TTom911

Can't be bothered, so waiting for Thais to learn English, a proper language!

but by then you have hair growing out of your ears and nose... u like that ...?

Initially I used the self-learning course highspeedthai to learn the alphabet, tone rules, and some vocabulary, and get some listening and shadowing (speaking) practice.

This was to get the basics. From there it was then a matter of talking to as many people as possible (actually being in Thailand helps), and locating people who were willing to trade "I teach you English, you teach me Thai" lessons

and from there reading online newspaper articles in Thai, chatting to Thai friends with instant message apps and on Facebook in Thai, constantly adding new words to one's own electronic flashcard deck and reviewing the deck every day, and diversifying the learning experience as much as possible.

Currently two and a half years in.

Electronic flash cards ??

Can you enlighten me on this please.

check this:

Flashcard on Mac, Windows, Linux (FREE);

https://ankiweb.net/study/

Mobile companions for the above - Android (free or at a small fee):

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki&hl=en

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orangeorapple.flashcards&hl=en

Mobile companions for the above - iOS / Apple / iTunes (free or at a small fee):

- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flashcards-deluxe/id307840670?mt=8

- https://itunes.apple.com/th/app/ankimobile-flashcards/id373493387?mt=8

BUT: There are flashcards from others out there, free to download, but often not very good. I had to spend some time to setup my own cards, but that effort pays off in the long run coz once you have it setup its a massive help (I think).

I myself I am very happy with Flashcard Deluxe on Android. You need repetition and sounds to practice. Having this on mobiles (I use mainly a Galaxy Note III) is a HUGE benefit to me.

The "flashcard approach" above can go "all the way to fluency" with you, BUT, as said, the content (the "cards") need to be added and maintained which I take no issue with, but it may not be to everybody's taste to do that. Its requires some investment in time (not money) which pay's off over time.

Otherwise: Clever dictionary - I would personally recommend that (small fee)

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wordinthehand.thaidict&hl=en

These are some more apps you might want to check out and see if it suits, I at least used then (mainly at the start):

Thai consonant & vowel sounds (small app, but quiet ok, I think)

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.foonugget.thaiscriptplus&hl=en

Thai character writing (small app, but quiet ok, I think)

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=androidcode.in.th.Handwrite&hl=en

Thai basic phrases and vocabulary (best check for yourself to see if it suits your needs, free or at a small fee):

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.htcheng.enth&hl=en

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bravolang.thai&hl=en

- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.hanoo.thai&hl=en

The "phrase/vocabulary" apps only help to get started, not proper training.

Whatever the rules are or whatever the experience, you don't seem to understand:

A FACT IS that absolutely no visa and nor any visa rule or other's people view or experience will protect you if the immigration officer whom you will meet does not accept your story... the immigration officer has full discretion to interpret the situation and act upon it as he sees fit...

I would think that is a rather productive advice, no...!?

if you give that "explanation" to an immigration officer when he asks you upon arrival next time then he might be pretty pi...ed with you already... better get your story straight before you come up with this...

1. Thai teacher

2. THAI TEACHER!!!

3. iPhone/iPad/Android + Anki or Flashcard Deluxe (I could never do without)

4. online training materials (I got it from learnthaistyle.com and am VERY happy with that)

well....

& time, time, time, more time...

Never without a Thail teacher, more fun, keeps you going and not quit, they help you twisting your tongue where needed

I am not anything even close to perfect (yet... , but I love it

“Thailand Information Center for Civil Rights and Investigative Journalism” is fully funded by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, a Thai Government organisation which gives money to NGOs.

“Thailand Information Center for Civil Rights and Investigative Journalism” is just another “GNGO” (Government-backed Non-Government Organisation), or in other words a Government media site pretending to be an NGO.

What about Government spending on media campaign. Mr T pulled the media money out from the 'Nation'? What effect did that have?

A coup always has an effect on control in the media? Isn't Ms Suchada talking about this aspect of involvement in the media but can't or wont say it?

This women does not have to be brave as her wages are being paid by the NCPO/Government in power.

I would still give her credit. There are not many voices like that.

Six giant corporations control 90 per cent of the international mass media. How cosy is that?

Ever notice how candidates with a good chance of winning the Presidents or Prime Ministers position in whatever country have an audience with Rupert. What does he say to them?

SO unfortunately true... the filth we have in our own countries is stinking like hell... and, as grandma knows, we ALWAYS see only the tip of the iceberg once we catch one culprit... I don't even know what is REALLY going on... we would fall sick for weeks on end....

Very brave woman, she deserves all the support there could be !

I haven't seen any other country than Thailand where arrogance and ignorance, across age/gender/education backgrounds, comes in such a package.

"Don't need, I have master degree" (whatever that qualifies for...) is a typical answer... Will not change in a million years...

And my sincere apologies to the 10% who don't fall into that group.

These soaps have an endless stream of moronic admirers replenished every time there is a birth in Thailand.

Totally agree Kurnell, would be giving this a like.

Thai Soaps are a filth that need to be cleansed.

#tenthousandlikesforkurnell

as we are talking "cleansing"... what do we do with the "Kaiser Walzer........" IF that question is permitted........?

Whenever I see and hear that I think I am dreaming.....

the crazy thing is, these crazy soaps have more impact than what children learn in school, if any

yes, that's why it is by and large, unfortunately, a reflection of "real" Thailand... and the system keeps perpetuating itself... and the vast majority of the Thai people does not find anything wrong with that, I am sure, just wondering what the heck WE are talking about...

it's not only a "Thai thing", it's more "asian" in general, I saw that even in developed places like Singapore:

- You simply DO NOT step out of line, you go with the flow (what the boss says or what you think he wants based on past experience).

- You only move (a little bit...) when told and also then only in the direction you are told and then you watch carefully how your seniors respond as you feel pretty insecure in that uncomfortable situation...

- if you do move once in a while you always feel "oh, that's very hard; having to think, form an opinion, maybe answer questions, move and take responsibility... soooooo much easier to follow....."

Innovation, striving for improvement is alien to very large parts of Asian societies, absolutely surely in Thailand, it's neither appreciated, many times not even tolerated, try to step out of line and you will become an alien (unless "higher places" did "politically sanctioned, promote or demand it - then of course all comes back to the pack following that "new stream" again...)

If international companies would not produce cars here there would be no cars in Thailand, I am sure of that...

Is will be hard to change. Pass any shack with an antenna in Thailand and peer inside. You will see the whole family glued to the screen every day.

Add to the fact the production team, writers etc are talentless and rely on churning out the same story year after year, they haven't a hope of going away and coming up with something original. Viewers here will not be prepared to have to sit down for days to await a climatic scenario, no. They want screaming Kathoeys running around in circles and bitches getting their comeuppance daily.

The soap that delivers as close to that formula that they dare will be the winners.

so true...

for similar reasons why there is unlikely any change on TV I am concerned that at the end there will also be no change "in politics". I simply don't see any real desire by Thai people to change anything - not on TV, not on the roads, neither in politics... There is mostly just the desire "to get what others have (or more)" in the easiest (!!) possible way... and if it's not really "possible" then maybe there is a "trick"... I can't see that mentality changing for a very long time to come...

And that's fine of course if Thai want their country that way, it's their choice, it's their place after all ...

As an ordinary Thai citizen, especially a female, there is quite a procedure to go through to get visas for the three countries she says she plans to visit.

It would have required 3 separate applications to get them and even using an agent that takes time. I doubt "Do you know who I was and who my brother is" would have made much difference.

That being the case it is very likely that she still has a diplomatic passport which would allow her visa free entry, a passport she has no longer any right to hold as she has no official standing in the country.

whatever we think of her and her politics, it is unthinkable that a former head of state, not being convicted, in particular when keeping quite and not causing a stir, would be denied visa/entry by almost any country. And I doubt she has to stand in the cue to get a visa either... Diplomatic practices don't work that way

I posted already in another thread.. An oil and gas mate of mine just relayed that one of his friends was denied entry at Swampy.. Also an oil and gas worker returning on a rotation.

Its not a direct friend, so I would still call it a a strong rumor, but its an actual mate of a mate, not some vague "I heard" etc.. The tale as it was told was he was denied entry and had to book his own flight out of the country. How he managed to check into a flight, without clearing immigration, I have no idea.

Arrival by air, not an out in but returning from a rotation, oil and gas.. Think this was day before yesterday.

Exactly what I feared.

---------------------

There is no "perfect" solution to such a problem,

But best solution is:

• Get legitimate by marrying.
• Take the time to get a so-called "marriage visa". (an extension of your stay by marriage to a Thai). This will allow you to stay for one year in Thailand at a time.
• At the same time you get this "marriage visa" get a one year multiple entry re-entry permit for 3900 Baht.
• The re-entry permit is good for the one year period of your "marriage visa" and will allow you unlimited multi entries with that "marriage visa".

You will have ro be careful with getting the required 90 day reporting, and making sure that the marriage visa is renewed every year on time.

But it is possible to do, if you have the sense to make staying with your family and child(ren) your main concern.

It can be done.

Other people have gone through the process, it is possible.

"get married" to fix a visa problem... OMG... I can't believe some of those posts here on TV...

understanding the (harsh for some) basics would help:

- either you are retired (>50) and have proof of funds

- or you are under 50 and do have a job (work permit) or invest in Thailand

- or you go for an Elite Card visa (costing 1 million THB+, there will also be more scrutiny in the future, I am sure, but with the money involved that should still be an option, maybe if the funds are there...)

There is simply no "stay on the cheap side" option while staying long term in Thailand any more. Thats is over with "visa runs" and "back-to-back" tourist visas very obviously now having been taken out of the picture.

- Not 50

- Under 50 - don't have a job here and not interested in investing in Thailand

- Elite Card maybe if I wanted or just go to another country and come back in a month during my travels.

- Or wait till I turn 50 in decade and come back to do the retirement thing.

Things seem to change more with the visa rules here than any other country I've been to. I guess they don't like us spending our money here. I will try the visa in Loas and if not, go on to another country where they like foreigners to come and spend money.

I understand your frustration personally, but immigration is a tough one EVERYWHERE int the world. There is hardly a place worth living on earth where people can just walk in and out as they please. We both know that. Try to "just decide to stay in the US for a while", or in Europe for that matter... Would be IMPOSSIBLE...

Thailand just applies the same rules as any other country. And these rules were in place since ever... just no one cared in the past... and THAT did change now indeed...

I am American so no problems staying there. And I've been in all sorts of places in Europe with no issues. Was just in the UK for 6 months because they allow US passport holders to stay for 180 days.

I understand what you are saying. I also travelled the world for decades. But this "like hopping on and off a bus" world travelling we got used to only works between countries with strong economic ties, not if you step out of Europe/US territory. It's what developed in Europe and between Europe and the US over decades. Once you step out of that cozy bubble then you realise how serious the visa and immigration issue is. You can talk with your bank if you have an issue with your mortgage or credit card payments and have a chance to work something out. But there is ALMOST NO CHANCE to "discuss" anything with any immigration officer on the planet. That is something to be taken VERY seriously.

understanding the (harsh for some) basics would help:

- either you are retired (>50) and have proof of funds

- or you are under 50 and do have a job (work permit) or invest in Thailand

- or you go for an Elite Card visa (costing 1 million THB+, there will also be more scrutiny in the future, I am sure, but with the money involved that should still be an option, maybe if the funds are there...)

There is simply no "stay on the cheap side" option while staying long term in Thailand any more. Thats is over with "visa runs" and "back-to-back" tourist visas very obviously now having been taken out of the picture.

- Not 50

- Under 50 - don't have a job here and not interested in investing in Thailand

- Elite Card maybe if I wanted or just go to another country and come back in a month during my travels.

- Or wait till I turn 50 in decade and come back to do the retirement thing.

Things seem to change more with the visa rules here than any other country I've been to. I guess they don't like us spending our money here. I will try the visa in Loas and if not, go on to another country where they like foreigners to come and spend money.

I understand your frustration personally, but immigration is a tough one EVERYWHERE int the world. There is hardly a place worth living on earth where people can just walk in and out as they please. We both know that. Try to "just decide to stay in the US for a while", or in Europe for that matter... Would be IMPOSSIBLE...

Thailand just applies the same rules as any other country. And these rules were in place since ever... just no one cared in the past... and THAT did change now indeed...

understanding the (harsh for some) basics would help:

- either you are retired (>50) and have proof of funds

- or you are under 50 and do have a job (work permit) or invest in Thailand

- or you go for an Elite Card visa (costing 1 million THB+, there will also be more scrutiny in the future, I am sure, but with the money involved that should still be an option, maybe if the funds are there...)

Each plan to get a visa for long-term stay will ALWAYS come back to one of the above (forget the ED thing, thats not gonna be an option soon either...). So, answer what applies to you based on the above first.

There is simply no "stay on the cheap side" option while staying long term in Thailand any more. Thats is over with "visa runs" and "back-to-back" tourist visas very obviously now having been taken out of the picture.

I once attended a grand opening of a new luxury car outlet in Phuket, with the "big shots" of Phuket attending of course... and during the ceremony they proudly announced that one of the big shots just "bought" a Bentley.... and drove home with it.... (pure speculation, not that I would know the details, but I would be surprised if that Bentley would have cost the big shot more than a beer......)

Not that "the facts" were any surprise, but I was just gobsmacked how brazenly and "stupidly proud" that was "announced" publicly, with TV running, they OBVIOUSLY did not fear a thing can happen to them...

Won't make any difference. Most foreigners that buy property have visas to stay here. Those doig visa runs generally don't buy property. There are exceptions of course, but this affects very few people.

Admitted, I also don't have a crystal bowl either , but most replies along the lines "it has no effect" are very simplistic and naive, I believe. Things are a little more complex:

1. MANY Thais who buy property as "investment" are over-indebted. They buy on loans and in a high property price level.

2. in places, like Phuket and other areas which will see an exodus of "long-term tourists", the rental market will get a serious hit with large numbers of "tourists" having to leave because of the new visa handling

3. this will get a lot of these over-indebted Thai property owners who need the rental income to pay their monthly dues into trouble. As said, many are financially on the edge already; even more so with "under-the-table revenues" under attack...

4. the logic consequence would be that there will be quite a few emergency sales in some places, which WILL hit the property price for some sort of properties ("mid-quality", not so much on the hight end, I guess)

5. It will also affect the rate by which properties under development will be snapped up (again, mostly for "mid-quality" properties, not so much on the hight end, I guess)

6. As I hear from some banks, no surprise, they get stricter on property mortgage approvals already, which of course also reduces the buyer market, which will affect the property price level

7. All in all, I believe this will be in some significant parts of the market a bigger problem than portrayed here. It will be a "cooling of a bubble" in some segments of the market", and we saw how that tastes ...

Yes, it's simplistic, but not naive. No need to make a simple situation into something complicated. The fact is that the visa changes won't affect many people. Yes, they'll be less renting, but a tiny fraction of the rental market. So tiny that it's insignificant. There are already tens of thousands of empty properties and it doesn't seems to have pushed prices down. A few more won't make any difference. Most Thais I know or have spoken to about property buy with cash if they are investing. I was looking at a condo in Bangkok the other day and the owner said I could rent or buy. I asked why she;d want to sell, as teh condo was quite new. She said she had around 15 condos so it was ok to sell some occasionally. She said that generally she preferred to have money in property than in cash. And that is what I see with lots of Thais. They have bought with cash and they can afford to leave empty for years.

I also looked at some condos for sale in a 5-year old building. They have never been sold or lived in. The prices now are 20% higher than 5 years ago. So not being able to sell some since the building was first built hasn't dragged prices down. They can afford to wait or not ever sell. That s a huge different between Thai and Western property markets. There is a more of a rich/poor divide here and more buying with cash. They just don't need to sell, so there is no downward pressure on prices.

This is what makes the market here so hard to work out. Everything seems overvalued, but I can't see any real way for prices to drop drastically because there aren't many sellers who will lower prices. In UK, a developer would drop the prices for the last few sales. Here they would keep for 30 years if they didn't sell. It's a very different market.

Might be different in places like Jontiem in the coming years because areas like that seem so oversupplied that something will have to give eventually. But evn there I could be wrong.

citing "tens of thousands of already empty properties" and then still arguing that "there will be no effect" just reminds me of the guys who gave our world economy a clean bill of health on the day before reality kicked in ("2008", if you remember...)

some people never learn... what the heck... we'll see... a waste of time getting exited about it here...

Visa runners also spend their 30, 40, 50,000 / month in the economy, and if they are no longer here, neither is their money which is is cycled and recycled throughout the community; this will make a difference to the businesses which they frequented and the businesses which received it from them as well.

The smiles which will now be on the faces of all of the Cambodian businesses and landlords will have come from the Thai faces.

And or, there will be a lot more students on ed visas.

1. yes, there will be many long faces...

2. forget the ED visa as a solution, that's the next one on the list...

It may affect rentals in a few places like Pattaya and Phuket, but on a big picture scale/Thailand as a whole farang ownership or rental of properties in Thailand is a drop in the bucket...this crackdown will just make that drop a tiny bit smaller.

yes, it's a "niche"... but for those in these "niches" it will be a problem... All these "tourists" who are kicked out now don't spend a lot of money individually, I guess most dont have the money to spend a lot, but collectively they still represent not a small amount of cash which is now missing in many local Thai business owner's pocket. Almost each of the one's kicked out now had have to rent a motorbike or a car, rent some apartment/room, do the laundry, get some food (not to forget the drinks and "the fun"....).

Many small/mid Thai business owners depended on those kind of customers (in areas like Phuket, Samui, Hua Hin, Pattaya, etc...). Also some properly registered and official farang businesses cater for a farang community which is being kicked out now... we will see a lot of very unhappy (local) faces along the way the "cleaning up" road... That's inevitable, unfortunately... Let's just not pretend it is "business as usual"... in some "hot spots" it will cause havoc...