funfun

"As far as internet goes the only phone i would even think about surfing on a lot is a IPhone"

best ive seen, and all set up for gmail, and if ya in a city say bkk or pattaya every time you go for a pint, many bars have free wi fi anyway, so phone in poket you dont check owt, it does, and vibrates if ya have mail, really ex phone but lets itselfe down in other depts!

chris

Hi everyone,

I've heard you can get an express (tourist) visa at Vientiane. Is this correct?

Cheers

never heard of an express tourist visa, the way i and others seem to be the same way, that is hand your passport in office in the morning, next working day in the afternoon its ready for collection, maybe its called express but that seems to be the norm at all the thai embassys/consultes ive been to in the locaol countries.

maybe further afield like hull in uk, can be done in 30 mins, but not local to here as far as im aware!

chris

I had extended tourist visa already, and would like to extend more 2 weeks.

Can I do it?

panda you need to say exactly what you have got and done mate!

your other post seems to say different

"I must go out thailand and come back to use 2nd tourist visa,

I will go to nongkai or Koh kong,

If I go to koh kong, Can I get combodia visa at border?

Can I go and back soon without problem? or must I stay one night in combodia?

How many hours is it from bangkok to the border by bus?

Are there many visa run people in koh kong same as Poipet?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Koh-Kong-Vis...49#entry2060049

we can only help if we know what it is youre after

chris

I must go out thailand and come back to use 2nd tourist visa,

I will go to nongkai or Koh kong,

If I go to koh kong, Can I get combodia visa at border?

Can I go and back soon without problem? or must I stay one night in combodia?

How many hours is it from bangkok to the border by bus?

Are there many visa run people in koh kong same as Poipet?

Thanks and best regards!

eh up panda, few questions on here,

koh kong, is prob 4/5 hours drive by car from bangkok, and yes you can get a visa at the border, and you can return the same day, they are border run people there but has dwindled with the ban laem border opening as most go there now.

hat lek (koh kong) on a map, http://map.longdo.com/?lat=11.703215332031...0&locale=en

ban laem, (pong nam ron), http://map.longdo.com/?lat=12.968950195312...0&locale=en

This company goes from bangkok, ive never been with them but they seem to get a good write up on here,

http://www.jackgolf.com/en/visa_run/

if you want to go to koh kong on your own, maybe get bus to trat, stay overnight, one hour and 20 mins from border, so up early and bus to border for 9am say then back trat and bus up to bangkok, or you could stay just over border in cambodia.

just a quickie, dont forget look at your visa and the "enter before date" means just that, so if it says 20th you must reenter on 19th or youll only get 30 days.

chris

hi all,

got nokia n81 bluetooth connetion to comp, everything fine, couple of clicks of mouse and away, now no need to tell phone to accept connection, however about 3 times in an hour internet goes off, and when i try to reconnect it says device is busy, and it aint doing owt, so i turn phone off and back on and connect again and fine again for 20 mins or so.

sounds like a time out or somthing but cant find owt in bluetooth settings, if anyone any ideas or sujestions let us know please

cheers

chris

tropo, nice to see you keeping things in order (This is bad advice) he,he i loved that bit, but true!

chris

Going by a few recent reports, they maybe relaxing the 90 day in 6 month rule for visa exempt entries. This could reduce the number of tourist visa applicants at the various neighbouring consulates and make them more tourist visa friendly. Personally I'd still rather travel to Vientiane for a double entry TV than make border runs every 30 days, but at least we'll have more options.

too right, its that sort of rule coupled togeather with lack of knowledge that has sent a few elsewhere inc cambodia, well, im down in koh chang at mo and im hearing pnomm penn, (however ya spell it) has started saying no probs to agents, although these people are cambodians, they say now all changed, for anyone not same before, so my next one is 30 days a way but i need to be in pp for 25th anyway so im prob gonna try it again, as long as it sounds positive anyways, will keep ya posted!

hey up mel, i do keep nipping on, and looking whats happening, its good to see its all ok, im away tom on my koh chang job, then next month back up, hoping to see more of laos this time, would possibly like to go try another border cross for a consulte and try a x2 see what happens and if its a no no may be make my way up to vientine, dont know yet just toying with the idea!

eek, you did a write up didnt you on here and some one washed it, you keep a copy?

tropo, nice to see you keeping things in order (This is bad advice) he,he i loved that bit, but true!

chris

Thailand Forcibly Returns Hundreds Of Hmong Refugees To Laos

Article Date: 27 Jun 2008 - 0:00 PDT

An estimated 800 ethnic Lao Hmong refugees were forcibly returned to Laos by the Thai government on Sunday, June 22, and the Thai authorities have stated publicly that they intend to proceed over the coming days with further repatriations to Laos from among the remaining 6,700 refugees in the Huai Nam Khao camp in Thailand's Petchabun Province. The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling once again on the governments of Thailand and Laos to immediately stop all forced repatriations of the Hmong refugees. Both governments should facilitate the access of independent monitors to all forced returnees in Laos and those believed to be held in detention centers in Thailand so that adequate medical and humanitarian assistance can be provided to them.

MSF is also requesting that the presidency and secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, and the governments of France, the United States, and China, ensure that Thailand and Laos resolve this issue in accordance with international standards for refugee protection.

The estimated 800 Hmong refugees were forced back to Laos after the military rounded up some 5,000 refugees who had engaged in a protest march against an agreement between the Thai and Lao governments to send them back to Laos. MSF, which has been assisting the Hmong refugees since 2005, estimates that as many as 1,300 people have not returned to the camp since the protest ended near the Thai village of Kek Noi. Their fate remains unknown to MSF.

"Thai authorities claim that these were voluntary repatriations," said Gilles Isard, MSF head of mission in Thailand. "It is hard to believe. Families have been torn apart. One of our Hmong staff members who joined the protest has been sent back to Laos without her children and we know of other similar cases. Many of these refugees have expressed grave fears at the prospect of being sent back to Laos," he said. "In the camp there are more than one hundred and fifty people who have suffered bullet wounds that they claim they received a few years ago from the Lao army while staying in the jungle. Hmong refugees who were receiving treatment from MSF for mental trauma caused by the violence and persecution they experienced in Laos are among the missing. These people do not trust the Lao government and demand real guarantees before going back."

According to internationally recognized fundamental rights of protection for refugees, repatriation cannot be forced or imposed on individuals fearing for their safety. Any repatriation must remain linked to guarantees for safety upon return, including the provision of appropriate assistance.

"MSF believes that the total lack of transparency surrounding the management of this crisis only exacerbates the problem," said Isard. "If the government of Thailand and Laos would accept an independent monitor, then this issue might be resolved."

MSF has provided assistance to Hmong refugees in Thailand for three years, and is prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to the returnees in Laos if access is granted to MSF medical teams.

Since July 2005, MSF has assisted the Hmong refugees in the Thai village of Huai Nam Khao in Petchabun province. MSF teams provide medical and psychological care, food, water, and relief supplies to the nearly 8,000 refugees.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/112893.php

Thanks to all, now all sorted, had to wait for big c to get more in everyday "no have, go tukcom" but they arrived and are fine, and identical to tuckoms, so maybe just faulty batch?, oh and big c 800 v tukcom 1000!

again thanks for all help

chris

No can do - we're in Singapore for a different reason so need to get the visa there. Have been to Vientienne before for visa, no problem, but I'm asking about Singapore because that's where i need to do it!

as lopuri and and lite beer say, the chances of you getting a double entry at singapore is very slim, however if your there, try, go early rather than late, go smart, go alone, go with good manners, make sure you have many photocopys of your passport, and your photos, smile and good luck!

chris

whatever result you get, please post it on here!

Hi

I have read a lot of the visa queries on this forum and i have also spoken to the Thai consulate in Birmingham and i am still unsure which visa i need to get...!!!

Me and my sister are British citizens. We are flying into Bangkok on Wednesday 2 July. We have a return flight booked from Bangkok to Uk on 9 September.

We want to spend a couple of weeks in Northern Thailand then cross over to Laos/Vietnam/Cambodia and then return to Thailand for the last 2 weeks before getting my flight back to London.

I thought we could just enter Thailand on the 30 day permission to stay stamp, stay for a couple of weeks then leave to go to Laos etc and then come back in using another permission to stay stamp.

Tha woman at the thai consulate told me to be able to do the above, i need to buy a single entry visa. My sister called back to double check and was told that we would actually need to be a double entry visa????

I am so confused and also, time is running to get a visa sorted out - if we need one that is........

Please could someone help us out!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for your help

to cover yourselfe, can you get a multi entry from consulte, it can be isseued there and then, cost is approx 100 pounds for a years one, that would take care of all your probs, ie you come, bangkok 1st entry, you go up north thailand, then say go laos then maybe you come back in thailand before your travel to cambodia, that would be 2nd entry, then you go cambodia then return is three entrys!!

hull are ment to be the best, but birmingham may issue same day, they also post service and i think from you posting it to hull its returned in about 4 working days.

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/visas1.asp

http://map.longdo.com/?lat=16.5459375&...0&locale=en

that would save you booking any unnessasry flights, give you no probs getting in or around, and maybe if you come back later in the year ya covered again!

good luck and have a good holiday

chris

Hello,recently got back from vientiane,Laos after a visa run.They've recently set up a currency exchange place at the laos border (in laos),with not a bad rate at 33.50baht to the dollar,& can be handy as you get the laos visa quite abit cheaper if you pay in dollars.

Fully loaded up Tuktuks to the bus station near the mekong river cost 5000 kip per person,or theres a bus stop there where to the same place on the bus costs 4000 kip.As far as getting kip in town i find that its probably better to change your baht (sometimes the minimarts give as good a rate as the banks),than withdraw on an atm,as the atm fees seem high.On the train back to Bangkok we were surprised to have police come on the car & check through everybodies luggage through the train,including ours.

At the thai consulate i was told that they can issue x2 tourist visas,but i would have to use them in 3 months,which i'm presuming gives you 5 months with one extension?

I'm thinking that they do this to try & deter peolpe from border hopping,so they get a proper visa.Any others experienced this?

"I'm thinking that they do this to try & deter peolpe from border hopping,so they get a proper visa."

a border hoper, woulnt have gone to the consulte, it maybe that they are "user friendly at the mo whislst others are not, so there workload has increased excessivly so it makes sense to spread it out ie give you longer before your return, cant remember if you pay more for x2 but maybe that as well!

" i'm presuming gives you 5 months with one extension?"

as others have said on here you should get more if you pay attention to dates etc, roughly your 60 days plus 30 ext, then "hop" trigger 60 entry, then 30 exten, thats roughly 6 months then you could do 3 x 30 days, (visa exemt ) hops, so that would be 9 months before going back to laos!

chris

yes just took one back out to double check and same no's everthing to734, with 73 put it back in and retried again and still says incompatable, so i think maybe ive done somthing wrong rather than printer/cartridge problem.

i did get the cartridges from tuk com for a thousand bhat (for 4) so mabe yep could be copy's?

chris

here we go again,

got an Epsom cx5500 printer, got some new cartridges for it they say same no's on etc and look identical, when try to print, it says the replacement ones are not same,

"Cyan: 73/91

Yellow: 73/91

Magenta: 73/91

Black: 73/91

Epson recommends the genuine Epson cartridges listed above. Click the How to button for ink cartridge replacement instructions."

and thats about it, any quick tips on what ive done wrong!

cheers

chris

"JoikuSpot on the N81."

i just looked on ma nokia for that and i cant see it, is it somthing you download first?

only had phone a couple of days so no used to it yet, so if its already on point me in right direction!

cheers

chris

i rhink that might be your problem..their is aq bit of a problem with Nokia bluetooth somewtimes it will show up as a Nokia Bluetooth device and other times it will say Microsoft Bluetooth or Standard bluetooth...

What does it say for modems in device manager????

Have you re-paired the new phone since you brought it, in Nokia connection manager?

Check all that and post back or...what i would do is...

Turn off your bluetooth for a minute then re-install Nokia Suite then reboot the PC/Laptop then turn bluetooth back on on your phone then open up Nokia Connection manager then re-pair the N81 and come back to me

Also check that your Laptop is showing as a paired device on your phone

wha heeeeeeeeyyyyyy!

we done it cheers bangkok, true move sent a sms to phone with some settings for me, then it still wouldnt work so went back to your device manager post and still couldnt find it on nokia suite but found one touch access wizard and opened that and all went off and it did it all them selfes spot on!

cheers agan bangkok!

chris

ps all the above done whilst bieng nagged to take it to big c where i got it or tuk com!

cant see modem properties in nokia bit, but it says

"bkuetooth (widcomm) with a tick at side

above thougth its got

"bluetooth microsoft" without a tick and it wont let me tick it, not sure if i should but i tried and it says gotta put disc back in what do you think?

What OS are you using i would say properly say by the sounds of it that the bluetooth Modem driver isnt intstalled correctly

"What OS ? windows xp??? if thats what you mean?

"bluetooth Modem driver isnt intstalled correctly"

possible but ive bluetoothed music on!

any more bangkok?

cheers

chris

here is my questions, please help a newbee couple.

were a english couple (both from england) both in our 30s

we spent 30 days over in feb, 30 more in april and coming again for 30 days in july. so under the 90 day rule we should be fine. is that right so far?

now the big question is

we both want to move over in september (but how do we do it?) visa wise that is.

i see a lot of ex pats under 50 living there but how?

do they just come on a 30 day entry stamp and stay? how does visa runs work.

all help welcome

thanks

as i posted yesterday (not very clearly) it sounds from reading your further posts and others that hull 1 year is prob your best bet, i couldnt add the link yest but someone else has, and although i have never been to thai cons hull many friends have and at the momment it would appear very user friendley, you can also post your passport and i think it could return within a couple of working days all done, i hear cost is approx 100 quid (each).

this will get a year in thailand, (90 days a time, border run, done in a daytime) then you can learn a lot more here on the ground of your options, if you still have finaces to and want to stay here.

Good luck with whatever you do, people might say dont get a bar or laudry as they know many people who have lost money etc, there are the same sort of people back at home that buy shops etc and go bust etc, do what you want but deff do heed advice, it aint england and things are very different here, having said that there are many on here that have stayed out and owned buisness etc 10/20 years!

chris

ps, on the visa from hull, im not 100% sure so ask them (they do return emails as well) that you only get 3 months to actully start to use the visa ie your arrival time in thailand!

all the best!

1 year from hull google thai costlfue gull sorry not on comp at mo but not worry you have no probs

hi, im stuck again,

just bought a nokia n81, and connected via bluetooth to laptop, (acer aspire 5051) now when i try dial up as i normally do with my 5300 it comes up dial no which i have preset to *99# then it connects and the n81 says accept or whatever then i enter yes then an error shows up on computor screen?

any ideas?

its the same sim card as i normally use, true package free calls and unlimited internet

i think its probobly somthing i havent set up in phone settings, but not sure at all

sorry one more thing, my old 5300 used to say somthing like connect to pattya4u (computors name from shop) now this new one lights up connect to true?

any help on this would be great, again if you can help please write it so an idiot can understand!

cheers

chris

I'm a tourist, US citizen. I expect to get a two entry, 60 day visas. But I want to use a 30 day "permission to stay" upon arrival at Bangkok airport BETWEEN the two 60 day visas. Can I do this?

Example:

January 1, enter Thailand with first 60 day visa.

March 1, get 30 day extention

April 1, exit Thailand for a month

May 1, enter Thailand using a 30 day entry at airport, for short stay in Thailand

May 8, exit Thailand

June 1, enter Thailand, using second 60 day visa.

Will this work? Can I tell the Thai immigration officer at Bangkok airport on May 1, that I want to use the 30 day entry, OR will they insist I use the SECOND 60 day visa?

Thanks!

well ive just looked at mine (vientiene) issue dec 2007

enter before march 2008

thats 3 months

what your hoping is 6 months

so i think not, ive noticed some of your posts ref visas over last week or so lynn, is it not possible to get a 1 year visa from usa, ive never been but if you can it would prob save you a lot of headacke etc!

chris

Koh Chang's closest border crossing is the Hat Lek - Koh Kong Border. This Thai Visa link may help.

http://www.thaivisa.com/387.0.html

i go to koh chang all the time, the nearest border is hat lek, however if you are coming from bangkok or pattaya areas it is quicker to go to ban leam

http://map.longdo.com/?lat=12.970322265625...0&locale=en

chris

I have an idea, but need advice if it is do able or not.

I am 22 now, and want to save up about £5K then move to Thailand. What is the best/easiest job to get there other than teaching. I would be looking for something which would be easy to leave and come back too. So say I go back to UK for 2 or 3 months just to build up my finances again.

Thank You For Any Advice

as all other posters have said your money will go very quick out here, so you need to be a little carefull.

a lot of lads that come here are working on oil rigs and other off shore stuff, all over world, some welders/ engineers etc some are less qualified and are maybe labours / cleaners etc all are paid very good money and tend to work 1 or 2 months on, then maybe 1 or 2 months off to which they return to thailand have a good time then back to work!

my advice would be at your age try getting into this type of work if you can then you can keep coming to and from as you please and as other posters say maybe try odd holidays elsewhere, and keep your 5 grand for emegancey money!

i just googled this for, but there is probobley a lot more to found

http://www.oilandgasjobsearch.com/?ppcseid...CFQZmegodR0hUWA

good luck, and remember the advice from other posters might not be what you want to hear but its all true!

chris

From what you say you arrived without a visa and received permission to stay for 30 days. You get a 7-day extension only, for the usual fee of 1,900 Baht.

--

Maestro

That makes sense to me. Can someone please direct me to where on this site, it explains what one is entitled to, without tourist visas, simply getting "permission" when arriving at the airport. I can't find it. Also, is there someplace where it makes clear the rules for how long the maximum one can keep doing this, that is entering without a visa applied for and received outside of Thailand in advance.

THanks for your fast reply!

"[in other words - for a single stay up to 30 days, you simply arrive at the airport in Thailand, and provided you come from an approved list of countries, and have an onward reservation confirmed, that is what you will receive - FREE. You can usually extend this permit once for 7 days (1900 baht) on application to any Immigration Office, provided you can show a confirmed ticket out of Thailand dated during that 7-days. After that, YOU MUST LEAVE Thailand]"

Taken from

http://www.pattayaexpatsclub.com/visainformation.htm

chris