ChrisKC

The Missis once tried explaining plaa raa to me as "fish expire".

"I am going to dye my hair"

"What colour"

"mai kao jai"

"You said you were going to dye your hair"

"No. I am going to dai pom"

"You are mixing English and Thai together". "dye in English means to change the colour"

"Oh. I just go to make my hair beautiful"

"And while I there I for to have my foot fingers done"

"Yes, darling, have a great time"

Nice to ear ChrisKC !! I wish you a long life and a supernatural health ! (look for google human 2.0 if you want 50 years +, they're working on it)

And Yes, without kidding, LOVE is the only valuable that can't be bought !

For the OP subjet.. I also know an old woman married to Japanese man.. she's now waiting here one more year so she can go back there, she has been blacklisted for having no visa for 15 years in Japan, she surrenders and had 5 years ban.

All those years she was sending money to the rest of the familly who spoiled everything of course... easy money is never really good ! The thing is that she's so sad here.. all what she wants is to go back to Japan and enjoy her quality life with her husband, she cannot find good veggies like the one they garden over there.. She says that Fuji's restaurant and others here are just 100% crap.. feels much pitty for her country except that Thai food is much better here but with pesticides and fertilizers most often.

Nice to ear ChrisKC !! I wish you a long life and a supernatural health ! (look for google human 2.0 if you want 50 years +, they're working on it)

And Yes, without kidding, LOVE is the only valuable that can't be bought !

Thank you Zendo, I appreciate that.

I am sure these women will be delighted to take care of pampers for old guys.. with "love" everything is possible ! SO beautifull

Your scenario is not remotely true of me! My body and my brain are as perfectly fit, healthy and active as you could imagine.

Don't take it like a personnal attack, it's just a thing that happen one day or another for almost everybody. It's a natural process .. and better have somebody dedicated to you when it happens or a nurse (without anything under her dress of course .. eyes and hands will still be active) !

Can't we have fun here sometimes ??

Yes, we can have fun here. That is part of my philosophy of life. I DO have someone who loves me and would take care of me if I needed. I am 71 now and I have ALL my faculties - I don't even wear glasses! I will stack up my health with anyone on TV, however old they are and - yes - in case you are wondering I CAN and DO every day.

With my fantastic health and strength, at my age I know I am in a minority but I know that can change in a moment. I live in the NOW because that is all I have.

I am sure these women will be delighted to take care of pampers for old guys.. with "love" everything is possible ! SO beautifull

Your scenario is not remotely true of me! My body and my brain are as perfectly fit, healthy and active as you could imagine.

A friend of mine yesterday said "If a Thai girls takes you for US$20,000 and that is all you have, your a fool but if you are a multi-millionaire it is only a lesson". We have too many of these fools showing up each week in Thailand.

I don't think $20k can be considered a lot.

It's everything if it is all you have. And many Thai women would be delighted to extract it from you

Well.. on the other hand it's not that much.. and if it's all you have that means you can't buy "love" for such a cheap price, specially when women are minimum 20 years younger that this geriartric dudes ! It will cost less to see professionnals that fooling yourself into a "relationship".. but.. can you still get a hard on ?

Of course love can grow even with huge age differences we see that happening all the time with broken old guys, look at this famous example :

I am very happy to say that I have much, much more to offer than just (a lot less than $20,000) money!

Slightly off-topic: A few years ago when applying for retirement extension our bank funds of B800,000 had been in one bank for more than six months. On the day of the application the exchange rate had reduced enough to create a shortfall of B30,000 when the calculation was made.

We were allowed to transfer that B30,000 from a UK bank to make up the shortfall and the application was successful on the same day.

A friend of mine yesterday said "If a Thai girls takes you for US$20,000 and that is all you have, your a fool but if you are a multi-millionaire it is only a lesson". We have too many of these fools showing up each week in Thailand.

I don't think $20k can be considered a lot.

It's everything if it is all you have. And many Thai women would be delighted to extract it from you

I doubt very much if the evidence of your address was refused by the British Consulate, Consular staff have no input into passport applications, this function is contracted out to VFS staff.

This thread is about visa applications, decision makers are based within the UKVI which itself is within the Embassy, whilst you're right about getting everything translated, as I and others have already said, I doubt very much if the TOT bill in Thai and English would be rejected, but nor would it be needed.

I am talking about the Office in Trendy Building. Maybe it isn't the British Consulate proper but it IS the British representation of where I had to apply for my new passport. You can doubt it as much as you like. I don't recall you being with me when it WAS rejected. This thread is about the need for Thai documents being translated and my contribution relates to the possibility of rejection when documents are NOT translated. This risk is eliminated when they ARE translated.

Of course I wasn't with you when you submitted your passport application, what a bizarre statement.

You have posted your comments in the Visa Forum, and as such your remarks about a passport application isn't relevant.

As I, and others, have said a number of times, all relevant supporting evidence not in English should be translated when submitting a visa application, a TOT bill isn't relevant for a visa application and shouldn't even be submitted.

So you don't have any reason to doubt that my document was rejected. You could only seriously doubt what I said if you had been with me. Of course, you don't see the point of my subtle remark. My post isn't about a passport application, it is about documents in Thai being translated for ready acceptance. I use it as an example because, even though I was told my document would be OK, it wasn't because it wasn't officially translated and authenticated. My TOT Internet statement is an acceptable document for some purposes that shows my residence which is not too dissimilar from that of the OP.

I stand by the relevance of my remarks!

I've had 4 successful uk visitor visas for my TGF. We have never translated any Thai documents. These include land & house papers & her work contract. However, our supporting documents do include a letter in English from my Thai employer.

I believe you, no problem but there are many threads on here every week about SOME Offices and SOME Officers at SOME time wanting or not wanting something and some things being accepted and sometimes rejected or unnecessary I will argue that if important documents are required one can avoid the potential of rejection and be on the safe side by having them translated.

Don't take the risk, get everything properly translated into English. I recently applied for a new British passport with a TOT letter showing my name and address. The TOT letter was in Thai AND English but was refused by the British Consulate in Bangkok. I was able to get a translation of my address from Thai to English and I had to get it properly authenticated by the Translation Service who charged me B400 for the privilege.

But this was better than having a failed application.

I doubt very much if the evidence of your address was refused by the British Consulate, Consular staff have no input into passport applications, this function is contracted out to VFS staff.

This thread is about visa applications, decision makers are based within the UKVI which itself is within the Embassy, whilst you're right about getting everything translated, as I and others have already said, I doubt very much if the TOT bill in Thai and English would be rejected, but nor would it be needed.

I am talking about the Office in Trendy Building. Maybe it isn't the British Consulate proper but it IS the British representation of where I had to apply for my new passport. You can doubt it as much as you like. I don't recall you being with me when it WAS rejected. This thread is about the need for Thai documents being translated and my contribution relates to the possibility of rejection when documents are NOT translated. This risk is eliminated when they ARE translated.

Only what happened to me, but both my partners chanote and tabien ban were not translated and there were no issues.

As theoldgit says, anecdotal evidence shows that official documents, such as those you mention, have been acceptable without translations.

For others, such as employers letters, I strongly recommend getting a translation.

Officially, this can be into English or Welsh, but I doubt that many translation bureaux in Thailand could translate them into Welsh; even if there is a Welsh speaker stationed in the entry clearance office at Bangkok! So I recommend English.

If the British Authorities want documents to help them process the application, I think they will want to read them! If I was an Official I wouldn't accept in Thai because I can't possibly check properly that the document satisfies the requirements.

Surely that is reasonable! Some Thais understand English but very few English understand Thai, let alone official documents

Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it.

Documents like employer letter, bank info, sponsor letter, and most things are in English. It's just a few things in Thai like her son's birth certificate, ownership of her apartment, families ID cards.

Only what happened to me, but both my partners chanote and tabien ban were not translated and there were no issues.

As theoldgit says, anecdotal evidence shows that official documents, such as those you mention, have been acceptable without translations.

For others, such as employers letters, I strongly recommend getting a translation.

Officially, this can be into English or Welsh, but I doubt that many translation bureaux in Thailand could translate them into Welsh; even if there is a Welsh speaker stationed in the entry clearance office at Bangkok! So I recommend English.

Don't take the risk, get everything properly translated into English. I recently applied for a new British passport with a TOT letter showing my name and address. The TOT letter was in Thai AND English but was refused by the British Consulate in Bangkok. I was able to get a translation of my address from Thai to English and I had to get it properly authenticated by the Translation Service who charged me B400 for the privilege.

But this was better than having a failed application.

I was 20 years old. The trip was with a railway workmate and went we around Ireland from England in his car. I will never forget that trip - I have been back a few times but not since 2001

My first trip to the Continent was to Norway, Denmark and Sweden, this time by boat from Newcastle to Bergen and back.

On the return trip was a stunningly beautiful Norwegian 18 year old who was coming to London to be an au pair. Lucky me. I was living in London and she thought I was wonderful. We had a great time for six months before she....

My first Flight was to Morocco with my new wife, that was 1970. we went with our best friends who were also just married. On the flight from Luton, my friend and I asked if we could go into the cockpit and talk with the pilot. No problem!!! We spent ten minutes in there - Those were the days!

Unless you have changed your address since your last extension without telling Immigration, you do not need to include proof of address in your documentation. They will already have your current, correct address on their records for checking against the address on your visa extension application.

This is definitely not true of Chiang Mai two days ago.

My wife and I have applied for retirement extensions for the last 11 consecutive years from the same address, without documentary proof. This year it was stated in advance by our Agent (an ex Immigration Officer) that proof of residence IS now required and this was proven to be completely correct when the application was submitted.

As soon as possible. All the trains will be booked up in a couple of days time and most of the buses as well. If you already know dates get the job done real soon

On a more serious note:

As an avid Treky, I feel I ought to point out the Prime Directive:

The Prime Directive prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the internal development of alien civilizations. This conceptual law applies particularly to civilizations which are below a certain threshold of technological, scientific and cultural development; preventing star ship crews from using their superior technology to impose their own values or ideals on them.

Basically speaking, any given civilization should be allowed to develop at its own rate, without interference from outside parties, parties with the belief that their way is the better way!

Thailand was doing just fine before they became westernised. Just ask some of the long term expats.

Interesting thought process; just one issue 1997-1998 with a US bailout package. Plus the existential delusion of a certain type of Thai national. And how is it this 'long term expat' knowledge differs to todays western expatriate experience other than the year - very interesting argument. Could it be Thai's ability to adapt to a current situation? Blame game to no positive end. Immigration laws tell the real (changing) underlying story with issues vented of acceptance, all related to monetary gain.

Thailand has NOT become "Westernised" It is still Thailand and maintains just about all of its Thainess! There is SOME influence but really not that much in the overall scheme of things.

Thailand is virtually unique in the world as it has never been a Coloniser and never itself been colonised. This has the effect that its "Thainess" has prevailed (some may say, stubbornly), in spite of "Westerners" attempting to modernise some of its thinking.

7/11, TV, drug culture, shopping malls, white skin, nose implants, red hair, colored contacts, 50/50 offspring, etc, etc, etc, etc....

I think you need to take your medication and get back in your box!

I don't discuss matters of interest with those who are rude to me. I suggest you go for some "attitude adjustment". Prayut will show you where to go!

The items you have mentioned are influences and additions but have not changed basic Thai culture. I stand by what I said!

On a more serious note:

As an avid Treky, I feel I ought to point out the Prime Directive:

The Prime Directive prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the internal development of alien civilizations. This conceptual law applies particularly to civilizations which are below a certain threshold of technological, scientific and cultural development; preventing star ship crews from using their superior technology to impose their own values or ideals on them.

Basically speaking, any given civilization should be allowed to develop at its own rate, without interference from outside parties, parties with the belief that their way is the better way!

Thailand was doing just fine before they became westernised. Just ask some of the long term expats.

Interesting thought process; just one issue 1997-1998 with a US bailout package. Plus the existential delusion of a certain type of Thai national. And how is it this 'long term expat' knowledge differs to todays western expatriate experience other than the year - very interesting argument. Could it be Thai's ability to adapt to a current situation? Blame game to no positive end. Immigration laws tell the real (changing) underlying story with issues vented of acceptance, all related to monetary gain.

Thailand has NOT become "Westernised" It is still Thailand and maintains just about all of its Thainess! There is SOME influence but really not that much in the overall scheme of things.

Thailand is virtually unique in the world as it has never been a Coloniser and never itself been colonised. This has the effect that its "Thainess" has prevailed (some may say, stubbornly), in spite of "Westerners" attempting to modernise some of its thinking.

Thanks to both of you for your kind replies. The marriage option is unavailable, so it looks like I will have to travel to Bangkok.

For two years running my retirement extensions were delayed by two and three days (including a weekend) after expiry. On both occasions I was treated with understanding as it was my paperwork not quite right relating to money in the bank.

Even though there are new enforcements on Overstayers I doubt if you will have any trouble other than the fine which I had to pay and it was recorded in my passport. Immigration are not looking for Overstayers like you and me.

I am not sure about the precise discomfort you will endure with a trip to Bangkok but, like others, I would suggest you bite that bullet; get yourself really organised, go, and appreciate it is only once a year.

As a matter of Interest, I have just (29 March) had a successful retirement extension application in Chiang Mai that I decided would be better than those days in May* when there are so many days Immigration are closed and therefore much busier when they eventually open again.

You can apply up to 45 days in advance of the expiry date (depends on the Office)

* Last year I changed from a May expiry to an April one because my passport expired then.

In any event, take your time, get it right - and good luck

Now i understand why Thais dont like farangs

Please speak for yourself. I am not disliked by Thai men or women

But you farrang, you don't understand Thai people and Thai culture.

TIT

But I DO understand Thai culture. Just because it's culture doesn't make it either right or acceptable.

Thai people call it culture. I call it common assault.

Yes, lighters, as i am a smoker and as i hate the cheap ones sold here.

Bic flint..17bht......Bic electronic...25bht.....7/11....Mini Tesco..

How different is a foreign flame from a Thai one?

Survive??? Unrealistic if that's all you have.. Unless you're about to die of old age, or a have a terminal illness..

Nobody is talking about wanting ONLY to "survive". But that was the question. But then again, maybe the OP didn't mean that literally.

In my earlier post where I described my survival rate of B15,000 per month, I also indicated I could have everything I wanted but that is MORE than just survival. If I take the word literally, I could live on B6,000 per month.

Oh, ChrisKC you are such a stickler for details! OK, I'll back out the yearly trip to the USA and other travel expenses to neighboring countries as well as some financial assistance that I give to my son in the USA as well as charitable donations to the Fr Ray Foundation in Pattaya. Now with those items backed out my monthly expenses are a much more reasonable $2600/B91,000 per month. I hope you will approve of this and not again accuse me of "bragging" about my wealth! PS: You really should not take these questions and answers here on TV so seriously. Post again if you require more details about my financial situation.

I was being a little facetious with my original comment .

I am a stickler for detail when it matters but I am a stickler for the basics always.

Sorry, but I have to stand by my comments about your inclusions of extraneous outgoings that have no bearing on "surviving" in Thailand. My criticism is not about your finances but your chosen method of answering a question that added nothing to the discussion or remotely useful to the OP

Current budget, around 18 months.

Is that surviving or bragging?

Well the OP asked and that's about what my yearly expenses come to or around $4500 p/m. That factors in every expense like a yearly trip to the USA etc. What's to brag about?

A yearly trip to the USA has NOTHING to do with "surviving" in Thailand.

The "current budget, around 18 months" gives the impression of answering the OPs question but chooses to add (without telling us) huge extraneous items not related to the question. I am entitled to suppose anything about a budget of B166,666 a month, one of which is for him to let us all know how much money he has!