Grusa

Thais are not educated about hygeine. They do not wash dishes effectively, they use unclean water, much if not most of their "crockery" is worn-out plastic crap, where the scratches collect and store pathogens. Dishwasher products are way overpriced and recently are less effective because the West has banned phosphates - essential for a low-temperature wash, not that any indigenous would know that or care.

The OP has correctly answered almost all of his own questions.

Try the 17track app. It automatically tracks all the major carriers, and many  not so major

When you see green slime stalactites on the nozzle, you may safely assume the water is not safe to drink.

When the machine is new, polished, no parts missing, door latches and hinges in good condition, and no stains anywhere, you may not safely assume the water is safe to drink!

Get your own reverse osmosis machine, they are not that expensive, and the water is safer than the 32litre carboys that get delivered everywhere.

UK fused plugs  have, looking from the back, the live wire to the fused right pin, neutral to the left pin, earth to the top. European type are the same. Thai plugs and sockets, if marked at all, have liveto the left, neutral to the right. So using an adaptor reverses the polarity!

My Gaggia coffee machine gives me a shock every time I touch its metal parts, unless I reverse the plug. It has an earth, but the socket doesn't.

14 hours ago, kuma said:

I like this approach. When I renewed my visa in March (Jomtien) I was given a one page document advising I needed to bring an up to date bank book with the unmarried minimum requirement (800,000 THB) for my first 90 day reporting period. For te remainder of the 90 day reports, I will have to show a bank book updated with a minimum 400,000 THB minimum balance, which must be back up to 800,000 THB 60 days prior to seeking to renew my one year retirement visa next year.

I believe this was the process outlined, not sure if/how it is being enforced nationally. I expect Jomtien would be one of the tougher offices in terms of compliance.

My experience at Jomtien, when collecting extension was made to sign a copy of the rules with a specific date to show an updated passbook. It so happened that that date was within 7 days of the 90day report falling due, however I hve since exited and returned so the dates no longer match. I will play safe and turn up with the book on the date ordered.... but which desk to go to?

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Have Jomtiem required you to submit a TM30 previously, for eg when doing a 90 day report or Re-Entry permit? 

In your circumstances, I would not do a report, as I have been told it is not necessary by Jomtiem. I am on a retirement extension, living in the same place for many years. 

Same here.

2 minutes ago, GalaxyMan said:

I have a dark blue 'house book' that we got when we bought the house, but it is only in GF's name. What would I need to do to acquire the yellow house book in order to get the pink ID card?

My farang wife and I "own" our house on usufruct, our names in Thai appear on the chanote on the last entry, the previous entry is the legal landowner, a trusted Thai friend. We have a blue book, with no name showing as resident.

We are in the frustrating process of getting a yellow book. The Amphur (Sattahip) wants to see, and copies of:-

The Chanote

The blue book

Power of Attorney from Thai owner

Signed copy of the Thai owners Id card.

Our passports, all the usual visa, extension, etc. pages

Translation of the passport pages into Thai

Names and transcriptions into Thai of our parents' full names.

Certificates of Residence, fresh, from Immigration.

Ourselves both to be present

A Thai witness who knows us personally to be present, with copies of I'd and blue book. (Any old Thai from the street won't do!)

An appointment with the boss lady is required, phone before you go. No queue!

All this has been done, last week. "All three of you to attend in two weeks time to collect the book. We will phone you."

No money asked for as yet, and we will try for pink cards immediately on getting the book.

I will post a progress report in due course.

10 days and waiting. This is our third attempt to get the yellow book, best yet, always something wrong on previous attempts, its like herding cats.

18 hours ago, ballpoint said:

And this all knowing, all seeing god that you are hedging your bets against won't be able to see through your little ploy?

Not mine. Pascals.

1 hour ago, xtrnuno41 said:

https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/21864/questions-about-insects-eating-flour-and-living-in-the-cracks-of-a-wooden-cuttin

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unidentified_german_insect_03.jpg

 

https://www.entomology.co.in/2018/04/psocoptera.html

 

Not only in Thailand, 

Excellent, thank you for that. So, they are definitely  psocids (booklice) and live on moulds and mildew.

Chaindrite is killing them, soaked into the chipboard edges.

29 minutes ago, Letseng said:

If you have a large freezer, store your flour in plastic containers in the freezer. Flour comes to no harm and stays bug free. 

May be your flour is contaminated when you buy it and the bugs develop in your cupboard? Buy from a different source and see what happens.

Already do that.

I have come to the conclusion that they actually live and breed in the "Weetabix" chipboard cupboard carcase, and exit into the cupboard at the joints. The cupboards have had a couple of good soakings from cracked blue pipework in the ceiling above, and so are "blown" at the edges of the panels. A good soaking with Chaindrite does seem to be working, slowly.

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies.

5 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Kind of looks like a termite to me.

Thank you for that, but I know termites, intimately. Bigger, voracious, and leave mud tunnels. Doesn't fit the profile.

23 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

I think it could be Flour Weevils, Google Flour Weevils - images, and have a look there, you may have to store flour and other baking ingredients separately & securely. Hope that helps. 

Thank you for that, the nearest match I can find in appearance is booklice. We have had weevils in rice and flour before, bigger, much harder carapace, and darker.

One of our kitchen cupboards is infested with these bugs - thousands of them! At first we thought they were sugar ants, but smaller - they are no more than 1mm long. They mostly lie around looking dead, but are capable of moving quite fast. There is no sign of any nest and they don't like sugar or ant-bait. They do like flour.

We emptied the cupboard, leaned it out, sprayed all joints, cracks, crevices and surfaces with Chaindrite and Permedan. We let it dry, put everything back that was not contaminated/infested (we had to throw out several containers of flour). Within two hours they were back! Repeated the process, still they are coming back.

Any ideas short of a nuclear bomb?

Previously my (farang) wife and I renewed our retirement extensions on the basis of 800k each, in separate bank accounts. Immigration always seemed surprised that we did not go for retirement + marriage, so this year (16th March) we did that: 800k in her account, and no money declared for me. No problem, and less paperwork! 

My only question, unanswered so far, what if we had 400k only, each?

2 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Thought the same thing, it's just his opinion, which I happen to agree with. 

 

I do not believe there's some sinister, anti-farang motive here.  Thai Immigration has been hosed up for a long time, and a certain kind of element is attracted to the permissive environment resulting from this kind of programmatic dysfunction.

 

Once you let shit run amok for too long, it takes a lot of grit to regain control, and there will be unintended casualties.  I've stepped into operations that were a mess.  Some you can use a scalpel.  Others... yeah.... it was easier and faster to chuck a proverbial grenade in the room, wait for the dust to settle, then start again.

You just described Thailand.

11 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I just found this quite on topic video.

You might need to watch it more than once to completely process what he's trying to say.

Sadly, what he seems to be saying is ambiguous, and it is only his opinion and he openly admits that.

 

Here goes --

He mentions the 90 day bank book check in reports.

Anyone that still doesn't believe those are real, I can't help you.

He seems to DIFFERENTIATE the before extension application seasoning and the 90 days AFTER seasoning as being the vitally important ones as far as enforcement.

He seems to be implying (but never states explicitly) that if you get a 90 day report notices and do show up and are under, that's really part of the EARLIER stage of the process, so would have consequences. You may read this a different way but like I said watch it more than once.

 

For the period AFTER the 90 day bank book check in period (the beginning of the 400K stage) he is clearly saying it is his opinion that you won't be bothered until next year's application. He suggests it may be a problem if you go under the 400K for next year's application but that you can probably relax (again his opinion) if you make it to the 400K stage as far this CURRENT year's extension. 

 

Take this for what you think it's worth. 

 

 

 

 

 

I would have more confidence in his analysis if he had prepared himself and his opinions before commiting to air. Self seeking advertising, no useful content.

3 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

OK:
lts say u get the letter which has been issued to everyone at jomtien immigration with a due report date .

 

do they write ur name down as having been given the letter?

If not, u can say, you received no letter.

You can do ur 90 day report online

 

All i can assume is ur next extension if you dont follow the rules ( 800,000 for 3 months, 400,000 for the next 7)
u will NOT get anymore extensions

They give you the form, make you read it, sign it, then THEY photocopy it and give you the copy.

Whilst I have grave doubts about their ability to run a filing system for all that paper, their computer system gets better, and their is undoubtedly paper proof that you have seen it and signed it. No proof you read it or understood it - so what? So it all depends on their ability to find the papers, unless they run under Napoloenic law - which they mostly do, when it suits them.

4 hours ago, Vacuum said:

Well, I did my extension last week, there was no such paper handed to me. IO said; see you next year.

That was last week, this is this week. I am sure the answer to the OP lies in who do you know/how fat is the envelope. Or both. As usual.

I confess to being a cynic, based on experience.

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Does anyone have a snapshot/copy of one of the orders ? Would be interesting to see the wording etc.

45 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no extension for marriage to the a person that is not Thai. There are only extensions based upon being the spouse of person that is on certain extensions of stay. Those require no financial proof for the person applying for it.

For marriage to a Thai lady there is a requirement for 400k baht in a Thai bank for 2 months on the date of application or proof of 40k baht income. 

So if we had 400k each, instead of 800k in one account as we did, we would have been refused extension?

And, can you clarify which extensions qualify? Thanks.

1 hour ago, johng said:

Ok thanks, it seems you are using retirement as the reason for extension...not marriage hence my confusion..and not being presented with the above form.

You are only half right. We are on retirement visas, for 12 years now. When we first came, we did the income affadavit crap with the UK consulate, then when that closed, the embassy, but soon got fed up with that: bunch of useless, and expensive time-wasting <deleted>. So, until last year we did individual retirement extensions, 1.6m in the bank. No problem, but the io's always seemed puzzled that we did not do marriage. In the last year we spent some of the money to buy our house, and the bottom fell out of the £, so we decided to try the marriage card. No hassle at all, 800k all in her name, only one bank letter, I think they would be equally happy with 100% in either name or a 50/50 split. So, just this notice to present an updated bank book with untouched money. Suits us very well, I don't see any real sucker traps.

It is still not clear to me what legal differences are involved in Thai/Farang vs Farang/Farang marriages, if any - it's not a subject mentioned anywhere I have found.