ehw200

I have spent 15 years in Central America and see many similiarities between there and Thailand where I now have the retrement visa

I understand the OP's point to a degree

I advise all newbies to Central America,,,,beware the local,,,he may try to scam you for $20 be more aware of your fellow countrymen,,,they are looking to scam you for 20 or 30 thousand

the majority of the ex pats are all generally pretty good people with a good pension or other source of income

unfortunately the sharks smell the blood and tend to try and infiltrate areas with a high percentage of ex pats

and these sharks come from all countries including mine (Canada),,,I am sorry to admit as they are an embarrasment to me

I have met self exiles Cubans in Central America. Castro stole all their family land,,,they still have the papers that go back more than 100 years to show that the land belongs to their family. If Cuba ever opens up completely and starts to sell this land to foreign investors,,,get ready for another blood bath directed at these investors the original owners of these lands are very passionate on this subject

the Latin America country referred to by the writer as Columbia is actually called Colombia

SO become part of the problem not part of the solution

Darwin,,,isn't that where the US base is?

wait a little while darwin will probably become the biggest whorehouse in Asia

surpassing Pattaya and Angeles

I hope the bicycle lanes are more successful than the pedestrian crossings.

I hopw more succesful than the sidewalks with moving and parked motorbikes, stalls, restaurant table etc blocking them and making everything difficult for the pedestrian

in some smaller toensw in the area, people actually stop and wave you across the street when they see you attempting to cross,,,in Pattaya it seems like they step on the gas

the drivers in this city break every traffic law known to man with what seems like immunity from the police,,,which is why they do it

I have heard that this is the Thai way but many falangs just as bad or worse,,,how many lives get lost every year before something changes

I myself am out of here to another city,,,before I become one of the statistics

seems to me the police are kind of like a mafia here,,,demaning tea money for everything,,,I have not experienced this myself so I could be wrong

what happens when a crooked police officer starts to arrest people for attempted bribery when there was none just to get the 10k

I think the answer is to pay them a decent salary so they are not forced to look for tea money

and then if caught,,,fire them

with a decent salary they now have something to lose,,,like a future

hopefully this would clean up the police deoartment of any corruption

this is strange as on Sept 24 I went from visa exempt to non immigrant o to non immigrant OA (retitement) in Jomtien in one day

(so YES you can get retirement visa in Jomtienand unless the rules have changed in the last 3 weeks an o visa as well,,,I wiuld talk to the gentleman that helps us Falang he sits around the corner to the left of the help desk)

you will need at least 2 photos, 3 if applying for multiple entry

recept and copy of it to show where you are living or copies of first page of blue book if you own your own condo

letter from Doctor

letter from your bank confirming 800k in bank for 3 months

copy of front page of your bank book and the page with your deposits and balance showing the same

photo copies of passport,,, front page, entry stamp and departure card

(I would bring 3 copies of everything),,,each one needs to be signed at the bottom

I don't think I have forgotten anything

you can get the forms online in word format and fill most of the info in then print before going to immigration

unfortuneately if the rules have changed in the last 3 weeks you may require the trio to Bangkok

but I would check again in Jomtien before I made the trek

from what I have seen,,,drivers )both(Thai ahd Falang) here break every road law in the world with immunity

have never seen anyone getting a ticket for any infractions exept maybe no helmet, ni licwense and impaired

the bad driving habits seem to be ignored which just encouages more bad driving

maybe het should be handing out tickets for driving on sidewalks, driving the wrong way on the wronf side of the street etc

then they could afford the bike paths,,,now just how are they going to keep the moto;s off of them

when they can't keep them off the sidewalks

A lot of heavy drinkers feel lonely that is why they are looking for drinking mates, that can keep up. I know I did. I could never understand a person who would come into the bar have 2 drinks & go home. I was a violent drunk and unpredictable, I could be singing " Moon River" at midnight and been smashing a chair over your head 5 minutes later. At the end of my drinking I couldn't find anyone to drink with and "WONDER WHY"

I have had freedom from Alcohol since August 1980, thanks to AA. So please don't come on TV and tell me it don't work.

good on you,,,and consider yourself very lucky that you saw the light

I had a brother in law like this and he eventaully killed someone,,,he has asolutely no memery of what happened

but admits with the evidence he saw that he is guilty

now he has spent the last 23 years in prison,,,gets out soon,,,fifty some years old,,,no job, no friends, no money, parebts dead,,,probably not much of a future

big price to pay for a drunken stupid night

you enjoy your life and freedom I wish you the best

I am not about to waste my time turning anyone in,,,not my business

my only problem with people cheating Thai law re visa's is that he Government is forced to make crackdowns which inconvenience all of us

a 6 month multiple entry visa in your home country is not that difficult

if some people get caught in the net and are expelled and blacklisted for going around the Thai law,,,oh well,,,you do the crime,,,do the time

OR get a proper and legal visa and you have no problems

in this situation, I would remove all of my assets from Thailand and RUN,,,make sure if you rent an apartment,,,it is on the ground floor

in my opinion it is better (and safer) to marry a girl from another country and send her home a couple of times/year to visit her family

even then in some cases the money she takes with her will be taken by the parents on day1,,,then comes the e-mail request for western union

and if you are lucky only once more for money to get home,,,my experience is from Central America but seems much the same here

round them all up and throw away the key

with any luck thy will end themselves

I am a Canadian and I can honestly say that i am not aware of one Canadian that has a problem with US citizens

I currently live in Latin America and most of my friends are American

also I spend a lot of time in Thailand and have good friends from America there

it is possible that some dislike your government and hopefully they can searate the people from the government

as for myself I do not like having to pay transfer fees to a US bank simply because I am sending US dollars

I never again want to live anywhere near a US military base (look at Angeles)

As I live in Latin America, My personal financial affairs seem to be open to the US governmant

I decided to move to Asia about 3 years ago to get out from underneath this US umbrella,,,imagine my shock when just three months later they announced they were coming to Asia (Darwin to start)

as said in above posts, I think it is your governments foreign policies that bring some resentment to peole who are unable to separte the people form the government

this being said, I don't like my own socialist government that much better either,,,which is why I left

I myself have felt some anti Canadian sentiment in some of the northern states,,,although very rarely,,,most Americans have always treated me well

I hea,r also in the north, that some Americans are not too fond of the people from Quebec and hope this is just a few

my point,,,in every country in the world there are a frw ignorant and narrow minded individuals that can give us all a bad name

I am sorry that you have found anti Ameican sentiment in Canada but belive me this is not the norm

and are you sure they were Canadian's and not from somewhere else As I am not aware of one Canadian who really dislikes Americans although I am sure there are a couple

this is all a mess I get Thailand's position on Visa'a especially the mini vans from BKK and Pattaya,,,leave at 7:00 AM return sames day before 5:00 PM with a new visa,,,definitely an abuse and I have done this myself what I do not understand is that Thailand wants to increase tourism I was going to my local Thai consulate to get 90 day single entry visa but rather than lose the money if I am denied,,,,will now go with the 30 day visa on arrival option until I find out where I stand I am also worried about import duties,,,will they tax me on my laptop, my Camera, My watch etc etc If I had not already booked and paid for my flights from Central America,,,,I would be now booking for another country in SE Asia rather than Thailand until the dust settles and the rules become clearer I am assuming I will be OK as I left Thailand last March and returning late August I am hoping to apply for a retirement visa this year,,,tried last year but a friendly Immigration police officer on the help desk offered to help me out for only 17k baht and I left as politely and quickly as I could (corrupt police make me nervous) none of the above can be good for tourism,,,,If I was a first timer,,,Thailand would be off my destination list,,,who needs the uncertainty and hassle when going on vacation true a first timer should not have a problem with immigration but still the duty laws to worry about maybe I have missed something about what is going to be taxed and what is not

in my old country a lady making minimum wage explained the problem with raising the minimum wage

she said that when she got more money, her boss increased prices to cover this and so did every other business in town

so in actual fact she was no better off

she claimed she and the employers were both no better off and the only actual winner

was the government who incresed her wages because she now paid more taxes

I was waaiting but no one added the overused phrase

run Forest run

did visa run last year,,,Air Asia Bangkok to Penang,,,,no problems and was there in no time

The airport must have improved as I had no problems either way

city bus right in to center of Penang from airport was about 30 Baht,,,maybe just a little more

I spend 6 months/year in Panama

90% of the corner stores are Chinese operated

their children are now Panamanian

Tal;king to one young lady wuth Chinese roots

her parents sent her to China where she could meet and know her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins

I asked her what she thought of China and she said she just loved it there

I asked why she bothered to come back

she told me that she was raised Panamanian and as such she was too lazy to ever keep a job in China

I don;t think Thailand has much to worry about when it comes to it's citizens of Chinese decent,,,they are now Thai

even if they do maintain some Chinese customs like New Year etc

I have a very good Thai friend who once asked for a large sum,,,as I know him quite well I suspect this was related to a gambling problem as he has a major problem in this area...I turned him down with some excuse

asides from the gambling this is a wonderful Thai man just trying to get by in this world like anybody else

I still feel a little guilty about turning him down

he quite often drives me places and helps me out in different ways and when I try to pay he tells me I am his friend

and he does not want money

I sometimes insist but wonder if I offend him a little when I do this,,,any feedback on this would be appreciated

still need to understand Thai culture more,,,but I am learning

I do give him a little card and put 500 or 1000 baht in it for special occasions (xmas new years etc) and explain it is my culture,,,has worked out well with no uncomfortableness on either side

back home I have lent 10 or 20 to some people just because I knew I would never see the money or more importantly

the person ever again

never a borrower or lender be.....but if you must be one,,,be a borrower

I have a very good Thai friend who once asked for a large sum,,,as I know him quite well I suspect this was related to a gambling problem as he has a major problem in this area...I turned him down with some excuse

asides from the gambling this is a wonderful Thai man just trying to get by in this world like anybody else

I still feel a little guilty about turning him down

he quite often drives me places and helps me out in different ways and when I try to pay he tells me I am his friend

and he does not want money

I sometimes insist but wonder if I offend him a little when I do this,,,any feedback on this would be appreciated

still need to understand Thai culture more,,,but I am learning

I do give him a little card and put 500 or 1000 baht in it for special occasions (xmas new years etc) and explain it is my culture,,,has worked out well with no uncomfortableness on either side

back home I have lent 10 or 20 to some people just because I knew I would never see the money or more importantly

the person ever again

never a borrower or lender be.....but if you must be one,,,be a borrower

I belive Cambodia said it best about 2 years ago

when China give us money there are no strings attached,,,unlike some other country we know

I live in a latin American country that takes money from the USA,,,when they say jump they jump

I feel my personal rights and freedoms are controlled by the USA in these countries

I decided to move to Asia to get out from underneath the US umbrella,,,now they seem to wnt to follow me here

do not let them in,,the same crap will happen here and they will end up dictating to Asia

and do not think for a minute they have not committed attrocities in latin America,,ven if they "never happened"

I agree that something needs to be done about the drunl driving

I read a few months ago they put some real teeth into the drunk driving laws but apparently the police are ot enforcing

these new laws

but I do not wish to see groups from the USA taking up vigilence in Thailand

if you wish for this maybe you should be living back in the USA instead of trying to make other countries into what

you left

p.s. have never diven any type of vehicle in Thailand,,,I value my life

Philippines,,,Manila is a shit hole,,,many good people live there but you won't meet these people on a vacation as they have their own lives like anywhere else,,,what you will meet are the scammers that are out to meet you

it starts from the second you walk out the door of the airport and will not stop until you re enter the airport to fly out

Cebu is much better,,Boracay is wonderful but much more epensive as it is a tourist spot

Vietnam,,,the street vendors are voracious and do not take no thank you, please leave me alone, go away, piss off and worse

have had some onto me for more than 1/2 hour

also th Tai drivers I have encoutered are the biggest theives in the world

they give you a price and when you arrive to your destineation try to triple it

herd stories of moto taxis in Vung Tau stopping and demanding $80 USD or him and his 8 freinds across the dtreet will beat the crap out of you,,,this was 2 years ago,,,maybe no more???

asides from that made some very nice and good Vietanese friends there

even Ho Chi Minh city was great with parks everywhere

My taje on Cambodia,,,Siam Reap could get boring fast

like PPO,,,don't know why and can't esplain it but I do,,,perhaps because I have some Camodian freinds there

that are wonderful people

also they seem to really understand customer service

I tend to avoid Sihonukville lately as it seems to get sleazier every year and I hear from e pat friends that klive there that the crime is getting worse every year

I love Malaysia,,,people seem very friendly and helpful,,,all good eperiences there for me

a lot less corruption than in neighboring countries (see the country corruption list I think thy are number 40 something

while Thailand has dropped down to over 100 right beside Panama and equador)

great 10 year no reporting visa program

over all Thailand gets my vote,,,ecept of course for the corruption and I do realize I would probably be better off in Mayasia