KhnomKhnom

I solved your #1 with a two storied house.

Top floor is mine with my food cabinet, all cooking tools, and my refrigerator. No one is to come up without permission. I help enforce that rule by never wearing any clothes upstairs. My tools are locked up and hobby room locked.

Wife and I enjoy upper floor and when she has her family duties, she goes downstairs.

Wife's extended family comes and goes like a circus on lower floor. TV is facing sound wall, they broke the stereo, they have a room with a door, too. Other kitchen downstairs.

I would not live alone due to cessation of service and for security of free-standing house. Separate building for family solves one-story house. Maybe condo living is different.

Driving myself wears me out. I am much happier getting a driver or just using taxi.

I would add Learn about Buddhism.

Nice list.

For foreigners living in Thailand but not having legal Thai residence nor citizenship.....

Sounds like a good deal for foreigners living here because.............

Insurance appears to cover illness as well as accident and some coverage for your personal belongings.

Upper limit is AGE 70, too bad.

Will need to exit and return to Thailand because insurance starts on entry date.

I would sign up except I am soon 71, drat !

Wouldn't it be nice it Thailand would get over there fear and let them in here. I would love to have them do a street view of our house in Khon Kaen,so I could let the fokes back home were we live and what the house looked liked,but I guess that is just wishful thinking.

Street view is a great way quickly to find great places to rob, possible entry points, neighbors distance, etc.

My home is on private property, the public area ends at the street curb. Come in here with your cute camera car and leave without the camera and maybe even the car, if you can walk. Hospital pick up optional.

PS... take your own photo and send it to relatives; radical idea, I know, but it will work.

Easy answer, stay with Toyota. Count the number of dealerships for it and the spare parts inventory all over many other shops. Everything other than Toyota is a step down in these points. So, why take a chance?

One point I know about work permit..... your employer must supply lots of documents and documentation to support your hiring. The load of paper the employer must supply is large and not something you nor your lawyer can easily do... some of the needed info includes details about the employer company that may not be generally known nor knowable to outsiders.

I recommend, and maybe it is mandatory, that you and employer rep both go together in person to get WP.

I guess those who want to excuse criminal Thaksins will say that the scaffolding was there to allow air to circulate around the bags, ...oh ok, I know that is a big laugh.

The scaffolding is proof "someone" was stealing rice.

My three dogs only bark, or howl, hee hee, in response to the neighbor's over loud motorcycle, his chickens wandering over to my fence, HIS dog barking, or other stimuli. They are well adjusted to sleep between stimuli.

Also, be aware that dogs can sense real intruders or people who hate dogs. They likely know you as both categories.

Just do not live there. Also, thank your lucky stars you have a nice wife who puts up with your weird ways.

I thought the mandatory retirement age in Thailand is 65. Some can stretch that a little bit for cause and by classifying person as emergency need. That latter can not go on forever because employer is expected to find a qualified non-emergency person to fill that job.

I will be very surprised if you can get any legal job after age 65. Please tell this venue if you do and how. Thanks.

OK, so:

1) Company applies for work permit

2) Letter of approval received from Labor Ministry

3) Get all required paperwork from company

4) Travel out of the country to apply for a Non-B

Does this sound right? The contract would be for 1 year initially.

Do you know roughly how many days it takes from applying for a work permit to receiving the letter?

Thank you ubonjoe!

added note.. the company MUST supply a big part of the documentation for your #1. You go with the company representative to the Labor Ministry, usually.

Time line needs a report here that is very new.

No it doesn't but there is a fine to pay.

I believe they changed the rules recently and according to my passport the fine is now a 'Fine not exceeding 5,000 Baht' PLUS an additional fine not exceeding 200 Baht per day.

I think the new part is the 200 Baht per day on top of the fine.

Ok, so he was right then. I doubt he knows about this new fine though :-)

So if you don't bother for the entire year the fine could be approx an additional Bt73,000.00 ?? 365 x 200

Why the resistance to the 90 day address reconfirmation?

If married, have wife go do it.

If retired, you have lots of time so be sure to tell your maid/house boy/gf to go do it.

If in biz, have your employee go do it.

If in any other category, I hope you get the idea.

Assembly line starting is ALL THAILAND minimum wage of 300THB/day plus frequent OT, over time.

Mostly same for store clerks.

Thai State money to Elders, 500THB/month.

Asst Mgr at Home Pro, 15000 to 20000THB/month, in BKK.

Otherwise, I would agree with your estimated numbers.

a resident

The experts have already answered, but "if I were you" I would go to the Thailand Embassy or consulate near you inside the USA and lay out your family situation and travel plans. Ask for the best solution from the USA-located Thailand office and then get the documents you need from that office.

I have looked at a ONE year tourist visa in Americans passport received from personal visit to Dallas Thai consulate. Signal to me is to work with Thailand via their USA offices.

The offices are in......

Other Thai representations in the United States

» Washington, Embassy

» Atlanta, Consulate General

» Chicago, Consulate General

» Honolulu, Consulate General

» Houston, Consulate General

» Los Angeles, Consulate General

» New York, Consulate General

» Portland, OR, Consulate

and Dallas TX

I did just that with no problems but four years ago. American.

If in USA, just go to one of these offices.......

Other Thai representations in the United States

» Washington, Embassy

» Atlanta, Consulate General

» Chicago, Consulate General

» Honolulu, Consulate General

» Houston, Consulate General

» Los Angeles, Consulate General

» New York, Consulate General

» Portland, OR, Consula

and Dallas

The experts have already answered, but "if I were you" I would go to the Thailand Embassy or consulate near you inside the USA and lay out your family situation and travel plans. Ask for the best solution from the USA-located Thailand office and then get the documents you need from that office.

I have looked at a ONE year tourist visa in Americans passport received from personal visit to Dallas Thai consulate. Signal to me is to work with Thailand via their USA offices.

Mass media want govt. freedom but too often that is REALLY freedom to take PAYOLA or bribes from product promoters or politicians for favorable "news" reports.

Lets see the news clean up THEIR act.

Firm disbelievers in Thai spirits are easily identified by the spirits and those guy's i.d.s are passed around. There is even some spirit talk about using the house computer for record keeping during people's sleep time.

The spirits train the new ones on the disbelievers, the DBers. The DBers "think" they put their car keys "there" but they are under the mat in the car floor, hee hee. Succeed at those type of actions, spirits are allowed to move on to adding loose gravel under your bike tires in a tight turn, and on up to a glare in your eyes as you cross a road.

Many DBers are saved by their Thai wives who work overtime appeasing spirits.

If you re-read your thaivisa messages and they are steeped in grumpy, dismissive, derisive or just mean comments, don't look around yourself... "they" are there; you can't see them, but what delight they have in making you grumpy, dismissive, derisive, or just mean.

Let us inject some rationality here and look at how Thai immigration officers, who see passports first, are trained.

What to look for.......

Photo matches face.

No red flags on computer.

Calm, bored demeanor.... or shaking hands, sweating, licking lips often, and stammering to talk.

Dressed modestly and neatly.... or looking like a bum or backpacker.

Has a Thai wife with him.

Has a travel bag.... or has nothing carrying.

There are other tip-offs, but importantly depend mightily on APPEARANCE, and too a demanding arrogant attitude, dismissive of the officer, no smile, fidgeting to go on, snappish answers, etc make the officer suspicious or grumpy, neither of which you want.

Otherwise, then there is the dreaded examination for back to back In/Outs. hee hee

i just paid 900bht on a two shirts from uk priced at 2500bht overall,notice on demand states anything over 1000bht is taxed,tax is applied at bangkok you pay at post office in chiang mai,take some id with you when you go to collect. must admit first time in about 8/9 times of recieving goods ive been taxed,imho think the coup has, or had. something to do with it.

Was that sent by a company, or a family member/friend? Did you track it through BKK? Did tracking indicate it was handled by bkk customs? Thanks!

I brought in some coals from Newcastle but did have my shirts custom made in Thailand at 500THB each.

Also I recently learned that the proper abbv. for Baht is THB. My monthly flat packaged mail from USA, declared at One USD never has a charge. My import of a $10000 electronic item was FedEx and hit for 600USD at Thai customs. Obviously, I did that the legal way all the way. And all via BKK.

Proven way for Red China to occupy a new land....... send in so many Chinese that the place is effectively Chinese.

This incursion in far North Thailand will have a HUGE impact on CR and CM. Brits cushy life in CM is numbered days.

Brits on thaivisa are anti American. If I write my examples I will be banned. My American friend was banned for making truthful statements about Brits.

I respect the dowry system, of some reasonable amount relative to your ability to pay, because it is a safety check to see if you are serious and if you can take care of their daughter. I would want the same for my daughter.

If one is dealing with Thai HiSo or upper middle class, the situation looks to me more like an international standard, no real dowry. If below that class, I would tell the father to insist on a dowry or tell the man to take a hike. He is joining a FAMILY by Thai standards and by all customs and rights, should help the whole group.

I think in most cases, haggling over dowry poisons later relationships. The woman will never think of you the same and her family will feel her shame and their own. This is not a good way to start a loving relationship.

If what the man wants is a cute domestic and marries to get that, THAT IS ALL HE WILL GET. An shamed servant is not a wife. A foreigner will never CURE Thailand. Either get with the culture program or get your bride somewhere else. You understand NOTHING about Thai culture's family values and operational functions. Sad.

Tell the elephants what they did and leave the guilty to pet and say sorry to elephants. Ooops did I step on you, so solly.

I was/am more shocked by another common scene but also including those you mention.

That is, the screaming of children at their parents. That seems most unThai of all these soaps.

These are teenagers and young adults shouting and insulting their parents...... non-amazing Thailand.

Thailand seems to be saying that it wants to maintain some "control" on the foreigners inside its borders. It apparently fully re-registered the neighboring migrant workers recently.

By offering a free 30day entry to European types, it is opening the door to losing the location of this category of foreigner (one who wants to live here, visa or not, and likely has nothing to go back to where ever he came from).

The goal here, just like tourist visas to USA, it to make sure a tourist LEAVES and stays gone. All the tourist visas of any length have the goal of getting the tourist OUT of Thailand, and also knowing where the tourist is staying while in-country. This is called in USA "controlling the borders" and Obama is catching flack for seeming to not be doing that. Border control is a major way of defining a nation and is practiced everywhere.

Chinese are given lenient tourist entries because their history has shown that CHINESE GO HOME. European tourists, mainly Brits if we believe thaivisa.com, do not go home. Too, the visa run allows the repeat offender to "get lost" easily... not desired by Thailand as shown, for example, by the 90day location reporting requirement.

There are plenty of ways to LIVE in Thailand for a long time and legally. Seems sensible to use one of those methods instead of trying to be a perpetual TOURIST.

Red China WILL make a new world reserve currency, and don't care how long it takes to do.

Red China, like its dealings with the UK Empire ages ago, has too much money relative to what they want to buy. What to do? Opium again?