Firefan

If one is not 50/want to marry/no job or biz/student there are still ways to get the non-EM b 12 month multiple entry visa.

But what about the "softer" options;

I have heard of some getting the non-em B visa (but 12 month? multiple?) simply based on "visiting friends/relatives". Also the sponsorship like Sunbelt, or invitation letter from a business to look for business oppurtunities have apparently worked. Also; I understand from my lawyer that the visa based on investments can be rather flexible and not as strict as the official rules (3M condo/8M bonds/10M BOI approved investment ETC.)

Anyone here got their non-em B multiple entry 12 month visa based on some of the softer options, where and how?

Cheers!

Paul and Tywais, thanks for some good replies. My friends (a couple) are already teachers (not English teachers though) so one of the online schools will probably be fine for their need, they might not need it at all, but they said they would feel better with some kind of certificate on top of their own degrees from home country, and a couple of schools have (via email) asked for it. Cheers!

On what basis have you received the non-em b visas?

Married to Thai/job(with all docs) are obvious but what about some of the other "softer" classes such as "visiting friends", "business trip to look for investments(with invite letter)" Etc.?

And for how long (12 month visas? 6 month? 3 months?).

Cheers!

Mr. Capers; so now you only do 3-4 visa runs a year right? As my understanding is that you can not do the Thailand based 90 day reporting only on that kind of "sponsored" visa.

I agree that it is nicer than the tourist visa race even though a 6 month, triple entry tourist visa gives you 9 months (with 2 extensions and 2 visa runs) also - so not THAT big a difference?

If my current method (applying for non-em b based on investment) does not work out I will pursue the Sunbelt option I think.

Cheers!

Not refering to fake docs/diploma mills. Am refering to schools/institutions like the ones advertising on this page (see google ads at top of this page).

Cheers!

I have been asked if the various online language certificates are ok for people not having the time or finances for a full time course?

I have no doubt that the full time courses must give a better education but question relate more to whether schools requesting TESOL/TEFL are fine with the online certificates also? Cheers!

I think I will do a tasting test - buy one of each from the cheapest range and then decide. Nobody commented on that Blue Ice thing yet? But I am sure more comments will come in this thread. As we are talking the ""cheapies" being the CHEAPEST range no need to discuss Heiniken being my usual order.

Also; WHERE do you buy them - where do they sell cases cheaply?

The (Yahoo) e-mail I had to Dr. Francis Nettl does not work anymore - I have been trying to search for him as his is a great sports doctor. Last I heard he opened his own clinic somewhere. I also believe he is still the doc for The Southeners rugby team.

Anyone knows where he is now I.e. the clinic/ professional contact details?

Cheers!

The recent thread on beers made me wonder which local CHEAP beer is the favorite purchase in the supermarkets&shops and price/where to buy same?

I see Archa , Chang, Singha mentioned mostly but my recent visit to the super market showed quite a few more in the cheapest range - that Blue Ice made by San Miguel for for example and also some other locally brewed brands.

So; which is your favorite "cheapie" beer and where do you buy/at what price?

Cheers!

Somebody said it should be an ANNUAL thing!? I certainly hope we can make it a bit more often than THAT! Cheers!

Dammit - wish had been there - but will not miss the next one!

Looking forward to the pics and also to meet the Thaivisa soccer team expert players at first training!

Cheers!

I a sure the Brit and the US intelligence agencies are already working close together to catch that bastard Bin Laden. If any tips/links come from these captures, that would be very good indeed. Cheers!

Hold your horses guys..They were really fast at getting that Brasilian guy too.. They have the SUSPECTS now - and sure hope it is the guilty ones.... Cheers!

Oh; and a "positive" can come of cold medicines, slimming tablets, sports supplements and anything else containing the ephedra plant or ephedrine.

One will have to follow that with blood tests to ensure that illegal drugs were actually the cause of the positive piss-test. Nothing like getting a needle stuck in the arm at a seedy police station in Thailand, due to a stuffed nose - to start of a great holiday!

In Vietnam.... wish was at the party though.... Cheers!

I was playing around w. the O 2 xphone 2 also in the shop and agree that it is a very nice phone. What did you use to get the DVD that small? DVDshrink? I generally had a lot of trouble with various software doing that. Cheers!

Did the witnesses actually see him JUMP...? Probably will turn out that they saw (when they heard) a man that landed or already had landed....

Few people sit in a bar and stare at apartment balconies I guess.

Just speculating....

Syd; you might be right that hypnosis was what happened. I and others do not believe it.

Meanwhile, your argument that she could just have said it was normal theft does not fit the bill. For our Western way of thinking; yes, but for an un-educated Thai girl it might seem as a perfectable plausable explanation - and hey; YOU believe it! so she might be right!

To make the story "mysterious" and "Thai" and a "bit" unbeliveable is actually a very clever move as much harder for your Norway friend to penetrate that kind of mumbo jumbo compared to normal theft (police reports/insurance company Etc. wants FACTS).

Anyway; with most of the great hopnotists(sp?) being from the Western world, how come we do not hear about this stuff every single day back home?

Cheers!

Both Bupa and Thaihealth (previous Bupa executives started this actually) you just show the card whether in or out-patient and you will not have to pay any cash (as long as the hospital as agreement with Bupa/Thaihealth and you have the needed cover/deductable).

Sunalliance you will have to pay out-patient first and claim later. In-patient the insurance will arrange needed guarentees for hospital. Same for www.goodhealthworldwide.com having better cover (Incl. Aids and all dangerous sports) for about the same price.

Cheers!

Am from Scandinavia and my experience at the embassy there was somewhere in the middle, they gave me a 6 month tourist visa/2 entries as maximum (not accept any non-em b visa without more paper work) - but right now travelling in SEA and then back to Thailand so will see have my current application develop. Cheers!

the herniation problem can be very hard to diagnose - but a MRI might show it. Note that the disc might be herniated in the neck/back but the pain/limpness can be in the shoulder/arm. Cheers!

I also had a cortisone injection (corti-steroid - nope; not anabolic - quite the opposite actually) once that cured my tennis elbow - but often re-occurance will happen. Lower weights when training/stretching etc was needed too.

I would think you have already gotten that though? If not; worth a shot (but not too many!).

Oh and by the way; good to know those slimming belts are good for SOMETHING he,he. Cheers!

Wanderer, if all the things you have mentioned have not worked, I suspect you might have a cervical disc herniation. Check this out for more info and see how the symptoms compare.

http://www.cinn.org/isc/herniation-cervical.html

Generally one would want to try other methods to treat it, but of that does not work there is surgery having a fairly high success rate.

Good luck, and get well. Cheers!

Thanks for the report RDN - sounds like I have a couple of days of fun ahead of me there! Cheers!