Dipterocarp

Based in Thailand but not working here, not yet 50 I got the Elite about 3 years ago and do not regret it.

There is no feasible way for me to get tourist visas. I fly in almost every month and with all my possesions in a Chiang Mai condo I felt as if I had little choice. Read now some stories on this site of people with valid tourist visas turned back anyway.


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Does Chiang Mai does not require it for 90 day reports? (I don’t do 90 days reports).



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Where can I get a big roll, cheep?

Thanks I'll try that. 

I bought an inexpensive lightweight Samsung chrome book for for travel. So far very happy with it however there 

is one website I must have access to that has one "button" that will not respond or click. This is after I put in user name and password

and click on the log in button. No problem other devices. Chrome on my desktop also works with this site no problems

If I cannot click this to accept the terms and conditions there is no way to proceed. If it was another device I would try another browser

Any ideas? Why?

I don't recommend overstay even one day

It remains on your permanent record.

If you get a stamp in your passport, other countries you might apply for a visa

might not like that and not understand how minor is a one day Thai overstay.

Worst is the remote possibility of a police check before you get to airport.

If caught on overstay you will have problems.

Jump out a window so you get injured and then make a false claim for money?

The man could have been killed.

This couple makes Dumb and Dumberer look like Nobel Prize winners

Meanwhile 1000s of Farangs tonite will go out to dinner with their Thai wife. Big age difference, nothing in common,  chewing food like bored cattle in silence. We're supposed to celebrate that but not this because of some backward thinking and bigotry ?

Best wishes to the happy couple !

19 minutes ago, joeyg said:

Look what they just did in India. 

They have massive tax evasion. Now the US is communicating with Indian banks also in a FATCA agreement.

Rich India "US Persons" have been stashing wealth there so will be getting a big haircut from Uncle Sam as well. Examples will be made, jail and huge fines.

President Donald Trump has declared a public health crisis in the US opiods.

On CNN last night Dr. Sanjay GUPTA and others were discussing the possible benefits

of "Cray-tum" (Kratom, I think their pronunciation is off). They are looking at it as a pain killer

and treatment for withdrawal. It is legal in the US in all but a few states but the medical

community needs a steady supply of professionally farmed certified product and what is coming in now is just vegetable matter in a carton

Maybe they could grow it here? 

21 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

Perhaps but if you get injured or or fall sick here without insurance, you'll find yourself being ferried around to hospital after hospital in the back of a pick up truck until one of them agrees to treat you.

At least in most parts of the West, you'll get treated at the first hospital you arrive at.

In the US there is Medicare (not free care there are uncovered costs)  for the aged and veterans hospitals, The homeless don't get much care until it is too late, then you're dead anyway. After stabilization care they get dumped in a park or bus station in their same stinking rags. Prison is better for some.

17 minutes ago, InMyShadow said:

Couple of thousand bucks a month and living on the streets would be a lifestyle choice which is suprisingly popular

That money would get you a bunk bed at a back packers or nice room shared accommodation with plenty left for food and booze

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Just came back from business trip to  Denver. I had not been there in 33 years. The growth there has been incredible but the homeless situation very shocking. Hundreds of people camping by the S. Platte river, hundreds.  I'd say for many of the younger set it is a lifestyle choice. Not all the older people are psycho druggies but there is no place for them in the information economy,  $500,000 condos, and craft beer bars. (Way cheaper than Thailand actually!)

Doubt once  getting into that situation many would have money for plane tickets, passports, 800,000 visa/extension deposits an emergency fund, etc. No way out....

In the U.S.A. now many people are on the street even though they might have  a couple thousand bucks per month coming in with SS and small pensions. Living in absolute filth. Exposed to the elements and crime. Hard for many to keep a roof over head unless they get into a spot at a group home(veterans, etc.) Just too expensive these days.

I'd rather survive on limited budget in Thailand. A decent room with fan, toilet, shower.

How much is Farang price?

One of my Thai friends is a very accomplished amateur photographer and has won some awards and shown her work in the USA. She always asks permission before taking photographs of people but one time I saw her at Loy Khratong parade, with a girl in traditional dress we met. Not only did she ask permission also gave the girl some money and had took her pic from various angles with a floating lantern. She intended to submit to a competition with a well known  magazine. 

I asked my Thai photographer friend if this was ethical? She was paying the girl to pose in what would appear to natural images but they were in fact paid and staged. I din't get a straight answer.

Tourist papparazi may be rude but coming from the USA where a person can basically photograph anything/anybody in a public place it would be difficult for me to suddenly take an attitude of enhance privacy whilst in Thailand. Assaulting somebody IS a serious crime and much worse than unwanted photography, It is strange for people to suddenly be offended by a camera in public whilst countless security cameras at all times are monitoring you. Why don't such bullies go bang on the office door at Tops market and attack the manager?

There is nothing stopping the people with access to such cameras from using the images without permission so you might as well stay holed up in ones room if you want privacy. As for Doing Suthep Temple "Please sit down Taking Pictures in the Hall"

On 10/25/2017 at 12:46 PM, NancyL said:

Yeah, it's really sad how old foreigners still come to Thailand for retirement, lured by the websites promising easy living on a budget, good medical care, welcoming people, good weather, etc, etc and then are hit by the reality when they deal with Imm. Chiang Mai and discover that they are responsible for paying a fine for a report that should have been filed by the owner of the place they rent.  Sad, so sad.  

IMHO it would have been sporting had  CM Imm gave 90 days notice before enforcing an old law on the books not necessarily enforced in other provinces. After owning my condo 8 years suddenly issued a "offense" and made to pay 1600 baht. A nice little earner I'd reckon must have added up to quite a stack of cash hope they use it for the new building renovation and not some Directors slush fund. 

Can I watch on a Roku?

Last time I flew in to BKK there were long lines, and many unmanned immigration desks at 3:30 PM!

Even at the premium lane, at least 50 people ahead of me. I am in the Thailand Elite program, after about 10 minutes wait my escort disappeared briefly then I was ushered through the airline crew channel.

Never seen anything like it. If this is a what high season 2017 has in store for travelers there will be major delays.

13 hours ago, donnacha said:

The citizens of some very poor countries, such as India or Nigeria, are required to apply for Thai visas from their home countries but that does not affect the majority of travelers, especially from the West. The OP is a US citizen, so, we're covering the options available to him and most other users of this forum.

I'm not sure what you mean about employment certificates. We're talking about 60-day tourist visas, you just fill in a form, attach a photo and hand them your passport along with $40, you get it back with the visa later that day or the next day, no need for anything else. I have done this in embassies and consulates throughout Europe and Asia, always fast and easy. If you get asked for ridiculous documentation, that is the staff's indirect way of saying "We don't like the look of you, so, we're just going to make it impossible rather than actually say No". 

If you have a valid tourist visa but get stopped by immigration due to "coming too many times", the real reason is that they have taken a severe dislike to you for some other reason. If you have too many entries into Thailand, the embassy or consulate would have already rejected your visa application.

Immigration have the right to refuse entry people with visas, but they only do it in exceptional circumstances, it creates far more paperwork and possible repercussions than refusing someone depending on the visa waiver.

Sorry I thought the letter of employment is Required for the SETV it is only required for the METV according to the Los Angeles Consul website. I still could not see any practical way (for me ) to apply for Tourist visas to Thailand without applying for a second US passport and doing it by mail. With the crackdown on visa exempts,  I ended up going for the elite program to tide me over until I make it to 50. 

12 hours ago, BicycleRider said:

Today i tried to get a Residence Certificate from Chiang Mai immigration located on 2 floor in the Promenada shopping mall.

 

Being prepared with the right documents from home, i certainly did not know what to do when entering the office. After waiting a long time my number was up.

 

Well to cut it short i got a fine. Not a fine for me, but for my landlord (owner of the house i rent), they make YOU pay the fine, or cannot proceed. She also took my rental contract and went to lunch.

 

When later politely asked to give it back. The answer was an offending attitude and staff calling me drunk (In Thai) (Which is completely unacceptable in a IMM office) and then the worst was yet to come... she just completely ignored me, as if i was not there, and have turned into something not worth her attention. I had to leave with nothing but a fine.

 

Totally horrible experience

I go to Promenada about once a month to lodge a TM30 update. Almost every time there is some Foreigner

there making a fuss, typically old. They don't get any love.  It is notable how negatively and immediately Thai people react to even a slight raising of the voice or public display of anger. Better to just smile and pay.

Drons must be registered. Same thing in America now with the larger ones.

16 hours ago, donnacha said:

Instead of wasting $60 and a day of your vacation on getting an extension after 30 days, why not simply spend $40 on a 60-day tourist visa before you leave, so that the onward travel requirements simply won’t apply to you?

 I don't work/ live near a country having a Thai consul/embassy that will issue me a visa

due to residence requirements. Can't mail a passport anywhere due to constant international travel.

Getting a Tourist visa is impractical.

Also the retired and idle rich, who can't get a tourist visa as they cannot provide an employment certificate  Then there are the stories of those who arrive with a valid tourist visa to Thailand and are refused entry due to "coming too many times". 

Thailand needs to implement fingerprint technology for  immigration matters

and communicate better with major countries law enforcement.

This guy would have been rousted years ago.