ColdSingha

BANGKOK: -- Another suspect linked to the gang connected with Pol Lt-Gen PongpatChayapan, former commissioner of Central Investigation Bureau, was arrested on Wednesday in Thonburi area by police.

the RTP gang?

models not need work permits then?

Plenty of people bring their own loungers/chairs and umbrellas to the beach. What's so hard about that?

Back to OP, IIRC, the Meridien was one of the hotels ( along with Centara and others ) that had to pay the local mafia guy that bought the concession off the mayor, to use the space in front of their hotel for their guests, as long as the mafia guy didn't have to do any of the work. Sounds like local mafia guy is pissed he's losing out on his big income for doing nothing.

Many are just tourists coming to a hotel for a week or two of baking on the beach and swimming in the ocean. I know for me, a readily available lounger with umbrella...and wait staff to bring food and drinks...makes for a fantastic vacation. I'm starting to dream of that right now! 5555555

craig3365,your point completely understood, problem was the way the whole scenario was set up, and the large amounts of money going to the wrong people.

Had to be shut down for the overall good.

sorry but that is a cop out. re-arrange the set up and make sure the money gets to the right people, that's the way a civilized society would handle this.. yes i know..

Rome wasn't built in a day...........

there's been tourists on phuket for 30+ years already. how many days do they need?

Plenty of people bring their own loungers/chairs and umbrellas to the beach. What's so hard about that?

Back to OP, IIRC, the Meridien was one of the hotels ( along with Centara and others ) that had to pay the local mafia guy that bought the concession off the mayor, to use the space in front of their hotel for their guests, as long as the mafia guy didn't have to do any of the work. Sounds like local mafia guy is pissed he's losing out on his big income for doing nothing.

Many are just tourists coming to a hotel for a week or two of baking on the beach and swimming in the ocean. I know for me, a readily available lounger with umbrella...and wait staff to bring food and drinks...makes for a fantastic vacation. I'm starting to dream of that right now! 5555555

craig3365,your point completely understood, problem was the way the whole scenario was set up, and the large amounts of money going to the wrong people.

Had to be shut down for the overall good.

sorry but that is a cop out. re-arrange the set up and make sure the money gets to the right people, that's the way a civilized society would handle this.. yes i know..

I a hotel provides free loungers to put on the beach for guests then I don't see a problem with it provided it is on a per request basis and the hotel are not trying to dominate that free beach area but if they are placing unoccupied loungers on public beach land then they have no right to do so - same goes for all the other operators on the beach

If other vendors want to offer a rental service off the beach offering visitors/tourists the ability to rent equipment and take it onto the beach then that is not problem either - sounds pretty simple

i was right with up until "sounds pretty simple"

The tow guys went ot Savannakhet to get new O visa and will now use the 800000 in the bank method.

They'll just need to cross their fingers that the account-skimming fraudsters (who seem to be particularly prevalent in LOS thanks to lax banking security procedures) don't strike during the seasoning period then! I have personally been the victim of their dubious activities with 2 separate Thai bank accounts, which left me 50,000 THB poorer. That is why I personally don't trust this method of proving finances at annual extension of stay time.

if you change your mind in the future, don't link an atm/debit/credit card to your account and you won't be skimmed

The election of half the Senate and the other half selected by the elite is not a fair system. Only if all are elected by the people will the system be fair. The but elite does not trust the people.

the people will be allowed to vote when they want to vote for the right team again

who draws up the list of candidates then?

(this is sounding a lot like communism to me..)

This they writhing in English the school: Important!!! We have to update you that the new lesson time tequired forthe holder of a Non-Immigrant ED visa has now been changed to 2 hours per day and 4 days per week. So whith the course time of 200 hours, Your visa will now finish within 6 months.This means you will have to do a visa-run to apply for a new visa every 6 months.

??

6 months = 26 weeks times 8 hours .. is more then 200 hours in my calculation

thats why it says:

Your visa will now finish within 6 months

Not that I'm worried about testing positive, but this is enough to make me want to cancel my upcoming trip to Bangkok. Just not worth the hassle.

i'd be worried when 1 out of every 10 negative tests is a false positive, that is scary.

Over here in Cambodia it's definitely high season - this has been the busiest week of the year by a barnyard mile. No idea why no-one's hanging around in Thailand to be stopped and searched in the streets...

a bar owner i was talking to over the weekend was saying many of her regular expats have skipped hua hin this year and are trying out cambodia

Well I think it is quite possible they will change the retirement visa rules.

Considering how xenophobic your average thai is and the number of dead beat farangs all over Thailand I would consider it to be quite popular with the majority of thais.

There seems to be a general crackdown on visas so an extension at looking at the retirement visa rules is not out of the question at all.

sexpats of all ages are frowned upon by polite thai society

unseasonably quiet again last night, one guy told me having to lay off staff and other businesses in similar predicament. shame, i hope it picks up for xmas

i've been out and about a lot this week and hua hin seems very quiet. is it usually this quiet this time of year or has high season already started and tourist (foreign) visitors down?

dusit has epic jacuzzi

"His definition of people requiring supporting equipment includes ... ladies in high heels and short skirts."

on hand to support

I am in my 4th month

And NO after 6 months you cannot read and write Thai.

0-3 leaning alphabet and syllabs

3-6months You are learning separate words

Maybe the OP couldn't read or write any of the alphabet. I don't think anyone has suggested that he should be able to read and write fluently after 6 months.

He can speak Thai after 6 months when Thai people study English for decades and cannot utter a word

Why would you say something so stupid? Almost everyone here can speak at least some English. Are you joking?

hahaha maybe in bar land, in the real world hardly anyone speaks english. case in point, on my village not 1 household has anyone who can say more than hello in english, i know we just hosted annual meeting lol

"Mr Chiraphat explained that the request is not an official ban and though businesses who choose not to comply with the request would not be subject to criminal charges under Thai law, police "may visit the business to have a talk"

have a talk? is that code for collect tea money?

the couple of bar owners i spoke to last night thought so

8 hours not 10 in phuket then?

The answer that no one is willing to accept is if you are making money from the internet then it is funding your life in Thailand. Therefore you are working illegally unless you have other means of income from overseas such as a trust fund or business which can support you without you using your digital earnings.

The people who are making real money online don't have a problem setting up a company here. It's just the Digital Pikeys making a few hundred bucks a month from Google clicks or selling stuff on Ebay or pornography.

i think the people making real money here are smart enough to hire an intl business accountant and form an offshore entity for their global sales and a thai company or representative office for their thai based operations.

income can then be repatriated by a number of means, all of which your accountant will advise as to the minimum payable and to whom

testing the RFID wristbands out before they hand them to the general tourist population

people keep saying he has been in thailand for 8 years and and should know thai but last i checked there is no requirement to know thai on marriage or other visas so why should he know it?

does this mean any of us cannot stay and learn thai on an ED visa if we divorce or spent time here legally on another visa class?

working for an int'l bank for instance

Exactly my point... mine is fluent in English too...that doesn't stop.me being disciplined and asking her to speak Thai with me... if you really want to learn thai...then you can

..if you don't want to learn...then continue talking English with your other half.... up to you :-)

oh i just don't want to learn thai. at all

3 things very disturbing to me:

1) the officer expected him to read and write after 6 months and because he couldn't, he cancelled his ED visa. There is no way you can read and write Thai after 6 months, the language schools don't even teach that after 6 months.

Remember he had a marriage visa for 8 years !!!!! He should speak Thai and be able to read it too... I don't think the officer is wrong in being suspicious . I would be too.

i've been married to a thai for 8 years and can barely order chicken fried rice in thai. maybe his wife is fluent in english like mine?