buick

OP - i use a glass bong with the large round bottom which has a carb.  fill with as much water as you can and with very little breathing effort you can fill the remaining chamber with smoke and then take finger off the carb.  like you, i'm trying to take very small hits as i'm not as young as i used to be.  as far as cleaning, the glass bowl/stem that pulls up and out of the bong is what gets dirty.  the inside of the bong has no tar stains.  change the water frequently.  i find the best cleaning is 90% rubbing alcohol and a little salt.  one finger on the bottom of the bowl stem, drop in pinch of salt, pour in rubbing alcohol, place other finger on top of bowl, then shake it.  cleans up pretty good.  when i need to get way up into the stem to clean, i cut up a metal hangar and use a piece to stick up in there to clean the tough to reach spot (below bowl, upper part of stem).

the line for security at DMK domestic terminal is very quick.  i fly to buriram monthly and it doesn't take more than 5 minutes to get through security.  they could arrive an hour before and have no problems.  i once arrived 35 minutes before flight time and had no problem making it and i checked a bag, the check in lady said 'boarding starts in 5 minutes, sir'.  it was 11:55am and flight was 12:30pm.  the flight had been 2pm for several months so i planned to arrive early and have lunch there but instead headed straight to the gate !!

On 3/29/2023 at 4:34 PM, TheAppletons said:

I went to that counter at DMK yesterday....."no have cars".  (And yes, no AOT at DMK.)

 

But fortune smiled yesterday at DMK - arrived at immigration to one person in front of me in the queue, checked bag came out immediately, as soon as I walked outside the A2 bus pulled up to take me to Mo Chit BTS, and when I reached the BTS platform the train arrived within two minutes.

 

I was in my hotel 50 minutes after stepping off the plane.  (Plus, the IO recognized my non-O and re-entry permit and stamped me in correctly.)

 

 

 

 

the desk i use for the car service is just outside the arrivals baggage claim in the domestic terminal.  not sure what there is in the international terminal, i've never used it.  i always fly out of BKK for international, only use DMK for domestic.  are international arrivals directed to the domestic terminal for ground transport ? 

17 hours ago, dj230 said:

I always used grab or just got in a taxi and get the meter, but today flew back from Malaysia to Don Mueang Airport and hopped in a taxi, he asked me for 500 baht and said he wouldn’t use the meter, told him no way and he dropped me off 

what part of bkk were you headed to and what time of day ?  maybe the driver wanted to avoid going there ?  i've never had an issue with the DMK taxi's.  just get the ticket, get in the taxi, and always the meter.  i'm always at the domestic terminal though, maybe international area is different.

if it was me (and it can't be done online), i'd skip doing the report and take the risk of the 2k fine when you do your next report.  

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Do AOT Limousine (Taxi) operate from the the baggage hall at Don Muang ? IF so, this would be the best way. 

i don't recall seeing AOT at DMK.  i fly to/from buriram frequently via DMK and use a taxi service similar to AOT.  nice cars and 950thb to inner bkk.  the booth to get the service is just to the left as you come out of the baggage claim area.  i also use AOT at suvarnabhumi.  

1 hour ago, Tropposurfer said:

Siam Centre

just a small correction, it is Silom Complex.

i'd suggest sukhumvit soi 8, maybe adelphi suites ?  and for about half that price you could go with stable lodge/hotel.  soi 8 has easy access to BTS.  ride it one stop to ploenchit and walk to embassy from there.  or just walk from soi 8, probably 20-25 minute walk.

i'd opt for the taxi.  right now, 8am rush hour into the city, google maps estimates 1 hour from suvarnabumi to shangri la.  you will be traveling during rush hour but coming into the city will not be as bad as going out.  the ride should be less than one hour for you.  tell the taxi driver you will pay the tolls so you can use tollway to avoid any unnecessary traffic.

i once asked the thai embassy in Hong Kong if i could apply for the Non O there.  they didn't offer a Non O based on retirement.  i was visiting Hong Kong at the time and went to the thai embassy in person.  i'd obtained a tourist visa there previously.  this was about 7 yrs ago.  

in the US, i think the thai consulate in LA was issuing them for a short time.  but i think they stopped doing it.  maybe check their website for the current info.  they do offer the OA.

if you want to avoid the ban, talk to an agent.  they can often take care of the issue.  it does take some time so if you are flying out next week, probably need to delay the flight. and probably need to pay at least 50,000thb for the service.  in some cases, i believe getting a new passport is required but that may be for very long overstays.

there is a group of bars that are owned by a person that has been given the nickname 'the arab'.  i've heard he's actually persian and possibly has american citizenship.  so i'm not sure how the nickname started.  midnite, which is referred to here in this thread, is one of them.  these bars usually have some pretty girls standing out front so new visitors might be tempted to go in (most of the other bars don't use girls outside to lure customers inside).  the locals know not to bother.  bad things usually happen.  if this story did happen, it likely happened in this group of bars.  just use google to find out the bar names if you are interested.  the arab has been discussed widely on thailand specific sites.

i went there a few times.  i thought it was a decent place to go if you want to spend some time by the river.  i've been to a few other places by the river and they weren't for locals, that's for sure.  drink on the patio at the mandarin oriental, a table near a window with river view at icon siam, etc...  some restaurants along the river get booked up weeks in advance.  i thought aisatique was kind of a poor man's way to get riverside !!  unless you want to drink canned beer standing up on a dock somewhere.  i don't make it over there very often so maybe i've missed the 'local, non touristy places'.

i recently departed BKK via fast track and went airside to get to the immigration hall with the re-entry permit.  they now have a sign posted on a support column viewable from the airside ramp going into the hall.  with an arrow pointing to the direction of the office.  it isn't the largest sign but it does imply that getting these after you are stamped out is not a big deal.  despite thoughts to the contrary by some.

if i read these recent posts correctly, at DMK, the permit office is after you get stamped out at DMK.   so getting the permit after stamp out doesn't seem to be an issue.

at BKK, i went through the fast track at TG check in (business class area).  and the guy ahead of me went straight to the re-entry permit office.  i trailed him the whole way from check-in.  so it seems to be fairly common practice for some.

i'm not sure how many 'stamped' pages are in your passport, but i have typically provided only the face/details page, the relevant Non O stamp page, and the most recent entry stamp page.  i use one of the copy shops downstairs at CW and the gals that work there seem to know what needs to be copied.

i've never been asked for a 90 day report but often i've not been in the country for 90 days when i'm getting the extension.  last time (oct 2022) i did do a 90 day the prior month and was not asked for the slip about two weeks later (when doing the extension).

i'm going to manila for a week in feb.  i've been there many times.  i don't bother with Angeles.  i like to stay in fort bonafacio area of manila.  aka Bonafacio Global City (BGC).  it is all modern and new, unlike other areas of manila.  easy to walk around.  no transport needed.  nice hotels, restaurants, bars, etc...  you can get to p burgos street in 10-15 minutes via taxi after 8pm or so (traffic not bad then).  it is close to the airport if you decide to make a sidetrip to beach areas like boracay.  i hated manila until i discovered BGC through a friend.  there are youtube videos of the area (of course there are !!!).  take a look.

edit:  for entry to the PI, you have to fill out an online Health Declaration Form.  it can only be done 3 days in advance of the flight, i haven't done mine yet.  if you are vaxxed, you don't need to do any testing.

1 hour ago, kinyara said:

The renewal falling in line with Sep/Oct, so build the 3 month lead time into that. I decided to do mine late May for annual travel reasons and I've never experienced any big log jam, usually numbers tail off post Songkran. As you highlight avoiding the first week in May is key due to holidays. ( another added this year ), so I always go the second week.

the end of May is not bad.  it is the first two weeks that aren't so good, holidays in the beginning and the middle.  mine was May 31 and i always waited until the end of the month.  now i have October 31, the second half of the month isn't all that good (holidays) so i do it first week.  

7 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

This might not be such a great idea anymore. On Jan 27 2023 I left BKK on a flight to Tokyo and then onto Los Angeles.

 

I arrived at 0430 and check-in at the ANA counter was completed at 0600.  The line was long and slow.  I waited in line for 80 minutes and the actual check-in process took 10 minutes. This might the norm at BKK now.  I then went through security and immigration.  This took an additional 20 minutes.  I got to the gate at 0635.  By now boarding had started.  This is why I always get the reentry permit at immigration. 

 

I did not have any time to even stop for a cup of coffee or even get something to eat. 

 

On this day all check-in lines for international flights were long and moving slowly.  

 

 

 

 

 

i know what you mean.  years ago i flew alot in econ and always got the permit at immigration.  i got the multi as i had to fly out of the country every month or two, that was back before the crackdown on too many visa exempt entries.

On 1/26/2023 at 1:03 AM, Mike Teavee said:

I just get a Multi Re-entry with my annual extension (Pay an agent 8k to do all of my extension paperwork/running around for me + another 4K for the multi re-entry permit) 

 

I'm just one of those guys who if I didn't have a re-entry permit, I would go through the "Standard Channel" with my Business Class ticket to get one, "Walking Back" behind the scenes (as has been commented before) is just "Bad Form" to me... 

 

 

Hey.. To Each His Own  ???? 

 

like i said, i was same as you.  i've got the multi at immigration.  i've gone through the standard channel on a business ticket, bypassing the fast track, to get the permit.  but once i was informed here on this forum that you can get one after being stamped out, that all changed.  i will say i almost forgot to get one once, if the immigration officer didn't mention it, i probably would have forgotten about it.  might of remembered at the gate and had to run back to the permit office !!

2 hours ago, kinyara said:

I decided is was a good opportunity to open an additional bank account during COVID when business activity in Pattaya was at an all time low and immigration was devoid of tourists, there are ways and means of helping yourself minimise official hassles with a bit of planning. 

 

I'd always recommend anyone going to be based in Pattaya contemplating retirement to ensure their initial Non O is obtained in Sep/Oct. 

if you get a Non O in Sep/Oct, doesn't that mean you do you the one year extension 3 months later, in the peak of high season ?  i think you want to do the one year extension in Sep/Oct which means get the Non O three months prior.  May is a bad month for extension renewals also, alot of holidays in that month (i had May for a few years, now i have October).  June is a pretty good month for renewals.

SOHO pizza soi 11 is the best pizza in bkk.  i've had alot of pizza in bkk over the last 15 yrs.  SOHO is #1 for me.  

On 1/24/2023 at 8:35 PM, richard_smith237 said:

Not so...  Just tell them (at Fast Track Immigration) that you also want a ‘re-entry permit’ they will take you round the back (behind the immigration counters) to the re-entry permit desk....  so you’ll still get through security quicker etc... 

 

 

 

i might be wrong but i think there are two fast track lanes (not counting the special check in for thai airways business class).  one of them is connected to the hall that has the permit desk, it is an easy, short walk and you never leave the immigration area to get to the permit desk.  at least that is how i remember it (but maybe i was using the TG lane, it was awhile back).  but more recently, i've used the fast track near the higher letters in the alphabet (check in counters) and there, i have to leave the immigration area, enter the terminal airside and walk to the other hall with the permit desk.   so i've gone totally outside of the immigration area.

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

I obtain my reentry permits at DMK and BKK. 

I don't use fast track at BKK. 

 

As for the rest of your post congratulations. 

My post was from reading other experiences in many threads on this at BKK using fast tract then crossing back for reentry permit.

 

Yes it works. Yes sometimes (your example) no unfavorable reaction.

 

I can assure you that's not always the case. 

 

just accept it.  i know it is hard.  but it is true.  immigration officers are ok if you have to get it after the fact.  they don't need it to process your exit.  if it was not desirable, why have they never said anything to me about it ?  they say nothing.    

21 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

In my defense in most countries you would not be able to access "Land Side" services when you were "Airside" Or to put it another way, the moment the IO stamps your Exit from Thailand you're considered as having left Thailand so to access a service in Thailand, then technically you are in the country illegally... 

 

 

But thanks for being the 3rd person to point that out to me, I had already acknowledged the guy who said you could do this, ME, wouldn't dream of even trying to do it so I get my re-entry permit before I go to the airport.

 

 

 

 

years ago, i was the same as you.  get the permit at CW in bkk, not a big deal for me to go out there, my schedule isn't full.  i fly business class often and figured i had no chance to go through that lane and then get the permit.  some things are a little messed up in thailand and i figured that was one of them (use fast track but blocked from the permit area).  but i was told on this forum that it isn't a problem.  i took the risk and it paid off nicely.  since then i've done it alot, as i noted in a post above, i've even done it in the departure hall that has the permit desk (flying econ).  the line was short so i got stamped out first and then got the permit.

in the USA, at LAX, i got interrogated by the CBP guys years ago.  they made it very clear that i wasn't in the USA until i got stamped in.  so i then asked, 'if you arrest me for something now, does it make a difference whether i'm stamped in or not ?'  they got upset with that question !!!  i don't think it did make a difference.