alykev8892

hello,

Need info regarding transportation between new Bangkok airport and Pattaya. Is there a direct bus that goes to the north Pattaya bus station, and what is the cost? what is the cost to use a taxi to Pattaya?

I lived in Pattaya for 2 years and moved here to the Philippines and stored my household goods with a company called International Cargo in Pattaya. I am probably putting the "cart before the horse" already but has anyone here in this forum ever done business with this company? Any complaints? Anything good about the company? I am still waiting to see but have reason to be slightly worried right now.

I just returned from Cagayan de Oro, Phil, and have decided to move there to live in retirement. I have been in Thailand on back-to-back tourist visas and border runs for over 3 years. My Yankee dollar seems to go further in the Phil where they still have Carlsberg at only 19 pesoes or 13.50 baht per can! Even have American Miller Geniune Draft beer at 15.50 baht. But price comparision is another story.

I was considering bringing my Filipina girlfriend here to enjoy Pattaya for a few months before we pack up my room and ship it off to Cebu, Philippines. I am retired and have a monthly pension so am not concerned with doing a few more border runs to Poipet. But ..... what about her? We are not married yet and I am concerned that Immigration may give her a problem since she is dependent upon me for her income. I could use some advice please? And if anyone would like to discuss anything about CDO, Phil with me feel free to let me know.

I went to the US Embassy, Bangkok, in May of this year and did the sworn statement. Though I presented a copy of my pension statement and my bank account statement, the consular officer paid no attention to them and asked no questions of me .... very easy. They are only taking a sworn statement from you and notarizing it and they are not doing any verification of your paperwork at all. The same applies for the marriage affidavit which is used to state that you are free to marry. There is no verification of your actual marriage status whatsoever. Kinda wonder now if I should have stated a higher monthly income instead! I believe the fee was $32 first sworn statement, $20 for each additional statement.

I just returned tonight from my 3d straight run to Poipet for a 30-day stamp. I also have 3 years' worth of tourist visas in my passport from Vientiane but I had no problems, no questions, nothing ... and there were no signs posted regarding cash requirements.

Actually, I did this 30-day permit thing because I was kind of burned out from going again to Vientiane ... been doing that for 3 years now. I always applied for tourist visas everytime I went there and even got a double entry one recently. But there were 2 times when I was actually given a non-immigrant visa! I do not understand that at all because I specified a tourist visa knowing I cannot qualify for the NI visa since I am not married to my Thai girl friend and my affidavit from the US Embassy showed my income is not enough for the "retirement" option. Anyway .... since it called for me to stay 2 nights in Vientiane, the 15th being a Sunday, I just decided to give the SAL 30-day run a try. Will probably go back to Vientiane again on Sep. 13th and do my usual tourist visa run again.

My thanks for every body's input to my question! I decided to go with SAL and get a 30-day stamp at the Poipet border crossing last Sunday. We left Beach Road at Soi Post Office at 7:10 am and returned about 5:30 pm. No real complaints about the service at all. The assistants did every single thing for us ... getting the Cambodia visa, stamping out of Thailand, stamping into Cambodia and out again .... we only had to do our individual thing at the Thai Immigration windows coming back into Thailand. Now that is some real hand-holding!

But I have to say that the entire border crossing area seemed kind of chaotic with so many trucks and carts moving back and forth, and beggars everywhere. It was a far cry from the orderly, clean Immigration Checkpoint at the Mekong River in Nong Khai .... but a good experience nonetheless. Bottom line, if I go to Poipet for another 30-day, will use SAL Tours again.

Has anyone here used Sea-Air-Land Agency's service to the Cambodia border for a visa re-entry run? Their ad shows 2000/2500 baht for a bus/minibus respectively. Are there any other charges to be aware of and is this agency reliable? Mr. Boon offers a similar servcie but I will stay away from him after seeing the bad press in here regarding that agency. I have to exit the border on Sunday, 15th, and thought a 30-day stamp may be in order this time rather than having to stay 2 nights in Vientiane for the usual tourist visa. Thanks for any input!!!!!!!!!!!

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with storing their personal household goods with a local moving company here. The cost per month? Reliable? Anything stolen?

I have a delicate problem I need to stop sitting on and to address soon. Has anyone here had any experience with the Banglumung government hospital regarding minor surgical procedures? I was treated for a kidney stone early this year and could not believe how cheap it was .... less than 300 baht for lab work, medicine, injection, and doctor. So I was considering maybe going there for my one delicate problem. Just wondering if anyone else ever used that hospital fro anything such as my problem and their experience. Am afraid to try the private hospitals for fear of the final bill.

"I will be going to the U.S. Embassy to get my letter stating Im not broke and have a U.S. income to show the Thai Consulate... Does anyone have any experiance with this??? Does the British Embassy have A letter like this??? "

Mai Krap, I did that at the US Embassy, Bangkok, mid-May before going on my next visa run to Vientiane. It cost 1,200 baht if my memory is correct. I filled out a form stating my monthly income was $xxxx and gave the counselor officer my latest bank statement and pension statement (retired US government) and he notarized the form and end of story. I made copies of it and presented one with my application in Vientiane for another tourist visa (been here since Sep 2001 on back-to-back tourist visas). Guess the girl was impressed because she gave me a non-immigrant visa whereas my application was for the usual tourist visa. My stated reason was the same as before ..... for medical reasons and support of a Thai wife, though we are NOT legally married. My application indicated I am divorced which is still true. Anyway, hope that helps.

So my choice is to either register the marriage and extend my "O" visa or ... save the difference between my monthly pension and the 800,000 for a retirement visa. Am not sure if I am ready to make this thing "legal" with my beloved mate yet. On the other hand, would need the time of probably 3 more visa runs to have that difference I need for a retirement visa. Wonder what will happen if I just show up again at the end of this 90 day period and apply for another tourist visa for same stated reasons as before .....

I just returned from another visa run to Vientiane which went smoothly and quickly considering past VRs there. I applied for another tourist visa and attached a copy of my pension affidavit from my embassy. I stated the usual reasons on the form, saying I was supporting a Thai wife and medical reasons. I checked the "divorce box" since I am in fact divorced. I did have the customary Thai ceremony but have not registered our marriage yet. So I consider her as a common-law Thai wife for now. The clerk asked me nothing but did mutter the word "O" when I went back to sit down. When I was called to pay my usual 1,000 for another tourist visa, it finally dawned on me the first clerk was giving me a non-immigrant type "O" visa instead, because the 2d clerk asked for 2,000 baht. I was flabbergasted and said nothing, paid the 2,000 and now I have a type "O" visa. But why????? Was she tired of seeing me every 3 months asking for the same tourist visa for the same stated reasons? Was she giving me a small hint that I better go register my marriage before the next VR and apply for an extension instead? Or was she cutting me some slack for a retirement visa since I am 54 .... but my pension falls a little short of the 800,000 per year, though it easily meets the 400,000 for supporting a Thai wife. Has this happened to anyone else? Am wondering if I can go back in 90 days and get another "O" again from her since the "O" is 2,000 for 90 days compared to 2,900 for the tourist with extension. Opinions please?????????????????????????

Thanks to everyone for the help. Will check these leads.

Can anyone direct me to a local business here in Pattaya that provides storage facilities for personal household goods? Perhaps a storage room of 5 by 10 feet size? Any idea of the monthly rental fee? I also have to worry if I am taking a chance of getting ripped off from all my personal possessions doing this.

When Thai Immigration says the new income requirement is 40,000 a month/400,000 a year, which can I go by? My pension is $14,520 a year or $1,210 per month. Depending on what Immigration uses for an exchange rate for US dollars, I will easily qualify for the 400,000 baht per year but perhaps not the 40,000 per month if they use 32 baht to the dollar. How did they determine 40,000 per month? 400,000 per year equates to 33,333 per month. So if the income were really based on 40,000 per month, that is really 480,000 per year. Just another confusing point!!! Does anyone know what Immigration uses as an exchange rate when converting US dollars to baht for this purpose?????

Just wanted to post my 2 cents' worth of info regarding my VR today to the new Thai Consular Office in Vientiane. From my guest house I used a tuk tuk to go to the old consul location to have my passport pages copied, then used the same tuk tuk to go to the new location ... paid 50 baht A previous post here listed the road name of the new location .... sorry, I forget. There is an info booth at the main gate of the new consular office. I got my application form and a number from the clerk there and she motioned me inside the compound to the waiting area where I filled out the form and returned it to her for affixing my 2 photos to the form. I went back to the waiting area and she soon collected a group of us and escorted us to the main building nearby where we all went inside to nice air conditioning and had seats. I was soon called to the front and was reminded that I need to bring a statement from the American Embassy next time verifying my monthly pension. I then stepped to the right immediately and paid my 1000 baht and out the door I was .... finished. I did have my Thai girl friend with me which may have helped in securing another tourist visa. It seems that as long as I could verify monthly pension income, I would have no problem with using tourist visas in the near future (knock on wood). I made no pretense as to being a tourist on the application form. I stated I was supporting a Thai national, namely my girl friend, and that I was also staying in Thailand for health reasons. No BS. Will return tomorrow afternoon to get my visa anc back to Pattaya via Bangkok. In summary, the consular office may have moved a little further away from most guest houses, but the long waiting lines were gone today for me. Everything was very organized and straight-forward .... what a relief. And love that ceiling in the main building!!!!

I am due for a new tourist VR to Vientiane, Laos, in early Feb and I am soliciting any feedback from others who have recently gone to Vientiane for a tourist visa. I got my last tourist visa there in August just before the price increase and ..... it was a 2-entry tourist visa! Lucky me.

Wait a minute ......better think again!!!! I saw a recent post whereas a guy who had been staying in Thailand on and off for many years was denied a visa in Manila because of "too many visas". If I can find the exact post I will copy it here for you. I had the same idea of going to Manila for a new tourist visa, but not anymore.

Thanks for the detailed input. I have done the Vientiane visa run for 2 years now and it gets worse every trip. Penang may be further from Pattaya than Vientiane, but perhaps it is time to try it my next visa run. I am wondering if you had to produce any bank statements, etc. in order to acquire a multiple entry tourist visa.

Hi stuccy ....

If I understand what you have said here correctly, you have been using a lawyer to get your new tourist visas for you rather than your leaving the country yourself to do this. And you have been going to a local immigration office to get the 30 day extensions? Do you actually have exit and entry stamps in your passport to "show" you have been leaving Thailand to do these tourist visas yourself? Contrary to your belief, if you have NOT been leaving Thailand to get a new tourist visa yourself, this is very much ILLEGAL and it may catch up with you if and when the time comes that you physically do an actual visa run. Have you read elsewhere in this forum what happens to other foreigners who have used visa agents to get their visas for them? It does not matter if your friend was a lawyer ... still not legal unless you have physically left Thailand to get the tourist visa yourself. Unless you can be 100% sure that your passport was sent out of Thailand and has all the appropriate exit and entry stamps to "show" you had left Thailand along with your passport for all these visa "runs", I would recommend you lose that passport and get a new one and do it the legal way and be sure to NEVER entrust your passport to anyone else for visas. You may very well wind up in the immigration detention center. I am also an American and have been here since August 2001 and I have been going to Vientiane, Laos, every single time doing my own visa runs. If you want information on my Vientiane visa run let me know. My gut feeling right now is you are going to be stopped at immigration when you actually leave Thailand yourself .... based on my understanding of what you said here about the lawyer doing your "visa run" for you. Best wishes.