bkkandrew

Its the main story on channel 3 right now...

Anyone get the URL of the offending website?? Is it still up?

No worries I always hang on to the boarding pass just in case airline fks up and doesnt credit it me for my miles.

Same as me. My luck was therefore in when confronted with the new application of rules a couple of weeks ago..

Saw some sent back to aircraft for retrieval!

Do you know if there is any way to find out which door people will be exiting prior to getting to the airport?

There is no way.

International passengers are free to choose through which door, B or C, they go out of the baggage claim area. I remember seeing a list indicating which airline unloads its baggage on which carousel, and what exit door is nearest to which carousel, but you cannot know whether your arriving passenger does indeed get his baggage on the carousel designated for his flight, or if he takes the nearest exit door.

The only way to be sure is to agree with the passenger in advance through which door he should get out.

--------------

Maestro

I am normally fairly observant and I did not notice which door I was exiting from, or even that there were multiple options! Luckily Thai GF was in the same place as me waiting..

Listen to what the people say, Thaksin

BANGKOK: -- Judging from the latest Nation poll, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra should think carefully before planning to come home.

The Nation website asked almost 1,400 people when he should return to Thailand.

Sixty-three per cent said "never", while about 20 per cent went for "now". The rest were slightly kinder, and said it would be okay for him to return after martial law is lifted. Maybe these people have something interesting planned.

--The Nation 2006-10-20

My only cautionary point about this statistic is how few Isaan households have Internet access and therefore can subscribe to such a poll..

Nice game tonight in the UEFA cup , beat the turks 2-0 away , could have been 5 or 6.

Bring on the Hammers............

Told you all - a bit of luck - the start of a run. CMON!

Here's a new twist..now the police want to register all the farang in the village, supposedly this is nationwide! It's happening here now in A.Khanom, Nakhon si Thammarat. Anybody else see this happening?

New twist?

It is a legal requirement according to Section 38 of the Immigration Act of 24 February 1979:

Section 38 : The house – master , the owner or the possessor of the residence , or the hotel manager where the alien , receiving permission to stay temporary in the Kingdom has stayed , must notify the competent official of the Immigration Office located in the same area with that hours , dwelling place or hotel, within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the alien concerned. If there is no Immigration Office located in that area , the local police official for that area must be notified.

In case the house , dwelling place , or hotel where the alien has stayed under provision of Para.1 is located within the Bangkok area , such notification must be reported to the competent official at the Immigration Division.

Making notification , in reference to the Para 1 and 2 of this Section , must comply with regulations prescribed by the Director Genera

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Maestro

must notify the competent official of the Immigration Office

They will have a long search!!

poor dude, why does it seem like alot of farangs commit suicide??

He was a loser but the last thing he did ,he did right!

Thats really helpful. Remind me not to respond to your hour of need!

Have been flying in and out of this country for 14 years or more ona frequent basis. Have never once been stopped, nor know of anyone who has.

Not sure why these guys were pulled over to start with ?

As I said in in earlier post, they seemed to be scanning the luggage of all passers by. I just steamed past, eyes front!

Floods cause tourism to drop 10 per cent

BANGKOK: -- The Association of Domestic Travel has estimated that the heavy flooding will result in a 10 percent fall in tourism business in terms of both numbers and revenue.

Association president Charoen Wangananont said Wednesday that the current flooding had already damaged many major tourist attractions in Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya and Chiang Rai, as well as Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.

He said the 10percent drop was caused by many tours being cancelled for a month since the heavy rains.

-- The Nation 2006-10-18

So the 10% drop was not attributable to Coups, Martial Law, Visa confusion, proposed laws banning drinking?? Suppose it saves face if they blame something they did not mess up off their own back!

I dreamt that a chef friend of mine made the biggest, tastiest roast dinner for me and I've been pining ever since!

I've seen old reports on thaivisa about good roasts in Bangkok but wanted updated reports of the biggest and best roast dinner available in town, size is imporant because I want to stuff my face, price is not so important because it will surely be a fraction of the price for a decent roast in the UK

all reports welcome

Best on a Sunday has to be the Londoner.. All you can eat too!

This so funny, I should of included it as item 5 of the minutes of the recent cabinet meeting!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...mp;#entry945959

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): "You mean that other cities have more than one airport? Why didn't we think of that?"

EXCLUSIVE REVELATIONS!

Those cabinet minutes on the alcohol discussion in full:

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Yes – so we are all agreed on item 2 of the agenda – renaming of this cabinet the Democratic United Forum For Democracy, or DUFF Democracy.

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): OK – item 3 – introduction of bill to reduce alcohol consumption.

Ret. Gen Oldchai Chackwahl (Cultural Affairs): Although I recognize the need for action, it has come to my attention that my mia noi is only 23. Now I know that when she is with me in a public bar all rules hitherto will be cancelled, but when she goes out with her, er, cousin, Somkid Hansomeman, who is also 23, they may have problems getting in to the RCA and such like.

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): I don’t think that we can let this discussion come down to individual circumstances here.

Ret. Gen Oldchai Chackwahl (Cultural Affairs): But she has threatened to spill the beans to my wife, Yingyai Battleaxe, that I have given her the use of one of Taxin’s old homes!

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Hmmm, I see…

Dr Mehkong Sangsom (Health): Mr Chairman – you are allowing personal interests in here! This is….

Mr Tangchai Suparich (Wealth): That is our job after all! Mr Chackwahl does raise a valid point. I have just discovered that, in fact, I own 27 different bars and restaurants. Naturally, after this discovery, I thought that I would be able to utilize this situation to carry out valuable research. Now my cashier said that profits would be down 50%, thus jeopardising my bank, er no, staff numbers!

Gen. Trongpai Bai-more-porn (Silly Walks): I must report a poor reception from my constituent base on these proposals.

Dr Mehkong Sangsom (Health): But you haven’t got a constituent base – you are not elected!

Gen. Trongpai Bai-more-porn (Silly Walks): Yes, but next best thing – I surveyed all my mia nois – and I mean all! No-one can accuse me of dereliction of duty!! And they are ALL under 25!!

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): No-one is accusing you of shirking in the hard work required to keep this stability Government, er stable, or indeed of the, er, age range you stabilise things with, but what is the point you are making here?

Gen. Trongpai Bai-more-porn (Silly Walks): Well they all said words to the effect of what’s the point of being with an old git like me if they can’t show off about it down at the pub!

Ret. Gen Oldchai Chackwahl (Cultural Affairs): And we cannot have you losing face like that!

Mr Makeitup Gowhawk (Information): I think that what everyone is trying to say is that there is no way of knowing how old someone is. For instance, just because a man is wrinkled and balding – he could be a cancer patient of only 24 years old!

Dr Mehkong Sangsom (Health): Well yes, I suppose, but what about I.D. Cards?

Mr Makeitup Gowhawk (Information): Well as Chackwahl said, his mia noi is 23. If her I.D. Card was upside-down, you could think she was 32. Yes – I know what you are about to say – subtract the date of birth from the current year, but wait, if, say a doorman of the Novatel bar used the Gregorian calendar on a perfectly respectable drinker of 40 years old, then he might make the mistake that he was, in fact, -503, therefore being under the 25 year age limit! He would then lose face and…

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Which is what we must avoid here! Right, agreed, official policy to reject this new law as bar staff could confuse themselves when reading this transcript.

Mr Makeitup Gowhawk (Information): You mean when reading someone’s I.D. Card??

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Yes – that’s it, now onto item 4 – Visa refusal for foreigner with an “I” in their name…

EXCLUSIVE REVELATIONS!

Those cabinet minutes on the alcohol discussion in full:

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Yes – so we are all agreed on item 2 of the agenda – renaming of this cabinet the Democratic United Forum For Democracy, or DUFF Democracy.

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): OK – item 3 – introduction of bill to reduce alcohol consumption.

Ret. Gen Oldchai Chackwahl (Cultural Affairs): Although I recognize the need for action, it has come to my attention that my mia noi is only 23. Now I know that when she is with me in a public bar all rules hitherto will be cancelled, but when she goes out with her, er, cousin, Somkid Hansomeman, who is also 23, they may have problems getting in to the RCA and such like.

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): I don’t think that we can let this discussion come down to individual circumstances here.

Ret. Gen Oldchai Chackwahl (Cultural Affairs): But she has threatened to spill the beans to my wife, Yingyai Battleaxe, that I have given her the use of one of Taxin’s old homes!

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Hmmm, I see…

Dr Mehkong Sangsom (Health): Mr Chairman – you are allowing personal interests in here! This is….

Mr Tangchai Suparich (Wealth): That is our job after all! Mr Chackwahl does raise a valid point. I have just discovered that, in fact, I own 27 different bars and restaurants. Naturally, after this discovery, I thought that I would be able to utilize this situation to carry out valuable research. Now my cashier said that profits would be down 50%, thus jeopardising my bank, er no, staff numbers!

Gen. Trongpai Bai-more-porn (Silly Walks): I must report a poor reception from my constituent base on these proposals.

Dr Mehkong Sangsom (Health): But you haven’t got a constituent base – you are not elected!

Gen. Trongpai Bai-more-porn (Silly Walks): Yes, but next best thing – I surveyed all my mia nois – and I mean all! No-one can accuse me of dereliction of duty!! And they are ALL under 25!!

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): No-one is accusing you of shirking in the hard work required to keep this stability Government, er stable, or indeed of the, er, age range you stabilise things with, but what is the point you are making here?

Gen. Trongpai Bai-more-porn (Silly Walks): Well they all said words to the effect of what’s the point of being with an old git like me if they can’t show off about it down at the pub!

Ret. Gen Oldchai Chackwahl (Cultural Affairs): And we cannot have you losing face like that!

Mr Makeitup Gowhawk (Information): I think that what everyone is trying to say is that there is no way of knowing how old someone is. For instance, just because a man is wrinkled and balding – he could be a cancer patient of only 24 years old!

Dr Mehkong Sangsom (Health): Well yes, I suppose, but what about I.D. Cards?

Mr Makeitup Gowhawk (Information): Well as Chackwahl said, his mia noi is 23. If her I.D. Card was upside-down, you could think she was 32. Yes – I know what you are about to say – subtract the date of birth from the current year, but wait, if, say a doorman of the Novatel bar used the Gregorian calendar on a perfectly respectable drinker of 40 years old, then he might make the mistake that he was, in fact, -503, therefore being under the 25 year age limit! He would then lose face and…

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Which is what we must avoid here! Right, agreed, official policy to reject this new law as bar staff could confuse themselves when reading this transcript.

Mr Makeitup Gowhawk (Information): You mean when reading someone’s I.D. Card??

Gen. Somchai Magachump (Chair): Yes – that’s it, now onto item 4 – Visa refusal for foreigner with an “I” in their name…

Wow, I can't believe the complaints about being busted! I've travelled a lot and have gone through a lot of customs (and have been busted on more than one occasion). The thing is you are a criminal entering a country. You get a customs card to fill out that you can list what you have. When you sign the card saying you don't have any of the things (or over the amount), of course you are going to have problems.

I do hope the people affected learn a valuable lesson and I am sure most are not really bad people, but laws are laws and whether they enforce them or not, you are taking your chances when you break them.

For goodness sake. It is ridiculous, lunatic and niave to think that you can smuggle goods into thailand for a profit! What holidaymaker would plan that??

This is just a new customs scam..

And in any case, there are no customs cards now. They were abolished over a year ago!

Wow, I can't believe the complaints about being busted! I've travelled a lot and have gone through a lot of customs (and have been busted on more than one occasion). The thing is you are a criminal entering a country. You get a customs card to fill out that you can list what you have. When you sign the card saying you don't have any of the things (or over the amount), of course you are going to have problems.

I do hope the people affected learn a valuable lesson and I am sure most are not really bad people, but laws are laws and whether they enforce them or not, you are taking your chances when you break them.

For goodness sake. It is ridiculous, lunatic and niave to think that you can smuggle goods into thailand for a profit! What holidaymaker would plan that??

This is just a new customs scam..

Shaking tourists down for fines in excess of the 'official' amount is not uncommon practice and customs is probably the most corrupt institution in Thailand.

Another practice which is not uncommon is the fabrication of urban legends by gossipy farangs.

It's a fact that there is widespread corruption within the Thai Customs Dept. Whether you like it or not or care to admit it or not. In fact, I have had personal experience of corruption with Customs, have been "shaken down" and I'm a foreigner.

Unfortunately I cannot elaborate on my own personal experience for obvious reasons.

Back on topic though, there was a thread a couple of weeks ago over on the LP forum where some guy was claiming he was arrested outside the airport by Tourist Police for bringing in excess Duty Free. He was also taken to the Police station and excessively fined apparently.

Surely the Tourist Police don't have the authority to enforce Customs regulations outside the airport building???

Hello mate, tis me...

For all others, have been wanting to say this for a while, but thounght it Irrelevant..

When I came through last week, I noticed for the first time that it almost seemed EXPECTED to put your luggage through the scanner. I steamed past, ignoring hand-waving customs types. I exited and was quickly up to L4 (dep) for a quick taxi exit.

I had no contaband at all (don't smoke, know everything is cheaper here anyway). I do wonder what was happening to the throng at the customs scanner in retrospect. Certainly DM's relaxed exit is was not!

Huh! We've got three (3) 7/11 stores just in the little village where I live. And about another 4 copycat type of store. All selling the same stuff....

The nearest Tesco Lotus is about 30 mins drive away, and is always mobbed out with Thai shoppers every time I've been. The locals buy pickup trucks worth of goods every time and sell them on at Mom & Pop stores back in the vilages.

What's the problem?

Well put..

My gf bought up all the "buy one get one free" toothpaste recently at either Tesco or Carrefore. Took it back to Udon, now being sold in a few mom and pop stores!

Arrived this morning from Phnom Penh on an Air Asia flight. ( 50 passangers) There was a 5 minute wait for the bus to arrive at the plane. After a short bus ride to the terminal we all left the bus...proceeded up the escalator ....turned left and into the arrivals hall. This was the Domestic arrivals hall ! Some guys with only hand luggage actually ventured through to where taxis were waiting.

There was no mass panic with Air Asia ground staff.....or immigration or bells going off. We approached an info kiosk and after a few phone and radio calls we were led on a long walk back to International arrivals and the Immigration desks.

Regards, Off road.

Oh brilliant!

This had to happen of course..

Did the guys that got off with no check-in actually make it off with no entry stamp? They could be in for a shock when they come to depart if so...

What a coincidence - the Coup leaders allow an illegal demo - as long as it is directed at forigners...

My vote would be for a new domestic airport as planned. Using DM as some suggest would not be practical for those travellers needing to make a domestic connection with their international flights. Making connections at the old airport was convenient and the new airport with a new low cost carrier terminal for domestice flights makes sense. Trying go back and forth from DM to Suvarnbhumi makes no sense.

We manage in London, NY, Paris... Then again, the Thais would need to organise this one!

The root cause here is not the western food coming in (although that contributes) it is more to do with Thai food being laced with sugar as a standard.

I am forever telling the missus to cut out putting sugar in food that back home would not require sugar, like on a plate of blooming noodles or when having prawns!

As such I have told the wife I will cook for myself as she never seems to listen about adding un-necessary ingriedients into the food. I once told her 'no sugar' and 5 minutes later there she was chucking two heaped spoonfuls into a frying pan, so I asked her what she was doing and she just looked at me like I was an idiot expressing that you 'always' cook this dish with sugar... and what was she cooking - Stir fried veggies!

I have since had to hide the sugar bowls to stop her doing it!

The other aspect is that until recently checks for diabetes was never done on a grand scale or as normal practice but as this is now evidently changing then its no huge surprise that the rates of diagnosis are on the increase as well, but you are right, the Thai's are getting fatter and China too as I read yesterday that their airlines are having to take out 20 seats per plane to cope with the fatties.... not to mention taking longer take off runs in order to get off the ground

Glad you are not the only one guarding the sugar supply in the kitchen..

I have just had sugar-infested chicken, due to a momentary lapse of supervision!

There is a very good reason why Thailand is so far down the list.

Kindly show us the light in telling us what this very good reason might be in your honest opinion?

They overstay.

I have been told that the visa problem for Thai in Europe is the large number of young women working in the sex industry.

No! Really?? I would never have guessed!! And there was me thinking that it was just a coincidence that there were so many Thais advertising themselves for various "services" in UK, Germany etc...

I just would like to know when this new law kicks in? The good thing is im 26 so i dont really care, but I do have a friend who is only 20 who will be there shortly for her holuday

We don't specifically know, but since this minister seems to be rushing to get his name in the books, I don't think we have long to wait.

Just been on Thai TV News. They said 5th December...

Just in time for high season.brilliant!

I know - what a laugh!!

I suppose one has to look at it this way - if you owned a large holiday resort and wanted to fill the post of GM, would you actively invite applications from serving and retired military Generals?

The bottom line is that I worked all my life and paid into the SS system so that I could be assured a pension in my later years. That time has nearly arrived and I expect no less than was promised to me. I fully expect the US government to make good on its promise.

Sure Gary. It will do it. The governement will keep its promise.

It's so easy to print dollar bills. They own the press.

You will have your pension... But, meanwhile, its value will decrease, year after year because of inflation.

Meanwhile in Europe, they are going to push back the age of retirement (60 years average now, in France for instance), reduce the amount of pensions, and increase taxations to finance thoses pensions. Of course, nobody agree (who would it ?)

But I can't stop thinking : your reaction, as a future retiree, is very interesting.

You don't care about the macro economic situation, you don't care that in 1 generation life expectancy has gained a dozen of years, that medical technologies are more efficient but much more costly etc. You just want your pension.

It's human. But now you start to understand why this bonzi scheme is doomed : because you are in the US alone 78 millions people of the same generation who share the same views.

Uncle Sam will give it to you : with crispy 100 USD bills.

Sorry, you got in before me. Agree 100%