mstevens

14 hours ago, dabhand said:

This is the hot season in the Gulf. The exodus is a yearly event at this time of year. You will find similar hordes in KL and certain parts of London with their flashy cars.

Bingo.  July and August can see temps well in to the mid 40s in the Middle East so folk in that part of the world venture to the likes of Thailand for the comparatively "cool" weather.

9 hours ago, Nicknoodle said:

Im from New Zealand but currently in Phnom Penh until Saturday when I go to KL for 2 days. Then Cebu and Manila.

So fly back to Auckland and get a multiple entry tourist visa at the consulate in downtown Auckland.  For Kiwi passport holders the Thai consulate in Auckland is a breeze to deal with - no queues as hardly anyone ever there and they (the receptionist in a law firm's office) is very helpful.  If you are not from Auckland and / or don't have friends or family you can stay with while there, there are heaps of accommodation options downtown.  It might sound like a long flight and a long way to go, but Thai Airways has been advertising flights Auckland - Bangkok - Auckland for not much over $NZD1,000, or around 23,000 baht.  Get this visa and you should be good for around 9 months.

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

How long did you stay on each of those visa entries? (i.e. how many months out of the past 24 were you in Thailand)?

I'll be the farm that he stayed the full duration on each visit i.e. 58, 59 or 60 days and then extended for 30 days.  Do that again and again and of course the embassies in surrounding countries are going to be suspicious.

1 hour ago, Belzybob said:

Of all of the recent threads here on the topic, I have yet to see one about a genuine tourist being rejected.

Bingo.  And I just bet all these people being rejected are writing "30 days" or "60 days" on the arrival form where it asks how long they expect to stay i.e. the full length of time of the permission to stay they hope to receive.  How many genuine tourists stay exactly the number of days the permission to stay issued for?  That has got to be a red flag for an Immigration officer, especially when someone has a history of staying for the full 30 days / 60 days multiple times already back to back!

On 7/18/2018 at 7:51 PM, sanemax said:

2000 Baht barfine , thats just for the barfine 

Which establishments charge that ?

Was in Champagne on Soi LK Metro two nights ago and my friend (yes, really, my friend) wanted to pay a lady's barfine.  1,500 baht was the price.  Needless to say, she had to try and find another sucker!

18 hours ago, Batty said:

I feel like I miss my own people.  Quite often 'my own people' here in Thailand seem odd, sometimes bitter, you meet a new friend here and somewhere not too far down the line he turns out to be a complete cock.  That seems to be a trait of ex-pat life as far as I can muster.

This is particularly well said and, sadly, I have experienced the same too many times to remember.

10 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Unless it's a young couple on a date where they can play footsie, I cannot understand why people would want to go to a cinema when there are widescreen tvs in most houses and plenty of movies to download.

You can start the movie when you want, have a break when you want,and don't have to sit through adverts and trailers etc.

When talking about modern cinema multiplexes, I would tend to agree, but when talking about grand cinemas with a taste of yesteryear such as Scala in Siam Square, I still think there is a sense of occasion going to see a movie there.  The other big advantage of going to the cinema is that there are some movies you just cannot wait to see .... with those movies you REALLY want to see, who wants to wait 3 months until they are available in Blu Ray or online?!

I got an official speeding ticket once in Thailand i.e. with paper issued and had to pay at the police station.  When some years later I had to get a Thailand Criminal Check it came back blank.....or at least it had a strange definition in English that said something like, "This person has no record of bad behaviour or affecting the security of Thailand".  I remember thinking it was a really weird sort of sentence to use!  So my experience is that minor traffic infringements don't appear on a criminal record check.

Just a quick note to say many thanks for the replies to my post.  I'll try Super Rich Green and Vasu and report back to the forum with how it goes!

50 minutes ago, TRichards said:

Sorry but I lack your faith in the decency of professionalism of the Thai police. In my opinion they are not to be trusted and I don't want to risk even a 1% chance of having to deal with them because of a fake complaint of criminal behaviour. I've no idea why defamation, were I actually guilty of it, is even a criminal offence, and I don't want to find out why.  

Due to your obvious paranoia, I would cancel the trip to Thailand and never visit again.  Seriously, even if you get a criminal arrest warrant check done and it comes up empty, who's to say that the Thai Police aren't taking their time and the next day - i.e. before you travel to Thailand - a warrant is issued in your name.  You'll never have peace of mind so the best thing to do is cancel and go somewhere else.  Plenty of other countries out there!

3 hours ago, TRichards said:

You're assuming that he hasn't reported something to the police, that I won't be arrested upon arrival, that the police won't be expecting bribes from me, and I'll not need to spend on a lawyer to be able to return to my holiday. Any of those things happening counts as a problem in my book.

Police do actually investigate things and won't seek an arrest warrant unless there is compelling evidence against someone.  A complaint about someone does not automatically mean an arrest warrant is issued.

I really think you're worrying too much about this!

Are there any money changers in Bangkok who will change older USD 100 banknotes i.e. the 2006 series, into Thai baht?  I understand some money changers will only accept the latest series.....but will any exchange older (but very good condition) USD banknotes?

2 hours ago, TRichards said:

There's a difference. He's under no obligation to tell me his name in these emails, and hasn't. Which most likely means he's a coward. It's unrelated to giving it to the police when reporting this alleged defamation. So yes, I'd find out his name, when potentially arrested at Christmas. That doesn't help much with trying to avoid being arrested beforehand. 

I think you are failing to look at the whole picture here.  No, he does not have to tell you his name, but look at the situation objectively: If someone made a criminal complaint about you to police then do you really think they would start sending you anonymous emails about it.  I very much doubt it.  If they emailed you at all there would be zero reason to hide behind a non de plume.  The odds that the person behind the emails has made a complaint to police about you is genuine is very, very slim.....unless there's more to the story and there's something pertinent you're not telling us!

14 hours ago, TRichards said:

I don't even know his name. The email address is random and he doesn't use a name. I've got nothing to go on. I doubt my ex wife would tell me his name either. 

If someone makes a complaint to the Thai police they have to do so under their name.  Their ID card or passport details are recorded and they are noted as the complainant.  An anonymous tipoff about defamation would be ignored.  So if this mystery person does go ahead and make a claim for defamation against you the first thing you would know is who they were.  Given that they have not used a name the whole thing sounds bogus.  Anyone who had a genuine case would not hide behind a nameless email.  It sounds very much like they are simply trying to scare you.  Really, I would not worry about it.

I'd be tempted to reply to the email and state clearly that you have not defamed anyone and that any accusation of defamation is false.  Go on to say that anyone making a false claim about you would see a counter claim against that person.  Yes, if in Thailand someone makes a contrived claim to the police about you which subsequently proves to be false then you can sue them for that.  It's all a bit silly and such a response seems unnecessary and not the sort of thing one wants to engage in, but maybe it will shut this person up?

I get the impression that there are fewer posts on Thai Visa these days than say a year or two ago.  I could be totally wrong about this but I find myself spending less time on the forum as there just doesn't seem to be the same number of posts as there once was.  Sure, the number of threads and posts is still huge compared to other Thailand forums but is Thai Visa as busy in terms of the number of posts nowadays as it was in the past?

I've given it a bit of thought and perhaps the reason I feel like this is simply that topics about the same old issues appear regularly - and I am less likely to read about an issue the second or third time it is discussed.....so that might be a simple explanation.

This is in no way a complaint or criticism or anything like that.  I wonder if others feel the same.  Is there a metric which comparing the number of posts on Thai Visa daily now compared with say a year or two ago?  Curious.

I just fired in a few dates for early next month, flying Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos and also to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  Was curious to see what sort of fares were on offer.  Less than 4,000 baht return to either destination all in.  That seems ok to me.  I don't doubt what the OP says about AirAsia being pricier than it used to be, but these fares still seem fine to me.

Gmail works perfectly on a Mac using Firefox with no noted slowdown at all.

1 hour ago, smutcakes said:

Jesus shut up <deleted>. What the hell do you know.

Who knows what the truth is with so much of this operation over the last 24 hours.  About the only thing people agree on is the number of boys who have come out.  But who they are we're not sure.  Whether it was the weakest or strongest (or tallest or shortest or.......) who came out.  Their respective health / condition.  Whether their parents know who is out.  Etc.  Etc.  Pretty much everything that has been said by one network has been contradicted by another.  It's hard to know what's really going on!