Miami007

The biometric system is catching 45,000 overstayers... 

This would have been when they were attempting to depart the country (self-deportation)... and now they stay even longer.

 

Or did they want to say that they caught people trying to enter who had PREVIOUSLY been an overstayer and were banned from returning?

2 hours ago, RedPill said:

Never been to Larn, never will go either, but I thought it's always been for a day out tour only, no hotels/bungalows to stay over night?

 

First time I was there was April 2016. Beautiful water and not too crowded. Some Chinese tour groups but manageable. 

 

Last time I went was May 2019.. overcrowded ferry to get there, hordes of mostly Indian tourists and some Chinese. If they are adding 7000 Chinese to what I saw, there is no reason to go anymore.  

 

They do have some small accommodations there, but I never spent the night there.. 

12 hours ago, Ketyo said:

My step father is English. He left school aged 12 without any qualifications and worked in manual labouring jobs all his life. He has no training in economics and doesn't understand it.  He voted to leave because he wanted to take back control and didn't like all them foreigners coming in.

 

He has said that there may be a few bumps in the road after a no-deal Brexit but after that the pound will fly. He has said that Britain will be able to make trade deals with countries like Australia and New Zealand just as in colonial times, and those golden days will come back.

 

I don't know whether to listen to this old dock worker or the UK institute of fiscal studies, which says that the pound would go to near parity with the dollar.

 

 

The golden days will not come back...

The British Navy no longer rules the world's oceans and I can not run as fast and as long as when I was 25. And my hair won't grow back either 

 

Times change and we need to adapt 

12 minutes ago, lupin said:

Just got my 1 million thb 20 yr Elite Visa today... @ 50 k / yr, not looking so silly now compared to what OA holders will have to pay with these new reqs.

Bhahaaaaa

One question.. will you not have any insurance while living in Thailand? Or have insurance from your home country?

The older we get, the more likely we will need medical services at one point 

1 hour ago, car720 said:

Insurance companies are the second biggest crooks in the world and they are owned by the biggest crooks in the world..........banks.

Have you been talking to my father in law?

6 hours ago, scorecard said:

Has he actually been invited to attend the ASEAN summit, he the US are not part of ASEAN?

 

Is he's not coming to participate in ASEAN then why is he coming within the dates already planned for the ASEAN summit?

USA is a member of East Asia Summit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_the_Association_of_Southeast_Asian_Nations 

7 hours ago, Mavideol said:

now that's great news, crook inviting crook, there will be competition to determine who's the most corrupted, but with Trump, no one never knows what's next, he may not show up

Thailand may have to do Trump a "favor" (see Ukraine) or sell one of their islands (see Greenland/ Denmark) or T may decide to cancel his appearance.  

12 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

"Naew Na said that officers on the Friendship Bridge 2 were helped by the biometrics system, the Canadian embassy in Bangkok and an Interpol alert. 

 

But the passport being used appeared to be a poor fake and had been reported stolen. The numbers on several pages and barcodes did not match and the wrong ink had been used."

 

So anotherwords biometrics was irrelevant. Anyone who simply looked at the passport could discern that it is an obvious fake.

 

But let's keep selling Biometrics as the answer to everything, to justify the expenditure and to build a database on every citizen as well as visitors. 

The same arguments against Biometrics were used by many Europeans when the USA started taking pictures and fingerprints of visitors and residents several years ago.  But now the EU is taking pictures on passport kiosks when entering and leaving...

And facial recognition does work... I am using Global Entry in the USA.  Previously, had to scan my passport and have fingerprints matched.  Now the camera takes a picture and spits out the receipt with my name, passport information and where I boarded the flight to the USA...

Biometrics played a part - which part?

the fugitive entered in 2014 and never left; consequently, no image or fingerprints on file 

Or does Hua Hin have facial recognition cameras all over the city and the police got a hit - that is the only explanation I can imagine

Thailand is exporting more to the USA than to China?

 

The reason why they are getting rid of TM6 is not that there is no value or purpose to the forms.

 

No, only because they are out of storage space. If someone donates a warehouse,  will it come back?... 

 

 

Same, same as the USA - young people are spending too much (and old ones as well, for that matter).  

And if they were not spending, the economy were to collapse

How does the biometric system at arrival identify an overstay?

Or does the biometric system capture my intent to stay longer?  that would be a ground-breaking system worldwide.

or is that system working at departure and matching arrival and departure dates?  Which would be possible.  But these are overstayers who actually are leaving... still won't catch the overstay inside the country.  So not security benefit.  

 

Another case of weak reporting....

10 hours ago, Old Croc said:

It's happening now in China.

Check out their Social Credit System, and what they're doing with facial recognition.

Every citizen is being tracked and categorized.

Facial recognition also starting in the USA - if you use Global Entry they just take a picture of you and the receipt has your name, passport etc... 

Some airlines use it to board planes...  

 

If a picture of your face taken in the USA verifies that you are who you are when you hold a EU passport, do you still believe that computers are not connected across borders?

Was in Bali recently.  Went to a small convenience store to buy 3 cans of soda. Was NOT given a bag. When I asked I was told they didn't have any.

 

Went to a larger supermarket.  Same story.. no plastic bag, but I could purchase a reusable bag at the store. 

 

If Bali can do it, why not Thailand? Just requires a little adjustment and is definitely possible and a step in the right direction 

7 hours ago, owenm said:

How does one book and prepay for a Fast Track online? To be met at the gate on arrival but only 60+..

Would be interested to know.. And have there been any refused entries, for whatever reason, using this premium service? Maybe the IO is more accommodating.. Wishful thinking though, I am thinking.. ???? 

Several companies offer the service. I suggest to Google "fast-track service Bangkok airport "

Then can book and pay online and give flight information. 

 

Have used it before and it worked very well. Won't help with luggage and customs though- just immigration 

20 hours ago, terryw said:

If the UK gets a reasonably good FTA with the USA then any future FTA with the EU becomes less important. Why pay for something when a rival will give you a dealfor nothing.

Does anyone believe that the USA under the current president will give a favorable deal to the UK? 

Or is it more likely that the USA will take advantage of the situation and the president can talk about his great deal for the USA?

On 8/21/2019 at 2:07 AM, Just1Voice said:

I took them once, when they still had flights to LA. Swore i would never fly them again. Food was crappy, served cold, and "air hostesses" were old, all well over 30, totally unattractive, and downright unfriendly, and even rude. 

Sounds like what you will get from any US carrier except the age will be over 45 or 50 on long international flights 

Not really well written article

 

Does the proposal mean that Chinese and Indian tourists still have to get a Visa before entering, but that this Visa is without cost (Free Visa) ? I thought that there is a VOA available with a waived fee

 

Or will Chinese and Indians become Visa-exempt for stays up to 15 days (like most western countries for 30 day stays) ?  That could move the needle as it will be less hassle to enter 

He hopes... but "hope is not a business strategy"

And suspending a licence only means that offenders will drive without a valid licence. What is the plan or punishment to prevent them from doing so?

Retaking the driving test.. or just buying the licence, if you fail

Plans need to be grounded in reality - otherwise,  they are just empty words

Absolutely, I totally agree with this post.
 
However, in general, each and every time you deal with an Immigration Office and they raise a TM30 problem, all can be solved with a 1600 Baht fine, whatever you think of that. So, it is not the reporting that is the issue, it is the money.

Unless it is about principle, it seems to be easier to pay a 1600 - 2000 THB fine rather than having the headache of trying to figure out the rules and interpretations. Just looking at it as a cost of doing business and relative to the time saved

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

8 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

Section 38 of the Immigration Act says that "The house – master , the owner or the possessor of the residence" has to make the TM.30 notification. Which of these three did the immigration officials mean when they said "landlords"? This is the question.

Isn't the "possessor" of the residence the renter/ tenant?

Logically,  how would a landlord (local Thai or foreigner) know whether a tenant leaves or returns?

 

Big part of the problem seems the translation of the law from Thai into English. Lawyers can take hours discussing the correct interpretation of a law in it's original language - a translation probably is even more ambiguous.

 

And not every IO is fluent in English either - which may add to confusion

4 hours ago, Brunolem said:

Indeed... 

 

 

Well - but you also should consider that there was a prolonged period of gold weakness after 1980.  Just looking at 3 arbitrary data points does not show the correct picture.  Also, are these values inflation adjusted?  $35 in 1971 is more than $217 now after inflation (just a simple Google search).

 

While gold (or exposure to it) has its value in a diversified portfolio as a hedge, it probably is not the best idea to go "all-in" with 100% of your assets.  and carrying gold coins or bar is just a literal drag due to the weight and the lack of easy transfer options; plus it is fairly volatile as well as the charts show.  Let's face it, our modern economy depends heavily on a payment form that is easy (electronic payments in a store and transfers for large transactions), easy to carry (bank-notes) for small purchases and fairly stable (most cryptos are just too volatile for large transactions).  

 

Year-end Price 1980 in USD 598.50 - which fell 50% to $272. 50 at the end of 2000.

It took until 2006 for gold to climb back to 1980 levels; for many people 26 years is a long time to wait

Gold reached its peak in 2012 at $1664 - by 2015 it had fallen 36% to $1060.  In 2018, it was still down 23%.  Now at $1499 and still about 10% below its peak - much of that appreciation in the last year likely coming from a flight to safety due to trade wars, stock volatility etc.  

https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart 

 

On another note - there was a big increase in gold prices in 2007; it seems that institutional investors realized much earlier than the general public what was about to happen in September 2008.

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

How about free visas for high spending western tourists?  Wouldn’t that seem logical?  Or is logic not a part of Thai culture?

I feel many people confuse "visa-free" and "free visa"

 

Visa-free means no visa required for tourists staying 14 or 30 days. Available already for most western citizens. 

Free visa means that a visa has to be granted but there is no cost

 

Two completely different issues.