Led Lolly Yellow Lolly

Without going into details, I want to make it clear I hate guns and I don't want to carry one. However, I've found myself in a position of risk in a relatively remote and potentially unsafe location and I'm pretty vulnerable in case of lunatic or criminal assault (plenty of lunatics and druggies around my neck of the woods). I'm also in a position of authority in a business highly vulnerable to intruders, so the company has decided to put me through the process of concealed carry certification and I'm in the market for a gun. I'm not in the slightest bit interested to read any comments from pacifists or tree huggers, nor am I interested in comments about the law, I know the law well and I couldn't give a $#!^ what you think about guns. . .

What I AM interested in is anyone with experience buying. I know guns are very expensive in Thailand, but this is an irrelevance to me, there is no price that can be put on my life or that of my loved ones. I've got my eye on a Walther PPK/S calibered in .380. Anyone know the price in Thailand and availability?

No civilisation I can think of achieved greatness or survival without war and superior military power. Peace is for phukkin' hippies.

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Never happened to me in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Vietnam or Laos.

They all want cash, a night or two at a time. The airlines like cash too.

I've not been asked for a 'security deposit' in the past ten years.

 

Honestly mate, the inference that airlines won't accept credit cards is just cobblers. I don't know what parallel universe you're in but you any international standard hotel accepts creit cards only, (or cash) for advance bookings and security. I guess the sort of places you stay at can't get a PDQ machine from their bank, hence the cash only option in your case.

Full disclosure: I'm a hotel manager. I'm also an IT consultant and regularly deal with PCI compliance in secured networks. I know what I'm talking about. 

On 9/1/2017 at 9:42 AM, allane said:

A "secured credit card" isn't a credit card, it is a debit card. If you deposit, say, B 20,000, you can charge up to that limit; if you want to charge more, you have to deposit more money first. My credit card is a credit card.

It IS a credit card, you're borrowing on secured money. Credit cards are fundamentally different behind the scenes. Observe the raised digits on the card compared to flat digits on the debit cards. Credit cards can be swiped on carbon paper and the bank guarantees payment (for example, on flights for duty free purchases). Debit cards are not guaranteed by the bank in this way and they'll never be accepted where the bank cannot be contacted electronically, or where future payment needs to be guaranteed (for example, making advanced bookings where payment is later deducted).

I have no ties at all with my home country, all bank accounts closed etc. In fact, on the rarefied occasions I have to visit the UK for whatever reason, I use my Thai driver's license to rent a car etc (people don't realise that is actually what you're supposed to do but please don't make me get into a debate about that). It seems reasonable to me that UK banks won't allow you to maintain a resident account if you are not a resident.

I'll post my experience in case someone finds it interesting. Credit cards are important to me for a couple of reasons. I stay in a lot of hotels, it's hard to reserve rooms with only a debit card, and generally if you can't swipe a credit card upon check in you have to pay cash security deposit. This is a convenience issue. Further, debit cards are not accepted on flights for purchases, they will only accept credit cards.

The cash on deposit option is hit and miss because the bank staff don't generally know about it. I have an SCB credit card, not because I need or want credit, but purely for the convenience issue when travelling as I highlighted above. I have work permit and there are large volumes of cash going through my account every week. I believe the minimum salary they expect for foreigners is 50K/month. I didn't find the process any harder than in my own country. You won't get a credit card anywhere without salary, legal residency and form.

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Not been in LOS long then?

All long time expats probably know of multiple similar situations, if only from TVF.

They never START violent. No one in their right mind STARTS with that sort of situation.

The OP is trying not to have something bad happen to HIM during the process, and if it takes handing over some cash, so be it. Moving out temporarily is necessary to keep waking up.

 

Probably around 20 years longer than you. One thing I learned is that 'long term expats' tend to make excuses for bad behaviour and put it down to culture. It doesn't wash with me.

52 minutes ago, sinbin said:

Therefore it's an 'foreigner' ID card. Not a 'Thai ID' card.

I suppose you call your Thai driver's license a foreigner license too. 

45 minutes ago, sinbin said:

Which really is stupid as you cannot get the card unless you have permission to stay. Doh.

Pink ID is also issued to stateless people. This is where forum posters like yourself are getting confused. 

26 minutes ago, Rc2702 said:

I got that card on a tourist visa.

Bv11shyt

The same misconceptions keep coming up here. Regarding the restriction on movement, what is written on the back of the card is that the card cannot be used outside the district it was issued UNLESS the holder has permission to stay i.e. a valid visa and extension, in which case the restriction on movement doesn't apply. This is very clearly stated, albeit in Thai. I suspect posters here are getting their girlfriends to translate and only getting the 'you can't travel' part.

The pink ID card IS a Thai ID card. It's an ID card issued by Thai government i.e. a Thai ID card. What is stated on the card is that holding it doesn't confer Thai national status to the holder, only resident alien status. Another 'girlfriend' translation gaffe on this I suspect.

I really think if people don't really know what they're talking about they should just shut their cake hole.

Regarding TM30 provision, we have to provide that via immigration's online portal for all foreigners. In high season it represents a major administrative overhead. HOWEVER, you do not need a TM30 for your home address if you are on the house book for that address (the house book, blue or yellow, is issued to the house, not you, it's not 'your' book), so as far as immigration are concerned it's not required if you stay at a hotel either, just like Thai people on a Tabien Baan are not required to submit a TM30 when they stay at a hotel. The system is ridiculous, but not that ridiculous, hence the acceptance of an Alien Card (unavailable without a Tabien Baan). Of course, no two immigration offices are the same, YMMV. Call.

There are a lot of douches out there, Thai and farang, that think this pink ID puts you on the same level as stateless persons from Burma etc etc and you're not allowed to travel. It's a complete nonsense. It's a different category of card, valid for ten years, and certainly there is no requirement to stay in the same province. Nonsense written everywhere.

All Thais are required to carry Thai ID card from age 15, I thought this was common knowledge, and you want to debate this with me? Yes, you get the pink ID with a Yellow Tabien Baan, blue ID card if your Thai and on a Blue Tabien Baan, this should be intuitively obvious. I can't remember the time limit for getting it but it is stipulated you are supposed to apply for it within a certain number of days in either case.

Regarding driver's license as ID, the problem with DL is you can literally make up an address to get one. There are minimal checks, you can even be living in a hotel. Even with a letter from immigration, you are a visitor. A driver's license is practically worthless as ID in the case of foreigners. A resident Alien card however is beyond the reach of anyone without a Tabien Baan, and with this (your permanent address in Thailand) comes much more gravity. It is on this basis I accept an Alien Card, but reject Driver's License.

Contrary to popular myth, a Thai driver's license is not a substitute for your passport. It's a driver's license. It's states your entitlement to drive. It does not represent any evidence of your lawful presence in Thailand. It just says you can drive.

The pink ID card is a different matter. There's a lot of crap on here about it. There is a translation gaffe, where everyone thinks it states it's not an ID card. What they mean is it doesn't mean you're Thai. It IS a form of national identification however. It is a resident alien card. Perversely it actually hindered my Work Permit renewal. The staff at the Ministry of Labour seemed to be using it as some kind of training exercise. I should have left it at home!

I'm a hotel manager and I instruct my staff to accept it as identification, which is what I believe we're allowed to do, it has your permanent address. I also stay in a lot of hotels myself and my own pink ID card has ALWAYS been accepted for check in, but then I never stay in no-star $#!t holes where the staff are only trained to smile. If anyone has substantial evidence to the contrary I'm happy to listen, but I'm not interested to argue with some pompous twerp that can't see the value of something you're legally obliged to get anyway if you're on a Tabien Baan.

It's worth noting at this point the plethora of poor information online relating to Thailand. One of the hardest things for a newbie to come to terms with is the volume of duff information being posted online about all aspects of life here. I can't tell you how many times I've seen cut and paste posts on various online resources, that claim to be the 'definitive' resource on Thailand. Most of the information is at best misleading, at worst downright malevolent. There are even websites out there that mislead you into believing they are 'official' resources, when in fact they are operated by a Trevor or a Dave from a bedsit in Leeds.

This also goes beyond the river of garbage about Thailand posted online. I lost count how many times I was lectured by some pompous jerk that I can't have a work permit because I have no degree. In fact there is no such law that I am aware of, maybe some industry specific limitation. But, I have a work permit sitting on my desk to the left of me, and I have no degree. What I do have are in demand skills and Thai family, which changes everything.

The take away from this is that the only resource you need is the written law, and the most up to date version of it. One day central government will get to grips with their $%^&ed up civil service. Until such time, get busy establishing the legal position of you and yours.