Stevemercer

I am just curious as to what the record might be? I'm sure there are many people with 10 plus years. Is their anyone with over 20 years worth of yearly extensions?

Those who do not know or learn from their history are doomed to repeat the mistakes from the past over and over. Sound familiar? The great thing about a good education is that we can collectively learn from the mistakes of many, and not just our own experiences.

If the immigration service is as poor as described in Chiang Mai then some focused action should be taken.

1. Investigative report undertaken and published by the local press.

2. Petition the Chiang Mai Provincial Governor.

3. Petition individual Ambassadors at the Embassies of those affected.

If improvement is sought then irrefutable evidence must be obtained and supported by a majority of the people affected.

It is important not to blame the Immigration Officers who, I am sure, do their best..

Maybe, for whatever reason, Bangkok has underfunded Chiang Mai immigration putting immense strain on the resources there (or the local office blew their budget on new buildings or something). The officers there may have low morale and, accordingly, tend to work to rule.

Why is more funding not allocated to bring the service up to acceptable standards? I'm not sure, but writing about it on TV won't help. Maybe something like the above post has to happen with concrete examples of waiting times etc. Nobody is blaming the local staff, but clearly the resources aren't getting to the front line.

Last time I went to Khon Kaen they had a dedicated officer and line just for the 90 day reporting and it was very quick. Is this still the case?

I agree with the above 100%. A dual passport holder should always use their Thai passport when entering and leaving Thailand.

As many posters have said, life in retirement is an attitude. It doesn't matter whether you retire in your home country or Thailand, there are many adjustments to your mental processes and lifestyle you need to make.

I chose to retire to Thailand because I was at a stage in life where I wanted to design/build a house and work on the land. I had modest capital and could only achieve what I wanted in Thailand, certainly not in Australia. It's been a busy few years going through the building or our house, landscaping of our property, construction of dams and fishing ponds, planting of hundreds of trees, acquiring exotic pets that are illegal back in Australia etc.

To me, buying the land and building the house has been a lifestyle thing. I don't really care about the investment side of things or not being able to own the land. Once your dead what does it matter who owns the land. I just like to think I'll leave the land in better shape than when I first came along. It's like friends and relationships. If you leave everyone a little better off for having known you, what more could you want. In the meantime I get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction out of watching the trees get bigger, looking at the Alligator Gar cruising in the ponds, feeding the iguanas and tortoises, taking in the sunset through the palm trees etc.

I've lived in Australia for 55 years, why not live in another country for awhile?

My Thai wife obtained Australian citizenship, and an Australian passport in addition to her Thai citizenship/passport. When we travel between Thailand and Australia she always uses her Australian passport to get into Australia and her Thai passport to get into Thailand. No problems and maybe reduces risks of being pulled up by customs.

She kept her Thai surname when we married in Australia to reduce potential bureaucratic problems with land/property in her Thai name, getting stung for ferang prices and in the event of there being some future nationalistic fervor. In other words, don't make a fuss about having dual nationality and you won't have any problems.

You might have mild depression. One of the symptoms is boredom caused by lack of motivation and energy. Those who say 'get a life' or 'just do it' do not understand how debilitating depression can be. Unfortunately it is a hard disease to treat in Thailand because it's not well recognised. Many Thais suffer depression anxiety, but learn to cover it up. I'm sorry if this all sounds patronising.

The only non-medication answer is to keep busy in mind and body, but the main problem is the lack of motivation feeding the boredom and vice versa. You have to find some sort of physical exercise you don't mind doing and build up a routine. You can think of the routine as your 'job', something you must do whether you like it or not. The same with your mind. Buy a little helicopter and learn to fly that around the room. Find books or magazines about topics you enjoy. Try and cook foods that you miss, like bangers and mash or pancakes.

You need to have a good missus or mates who are positive and who you feel you can depend on. If your GF does not do this for you,and you cannot leave her, you might need to find a gik who does make you feel good.

What's your living environment like? If it is depressing, try and cheer up you home with some plants, a pet or some colour. You must feel comfortable in your home. If you can't, and you would rather be anywhere else, then it is a problem you must fix.

Being on a budget makes it much harder because you think you cannot afford a change like travel, a shiny new toy, or other things that might make you happy for a day or two. So you need to look inwards about what you enjoy. Make a list of things you enjoy or that make you feel good.

Just bumming around as a lifestyle probably doesn't hack it for most people. We want to feel we are contributing something and are loved. I think it's true that happiness is not a place, a new GF, a new car or other possession, it is just a state of mind. Happy people are content with their lot in life and don't need any more.

I've always had a soft spot for reptiles and like having a few lizards and snakes (non poisonous variety) around. I'm inclined to the philosophy of live and let live. However, human safety must always come first. If a poisonous snake poses a risk than it must be removed or killed. To be honest, I don't mind snakes, but I'm deathly afraid of scorpions and centipedes and have no hesitation in killing them if I find them around the house.

Snakes are attracted by rodents and lizards. If you have a lot of lizards around a snake or two will turn up eventually to thin out the population. Then they will move on. Most snakes are harmless racers, but they are very quick and aggressive.

As mentioned by filer, areosol flysprays can be lethal for reptiles. You can lightly spray any likely snake hiding spots in your garden and it will keep them away for weeks (or until it rains next).

Twice I have found dead dogs in one of my dams (not my dogs), but I'm not sure if they died from snakebite or some other cause.

I'll bite again on this topic.

Mankind has been busy digging up or pumping up all the coal, oil and gas over the last 100 years (and next 100 years) and burning it so the carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. All this coal, oil and gas comes from plants (that have sequestered the carbon dioxide) that have been buried and compressed over the last billion years. So we will release into the atmosphere a billion years worth of carbon dioxide sucked away by plants in just 200 years. Of course this is going to have some sort of impact and the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing. No one disputes this.

At the practical level, I wonder if many people in cooler countries (for example Norway or Britain) really care that much if the temperature increase a few degrees. Perhaps it's more of a worry for people in hot countries, like Thailand. Obviously I'm ignoring possible increases in ocean levels, more extreme weather etc.

Thanks for the quick response 'elviajero'. That puts my mind at rest.

This is a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyway. I have a retirement extension and spent a couple of days in Cambodia recently, just before the 90 day report was due. I assumed that my re-entry into Thailand counted as a sort of 90 day report and that my next report is due 90 days after my re-entry into Thailand. The Immigration Officer didn't change the reporting date on the form stapled in my passport, but I think he just forget.

Is my assumption correct?

I've been told when a deposit of 800,000 baht comes out of a term deposit into a current account on maturity, the "seasoning" clock restarts because it's not the same account, even though it's still in the same bank and branch. Is this correct?

That has happened to many people. Some have been lucky that immigration accepted it after an explanation but others have been denied doing the application.

If you have a fixed term account you need to be sure it does not roll over during the 3 months.

I had this problem when I went for my extension in April 2015 at Khon Kaen. My term deposit finished in March 2015 and I started a new term deposit for the same amount on the same day. The Immigration Office told me they could not extend the visa because the money had not been seasoned for the required time. My wife intervened and, after suitable 'consideration', we went back to the bank and got a new letter explaining the circumstances. They then processed the extension.

So, if your term deposit matures during the seasoning period it is safest just to leave it in that account. Of course, you will get no interest on the account until after you get the visa and can open a new term deposit account.

I hope all other countries take note of this and apply similar restrictions on Thais who wish to become residents abroad.

Countries tend to reciprocate immigration rules so ukrules might have a point. In Australia, there are about 7,000 Thais granted citizenship (usually based on being married to an Australian for 2 years and paying the approx. 100,000 Baht cost) per year. Further, permanent residency in Australia is assured under immigration law if you can prove you have been in the stable relationship for two years. There are no language requirements. If the Australian Government applied a reciprocate rule (e.g. limit of 100 Thais becoming Australian per year) it would cause a helluva stink.

Of course, each country must apply rulings it sees as fit. Australia is a hard place for Thais to get to, but relatively easy to become a citizen once you get there. Thailand is an easy place to get to, but hard to become a citizen.

I used to work in the Australian Government Department of the Environment which has extensive expertise in climate change. To summarise my knowledge, there is world scientific consensus that human-induced climate change is happening (due to increased carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere since industrialisation). However, there is disagreement over the rate of change against natural climate variability and other cyclic events such as sunspots and variations to earth's axis. But there is consensus that the rate of climatic change is much faster, and is happening within one or two generations (50 years), compared to natural climate variability.

Does it mean warmer Novembers for Thailand? Possibly, but no one can say for certain. Current green house predictions for Thailand are warmer dry seasons (by one or two degrees on average) and more rain during the wet season, but interspersed with greater frequency of droughts (particularly in the north and north-east of the country) and extreme rain events (particularly in coastal areas).

I'm 56, and have lived in Thailand for nearly two years, and find it much harder to fit here compared to my home land (Australia). It's mainly the constant heat, constant eating and constant drinking in Thailand. On the plus side, a lot of the junk food I enjoyed in Australia, such as Cadbury chocolate, Twisties, hamburgers/souvlakis etc, is simply not available out where I live. Overall I think my dietary intake of carbs and fats etc probably balances out.

I mainly do cycling, about 30 - 60 kilometres every few days. Plus we have about 5 rai and there is about 2 hours work per day to maintain that. But I sometimes wrestle about the economics. Should I labour and sweat for 5 hours in the sun cutting bamboo when I can pay a Thai guy 300 Baht to finish the job? In Australia we are used to doing everything ourselves because hiring labour is too expensive. That's not the case in Thailand. Still, I like to do the work myself and keep on top of things.

Well here almost the opposite.....we almost only cook ourself...so often just 1-2 meals per day because too lazy. Both my wife and myself just don't like the food bought and often get some minor problems from it, either from the MSG or I guess more from the palm oil.

Cadbury, Twisties, hamburger are available everywhere in Thailand.....I use the Cadbury always to catch rats

30-60 Cycling per day sure helps.....that is a big dish full of junk food that you burn

I should clarify about my favourite junk foods. The Cadbury chocolate in Thailand uses palm oil and doesn't taste like the stuff in Australia. My wife keeps insisting you can buy Twisties, but it is just a rip-off and, again, nothing like the real thing. You can certainly buy hamburgers, but they aren't the plate sized, 6 inch tall, 6 inch diameter slabs I think of as hamburgers. Anyway, I'm happy to be off all that junk food. From my perspective, Thai food is way healthier than my previous diet. It's just the constant eating that is a health hazard for a Westerner like me. I think my wife's metabolism must be at least three times as fast as mine for her to stay thin on the amount of food she eats.

November has always been my least favourite month in Thailand, climate wise. The welcome rain and cooler temps associated with thunderstorms over the rainy season (June to mid-October) are gone. We have a sudden return to hot conditions and windless days (albeit with reduced humidity) in November just when we think winter should be here. December and January are relatively cooler. February to May are, of course, hot and humid, but at least there is the prospect of a thunderstorm on any given day.

I think there is increased official enforcement of drinking laws everywhere in Thailand as part of the current government's campaign for 'better morals'. I live in a rural town in Isaan and entertainment venues and restaurants are not allowed to sell alcohol on Buddhist holidays. The police come around and check. The police visit karaoke places each night and photograph the customers. They enforce a midnight shutdown.

I don't think ferangs are being singled out for special attention. It is just a general increase in wowserism.

I'm 56, and have lived in Thailand for nearly two years, and find it much harder to fit here compared to my home land (Australia). It's mainly the constant heat, constant eating and constant drinking in Thailand. On the plus side, a lot of the junk food I enjoyed in Australia, such as Cadbury chocolate, Twisties, hamburgers/souvlakis etc, is simply not available out where I live. Overall I think my dietary intake of carbs and fats etc probably balances out.

I mainly do cycling, about 30 - 60 kilometres every few days. Plus we have about 5 rai and there is about 2 hours work per day to maintain that. But I sometimes wrestle about the economics. Should I labour and sweat for 5 hours in the sun cutting bamboo when I can pay a Thai guy 300 Baht to finish the job? In Australia we are used to doing everything ourselves because hiring labour is too expensive. That's not the case in Thailand. Still, I like to do the work myself and keep on top of things.

Single story house of 180 square metres plus 75 square metre covered veranda, including quality fittings (marble floor, upper range cabinets and bathroom fittings etc) for 1.8 million Baht (also including garage, driveway, paved areas, fencing and basic landscaping). House is three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

There might also be tax reasons. For example, under a tax agreement between Thailand and Australia, a non-resident of Australia is taxed at 33% for any Australian derived income/pension, but that same income is taxed exclusively at the Thai rate if the person is a resident of Thailand. I doubt I could ever qualify for Thai residency and so have never checked what the Thai tax rate would be. But I'm sure it would be better than 33%.

"Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten". Never a truer saying. Did your mower have a bar near the top of the push bar that needs to be held in while starting?

Yes, the Astec (Chinese brand) is like that. Yo must remember to pull it in when starting it. It is a pain to hold it in all the time and means that you have no throttle control. You must adjust the throttle cable length for the throttle you want. 50% is fine for the 6 HP model and means it runs relatively quietly and mechanically stress free. Just sharpen the blades every five hours or so.

I've had the Asgate 6.0 HP, 4 stroke (Chinese made), mower for two years now. It's about the cheapest on the market, but seems OK. I think it costs about 7,500 - 10,000 Baht. A name brand will cost twice as much. The chassis is heavy, but robust. It is wider than standard so you can cut more grass/weeds. The choke level is on the handle and it always starts first or second pull. I run mine at about 50% power and it cuts fine. I sometimes use it is preference to the weed trimmer if the ground is not too bumpy. The engine has about 100 hours on it and still runs fine. The wheel bearing are the first thing to go after about 75 hours. I got some similar sized bearings at the local machine shop and they seem fine. I had to file the axle a little bit to get them on.

On a related matter, I have a Honda Cub scooter. Bought it at the local shop where they offered free servicing (labour) for the life of the bike. I love it that I can take it in for a chain adjustment and have it done in 5 minutes for free. The headlight blew the other week and it cost 65 Baht for the replacement (fitted, together with a chain/brake adjustment) and it was done in 15 minutes.

Today (Monday, 12 October 2015, the wind finally settled out of the north and blew away the clouds and humidity. So that's the end of the wet season for Isaan. We most likely won't get any substantial rain until February when the mini-monsoon comes around. We've had a dry time of it and I've already started trucking water in for my fish ponds at 350 Baht per 12,000 litre truck. I figure the price will only go up as the dry progresses.

Anyway, here's to the coming cooler weather.