CobraSnakeNecktie

Watson's at Kad Suan Kaew sells it.

A lot of studies have shown that Flax seed oil is as effective as Cod Liver Oil. Personally I prefer the former, being a vegetarian and all :-)

Buying flax seed in bulk is very cost effective too.

Unfortunately getting the flax seed in capsule form here in Thailand is (I believe) impossible so I just add Flax seed to my muesli mix

Rich

Aden in Chiang Mai sells what is supposed to be cold-pressed flax oil. It is in the fridge.

I tried some of the flax oil from Aden and its the real deal. can tell by the taste. fairly cost effective if you buy the large bottle.

Thanks Ulysses!!

Hi From what you say you are coming here to learn more skills and will not be earning therefore I would guess you would qualify for an Education Visa which takes the hastle out of it. I cant give you precise details but I know a lot of guys do this to come here and qualify as dive masters with diving clubs. If needed I could make some enquiries but Im sure somone else on the forum could elaborate.

if the school is registered with some ministry in Thailand then its a piece of cake to get a Non Imm "ED"

not sure if you have a letter from a school is not registered.

Not a theory

OK, so I had a long talk with the admissions officer at Payap myself and I have gone to school in bkk for 3 years, it is really quite easy.

Apply 500 bht

application fee wich is only filled out after everything is in order 6,400 bht

minimum tuition about 40,000 which you pay at the same time as the application fee

After that you wait a couple days for a letter signed by the pincipal or director, and that is all you need for your first year. You must take that letter to a embassy outside thailand to apply, dont worry, if you have the letter it is garaunteed.

When the next year comes around you pay simply to keep your status as a student, which is around 5,000 bht per year and you dont even have to leave the country to do it, just go to thai immigration and get a new stamp. You can be a student for a total of 8 years.

This is pretty exact for Payap uni. in Chiang mai, but I went to ramkhamhaeng for 2 years in bkk and did in fact continue my student status for a 3rd, then I moved to chiang mai.

I am sure many uni, all over thailand have very similar programs, honestly it is really easy and not expensive at all if you think about it in the long term.

Oh yeah and my tuition at ramkhamhaeng was only 26,000 baht, not too bad considering the next 8 years.

thanks for posting that info!!! shows the education avenue is a good one to check out.

Got a few photos from the northside of CM...

This was a place where I felt nervous this morning about 8am, close to my house. I found out about the Coup via the internet, when I first woke up, there was this 'Love the King' music playing on all the local Thai stations. I joked with my HK, "This is the same thing that hapened in 1991", meaning the last coup. Then, a guy came on tv and told the story, and it was 1991 all over again... I don't feel unsafe at all, so I shouldn't worry anymore than I did 15 years ago...

But, here they are guarding an intersection... I don't know why.

Then I was passed by these APC's heading towards the Nai Amphur.

Maybe for lunch..

And this is on Mae Jo road, north of outer ring road intersection. These two guys were backed up by a very large Howitzer- pointed straight at our cars...

So, it does look like it should.

how was your post edited?

I genuinely believe that despite any law changes commonsense will prevail and if you have enough money you will always be able to stay in LOS regardless of your visa status.

I am like a lot of people who come in for short periods of time but may make multiple visits over a few months.

I didn't know that you could get a multi exit visa on a thirty day VOA but if this is possible that could suit.

Those people who think that ridding Thailand of people who have been using the VOA on arrival as a permanent visa is going to shift the dregs out of Thailand need to think again.

It really doesn't take too much time effort or money to get another type of visa be it a business, marriage, retirement or work visa if you really do want to stay in LOS. And for those that don't want to do this they will just let their visas expire and hope that they don't get caught and if they do get caught they can pay their way out. It is all a bit ho hum ho hum.

And for those self righteous sanctimonious posters who think they are better becasue they are not on VOA visas gimme a break.

Thailand is the land of scams and dodgy dealings. Changing the way VOA visas are issuesdwill have no impact on what sort of farangs that come and stay in thailand and further will have no effect on the institutionalised corruption that is a hallmark of the Thai way of doing business. In fact it will probably if indeed goes ahead as mooted just offer more opportunities for corruption and a whole new sway of dodgy entrepreneurs and operators.

and the big question is now will a new government want to implement a change instituted by the Thaksin govt. Might just go back to business as usual for a while.

Why not just go to school?

I checked with Payap University in Chiang Mai. The have 4 degree programs that are taught in English.

I plan on enrolling next year and getting my bachelors in English Communication.

The only problem is you need some way to support yourself as well as pay for the course (10,000 USD or 400,000 baht).

So how does that work? Do you pay a deposit initially and get an invitation letter for immigration? Ho much is the deposit?

How long is the course? years etc? Is that price per year? or total?

The big impacts of this may be that it plays well in the short-term and the long term.

In the short-term, it is music to the ears of Thai voters, who, for many reasons, don't like Western 'sexpats'.

In the long-term (say, fifteen years) it give a message now to Western and Asian middle-class couples, aged 45 to 50 now, that (having got rid of the sleaze) Thailand is going to be a much nicer place to go for holidays, and to retire to.

That is good for Thailand, as such couples bring 'social capital', as well as 'monetary capital' to the country that they retire to.

In the middle-term, there may be a bit of lost business for breweries, bar girls, and border-run operators. But I don't think the Government will lose much sleep over that.

The the short term? These new Visa regulations are not even making it into the Thai press. If it was a big play for Thai voters then wouldn't the govt see fit to try to get it printed up? Perhaps its more for the international community of countries.

I do not understand all this trouble.

Make a legal Visa - and stay in Thailand as long as you want legally.

Non Immigrant -B- = Set up a company, apply for a work permit, and get a 1 year visa

Non Immigrant -O- = You are older than 50 year - you deposit THB 800.000 in a Thai Bank - and get your 1 year visa

Non Immigrant -O- = You marry a Thai lady - you deposit THB 400.000 in a Thai Bank - and get your 1 year visa

You not have to marry your gf - hundreds of Issaan ladies marry you only for visa matters - and your problem is solved too.

The sham marriage thing really sounds like a recipe for disaster. For one the Govt says its going to start checking some of the them. Randomly I guess. Also whats to stop a Issan girl etc from extorting money from you or turning you into authorities for brownie points or something?

.

You guys are forgetting that this does not apply to airport arrivals. Arrive at any Thai international airport and your stamps will not be scrutinized.

They are only after the land crawling - stay ten minutes in cambo and come back in - visa runners.

This was mentioned two or three times earlier or somewhere I dunno anymore.

w.

~

Haven't seen that in black and white so please do provide. Oh you can't, I didn't think so. You're just trying to blow smoke up everyone's arse

Yeah Sunbelt clarified this a little while back to say airport arrivals without a visa will receive a waiver stamp that counts toward the 3 in 180 rule.

A strategy as simple as obtaining 1 (one) single entry 60 day tourist visa followed by an extension and 2 or 3 border runs, then repeat, was never out of the question.

Please explain your scheme for a 60-day visa following by an extension and 2 or 3 border runs. The new rule says 'no more than 90 days in Thailand every six months'. That sounds pretty clear to me.

No it would have to be the 2 or 3 waiver stamps followed by a 60 tourist with 30 day extension. This way when you repeat the cycle with more border run waiver stamps its now been 6 months and the first waiver stamp is now falling out of the 6 month window. Ideally I think it would look better to only have proper tourist visa's stamps with no waivers in your passport when it come to applying for more tourist visa's.

This is all predicated on consulates issuing tourist visa's to individuals who have been in the kingdom physically and appearing to be a serial tourist.

It has been noted the 90 days in 6 months applies to 90 days of waiver stamps. Not 90 days of physical presence. If you had a 2 or 3 entry tourist visa time then right away your are entiltled to 180 to 270 days in Thailand and the 90 days in 180 rule would be at odds.

doesn't matter what law they came out, doesn't matter if they try to get rid of 30day runner or not, i will obey their law, my only question is why not issue 3entry, why stop that, i mean if i can't 3 i'll settle for 1, i pitty for Penang consualted that loose out on these entry, surely if i cannot get 3 entry and only 1entry, why would i have to go to Penang, i can go to Singapore, KL, Laos or even combodia they all issue single, no question ask.

You will obey Thai law???? Did you know Prostitution is against the law in thailand? and lots of other things too.

Its more realistic to be in line with what they see fit to enforce.

Paulbrun, read the writing on the wall, your 30 days stamps are over, get your retirement visa or look forward to being refused entry.

Not quite true .. the next "least hassled" step for a chronic "30 day Free enty" "Border Hopper" (Not a visa Runner .. as no Visa is involved in this case).. is simply to buy a 60 day Tourist Visa and extend .. and renew indefinatley.

No need for a Non Immigrant of any variety. No need to run out and marry the first poo ying you see either.

ALL PAID VISAS ARE UNAFFECTED. Like I said earlier .. I rang the Sydney Embassy yesterday .. and researched as many Embassy/Consulate sites on the net I could find.

END of Panic ... End of Story.

the thing that is unclear according to Sunbelt is if consulates will allow this type of serial tourist visa activity without getting suspicious and asking for documentation of not working in thailand etc. How do you prove a negative? I have money flowing into my bank account in the states and I make ATM withdrawls and spend it.

This is the big question. otherwise I and others could go to their country of origin or perhaps Malaysia and get tourist visa's to stay indefinitely. Sunbelt seems to think not for long before it would become tricky or denied to serial touists in the future.

I am just finishing a education study visa and will try a combo of tourist visa and waivers to stay here a little longer and then try moving to a country like Vietnam and perhaps come back for another 6 to 9 months down the road. My landlord is not going to be thrilled to lose me. I think if I came back to thailand down the road the rental prices might be lower. Does not make sense for me to rent a place I can only live in 6 to 9 months a year. I am under 50 and don't work in thailand. Time will tell. Maybe in a few years when I hit retirement age I might come back.

Been fun to experience this country but I am starting to see this new policy as a positive because I can go check out other countries. There are some nice ones out there to try living in

Vietnam. Dalat is considered the Chiang Mai of VN.

Malaysia, close enough to invade thailand now and then

India, some nice places for expats.

Chile. beautiful and cheap. friendly for expat business.

Argentina, very affordable and great nightlife

Costa Rica. better than hawaii and loves us yankees

Brazil. Great in the right places

Uraguay

I will keep coming back to thailand but don't have to live here all year. big deal :-)

They could do a lot of things, if they wanted. But what they have said so far, is 90 days for tourists, then go home, or elsewhere for 90 days. It has me scrambling to get an O visa, and application for a retirement visa on short notice. yes TIT

Ray

Ray check the quote from the above article

"Suwat also announced new rules that effectively limit to three months the total stay of Western tourists without visas"

the 90 days is for VOA's which are permission to stay without an issued visa. For tourists with real visa's issued from a consulate abroad then its business as usual.

Has the future of the tourist visa and how long you can stay in Thailand been explained or still uncertain? Penang has been ordered to stop issuing double-entry visas, yet you can still apply for single entries (90 days). After the initial visa is what remains questionable or how many consecutive single entries will be permitted?

At the present, there are options. I have not been there since 2001, but the Thai Consulate at Kota Bharu is apparently still providing double-entry visas for those up to the adventure crossing at Tak Bai Narathiwat Province. Definately contact them directly to confirm.

And to whom it applies, foreign Royal Consulates seem to be presently offering double-entry tourist visas, including Los Angeles. Immigration officials seem to encourage this option.

It is possible that these opportunities are being dwindled away.

well okay lets say you fly back to your home country and get a double tourist visa. That gives you 6 months with extensions. Then you should be able to get 2 or 3 Voa's. Then after 9 months fly back to your country of origin and repeat process. Bring back some cheap items from your country that are expensive here and sell them. Also stock up on some items you pay too much for here that are imported and he actual cost of all this on your bottom line would be just a little more than the old system.

If that is the offial statement, immigration police say a tourist may only stay in the country for 90 days, then must leave the country for 90 days. Seems pretty clear to me, tourists are now 90 days max.

Ray

I think its going to be 90 days of VOA via overland border checkpoints. If you have tourist visa then the 90 days does not start counting until your visa expires. Also a Nation article I read and something from Sunbelt said if you fly in then that VOA does not count toward your 90.

and thru all this the immigration people will have descretion.

What I think they have finally done smart is to take the revenue away from neighboring countries and charge internally. What I don't understand though is why not have a category of visa where the applicant just pays 20K baht for a year of no border runs. That would cover a lot of lost tax revenue.

They can make the person report every 90 days and take their picture or other biometrics and use the revenue to link their computers with Interpol etc and if there is a bad guy in LOS then its easy to track him down. The Thai government could become a model for global accountability if they wanted to but of course TIT.

CSN ---- it doesn't matter what you think .... if you are IN THAILAND and working ... Thai law is unambiguous .. you need a workpermit

RE POST 397 --- better look at the Thai Law ....

i study on the internet daily. am i entitled to a "study" visa?

Well first of all define working? Is actively managing a financial interest in another country defined as working? How would this be enforced? Lets say I was writing some code for a foreign investment interest or giving advice to my rental agent for my house in country XYZ? I need a working permit and then what?. Is this defined as working or managing an foreign assets?

lots of things are in the books but not enforced.

For example in most states in the US its illegal to play your sound system while the car is moving. Of course its not enforced except in outrageous circumstances.

Prostitution is Illegal in Thailand.. Did you know that?

CSN ---- it doesn't matter what you think .... if you are IN THAILAND and working ... Thai law is unambiguous .. you need a workpermit

thats nonsense. virtually every retired person here has an investment income which they actively manage that is earned and taxed somewhere else. If a person is logging onto their brokers site or writing a little code its all the same. It's earned and taxed in another country.

Do they make people with retirement visa's get work permits and tax their foreign income. They would lose their trade status with the states etc quick.

actually, i'm pretty sure it is perfectly legal to do what he is doing - he is not obtaining income in LOS. LOS doesn't have anything to say about it - in fact LIKES fellows like him. He does not need a Thai work permit to work in the US.

Did you get that advice from a "lawyer" on soi 4?

Our company lawyers(one of the largest firms in Thailand) would disagree with your position.

if he is being taxed in the US or somewhere else then yeah it has nothing to do with thailand. Take another example. lets say you rent your house in california. You deal with that income and tax in the states. Your saying if a person wants to live Thailand and enjoy the income made and taxed in the states then Thailand wants you to have a work permit and pay taxes????

I don't think so.

The thing about being on a bicycle is that yes your less likely to hit something at speed but the downside is your the slowest thing on the road and your much more likely to be hit from behind which is the one direction you will not see coming.

A number of times I have nearly collided with cyclists while on the moto because they are moving so slow and out of sync with the other traffic.

As I said in one of my earlier posts, I have no trouble keeping up with traffic in CM. I've told my wife, who also cycles regularly in the city, that it's usually better to speed up a little, rather than be overly cautious and slow down every time a Thai driver is about to take your space. Be aware of your surroundings and attentive to other vehicles. Anticipate what they're going to do. Moving at the same speed as the rest of the traffic is the safest way to ride.

When I ride my bicycle in town I crank up the Ipod so if I am run over at least my last moments on earth of complete with some jammin tunes :-)

I hope you're not serious. The last thing I want to do is lose one of my senses while I'm riding. You can tell when you're going to be passed by the sound of the shifting gears, for example.

I don't ride with them cranked up so I can still hear a lot of ambient noise but sound is not going to tell you if the driver is going to hit you or give you 5 feet of space. It just tells you a car is there and in CM city for example that is every few seconds.

I would agree with Ajarn's post. Its better to be as fast or slightly faster than traffic. slower than traffic makes you very vulnerable

Maybe, just maybe the drivers have spotted them as Mormons on a Mission.....

I have seen those mormons in CM. Kind of a tough assignment to convert sinners in the land of Sex.

The thing about being on a bicycle is that yes your less likely to hit something at speed but the downside is your the slowest thing on the road and your much more likely to be hit from behind which is the one direction you will not see coming.

A number of times I have nearly collided with cyclists while on the moto because they are moving so slow and out of sync with the other traffic.

When I ride my bicycle in town I crank up the Ipod so if I am run over at least my last moments on earth of complete with some jammin tunes :-)

What are they dreaming of here? I don't see how this new rule will deter anyone. All eliminating double/triple really means is they have to deal with 2x or 3x the workload as people will just show up there every 3 months instead of every 6 or 9. And they are bound to get REALLY busy on top of that as the visarun noose is tightened in the coming months. This rule does not seem to make any sense--why are they making things hard for themselves? If visa runners can tolerate sitting on a bus 1 day a month, they aren't gonna mind switching to a 2 day trip to penang every 3 months. This is not a deterrent!

Here is another scenario: get a tourist visa and extend to 3 months, then do 30 day border run bus for 3 months, then repeat again and again.

The result of this new restriction simply shoots the consulate in the foot. As long as they allow back to back tourist visas, they should issue a double/triple entry and get it over with. There is less overhead and the thai govt gets all the cash up front. They don't stand to gain anything and they are gonna be swamped.

this is provided they let people get back to back tourist visa's. Also I think you can fly into Thailand and get a VOA and since it was not a land crossing then it does not count toward the 3/90 rule

I ride 1,500 - 2,000 km a month, 6 months a year here in CM and the rest of the time in various other places around the world. While Thailand may not be the safest place to ride a bike, it's far from the worst. I feel safer here than I do in the US or most of western Europe. Thai's may be sloppy drivers but there's very little agressiveness like there is in the west. For an experienced cyclist who learns Thai driving habits, cycling here is a pleasure. Inexperienced cyclists will undoubtably have a different experience.

I've found that the most dangerous drivers in Thailand are farang in an SUV.

Well I think it depends on where in Europe or the US your comparing it to. Certainly some places like NYC or LA might be worse but a whole lot of places in the US are in a much higher league when it comes to safety. Where I am from in Colorado there are so many bike paths and separate lanes its night and day compared to Chiang Mai.

The problem with Thai drivers is they might be willing to pass you with only 6 inches of space. That is a recipe for disaster. As for your comment about Falangs being worse drivers. Thanks for making me laugh. I guess some of them are bad but they are such a minority so the probability of being killed by one is pretty remote.

You ride up to 2000 km's a month? Where do you go? Want to go riding?

Nope, faxx, you're screwed too :-) If you read the notice properly it's anyone who does visa runs (ie: doesn't have a work permit). They will only be allowed 90 days in Thailand during any period and once that 90 days is up, you'll have to leave the country for 90 days.

I've heard Malaysia is good not only for living but also working - I'm looking at Malaysia, Mexico and a couple of other places right now. A friend left Thailand a few months ago and went to Mexico and he seems to be enjoying himself there!

so much conflicting information.

So what if you get a multi entry tourist visa with extensions that allows you to be in thailand of for 6 to 9 months. Since they are not VOA's then does any of that time in Thailand prevent you from re entering at a given time?

I am reading the announcement as this just applies to VOA's. Am I missing something?

Yes, you can get the Non-Immigrant ED in Penang. I just got back from there last week to get one. I wrote a little about it at the bottom of this thread. Hope that's helpful.

Andyst

excellent summary for someone like me who will be going to Penang for the first time.

Was the visa fee you mentioned for the multi entry (good for one year variety) or just a single entry Non Immigrant "ED"

Lots of new VISA questions. Panic city!!!

I am a US citizen and received a NON IM "ED" for study last year. Its just about to expire and my school said they would issue a new invitation for another visa.

My question then is can I get this NON IM "ED" issued in Penang Malaysia or do I need to return home to the states?

Anyone have any experience getting one of these in Penang?

Thanks for any help

I have gotten non-imm-ed's in Sing and in Camboodia <Cambodia was a pain in the ass ... don't do it>

If your current visa is still valid and your school is legit they should be able to just give you a letter from the MoE and you can get the permission to stay in Thailand without leaving

Thanks Jdinasia

I will go talk with the school tomorrow. I am shooting for another fresh Non Im ED multiple entry visa and not just a 90 day extension. If they give me a letter from the MoE then I take that to Immigration then what can I hope to get in terms of an extension or new Visa?