Shazdeb

hahahaha First I love this Country and wish to never leave. However even after 5 yrs the " saving face " still amazes me or at least the Thai understanding of what constitutes saving face, i would think to save face is to be honest and not look or be dishonest, so I dont get how lying is considered saving face, besides there is no dishonor or shame in admitting you dont know something, no one knows every thing. and this " you cant raise your voice and yell at people " however the Thai people can, my staff scream at each other all the time but if i raise my voice I get told calm down you cant do like this LOL my laundry service came yelling at me about a problem that was there fault, he got right in my face screaming and being rude straight off while i was being nice and smiling, So i gave it back to him and he took offence , he was shocked and insulted !!

As i said i may find it baffling but I accept it, its a small price to pay to live here and helps keep things interesting

They screw tourists to the limit constantly. Now the govt., have elected to double the cost of a visa on arrival because visitors are not getting their visa from immigration prior to arrival. Well i thought that the VOA was all about convenience. Viet Nam and other nearby countries are going to be doing 'cartwheels' as spur of the moment tourists are going to see VOA Vietnam Bht 1000 VOA Thailand Bht 2000. But this is how Thais do business. Bungalow owners across the road from me 'jacked' the monthly rent up from Bht 7000 to Bht 12000 just because their neighbours were doing it. The bungalow has been empty for 10 months now, but they will not consider bring the rate down again.

I have seen landlords here that are unable to rent a property for over a year so there answer is to put the price up, I asked why you do like this ? answer " no rent one year must make up what I lost " serious?? you couldn't rent at the lower price because the price too high, I tell them make more cheap you will rent ... Nope !!! So many people just dont get it or dont want to face reality

What next ?? When will they realize this is a predominantly Tourist destination Country, everything here takes money from the visitors and still they want more ... to maintain the tourist services that the money already paid should do. when you own a business or attraction money paid for admission IS what is meant to sustain the business, not rape it take every cent and then add a charge at entry to the Country to maintain them. So many stupid decisions lately, Thailand and Phuket need to get it into there heads " THIS IS A TOURIST COUNTRY " without tourists what do you have ?? ridiculous unemployment thats what. Get it together or you will loose the visitors that are still coming as well as the ones now going else where

I love this Country but seriously, get it together guys before it too late .......... Ohhh new one I read today No passenger signs allowed at the airport any more !! How will tourists find there transport ? or is this so everyone MUST use airport taxi's ?? thought we were cleaning up the Taxi Mafia not handing them still more customers

Tourism is just 7% of Thailand's GDP. It's not a 'TOURIST COUNTRY'.

really ??? so you think Thailand can absorb all the unemployed if the tourists dont come ? if you do your dreaming

If you think $10 is going to put people off coming, you're crazy.

Its not the 10 dollars its the constant fee's the constant wrong and silly law changes. I actually dont have a big problem with the tax except that it states its for maintaining attractions, entrance fee's are already in place for this. If it was to maintain and fix road and electricity, to improve the tourist experience like adding rubbish bins, benches for sitting etc I would be fully for it but its not. Im apart of the Tourist industry here and anyone that thinks the tourist industry is doing ok is the crazy one. I love this country and want to see it prosper, and before you say anything, not for me but for itself and its people. Tourists ( and they are needed here ) are fickle they go where they are comfortable, they go where its fun, they go where they get the best value for their money and every new fee takes from that, so its not just $10 its another $10 ... Thats the thing

What next ?? When will they realize this is a predominantly Tourist destination Country, everything here takes money from the visitors and still they want more ... to maintain the tourist services that the money already paid should do. when you own a business or attraction money paid for admission IS what is meant to sustain the business, not rape it take every cent and then add a charge at entry to the Country to maintain them. So many stupid decisions lately, Thailand and Phuket need to get it into there heads " THIS IS A TOURIST COUNTRY " without tourists what do you have ?? ridiculous unemployment thats what. Get it together or you will loose the visitors that are still coming as well as the ones now going else where

I love this Country but seriously, get it together guys before it too late .......... Ohhh new one I read today No passenger signs allowed at the airport any more !! How will tourists find there transport ? or is this so everyone MUST use airport taxi's ?? thought we were cleaning up the Taxi Mafia not handing them still more customers

Tourism is just 7% of Thailand's GDP. It's not a 'TOURIST COUNTRY'.

really ??? so you think Thailand can absorb all the unemployed if the tourists dont come ? if you do your dreaming

What next ?? When will they realize this is a predominantly Tourist destination Country, everything here takes money from the visitors and still they want more ... to maintain the tourist services that the money already paid should do. when you own a business or attraction money paid for admission IS what is meant to sustain the business, not rape it take every cent and then add a charge at entry to the Country to maintain them. So many stupid decisions lately, Thailand and Phuket need to get it into there heads " THIS IS A TOURIST COUNTRY " without tourists what do you have ?? ridiculous unemployment thats what. Get it together or you will loose the visitors that are still coming as well as the ones now going else where

I love this Country but seriously, get it together guys before it too late .......... Ohhh new one I read today No passenger signs allowed at the airport any more !! How will tourists find there transport ? or is this so everyone MUST use airport taxi's ?? thought we were cleaning up the Taxi Mafia not handing them still more customers

So an over stay of less than 90 days does not get you banned?

Not banned in case you "surrender to the authorities" but to be "crystal clear" they would have had to explain what happens if you're a couple days over and stopped on the way to the airport.

wondering as well this makes it much clearer and i agree with what there doing. however its very easy to overstay a day or 3, I have done a couple of times in 5 yrs once too sick to travel and once couldnt get on a bus as all full, longest overstay was 3 days which i now understand is no problem BUT what if i have to show my passport for any 1 of a thousand reasons and get caught in those couple of days ??? Im sure it wouldn't be a problem but sadly nothing in life is ever 100% certain

the fridge going off when room electricity is cut is a common occurrence in virtually all countries I have visited in South East Asia. This is not a Thai specific thing

Yes, I suppose you are right, but these hotels are going to lose lots of custom because of this.

Especially the ones in hot countries.

I am not a drinker, but surely most people would want a cold beer after maybe walking around a bit.

To be fair to Hotels of which I have one. Its a massive problem for us that guests take there keys off and leave the card in so they can leave the air-conditioner on 24/7. there not made to do that kind of work and why should we pay for electricity when your out all day, the room takes 5 to 10 mins to cool down the aircon doesn't need to be on for 10 hours or more when the room is empty

So it doesn't look like there is a 90 day grace period for those arrested. Caught with a 1 day overstay and it's a 5 year ban!

That's exactly how it reads.......is there any official clarification on that? It seems a bit draconian.

Why is everyone saying 1 day overstay is prosecution ?? I read it and it says OVER 90 days so a couple of days is still no problem ....... If your overstaying 3 mths or more you should prosecuted thats not an oversight. Every Country has the same whats the big deal

Im happy to see a lot of comments above get it, some are still way of the mark. The political environment has little to nothing to do with it, I for one feel happier here under the army they are trying to fix things but any one that thought it would be a quick fix is living in a dream world. I have a hotel in Phuket and tourist numbers are way down last 2 years no matter what is reported. biggest factor for this is the weak currency exchange, in a nutshell tourists go where they get more for there money, add in the fact that Thailand ( as evidenced by the amount of paperwork here lol ) just hasn't seemed to get the whole concept of computers and the internet, EVERYthing that happens here is reported everywhere and usually distorted to sell stories and im afraid Thailand just keeps presenting them with fodder. Yes also people are not as stupid as they were, their sick of being ripped off, their sick of being treated as below everyone else and please there is no reason to keep throwing the " falang " term about every 2 mins, we realize its meant rudely by most were not fooled. The country rightly loves the King, get him to make public announcements and posters to clean up the Country and dont litter because no matter how many times its said a lot of the littering is locals not tourists, Add in that Government doesnt control building, anyone can build anything anywhere, Thailand is very fast loosing its beauty to buildings, I mean how many Hotels ( when the ones here are empty ) does a square mile need ?? leave empty space for car parks, add back trees and greenery, the simple addition of public waste bins would be good, public benches for people to rest, a lot of the problems are simple fixes.

Do something about those horrible not finished buildings, change the laws your so good at changing for the betterment of the Country and enact something along the lines of " If you dont do work on a building for a period of time the Government takes it, sells it and uses the money to better the Country and its people " first thing is use it to fix the power lines !! I could go on and on there are so many reasons but everyone is fixable I love this Country but they need to get over themselves and realize that without Tourists you have nothing, so stop driving them away. Thailand is in a great position to get some great ideas from its expat population, we are from all over the world and know what tourists want .. use us form a committee to use our knowledge and ideas, I would love to contribute but they need to get over there " Thai knows best " attitude, there is always room in everyone for improvement and learning ...... Come on Thailand get it together before you slide too far

Just out of Patong is Patong Grand Ville. Its a small 38 room resort with a nice pool and swim up bar. Close enough to get to Bangla in 3 to 4 min but away from the noise when your ready to relax. There are bungalows around the pool or on the hill with a tropical forest setting. Lots of Australians go there as the new owners are Australian

You know what ... instead of being rude and defeatist in your postings how about this ... Give them a chance.

Anyone actually living here should know what a mess General Prayuth took on, did you expect him to fix every thing in a few short months ??? If you did your delusional or don't actually live here.

This place will take years to fix and I for one think he has done a very commendable job so far under hard opposition

There will be a lot of starts and stops as they try something finds it doesn't work and tries something else.

Have some faith and support a man who has the conviction to try and do the best for his Country and people, try giving some support for a change, will the 10% on beaches change ? who knows but I suspect probably and actually think it should be higher and im sure it will soon as the details of how to manage it are worked out and in place with a lower manageable amount

I for one am quiet happy with how things are going, I would hope for higher Tourist numbers but re building a Country takes time and it will get better ... I am sure none of you naysayers could do a better quicker job

You are joking right? Is beach umbrellas the biggest issue facing Thailand? Is it even one of the top 500 biggest issues as the economy is going down the pan? You improve things by focussing on a few key problems and hammer away at them until they are permanently fixed. Then move on to the next lot. Trying to fix all this issues at the same time, by edict, and then following none of them up will improve nothing. <deleted> the man is a general and should know that he has to concentrate his forces, not spread them all over the show.

Where exactly did I say the beach umbrellas were the biggest problem ?? I said much the same as you but with reference to the " Beach Umbrellas " as that was the topic

You know what ... instead of being rude and defeatist in your postings how about this ... Give them a chance.

Anyone actually living here should know what a mess General Prayuth took on, did you expect him to fix every thing in a few short months ??? If you did your delusional or don't actually live here.

This place will take years to fix and I for one think he has done a very commendable job so far under hard opposition

There will be a lot of starts and stops as they try something finds it doesn't work and tries something else.

Have some faith and support a man who has the conviction to try and do the best for his Country and people, try giving some support for a change, will the 10% on beaches change ? who knows but I suspect probably and actually think it should be higher and im sure it will soon as the details of how to manage it are worked out and in place with a lower manageable amount

I for one am quiet happy with how things are going, I would hope for higher Tourist numbers but re building a Country takes time and it will get better ... I am sure none of you naysayers could do a better quicker job

It depends on what type of farang. Farang kee nok or farang work in office or posh farang.

Base on Nationalities also. For example American talk too much. Over act , show off, too independent... (a bit crazy)

British too proud of acents even from Liverpool, Manchester or New castle and i never understood scottish.

French just pretend to be elegant but actually quite rude (resist)

Australian too thrifty, never gave any tips to servicers. (If Thais know this customers from Australia they dont wanna give good service)

Just what we think.

Best regards,

To be fair Australians are not thrifty or adverse to giving tips, a lot of them don't understand the " tipping culture " as we don't have it. I am Australian and tip always because I live here and have learnt to do it, even for the bad service I get for being Australian apparently ( thanks for the heads up ). Really when your rude or give bad service to an Australian based on nationality with out knowing the person are you surprised we don't tip you ?? especially seeing your being paid to give the service, a tip is based on how a customer is served after all, so by not servicing you are in fact causing the " non tipping "

How long should it take to get once you apply

Shazdeb, a VERY HARD decision indeed

Having to choose between my best mate and my fiance was one the hardest decision I've ever faced.

I had the little dude from 4 weeks old for 4 years and we travelled >10000km across Australia together.

Thankfully he is now with some very good people and is enjoying beach life instead of Isaan life which is probably better for him (or so I keep telling myself...)

Im glad he is happy. I brought my dog with me 4 years ago and the process was hard and really scary because as you know if he is denied entry he cant go back to Australia but I had no choice as he will not stay with anyone but me. Luckily all was good but I know it was thanks to a very kind ( and ridiculously tall ) Thai Vet that works at the Phuket airport, with out this caring wonderful man, that was willing to look beyond all this " bad breed " bull shit my Batman would not have been happily in Thailand with mum for the last 31/2 years

How about we all just stop the nastiness and wait and see, I for one hope this is all true. and if anyone thinks that all these medical research associations are not CASHING in then your deluded and living in a dream state. Medical research is all about the money and fair enough, they spend huge amounts to do the research so they deserve to protect their investment and recoup monies spent to continue the work, otherwise no further " discoveries " would be made. Lets all for once have a go at being happy and positive

Its best to do the right way, If he is denied entry some times there is no where for him to go back to. Tuskfish is correct partly, Staffies are a banned breed here and wont be allowed, even a part breed wont be allowed, you may however have better luck if you class them as another breed. Get your vet at home to change all his paperwork so you have proof, call him example " Australian Bulldog Cross " because a lot of these breeds look similar you may be able to get his Import license this way, beware he will also be inspected at the airport and if the vet doesn't pass him he will be refused entry, they mostly look for temperament. If he is a friendly dog all should be well. I wish you luck its a hard decision but let's be serious if your like me, where I go my dog goes

Yes everything is different here, but that's why we come A lot of things bother me for a min or two but then I breath deep and get over it.. The only thing that I really don't get is the whole " save face " mentality... by that I mean I get the concept what I don't get is how telling a lie because you have to make something up because you don't know the answer is just crazy LOL Just say you don't know that is way better and to me and saves more face than lying .... But what do I know. The rest I just roll with it ... either that or you will go crazy

I came through Sadeo last night with visa company, all in the van had either non B, non O, ed or business visa's. I had asked about taking 20,000 with me before I left at the visa company office and was told " nonsense not needed they will not ask " well must say they didn't because we were all told to put 200 baht in passport, one girl tried not to, to see what happened, she was instructed to hand it over. We all sailed through with no problems except the girl who tried not to pay was stamped with the wrong date, lucky she noticed and the tour operator took her back and got it fixed. Also used the Banana Hotel, not impressed with there vans though really squeezey couldn't wait to transfer back to the Thai ones, much more comfy with better aircon

What passport nationality where you all from?

A couple of Australians, a French girl, a couple of Philippinos and the rest Russian

I want to clarify that this was a tour where everyone went as a group primarily to obtain a new visa from Penang consulate. This is a very interesting report.

I have done the Sadao border a couple of times (USA passport, non-ed or non-o every time) and had zero problems without any additional 'stamp fee' or out of pocket cost. Was never asked for 20k baht either. The last bus stop right before the border where you can use toilet/exchange money they have an OPTIONAL service where they will fill out most of the arrival and departure card printed in legible English for 2 RM. I just get the card from immigration and fill it out myself, but non-native english speakers I can see where this would be helpful.

The visa run to ranong the non-english speakers get this done included in the visa run service. The visa run company should be handling any 'extras' themselves imo.

Yes Visa run company. Also done the Visa run may times with visa run bus's and have never been asked to put money in passport. Was shocked when the girl didn't put and Immigration guy requested it

I came through Sadeo last night with visa company, all in the van had either non B, non O, ed or business visa's. I had asked about taking 20,000 with me before I left at the visa company office and was told " nonsense not needed they will not ask " well must say they didn't because we were all told to put 200 baht in passport, one girl tried not to, to see what happened, she was instructed to hand it over. We all sailed through with no problems except the girl who tried not to pay was stamped with the wrong date, lucky she noticed and the tour operator took her back and got it fixed. Also used the Banana Hotel, not impressed with there vans though really squeezey couldn't wait to transfer back to the Thai ones, much more comfy with better aircon

What passport nationality where you all from?

A couple of Australians, a French girl, a couple of Philippinos and the rest Russian

Really don't understand the problem ?? I had one too and was happy for him to stay, he just wandered sunned him self, swam in the pool and liked laying under my bed !! Go figure. since he left I miss him

And the wife???

[/quote

LOL I am the wife

Im looking for an American bull terrier ... NOT a pit bull but a bull terrier anyone know a guy?? I can find Pit's by the ton but no actual Bullies

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I am moving to Chiang Mai in July and want to bring my two beloved staffies with me. Has anyone managed to get staffies into Thailand?

You can try getting your vet to change there breed on your papers but it's hit or miss, If you get that far and they are inspected at the airport ( which is part of the process ) If he decides they are staffy's they wont be admitted Sad really because the problem is not with the dogs but with the owners

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