ColdSingha

well that's one spin on it, the other side is that Ukraine has been siphoning off gas in transit for months, was warned, ignored warnings and now gazprom have had enough. they advised europe that gas would be delivered through turkey up to the greek border. europe can take it or leave it there

source: zerohedge

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-14/russia-cuts-ukraine-gas-supply-6-european-countries

100 meters of free sand for every 10 meters of chairs and i may bring my family back not the other way around..

the first thing to do would be to remove all the beach chairs.. i hear the old folks love bending down and sitting on the floor

i have many under 50 friends who are spending money in other asian countries this year who will be happy if this happens

assuming they don't fall in love in/with their current abodes

ask in the visa section where the visa experts might help?

Seems to me like there are plenty of big noters on here berating the OP for paying tea money. Wonder how many of them have been confronted with such a situation and what they would really do.

When you front up at the office and they ask for more papers or say it has to go to Bangkok how do you know its bullshit or not? even if you know, how many of you really have the guts to speak up and face problems with your visa for the rest of your time in Thailand. I'm thinking not many.

How many havent paid tea money to the traffic cops I'm venturing not many.

Its all well and good being high and mighty but what happens when its your turn.

i fronted up after an attempted "express service" scam. IO backed down, even complained to our witness (marriage visa) but we held fast.

been back for 2 more extensions at the same office since then and service has been good and fast. if anything it feels like we have been marked as "not bother" rather than "make problem"

i've heard similar.

"She has been going to classes very regularly and is often the only person in her class"

The school really need to up their game this is making everyone look bad

OK pardon me ... it's not hard to understand ..just embarrassing !!!

and yet i only know 2 expats in thailand who can speak thai fluently. the rest of us must be secretly hanging our heads in shame

Just got back from Chaengwattana immigration for my first ED visa extension.

I've been living in Thailand for 15 years, so I speak ok, but cannot read or write. Out of the 3 months I've had my ED visa, I've been to school for around 1 month. It's pretty much a waste of time; I can learn far more by self-study at home, or with help from the missus.

Took me less than a week to recite the Thai alphabet. Remembering the actual characters is much harder. So, while I could read to you the 44 consonants and 32 vowels in order, if you pointed a random one out I'd struggle.

Don't forget, I'm use to Thai pronunciation, so if you're starting from scratch it would take you a lot longer than a week. In fact, there's students in my alphabet class who have been there 2 years. They know it all, but can't pass the test to go to the next level because they have trouble with pronunciation. When they speak Thai, which some can, it's very difficult for me to understand them.

I was not expecting many people on Christmas day. I was wrong. Arrived around 8:15 to join a queue of around 200 people. Doors open at 8:30. My queue number was 19, so around 10% of those people were there for an ED extension.

There's 3 stages: 1, check documents and administer Thai "test". 2, have your photo taken and pay the 1,900baht fee. 3, collect passport.

I was out of there by 10:15, so 2 hours in total.

The first stage has 4 desks, so there's other people in there trying to "prove" they are actually studying. It's funny listening to the excuses.

The immigration staff for the most part were speaking English, but when it was my time I spoke in Thai right off the bat, so the obvious first question of "can you speak Thai" was not asked. I was asked if I could read Thai, I said, "not yet, I've only been studying for 3 months". The stern looking women then handed me a Thai form and asked if I could read it. I couldn't, but did my best to spell out the characters.

She then asked me to write my name in Thai. I did so, spelling out each character as I wrote it. She asked if I had a short version of my name, or a "nick name" if you like. I wrote that down without spelling it out, then showed her it to read, she pronounced it correctly. I was on a roll!

She wrote 4 short lines of Thai on my application form. She then told me she will give me the maximum of 60 days. I asked why not 90, and she said "everyone who passes the test today will get 60 days". Apparently this was due to a crackdown by the bosses. This led to many questions from me. She said people who have been studying a long time, if it's obvious they are not going to school, they will get 7 days. Their visa will be cancelled, effectively. Those that fail the test will get 30 days, and on the next visit have to show some improvement.

Now, I was a little paranoid at this point. I thought I'd aced the test, and wanted to know what had made her give me 60 instead of 90 days. So I asked around...

1) Some guy on his 2nd extension, never attended school. Was asked if he could speak or read Thai, he replied, "no". Was asked to write his name, he did it to the best of his ability. Result: 60 days.

2) Some lady on her 3rd extension, never attended school. Was asked to introduce herself in Thai. She did so. Result: 60 days.

3) Some guy on his 2nd extension, never attended school. Was asked *nothing*. Result: 60 days.

All those people believed they had been given 90 days. It was only when I asked to check their stamp did it reveal 60 days. They were not happy.

During stage 2, I asked the officer to explain the 4 lines of Thai writing the stage 1 officer had written. It roughly translated to:

"Can speak Thai ok"

"Cannot read much Thai"

"Can write some Thai"

"Review after 2 months"

I know a lot of you are worried about the Thai test. It seems it's down to the individual officer what, if anything, you will be asked. My advice to you is to learn at least to introduce yourself in Thai, and learn to spell your name, reading the characters out loud as you write them.

I have no idea why I got a more thorough test than the others. Maybe it was just the officer, or maybe it was because I spoke Thai and was quite talkative. I actually wanted to be tested, as I had prepared well for it.

I was never asked how many days a week I studied. My attendance report and weekly hours was a pure fabrication supplied to me by my school. I don't even think the officer looked at it.

My passport full of 60 days tourist visas and their respective extensions was never brought up. I was never asked how long I had lived in Thailand.

If you had actually used the school system of learning the alphabet rather than your own phonetic version...you would be able to identify the letters rather than just memorising the sounds of the alphabet.

I know many students at school who get 90 day extensions ...but 15 years in thailand ...now in a school and cannot read or write....no wonder they only give you 60 days..

Thais have trouble understanding how after such a long time here...you cannot read or write in thai... same as we wonder in europe when foreigners live there for such long time and cannot read or write the language of the country try they reside in...

its not that hard to understand, it's lived in thailand, not studied in thailand, for 15 years.

much the same as i dont expect 1st generation punjabi immigrants to be fluent in England

must be bad if they are actually reporting this

well i wouldnt send the british police over they lost their balls

maybe ask myanmmar for help

Did the FBI, Homeland Security, CIA, State police or local Sheriffs dept all pitch up when the American citizens were killed by a Samurai Taxi driver or a Band on an island? Or the AFP, FSP or Bundespolizei or Gendarmerie nip over to sort things for their citizens?

Myanmmar police are about the same as the RTP according to all by Burmese friends, only even more politically controlled.

Don't be a dick - understand how policing actually works.

and how is that then? invited over to oversee then hide behind diplomatic skirts? is that how policing works?

blah, blah, blah .. and enforce motorcycle crash helmet laws

lol

looks like we'll be needing triple pricing..

thai, russian and hell, double it again for the rest of us

well i wouldnt send the british police over they lost their balls

maybe ask myanmmar for help

PE visa is the best option in my opinion if you are below 50 and not married. I'm in a similar situation and may consider buying the elite visa for 5 years.

Just checking, there are no plans to lower the age for retirement visa to say 45?

Would be more logical to set the retirement "visa" age to the actual age that the passport holder can retire in their home country. I.e get the government benefits, not just stop working because they can.

great idea, my father retired at 48 with government benefits after 30 years service in the police

i'm all for bringing the age down

so the reason for reform is to break thaksin's hold on the police not stop corruption

hmm, why am i not surprised, the official story has been stinkier than a fisherman's hat since day 1

not this <deleted> again

in other words all the sale items will be repriced with a new 70% higher "retail" price..

Dear MS, Thanks, another option left with is direct citizenship application, Charity donations where to give? Donations to the schools and temples are acceptable? though never kept the records ! May start keep the records and apply a year or two later, any suggestions?

I would think that if you explain the situation at your local temple they might offer you a couple of backdated receipts. In exchange for the appropriate donation, of course.

are you implying he should ask the temple to lie for money?

this country makes me lol sometimes

well they would say that

i am shocked, SHOCKED by this result

lol

back to work dear leader..

Today pattaya immigration came there 13.00 for another year retirement and a reentry stamp

everything finish 13.40

Pattaya proves efficiency can be taught to Thais. Why don't representatives from Chang Mai/Bangkok come and observe how it can be done instead of humiliating their wage payers on a daily basis.

hua hin is efficient too, rarely in there longer than an hour for a marriage extension. in and out in under 5 minutes for my 90 day report this week

powerful enough already i'd say