Tod Daniels

Honestly, the reports from Vientiane aren't encouraging AT ALL for people who're in your 'boat'. In fact, if I was a betting man, I'd take the bet that you WON'T get a double and possibly take the bet that you'd be denied even a single entry in Vientiane too .

Even since tourist visas stopped being free, there are more than a few scattered reports of people (who had double entry tourist visas from Vientiane) being denied even a single entry at the Thai Consulate there. Those people were forced to re-enter Thailand on a "15 day visa exempt" stamp and try some place else.

Most well known visa run companies in Bangkok won’t even let you on their busses to Vientiane if you’ve got either the red warning stamp or two double entry tourist visas from there already. ..

I agree, get a hold of the lady from the Philippines you spoke to before and ask her the chances of it working out.

Based on your situation; Mukdahan/Savannakhet or Phnom Penh could be good alternatives.

Good Luck,let us know how it plays out. ...

Actually I called Buddy Lodge Hotel out on KhaoSan Road on the 12th and they said Immigrations WAS there . (Then again the hotline said they were at Bumrungrad yesterday, when they clearly werent ). .

I personally thought it was TOO close to the Songkran water fight to venture out to the KhaoSan "war-zone" just scope it out based only on curiosity, so I didnt go.

From what I got from the Immigrations Hotline; mobile Immigrations staff WAS indeed at Bumrungrad last month on the 3rd Tuesday. I dunno if this was just fluke or like Maestro says, theyre just running it ad hoc for now. Ill definitely go to Bumrungrad on Saturday to recon it for sure, AND Ill post back what I find. ..

Like I said earlier, the main reason I even post this info, is so that foreigners are aware of and will use these mobile services.

Given Immigrations less than stellar advertising and/or promotional campaign of this new service I think its amazing they havent stopped it already..

Well you certainly ain't the first student who to forget to show up when you were supposed to for a 90 day extension based on education, that's for sure!!

It could play out with any of the scenarios "lopburi3" outlined.

A lot is gonna depend on how you act out there, if you can speak to them in something resembling Thai, or take a well spoken native Thai speaker with you. How you explain to them your predicament will factor in too. I'd probably NOT tell them you just "forgot" (it's my experience that just doesn't play well with them) .

IF you show up with the documentation from your school to get your extension, there is a chance that they'll just process your over stay of 15 days (500 baht a day fine times 15 = 7500baht penalty) and then let you pay the 1900baht for your next 90 day extension of stay based on education.

Then again, they might NOT. ..

Actually have every right not give you an extension because your here on NOTHING, no visa, no extension, at this point in their eyes, you're just an overstayer.

They would be totally within the rules charging you for your overstay, making you purchase a "7 day emergency visa", forcing you to leave the country and secure another single entry non-immigrant type-ED visa somewhere to start the entire process all over again.

The first thing I'd do if I was in your position was get a hold of the school. Most well run private Thai language schools in Bangkok have people who deal with Thai Immigrations many times a month. They may offer a 'solution' for you to pursue or have a contact they use when dealing with 'sticky wickets' like this.

Like I said, you aren't the first student who spaced out when they were supposed to go get their extension. It's just there's no cut in stone way it will go.

I've seen it go both ways with the acquaintances Ive personally accompanied out to Changwattana in this exact situation.

Sometimes the student paid their overstay AND got their next extension, but sometimes a student paid their overstay, were compelled to purchase a 7 day visa, leave the country, get a new ED visa and start all over from square one. Its six of one half dozen of the other. Then again these are my personal experiences ONLY.

Oh BTW: what Immigrations office do you use? Also, if you're not reticent about telling, where do you go to school?

Good luck, hope it works, out for you. ..

Post back and let us know how it played out, just so we know.

Sorry for the long post. ..

BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN:

Well, guess I had a wrench thrown into the proverbial gears of progress. ... I went to Bumrungrad Hospital today after lunch to scope out the new "mobile Immigrations Service" that Changwattana just started doing there the last month or so. I'd called the Immigrations Hotline yesterday to confirm they would be at the hospital today.

Anyway, I arrived on the 10th floor of the new building at Bumrungrad only to be told by the customer service girls that Immigrations MOVED the date to this coming Saturday, the 23rd...

I even called the Immigrations Hotline while I was still at the hospital. The very friendly girl told me that the mobile Immigrations service was at Bumrungrad Hospital today on the 10th floor of the new building. I switched to speaking Thai, told her I was in fact AT the hospital ON the 10th floor and Immigrations wasn't here.

She put me on hold and called Immigrations at Changwattana to check. Sadly enough, during lunch at Changwattana the calls are re-routed to the Hotline number and a co-worker sitting next to her ended up answering the call! Good for a laugh, but not so much for getting real information!

I gave her my number and she called me back just a while ago. It would appear that the Mobile Immigrations Service will INDEED be at Bumrungrad Hospital this Saturday the 23rd. At least that's the best info I could get. This could be a case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing.

Oh, well, I needed to get out anyway, although Bumrungrad wouldn't be my first choice for a walk-about... Guess I'll try again on Saturday and report back. ..

Just thought someone might wanna know..

Oh man, what a TOTAL let down, when I clicked onto this thread.

I thought you meant a KISS like this;

Sorry if this was;

<SNIP>

I like your analogy Todd, it gave me a wee giggle this afternoon.

I know what you mean about those non-words that are used for practicing the tones. I have previously bought kids books for practicing the short vowels, but i end up not using them cos there are so many non-words in them. I mean if i wanted to do it that way, i could just write my own book.

Same spelling + different meaning - ปา ป่า ป้า ป๋า

'bhoydy', glad I could make you giggle, if not guffaw .

Also a good one on the Thai word which carries 4 of the tones. Didn't know that, but now I do! I'll toss those words into my plastic storage bin of Thai vocab in my head, lol.

Isn't the Thai idiom for 'in one ear out the other"; เข้าหูซ้ายทะลุหูขวา. At my advanced age I seem to experience it quite a lot. Hear a good word, and the next minute can't even come close to remembering it.

Okay, are there any Thai words which can carry ALL 5 possible tones with different meanings and the same spelling other than tone marks?

You can take the BTS (Sky Train) to Mo Chit; exit on the Chatuchak Park side and get into ANY of the grey mini-vans parked there which say "Government Complex". For 25baht they'll drop you at the mouth of Soi 7. You can walk down that soi (past the moto-taxi guys) and catch a free shuttle bus which will take you to the door of the building.

You can also take the real train for (I think) 14 baht to Laksi station and catch a moto-taxi there too. It's an interesting ride.

I've taken metered taxis from Asok/Sukhumvit using the expressway, (DON'T take the left side which says Changwattana, but use the one which says DinDaeng and then you can take the elevated tollway. Yes it costs more but nobody uses it much and you can really make some good time!). Take the SECOND exit to Changwattana from there and you miss all the traffic lites.

I've reached Changwattana in as little as 15 minutes once I've gotten on the expressway. Sadly, sometimes it takes longer than that just to get to the entrance of the expressway on Sukhumvit Road, lol.

Perhaps the MODZ could edit or add to the title to this thread?

This post is referring to the new guidelines which the Thai Consulate in HULL is using as criteria for securing a year long multi-entry Non-Immigrant Type-0 visa.

The O/P only mentions Hull in the last line of the topic.

I'd hate to see this post cause mass confusion or even worse mass hysteria . ..

Maybe the Modz could edit the O/P to take out the GIANT spaces in the post too,

Is this a “trick pony”, err trick question?

I’d hafta say the prettiest women I’ve ever seen in Thailand come from either Korea or Japan, lol…

Now if I hadta pick a region IN Thailand where I believe the prettiest women come from. Hmmmm, it’d be the Northwestern region, Lampang, Lamphun, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Nan, etc.

It’s my personal experience women from those parts are as white as ‘china dolls’. ..

Then again someone almost famous said; beauty is in the eye of the “bee holder”

Personally I never HOLD bees. ..

This is the P/M I sent you about 30 minutes ago when I called Immigrations at Nakhon Phanom and the info I got from them.

I can’t see any reason not to post it here as there's no 'classified info' on it;

I thought it'd be easier to P/M you rather than add it to your post.

I just called the first number I gave you; spoke to an officer up there at Nakhon Phanom Immigrations (a really pleasant guy).

Although the conversation was conducted in Thai only, I told him I lived in the Zone which is controlled by Nakhon Phanom Immigrations, was married to a Thai national, already had a yearly extension of stay, and needed to turn in the T.M47 for being in Thailand longer than 90 days.

He said bring my passport, the completed form and a picture too. I dunno why he wanted to pic as there’s no place to stick it on that form .

I specifically asked if I needed ANY other documentation and he said no. Then I asked if he was certain about not needing any other documentation and he said that was it.

He was quite friendly and even my American accented Thai was understood by him quite easily.

Then again, in reviewing the possible Thai provinces which fit your “fill-in-the-blanks”; it would appear there are actually two out of a possible SIX provinces here that begin with Nakhon and could fit P*****. It’s either the one I just called; Nakhon Phanom or it’s Nakhon Phatom. FWIW: I ruled out Nakhon P- Thammarat, and Nakhon P-Ratchasima, as they didn't fit, 555+.

Oh, I see you said I did guess correctly, so I won’t bother tracking the other number down.

Still hope it helps some. ..

Tod Daniels

I take it your referring to doing "90 day reporting" after having secured a yearly extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai national?

In Bangkok (I know not all that applicable to your situation), you take your passport and the completed T.M47 form, that’s it. You don’t even hafta go in person nor authorize the person you send to report for you.

Once you’ve got your yearly extension, well, you’ve got your extension! The 90 day reporting isn’t tied to ANY financial requirements that I'm aware of.

It is discouraging to read reports like this since Thai Immigrations implemented the “Zone Immigrations” dealy; where you must use a designated office in your zone (often an office FURTHER away from your house than one in a neighboring zone). I don't like the fact so much ‘creative license’ is being taken by the Immigrations staff in some zones.

They do have an Immigrations hot-line, where you can call in problems, and you can do it anonymously. You better have a native Thai speaker with you when you call to explain the situation fully. I dunno if any positive results have been experienced by using it, but it’s worth a shot!

Sad really.

The Immigrations rules in Thai, I believe are in one of the pinned topics on this sub-forum.

I looked & couldn’t find it offhand; but I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer either..

FWIW: I just call the Thai Immigrations Hot-Line at 1111.

They gave me two phone numbers for the Nakhon Phanom Immigrations office (if in fact N***** P***** from your O/P really means Nakhon Phanom ). The numbers are:

04-251-1473

04-251-1235

You could have a Thai call and ask them their interpretation of the 'rules'.

I have c/d’s with literally hours of audio similar to that. The way Thai children ‘conjugate’ <-(I guess that’s the word ) toning in words, like your examples. They didn’t provide me a good bang-4-the-baht. Most of the words you end up saying aren’t words at all just sounds which carry that particular tone.

I’ve got so much Thai vocab floating around in my head, I don’t need to clutter it up learning sounds that don’t have any meaning in Thai..

I explained to my old Thai language teacher that my English vocab is kept in a “filing cabinet” in my head; all the words are alphabetized, in order and high usage ones are in the front. I went on to tell her my Thai vocab seems to be stored in a big “plastic bin”; where I hafta sort thru the words sometimes one by one to find the particular word I need, when I need to use it. She got the analogy, but didn’t quite believe me, lol..

(My brain could possibly be running on an old AMD Athlon processor and outdated OS too. Although I am looking for an up-grade! )

Just as an aside;

I know there are more than a few words in Thai which can carry 3 of the 5 tones without changing the consonant/vowel order and each of those words has a different meaning.

Does anyone know if there is ANY Thai word “spelled the same” (except for tone marks) which carry 4 different meanings? I looked briefly last nite after “FireInTheSky” posted their suggestion but couldn’t find one.

Thanx for the suggestions, I’ll keep at it.

Here's the link to the hospital's website map page. Bumrungrad Hospital Map

They're on Soi 3 which you can get to from either Sukhumvit Road or Phetchaburi Road; you can't miss it! Know that Soi 3 is a one-way road running south from Phetchaburi Road.

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th; Mobile Immigrations will be there (I think it's on the 10th floor). They’re open from 8:30AM to 4:30PM (they do have an hour lunch break though when they’re closed).

I'm going there to turn in some 90 day reports for acquaintances and to scope out how things appear to be working at these mobile locations.

Hope it helps!

I think what threw me in the book I'm reading now; เรื่องเล่าคุณหนูไฮโซ (aside from the current slang and idioms I'm struggling with) is the near constant 'real time' conversations between the main character; a hi-so girl named พ๊อยท์, her other girlfriends; แพร & โรส, her fashion model boyfriend; ติว, his fashion model male friends, พี่เคน, เอ็กซ์ เจมส์ & หลุยส์ and incidental people who wander in and out of the story.

By "real time" conversations I mean word for word what a young person would say in modern colloquial Thai with tons of particles. Something along the lines of this type of construct which is a phone conversation between พ๊อยท์ and her boyfriend ติว.

“ฮัลโหล ตัวเอง... ทำไรอยู่ แต่งตัวเสร็จยังคะ” เสียงตามสายของติวสดใสมาแต่ไกล

“ฮัลโหล ๆ ๆ ว่าไงจ้ะทีรัก อ๋อ ยังเลยจ้ะ เนี่ยเค้ายังแต่งหน้าอยู่เลย” ฉันกรอกเสียงไปตามสายด้วยน้ำเสียงสดใสเพราะยังไม่รู้ว่า ตัวเองกำลังจะถูกเบี้ยวนัดซะแล้ว

“อ๋อ เหรอ ๆ ๆ ๆ เออตัวเองเค้าจะบอกว่าเค้าไปไม่ได้แล้วนะคืนนี้ พอดีเค้าต้องไปงานของพี่เคนอ่ะ พี่เคนเค้ามีงานให้อ่ะตัวเอง”

“อ้าววว...” น้ำเสียงของฉันเริมเปลี่ยนไปออกแนวเซ็งเล็กน้อย

“ตัวเองอย่าโกรธเค้านะคะ เค้าต้องไปทำงานนี่นา”

ติวทำเสียงออดอ้อม จะให้ฉันทำไงได้ล่ะในเมื่อเรื่องงานของติวก็ต้องมาก่อน และก็ต้องสำคัญกว่าเรื่องอะไรทั้งหมด บอกแล้วไงว่าฉันอยากทำตัวงี่เง่า

“ก็... โหยยย เค้าคิดว่าจะได้ไปด้วยกันซะอีก เซ็ง ๆ ๆ” ฉันพูดไปตามความรู้สึก แม้จะบอกว่าไม่อยากทำตัวงี่เง่าก็ตามแต่ก็นะ บางทีก็เก็บอารมณ์ไม่อยู่จริงๆ

“นะคะ เดี๋ยวพรุ่งนี้เราค่อยไปเที่ยวกันใหม่ก็ได้นะตัวเอง วันนี้ตัวเองไปกับพวกแพร พวกโรสก่อนนะ โอ๋ ๅ อย่าโกรธนะจะที่รัก จุ๊บ ๆ”

“ฮึ ! ! ไม่โกรธก็ได้ เค้าไม่โกรธตัวเองหรอกน่า อืมแล้วตัวเองไปทำงานที่ไหนล่ะ เลกกี่โมงเหรอ”

ฉันยังคงถามต่อ ก็เผื่อว่าติวจะเลิกเร็ว ก็ยังตามพวกเราไปที่ร้านทัน ก็ยงโอเคนะ

“เลิกกี่โมงเหรอ เออ... เค้ายังไม่รู้เลยอ่ะตัวเอง แต่เอาเป็นว่า ถ้าเกิดว่าเค้าเลิกเร็ว แล้วเค้าจะรีบตามไปนะจ๊ะที่รัก แต่ถ้ามันดึกแล้ว ตัวเองอยากกลับกันก่อนก็ ไม่ต้องรอเค้านะ กลับกันได้เลยนะคะ” ติวบอก

“อ๋อ... เคร ๆ ก็ได้ แล้วตกลงไปทำงานที่ไหนเหรอ” ฉันยังคงถามประโยคเดิมอีกรอบ เพราะอยากรู้จริงๆ

“เค้ายังไม่รู้เลยอ่ะตัวเอง พี่เคนบอกว่าเดี๋ยวจะโทร.มาบอกอ่ะจ้ะ อุ๊ยตัวเอง พี่เคนโทร.มาแล้ว เดี๋ยวเค้าโทร.ไปหาใหม่นะ รับโทรศัพท์พี่เคนก่อน บาย ๆ จ้ะ... ตู๊ด... ตู๊ด... ตู๊ด”

"อ้าว... ตัวเอง..."

ติววางสายไปทันทีที่จบประโยค ฉันวางสายด้วยความเซ็งสุดๆ แต่ก็พยายามจะเข้าใจว่ามีแฟนที่ขยันทำงานมันก็ดีแล้วไง ก็แค้แอบเซ็งเล็กน้อยก็เท่านั้น

This wasn't even one of the worst examples I’ve come across; it just happened to be where I was in the book. It’s way worse when the girls talk amongst themselves.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw this out there. .. FWIW: other than the particle strewn sentence constructs, the book IS turning out to be an interesting read.

(Sory in advance if there are mis-spellings even using spell check, none of the particles came up as 'real words', so I finally gave up, lol...

The well known “big-gun” visa-run-companies here in Bangkok won't even let you on their bus to Vientiane if you've got either the 'warning stamp' OR more than one double entry tourist visa from there.

Well, actually they'll let you go if you're adamant about going that route .. But they'll tell you IF you get denied, you're on your own (and there're no refunds) , lol..

They'll suggest you to take their service to Cambodia and have you passports sent by runner up to Phnom Penh while you camp out at a hotel on the border for two days.

One service I spoke with seems to be starting a run to Mukdahan / Savannakhet next week. It'll be good to get some feedback on how that works out.

Savannakhet was known as having a "hard touch" a coupla years back, which is why everyone switched to Vientiane. However recent reports while still spotty, seem to indicate they’ve softened their stance to some degree…

While only slightly related to the title of the thread, this is related to discerning the tones.

I sat a class at a private Thai language school early last week, (in fact the school was kind enough to allow me to sit 3 different classes for almost 5 hours all told)..

The one class which sticks in my mind was allegedly an "intermediate reading-conversation" course. I say allegedly, because if the teachers or the school believed the students in that class were reading and conversing at an intermediate level IMHO they were sorely mistaken or possibly they ‘grade on a curve’. Using that system of ranking, I’d probably be rated an effluent, <sic> errr fluent speaker, although the first word I used is probably closer to the truth, lol.. ..

Not a single student (and there were 8 in this class) could get thru a story about Manaa/Manee/Mali and their extended family or fill out the accompanying worksheet with the family member's names, ages, etc. Even when the teacher broke us down into groups, they struggled with it. In fact a lot of students were really frustrated and voiced this when we went on break. I think it was more a case of the school teaching material beyond the students’ current level of comprehension than the students not being motivated, because there were some REALLY motivated people in the class although to call it an intermediate level class was taking some creative license. ...

However, I digress, and that wasn't the point I was tryin to make.

At the end of the class they had a 'tone-test' of single syllable Thai words. There were 35 words in the test. The teacher handed out a sheet with the words written in Thai; then she pronounced them. In reality what she did was really OVER enunciate the pronunciation & toning of the words. She said the word three times and then used it in a sentence. From this the students had to write down the corresponding tone using; L, M, H, R, F in the blank following the word. Needless to say EVERY student did really well on this.

Sheesh even I did really well on this, yet I totally suck at differentiating tones in stand alone words; although I’m just slightly better with risng falling tones when I see or hear them in context. I thought the test was skewed in favor of the students and did them a disservice as I've never ever heard a Thai in casual conversation drag out the toning/pronunciation of words like that. Still, at least students ARE being exposed to tone differentiation in some schools. So that's a plus. ..

As an aside;

When I started learning Thai I just learned either the rising or falling tones of high frequency words I was likely to use in day to day conversation. FWIW; I still don't know consonant class or what mark means what tone for what class of consonant (other than ไม้จัตวา) 555+. I've tried over and over, but can't get them to 'stick' inside my thick skull.

Early on, before I could read Thai and learned to differentiate words by sight recognition, memorization and context alone; I taught myself some toning by just association.

Kinda sorta like this;

ขาว - clouds are white and they are in the sky so the thai word for white is a rising tone

ข้าว - rice grows outta the ground so the thai word for rice is a falling tone

เสือ - tigers jump at you when they attack so the thai word for tiger is a rising tone

เสื้อ - t-shirts are pulled down over your head so the thai word for shirt is a falling tone

เสื่อ -mats lie on the floor so the thai word for mat is a low tone.

ชี้ - pointing with your fingers is done with your arm outstretched so the thai word for point is a high tone.

ฉี่ - urine ends up on the ground so the thai word for urinate is a low tone

ขี่ -when riding motos, bikes, etc those things sit on the ground so the thai word for ride is a low tone

ขี้ - when you defecate it falls to the ground so the thai word for shit is falling

I know it's stupid, but stuff like that got me thru until I could actually memorize how a word looks when it's written in Thai. Then know the meaning and if it was a rising or falling tone. I still pretty much blur the L, M, H toned words when I speak, but for the most part the Thais seem okay with it . It's those rising falling tones that send you off script when you mix 'em up.

Anyway sorry for the long post, keep at it! I’ll say it again; if I can learn to read Thai and speak something which resembles Thai, anyone out there can...

I made a post about this a while ago, but can't find it. I thought given the number of relatively new posters I'd put it up again.

It's a video Benjawan Poomsan Becker put out on her Paiboon Publishing Channel on YouTube. She's got quite a few vids on there. This one is about Thai abbreviations; คำย่อ.

I've tried to progress to reading the Thai newspaper but seem to run into a brick wall at their near constant use of abbreviations. These are things most Thais know without thinking, yet can throw foreign readers of Thai for a loop. This video has quite a few of the common ones. Too bad she doesn't provide the meanings after the video. Maybe it's in one of her "Speak Like a Thai" C/D-booklet series, dunno.

Anyway, here's the video;

Here're the words I copied off the text as they sang it (I think I got 'em right);

อบต.

ปวส.

ต.จ.ว.

ตชด.

พ.ศ.

นสพ.

อ.ส.ม.ท.

ททบ.

คมช.

จนท.

สสจ.

วท.บ.

มศว.

กสช.

ครม.

ผอ.

ธกส.

อสม.

กศน.

ปคส.

(รถ)ปอ.

กทม.

รปภ.

กฟน.

ปตท.

ส.ค.ส.

ปณ.

ร.ด.

จ.ป.ร.

ทสปช.

นศท.

ก.ข.ค.

ส.บ.ม.ย.ห.

Enjoy. ..

I don't know if all the abbreviations required a "." after them but just typed the captions as I saw them.

As an aside: I did notice by typing in "abbreviation" in thai-language dot com, yields a LOT of Thai abbreviations too. I'd imagine most of these are in there as well.

This may not fit into the 'Farmer Sob Stories" thread but...

"IsaanAussie" made a good point about hand tools & misc. screws, nails, nutz-n-boltz, etc.

When I was in America I had a normal toolbox like almost everyone in the US has for basic around the house repairs. When I moved here I shipped in close to quarter container of my own stuff so I threw the toolbox in and brought it over too. (While not the point of the story, it's been the MOST valuable thing I brought over here!)

It contained your normal run-o'-the-mill hand tools. Really just the basic things like; a set of various sized screwdrivers, set of various types of pliers, coupla different sized crescent wrenches, sets of vice-grips, box & open end wrench set, basic socket set w/extensions, concrete and regular bit sets for a power drill, as well as several boxes of miscellaneous fasteners, packs of zip-ties, wire nuts, screws, nails, etc.

Anyway, the guy who does maintenance on the apartment complex I live in hasta be 70+ years old and worked for a hotel doing general maintenance almost his entire adult life before he became our maintenance man. He carries his "tools" in an ancient leather shaving kit dealy, but it is a sad collection of stuff. Still he gets the job done, and done well.

He was working on my apartment one day doing something or other. I was out when he started, but when I got back I saw he was struggling to accomplish the job with the tools he had. Now this is one meticulous maintenance man and he'd rather take an hour getting the job done right than rig it so it works for a while.

I went and got my toolbox outta the closet and said to him in Thai, "I think using these hand tools would be better, really its okay, use them." When he opened that tool box I can only liken his expression to someone who saw the Holy Grail! I mean he just stared at it. Then he took it with him, used what he needed, replaced EVERYTHING back like it was, and thanked me. As he was leaving I told him anytime he works here in my building or on any of the property owned by my landlord he should feel free to come get my tools and use them like they're his own tools.

He's borrowed them on numerous occasions, He even calls me ahead of time to make sure Im home or ask me to put the toolbox in a secret location outside so he can pick it up. Not even a single time has he lost or broken a tool ever. Hes brought em back intact and in perfect condition every single time over the last 5 years. As all the fasteners, etc, are in that tool box, too; one time he used all I had of some plastic wire nut. He actually went and bought another box of them for me (us) so the toolbox was 'correctly stocked'. He borrowed the tool box last week, and when he brought it back I saw that hed taken everything out of the toolbox, washed it out and put it all back. I think he even wiped down the outside with silicon as the plastic is way more shiny than I remember.

I am FAR from an emotional person, but just typing this story and thinking back on his expression as he looked at those tools the first time and the care and responsibility he's shown when borrowing them, almost chokes me up, really.

He is truly an outstanding example of what Thais ARE capable of IF they so choose.

Anyway, thought you guys could use a good heartwarming story to switch things up..

Sorry for the long post. ..

While some of this overly long post may veer from time to time off the actual topic of this thread, still perhaps readers may find it of value. (If not, just P/M a Mod to delete it, no harm, no foul )

<SNIP>I wanna add that even some Thai people don't expect foreigners to speak Thai with them and some Thai people have never even spoken with foreigners so yeah with Thai you also need to have a near perfect accent depending on who you talk with and where you live or are.<SNIP>

I have to agree with part of this and disagree with part of it too. I agree a LOT of Thais don't expect foreigners to be able to speak much more than "2-word-touist-thai" or even worse "horse-peak" (you figure that one out ).

It is my experience after watching TONZ of foreigner/Thai interactions outside the tourist areas; when a Thai see a foreigner approaching they're apprehensive, they're uncomfortable in the fact that they might hafta speak English and more importantly they don't know you can speak something resembling Thai. This makes Thais 'switch' their ears into what I call "listening for engrish" mode. Then when you walk up and bust out with your Thai, they don't understand you. It's got nothing to do with the fact you're speaking Thai with a foreign accent.

Believe me, no matter what you think or how many compliments you've gotten from these totally over complimentary people about your Thai language ability; every single foreigner here speaks Thai with an accent which Thais can identify right away as foreign. Sheesh, Thais can pick out another native Thai speaker's accent even when they're speaking Bangkokian Thai, and are accurate at picking where that person comes from usually down to the province! Don't think for even a second they can't tell right off youre NOT a native Thai speaker..

The real reason they didn't understand you is because they saw you as a foreigner, made a judgment call that you most likely can't speak Thai (given the HUGE numbers of foreigners here who don't) and instead they were listening for English. So when you spoke Thai they didn't hear ANY English words and couldn't understand what you said.

I've NEVER EVER had a problem speaking with and being understood by a 'strange Thai' (one I've never met before ), even up-country in a "one buffalo village". Rather than just approaching 'em and asking in Thai what ever it is I wanna know, I do what I mentioned on the forum before and what I call "the-thai-language-dance".

What is the 'thai-language-dance'? It's where you approach a strange Thai and say stuff IN Thai like; "Hello, how are you?", "I'm a foreigner, but I can speak Thai." "Can you understand me?" Other mindless and equally meaningless pleasantries can be exchanged before you jump into the topic of what you really want.

I've found slightly self-deprecating stuff plays well with Thais and can 'break the ice', which is why I always tell them I speak with a strange accent. I use the words พูดไทยสำเนียงแปลก ๆ, just because no Thai would ever say it about their English skills and for me it denotes a very peculiar, very unusual or very strange accent when speaking Thai. You'd be surprised after I've spoken with a Thai a while they'll correct me and say, "You don't speak Thai with a strange accent but with a foreign one." To me that's an accomplishment.

My spoken Thai is about as far from a Thai accent as you can imagine; yet IF I do the 'thai-language-dance' first, without fail the Thai I'm tryin' to talk to CAN understand me and WILL speak to me in Thai. Sometimes these conversations go far past just the information I was seeking from them, and are quite interesting in their own right.

<SNIP>Some people will never speak Thai with you for some reason (even if you พูดชัดๆ) and what I think (i haven't encountered too many of those thank god) is a good solution is to just keep the conversation short, speak English and just move on to other people who you can speak Thai with Some people won't ever speak Thai back to any Farang and if you wanna speak with Thai to learn Thai this is a waste of time.<SNIP>

Yes, sadly there is a particular demographic of Thais here (which I've had the misfortune to run into now and again ). They simply refuses to either 'understand' my spoken Thai or speak to me in Thai. I dislike that sort of person with a passion ! I always try to end our engrish only conversations by saying in Thai something that comes across condescendingly as; "It'd have been better if we spoke in Thai because you're English isn't as good as you think it is."

These are things I've adopted and work for me, so they might or might not work for you.

I'm perfectly contented to be an American who happens to be able to speak something which passes for Thai (with an American accent) .

Sorry for the long post (and for making the Thai font big enough for me to read it to). ..

I didn't know where to stick this, but as the O/P made this thread about books written in Thai, I thought here was as good a place as any.

Just when I thought my reading/comprehension of Thai wasn't all that bad I got thrown for a loop! I bought two books from B2S Bookstore (they had 30% off if you bought two, lol).

The one I just started is called เรื่องเล่าคุณหนูไฮโซ.

I typed this from the front cover (sorry if there're typos) the cover is in that squirrelly "modern" font style that I still struggle with;

เรื่องราวของหญิงสาวไฮโซสุดสวย ที่ชีวิตรักไม่ได้สวยหรูอย่างที่ควรจะเป็น

เธอมีทุกอย่าง เงินทอง ความสวย ชาติตระกูลดี แต่สิ่งที่เธอไม่มีก็คือ

ความจริงใจจากผู้ชายที่เธอรักมากที่สุด เธอจะทำอย่างไรเมื่อจับได้ว่าแฟน

นายแบบชื่อดังของติวเองเป็นแมงดาขายตัวให้กับพวกไฮโซด้วยกัน

The back of the book says this (sadly in the same frickin font style!);

คุณจะทำยังไง ถ้าอยู่ดีๆ ได้รับรู้ว่า แฟนสุดที่รักที่หล่อระดับนายแบบของตัวเอง

มีอาชีพเสรมเป็นแมงดาขายตัว ให้กับสาวแก่มากหน้าหลายตา

ขอเพียงแค่มีเงินยอมง่าย ก็สามารถ นอนกับผู้ชายคนนี้ได้

Then it just repeats the front cover blurb again.

I thought as the previous book I read (ฉันคือเอรี่) was about a woman who due to life circumstances sold her body that reading about a hi-so gurl who loves a guy who turns out to sell his body would be an interesting change of pace . Plus from reading the front and back cover it didnt seem all that hard to read…

Boy, I was caught up short on this!!! Now whether its just the style of writing or my sorely lacking Thai vocab I dunno. There seems to be a plethora of words, idiomatic expressions and phrases used that I had no idea how to translate by reading on the fly. Some I was able to figure out by context, but thats questionable at best. Most I figured out after looking 'em up and trying on possible meanings in the context of the sentence.

Ive made it to chapter 2, but had a LOT of words, mostly expressions or phrases which I had to look up to really understand the subtleties of the story… I know pathetic huh?

Here's a list of some words/phrases Id never seen before (or saw, learned and then promptly forgot as I never used them in conversation);

ชาติตระกลดี - to come from a good family/lineage

เกาะ - I knew this word as an island but not as hold, cling, grasp onto

แค้น - impoverished, poor or hold a grudge, resent

ลากคอไอ้บ้า - drag a crazy person by the throat

ตีโพยตีพาย - make a scene, go into hysterics

กึ่งวิ่งกึ่งเดิน - not really walking, not really running, sort of walk-run by halves

เบรกแทนไม่ทัน - brake without overtaking

วัตถุประสงค์ - objective (knew this but forgot it)

กะจิตกะใจ - to estimate a persons mind and heart (like guess their motives or size them up maybe)?

สังสรรค์ - hobnob or socialize

ประดังประเด - still dunno

คะยั้นคะยอ - swoop down, rush in, dash

และหล่อและล่ำ - just a guess but like super handsome good looking ??

ตี๋ร้ายสไตล์ตี๋อินเตอร์ -dunno but I can read the words 'style' & 'inter'

I guess Im far from as proficient in reading and understanding Thai as I had begun to think I was. Still its good motivation to forge ahead and get better. Ill keep at it definitely, but what a wake up call for me.

The book is an interesting read about the girl whose name is พ๊อยท์ <- is that pronounced like english word point?

Any help is appreciated.

<SNIP> By the way, do they do re-entry permits?

I tried to include all the things available at Changwattana and totally left out re-entry permits. Yes they sell them too. Sorry about that.

In talking with several of the Immigrations Hotline staff about it; those "mobile locations' are full service. Anything you can do out at Changwattana Immigrations you’re able to do at those locations too. ..

FWIW: I'm gonna go to the one they're doing at Bumrungrad Hospital next Tuesday to turn in some 90 day reports.

I'll hang around a while afterwards and scope out how smooth (or not) things appear to be working.

I do know one guy who's been reporting by post for a good long while and never had a glitch in doing it this way. He does send it via EMS though.

Slightly off topic;

Sadly, sometimes at Changwattana it is NOT a 10 minute wait, but can turn into a several hour ordeal depending when you show up, and more importantly on the number of people reporting that day. Some days they process just 600, some days they process over 1200. It's a total crap shoot to try to guess how long it'll really take.

I go out to Changwattana almost every week; sometimes with quite a large pile 'o passports from acquaintances to submit their 90 day reporting and the wait times vary a LOT!!

When I'm out there, I routinely see the 'runners' from some of the visa companies from Universities and even private Thai language schools which offer to do 90 day reporting for people.

Even though this is slightly off-topic; seeing as Thai Immigrations now accepts 90 day reporting up to 2 weeks early and up to 1 week late; giving you a 3 week window (except via post where there is NO grace period after the date it's due); I think it may be of interest to some who don't wanna go to Changwattana.

Thai Immigrations in Bangkok now runs a "Mobile Immigration Service" on the second and third Tuesday of each month. The second Tuesday they're at Buddy Lodge Motel on KhaoSan Road, and the third Tuesday they're at Bumrungrad Hospital (on the 10th floor, I think).

These locations are staffed by Immigrations officers and offer the same services they do at Changwattana; 90-day reporting, change of visa class, extensions of stay, transfer of stamps, overstay, emergency visas, residency document, etc.

P/S: To some who've read the above info in my posts before it may seem like I'm "beating the drum", BUT I' pretty sure if foreigners don't use this new dealy Immigrations will stop doing it. I'm just trying to pique interest and get the word out seeing as Immigrations hasn't done all the stellar job of promoting this new service.

It sure looks like a first and last to me too!

Sadly, I'm far from the "sharpest knife" in the drawer when it comes to the Thai language on here . I couldn't work out how to pronounce the last word with certainty either.

FWIW; plugging it into Thai-Language dot com's bulk look-up feature yielded this as far as pronunciation;

อริศรา (a^L ri^H sa^L raa^M) สาริบุตร (saa^R ri^H boot^L).

The first word came up as having only one meaning; Alisara (a Thai given name)

The second word got broken into three words. Interestingly enough the last part of that word บุตร was listed as the word which means "offspring, child, son/daughter". It very well could be the last part of a name kinda denoting; "child of สาริ".

I'm sure other more learned posters will weigh in soon. ..

Good Luck. ..

I mentioned in another thread running on here which I now can't locate that I'd sent a email to Hull concerning their ambigious choice of words with their usage of "residence permit". I also asked about visa options for myself (FWIW: I'm not a Brit, but just a nosy American pretending to be one to get some answers, ).

Here's the body of the email I sent;

I am a UK national and received a multi-entry Non-Immigrant Type-O visa from Hull about 15 months ago for the purpose of visiting friends. I see on your website this is no longer a viable reason to get this type of visa.

I do not qualify for another visa type, not married to a Thai national, not of sufficient age to secure a retirement extension here, etc. I currently live here in Thailand, rent an apartment, bank here, etc.

I see you require a 'residency permit' for a Non-O. Can I use the letter or residency I get from the UK embassy here in Bangkok, or one I can get from Thai Immigrations as sufficient proof of residency? There is no such thing as a "residency permit" in Thailand, but there is a "proof of residency" document issued.

Also what requirements are needed to get a multi-entry Non-Immigrant Type-B visa? Can Hull issue a Type-B visa if I write a letter saying I am requesting this visa to look into business opportunities in Thailand?

Please advise me on the best course of action. I will be returning to the UK later next month and would like to secure another yearly visa.

Thank you in advance for your reply and for any advice on my situation.

Tod Daniels

AND here's the text I received back last nite;

Thank you for your message

You cannot apply for the non-immigrant cat “O” visa using a letter of temporary residence, if you check the above attached document this is the up to date information on what is required for the visa, if you cannot meet any of this we can only issue you with the 60day tourist visa with one,two or three entries, to apply for a category “B” visa you have to provide documents to show you have been offered work in Thailand.

Regards

They also included an attachment which I'm including here;

Non-Immigrant Visas 01.01.11.doc

Given the date in the title of this document it would appear it's from January of this year.

I honestly don't know if this clears or further muddies the waters in regards to just what Hull will do for you.

Still I said I'd post whatever answers I got back, so I am. Good Luck all. .. Sorry if this makes it even more confusing. ..

It would seem that Hull will issue a triple entry Tourist Visa, and although they didn't say, if they made the validity for a year a person could get almost a full year out of that kind of visa with in-country 30-day extensions, border runs, etc.

P/S: I know full well there is such a thing as a 'real' residency permit as they are issued to permanent residents, but those people don't need visas from Hull. .

After watching the old Moroccan restaurant Nomad located behind Insomnia Club, across the street from the Darling Massage Parlor on Soi 12 (and coincidentally right next door to my apartment), sit vacant for a long, LONG TIME; it finally looks like it's about ready to open in yet another incarnation!

It's called the "White Lioness" (it even has two white stone lion heads on either side of the entry doors). From watching the build out renovations I am sure they dumped a PILE ‘o baht into it. I walked thru it when they first started renovating and then again last week. I can say it's gonna be a looker of a club.

The old Nomad restaurant had a BIG white tent sort of dealy where they had their bar, D/J & live music. Then there was a separate two story house which housed the restaurant where you could sit and eat.

The new owners took out every single window and door on the ground floor of the house and made the only access via a hallway from the tent/bar area. The house from the quick walk thru I did has bathrooms, the girls dressing/changing area and 5 or 6 small "bedroom-ish" looking kinda rooms on the ground floor (That's what they look like although I saw no beds in them yet). Upstairs the same kinda rooms are much bigger and appear to be more like VIP suites.

As far as the tent thingy goes; they put in a LOT of aircons, insulated & sheet rocked the walls, did a drop ceiling, lighting and redid the floors. There's a typical "go/go-ish" stage running down the middle of the bar area, with what looks like might be tiers for benches and/or booths on either side. I say it looks like that, as it’s not quite done yet and the furniture for the bar is sitting outside under a tarp.

Weeks ago I spoke with one of the foreigners kinda sorta overseeing things there. He wouldn't say it was gonna be a go-go bar; only that after it opened and I went in I'd know what kinda bar it was. Ambiguous at best (or not, huh)? Of course he also said it was gonna open on the 10th of April too, but TIT and I've rarely seen anything of this scope finished on time.

Still it definitely LOOKS like a cut above any bar of this sort I've seen in Bangkok (what ever sort that is). The concept of European ‘dancing’ or ‘show’ girls is also definitely an under exploited “niche market” too. I just don’t know how big a niche that really is. ..

Other than a few fat, drunk, ugly foreign women who occasionally clambered up on the stage(s) at bars in Nana or Cowboy, I never really saw any European ‘dancing’ girls in those places. Now I don’t know what sort of venue the White Lioness may or may not be, but it’s worth checking out when it opens even if just for the novelty of seeing it.

It'll be interesting (mostly to me as I live next door) to see the type of 'clientele' it attracts. I don’t think it’s gonna be too many more days before it opens given the fever pitch the Thai workers are going at it.

Just thought someone might find info of this sort of interest.

Note To Modz: If this topic is in violation of Forum Rules, feel free to delete it. ..