Phuket's airport to Khao Lak?

In map it seems to be pretty straight... But are there lots of hills (ups+downs)?

Or is it more flat...?

In the Khao Lak area there are only dead corals on the beach at Pakkarang Cape, but that has nothing to do with the tsunami, it has always been like that. I have been living in Khao Lak since 2000.

White Sand Beach is very pretty and has ample shade, to go there take the turnoff to Pakkarang Cape, and then turn right at the sign for the Sarojin Hotel.

Like elsewhere, also in Khao Lak it depends on wheather conditions how pretty the ocean is and how clear the water.

Many people like Khao Lak because of the long beach walks. Walking northwards along Bang Niang Beach towards Pakkarang Cape, after crossing the shallow lagoon you have the beach pretty much to yourself.

The road from Phuket airport is excellent. Up to Khokkloy 5 KM after you leave Phuket it is 4 lane, after that it becomes a broad 2 lane road. It is easy to navigate, pretty straight and absolutely no hills to speak off. You can drive 5th gear all the way, apart from the 2 small towns you have to pass through.

If I were you I would open your own private store you can choose your stock not be dictated too and could call it 11-7 !! This way you can cash in quick on any market trends fads crazes etc etc

Last year I was surprised to drive past a supermarket in Buriram City which was called "7", a very big neon 7 attached to the front. Sure it looked like a 7/11. Wondering how far you can go with this in the Thai legal system. Fact is that a number of years ago a brand of cigarettes called "Marble", red/white package like Marlboro, had to be taken out of circulation after a few weeks. Oh well, guess I am straying off topic, sorry for that.

Cheap guesthouses can be found in Soi Saen Sabai, and around the Paradise complex. If you are ready to shell out 150 Baht or so more, the PS2 Bungalows at Thanon Rat Uthit 200 Pee is a good choice, they have a swimming pool.

First one minor point: People don't expect you to greet them when you come to work or when you leave when the working day is over. You just walk to your desk and switch on the computer, and your first verbal exchange will be with somebody who has to ask you a question. When it is time to go home, you just switch off the computer, and leave the office without saying anything. First this stroke me as odd.

Then a much more important point: Staff often don't mention problems to the boss because they are set on not displeasing him. Once ever, I pressed a secretary for a long time to ask the boss to buy an extension cable that would have come in very handy. Later, having got to know Thai mentality better, I understood that she probably never mentioned it to him.

Nice thread........I own and manage a small bungalow resort. OP, consider putting up a poll about this subject.

An employee who has the compulsory health insurance is entitled to this. If this applies to you, enquire at the insurance office.