Wandr

Where can I get a passport translated? This is not for immigration but another government agency .

Some precise location info will be helpful and also about how much I should expect to pay.

I can go to the Airport Immigration office if someone there can do it.

Thanks.

For some reason I never thought of this before - but, the 90 day reporting date is always calculated from the date of arrival in Thailand, right?

That is , if someone arrived on June 1 then the due date will be in increments of 90 days from June 1. 

If I  report a few days earlier the next reporting date will still be in multiples of 90 days from June 1.

Normally this wouldn't be much of an issue but since I have done it online, and intend to again, the due date is more critical.

I just went looking for a residence certificate  - my first visit to Immigration at Airport.

Information directed me to the residence certificate desk and a very pleasant lady there checked my papers. Everything seemed to be in order and she accepted them. But I will get the certificate next month on the 18th.

Another person was not so lucky. His visa was issued in Bangkok and he was refused a certificate. The visa has to be issued in Chiang Mai to get one.

No one asked for any money and the transaction was in a friendly atmosphere.

I have a Zidoo box that is fairly new - 2/3 months old, running Android 7.

The problem I am facing is that some apps cannot be updated through the Play Store. You Tube and Chrome are examples.

I am asked to first remove all updates using Settings, and then update. I have tried that with You Tube with no success.

Has anyone had a similar issue and found a work around? Thanks for any information.

14 hours ago, Trujillo said:

Anyone have any experience with a firm called ICO? 

ICO has 8 or 9 lawyers working for them, and my experience was with one, so others' experience may be different.

You will need to negotiate price. They dropped my price after I quoted what another firm was asking. However, this was still far less than what Siam was asking. And the person at Siam did not even provide me complete information on what was needed.

The people at ICO were on time and professional.

But...my work mostly involved contracts, and they were very sloppy. They used old contracts, and often left the old names and addresses in. In my mind, this alone is enough to avoid a company, unless there are other reasons to hire them. (Such as cost or relationship.)

The English translation was often incomprehensible. I did my best at correcting, but gave up after a point.

The person I dealt with was knowledgeable, and spoke decent English, and seemed sincere about his work. He also gave me a lengthy initial meeting at no cost to explain what was needed. Some firms will want as much as 3000 baht an hour.

The best way may be to talk to 3 or 4 firms, and decide based on your feel for them. Other than cost, you also want to have good rapport with a lawyer.

I have a question that was brought on by this topic.

What exactly is short-cycling?

I have a brand new Hitachi too, and I have noticed that when I open a faucet very low, the pump will turn on and off fairly rapidly. This does not happen when I open a faucet at a higher level.

I had assumed that this is because the pump takes a while to register low pressure when a faucet is slightly open.

However, the phrase short-cycling has made me wonder if I should pay more attention and possibly have the pump repaired if this is considered an issue and is not normal behavior for a pump.

So no one actually knows of any sites? Of the ones mentioned LiveNetTV seems to be questionable, and Cetus is a remote app.

There may be many in Kodi, but I was hoping to find "independent" sites whose APKs can be downloaded easily.

As an aside, I have read that in the US watching some of these sites is not illegal, but downloading content is. I don't know details, or even if it is correct interpretation of the law, but it was on one of the major news sites. If it is true, then perhaps all such sites will not be forced to close.

11 hours ago, elektrified said:

It's incredibly simple. You just download the apps like you do on your mobile. They install easily. If you need a certain player it will tell you the player you need to download.

 

Can you mention some of these apps? Many of us don't know what they are .

For myself, I am mainly interested in English language movies, some sports, and live TV from US. Sites that have Bollywood movies may also be useful.

I have Mobdro and Popcorn, but both can act up sometimes.

Thanks.

13 hours ago, cubism001 said:

Thank you for diagnosing my lack of initiative & for denigrating my choice of life style.  FYI, I tried everything before asking here.  The ones online are, as  you said, offensively expensive.  I bought mine for $32 at Walmart in the US.  If  you have anything constructive to say, I thank you in advance for your information.  My Stateside dentist and  hygienist firmly believed these gadgets were important. Sorry to interfere with your day.

You should think carefully before you take a swipe at people who have tried to help you.

You did not even know Waterpik had an international model - I told you. You did not seem able to  figure out how to get information about latest models - I told you how I did it.

You call that initiative?

I am letting you off with an explanation. But, like everyone else here, I will get nasty if you decide to continue a slanging match.

2 minutes ago, Thailand said:

Before 7.30am the majority of the stools occupied at the front of a very long queue at Prom will be line sitters, take your pick.

Really? I can show up and ask people sitting there?

The cost is what the poster above said - 300 or 400 baht?

How does one get a line sitter for retirement visa purposes? And about how much are they paid for an evening's work?

11 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

I got a quote from Thai Visa Assist in Chiang Mai Land yesterday afternoon.

 

They quoted me 5,885 baht including the 1,900 baht visa fee.

 

I thought that was quite reasonable, but I have heard of other companies offering the same service cheaper but I have not got round to speaking to them yet.

I am not as familiar with Chiang Mai, as I should be. Where is Chiang Mai Land and what is it. Also, is Thai Visa Assist easy to find once I am there? Thanks.

I have never used an agent, but it is not necessary in other offices if your papers are in order. From what I am reading Chiang Mai is different, and I may have to fall back on one.

On 7/31/2018 at 11:42 AM, orientalist said:

Thanachart Bank just called me and said they have a special deal, 2.45% for 4 years and 10 months, no tax, minimum 500K, and (I think) interest every 6 months. But the catch is this deal ends at midday, tomorrow, August 1.

 

 

 

A question about Thanachart. I have asked several branches in Chiang Mai and they will not open any account for foreigners who do not have a work permit.

Has this policy changed, or is there a branch that opens acounts on the basis of a retirement visa?

How do people deal with Chiang Mai immigration if they move into a home on which they have a long term contract?

Does the owner (usually a wife or girlfriend) have to provide a copy of the lease contract, or just report the move-in?

On 8/3/2018 at 1:04 PM, joealx said:

See waterpikthailand.com, or check eBay- 9277 Baht from s Korea.

I don't know why someone would want to pay that kind of money for a Waterpik. They run around $40 in the US, which is something like 1300 baht.

To the OP- I appreciate that you are a simple soul, but you have to show some initiative if you want something out of the ordinary .

I have never seen one of these machines being sold in Thailand. You can search in the places recommended above.

I called the company to ask which model will run on 220 V. They told me , and also where to buy it, in the US.

You may need to order online as I am not sure you can find one in Chiang Mai. But first you need to contact the company to find out which model to buy.

You may know this already, but FYI Waterpik does make a model that works on 220 volt also.

You may want to look for it if you are purchasing a new machine.

It's most likely construction on the mountain. 

I have seen puffs of white smoke coincide with the booms. The ones I saw were about midway up and approximately where Hang Dong is. Road, or maybe houses?

Some users have recommended that we buy an Android TV box from Lazada.

When I looked at Lazada the Magicsee boxes were the ones being sold most prominently.

However, I have been unable to find any information about then in this forum.

Has anyone used one of them, and what is the verdict? Also, do they come loaded with useful software from Lazada?

I would use them for general purposes, like watching a bit of US/UK TV, and watching movies.

Thanks.

I had read here some time back about a "CMU Outreach medical center " which provides medical checks.

The location was given as being in the Suan Dok complex.

I have been unable to find this center. Nor have medical staff at Sriphat been able to tell me .

Does anyone know if such a center exists, and if so, how to get to it?

Thanks.

Do the boxes mentioned above have the apps installed to allow watching live TV, movies and so on.

I have used a Minix box but it is old though it still works. I would like something similar, as far as function goes. The Minix has Kodi (with scores of channels), Mobdro, apps for Thai TV....

Can someone from the Chiang Mai area use the Lamphun office?

I live south of the city and Lamphun is not all that far. It may be the same distance as the CM office.

I didn't read the entire thread but I did see mention of Chiang Rai.

What's in Chiang Rai that draws people every month . Just the ride? Which is beautiful. Food? The feel of the place?

My guess is tomatoes need to be grown in a greenhouse here. I have no idea why as I have not researched the matter.

The better tomatoes I buy here look greenhouse grown, including the ones I have bought recently at Hang Dong market's organic stall.

Maybe there should be a topic on growing tomatoes in Chiang Mai.

Hang Dong Market has a stall that advertises organic produce. You will have to walk the aisles to locate it , and best I can describe is that it's about in the middle.

They have pretty decent tomatoes, though maybe not always. They are not the roma variety but round and deep red, like in your picture.

Taste is ok. Let us know what you think .

5 hours ago, Shoeless Joe said:

Thank you for the guidance re opening time time. I now have some more up-to-date information.

 

If you have enough time and are not inclined to use the services of either of the 2 agencies charging 1,000 baht for an expidited certificate, (one next to the photocopy shop and the other on the 2nd floor), this is how it works.

 

Don't bother with any of the queues where people are renewing 90 day notifications etc. Instead at circa 8pm when Promenada opens its doors go the the Immigration office on the second floor which is in the corner along from Boots (this is the office where TM30's are sorted out). There are a couple seats and chairs outside so take a place as near to the shuttered door as possible. When someone opens the shutter, you can walk inside and take a seat on the right near, to the desk which is marked "Certificate of Residency". Clients are served in order from the first seat. All my doc's were in order and the young lady handed me a piece of paper telling me to return and collect my residency certificate at 2pm on the 18th May. All very easy, no fuss, no requests for "fees" and total time spent was around an hour.

 

Regards,

 

Joe

I will appreciate it if you can list exactly which documents you presented to the official.

I know these are mentioned in various places but I would like to know from someone with recent first hand experience.