Banana7

Try Cuba, world class beaches, super cheap all inclusive packages, even non-package stays are super cheap, food isn't as good as Thailand. Canadians can stay 6 months in Cuba, without paying for a visa. Virtually no guns, drugs or corruption in Cuba. Friendly ladies in all Latin American countries. Lots of islands are very nice too, like Barbados, Puerto Rica, Virgin Islands (both US and British). Costa Rica, Panama are very accommodating for Americans and Canadians. Brazil can be dangerous, but many destinations are safe. Millions of Canadians winter in southern USA, like Florida, Arizona, etc. There was a topic on this website that discussed alternatives to Thailand.

Canadians and Americans do their research before coming to Thailand. They'll discover Thailand has major basic safety, health and corruption issues. As reported in the press, tourists have to pay bribes to police (Taiwanese actor case). Thailand places minimal value on human life, traffic laws especially involving pedestrians( most tourists are pedestrians), Police rarely enforce traffic laws. Families with small children should never come to Thailand. Most walkways in major tourists cities are a wreck (poles obstruct, surface is broken or heaving, wires dangling below head level, etc), plus motorcyclist drive on the walkways, cars park on walkways, merchant stands narrow walkways so that only one person can walk on the walkway or on the road, etc.. Many streets have no pedestrian walkways, so a pedestrian has to compete with motor vehicles. All major Thai holidays have extremely high death and accidents rates and are best avoided. Air pollution is becoming a major issue, pollution levels similar to China. Finally, Thailand allows double pricing for tourist attractions and foreigners have to pay the higher price, national park fees are a minimum of 5 times greater for foreigners. Canadians and Americans have beautiful alternatives to Thailand, like the Caribbean islands, Central America and South America, without many of these issues.

They seem to process the car and motorcycle licenses separately. If you renewed both licenses, was 2 sets of passport copies needed, one for the car and one for the motorcycle? Did the medical certificate need to be copied for the second license?

Lesson of the Day Women should never begin to date Islamic men unless they are willing to convert to Islam, and perhaps, become one of many wives of an Islamic man.

The guy's Imam probably advised him to have her converted or to find a new girlfriend. The radical Imams are the real trouble makers in Thailand and the rest of the world. Thailand needs to spy on all Imams, and rout out the radicals. Imam definition - noun In law and theology, the caliph who is successor to Muhammad as the lawful temporal leader of the Islamic community. The male prayer leader in a mosque. The Muslim worshiper who leads the recitation of prayer when two or more worshipers are present.

The online TM47 for Jomtien office is not working for me within 60 hours. I used it successfully many times in the past few years, usually a response within 24 hours. This year I have a new passport, entered with old and new passports, obtained a new "notification of alien stay" at Jomtien within 24 hours, transferred the stamps in October at Jomtien, extended the retirement visa recently. No response within the last 60 hours, which is within the 7-14 days period prior to the 90 day date. Anyone having success using the online website with a new passport and new extension at the Jomtien office?

This week, got a retirement extension and a re-entry permit at Jomtien. It was super busy very crowded. Arrived about 9:30 am with same day bank letter. Lined up at information to get a queue ticket. Line up was out the door, about 80-100 people in front of me. There were 1 to 4 people working at the queue desk, reviewing applications, handing out queue tickets, re-directing people to different locations, answering questions, etc.. Numerous people were in line to just get forms, or do the 90 day report. The 90 day report is done at the building to the right, not the info building on the left. Took about 25 minutes to get a queue ticket. Inside the main building, queue number was called in about 20 minutes, went to desk 10, not 8 as the queue ticket showed. All my documents were correct and complete. Had to sign 2 extra forms provided by the officer. I was given the 90 day bank balance reporting form. The guy accepting the application took my photo and told me to return next day after 2pm. Total time was about 1 hour, pretty good service. Next day, got a re-entry permit after picking up the passport with new 1 year extension at about 1:30pm. Copied the new extension stamp, then back to the info line to get a queue ticket, which took about 25 minutes. At desk 2, immediate service, the guy took my application immediately. Unfortunately, the processing has changed from previous years. Last year it took at most 30 minutes to get my passport returned. Got the passport back at 3:45pm. It seemed like the lady in immigration uniform in the desk 1 area, was the holdup, by large (20-25) batch processing the passports, instead of returning them 2 or 3 at a time as in previous years. Over 2 hours to get the re-entry permit. As always, your experience may vary depending on the day and time you arrive and the correctness of your application documents.

Lots of Russians use language schools to get extended visas. Nasty if they get deported, then get recruited upon return into the military and find themselves at the front line with Ukraine in the snow.

Most of the time, city officials and/or Police don't or won't act until at least one person is seriously injured or dies. But for this one school girl death, neither have taken any actions to prevent more accidents in the same place. Someone else's life doesn't seemed to be valued in Thailand unless you are part of the superior/upper/ruling/richest class. In and round the heavy traffic streets like beach road and pattaya Klang, especially near the corners, there are about a hundred motor vehicles parked in the red and white or yellow and white curb areas. These parked vehicles obstruct traffic and drivers' views and make the roadways more dangerous. Basically all of the Soi corner areas that intersect Beach road have illegally parked motor vehicles. In past years the cops came around once or twice a year to collect/fine the vehicles, but no visits since the re-paving of beach road. Also none of the pedestrian crossing lights are working on beach road. For some beach road crosswalks, the new cameras don't look at the cross walks and many of the crosswalk remain unpainted. Finally, beach road walkway on the beach side is still under construction, so people who want to walk on the beach side, now have to walk on the roadway. As usually, there are no barriers to separate pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic, helping to provide safe passage for pedestrians. It seems pedestrian safety is a very low priority for Pattaya City hall, the contractor and Police in Pattaya.

There seems to be a variety of diesel fuels for motor vehicles, B7, B10 and B20. With bio additives to pure diesel, the fuel degrades faster, with microbial growth and other factors. What level of bio do you use in your motor vehicle? ASTM D7371 ASTM D7371 is the standard test method for determination of biodiesel content in diesel fuel using mid infrared spectroscopy. Biodiesel consists of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and is blended with ULSD for use in most industries. A 5% bio-blend can be sold as straight ULSD without notifying the customer (still falls under ASTM D975). Due to its production from fats and oils, it is particularly susceptible to oxidation (environmental breakdown), microbial growth, and has a higher affinity for water (holds more water in the fuel)).For these reasons, it can be important to know the amount of the biodiesel within your tank. Backup power fuel sources sit for longer than normal amounts of time, leading to excessive time for fuel breakdown within the tank.

With Esso disappearing, being taken over by Bangchak, who has the cleanest B7 diesel? Esso filtered their diesel fuel removing all sediment. I doubt Bangchak will change their formula for diesel. Any recommendations?

Today, Sunday 10 December 2023, air pollution in Pattaya is unhealthy. IQair.com reports 143 in Bang Lamung at 13:50. Do you have an air purifier in your residence? PattayaAir10DEC2023.docx

Not true. The legal costs can also be recovered from the loser. Also, if the loser refuses to pay, the property can be sold by court order to recover all costs.

I had a recommended company come in to clean and top-up / refill if necessary. Charged me 500 to clean 1500 baht to top-up. The system holds 1.7 kg refrigerant and a 11.3 kg bottle of gas delivered costs 1700 baht. The refill took 15 minutes. The system wasn't empty and was still cooling but not as well as the other unit, I have 2 units the same model. So it probably needed less than 1 kg. of gas, after 5 years of operation. I feel It got ripped off, with this pricing, so I want to avoid another ripoff.

Does anyone do their own mini split air conditioner refilling? Apparently all AC systems need to be topped-up over time. Unlike USA or Canada, in Thailand, one doesn't need a license or permit to buy freon or maintain AC systems. In an Hitachi 18K BTU inverter AC using R410A, the low pressure side is 130 PSI while running, is that the proper pressure? It supposed to have 1.7 KG refrigerant but I don't want to recover the refrigerant, vacuum the system, and then reload it. Watched several youtube videos where the guys were saying 110 to about 140 PSI was the proper low side pressure, depending on the manufacturer.

Not just any bits and pieces. Things like the electronic controllers, regulators, motors, wiring harnesses, relays, thermal management systems, battery management system, DC/DC converter, etc. Lots of electrical/electronic parts to fail, and make the vehicle inoperable.

Major issues with foreign made motor vehicles is service and parts availability, especially for EVs. Sometimes it can take months to get imported parts, even if the vehicle is new and under warranty. If parts are not stocked in Thailand, forget about buying the vehicle. New brand vehicles, like BYD and others, may not have adequate service centres with fully trained staff. Buyer beware!

In Thailand, it doesn't matter if you cross at the corner with a green light, rarely do cars or motorcycles stop when turning through the pedestrian's right of way. Even at zebra crossings, people get hit. A doctor in Bangkok got killed in a zebra crossing, by a policeman driving a confiscated motorcycle. Also, at the intersection closest the college, the left northbound lane is marked, that you can go straight through on a red light.

It's not an official crosswalk. It's just a break in the barrier to allow pedestrians across the road. It was provided after the college requested a proper crossing for multiple years.

No, she got hit where there is a small break in the barrier for pedestrians to cross the road.

One glaring and major issue is that Chinese Police consider any and every Chinese person a criminal if they criticize, condemn or complain about the Chinese government or the CCP. They are also considered criminals if they don't cooperate and provide information to Chinese security agencies. Thailand shouldn't be allowing Chinese Police to determine who is a criminal. This issue has nothing to do with protecting only Chinese tourists. Chinese police are famous for creating false facts about their citizens, like fraud, robbery, extortion, but the person's only crime is criticizing Beijing. Even worse, the Chinese Police will come after, and arrest, relatives of known Beijing criticizers. There is absolutely no need for any Chinese Police in Thailand. Chinese Police can hand over their complete electronic wanted criminal file to Thailand without leaving their offices in China. Thailand needs to be super careful that all evidence, is also handed over to support the Chinese criminals, and the files should also be verified through Thai Police investigations. Also there are many dual citizens with Chinese passports, who left China after criticizing Beijing and the Police are hunting for them in many different countries. Lots of people left Hong Kong and became UK or Canadian citizens, but according to Chinese law, they are still Chinese citizens and are wanted for "criminal" activity or perhaps their relatives, friends or associates are also criminals by association or blood. One important reason for Chinese Police to be in Thailand is to befriend Thai Police and develop friendships and relationships. This will lead to Thai Police automatically doing what the Chinese want, without safe guards and without doing due diligence, especially if favours or envelopes are delivered. Maybe there are big fat envelopes changing hands if any Chinese Police start working in Thailand.

I think it means that Thai leaders are leading Thailand to become a satellite state of China, just like Cambodia and Lao. They are hoping Thai people won't understand or comprehend that it is another tiny step away from democracy and into CCP concept of autocratic control, more police, more control by authorities. China will threaten Thailand with economic penalties/export restrictions etc. if they don't succumb to their demands and acceptance of CCP doctrine. Now is the time to send CCP a clear message, your way is not the right way for Thailand.

Furthermore, you could also be convicted of careless driving, in addition to the above offenses, which can result in the following penalties: If you endanger other people because of any kind of distraction. This includes distraction caused by both hand-held (e.g., phone) or hands-free (e.g., Bluetooth) devices. If convicted of careless driving, you may receive: six demerit points fines up to $2,000 and/or a jail term of six months a licence suspension of up to two years You could even be charged with dangerous driving – a criminal offence that carries heavier penalties, including jail terms of up to 10 years for causing bodily harm or up to 14 years for causing death. It is very common for Police to lay multiple charges when an accident occurs, especially involving a pedestrian. These are real deterrents to bad driving and Thailand should adopt similar penalties.

There is actually a government department dedicated to property forfeiture in Thailand.

Thai government officials would be lunatics to agree to allow Chinese Police to operate anywhere in Thailand, for any reason.