Batty

I just called the Dtac call center and asked them how I would go about recording my own personalized voicemail greeting. The lady told me she didn't think it was possible to do that - my only option would be the standard default Thai voicemail greeting. The only reason I am posting in here is because she sounded a little unsure of herself. Especially the bit where she said "I don't THINK you can do that". Is it possible, does anyone know? I might have some inbound work related calls coming in from potential customers back home I need to divert my Skype number to my Thai number for hours where I may be asleep. It doesn't sound too great, I don't think, if the voicemail is in Thai. The other problem is that I tried to access my voicemail and was asked to enter a PIN number that I was never previously given - but I can figure that out but calling dtac again, I guess. Thanks!

Hi there. Would someone be kind enough to confirm if I have the following information correct in terms of what is required for passport renewal in BKK? 2 passport photographs. Copy of Birth certificate (really?). Proof of address, translated into English from an official translation authority (again, really?). Copy of every page of the current passport. Again, that's every page. Completed application form. Did I miss anything? Do they really need a copy of my birth certificate? I am utterly clueless how to get a copy of that without flying back to England and applying for one?

Thanks, appreciate it - I should have done the same research, in hindsight.

Thanks. My situation sounds very similar to yours, actually. It sounds like you had a great doctor there, offering honest impartial advice. I'll see if I can locate the same type of doc!

Thanks so much, Sheryl. I did go to Wattana hospital and ask the 'international staff' (English speaking girls) if they had a doctor about my veins that they said they did not have a department for that and referred me to a clinic in the town - a clinic that turned out to be useless (the doctor is never there, and let me down with two appointments because he was busy at the public hospital). I'll try again at Wattana. Maybe I didn't explain myself correctly to the staff. Appreciate the advice!

I have had a few small purple blotches around my ankles for 20-odd years. They have never got better, or worse. It runs in the family, and I am the youngest of six. All of my elders have had them for years, without anything getting worse. Over the last few years, I have developed bulging veins in both legs. Again, two of my elders have had the same issue for years, and none of them have been operated on or anything. My mother had it also and had the veins 'pulled out like spaghetti' when she was around 50 years old, which is my current age. It's obviously an issue, and the fact that none of my elders have had a serious problem with it should not serve as a deterrent from my getting them sorted. So, I found a clinic in Udon Thani who specialises in this kind of thing. The doctor there spoke amazing English and seemed very much on the ball. He is a doctor at the local army hospital and works this clinic evenings and weekends. He diagnosed varicose veins instantly, without even touching my legs, and said it could be dangerous in the future. I don't doubt that. He said I could lose a leg in the future (I think he said 10 years or so upwards) and am currently 'mid-range seriousness'. He said the procedure is a chemical injection directly into each problem vein. This would cause or prevent (I forget which) thrombosis, effectively blocking the vein and stopping blood flow within it. That, he said, is the cure. All good so far, in terms of consultation. But my spider senses kicked-off a little because he seemed to switch to sales mode. He wasn't hard selling, but I just got a general sense that he was keen to close me, and get me on the procedure table right there and then for my first couple of injections. Hard to explain, really, but it just felt more like a beauty clinic environment where they are keen to do business, as opposed to treat patients, if that makes sense. The word 'special price' and 'great offer' was thrown around quite a bit. Each injection, apparently, is one vial. He said I may need up to 12 vials total, at a 'special promo price' of 65,000 baht for all 12 injections/vials. One being, one vial, kinda thing. He said we should do the most potentially dangerous 2 or 3 veins first, then I can have the others done over a month or two, at my own leisure, until we have used all 12 vials. I asked him if I might have a DVT, or if there is any chance of having one. I never have pains in my legs, apart from a tiny, almost insignificant feeling of discomfort in one of the veins, on my calf. He said there is no chance of having a DVT as I don't present with the symptoms. He also said they can not check for DVT at this clinic, which made me wonder if that was his motivation for being so certain that I do not have one. I told him I would go home, think about it, and come back to him. In fairness, there was no charge for the consultation - although I made it clear that I would be back to pay the 65,000 soon just so I could wrap things up and get out of there. By the way, I also asked him (candidly, I guess) if I could have it done at the army hospital he works at. No, he said. "they not have this special injection there". Hmm. Seemed a bit odd. Sorry about the long-winded post, but I have a few questions about all of this: 1) Is this the correct procedure for varicose veins? An injection directly into the vein? What is the general approach by a regular hospital? 2) Does the price sound about right? 65,000 for 12 vials/injections? 3) I did previously think I had a DVT, as I had a pain in my left calf a couple years ago for around one month months. At one point, I was limping for a week or so. I was told by a different local clinic that I had a DVT - but then got a scan at a hospital later, and was told I didn't. The pain vanished, and never returned. Maybe it was something else, I have no idea. However, how can the doctor at this clinic I just visited be so sure I don't have one, just by glancing at my leg? I thought DVTs were invisible to the naked eye? Whatever you guys thing I should so, basically. Would I be better off going to a local hospital, maybe?

Yah ill definitley go and get it locally before I fly, just to be safe. Thanks again for your help mate, appreciate it.

Yah, i was all over the place in the way I explained it. Its an extension of stay I have, not a visa. Someone else has explained it all. Cheers though :)

Thanks Sheryll... I got there eventually 🙂 Ill make sure to get get a re-entry before I go. Thanks!

Yup, will do. Thanks!

Thats smashing, thanks for sticking with it, ha! I genuinely didn't know that - so its technically not a visa I have. Its an extension. Christ, how on earth did I not know that? That makes everything so much easier though. The thought of spending an extra few days in London while i faff around at the Thai embassy. The sooner I get out of there, the better. Really appreciate the advice, thanks so much.

Im so sorry for being unlear with this. To be honest, my wife organizes everything each year, and I am hazy about what it is i actually have. It is definitely a non-immigrant 'O' visa with a 'USED' stamp on it. Each year, I visit the local immigration in Udon for an extension of stay based on that expired non-O visa.

Thanks for sticking with this - sorry if I am not being completely clear. I am British, but I live in Thailand. I got a non immigrant visa (now expired) in 2018. Every year since then I have extended it at my local immigration office in Udon. I always thought it was classed as a non immigrant O, but just looking at it now, I may be wrong. Im not entirely sure what it is, and I appreciate that makes me sound even more clueless than I already sound lol. Each year the wife and I visit the local immigration in Udon and get a 12 month extension. I know i am inviting a bunch of scorn here lol but i genuinely don't know what type of visa that is. I always refer to it as a marriage visa, but i am unsure what the official term is. Either way, you are saying I can simply turn up at Swampy, present both passports, and I am good to go - then i just visit local immigration in Udon, and they transfer over?

By the way, I have a non immigrant O visa that does not expire untill next May.

Thanks for that. I'm pleasantly surprised - you mean I don't have to visit the Thai Embassy in London at all? Just for clarity - I am obviously going to be in London anyway, on route to another country for a few weeks. While I am there my passports expiration date will cross over the 6 month line, so I need to get a new passport (same day premium service). Just saying that in case it sounds like I am going to London just to transfer my Thai visa lol. So I simply travel back to Thailand with my new and old passport, and immigration will transfer the old visa into the new at the airport? I googled that and was under the impression you couldn't do that?