anon467367354

Well! just how easy isit to get a long term turist visa in EU for a thai citizen? Or in US? I'm sure of that it can't be done by going in and out of the border. The visa rules in Thailand are indeed very generously compared with EU and US.

no poor slob would come to Thailand as they would the EU or US because Thailand pretty much has zero social services. Go to the states, you get medical, school, food stamps, education, welfare etc. Thailand is not "free-loader" moocher friendly. Thus the difficult visa situation to get there.

I wonder if Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert's idea to seize foreign nationals in the event of an influenza outbreak is still floating around? The "good" doctor had proposed taking hostage Western tourists until Thailand had received flu vaccines. Thai Nobel prize laureate? Not in this century.

If they quarantine Thailand, and I'm assuming that what is meant by the hostage thing, will I be allowed to work and would I not have to do those stupid visa runs? I say they should quarantine now and really make an issue out of it.

Nothing will benefit health and increase the chances for survival on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.

Albert Einstein

I think every state has a law against driving while using a hand-held phone, I also believe there is a law against having tinted windows so dark one cannot see the occupants. The laws make sense as to being in effect as the USA is a police state, I can say that after living there for 45 years. Police officers have been shot never seeing the gun pointed at them as the window rolled down. Cell phone use while driving is a real problem considering the American people do not expect poor driving from the others as do the Thai. This cell phone law is just going to be another one of those non-enforced laws like all the rest of them. Bus drivers still smoke, 5 people on a motorbike, no helmets or even eye protection for children, amazing na.

I think that we are talking about a technicality of Thai Immigration law here.

The OP left the country. Has a stamp to prove it.

Does Thai immigration Law state that she must enter another country before returning to Thailand?

If you go by stamps in a passport it is hard to tell.

I left Thailand 2 weeks ago. Flew to Australia.

Returned to Thailand a week later and was stamped back in.

I do not have any exit and entry stamps from Australia to prove that i went there.

I just have a thai exit and entry stamp.

Same goes for a day trip/Visa run to Singapore.

Stamp out of Thailand. Fly to Singapore.

Walk around Changi Airport.

Fly back to LOS.

Stamp back in, never having actually entered another country.

Same thing if I fly back to Norway. No entry or exit stamp from Norway if you hold a Norwegian passport. So the exit stamp should be proof enough that you leave the country. What else is it there for?

so the question still remains, did I actually do something wrong? if i don't get stamped in to Cambodia am I really there and i'm not really smuggling myself out of a country i was "never" really in. but then again, i have to consider with whom i am dealing with. it seems in most cases around here ego takes precedence over intelligence, i'm not looking for trouble, and certainly don't want to end up in a cambodian jail where the value of a farang life is practically nothing.

Could the OP explain again please what actually happened? Did you get a stamp out of Thailand? It sounds to me like you were in 'no man's land' and then you walked back in knowingly without being stamped

I really appreciate the advice, even if it is all over the board. Yes, I do have an exit stamp from Thailand, yes I have a re-entry stamp on my non imm b visa with another 90 days. I had a friend waiting for me so I just exited and crossed the road and went back to thailand. it never occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong. as far as i could tell, all these visa runner groups i had used were ripping me off. I honestly couldn't figure out who was getting my money. I don't think i'm in violation for overstaying, my passport says i left. my passport says i have until the 26th of november before i have to leave again. I like the idea of just paying immigration 1000 baht and screw the day trip. I appreciate all the information!

and just for the record, i wasn't trying to skirt the law

Could the OP explain again please what actually happened? Did you get a stamp out of Thailand? It sounds to me like you were in 'no man's land' and then you walked back in knowingly without being stamped

I really appreciate the advice, even if it is all over the board. Yes, I do have an exit stamp from Thailand, yes I have a re-entry stamp on my non imm b visa with another 90 days. I had a friend waiting for me so I just exited and crossed the road and went back to thailand. it never occurred to me that I was doing anything wrong. as far as i could tell, all these visa runner groups i had used were ripping me off. I honestly couldn't figure out who was getting my money. I don't think i'm in violation for overstaying, my passport says i left. my passport says i have until the 26th of november before i have to leave again. I like the idea of just paying immigration 1000 baht and screw the day trip. I appreciate all the information!

Last week I went to Cambodia for my visa run. I didn't use any service, just took the bus. I left Thailand and crossed to street and returned. I, in my ignorance failed to get a Cambodian visa and pay 1000 baht. No one seemed to notice, I certainly didn't. It wasn't until asking some others when I got back as to who does one pay 1000 baht to. Does one have to actually "go" to Cambodia, or just leave and re-enter Thailand? I was in and out in 10 minutes. Any thoughts about any possible repercussions. thanks!

"THAI president Apinan Sumanaserani said the accident did not result from pilot error, but that it may have occurred from the size of the aircraft which was larger than the safety line marked for aircraft making a U-turn."

Quote of the century!

arent' these guys supposed to have whistles or something? I don't understand how this can happen in these days of the modern whistle.

Article 11: Those who send data or electronic mails to others without revealing their identity, or by posing as someone else, in an act that disrupts the others' normal computer use: subject to a Bt100,000 fine.

does this pertain to those that write editorials to the newspaper? does one have to give a real name and address or something. I have two friends with the name Porn, do I have to delete their e-mail addresses from my computer now? So many questions, so little brains, or is it fewer brains?

"due to difficulties have separated.................." does that mean divorce? That never crossed my mind, i was thinking more along the lines of financial difficulties, i hope i'm right.

Simple fact the new airport was never ready to be open, everyone knew it, but they decided to do it anyways.

George Bush did the same thing when he "landed" a jet on an aircraft carrier and declared victory and the end of the war. "Saving face" is for cowards of all races and nationalities, not just the Thai. Chok dii ka to all those "newbies" that just got here and are cluesless to the Thai ways. To talk about problems, sometimes complaining is how to get heard. It's how the word gets out there. The Thai don't talk politics very much if at all. The difference with the western countries, USA, UK, AU etc is, they have the right to publicly bitch about the government. The Thai don't, or think they don't. A baby complains when it's hungry, in the form of crying. It gets what it wants, what it needs. The complainers here are the ones that care and want what's good for Thailand because it will make it a better place to live for all. You newbies that think we have nothing better to do will learn, but for now enjoy your self-righteousness, cheap food, easy girls, low rent and vacation conciousness. You wouldn't live here making 187 baht per day like the Thai people do. Many of my friends work at the Revenue Dept, working "overtime" from 6PM to midnight pays 100 baht. Not 100 baht per hour, just 100 baht. Oh, Taxexile, I think you would make a good moderator, anytime if the position opens, you have my vote. Peace!

and beyond, people who are disconnected from reality, because they were raised within thai high society.

It's the old guard, for whom Thailand is really the center of universe. They have missed the copernic revolution that occured a few hundred years ago !

At home, you are served like a king. People obey, not because you are brillant, or wealthy (it helps however), but just because you... are.

cclub , can you try and keep your undergraduate prejudices of envy locked up behind the doors of the lancashire back to back , where they probably emanated , and where they surely belong.

Thank you Taxexile, I couldn't have said it better, brillant!

Farang originally meant Frenchman/woman.

Yours is one of several hypotheses. For details, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farang

--

Maestro

What a great post Maestro! The fact that it refers to the "white foreigner", or originally did is true. Today it is referred to anyone who is not Asian, excluding the people of India. To be associated with them would be a total insult for sure, oh! an the Phillipine people too. What I find interesting is that the Thai refer to the Hispanics as farang too. Last weekend in Petchaburi in a beach house with 3 other Thai women, they were curious as to where Brazil and Argentina were, along with Puerto Rico and Cuba. The Thai have lived an isolated life for a long time, I think it might be up to us to educate and maybe enlighten a little about the world out there. Not expect to change Thailand, but give them the tools. We don't say the "N" word, use "chinks", or "orientals" anymore because we have grown., According to Luangphor Viriyang Sirintharo, founder of Wat Dhamanmongkol, ethics come from a developed mind, I think that's obvious.

Sorry to be so pedantic on this wonderful sunny morn. I have seen the term 'western farang', is there such a thing as an 'eastern farang'?

A farang is a white person.

The Thai consider the Mexicans, Spanish, Portugese, Brazilians, Greek, Russian, Czech, whatever etc falang. Actually most are amazed when I show them pictures of the Cubans or Mexicans and how much they look like the Thai! The South Americans looks very much like the Thai with a slightly different nose, but then again all Thai certainly don't have the same nose. The term falang is nothing more than ignorance, it doesn't mean foreigner, it means pretty much the same as the "N" word did in the United States years ago.

Does everything on this list give a reason to have a coup? Who knows and who cares? The coup was to stop a coup which was in the 11th hour planned by Toxin. Sondhi did what he had to do when he had to do it. It had nothing to do with Toxin's stealing from the people, it was about the people losing The Kingdom!

Just a thought for the heck of it. I don't think it was the foreigners that married Thai people that brought Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Winnie the Pooh, Warner Bros and that whole gang to the kingdom. Any more than they brought KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Subway etc. The problem with the Thai and their diet is all they know is Thai. In America deciding what kind of food to eat is a chore especially when deciding with a group of people. The Thai don't really have an interest in trying anything new, but by chance they do and like it, then it's a different story. I live with a Thai family, I cook western style food as well as Thai, being a vegetarian of 30 years, it's what I cook. Most Thai will not eat anything that doesn't have meat in it. They will say, I don't like Je. A recent conversation with my friends sister, "try this, it's delicious" "I don't like it" when have you had guacamole? Never have. Ok, what's it made of? I don't know. How do you know you don't like it? Reason, because it's new and not Thai. I find that a study that seems to demean or incredulize Thai people for eating something other than Thai food pretty ignorant. The whole Disney, Warner Bros, Pooh, Hello Kitty thing is nothing more than ego gratificaton from owning something that gives you the feeling of a mind fabricated rush. Totally the opposite of the Buddha's teachings about desire and suffering. Eating meat because it tastes good, disregard the 1st rule about killing for purposes of sense gratification is again non-Buddist to the hilt. "but Thai people believe" is what I hear, again, using the mind to make you happy,non- Buddhist. Like most people out there, the Thai justify doing whatever they want if it makes them feel good for reasons of sense gratification or belief. Not good or bad, just is. Beliefs change, just ask anyone that had divorce, which is the reason why religions don't work when it's supposed to be about awareness and not mind. Thailand wants to change, but then again they don't want to admit it, or something. A quick word about bi-lingually raised children. studies have shown that children raised speaking more than one language have a more diificult time expressing themselves in any language. Something I have observed, after the study was brought to my attention. In summary, if Thai people want to eat western foods, who cares? If they enjoy Christmas, who cares? Let it be.

"Pattaravadee Chinkulkitniwat, the money dealer of Kasikornbank Plc, said the baht had continued to strengthened in the same direction with the Japanese yen, which appreciated to 118 from 117.55 to the US dollar since the economy expanded more than expected."

This doesn't make sense. It the Yen went fro 117.55 to 118, it depreciated. At 118, you get more yen for your dollar. At 36.39, you get ""less baht, not more.

Does anybody here really think that the Thai people are interested in converting American dollars into baht? It seems that if it only takes 36 baht to make a dollar instead of say 40 baht, the baht is stronger against the dollar. The complaints are coming from those with foreign money that want the most out of a conversion. I'm not quite sure, but som nom na almost seems in order.

definately a step in the right direction. I hope it all goes well. Some positive energy would be a refreshing change around here.

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

Once again Thailand looks stupid - think they thought other countries would edit/ban it. So once they were alone they did a 180 degree change.

That is one way to look at it. Another way might be that the board realised that the protests were from a tiny but (as usual) shrill minority trying to dictate what people could or could not view and decided to ignore them.

I really wish xtians would just shut up and fark off. If they want to believe then fine, but why do they always try to project their corrupt beliefs and values onto others?

Personally I won't bother to see the movie. Then again I don't watch movies about the easter bunny or santa either, fairy stories and movies related to them don't interest me.

(sorry for the rant)

One can not be forgiven with out first being condemned. I wonder if Christ has forgiven his followers for <deleted> up his teachings, for they know not what they do

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

'Thai mechanics... says it all really.'

Simple, yet oh so accurate.

Funny how a woman brings up the 'not standing for them' stuff, yet they want all the other equal rights. Sometimes sweety you just cannot have your cake and eat it as well.

A justification for bad manners? Is being a gentleman a thing of the past? We all have the equal right to stand on the bus or train with a bag of teaching materials and books, purse, groceries etc. Equal rights is an uncountable noun. What does that include? Equally discourteous to all, or doing the same job as a man and getting paid the same? I have given up my seat to someone with more than I had to carry just so they would be guaranteed a seat when I got off. Lead by example, not by excuses. Personally I have never understood why monks are given seats. I respect them for being who they are, like everybody else, and like everybody else, I see them sleeping in parks or where ever, enjoying a cigarette, and like many others looking for handouts. Save the anti-religious comments because I am a buddhist, a follower of Christs teachings, not the Christian religion mind you, a student of Vedic studies and a vegetarian of 30 years. I am an activist for equal rights, you can count on that, everyone should be treated with respect equally considering the source of everything, not equal disrespect. Overweight 10 year old children can stand as easy as anyone else, maybe easier considering children are far more active by choice. What does this have to do with elevators? Observantly nothing.

When discussing with my students some of the differences between the Thai culture, and the American culture, the topic was manners. Thai people do not seem to say please, they certainly do not say thank you. A man does not hold a door for a woman, nor let her on the elevator first or anything remotely like it. Rarely am i given a seat on the bus or train by a Thai man, and often a young man will take a seat almost right out from under me. My tone must have seemed bitter, for on the BTS ride home, I sat with one of my students where she asked me, or rather stated it seemed I didn't like Thai people. I do like Thai people. Some of them are just wonderful, friendly, helpful, warm, inclusive with their activities and show that they want to involve me, and seem genuinely excited when I show up somewhere a foreigner is just not expected to show up. This made me rethink about my projected demeanor and attitude about the Thai people and remember why I am here, to do something for the Thai people I really like. I would like people around the world to think of the Thai people as polite and wonderful people. I have to remember they are who they are and we can only lead by example. What i see here seems to be people that don't really think much of the Thai, which leads me to wonder why they are here. Is living in Thailand really all about warm weather, cheap services and easy girlfriends? I see bandwagon mentallity of Thai people bashing and wonder what good it does. There is truth behind everything we say. There is no such thing as just kidding. I think the Thai people have to work with whatever they have, which in the past, and to a real extent still, isn't much. I give them credit for being a happy bunch of people considering the available resources offered to them. Remember, the minimum wage is 184 baht a day, having some education would certainly pay more, but they work with what they have, I give them credit for that. Just a thought.

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

Me and my beautiful, exotic, sexy and graceful Thai wife, [Nat,] hope the goddam place never opens anyway.

We only live 10 min. drive from the present apt. and we have an Air Force sticker that allows us to cross along the perim. rd. Giving us quick entry to the International Terminal, to collect our visiters.

"OK darling, I'm coming right now."

I think the new airport is going to be for the benefit of many. I hate to think it will affect one person.

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

I don't know anything about this, but I sure enjoy the witty dialogue. My suggestion is to put it out of your mind. In no time, it will be a forgotten memory. I always wanted to say that somewhere. thanx

It is the conflict in the individual mind that manifests as war. When individuals change, the society will automatically change.

— Amma

Nice one, Patrick!!!

this is my first time here, what a great site! I needed a good laugh.