mstevens

Visa runs are the bane of life in Thailand for those who need to make them.  I did a few runs in those visa run company vans.  Oh, awful.....never again.....it's on a plane for me.

On 2/25/2018 at 8:09 PM, digger70 said:

Would it be not better to check if they are on the Police Wanted List  in their Country ?

Agreed.  Obtaining a criminal record check for a police clearance from a foreigner's homeland would be much more effective than checking whether they have a criminal record in Thailand.

10 hours ago, simon43 said:

So why does this Frenchie want the story deleted? What is so important about THIS story?

Possibly the fact that he appears in video and images wearing an official looking uniform has Pattaya officials worried that the bigwigs in Bangkok might see it and rightly ask, Who the <deleted> is that white guy in Thai police uniform?!

My mid 2014 MacBookPro still runs very well, but at the same time I know that over the years I have installed a few programs I shouldn't have.  Some have been a pain to uninstall and I am sure that there are still remnants of them littered throughout the file system as well as other general junk.  I'd like to get rid of that junk, if possible.  Can anyone recommend a free app to run to help clean up my system?  I don't want to appear cheap, but I'd prefer not to pay unless it is really necessary hence the request for a recommendation of a program that is free!

If they are staying in Rangsit then it's easy - go to the Bangkok Immigration Department which is in the huge government building at Chaeng Wattana.  Just tell a taxi driver you want to go to "daw daw maw" which is Thai for Immigration.  They all know it.

Go to the nearest (i.e. any) Immigration office and they will fix this for you.

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I think it has been obvious for a while that the cops have absolutely no idea who the tickets truly belong to. So, in the interests of preserving the (laughable) reputation of Thailand, and in the spirit of the cops looking after their own, few will be surprised at this latest turn of events.

Nonsense.  The police are aware who bought the tickets but they have to follow due process and be very careful what they say as the case has captivated the nation.  If you follow the Thai news or Thai social media, you'd be aware that most people know that the evidence very strongly suggests that the retired police officer is the rightful owner of the tickets.

6 hours ago, observer90210 said:

File a complaint with proof to the appropriate instance within the Thai Government dealing with corruption, against the rotten female cop.

 

And if I was you, I would dissuade the boy from going back to Thailand.

 

And last, hope he is paying for his thrills and not you once again ?

 

All the best.

I don't condone corruption but it sounds like the cop did the OP's son a favour.  Had a bribe not been paid, the OP's son could have been looking at jail time - no fun - and might have even been blacklisted.  Drugs in Thailand is big time bad news.

It's important to control expenses in a business but you seem to be concentrating almost entirely on that while not commenting on the potential income the business you could bring in.  What you've covered in your original post is good and clear and shows a great understanding of the fixed expenses - but that is just one part of a business.  I think now you need to do your market research - check out who the opposition is, who the target customers are, whether there's demand for a new dentist in town, whether you can offer a differentiated / better / more affordable service etc.  Then consider things like promotions / advertising etc as well.  I'd look at the competition and the market in general and then hopefully you will be in a better situation to make a decision on how / whether to proceed.

Pray that the bike somehow made it back to the rental company because if it didn't, they would have filed a police report and the police would have tried to contact you, not been able to and it's quite plausible that an arrest warrant was issued.....not a stretch at all for this to happen.  If that is the case, it will be VERY tricky to sort it out before returning to Thailand and it will be VERY painful to sort it out once you return - and it might be too late to simply pay money to get it sorted.  And then there is the issue of damages...

My advice would be to contact the rental company before you return to Thailand and get everything sorted out.

If flying in, Suwanabhumi seems to be a slightly better bet than Don Meuang and it seems that at Suwanabhumi it is less likely you will be hassled (although there are no guarantees!)

Sorry, with reports in the other thread and on other forums that this American was found guilty of murder in the USA in the '90s and did years in prison for this, his protestations of self-defence don't ring true to me.

52 minutes ago, Fish Head Soup said:

Not to mention that the American guy has killed someone before and served time in the US for the killing.

 

http://myfloridalegal.com/alerts.nsf/Print Slip Opinions/5360FEA12E120DF6852565DF006C99E7?OpenDocument

 

http://mugshots.com/US-Counties/Florida/Miami-Dade-County-FL/Jose-Manuel-Polanco.44451415.html

 

 

This is yet another incident which reinforces why I believe Thai Immigration should be much more choosy about who they let in. Thailand has laws that state anyone who has done 12 months or more in jail is inadmissible to Thailand - it's about time these laws were enforced.

11 hours ago, IsaanUSA said:

 

 

 

Hopefully they checked his work permit was in order.

He was manager at The Strip gogo bar in Patpong about 2 years ago and did not have a work permit then.

15 hours ago, Happy enough said:

most embassies can't do anything but put you in touch with family or friends who could help and very minimal legal advice. embassies nowadays are more for trade and investment stuff as far as i know

This is absolutely true.  Many people misunderstand the role of their embassy and think it is an 0800 hotline that is fully funded to help them out when they are overseas no matter where or what or how big the problem is.  That is, of course, not the case.

Some of the better consular affairs officers in embassies nurture relationships with their Thai counterparts and may call on them when one of their citizens faces problems, such as this guy who is confined to the airport.  But that doesn't mean that they can help in all situations.  We should all take responsibility for ourselves and we should do everything we can to minimise the changes of coming a cropper while outside our own country.  Our embassies and their staff are limited in what they can do and should not be relied upon to help over and above pointing you to a good lawyer, conveying messages between family back home, issuing emergency travel documents and a few other core duties.

50 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

A sane system would consider the age-difference, not just "he is adult" (even if barely) + "she is a minor" (even if close to his age) = "freak-pervert-pedo" - but that's how the system works, currently, in many states.

Some jurisdictions have what is referred to as the "Romeo and Juliet law" whereby if she is underage (say, 15 in a country where the age of consent is 16) but he is also young (say, 16, 17, 18 etc) then there are no charges....which strikes me as eminently sensible.

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

Apparently that information is included in US passports. Other countries I really don't know.

Again, this is NOT TRUE.  A record of any convictions one may have is NOT included in their passport!

23 minutes ago, stevenl said:

If he is on a sex offender watch list he will not be allowed to enter.

This is NOT TRUE.  Many convicted foreign sex offenders visit Thailand and plenty go on to live in the country.  There are many cases of foreigners arrested for crimes in Thailand who it is later shown were convicted for crimes of a sexual nature in their own country.

I really wish what you said was true and there was some sort of watch list so those with sexual (or other serious) convictions could not enter Thailand.

10 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Check your lease, its often quiet common for the tenant to be responsible for repairs, especially shops etc, but not unheard of in residential leases.

Yep, my last lease in Thailand stated that I was responsible for paying for any repairs under 1,000 baht.  Over that, it was the landlord who had to pick up the bill.

From the photos, this Frenchman really doesn't look like he all there.