vision2014

On a daily basis I have viewed the Big Camera and World Camera online sites for the past two months. Each day I get the same message that all three cameras are "out of stock".  Can anyone give me some guidance please. I would be happy to buy any of these three mirrorless cameras. Is there a store in Bangkok that has these cameras in stock ?  Thanks !

I received my 2nd Phizer shot today at Medpark (Sept.1).  I arrived at 10:00am and I was given my shot at 10:35am. After the shot,  I expected to be asked to wait for approximately 30 minutes to see if I had a negative reaction. However, after less than 10 minutes, I was called to have a blood pressure test and was then immediately given my vaccination certificate. I was on my way back tp Pattaya at 10:55am. My thanks to the Medpark staff !

On July30, I registered on MedPark's website for a covid vacccination and was asked to choose between Pfizer, Astra Zenica and Sinovac. I selected Pfizer and received an email confirming a vaccination booking for August 11, 2021.  HOWEVER, the email from MedPark states my "preference" is Pfizer rather than indicating that I will definately receive Pfizer. So, I am concerned that I will travel from Pattaya to MedPark (located in Bangkok) to discover that Pfizer is NOT available.  I am not interested in Sinovac and I hate to  travel to Bangkok and accomplish nothing.

My question is has anyone else registered on MedPark's site and did you receive an email confirming you would receive the vaccination you requested. Thanks !

I rarely post and I obviously am not aware of your reasons to consider using an agent. I'll just mention I did my 7th annual retirement extension last week at Jomtien and the process took less than an hour including the visit on day 2 to obtain the multiple entry stamp. The DIY fee is less than 5700 Bhat (1900 Bhat single plus additional 3800 Bhat for multiple entry). Hard for me to rationalize paying an agent fee unless the applicant has difficult issues to be addressed.  

Many thanks Ubonjoe. You correctly interpreted what I had meant to say (and I really screwed it up).   I am an Aussie renewing my retirement extension of stay.  I was mildly surprised when you stated "this is not a new requirement".  As per my initial email, Immigration has never in the past 6 years required that I have the marriage certificate legalized at the Philippine Embassy.  

I am married to a Filipino and we will be renewing our annual marriage extension of stay in May. This will be our 7th year and we have never had any hassles with Jomtien Immigration. However, I have seen several stories (not on Thai Visa)  that there are three new requirements. The first requirement is the Philippine Embassy must provide a letter  verifying the authenticity of the marriage certificate. The second requirement is the marriage certificate must be translated into Thai. The third requirement is I must take the Philippine Embassy certified letter and the Thai translated marriage certificate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) who will stamp both documents certifying the documents are legal.

This is not "an end of the world" problem but it will require spending 2-4 days in Bangkok and I would prefer not to spend the money or time if this is simply a rumor rather than factual. Thanks in advance to anyone who can give me an update on their recent renewal experience.

My final post. The Visa agency delivered on their commitment. We went on April 1 and paid 10000 Bhat. Later the same day, we went back to the Visa agency and picked up her passport. She now has an extension of stay as my dependent.

Thanks Ubonjoe. I was concerned that you were going to reply and indicate that I was a candidate for "sucker of the month" and that there was no way the Visa agency could deliver on their promise. However, as this was not your reaction, I think I will give the Visa agency a try. It would cost more than 10000 Bhat for the two of us to go to Laos and we would probably have to spend half a day melting outside the Immigration building in Vientaine. If the Visa agency fails to deliver on their commitment, I will add another reply to this topic to forewarn other people.

I think I will leave for the week. Does anyone have experience with going to Koh Chang or Koh Samet during Songkran ? are things less crazy and do you need to book a hotel in advance ? Thanks

Hi, I need to get a tire repaired and since the last post on this topic was in July 2104, I thought I would ask if people still recommend B-Quick. The Mercedes service guy recommended I go to a small tire shop close to their dealership on Suk. Apparently they did a crummy job cuz the tire is still losing air (or I guess it is possible I was unlucky and have had a second nail puncture in a 3 week time span). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hi Ubonjoe, I would appreciate your advice again (sorry to be a pain). I went to Jomtien Immigration last week to see if we we could do the conversion to "an extension of stay as my dependent" in Jomtien rather than go to Vientiane. However, there was a long line up so I thought I would go to one of the privately owned Visa agencies nearby to confirm I had brought all the required paperwork (marriage certificate, our passports, birth certificate and bank letter). The lady at the Visa agency said that for 10,000 Bhat she could process the "extension of stay as a dependent in one business day at Jomtien Immigration and we would not have to go to Vientiane nor have to spend hours sitting at Immigration The offer sounded attractive to me but I am hoping you might have an opinion on whether this sounds like a "too good to be true" offer.

I also asked the Visa agency whether we need to get documents from the school to cancel the "extension of stay for going to school" at the same time we convert to "dependent extension" and her reply was no. She indicated the "school extension" would be automatically cancelled at the time the "dependent extension" is approved. Is she correct ?

Many thanks !!

I live in Pattaya but would prefer to find somewhere quieter for Songkran. Is Koh Chang or possibly Koh Samet a good place to spend a week to avoid Pattaya's chaos ? We would just want a nice hotel (3,000- 6,000 Bhat/day) range where you can relax rather than deal with the frenzy in Pattaya. Thanks

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I found what i was looking for at Decorum. Anthony was correct that the price is higher than I had estimated but the quality is very good and what the heck... you only live once.

I bought an outdoor table and chairs at Index 18 months ago and the chairs are in the final phase of self destruction. I am looking to buy high quality outdoor furniture set consisting of a table and 2 to 4 chairs (in the 20000 to 30000 Bhat range) but I am not aware of a store in Pattaya. I would appreciate any recommendations. Thanks

Thanks again Ubonjoe

There is no spousal visa. It is an an extension of stay as your dependent under clause 2.20 of the police order. Nothing more is needed than what you have been told already. She will need a non-o visa or she may able to change from her extension for attendong school school to it.

From clause 2.20 of Immigration Bureau Order 138/2557 documents for extension of stay.

"1. Application form

2. Copy of applicant’s passport

3. Copy of the passport of the alien who has been permitted to stay in the Kingdom

4. Copy of documents proving relationship, such as a marriage certificate, a birth certificate, registration of child legitimization, household registration certificate, child adoption registration certificate, or other evidence from the government or relevant agency"

Hello Ubonjoe,

My apologies for asking more questions but I just happened to read your reply to another member (from a 2014 post) and I would like to make sure I follow your instructions for getting the extension of stay as a dependent

My questions are:

1) Do we need to leave Thailand to get my wife a single entry Non O Visa? Currently she has 75 days remaining on her Education extension of stay and I am confused on whether we can just make the "extension" change at Immigration in Jomtien. Ifthis is not the case and we must leave Thailand for the single entry Non O , do you recommend we go to Laos ?

2) Do we need to have the Philippine marriage certificate verified by the Philippine embassy in Bangkok before we apply for the extension of stay ( I had previously not seen any articles indicating that the Philippine Embassy needs to verify the marriage certificate but I want to make sure I do not miss a critical step.)

In summary I may have misinterpreted your previous reply to me but I thought it stated that I could just take the required documents (marriage certificate, birth certificate, my retirement visa, property title/ Chanote) to Immigration in Jomtien to change from an education extension of stay to a extension of stay as a dependent. I really appreciate your time and valuable knowledge !!!!

Many thanks. Your advice is extremely beneficial to neophytes like me.

She could get an extension as your dependent now if she wanted to. She can change the reason for her extension for going to school to one as your dependent.

If she is getting 90 day extensions now it wold be better to do the change now. A ED visa or extension is not required to go to school.

Hi Ubonjoe, Can you please tell me or alternatively recommend a web site (or perhaps a forum on Thai Visa) that provides details on what documents Immigration requires to approve a spousal visa. For example, what else do we need In addition to providing copies of the marriage certificate and my Thai retirement visa. Many thanks

The fact is: If ED visa is required not more than for 6 months the students must attend the class 4 times per week and 2 hrs each time. For a 1 year ED visa it's 5 days per week and 2 hrs each time. If Immigration officers come to check and the students are not in class the visa will be canceled.

Asking for the reason the Pattaya Immigration told us, they only want the people applying for ED visa who are REALLY interested in studying and not using the ED visa as a possibility to stay in Thailand in a cheap way. In the past, most of the ED visa students didn't study at all, they said.

As a result of this new law the ED visa fee must increase according to the higher amount of teaching hours (about 70,000 Baht per year) plus the new fees (5,000 Baht) every 3 months to pay at the Immigration. I'm sure that not many people can afford that.

Thanks for your reply dodojero. I think the policy Immigration is implementing makes good sense (as does my wife). The reason I started this topic yesterday was to try to find out if students attending other schools in Pattaya had been advised of the new rules. Hopefully other students will comment on what the schools that they attend have told them.

My wife has been studying at Walen for a year and yesterday she was told that Immigration had introduced a new rule. Effective next week students must attend class four times a week rather than the current rule of two classes a week. Has anyone else received similar information from Pattaya schools ? IMO , this is good news because eight hours of class study (versus the current 4 hours) could accelerate the learning process.

I have only lived in Thailand for 2 years but I think I have embraced Thai logic. I bought a Benz for 5,000,000 Bhat and pay 100,000 bhat/year to AXA for insurance. I think I deserve special parking rights and "protection" from being charged for driving violations. Hmmm... I wonder how much more of the Thai 'logic" I will have rationalized in 5 years.

One of the first topics you cover when taking diving lessons from an approved international organization such as PADI or NAUI is to always dive with another person (buddy diving". The second lesson that you are taught is how to share breathing apparatus in the event one of the divers equipment malfunctions. Lots of potential questions in this case. Did the divers stay together, did they have the proper education training, did the dive store provide quality equipment and the list goes on.

Thank you both for your advice.

Hi, My Filipina wife and I are going to visit Samui for a wek in early December. I have been looking at hotels and think Poppies looks good. I like that you stay in a cottage and the location looks close to restaurants and places to hang out in the evening.. We have lived in central Pattaya for 2 years so it will be great to have access to a nice beach area for a change !. However, hotel advertisements are often misleading and I am hoping someone may be able to tell me about theri experience staying at Poppies. Thanks