Meerkat

Thanks for the info. Still, 10 mio is a drop in the ocean compared to, for instance, HK's USD 1 mio for a similar one. Not sure how other countries in the region compare.

I did forward details of the Philippines special visa that was mentioned on the other, big, thread to a mate who's married to a filipina but lives in HK. He chortled that it was a waste of money (USD 75k).

ARRRGHHHHHHHHHH !! But in HK what u getting IS : Permanent resident "Green card" with ALL the rights & privileges of any HK born resident !! Even Philippines gives our 'permanency'..

poor poor me got 3mln approved last month >> slightly less than 1 year ,, A LOT shorter, than any permanent rights ( and actually NOT better, than non-imm i've used so far)

Wrong. You have to keep your investment (and I apologise - it's not USD 1m, but only 850,000) for seven consecutive years to gain PR. What you gain during those seven years is normal residency, with the right to work, but without Right of Abode (ie they can kick you out at will if they want to).

Interestingly, you cannot do back-to-back tourist runs in HK either. I should know. They kicked me out back in '99 after two six-month stints. After 90 minutes in an interview room, I managed to persuade them to give me two months to pack up and ship out, which is what I did.

I've done two six year stints in HK separated by 9 months in the UK...sigh...still no PR for me then, but "them's the rules".

You can gain Thai nationality, regardless of race, creed or existing nationality.

In theory maybe (could you point me a government site so I can see the requirements?).

In practice, no.

I have never heard of a forigner gaining this status, and don't know anyone that has.

Maybe if he is a politcal figures younger brother or something but for us mere mortals??

I think not.

This being thaivisa.com, perhaps it's worth having a look on this site for information before publishing such personal beliefs as fact.

Oh, shock, but what do I see?

http://www.thaivisa.com/301.0.html

As this is not the case in Thailand, (it seems you can never be a Thai citizen, own your own property, vote and have any rights that a Thai citizen has) and they are now targeting only foriegners (and, in a very short timescale). Perhaps a better word would be ethnocentrism but certainly in my country if it was happening to a racial minority (which I certinly am here) it would be called political racialism, prejudiced policies or social discrimination.

You can gain Thai nationality, regardless of race, creed or existing nationality.

Hi,

We have just called Immigration and they told us that renewal still will be possible?

From Jomtien Immigration Office (Pattaya) about 2 hour ago :

"The 3 million baht investment visa will no longer be available in October...

... but a 10 million baht investment visa will substitute it."

"The renewal will be possible by investing 7 million baht more..."

"Most visa financial requirement will be "updated" before the end of 2006"

"The 2 border runs limitation will not concern people arriving in thailand by plane"

There was an "unofficial meeting" this afternoon at the Immigration Office

with several people of the "Pattaya Expat Club".

I suppose they will make soon a complete report on their web site.

Wait & see...

Pataya46

Thanks for the info. Still, 10 mio is a drop in the ocean compared to, for instance, HK's USD 1 mio for a similar one. Not sure how other countries in the region compare.

I did forward details of the Philippines special visa that was mentioned on the other, big, thread to a mate who's married to a filipina but lives in HK. He chortled that it was a waste of money (USD 75k).

From what I hear of Samui's shortage of water, it'll be a desert course then will it?

I'll give you an example. We live in a village called Nong Gik. We have friends in Si Chompu. I can easily go south on highway 201 to highway 12 then east until until 2153 then back north. I can do that with a road atlas. What I want is a good enough GSM that it will show me how to get there without going way south and then going back north. The last time we went via the small roads but without my wife I could not have done it. If the routes are on a road map, why do I need a GPS?

Ah OK, I get your drift. I think this might be the reason.

In the case of the Garmin 2720 I use, there are two options in one of the menus: quickest route or shortest route (or IIRC an option to prompt you on each trip which you'd like to use). The default setting is quickest route.

The map data assigns each class of road with a nominal speed (e.g. highways might be 100 km/h and back roads 50). The GPS then works out two routes, both by time and by distance. It sounds like in the example you gave if the system was working in "quickest" mode, it would take you south, east, north.

Living in the 'burbs of BKK, I've obviously usually got the GPS in that mode too (elevated highways etc.). We did an experiment in Khao Yai by putting it in "shortest" mode to get from somewhere in the middle of nowhere back to our hotel. We already knew the main-road route as we're up there fairly often, but the machine took us a totally different way - even on a dirt-track between two Chockchai farms!

But sure enough, it got us there, and was probably quicker as well, seeing as the nominal speeds assigned to roads take no account of traffic congestion. The Garmin unit (with a small add-on module) will take traffic into consideration as soon as Thailand starts sending radio traffic data. Probably not much use to you in the north, but will be a boon in BKK.

The unit, teamed with the ESRI data is not flawless (again largely due to thinking things like being able to stream down Sukhumvit Rd in rush hour at 90 km/h!), and the transliteration of some Thai names can be...um...imaginative, but we've been pretty happy with it.

Maybe try and get hold of test unit and put it on "shortest distance" mode.

Back in 1997 I used the services of some "brokers" in front of the foreign ministry. Within half a day my marriage was properly registered at the Amphoe. The fee was abt 10,000 Baht.

Does anybody know, if these "brokers" still are around ?

I don't understand. The fee for an Amphoe marriage is 25 baht and it takes about 2 hours. Why would you want to pay 10,000?

Cheers guys; looks like I'll be stocking-up on my next trip to HK then.

OAH: I wasn't trying to imply that I've specifically seen dodgy Mac stuff, just that I can't find any legit Mac programs, and have no interest in going down the other route even if I could. Bear in mind though, that some software has both PC and Mac versions on the same CD (Warcraft III and Myst V do)...

Elite Card. The visa's are for 5 years but enable only 90 day stays, but no border run is required, you simply extend the visa every 90 days.

Are you sure about that? I just read the site, and if you read the "*" at the bottom it says 30 day extension. My interpreation is that you just get the usual 30 days, 2 weeks, 1 week, but you get a nice secretary who does it for you...

Has anyone got ACTUAL experience doing this?

Yes, as I posted a page or three back.

You get a full-page 5 year visa, and each time you re-enter Thailand you get a 90 day stamp. In order to extend the 90 days for another 90 days, you do it via appointment at any immigration office/check-point apart from Don Muang (and probably Suvarnabhumi). Or of course leave the country and get another 90 day stamp when you return.

I haven't needed to do this yet, as I'm regularly in and out of LoS, but this is how it was explicitly explained to me by the Member Services team.

If you look again, the footnote you saw on the TE site refers to a 30 day visa for your spouse.

I was/am VERY interested in sat-nav unit but unfortunately none of them have a good Thailand map. As previously mentioned the independent company, ESRI has done a good job on the Bangkok area but has neglected the rest of the country. It's understandable because of the limited demand. No demand = no decent product.

Fairly surprised by that. We've been using the ESRI data outside BKK and I was amazed how detailed it was. Admittedly no farther north than Khao Yai so far, but it seemed to have all the country lanes and stacks of restaurants/shops/ATMs etc.

We'll be taking it on a road-trip to Chiang Rai next month, so will post how we get on.

Where can I get original Mac software (World of Warcraft, Civ IV) around BKK? I've trawled the likes of Panthip and Zeer Rangsit (I'm based north-east of town), but so far can't find anything but pirated stuff.

Cheers.

What about getting an "Elite Card"?

Are they easy to obtain if you have 1 million baht to pay?

Yes, as long as you don't have a criminal record. The background check took less than a week.

Are they good for 5 years or just 1 year?

5 years rolling. This means that after the initial 5 year visa is up, you automatically get another 5 years and so on. Also, if for instance you get a new passport, you will get a new 5 year visa from scratch (ie a full 5 years, not just up to the original end-date).

Do they eliminate the need to do 30 and/or 90 day border runs?

Yes. You get a 90 day stamp on entry. After 90 days, instead of having to leave the country, you can get another 90 day stamp at any immigration office except Don Muang (and I expect Suvarnabhumi by extension) for the usual THB 1,900. Thailand Elite will set up the appointment for you so there's no waiting. Obviously if you leave the country within 90 days and come back, you get another full 90 day stamp.

Don't know the answer to these questions, but hoping maybe you do.

Downsides. Who knows how long the scheme will last after Thaksin/TRT goes? I doubt they'd rescind your existing 5 year visa if TE gets binned, but you might only get the one.

TE and Permanent Residency (or becoming a Thai National) are mutually exclusive. If you attain PR, you have to either give the card back (no idea if you get any money back), or sell it to someone else (there's a transfer fee of 10% of the current list price when you sell).

You can, however, get a work permit tacked onto the visa if you wish, and TE claim they'll help you with the application process.

Anyway, so far so good.

Thailand Elite anyone?

Some of the European makers seem to play along with the game here too. IIRC, some BMWs and Volvos (X5 and SC90?) are now being assembled domestically, but they're priced with a much higher margin than the imported ones. So it's cheaper to get one rather than importing, but they're still priced high because the (imported fully-built) competition is taxed so high.

Can't blame them, but a PITA.

A while back in HK, BMW actually got into the game themselves. They sold a piddly 316 with all the M detailing. Not the badges themselves, but the M mirrors (the hollowed-out ones), and the same interior trim. No model badge of any sort on the boot of course, to keep up the pretence. I remember they advertised it as a limited-run and they all sold out sharpish.

Oh well, kudos to BMW HK I suppose for accurately putting a finger on your target group.

What do the Thai golfers give them? What is an acceptable tip?

200-300 usually for me.

The code NBK has been registered at the International Air Transport Association to identify Suvarnabhumi Airport from July 29.

I am curious about something and perhaps Udon or anybody else who is friends with a pilot can get the answer for me.

I believe that among the information a pilot enters on his flight computer before taking off is the code of the destination airport. Is this code the three-letter IATA code or the four-letter ICAO code? For example, Los Angeles International Airport has the following codes:

IATA code: LAX

ICAO code: KLAX

I suspect it is the IATA code, since the airport map issued to pilots, to which Meerkat provided a link, uses the IATA code, but I would like to be sure.

Neither IATA nor ICAO appear to publish a list of airport codes on their websites – which I find rather strange. I used to look this information up on http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/ but this web site is down at the moment. The last time I checked this site, a couple of weeks ago, there was only Don Muang listed for Bangkok. Actually, as I remember it, it was not listed as Don Muang, but as Bangkok International Airport, but the co-ordinates pointed to Don Muang.

At any rate, I would prefer to find the airport code information on the official websites of IATA and/or ICAO. Does anybody have a corresponding link?

And where do pilots get this information about the code of an airport they have to fly to?

---------------

Maestro

Pilots enter the ICAO (ie 4 letter) code into the FMS onboard. The 3 letter codes are primarily used from a passenger's perspective. US airports' ICAO codes are IIRC all the same as their IATA ones with a "K" prefix, so perhaps the example I gave wasn't the best. Here are the charts for Don Muang:

http://tfc.rwy12.com/docs/VTBD.pdf#search=...20sid%20star%22

The code for Don Muang will remain the same (VTBD) and Suvarnabumi will get VTBS.

Pilots subscribe to charts from the likes of Jeppesen.

http://www.jeppesen.com

So i was over at my friends place on Sunday having lunch when we got around to discussing the new Airport. He is a long haul pilot for Thai Airways and he tells me hes kinda worried. They are supposedly definately going aheah with the opening next month, however he has a few small problems.

Chief among those problems is that he doesnt know his way around the airport. He doesnt know where to Taxi his plane and do whatever else it is that pilots do apart from sleep. Further to this, there is no planned training or orientation that he has been informed of. As he spends 8-14 days overseas at a time, that leaves very little opening for them to rectify this!

I find this a bit odd. All airports issue maps showing taxiway and gate locations to pilots. These are distributed along with Instrument Approach/Departure Procedures (IAP/SID/STAR). Here's LAX for example:

http://download.aopa.org/ustprocs/20060803...ams/00237AD.PDF

Taxiways have huge signs alongside each intersection, as well as painted signs on the taxiways themselves. If a pilot is landing at an airport for the first time (think about it...they must all do it at every airfield at some point), he can always ask for extra guidance from Ground Control, who can issue spoken guidance, or despatch a "Follw-Me" car.

Suvarnabhumi may have many teething issues once it opens up. If a pilot thinks one of them is getting lost trying to taxi to the right gate, I'd be more worried about the pilot who can't read a map...

1) I can't remember if the manual explicitly recommends turning the A/C off or not, but I've fallen into the pattern of doing it anyway. The delay doesn't always seem to occur between turning the key and it switching back on.

2) I wrote about this in the other thread. The manual does specifically recommend 30secs cooling down after sustained 80km/h driving, and 1 minute after sustained 120km/h driving. Not needed for stop/start city driving. Unlike many cars, the fan will not turn on automatically after engine shutdown. As it's in the manual, I'd say do it. I'll be getting around to fitting a turbo-timer some time myself.

3) As you state, it's only ever on for a split second anyway. Before the Fortuner, I hadn't driven a diesel in years, and only in the UK, so I'm thinking maybe a combination of warmer climate and more efficient glowplugs nowadays. You're supposed to wait, and it's only really a case of half a second, so I'd just continue to do it.

4) Hmm...not sure what the real recommendation is for this one. I always switch it to N if I'm at lights. My (non-mechanical) thinking being that it's not good to have the (albeit small) strain on the transmission pushing against the brakes. Would be interested to hear other views as I never regularly drove autos before the Toyota.

You can't pull on the vertical edges of a window in OSX like you can in WinXP. But if you look at the lower right-hand corner of the browser window, you'll see a small triangle with diagonal shading between the vertical and horizontal scroll arrows. This is the "hook" you need to drag in order to resize in both axes.

First get this straight.I am not a racist... ...or sick pay

You might not be racist, but your post certainly labels you as a bigot. Your "proof" that you are not - "as I am married to a Mauritian lady who is a practicing hindu." has the same value as "A dog has four legs. My cat has four legs, therefore my cat is a dog.".

Religous extremism of all shades is awful. To stereotype the 1.4 billion muslims in this world as evil is simply ignorant.

If I get stopped, it's usually just the 100 baht on-the-spot, occasionally 200. Once got a kosher ticket for entering a bus-lane - 400 down the local station.

Last week though they got greedy. Picked up some golfing buddies from the airport. Just as we pulled out of the airport on to the Vip-Rangsit Rd, we got stopped - my mate didn't have his seatbelt on. 1000 baht! Usually I'd have let him take my license and give me a ticket, but we were in a hurry to get to Laem Chabang for a tee-time and simply couldn't waste time waiting for the ticket.

So we paid.

Needless to say, he radioed his mates, and we were stopped again less than ten minutes later at the Rangsit exit of the Tollway for speeding. 90km/h. I thought that tollway was 120, but could be wrong, but it is ironic as I'd told my mates that I was keeping it slow deliberately because we'd just been marked as an easy target. Anyway, no prizes for guessing the fine again...

Not bothered by the monetary loss, but it didn't exactly give a particularly positive impression to my mates flying in for a few days golf in LoS.

The missus, who wasn't with us on that trip (and who usually does the negotiating for me) was livid when she found out. She is now spoiling for a fight with the BIB...

Point .

Most of thoses balls sold around the courses are mine and only been hit once, so they are OK.

Ah, um...yes.

I used to be a member of the club in Macau. On two seperate occasions I've bought a bag of used balls from the pro shop there to find a ball marked "MK" (as in Meerkat if you hadn't guessed) within.

Where's that head-in-hands-embarrassed smiley when you need it?

?? i tohught you still had to leave the country every 90 days much like old 1 year visa i used ot have many years ago

You mean for the TE visa? It needs to be stamped every 90 days, but you don't have to leave the country for it to be done. Any immigration office can do it (apart from Don Muang and I presume Suvarna once it opens). For people staying in BKK, there's an office in town.

Tourists? What tourists?

I never really thought of a poultry farm as a tourist attraction....

I never really thought of Bangkok as a poultry farm....

Hehe...the Chinese (well, at least Cantonese) slang for a "lady of the night" is a "chicken"...