steppenfaerie

You did fill out a TM7 form and attach 4x6cm photo and pay 1,900 baht on your visit to immigration?

I did - but they still only gave me 3 months instead of a 1 year extension, without any explanation.

Normally you get an extension of stay for 1 year, not 3 months (unless your WP is for 3 months at a time?).

Make sure that the stamp in your passport says you are allowed to stay/permission to stay untill 17 December. Some people confuse 90 day reporting with an extension, which it is not.

That was my impression, too, but for some reason Immigration only gave me 3 months the last time I went there. Work permit was for a year, would be valid until May 2013 if I didn't resign.

I have a non-immigrant B visa issued outside of Thailand but I have to go to the immigration bureau and have it extended every three months. For now it is valid until Dec 17.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

My work permit will expire in May 2013, but the visa attached to it will expire on Dec 17 2012 if I don't apply for another 3 month extension on it.

A few more questions : Does anyone know the procedure for cancelling a work permit? Is it true that it's not necessary to hand it back to the Department of Employment anymore? Do I physically need to go there? Do I need a letter from my workplace?

Thanks!

Hello,

I have a non-immigrant B visa and will leave my job December 17.

I also have a plane ticket to leave the country on the same day.

I believe I have to cancel my work permit at the Department of Employment, which I plan to do before going to board my flight, but do I also need to cancel my visa extension if I'm leaving on the same day that it expires?

A web search turns up conflicting information so any help would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I remember that the threat of violence was always imminent when the first few mass PAD demonstrations took place. Thankfully, it never materialised. Am hoping that the same will happen here, although the political situation has deteriorated considerably since then, so the chances of that happening are much less. But let's hope all the same.

Just some more info on the fire...tii rak works there and just saw lots of people rushing past his shop on the 3rd floor, he had no idea what was going on until his friend ran past and said that there had been a fire, and to get the hel_l out! As far as he knows he still has to go to work tomorrow though

I'm glad that it wasn't as bad as it could have been, hope they get more vigilant on the safety issue - if they can get in more guards, clear bins, and metal detectors in malls because of the bomb scares, it *shouldn't* be that much of a stretch to put in more adequate signage and implement a solid protocol for evacuation should something like this happen again.

I spend the time kicking myself for not taking the skytrain or a motorcycle taxi...

I swear I heard a Christmas version of the Macarena in CentralWorld the other day. *scarred for life*

Why would you want to buy "good" wine under 300b... I dont think there is such a thing... not just in Thailand... anywhere.

I don't even like wine, but I think that you are wrong here. I think that one could do OK for about $10 in California and perhaps Australia.

UG, I think the point is that an AUD $10 bottle of wine is worth up towards 1k baht here.

I also do not like wine, I am a beer man myself

Right - I love how they sell Jacob's Crack (drink of choice back home for starving uni students like myself) for Baht 6 or 7 hundred+ here! I've switched to beer since moving to BKK, it's much more economical.

You could also try other upmarket places like Siam Paragon and Central Chit Lom, which have a wide range of imported goods. There's also a big Villa Market in Thong Lor (J Avenue, Sukhumvit 55, Thong Lor 15) that caters to the large Japanese expat base living in the area, which may also be worth a try. Good luck!

I really sympathise with your plight but I'm not sure there's much you can do about it, besides change apartments or get some kind of sound-proofing on your windows (perhaps you can enquire with the landlord?)

Every morning starting at around 6 I get some dude with a megaphone outside my apartment. I don't know what the heck he is shouting about, but he sounds very angry. It goes on all morning and drives me insane. Ear plugs don't work for me, either.

Thailand has been home for over 25 years and I love it more than 100% of any other options as home. Sure there are times when I am upset about issues ( politics ) but not to the degree of hate. The occassional Thai jerk or taxi driver from hel_l, bar girl with attitude, hawkers overcharging, parking, driving, police, lining up at ATMs, etc... are common and should be considered norms for not liking Thailand or any other piss bucket in today's world. Expats don't always wanna be here and others do. The wife, kids, job, not like home, etc... will dish out pain during a 4 yr tour, but others surf in out with comfy ops. Wordy, but in all I respect the Top to the bottom in the Kingdom of Thailand and the many Thais who are my family, friends, employer and/or enemy.

Thailand is best for me and my family.

Oh yeah, that reminds me...for every taxi driver who is rude, aggressive, refuses to pick you up when you really need to get home, or takes you half-way around whoop-whoop pretending not to know the way, there's one who re-instils your faith in people by being polite, friendly, helpful, and giving you back at least some of your change. Same with hawkers, etc.

I think that it is the many contradictions that give rise to the feeling of being alive when one is in Thailand...there are positives and negatives, but every day something happens to provide food for thought.

No. There is no 90 day address report due if you are not in Thailand. Your next report will be due 90 days after your return. Time counts from when you fill out the TM.6 arrival card.

*HUGE sigh of relief*

Thanks for that!

Hi all,

I'm an Australian citizen, 25 years old, in Thailand this year on a non-immigrant ED visa. I'm back in Sydney for a few months on a re-entry permit, and hoping to get back to Thailand in October/November. However, it completely slipped my mind that I have to report to Immigration every 90 days - the last time that I had to do this was August 14th. Is it still necessary to do this while I am not in Thailand? And if so, what are the consequences of not doing so?

Thanks!

Cool,

Thanks u guys!

I'll try not to stress out too much about it!

I've always declared my excess alcohol when entering and they never make an issue of it.

cv

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you mean they don't charge you duties on it?

cool!

does anyone know how much the duties are, exactly? should i just save myself the hassle and not bother about the wine?

Does anyone know how many bottles of wine I can bring duty-free to Thailand, and what the taxes are if I exceed this limit? I've tried googling and it looks like I can bring in 1L of alcohol duty-free, but I can't find anything on taxation rates.

I'm looking to bring in around 4 bottles for personal use/as gifts - because decent Australian wines seem to be hard to find and ridiculously overpriced in BKK! Will I run into any problems with 4 bottles? And where do I go at Don Muang to pay the taxes? I've never done this before!

Thanks guys!

i think there might be copyright issues in distributing the thesis, which is a problem because i'm a student and could be expelled because of it, and also because i may have to work with the author in the near future.

i'm so sorry for being a thesis-tease!

i didn't realise so many of you would be interested! if you are a student/researcher affiliated with an academic institution then you may be able to access it through this site:

wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/search

alternatively, chulalongkorn or thammasat university libraries may hold copies of it.

again, my apologies...

All you guys that requested the pdf file of the thesis from me, I have tried sending it but it looks like the file is too large - 21 MB.

does anyone know how to make it smaller or any other alternative we could try?

thanks, very interesting. how much respect of citizen they got? I mean attitude most of local people to them?

monks are absolutely sacred in thai society and most people revere them, although there has been widespread concern in the past few decades that the sangha (monkhood) is degenerating, morally.

nonetheless, monks are still a powerful symbol of buddhism and buddhism is one of the corner-stones of thai society, hence the almost absolutely sanctified position of monks in thailand.

example - thaksin hasn't got the guts to sue the monk who "slandered" him and is instead aiming his guns at those who published the remarks. the backlash against him would be incredible.

Monks?

Surely they are just men in orange robes.

What kind of powers do they have? Can they fly or fire lazers from their eyes?

Can I say that in this forum?

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there are lots of different types of monks at different levels of immersion into buddhist practice, as chownah pointed out. many thai men becomes monks for short periods of time and then return to normal lay life. at the other end of the spectrum, there are a few monks - the ascetic forest monks, who renounce the social and material world completely. they aren't normally the ones to claim power for themselves; rather it is laypersons who attribute them with power because they have been so successful in cultivating the Buddhist dharma. some very famous ascetic forest monks like phra ajarn mun were believed by their followers to be able to fly, teleport, tame wild animals, etc, and the hagiographies of these monks are replete with such tales of supernatural feats.

so you are not too far off the mark!

i have had two bad experiences with taxis late at night alone- one tried to climb in the back seat and molest me at a stoplight, when i told him sharply to just keep driving please he took me to some love hotel in a dark alley and tried to convince me to come in with him, i had to pretend to be a dominatrix and control him psychologically, fortunately it worked and i managed to get to a place i recognized, jump out and flip him the bird.  the other guy parked in a dark alley as well and tried to snatch my purse. i slapped his hand but that was the extent of it. now i don't talk to them or give them the benefit of the doubt. hate taxis.

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sweet jesus! those are some pretty harrowing taxi experiences! quick thinking on the dominatrix thing. i'm so glad you emerged unscathed.

was there any indication that these guys were creeps before you got in the taxi?

Yes, I'm interested. Please PM the link. But, it seems kind of old. I wonder how dated it is?

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it is old, but i'm sure it would still be relevant if you want an academic perspective on the Chinese in Bangkok.

i've just checked, the link won't work if u're not a university of sydney student, but personal message me and i can email u the pdf file.