jimster

On 6/13/2018 at 2:45 PM, seajae said:

until the police start to go out on the roads and enforce the law it will never change, they just let people do as they please on the roads, they need patrol cars and bikes with officers that actually pull them over and issue tickets which are enforced, will never happen here 

Well Thai driving standards are, contrary to what those on bar stools claim improving over time. They are certainly better than 10 or 20 years ago.

There is greater enforcement of road rules than there used to be, but still very rare. Too much effort is put into putting up speed cameras (only on some major highways) that can only catch cars, trucks and buses (but not motorcycles, because the cameras are rear facing) but almost zero effort is put into enforcing other more serious driving infractions like following too closely, dangerous driving (such as weaving in and out of traffic), driving against the flow of traffic (extremely dangerous), drink driving (some effort is put into this, but it's far from enough) and many others.

On 5/4/2018 at 4:13 PM, chado said:

I'm not retired and not over 55
this year? A youtube blogger shot a video  a couple of months ago. And the fact it was well possible to  get 1 year biz visa easily by paying $300. He's knowlegeble in this very topic.  

I understand the rules changed in September of last year. I even asked in Siem Reap when I was there just a few days ago. What PhuketRichard stated is correct - 6 months EG visa is possible without any documents (for $162 or thereabouts, which is the same price as the EB extension is/was). However, within this 6 month period (or 7 months including the initial 1-month ordinary visa) either you have to find work and a willing sponsor or start a business. Otherwise, you will have to leave the country.

I presume you could probably just get another ordinary visa and second EG extension and keep doing that for a while (in case you can't find work or want to hang around, work online or whatever). It's untested right now as the laws just changed, but given that many "expats" in Thailand did just that with tourist visas for many years and it remains possible to do so to some extent and keeping in mind Thailand's visa rules are much more stringent than those of Cambodia, I can imagine you could easily get away with doing this (ordinary visa + EG extension, visa run, new ordinary visa + EG extension) and repeat without any issues. There are expats based in Vietnam that do this, over there it's possible to spend up to 9 months in the country before needing to do a visa run. Some agencies can still issue a 12-month visa and there may be ways of extending this through an agency. Of course anyone with legitimate work and a work permit doesn't need to go in an out - I'm referring to people not working (or not working legally) and retired folks (as there is to my knowledge no retirement visa in Vietnam, please correct me if I'm wrong).

On 2/28/2018 at 1:45 PM, siam2007 said:

there used to be a low (and unbearably hot) season between May and September, but with the Chinese invasion of Cambodia in full swing, there is not much of a low season anymore. Still, hotel rates tend to be a lot lower during those months (but did I mention it is HOT as hell then?) 

Correct, although there are always tons of westerners (farang) too, irrespective of time of year. Not just Chinese.

Not much demand for flights ex Bangkok to Sihanoukville aside from a few westerners who have moved on from Thailand to Cambodia. Perhaps eventually but for now it's mostly domestic traffic, though there is (surprisingly) a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (which begs the question, what attracts Vietnamese to SHV but not Thais?) and a number of charter flights from China (seems like Chinese tourists will go almost anywhere these days).

There are now direct flights from Bangkok to Phu Quoc in Vietnam. However, this flight exists because Thais are more interested in traveling to Vietnam than a relatively run down place like SHV, with little to offer that differs from or is more attractive than a Thai beach resort. Other than Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloen (both quite nice, but not anymore special than dozens of similar islands in Thailand) even SHV beaches kinda suck. Everything except beer tends to be more expensive, driving/riding in SHV often gets you pulled over by the police (especially if you're driving/riding a car/bike from Thailand or Vietnam).

On 6/15/2018 at 11:08 AM, Orton Rd said:

They need to forget the boring and unnecessary grammar lessons, even I don't know what half of it means.

True. Even after all these grammar lessons, very few Thais can form a grammatically correct sentence. The vast majority, even those who speak reasonable English still have trouble with tenses (for example, 2 car instead of 2 carS) and they say things like "I ever been to Phuket" a statement which doesn't make any sense in English.

5 hours ago, OmarZaid said:

Is it really the case that the Thai police are more corrupt or incompetent than the Cambodian police? 

 

It seems so   or less tolerant ...

Not sure about that - there are regular posts here on TV about the police rounding up Africans on overstay and for illegal activities. Problem is that when one bunch are rounded up and deported, a new bunch come in to replace them.

Also, Cambodia is now finally, after many years of dragging it's feet cracking down on long-term visas. The days of being able to extend your "business" visa at infinitum without any documents required other than your passport, a photograph and the required fee are over. Now a work permit or business license is required to get a one year extension. Without these, the best most foreigners can hope for now is a one time 6 month extension informally called a "looking for work" type G extension, after which you need to leave the country or have a work permit to get the one year extension. Still a far cry from Thailand's more restrictive visa rules, but it will weed out a large amount of the riff raff, gradually at least.

6 hours ago, bkkgriz said:

Ah, you must be from one of those western countries that have no history. Glass houses and all.

So you're saying the US didn't do anything bad to Cambodia? Sorry but what the US did in Cambodia during the 60s and 70s is shameful and is something that should be condemned in the strongest terms possible.

People still go on about WW2 and Germany all day long. Why is US involvement in Cambodia, which occurred for longer and happened more recently than the events of WW2 less significant in your eyes? Is it because you feel Cambodia is an "inferior" country? Says a lot about you and seems like a disgusting double standard.

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I think it depends on what you feel you'll need in the future, and what things are more/most important to you.

 

I think most guys are are unlikely to end up with any Thai woman who's particularly intellectual in the western kind of way. Interest in politics, world affairs, philosophical debates, etc etc?  I think, generally not. Interest in cooking, food, clothes-fashion, Thai TV and soap operas, most likely YES! 

 

Now, that might sound bad... But, what if that same person also was kind, good-hearted, honest, pleasant demeanor, family oriented, affectionate, maybe not book smart but Thailand life smart?  That might help even out the equation some. Of course, not all Thai women have those qualities. But if you can find one that does, can you get by with that and let the other things go?

 

BTW, I wouldn't be overly concerned about the massage parlor stint. Depending on what city she worked in in that trade, a lot of the business might be hand or mouth oriented, as opposed to the full-on kind of stuff. So, there's at least that to consider. Plus, she may well have honed her skills during that employment.

 

    

 

You make some good points, but men and women are different (despite what the liberal western media would have you believe). Seriously, how many western women prefer talking about politics and world affairs as opposed to what happened on the Bold and the Beautiful, posting baby pics on Facebook and talking about cooking and general gossip with their girlfriends?

If you want to talk about politics as a male westerner, you're likely to find a good conversation partner in other westerners and sometimes Thai men. But not women, irrespective of nationality.

On 6/17/2018 at 12:02 AM, Rc2702 said:

The last time I spoke to a farang was in Vientiane doing a visa run.

 

I spoke to 4 chaps.

 

1. Old army veteran, chatted to him for 10 minutes. He confirmed in the 1st minute he had killed someone. He also confirmed 4 times that he knew he talked a lot. I actually believed what he said and yes he talked a lot about himself.

 

2. One chap that asked me twice what number I was in queue.

 

3. A guy who seemed ok but he then began talking about the end of the world like he knew it was happening in 2019. Loudly in the queue.

 

4. English guy young, dirty, was literally only talking to people to announce "I work online" was very funny as he asked what one guy does, guy answers and says next " you should check out pai" English guy automatically assumes the guy asked him what he does and says " I work online"

 

That was 2nd June. 

 

I have not spoken to a farang since.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geez there must be a lot of riff-raff applying for Thai tourist visas the Vientiane embassy these days. Last time I needed a visa from there was a few years ago and I actually met a very interesting American fella. I showed him around Vientiane for the rest of the day on my motorcycle and we exchanged contact details. Haven't seen or heard from him since, but he certainly livened up the day for me.

I've had the opposite problem. On occasion, while using a VPN Thai Visa doesn't open. Nearly every other website is fine. When I disconnect the VPN Thai Visa starts working again.

On 5/5/2018 at 10:43 PM, wvavin said:

This should not have happened if laws are properly enforced! Very sad indeed.

Laws, LOL. We need more laws! Sorry, but the law won't help after the fact. Some countries have very strict drink driving laws yet some people still choose to drink and drive and kill others. And yes I realize that if law enforcement were strengthened it would deter drink driving more. But it wouldn't eliminate it altogether.

What was lacking here was common sense. Common sense is VERY uncommon among a large segment of Thai drivers. That and a lack of judgment, as well as poor driving skills.

On 5/4/2018 at 3:13 PM, chippendale said:

Life is cheap.

 

500 Baht and a wai.

There was a guy who drove at high speed into a motorcycle ridden by a Myanmar migrant worker a year or two back. The guy attended the funeral and gave the family 1000 Baht. The family was outraged at this pathetic gesture. I'm sure he also gave them a sorry "wai".

22 hours ago, NoMeAmes said:

I have observed quite the opposite with the dark-skinned men. Seems like they always spot each other when out and about, and acknowledge each other with either a nod, a smile, a "hey!" or a "hey brother!". Doesn't matter whether they're from Nigeria, Kenya, Belgium, USA, or even Thai (when I walk with my half black-half white friend around ekamai, this half Thai-half black school boy always notices him and one day my friend nodded at the boy and he nodded back). Please excuse the terms that I used that may or may not be correct where you're from. I don't know what other word(s) would be appropriate. I just thought that this pattern of behavior is quite pleasant. A sort of "brotherhood" because they all share similar skin color and ethnicity, that it doesn't matter where they're from, they still acknowledge each other instead of ignore or run away from each other like OP's story. 

Yes I've noticed the same. Very occasionally a black guy acknowledges me and I acknowledge him simply because we're both foreigners. I appreciate the gesture. A black person acknowledging the presence of another black person in a country like Thailand could also be, other than perceived kinship due to the fact that they are a very small minority here, much smaller than westerners.

Although I have occasionally seen black people in unlikely places like Isarn and northern Thailand, on average I don't have to look very hard and can spot a westerner almost anywhere in Thailand - from petrol (gas) stations along the highway to rural areas and small border crossings with neighboring countries, westerners are everywhere it seems! Earlier this month I saw a westerner riding a motorcycle with sidecart, had his dog with him coming from a local Thai-Cambodian border crossing that is not yet open for foreigners. Was he also there, like me, to enquire about when the border will open to foreigners? Just 20km later, another westerner was walking along the highway about 20km south of Aranyaprathet. Normally one only sees farang in Aranyaprathet city, particularly around the border crossing and not in a rural area like I was in.

But yeah it is kind of funny to see black people here automatically seeking each other out and becoming friends, just because they have the same skin color. To most westerners, this is something that should be avoided because we've been taught it's "racist" to associate only with our own kind, LOL. Perhaps this helps to explain why many a westerner runs away from another westerner. Of course there are, as I have pointed out before many unsavory types but it's not fair to paint everyone with the same brush. I certainly don't judge people until I've actually had a conversation with them and know a little bit about them. Equally of course, there are many westerners I avoid like the bar stool types in Pattaya - they can be trouble. Then again I don't go to girly bars so I won't meet these types of people unless I see them in the local Tesco Lotus or something.

11 minutes ago, rumak said:

also dismissing the fact that so many of us have easily opened accounts as being out of touch with

how things are now....just because YOU had trouble..... might explain some things about your attitude

as well.    banks, and govt institutions do not like attitude.    just sayin

Yes true. Although being able to speak/read and write Thai, knowing the requirements for opening an account (check the banks website and print it out, preferably in Thai only or both Thai and English) and if possible, opening an account at the bank's head office in Bangkok or another branch in a place where lots of tourists visit/expats live such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai or Phuket helps. The OP mentioned Ubon which is an out of the way sort of place with no many westerners.

33 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, it took my wife and me a full month to do a proper round trip through Myanmar and Myawaddy-Mandalay in a day is not what I want. The LHD has the advantage of overtaking ? 

Both the minder and the guide will be history soon in Myanmar; give it another few years. A guide though can be helpful as Burmese is not a language I master, neither spoken nor written ? 

Sure. I wouldn't recommend it either. Just saying it can be done. I have also done Hpa-an-Yangon-Pyin Oo Lwin (totalling 965km) in one day (this was with a car and driver). We had a meeting in Yangon hence the detour there and had to be in Pyin Oo Lwin for another series of meetings the next day. It was a long, long day and we only arrived at 2.30am. Our driver was actually a rather slow driver - if it was your average Myanmar driver I'm sure we would have made it by 1am instead.

I hope that both the minder and guide will be history eventually and hopefully sooner rather than later.

However, what is keeping this requirement in place are security issues. Many parts of Myanmar are still unsafe and closed to foreigners. Having a government minder ensures you don't venture somewhere you aren't supposed to. Such as northern Rakhine state, northern and parts of central Shan State, many parts of Kachin state, some parts of northern and south-eastern Kayin (Karen) state and various other areas.

Unless by some miracle all conflicts in the country were to end within the next few months, then I doubt this requirement will change anytime soon. Perhaps however, if the government were reasonable they could allow unsupervised travel by car around the open areas while still restricting travel to the restricted areas. Putting up English signs at roadblocks to these areas would thus deter any attempt to enter them. I don't think the Myanmar government has the foresight to do this at this time, it's much easier for them to just restrict all foreign vehicles from driving away from the border areas and it also generates quite a bit of revenue for the government too.

On 6/12/2018 at 10:13 AM, Sydebolle said:

As far as I got it they just number the alphabet (pun intended); so done with my cars. 
2nd letter on the Thai alphabet = 2nd letter on the Latin alphabet
Unclear though is what happens after letter 26th Thai alphabet as the Latin version has run out of options. I do not have a car with such high Thai letters so I do not know ........  

They use numbers for the characters after the 26th Thai alphabet, as there are only 26 characters in the Latin alphabet, but 44 in the Thai alphabet. For example, the 27th Thai character is "1", the 28th is "2" and so on.

On 6/15/2018 at 12:02 PM, stevenl said:

Never seen those Burmese military trucks here, be very interested in seeing a photo of that.

If they exist we're talking either show vehicles or vehicles that were brought in by the Myanmar government as part of a bilateral agreement and probably part of a government convoy for the purposes of a meeting between Thai and Myanmar officials, this is allowed under the DLT rules.

It is absolutely not possible for a Burmese plated vehicle to travel independently inside Thailand, heading away from the border areas. However, being military vehicles they must have entered as mentioned as part of a bilateral agreement.

12 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

The only bridge between Myanmar and Laos, opened some three years ago, is still not open to traffic hence Lao vehicles in Myanmar cross via PR China or Thailand. 

Myawaddy - Mandalay is not possible in one day, the (only) road between Myawaddy and Kyaikto takes a skilled driver five hours already as overtaking the slower Myanmar vehicles, right hand driven (Thai) car on a right hand driven road system does not facilitate driving either. 

The only "decent" road is the madness highway between Yangon and Mandalay, passing Nay Pyi Taw and that can be done in a day. Yet Myanmar is, road wise, not an A to B thing, the journey is the destination. If you want to go to Mandalay from Thailand (including Mae Sot or Mae Hong Son) then by far the quickest and cheapest is fly domestically (i.e. Nok Air) to Don Meuang and from there take Air Asia to Mandalay. 

The "minder" of the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism is an old fart by the Myanmar government; will be history anytime soon as totally unnecessary, costly and incompetent.  

My Myanmar friend regularly does Myawaddy - Mandalay in one day. I've only done Myawaddy-Naypyidaw in a single day. The former is a long haul of course, necessitating an early start but assuming you floor it on the Mandalay-Yangon expressway, get off at Waw and then from there to Myawaddy via Hpa-an and the new Kawkareik bypass road it's about 6 hours in addition to the time it takes from Mandalay to Waw (or vice versa heading in the other direction) totally it's probably around 12 hours.

He drives a RHD car, as do (still) 85-90% of Myanmar drivers. RHD/LHD - doesn't make much of a difference. A skilled driver can't drive faster just because he has LHD as opposed to RHD. On the Mandalay-Yangon expressway it makes 0 difference being a dual carriageway road.

Lao vehicles can't cross China to head into Myanmar; the border at Muse is closed to foreigners. Permits are sometimes issued but not for a while as there has been fighting in Muse recently and before that Kokang. The entire northern Shan region north of Lashio has been largely closed to foreigners since 2015. Secondly, Lao plates entering China can only go as far as Sipsongbanna without a guide. In the past they were allowed to travel all over China by requesting permission at each provincial boundary but that loophole ended some years back. The few Lao vehicles entering Myanmar can only enter and exit Myanmar via Thailand. Only Thailand has legal overland crossings to Myanmar for the time being.

What do you mean "will be history soon"? The minder or the requirement to have a guide when driving your own vehicle into Myanmar?

90-95% of all Burmese registrations now have Latin license plates. I go to Myanmar very regularly on business, last trip was just 3 weeks ago. 3 years ago it might have been only 50% or so and 5 years ago 10%.

1 minute ago, phuketrichard said:

like i said there are a few Burmese trucks down here on the island,,(even one hummer) all running Burmese plates

 

All the bikes i have rented over the passed 3 years in Mandalay ( 2 were brand new) had Burmese number plates.

Any pics?

They can come on tours, but without escort - highly unlikely (at least I'd be extremely surprised as I've never heard of that being possible for Burmese). Also, where would they have come from? There is no car ferry at Kawthoung that I am aware of. Nearest border to drive across would either be Dan Singkorn or more likely Phu Nam Ron. A long long way from Phuket!

20 hours ago, digbeth said:

Do they still insist on local escort when Driving into Laos?

 

When Thailand had too much problems from Chinese driver and cars driven down from Chiang Rai last year they made Thai tour/guide escort compulsory now, even for motorcycles too 

Yes those rules came into effect on June 27, 2016 requiring prior entry permission. Then last year the guide and escort became mandatory as of March 2017. For Laos no need. Perhaps in the distant past yes (20? years ago perhaps)?

However, there is an escort requirement to ride a foreign registered motorcycle that enters from Thailand into Laos now at most border crossings. Some Lao/Viet borders are also prohibiting Vietnamese bikes across especially if ridden by foreigners. Also, a minimum number of motorcycles must enter - 1 or 2 is not allowed anymore. Only one border still allows one to enter and ride without an escort as long as there are no more than about 3 or 4 motorcycles entering together.

23 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

I'm not talking of day trips, for that you dont need a car nor an ITP as crossing by public transport (whatever is available) is easier and cheaper. For Myanmar I needed a visa and the car needed an approval from Yangon. And, as pictured, I would not be able to drive all the way up to Mandalay's Mingun Bell and back in one day ? 

Cambodia is a more difficult thing at the moment - if you go officially. The Ministry of Transportation issues, against something like USD 500, a transport permit allowing you to be in Cambodia for X days/weeks, entering X and leaving X or Y, driven by Z.  

 

There are many reasons to cross by car on day trips. Shopping, bringing in supplies or buying supplies to bring back to Thailand etc. depends on your personal situation. I run businesses on both sides of the border hence crossing by car makes sense to me, even with the one day restrictions. For most other people it's much easier to walk across the bridge or take a taxi across (same situation at Mae Sai, though the bridge is shorter there).

Sure. I have made many enquiries about driving into Myanmar in my own vehicle. It's quite simple these days, just pricey, which is why I haven't done it yet - I would be highly tempted if the price was 50% cheaper and only one guide (rather than 2) were required.

Traveling via the Kengtung-Taunggyi road is also possible depending on the security situation. About a year ago it wasn't allowed, I know one group of Lao vehicles that exited and re-entered Thailand at Mae Sot because of this. Now it seems to be OK again.

You drove from where to Mandalay and back? From Myawaddy to Mandalay in one day is possible, but surely not a return trip in one day!

I have some Thai friends who regularly cross the border to Myanmar with their Thai cars with no official permission. One of them even drove through the Mae Hong Son border to Loikaw without a tour! He knows some Karen army generals who facilitated his journey. He and his colleagues like many local Thais like to take a shortcut by driving from Ban Phob Phra to Nong Luang district in Tak province, cutting through Myanmar territory rather than taking the winding road up the mountain on the Thai side. Many unofficial crossings also take place from Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces to Shan State.

Overall I would not recommend any of this (especially as a foreigner), but many local Thais with connections are able to drive a certain distance into Myanmar without issue.

15 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

there was a guy/tour agent on fb that was able to arrange the OFFICIAL document from PP,  needed to enter Cambodia officially and legally,

$80

He needed u send him copies of ur blue book, photos of car, ur passport copy,which border u were crossing and he would mail all paperwork by ems back to u in Thailand.

 

Laos is easy, never needed a guide/escort ( been in an out of Laos a few times since 2012) or permits except those issued at the border.  all u need is ur cars purple passport and u can even buy insurance at the border...

 

Sydebolle

I'd love to know how u got permission to drive between Kengtung and Taunggyi as its closed to individual travelers, Only know people on tours that have done it

so i assume u were on a tour as Mae sot to Mingun is over 1, 450 kms away...

FYI  all Burmese cars/motorcycles  have seen have Burmese letters/numbers ( there a few Burmese military trucks here in Phuket) and for on all the bikes i have rented in Burma 

 

 

thai cars, ( right hand drive) only allowed in if on a tour

What do you mean by Burmese military trucks in Phuket? Burmese registered cars and trucks aren't allowed to travel beyond the border crossing they entered. Thai customs are very strict on this and have always been - besides, going in the other direction only the border areas allow you to drive a Thai car in without any documents. Unless you are referring to Burmese trucks no longer used in regular traffic. Nowadays nearly all Burmese vehicles have Latin characters which have replaced the old Burmese letters and numbers in the last 5 years. For example, 1C-2344 KYN (Kayin). Or 3A-8888 YGN (Yangon) etc.

There is are some loopholes in the Vietnamese regulations. Entry without a tour via Ha Tien is possible, according to numerous posters on Facebook and overlanding forums. Thai, Malaysian and even Australian bikes have successfully entered there. Cars I'm not sure (though probably not). Officially you need a tour - RHD or LHD makes no difference. The only cars allowed to enter Vietnam by themselves are Lao and Cambodian registrations. The latter are only allowed to travel within the border provinces though I have occasionally seen them further away, such as in Nha Trang.