xylophone

Pleased to hear that, however that's not been my experience as you will have seen from my post a couple of days ago, nor the experience of my good friend here who has just today used an agent and everything went smoothly. Yes, I can only think that it is bad luck, both on my behalf and the same with my friend, and I have been renewing my extension of stay since 2007. You did mention that "every immigration office around Thailand has an interpretation of rules" and I think that's very much the case here as I believe I've just got to the bottom of why my friend was refused his extension of stay, even though he had 800K in the bank which had been there for years – – – – – you may recall that when the money in the bank scenario and the monthly remittance of 65K, along with a letter from the embassy, were in play, that it was reported from some I/Os that the 800K in the bank had to be in an accessible account, and not a long-term deposit account, whereas others just accepted the 800K irrespective of what type of account it was in. My friend had the 800k in the bank in a four-year deposit account BUT he was able to access/withdraw that at any time provided he waived the interest earned, i.e. the bank did not pay it, so he thought he was safe, but not here in Phuket at that time. I can only assume that this particular moment in time that this was the case. Thank you for your good wishes with regard to my renewal of extension, and I have found a great workaround: – I will complete the necessary paperwork, get the statements and letter from the bank and trundle off to immigration a few days early just to give me some leeway. If it all goes smoothly then I will be overjoyed, however if they manage to find a problem, whether it be real or manufactured, then I will simply leave the I/O and come back to Patong and use an agent – – sorted!!!!

Unfortunately Phuket has its own set of rules and charges Jim, just as others have found out, so I will make my decision in a couple of days.

Noticed that two very good series are back on BBC iPlayer; "Wolf Hall" and "Versailles" so will watch them again as quality like these two productions is so hard to find these days.

I have just been talking to this friend of mine, because my retirement extension date is fast looming, as is his, and he is going to see his agent tomorrow to see how much it will cost him, even though he has had the 800k in the bank for years, so I quizzed him further on this............. When he was ordered out of the immigration office, he had given the officer the complete year statement from his Kasikorn Bank, showing over 800 K, untouched, in that account and he had taken along his normal bank book, plus all the normal paperwork, which the officer then perused. My friend had been transferring 65k per month into his account, which he topped up as spending money, and the officer saw that one month he hadn't bought that 65 K into the country and quizzed him about it, to which my friend pointed out that he had more than the 800 K requirement in the bank anyway, but the I/O wouldn't have any of it and said that because he had missed a month it wasn't acceptable. This friend pointed out to the officer that he had complied with the requirement to have 800 K in the bank and that superseded the 65K per month previous requirement, but the I/O became angry and ordered him out of the office, and as I have said previously he then used an agent. Onto my case, the agent I spoke to requires 15,000 baht provided all of my paperwork is in order, however I have to go to immigration (which I was hoping not to have to do) to get my photograph taken, and the lady said I would be in and out in a matter of minutes and they would have my passport ready the next day. I explained that I would rather not have to go to immigration and explained that they were not "nice people to deal with", and to my surprise this Thai person said that more and more farangs were having problems in that regard, and in her opinion the I/O's were just looking for ways to be able to make life difficult so that an agent had to be used, and they would get a cut of the cost of the agent. So a Thai agent admitted that us poor farangs were getting a rough deal, and she quoted several other instances! I'm still giving the agent route some thought and I will see what my friend says after his meeting with the agent tomorrow. There is a Post Script to this, inasmuch as on another occasion the I/O accused him of working in the country and was adamant that this was the case, when in fact it wasn't as he has never worked in this country, so either he has been desperately unlucky or he's got one of those guilty faces!!!!! Or they see him as an "easy touch"?

You must have missed a key element of my previous post, in which I specifically said I don't have any anger or venom towards the orange clown, that is something that you mistakenly believe. However I will constantly regurgitate the truth about him and his crooked cohorts, mainly because he and they spew the divisive hatefulness which has split the country. So if you don't like what I'm posting, then don't read my posts. In which case you won't have to worry about your cast-iron stomach!

Thank you for being my online medical practitioner, but you fall very short with your comments and diagnosis, because I don't have any anger or spite, or outrage – – just disbelief that there are so many mindless and gullible people in the US who would be taken in by this conman. Sadness is what I feel for folks like you and other trump supporters, mainly because they can't see that they are being played. I don't think my sorrow for trump supporters is going to do anything to my stomach acid or indeed help the gastrologists of America or anywhere for that matter. I like the reference to "people just not being able to move on" because it really doesn't mean anything to folks like me, what happened, happened and the dumb clown is still a dumb clown, and it is now in the history books and will be for future generations to view, and perhaps with a lot more still to come. Save your mental anguish about people who dislike trump, because it is what it is, and means nothing to them that he is an idiot with many followers.

I know who I would rather have sitting in the presidential office and it's not the orange buffoon who would rant on and on, spreading lies and misinformation and at times trying to drum up funds for one thing or another, which he used to pay for his campaign expenses. Even "stealing" funds from a charity – – no, give me Biden with his flaws, and he does have them, versus the previous dumb, lying clown any day. Covfefe, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine or UV light, anybody. And Kool-Aid drinkers bought it, hook line and sinker, just the same as many of them still believe the election was stolen – – yeah right.

Didn't quite work like that for a friend of mine who used finasteride for a few months, rubbing it on his bald head twice a day – – he didn't get any hair growth on his head, but the palms of his hand, looked like those of a yeti!

Just loved some of the "Kelly Enema" humour.

One of the other things to think about, as if you haven't got enough on your plate already, is the fact that strictly speaking, bona fide shareholders should be able to show how much they have invested in this particular "company" in order to become a shareholder? In the case of "shareholders" who don't have/own a share in this company then it becomes quite obvious on close inspection (if that is indeed ever done) that this is a sham company, set up in order to allow a farang to own a property. Just to add that there were many many "workarounds" suggested by posters, some of which were quite convoluted, however as a few posters pointed out, no matter how one looks at this and tries to justify it, the end result is that it is illegal and the particular investor/owner could stand to lose everything.

Right on the nail with that remark, and I remember having a long conversation/discussion on this very subject on the previous Thai Visa forum, perhaps some eight or nine years ago now. I had first hand experience of this because a friend of mine had bought a villa in Rawai using this method for owning the property, and when he went overseas for a six month job contract and returned, someone else had moved into his house and said they had bought it. Turns out the lawyer was crooked and had resold it, and to cut a long story short the case went to court and although the lawyer was reprimanded for his actions, the ruling was that my friends purchase in the first place was illegal and he had no claim on the property – – he lost everything. I had many a long conversation/meetings with him trying to help him solve it, but the lawyer had some pretty powerful contacts and was still able to practice, whilst my friend had no claim on the property. The OP should beware and as other people have pointed out, as well as your good self, setting up a company for the sole purpose of buying a single house is illegal.

And I'm sure you have convinced yourself that those four years of relative peace were because of this dumb idiot trump. And of course that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the fault of Biden – – – some very faulty logic there, but then again that's natural for someone who supports trump. No rhyme nor reason nor logic in the argument you have, but then again, those who drink the Kool-Aid seem to be of the same ilk.

Any dumb idiot in charge of the country is a threat, and that fits trump exactly. After all, with his many failed businesses, lies and deceit, along with the attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of affirming the presidential election results, which trump stated was "stolen" from him, the man is mentally unstable and a threat to democracy in every way shape or form. So he is a threat, along with the poison he spouts and which weak minded and weak willed supporters gladly lap up. Indeed, a threat which should be eliminated.

Agree with that statement Dr Jack54, although I've never experienced any quick service at Phuket, and every time one has to come back the following day to pick up the passport. If you are lucky there are only a handful of people waiting outside of the first office one visits, however if you are not, then I have experienced well over 10 people waiting for their number to be called. The process on the first day, provided everything goes smoothly, takes a few hours, however if they are being "difficult" then frequent visits to the photo copier to copy blank pages can slow things up even further. Then of course return the next day for the passport.

True about doing well in major issues, and I particularly liked this latest one, the intro of which I have copied here: –This year, the American people won and Big Pharma lost..... Biden Hits Republicans, Drug Companies in Healthcare Speech WASHINGTON -- President Biden struck an unusually combative tone on Tuesday during a speech about healthcare costs, criticizing Republicans for trimming a bill to lower insulin costs and for wanting to sunset federal laws every 5 years, something he suggested could endanger Medicare and Social Security. "If you're on Medicare and you have diabetes, the cost of insulin will be capped at $35 a month per prescription," Biden said during a speech in the White House Rose Garden. He was referring to one of the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by Congress. And much more................... https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/washington-watch/100939

Wow, there appears to be so much "recoverable" stuff in this place, it's a wonder it hasn't been stripped bare by now?? If not the above, then surely could be a "home" to the poor and needy/homeless??

"deep state led by Biden's weaponized DOJ & FBI"........................Oh dear, you still believe in this rubbish, so there's really no hope for you, but I may come over to your side if you can give me the address of the pizza parlour in which the demonic/Satanist Democrats are drinking children's blood!!!

I take on board all that you have said, however every time he commits one of these gaffes, and this one was particularly grim, it can cause people to doubt the ability of their leader and indeed the state of the Democrats. I don't believe this can continue if the country is to have faith in its leader and the more gaffes he delivers, the worse this will become, so for the sake of the US, and indeed the rest of the world, something has to be done, as the thought of the dumb orange liar reclaiming the "throne" is truly frightening.

I like the Sharp water heaters and have installed several in my houses and in the houses/apartments of friends, with no problems whatsoever. They have a copper tank with the appropriate flow and overload/overheating devices and I've never had a bit of trouble with any of them – – last one I bought about a month ago for a friend of mine was on special at 2200 baht as I recall.

I normally like Bill Nighy, but in this role/context???? Chiwetel also like and I think Naomie Harris is beautiful............but so far not a "goer" for me. And as has been said: "different strokes for different folks"!

Great stuff KhunLA and not dissimilar to my situation, whereby when my girlfriend moved in with me here, she bought down her six-year-old daughter to live with us and we got on famously. Unfortunately the relationship ended after about six years, but I was keen on "unofficially adopting" the daughter and taking care of her for her future; so I gave them money to live on and put the daughter through high school, and now she is at university north of Bangkok and doing very well, training to be a teacher, and we speak almost daily and whenever she has free time she comes down to see me here in Phuket. She is wonderful young lady, almost 22 now, and like you, this was one of the most satisfying things I have done in my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. In addition, she is set up for life when I decide to visit the great vineyard in the sky.

No, not at all, although I could have saved myself three years of heartache in a useless/nonworking marriage back in the UK, but apart from that I have done well in a couple of sports, played football alongside former professionals, played tennis against Steffi Graf and sailed the NZ America's Cup challenge boat in Auckland harbour, to name but a few things. I partied hard when I could and travelled overseas seeking out adventure and money after getting qualified in a trade, and later on in life I moved into management and investments and ended up starting an multibillion-dollar investment division for a major NZ bank, before retiring. My only regret would be that I worked too hard in that last job, putting my health at risk and not knowing when to stop – – being a "driven man" seeking out recognition, which was something I never got in my childhood, which endangered my health eventually. No way in the world could I ever look back and say I wasted my life, because there's nothing in it I would change. Actually there is one thing I would have changed if I had the chance again, and that was when I was around 18 years old and playing in a good standard of nonleague football, I was asked to go for trials at Queens Park Rangers, when a couple of their scouts had watched me on a few occasions, and although the manager of the football club encouraged me to take up that opportunity, I never had the confidence in my own self/game and didn't go!!!

Have watched the first three episodes of "The Man Who Fell to Earth" and thought it was very poor indeed, so I won't bother watching any more, and as for Bill Nighy making an appearance in it, well he stood out like the proverbial "racing dogs goolies" and IMO totally miscast!

Have watched the first 8 episodes and now waiting for more............???????

I decided to watch a documentary on BBC iPlayer called "Bitter Lake" and my oh my, was it an eye-opener, as it was thoroughly enthralling and examined problems with America and the UK getting involved in Afghanistan, mainly because neither understood the country, the people or the customs, so it was bound to lead to disaster. Much good footage, including a few comedy movie insertions to ram home the point, but in the end, not only were America and the UK made to look like fools, but Mohammed Karzai should be arrested and locked up for misappropriating/stealing perhaps billions of dollars from both countries and from the Afghanistan people. I can thoroughly recommend this.