koolbreez

Oh, no one asked about your age. If you are over 50, you could also get a Thai retirement visa, that if you are over 50 years old, would fit your situation real good.

The limit on the number of repeat returns as a tourist into Thailand before you are refused entry is solely up to the immigration agent processing you.

If you are in Singapore, just go to the Thai embassy there and get a real tourist visa, then no problem at the border.

As you are planning on leaving the country anyway to get your last 30 days, you might instead consider a trip to Vientiane for 2 days at the end of your 60 day tourist visa and get another 60 day tourist visa at the Thai embassy there. The only difference in cost would be the bt1800 you would pay for the extension, as opposed to bt1000 (unless the price has went up, which would mean finding a cheaper room for the night...lolol), for a new tourist visa at the Thai embassy, plus the cost of a room for the night. You should have no problem finding a room under bt800. You have already figured on spending the travel money, and visa expense going to another country for the extra 30 days. With this method, your date going out would change, but then if plans changed you'd have the ability of getting you another 30 day visa extension after the 120 days of two tourist visas run out. Just a thought.

I never did have to get a residency certificate. Both the main drivers license office across from ChatuChak, and my motorbike sales agent accepted my TOT, and True bills showing my rented condo address on them. My motorbike sales agent was nice enough to do all the paperwork processing for my new motorbike title (Green Book), and I picked it all up at his office, instead of it being mailed to me. I also just go to his office each year for my new tags.

This Honda dealer might work good for you, as he will just hold the title until you can pick it up, after it is processed. Mine took 9 weeks because I evidently requested a certain plate number, that I wasn't aware of him asking me about....lolol (Now I have a lucky plate number). He is a small local Honda dealer close to me in the Ratchathewi area, and speaks no English, but it is not a problem, as the sale triumphs over language difficulties.

I also saved about bt5000 over most other Honda dealers mentioned here, on my total purchase (motorbike and luggage compartment). Those dealers speaking good English are not always the best deals on new motorbikes. PM me, and I can introduce you. It also helped for insurance that I had my Thai motorbike drivers license before I bought the bike.

It is not required to get, but for Thai liability, and theft insurance you do need a Thai drivers license, which I believe can not be gotten on a tourist visa, but I might be wrong. My biggest driving fear, and why I got the insurance isn't because of the possibility of a wreck, but in case of theft of my motorbike, or if I accidently scratch someone's car while weaving traffic. I never have yet in 2+ years, but in case I do, I am covered....lolol.

Oh, and costing quite a bit more, baht 10 million invested I believe it is now, you can also get an investment visa, one of the best visas to hold, but it takes tying up a huge lump sum of money for awhile.

 

It is illegal to go out in public without state issued ID in USA. It has been the law for decades. At the very least, you must know your drivers license number so the police can run you for wants and warrants. The difference is they cannot stop you without probable cause and in California it is illegal for the police to ask about your immigration status.

Sent from my GT-S7270 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

 

BS.... I worked in the US for  over two years and never had a state ID or carried my passport oh and i never had a US drivers license either and was stopped by the cops quite a few times, maybe it was because of my cute "British accent " ...  showed them my home license and sent on my my way

 

funny enough though, the US marine Corp tried to recruit me on few occassions as well... dont know what that was about

 

so stop taking rubblish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You did carry recognized ID with you at all times though. The US recognizes legally issued official government ID, that is not expired, from other countries. Your interpretation of what he meant by "State issued ID" was wrongly interpreted. Replace "Government" for "State", and notice that he used the word "in the USA", not "from the USA", and you'll better understand his meaning.

If your government issued the official picture ID, and it is not expired, then it is accepted in the US as legitimate ID. Most just use their passport, but picture drivers licenses are accepted, as long as they aren't expired, and yes, you technically must have legal ID with you at all times in the US.

You also technically should have gotten a US drivers license, in the state you were in if you were working. As a tourist you don't have to, but working there you technically should have.

The Marines are always looking for a few good men, and must have mistaken you for someone else....lolol. In the past during war time joining the US military was an avenue to gain citizenship. They might have mistaken you for an illegal, needing US citizenship.

 

 

It clearly states fail to report is a thb 2000 fine !

Sent from my GT-P3100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

And Thai law clearly states prostitution and exceeding highway speed limits are illegal.

 

 

No response to prostitution, but we receive not one, but two tickets for speeding from out last trip to Tak.  Never had a speeding ticket in the past, despite many trips traveling at the same speed.  I suppose the general has recognized that turning on the speed cameras can result in significant revenues for the government.  I should also mention that both tickets combined are about 1/3 of what I would be fined for simply running a stop sign in my home country.  Still, this change makes Thailand less attractive in my eyes as part of the reason we are here is the freedom.  Without that I might as well go home and enjoy infrastructure, good schools, cleanliness, less pollution...oh the list goes on and on.  I think you all understand.

 

Not everyone can handle the cleanup on corruption, and the enforcing equally of laws. Not having the ability to buy off those speeding tickets must have hurt.  There are still those police that will try to exploit this renewed enforcement, but now there are real direct lines for complaints, and they are acted on by the military, something that never happened in the past, with lots of people fearful for their life in even lodging a complaint. I have had police refuse bribes now. Something that wasn't even questioned by the same officers a few months ago.

This renewed enforcement will have no effect on real tourists at all. Those police that try to exploit the no ID fine will be identified real fast, and negatively dealt with by the military, if the trend that is happening now continues, and with the majority of the people supporting their actions growing every day, the trend will continue. There are lots more people every day not afraid to report on corruption, something that would have gotten them killed in the not to distant past.

There could be an actual changing of the laws to legalize prostitution, rather than put all those people out of work, and in the process end the mafia, and corruption that goes with it now. Redirecting all that tea money into the government coffers could be done by the military in their anti-corruption campaign very easily. They sure as hell aren't going to end it, and put all those people out of work, and probably bankrupting a quarter of Isaan in the process, but it will also be real hard for them to ignore it, as they go after other areas of corrupt practices.

The next 3 years are going to be a very interesting time in Thailand for those living here legally, and above board.

The DNA tests on all the rice they've inspected hasn't come back yet either. That will be real interesting when they release those results. With Cambodia's rice sales plunging 70% in the last 5 months compared to last year, I can only guess where some of those DNA test results will show as the rice originating country.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Yingluck.. no there is no rice missing we checked it.. Dereliction of duty at the least corruption at the worst. She should go to jail for sure just to set an example.

It will be hard to prove of course but who knows payments could be made to friends of the PTP for this and that could moved up to higher echelons of PTP. They are not stupid they wont make it too obvious but maybe we are lucky and some warehouse owners will crack and finger people higher up.

With the military greatly reducing the fear of death for those people coming forward with damning information about persons with influence, there might be some implications, and allegations made to avoid jail time, but getting to the actual top of the heap is almost impossible without the needed paper trail. With cash the favored medium with corruption, there is almost never a paper trail to follow that would implicate a higher-up. The he said, she said verbal battles don't send people to prison in Thailand. They need that proverbial hard evidence of a paper trail, except in criminal code 112 cases.

It is good that the military has made people less afraid of being killed for coming forward with information about corrupt practices. That wasn't the case before they took over. The biggest deterrent in the past was knowing they would be killed if they implicated the wrong highly influential people, and there were enough publicized cases to back up those fears. There was no protected witness program.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

All we need now is longer visa's for those married to thai citizens and to stop the 90 reporting, then we will be able to see that things are improving for the better.

It's called a residency permit.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

 

There is a group of expat authors living in Thailand, I wonder what they do to stay legal?

I know one of them, well know for his humoristic cartoons, and he has a work permit.

 

 

 

Your friend must be quite the cartoonist if he is able to employ two/four Thai nationals in his "humoristic cartoons" company alt=rolleyes.gif>

 

If he isn't employing them then he doesn't have a work permit, or isn't self-employed.

 

There is no structure that allows a self-employed foreigner to have a work permit, even if he is more than willing to pay taxes.

 

Not true.  In all likelihood he has a media visa (type M), and does not have to set up any company, and doesn't have to hire any employees, and he does get a work permit with it.  I suggest you check out the visa published media professionals get to work legally in Thailand.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

There is a group of expat authors living in Thailand, I wonder what they do to stay legal?

I know one of them, well know for his humoristic cartoons, and he has a work permit.

 

If he has a work permit then in all likelihood he has a media visa (type M), that also includes a work permit with it. All he has to do is be published a minimum of 3 times a year, and have his publisher sign a letter stating his association with the publisher, with no concern as to where in the world he publishes, and he has to pay his Thai taxes. Thailand is very good to holders of media visas, but it is not an easy visa to get, you do have to be a working media professional, be it a journalist, camera operator, photojournalist, editor, website administrator, dealing with something that benefits Thailand (with a minimum of unique hits monthly), or a working published author, that gets published regularly. You also don't have to deal with Chang Wattana, and can use the one stop facility down town.  I've held a media visa for three years so far, and it is one of the best visas to hold, as it does include a work permit (that you in fact have to get first before they will give you the type M visa), but you can not scam it, you do have to be a working published media professional, paying your taxes. This visa is all done through the ministry of foreign affairs, and applied for online, with online renewal.

A lot of times this happens when your pop-up blocker is turned on, or you have webpage re-direct blocked. Some things, especially pop-ups do not happen on phone connections, with the reduced webpage content.

I bought the OEM Win7 Home pro disk from Banana IT at Pantip Plaza, and they listed as having all the different versions.

Both True, and Dtac have one year validity plans, although the per-minute charge goes up to bt2, and texts cost bt5. I'm sure if you call up AIS they also have a 1 year validity plan. It usually costs bt50 to change plans, but once you change to the one year plan, and the higher per-minute charge, you can not change back to any other plan on that number. I have two different phones with Dtac(Happy) numbers, and one True number on their 1 year plans.

Also, with True on a regular pre-pay plan, you can call *9344, and add 30 days to the validity for bt3, and do this for up to 6 months validity. AIS might have this feature also, as the major carriers all seem to have similar calling plans.

I've been to Chang Khong twice on VIP buses, not that company(That one looks interesting for my next trip there), but others, and each time it was board the bus in the evening, sleep through the night, and arrive there before the border opens to go into Laos. VIP buses are the only way to travel by bus. There is a big difference in comfort level from the regular government buses, with their mostly broken shocks, and stopping in every village.

Chang Khong, after you cross the river, is the jumping off point for the river boats going to LuangPraBang in Laos. It is a nice relaxing 2 day trip down the river, with a stop-over at the dump of a town Pak Bien to spend the night. Going down the Mekong on the boat is the only place I've ever seen real working elephants that weren't in tourist shows. Logging is still legal in Laos so there are still a few elephants there that get to work.

At Pantip Plaza on the first floor way in the back there is a big shop that deals strictly in batteries, and keyboards, they charge bt600 to change a laptop keyboard, and that price does include the new keyboard. Their shop is the one all the other repair shops at Pantip buy their keyboards from, and why all the other shops charge more.

Get at the very least one tourist visa before you leave the UK. This will let you avoid the airline refusing to let you board the plane. After that make your last stop at Vientaine in Laos before returning to Thailand, and get a double entry tourist visa at the THai Consulate there. Or, if you don't want to be locked into making Vientaine your last stop before returning to Thailand (That Thai Consulate is the only one on your itinerary issuing two visas at a time), get three tourist visas before leaving the UK.

Same basic thing happened to me, only difference were the download speeds involved. After talking to True for a long time, I finally found out that the program I was under had ended, and rather than increase my cost for the new program to maintain the same speeds, they cut my upload speed without letting me know, and kept me at a slightly reduced cost. Most people would not notice the change, as few upload more than a few pictures to facebook, but I am a photojournalist, and upload speeds are critical to me.

After talking with them, and for an increase of bt100, I was returned to my previous upload speed, and my download speed was increased. With the previous reduction in cost they instituted when they reduced my upload speed, and the new increase of bt100, the actual cost increase was only bt59. They had absolutely no explanation for not contacting me before they made these changes to my account.

Call them, and you will get the same explanation, and deal to return your upload speed to its original rating, and most likely get a faster download speed out of the deal too.

The food court on the 5th floor at MBK has a wide international range of offerings, not just Thai food. The same manner of payment is used, with the card you give to each station you order from, instead of paper coupons, and then you pay on leaving.

Let me know when, and where you are leaving, and myself, or one of my agents will meet you to collect the fee (arrangements can even be made to collect the fee at your hotel a few days before your departure), which has now been raised to bt5000. This is now a one time, lifetime lasting payment, and the receipt will allow you to leave Thailand in the future unhindered for additional departure fees. A picture of you will be taken, and entered into the system ensuring that all Thai departure personel will know you have paid the optional fee, and will not hinder your departures from anywhere in Thailand in the future over this fee....hehehehehe.

Seeing in a new light, don't give up hope that you can still help him. Find out exactly if he is receiving SSA, or SSDI. From the monitary situation you mentioned, He might be getting SSDI (Social Security Dissability Insurance), and not SSA (Social Security Assistance). There is a big difference.

To receive either he, or someone for him, had to apply, and in the application process both are applied for. One of the differences is that on SSDI he can live outside of the USA, he can't on SSA. Another thing are the re-education programs available, and paid for. On SSDI he has the resources available to return to college, and not affect his monthly payments. He could in effect start over.

He could also be taken under your guidance living in Thailand if he is on SSDI, and you choose to do so, or he could live here on his own...hehe.

If he is not on SSDI, then you can do everything to help him go through the long process of getting on it. He might not be able to get VA monthly benefits, being that to do so the dissability has to be positively linked to his time in the military, but he very likely qualifies for SSDI, if he does not already get it, and you can help, and give him the support he might need to go through the long appeal process if he is turned down. Two thirds are turned down initially, and of those that appeal, over half win their appeal.

Given your love for your brother, there still are ways you can possibly help him. Again good luck.

As this is high season now, the VIP buses are again running from MoChit station, and only cost bt300 a person, and that includes the ferry ticket. They are cheaper, and more comfortable for the 5 hour ride to the ferry, with one change on the last little section for those going to the island, and not into Trat. They are direct buses, running every few hours, so they don't stop at all the little villages on the way, except for 2 rest stops. Catch the 0700 bus, and you're in your hotel by 1:30pm, if you're staying at White Sands Beach.

With that much money coming in, and his having been seeing a VA psyciatrist, there is no real benefit he will gain from winning a claim. He will loose the SSA, and it even comes into question why he is getting SSA given the other income. SSA does not allow you to make extra money in that large of an amount, and still continue to receive it.

He has VA medical (don't have to be service connected dissability to get VA medical), or the VA psyciatrist wouldn't have seen him. Also the psyciatrist, just as part of the job, would have done everything possible to get your brother everything he was entitled to, including getting him in touch with an advocate (they are well known by everyone in VA medical clinics).

There are a few things about this whole situation that don't seem to add up for your brother, and I expect quite a bit he is not telling you. I can accept war related stress as the cause for a few of the early failed marriages, but not all seven. If the ptsd was diagnosed by the VA psyciatrist, as it sounds, again the doctor would have gotten him in touch with the people to help him with his claim, if it was determined he was not curable.

He is also now making a very good monthly sum of money when taking into consideration what he would be making on as high as a 100% dissability VA payment. He is actually doing very well living wise now, when taking into consideration how others in his same situation getting VA benefits live. There is nothing he would gain by getting a VA determined incurable dissability payment that he is not already getting, or has available to him, when taking into consideration what he would loose by getting it.

The VA will never give him back any of the money he financially lost because of the alleged dissabiliy. They do not work that way, and never have. They are giving him what they can now, and by all means he should pursue, and file a claim if there is any possibility of winning. The VA psyciatrist he dealt with would know what his chances are, and is the main determining factor in his winning, or loosing, being that that VA doctor diagnosed him. They do work for the patient's benefit, not against.

Good luck

Contact Myanmar Travel & Tours, the Myanmar government tour agency. For the right price anything is possible in Myanmar. For you to be allowed to do this with the permits, and guides needed, expect a cost in the middle to top five figure range. Most that try to do this, because of the cost, have some documentary, or movie venture planned. The cost would be the same for a private purpose, so don't expect cheaper prices because you just want to drive to India. The route covers all but two closed areas for travel.

I have dealt with MT&T in the past, going into closed areas, and from my experience the price I listed might be a littie low, given the ethnic turmoil happening on the last part of the route, and the government's expected distrust of your real intentions.

There are vans at the side of the Century Plaza going direct every hour, or when they fill up.