edwardflory

Had my "stache" 60+ years

This should be a insight for those new x-pats that come here with notions of land ownership or company owership. Marry and have your wife own....if you can trust her.

If I am not mistaken, if a AMERICAN accepts and uses a Royal title or becomes the head of a foreign government, they have given up their citizenship. I could be wrong, my school class was over 60 years ago.

About 9 years ago when I was a FTPA member, I was stopped in BKK by 2 ""plain clothes officers"". I said " I'll show you mine, you show me yours" as I pulled out my ID case. If you have ever seen a road runner cartoon, the bird was slow motion compared to the way they disappeared.

I know of one on 5 bus lines, near MEGA BANG NA mall, plenty of other transport CLEAN, FARANG FRIENDLY, HOT SHOWER, TV, FRIG and etc, CLOSE to restaurants, 7-11, bars, M&P stores, 500bt daily - monthly 7000bt plus utilities available. They exist!

"""Yes a holiday resort area catering to tourists should obviously be speaking English""" Why not CHINESE, Japanese, Spanish, German or another language. Why just English? .... The 2 most spoken languages in the world, and much business is conducted mostly in ENGLISH and CHINESE .... My landlord does NOT speak English ( landlord of 3 years and village headman ) hello GOOGLE TRANSLATE. Works for both of us.

My niece ( via marriage ) and her boyfriend had a fabulous idea to take over a restaurant for 100,000bt. ( I am the only farang in family of 6 siblings ) I ask the niece: How much rent, How much utilities, How old is equipment, what inventory is included ....she couldn't answer.... Ok, so I decided to go to the restaurant and count customers. Located on a major soi, NO parking, Walked passed ...5... other restaurants to get to shop. From 11:30 to 13:30 ... 6 LUNCH TIME customers ( 2 were wife and me ) Our cost for our meal 120bt including 2 water bottles. Need I say more? I saw no future.

"""Why don't you simply get a new card?""" That solution is tooooooo simple and usually costs 100bt ... and a Service Desk trip.

I use KRUNGSRI bank. I have used OTHER banks ATM's in BKK, PATTAYA, KORAT with no "using other banks ATM's" service charges. Also, no 'service charges" at a KRUNGSRI ATM anywhere in mentioned areas. Have made deposits and withdrawals at various KRUNGSRI bank branches in mentioned areas, no "service charges" Largest ATM withdraw 50,000bt, usually withdraw 5,000 to 30,000bt.

"""Except if the visitor is a non Thai the landlord is responsible for lodging the TM 30 is he not?""" In this case the person renting or in POSSESSION of the condo is 1) House Master, 2) Possessor, 3) Tenant IS responsible for the TM-30 The landlord is NOT responsible for the tenants visitors TM-30

The person in physical control of the place ( the condo ) where the foreigner stays IS responsible for a TM-30 within 24 hours. Read the Immigration Act Sections 4 & 38 Let's look at my LOCAL IO POLICY: So I leave the country next month on holiday, I return and file the new """ELECTRONIC TM-6""" ( address where I will stay ) 3 days before entry, I return to my SAME ADDRESS of 4+ years - LOCAL POLICY says within 24 hours I have to file a new TM-30. === So we are talking 5 minutes out of my super busy retirement life === As I said many times, it ALL depends on LOCAL POLICY and LOCAL ENFORCEMENT

""".....out and about in the wrong places or your....""" Well, the last place was at the Korat Immigration Office with a BRIT / THAI couple, before that at"The Mall" with a YANK / THAI couple at DIY. Yep, in all the wrong places You sure as hell do not know much about Thai women talking to each other, even if just meeting - they almost always compair their lifestyles when they have a farang as a partner.

Me 14, her 26 deed done in a barn at the county fair.

63 baht !! 😆 Try 7-11, open 24 hours a day - where I got one.

Occasionally WE get a request for money from family members. The usual request is 1000bt, sometimes paid back, sometimes not. Her family are farmers, and usually, after a small harvest, is when we get a request. ( About 10 times in 12 years ) I don't have a problem with 1000bt even for several months in a row.

"""Riding a scooter in Soi 6....in the middle of Songkran...and expecting not to be soaked?.....""" Must be: 1) new to Pattaya ( doubtful, driving a motor bike ) OR most likely 2) slightly insane UNLESS staying on the soi - if then, he should have known what would happen. 🤔

There is a beach you can access from Buddha Hill. Mostly used by locals and long term folks. You will walk down many steps to get to the beach.

I ended up getting a EMERGENCY PASSPORT because 6 weeks was not "long" enough time to process a 10 year passport. Transferring stamps from the emergency passport to 10 year passport took 10 minutes ( resetting the dates on the IO stamps ) with NO additional paperwork at my IO. Every office has their OWN REQUIREMENTS and POLICY on ALL paperwork for everything. It's best practice to find out FROM YOUR LOCAL IO their POLICY.

Just to add... When we are "out and about" and we meet other Thai women, Thai couples or mixed couples, one of the 1st questions asked of the wife by the woman in Thai language is, "How much does he 'pay' you." Sorts makes you wonder.......

To be clear, visitors are hosted by US in the 2nd bedroom, usually around a week. Reading the Immigration act, section 4, defines clearly who CAN or MUST do a TM-30 What if the tenant decides to accommodate a foreigner friend for a few nights ?" """"He is not living in the condo"""" ...BUT... he controls who is IN the condo. Immigration act section 38 would seem to apply, especially the wording about reporting a NEW address within 24 hours. AGAIN, enforcement depends how strict is the local IO policy With the nationwide crackdown by Immigration, I try to follow, as I read them, all regulations , police orders and local policies

I would say it all depends on LOCAL office policy how enforced. KORAT is VERY strict on ALL paperwork. One person noted Section 38 of the IMMIGRATION ACT, I suggest reading Section 4 also. To be on the safe side, for me and my visitors, I do TM-30's for foreigners staying at our house. ( Wife is Thai ) Immigration is 15 minutes from our house, Takes me 3 minutes per passport at Immigration and they have a printed TM-30. Then stop at 7-11 on the way home for refreshments.

"""the enduring appeal of Phuket among Russians, not just as a holiday destination but increasingly as a place to live and work""".... and therefore NOT get forcefully drafted into the Russian Army? Just wondering what will happen for passport renewal? SEE NEXT TOPIC HINT: A 24-year-old Russian man has been arrested for overstaying his entry stamp by 268 days After deported, the newest member of Russian army?

My opinion, reguardless of nationality, 30+ days in a THAI jail, deport, ban for life.

RENT BEFORE YOU BUY. off AND on topic In the long run, I prefer to rent. Wife has a condo in the BKK area ( mortgaged - 9 payments to go ) but we live in a RENTED 2BR unfurnished house in another city ( 4500bt a month ). We can move, whenever we please, to a new location. Furniture can go to the BKK condo or a new dwelling. BY Renting, large money is not tied up and you are not PLANTED in one location. When I lived in Pattaya, ( 2 years ) I rented a room and motorcycle and drove around Pattaya stoping at places I "might" want to live. I found a furnished condo ( no pool or gym - had washing machines ) 7000bt monthly + electric, 5 minutes from beach - was a great deal and a SUPER landlord.

Ph's is the closest SS office available only 4 hours in the AM, twice weekly. Voice mail also!!! They DO have a fax