Bengt

I know that many people here in Thailand have less respect for driving and been drunk and its a BIG problem here and the penalty is ridiculous compared to the crime.

In almost all countries is strength forbidden to drive under influence of alcohol or other drugs but in many of those countries people drive anyway even if they become bad driver after some beers or drinks.

I wonder how many people will commit this crime if the penalty was at least 2 months imprisonment in a Thai prison?

I have many expat friends in this country that have their driving licenses revoked in their home countries

and they dont have any respect for this kind of crime and drive anyway and the police here seems nice to farangs even if they are little drunk at the motobike,,I been stopped by the police at my motobike hundreds of times and only have to show my driving license a couple of times and mostly they use to say GO GO when they discover that I am blonde and farang.

If you are in influence of "yabaa" for ex. then the law here sentence you to imprisonment and the narcotic laws here in Thailand are VERY strict compared to Europe for ex.

If I try to talk to some about this matter then I will loose a lot of friends here so I better dont talk about this matter or crime but I am for sure that there are many people at this message board that agree that something have to be done to decrease the big problem whit drunken drivers.

Some people here told me that ONE dies every hour in the traffic in Thailand and my friends in Sweden ask me how i dare to drive here and I use to answer that if I am sober I have a better chance to avoid an accident rather that I have been drunk in the same situation.

I guess I talking in the air about this topic but I am for sure many people agree whit me in this case and i would appreciate to get some replies and debate in this topic.

Hi

What are you trying to say????

You want to know if i drink and drive?? dont think you will hear from many there drink and drive, only from the people there dont do it.

Forgot::: what if booze was free in Sweden, how do you think they would drive.

Sweden have sometimes big problems whit drunken drivers but we dont have enough polices to catch them.

Another thing, we have a lot of almost free booze in Sweden because many people make their own Vodka to a very low cost and I haved also my own cooking equipment until I quit 7 years ago but it was TABU for me to get into my car and drive in influence of alcohol and i have a good alcotest to make my blow in and I didnt drive until I have zero in the alcotest.

I am for sure that you have a HD and HD owners really cares about their MC.

If drunk driving was an imprisonable offence in Thailand, 99% of Farangs would be locked up .

I totally agree...........

I know that many people here in Thailand have less respect for driving and been drunk and its a BIG problem here and the penalty is ridiculous compared to the crime.

In almost all countries is strength forbidden to drive under influence of alcohol or other drugs but in many of those countries people drive anyway even if they become bad driver after some beers or drinks.

I wonder how many people will commit this crime if the penalty was at least 2 months imprisonment in a Thai prison?

I have many expat friends in this country that have their driving licenses revoked in their home countries

and they dont have any respect for this kind of crime and drive anyway and the police here seems nice to farangs even if they are little drunk at the motobike,,I been stopped by the police at my motobike hundreds of times and only have to show my driving license a couple of times and mostly they use to say GO GO when they discover that I am blonde and farang.

If you are in influence of "yabaa" for ex. then the law here sentence you to imprisonment and the narcotic laws here in Thailand are VERY strict compared to Europe for ex.

If I try to talk to some about this matter then I will loose a lot of friends here so I better dont talk about this matter or crime but I am for sure that there are many people at this message board that agree that something have to be done to decrease the big problem whit drunken drivers.

Some people here told me that ONE dies every hour in the traffic in Thailand and my friends in Sweden ask me how i dare to drive here and I use to answer that if I am sober I have a better chance to avoid an accident rather that I have been drunk in the same situation.

I guess I talking in the air about this topic but I am for sure many people agree whit me in this case and i would appreciate to get some replies and debate in this topic.

I know that many people here in Thailand have less respect for driving and been drunk and its a BIG problem here and the penalty is ridiculous compared to the crime.

In almost all countries is strength forbidden to drive under influence of alcohol or other drugs but in many of those countries people drive anyway even if they become bad driver after some beers or drinks.

I wonder how many people will commit this crime if the penalty was at least 2 months imprisonment in a Thai prison?

I have many expat friends in this country that have their driving licenses revoked in their home countries

and they dont have any respect for this kind of crime and drive anyway and the police here seems nice to farangs even if they are little drunk at the motobike,,I been stopped by the police at my motobike hundreds of times and only have to show my driving license a couple of times and mostly they use to say GO GO when they discover that I am blonde and farang.

If you are in influence of "yabaa" for ex. then the law here sentence you to imprisonment and the narcotic laws here in Thailand are VERY strict compared to Europe for ex.

If I try to talk to some about this matter then I will loose a lot of friends here so I better dont talk about this matter or crime but I am for sure that there are many people at this message board that agree that something have to be done to decrease the big problem whit drunken drivers.

Some people here told me that ONE dies every hour in the traffic in Thailand and my friends in Sweden ask me how i dare to drive here and I use to answer that if I am sober I have a better chance to avoid an accident rather that I have been drunk in the same situation.

I guess I talking in the air about this topic but I am for sure many people agree whit me in this case and i would appreciate to get some replies and debate in this topic.

We have quiet a few snakes in our area can anybody tell me which ones are harmless and which ones are the dangerous ones ? Any place I can find out?

Many snakes in this part of the world are venomous but harmless in some ways, the snake can discover you and the normal reaction is to run away because the snake fear you more in the reality.

If you should see a snake in real then my advise is that dont get to close unless you are quite sure what snake it is.

There are 2 kind of snakes that you should be aware of and thats the Kingcobra and the Spittingcobra but the chance to see a kingcobra in real is almost impossible and spittingcobra is not as common to but the typical venomous snake in Thailand is the naja kaouthia or the siamesic cobra and during my 8 years in Thailand I have seen a cobra only 4 times in the wild condition.

The Siamesic cobra is very venomous and you need medical treatment as soon as possible but the risc to be bitten is very rare and its a beautiful snake to watch but dont play whit it.

Hej Bengt, hur ar la get?

I'm sure somebody will soon post a graph of the SET(the stock exchange here) in Thailand in 1997 vs. now... and then you can judge whether or not we actually did recover or not from that crisis.

I can only agree with you that many Swedes are not coming to Thailand as they had planned before. I do not live in areas where many of the Swedish reside, so I cannot speak about the value of properties there.

I can only say that it's more important now than ever to be sure about developers, etc. before buying a house... many Swedish people who would not normally buy something off-plan (as you know it is not really Swedish nature to do so) have done so and they may be affected.

But I'm sure you also know the same thing happened (and is still happening) with Swedish people and houses in Spain. But Swedes who buy in Spain are a bit different than the ones that buy in Thailand, would you agree (this question would just be for the OP and other Swedes or people who know Sweden well - otherwise you may mis-interpret the statement)?

This market bubble (both Thai real estate + worldwide markets) have roots pretty far back, possibly a decade (or more...) and just as the prices in the financial markets have come down, so must the prices in the speculative real estate markets in Thailand. This is just my opinion, but anything is possible.

If you want to retire in Thailand, maybe some more information from you would help. Where are you from in Sweden? Where do you plan to live in Thailand? How old are you? etc. etc.

edit: oh come on don't be a jerk thaihome...

"If you want to retire in Thailand, maybe some more information from you would help. Where are you from in Sweden? Where do you plan to live in Thailand? How old are you? etc. etc."

Hi!!

Thank you for replying and i can provide you whit following information.

I am a Swedish citizen and Born in Harnosand in 1951 so I am at age of 57 years today and I got 50% early retirement because of an easy linguried spinal and right shoulder so I am able to work part time but as unempolyment grows in my country i was looking closer to a life in Thailand and here I am at the moment and living in Chonburi.

I have been married to a Thailady for more than 4 years and shes well educated woman and very busy at her work so actually she dont have that much of time left over for me but i am use to take care of myself so no problem.

I am not rich in any ways and live a simple life whithout alcohol or nikotin and I have spend most of my time here in Thailand since 2003 and i use a Non-o multiple visa and will in some months apply for one year extension.

Bengt!!

Anyone living in Chonburi districr or province?

Do you have a "Yellow House Book"

When did you get it?

What was the process to get it?

How much was the fee for it?

Do you use it now that you have it?

What we se now is a collapse of the economic in US and many other countries.

Stockmarkets have loose a lot worldwide

Is there anyone that have knowledge if this will affect Thailand, i guess it will affect the entire world more or less.

Some countries can stand against but for how long?

In my country Sweden the stockmarket have go down a lot and prices of houses and apartments have drop at least 20% or more in some cities.

I have a condo here that I got for a good price and at that time it was no big problem to sell a condo but new condominiums are much more expensive and there is a lot for sale at the market.

Rumors telling bus that the tourism is decreasing in Thailand and not only the 2-4 weeks vacations, it will affect the long time tourism too as we use to call expats.

Many Swedish people that was looking forward for retirement in Thailand and bough houses and apartments for a big amount of money have now resigned and wants to sell their properties but who wants to buy a house that cost about 250.000 to produce for about a million THB??

For about 10 years ago some few companies started to do business here and I was interested myself but I didnt have that kind of money that was required to buy a condo or a house, it was much to expensive, for ex. an apartment that cost about 4.5 million THB and have a monthly maintenance about 12.000 THB.

The result was that many Swedish people was buying and suddenly hundreds of new companies start to do business here but a lot of them have now been forced to quit because there is not enough buyers anylonger.

This post may seems as very negative but its my hope that expats that have invest here dont easily give up because Thailand have goin trough a big collapse in 1997 but got recovered and I do beleive that Thailand will be a good country to reside as a retiree in future.

Or you get what happened to me. They gave me another 1 year licence and refused to give me a 5 year licence. I had all the documentation too. Their reason for refusal was that I do not have a yellow book for the house !

We been told by the transportation office in Chonburi that the renewal of both my licenses will be valid for 5 years and my Thaiwife also explain that i will be allowed to drive in other asian countries too.

My international driving license will expire in a week but I dont need that for the renewal.

I have all classes in my original Swedish license and allowed to drive all kinds of vehicles even if i not interested to work as a driver anymore.

What is the criteria for receiving a medical extension on a tourist visa? How long can an extension be given for?

As far as I know if you get sick and need medical treatment you need a doctors certificate and he have to declare to the immigration the reason for you to be treated here before you can be transferred to your home country and then you can be granted an extension not more than 90 days by medical causes at a time.

I have soon have my Thai driver licence for one year and its valid for both MC and Car and its soon time to apply for the next license that will be valid for 5 years.

I went together whit my wife at transportation office in Chonburi and they told us to come back a few days before my recent license expire and submit Passort Non immigrant visa and TM 6 card and medical certificate and my old Thai driver licences and then they will get me a letter that I have to go to immigration to certify my address in Thailand and then they will issue the new 5 years licenses.

It seems no need to wait until my recent licenses have expired...

BTW...i read that many ppl have to wait until the driver licence have expired but as far as I know if it expired then you not allowed to drive until you got a new license...is this right??

Glad to get any replies from ppl whit more experiences.

I also wonder if you got a Thai driver license and lets say you get back to Europe for some time and then go back whithout a non immigrant visa....are you allowed to drive whith a valid Thai license but whithout the non immigrant visa??

assuming it meets the height and weight requirements of a carry-on luggage - are there any regulations about carrying it on? i have never seen anyone do it so i am just wondering i would prefer to not have to load it in the bottom of the plane

and when i take the PC back to bangkok is there a chance that thai customs will try to charge me import tax? if i have a receipt showing that it was purchased in bangkok will i be exempt from import taxes upon arrival in bangkok?

I always carrying a Laptop PC and its very common that travellers carrying PC today and it seems no problem to have aboard or any custom problems..

Hi,

Lately, i've been feeding my Fino motorbike the cheap stuff (27 baht/litre), which i've heard is mixed with ethanol or something. Seems like it runs differently (slower). Could this stuff damage my engine in the long run?

Thanks

Its no problem to use gasohol 91 for Yamaha Fino or Mio.

I have been using my Yamaha Mio 4 years and drived 30.000 km and last 2 years on gasohol , first 95 and now 91 for less than 28 bath per litre.

I feel like the engine runs more smothly when its warm and consumes less than 0.25 litre per 10 km and thats good fuel economy.

I been a member of thaivisa.com since 2003 and make a few post this year and i saw that I was qualified as a "newbie" and now i make some post at the messeage board and suddenly i become a "member" and now I become an "advanced member" and I just wonder about the qualification here at thaivisa.com

Regards

If one marries and gets an "O" visa for marriage, and then circumstances lead to a divorce, can the foreigner marry again to another Thai and still qualify for extension of stay?

Not as crazy a question as it sounds. Does anyone have any experience on a situation like this. Primarily as it relates to PR application after 3 years extensions on the same visa.

thanks in advance

I been married for more than 4 years now and tried THIS year to get an extension based on marriage at Sri Racha immigration but they told us that the government seems suspicious about marriages between thais and farangs because they use the system to get an easy reason to stay here.

We was adviced to apply for extension based on retirement instead of marriage.

Anyway i hope you can get your extension based by marriage, pls take your wife whit you to immigration and hope they will grant it for you,, maybe you are less than 50 years too and thats a good reason to apply for marriage extension.

Good luck to both of you.

Regards

The system is corrupt...I have already payed a visa fee for about 1000 THB and if they want more why dont they increase the visa fee?

Actually if Thailand have been little smart in this case they should let the ppl the have to do border runs to get extension for 30 days for 1.900 THB

I rather pay the country I am staying in than paying a corrupt immigration police in Cambodia

Maybe in a future I dont have to do any border runs if i got my retirement extension granted in november,,need to have the money in the bank for at least 3 months.

I am not complaining but i dont support criminal polices....

AA is a good choice if as alcoholic is alone and needs support.

Myself I was contact AA in 1999 and was able to stop for a few months then I fall back and took another try year 2000 but fall back again after a trip to Thailand and it was getting worse and year 2001 i become a very heavy drinker and consume somedays more than one litre of vodka or whiskey.

In beginning of september that year i took a last minit trip to Thailand and lots my memory for about 6 days until I was wake up in a hotelroom september 11 and couldnt remember much and how I got there from Phuket however i realized that i reach the bottom of a normal life and gave myself to choices..stop NOW or get back to Sweden and since september 11 I have become sober now for 7 years WHITHOUT AA.

The mainpoint for an alcoholic is that YOU want to stop because you cannot handle the alcohol in a proper way, if you think you can decrease the amount of drinking then you will just make a fool of yourself.

I am not any expert in alcoholism and cannot help others to stop drinking, the only advise i have is that they have to go inside themself and find out if they are dependent of alcohol or not and I use to say to others that its NOT my business to decide if others become alcoholic or not, they have to find out by them self.

BTW AA is a good beginning to get support and advices but they are not always right in their sentences,, it have to be the person himself that have to find out the right way in a life as an dryed alcoholic.

Some final words.

IT IS NOT EASY........its a LONG period of abstinence's but by the time you will forget the feeling to be drunk.

I just whish all that want to live without alcohol a real GOOD LUCK and keep well and be strong.

Regards

Just forgot to say.........

IT IS NOT EASY........its a LONG period of abstinence's but by the time you will forget the feeling to be drunk.

I just whish all that want to live without alcohol a real GOOD LUCK and keep well and be strong.

Regards

AA is a good choice if as alcoholic is alone and needs support.

Myself I was contact AA in 1999 and was able to stop for a few months then I fall back and took another try year 2000 but fall back again after a trip to Thailand and it was getting worse and year 2001 i become a very heavy drinker and consume somedays more than one litre of vodka or whiskey.

In beginning of september that year i took a last minit trip to Thailand and lots my memory for about 6 days until I was wake up in a hotelroom september 11 and couldnt remember much and how I got there from Phuket however i realized that i reach the bottom of a normal life and gave myself to choices..stop NOW or get back to Sweden and since september 11 I have become sober now for 7 years WHITHOUT AA.

The mainpoint for an alcoholic is that YOU want to stop because you cannot handle the alcohol in a proper way, if you think you can decrease the amount of drinking then you will just make a fool of yourself.

I am not any expert in alcoholism and cannot help others to stop drinking, the only advise i have is that they have to go inside themself and find out if they are dependent of alcohol or not and I use to say to others that its NOT my business to decide if others become alcoholic or not, they have to find out by them self.

BTW AA is a good beginning to get support and advices but they are not always right in their sentences,, it have to be the person himself that have to find out the right way in a life as an dryed alcoholic.

The embassy of Thailand in Stockholm,Sweden will from. october 1 not process visa for Thailand by registrated postmail and as far as I know the few ways to apply for visa to Thailand is a visit in person at the embassy or by some relative that can visit the embassy.

I been always send my visa apply to the embassy and get it back in less than a week but from this year the process time will take about 4 weeks but to apply in person at the emabassy only take ONE day.

Its very difficult to get a reasonable answer from the staff there and just wonder if there is same rules in other countries too?

Thanks for the update, but any decision of how each Embassy/Consulate handles their business is based on the Consul in charge

As far as I know no other Thaiembassies in other countries this far that change their way of visa process handle.

The Thai Embassy in Stockholm use to change some details in their issues and requirments,, some years ago you couldnt get a tourist double entry visa but since 2 years you can get a double and to get a NON-O you have to be at least 55 years and have a pension at least 55.000 after tax payment but if you older than 60 years you only need a pension for 20.000 per month after tax.

see more information at www.thaiembassy.se

Just getting sick of all harassments when you should do your border runs.

First when you arrive at the border there is a lot of "visaservice" and they fill in all papers for you and want money sure and then when you stamp in to Cambodia they want 200 THB if you want to leave the same day.

I have payed just one time and all other times when I was aked how long will I stay....I use to answer like,,,, Not for sure yet but i will stay here for AWHILE and no other comments and a stamp in the passport and then cross the street and stamp out and bake home to Thailand again for another 90 days at my NON-o visa multiple entries.

So...no need to pay any money unless you dont want to give the officers from your heart.

If there have been like in Malaysia then no fee for visa so why should Cambodia have this ridiculous rules?

The embassy of Thailand in Stockholm,Sweden will from. october 1 not process visa for Thailand by registrated postmail and as far as I know the few ways to apply for visa to Thailand is a visit in person at the embassy or by some relative that can visit the embassy.

I been always send my visa apply to the embassy and get it back in less than a week but from this year the process time will take about 4 weeks but to apply in person at the emabassy only take ONE day.

Its very difficult to get a reasonable answer from the staff there and just wonder if there is same rules in other countries too?

Hi,

Is it still the case that Peru nationals get 90 days upon arrival in Thailand without needing a visa?

Thanks.

Right......there are at moment 4 countries that get 90 days on arrival and thats Peru, Chile, Korea and Brazil

I dont know why...dont get the point

Wonder about if there is any expats that member of the I.O.O.F or as we use to call it Odd Fellow.

I am a member myself under the Swedish jurisdiction.

Would be nice if there are others not only from Sweden or do you know someone who is a member.

I have a Yamaha Nouvo Elegance been driving for about 3 months. I have been filling up with petrol 91, recently in the last few fill ups I noticed that there is green and red petrol 91. I've been getting red and my bike runs fine. What is the difference?

-O

No problem to use gasohol 91 but it takes little more time before the engine is warm...I have same motobike and have been using gasohol for more than one year so its cheaper not only itself but the motobike consume less petrol too.

I have been meassure the consumtion and the average consumtion is less than 0.25 litre per 10 km.