Beeonlotus

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

""Up to 5 years" in this case means that they can not sentence a person to any prison time".

No, that is not what it means!   

"Up to five years" means that they can give prison sentences of up to five years.

That's missing the point.  A judge can also sentence someone to no prison time and a fine, a day in prison, or completion of a drug rehabilitation program.  Therefore, prison time is not mandatory for possession crimes of even hard drugs.

15 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

No, they didn't do that for hard drugs.

They did.  You can read more here and here (for this last one, as far as I understand, the Narcotics Act replaced some of the sentencing for the Psychotropics Act).  A lot of the law websites haven't updated the information on their websites, which is one of the reasons why there's so much confusion about this.

23 minutes ago, marin said:

In June of last year marijuana was legalized. That is all that really happened. Now that is in flux, but I personally believe it will remain legal but more highly licensed. Other than that I have no idea what you are talking about. If you have been busted for coke, that remains just the same on your record here. Police checks for employment are conducted for the most part. 

That's true, but they also revised and lightened the laws re: drug offenses in 2021 prior to Marijuana's legalization.  Part of that was removing all mandatory prison sentences for possession, including hard drugs like heroine or meth.

To clarify, I wasn't busted for coke possession.  It's a hypothetical example.  What I want to know is whether or not the Immigration / Labor Department's views towards drug possession have lightened when considering criminal records / in-country convictions.

In 2021, Thailand lightened many of the drug laws, including removing all mandated prison sentences for possession.  I'm curious: has this policy change had any effect on other areas of government?  For example, if I was convicted of possession of cocaine five years ago, would this be viewed more leniently when applying for work permit/visa?  Also, have there been any changes in cases of expats facing lighter repercussions for possession charges?  I've heard some stories of people being banned for 20 years for being caught with a gram of marijuana.

Thanks in advance.

1 hour ago, Thalueng said:

Keep 400k on a separate bank account and use this for the extension, then you do not need to show any income, whether it comes in on a foreign or Thai bank account. 

Your online business, it's size, and whether you address customers in Thailand will determine whether you are liable for income tax and/or VAT, and whether you need a work permit. 

 

 

 

 

Got it.  Thanks to you and everyone for your replies.  Very helpful.

6 hours ago, Moonlover said:

That last phrase, 'no one will ask how you made it'. is not entirely true. Quite a number of folk, including me, have been asked to provide evidence of income. For pensioners, it's no sweat, but for those earning their incomes, it could be problematic.

That's my worry.  I don't want to be at the mercy of others.

24 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Where is your revenue generated? If it's abroad, like you seem to imply, then I don't see the problem. Just transfer back to Thailand the amounts that you need for your living expenses, no one will ask how you made it. If you transfer in the same year that you earn them, in principle you should pay tax in Thailand (on the transferred amount) which you may want to do if you like to do things above board and taxation is in any case rather low.

A consultation with a tax accountant would be helpful, there are many who specialize with foreigners.

Yes, it'll be abroad and I agree - consulting with an accountant + lawyer who specializes in immigration would be useful.  Right now, just surveying.

I currently work for a company in Thailand, but next year I'm considering leaving it and starting my own online content creation business while staying in Thailand.  My customers will mainly be Americans and Brits.  I'd like to change my visa from Non-B to a Marriage Non-O after I quit, but I'd also like to do everything above-board.  After reading more about the visa, laws, and other people's experiences, however, I'm unsure of what to do.

It seems like many people on Non-O visa work digitally with no problem and without a proper work permit.  If you stay here for multiple years on the Non-O, it is be obvious that you're making money somehow.  Do they simply look the other way?  Or are these people paying their way to pass under the radar?  Or am I wrong and have these people set-up their own companies in Thailand?

I'm considering now to ask my wife and her family to create a Thai digital content creation company with me as shareholder and then get my work permit that way.  Her family's well-off, so setting it up shouldn't be much of an issue, but I'm reluctant because it can get very complex when the company expands.

Any advice would be much appreciated.  Cheers!

I'll just echo what others have said: play the long game.  Problems are a part of life, and often times if you are willing to make some investment, those problem people can become good friends - and allies for any other problems that might crop up in the future.  True, sometimes you're stuck with a psychotic <deleted> that's not going to budge, but I think that's the rare exception.  99.9% of people are reasonable and want to do what's right - even in Thailand.

If you're willing to stick it out for the long haul after you've had your time off, I'd suggest being the nice guy.  I know it's a bit of a bad word these days, but it works for me.  Go to his store and ask him how he's doing, where he's from, etc.  Bring the wife along if you need a translator.   Invite him and his family and friends for a few drinks on the weekend.  Cook him some desserts.  Don't overdo it, however, and make no further mention of the issue.  After a few weeks, bring it up, don't blame him, and talk about it in a matter-of-fact, no-drama way.  In my experience, the problem will lessen, if not be resolved, after this.  If you stop all of the favors after he improves, though, he'll probably feel betrayed and get back at you with a vengeance.  Thus, you'll be stuck having to care about the person who lives next door to you for the long-term.  I know, it's terrible, caring about your neighbors, but the alternative is paying a much heavier price.

However, if someone's been a grumpster for most of his life or doesn't have good social skills and tries this, I doubt they'll be able to forge the kind of connection that'll make this work.  The interest will be interpreted as manipulation and viewed with suspicion, if not outright scorn.  In such cases, perhaps a mixture of diplomacy and war might be necessary.  Which, brings me to the next point, if being nice doesn't work, then follows diplomacy/administrative action and, failing that, outright war.

I liked the suggestions of playing scary ghost music at night.  I was also briefly living at an illegal hotel and the neighbors were not happy about this.  Each time guests were noisy, they'd blast nasaly Chinese Buddhist chanting for hours on end in retribution.  After about a year, the neighbors won.  I had moved on, but the guests kept complaining, their ratings tanked, and they eventually relocated.

As a side note, it's good policy to make friends with your neighbors.  Bake them cookies.  Buy them a new plant.  Bring some food back from your latest trip.  Ask them about their family.  There's a risk of being involved in their drama, but also it'll be a huge buffer against these kind of problems in the future, they'll be more likely to join you when there is another issue in the community, and they also can help out with informal security - ie, "Hey, I'm gonna be away for the weekend, can you help look after my property and make sure my dogs are fed."  I see a lot of these dramas coming up and I think most of them could've been avoided if people had been more pro-active in the first place.  They are your neighbors and you should see them as an investment in your community and your property, not as someone you can casually ignore until they annoy you.

I do hope that you can get this resolved.  Quite frustrating situation to have to deal with, especially with all the time and money involved. 

@lopburi3 - thanks for that. 

@ubonjoe - Yes, I went to the website and looked through that very file already.

Hey folks,

I'm a US citizen planning to get married in Thailand.  Due to covid, my fiancee and I are going to hold off on the official ceremony until the covid situation settles down.  However, we're planning to get legally married in anticipation of my move back to the US in a year and half.  For the marriage registration (is that the correct technical term?), I had two questions:

1. Do I need to bring a witness for the affidavit?

On the US Embassy's site, it says that you should provide your own witness to notarization only if it's necessary.  However, in all the different documents that they notarize, I didn't see any with a place for a witness to sign other than an embassy official.  I'm assuming this means I don't need to provide one, but I'd like to double-check before driving all the way down there only to learn I was wrong.

2. Does anyone have any experience with the other steps of the process in covid times and could offer some advice?

I searched on the forum and repeatedly only came up with a few posts which didn't answer this question.  I'm surprised this is so and guessing the search function's bugged, so if it's been asked elsewhere and explained already, feel free to just send me a link. 

If not, though, I'd appreciate any advice on this.  Since I live in Korat and don't have a car, I'd have to rent one or hire a taxi to go down to Bangkok and stay at my second home in Bangkok.  Any sense of what kind of rough timeframe is expected given covid would be useful, as well as any other unexpected issues - calling ahead to book translation services, issues with the MFA, etc., would all be extremely useful.  There's nothing that I hate more than ping-ponging back-and-forth between officials or wasting a day because a signature was missed along the way.

Appreciate your help in advance.

16 hours ago, K in BKK said:

The only place Ive found is Truefitt & Hill at the Emporium, but the selection is slim. You'd be better off going on line and having it delivered. I usually get my gear from the US or Au

OK, thanks for your reply. Looks like it might be the most economic option. 

Hey folks,

I know that this is a bit of a hail Mary, but I was wondering if there were any stores that sell straight razors and the appropriate equipment in Thailand (in Bangkok even better).  The only one I managed to find online was here:

http://www.siamwetshave.com/en/product-category/straight-razor/

Lazada and Shopee also had a limited and miserable selection of razors to choose from.

My gut tells me that with all these expats, there should be some company selling these things in Thailand - or not.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best!

On 8/10/2018 at 3:47 PM, malt25 said:

Not intended as a flame or wind up.... But !

It never ceases to amaze me why people don't become friends with Mr Google. A 2 second click & this came up immediately.

https://www.google.co.th/search?ei=dU9tW9GpLpTRrQH1_6uYCA&amp;q=pak+chong+bicycle+shops&amp;oq=pak+chong+bicycle+shops&amp;gs_l=psy-ab.12...2879.8408.0.11351.14.14.0.0.0.0.224.2346.0j12j2.14.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.13.2128...0j0i67k1j0i22i30k1j33i22i29i30k1j0i8i13i30k1j33i10k1j33i160k1.0.C_B46h_kmtA

I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for there.

 

It's not so much a matter of finding a bike shop - I know that there are two in Pak Chong, but I grew a little concerned about the fact that most of the bikes (as far as I've been told) are custom-built, meaning it's difficult for me to assess objectively the price - given the fact that I don't know a significant amount about biking.  My concern was a) how reasonable the prices there are and b) how they compare to other bike shops in/around Thailand, especially two other locations which are located near to me: Khorat and Bangkok.  If there's a significantly better deal to be had, I might make it worth the trouble to go to Bkk or Khorat to save several thousand Bhaat (my price range is roughly 15,000).  I admit I could've been more specific in my questions - I can be foolish at times.

But now it's possibly not relevant.  A friend of a friend who's a bike-enthusiast is going to go shopping with me, so hopefully it'll be sorted out and I'll rely mostly on his expertise.

Cheers for the help and not flaming too hard on me :)

On 8/4/2018 at 8:27 AM, malt25 said:

Firstly, welcome aboard. Secondly, I guess you are NOT in Thailand & have never been here. No one can provide accurate advice if we don't know where you wish to purchase said bicycle. However,  there's not a village, town or city in the country that doesn't have a multitude of bike shops.

Cheers. Happy & SAFE cycling.

Didn't realize I overlooked that important bit of information. I'm in Pak Chong, situated roughly midway between Korat and Bangkok. I've lived here off and on for over 6 years.

Any suggestions for purchasing bicycles in Thailand?  I'm not open to second-hand.  Looking for a gravel bike.

Cheers!

Are there any reliable dealers of second-hand or refurbished cell-phones in Thailand?

28 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

The best oral decongestant is pseudoephedrine, which comes in innumerable brands but cannot be purchased over the counter in Thailand.  She has to go to a hospital to get it. There is no effective oral decongestant she can get at a pharmacy here. Oral decongestants were made hospital-only a few years back due to concerns about their potential use to manufacture amphetamines.

 

The main government hospital in Korat is quite good, it is a regional level facility, though waits will be long and if she does nto speak Thai, should have a Thai speaker along.

Great, thank you so much for your help!  What about nasal decongestents?

She speaks Thai, but would rather avoid the long-lines and hot, crowded conditions for something which we could, most likely, treat easily on our own.  I will ask her to go to a local clinic, ask specifically for the decongestent plus antibiotics, and self-treat and see how it goes.  If the problem persists or worsens after that or during, I'll take her to see a specialist in Korat.

Hello folks!

Girlfriend has a possible sinus infection caused by a faulty dive.  I've been told by some experts at another forum specializing in dives (I don't fully trust the medical care here), who've diagnosed her case, tentatively, as having an "ear barotrauma that may have progressed to a middle ear and sinus infection."   I'm unfamiliar with the big words they used, but it basically confirms my own diagnosis of what happened.  They've suggested decongestents plus anti-biotics for treatment.  Because I'm not with her - she's in Korat and I'm in Bangkok at present, I can't go to the store and make sure she purchases the proper medicine.

Does anyone know of any specific brands of decongestents in Thailand?  Preferably spelled in Thai, but Romanized will also do, so she can go to the pharmacist and directly request it.

I appreciate your help!

Bee

Thank you to everyone who replied.

My organization has been around for some time but they've never sponsored a foreigner before. Thus, we are currently bouncing around immigration and fuddling a bit about. I will just go in and speak directly with them and see what they need.

Hey there folks,

Sorry if you get this question a lot, but I tried the search and looked back about 10-pages on the Visa's page to no avail, so I'll ask my no-brainer here.  Help appreciated ahead of time.

About to apply for my Work Permit for my Volunteer Visa (doing translation work, consultation, creating art installations, teaching meditation) with a charity.  I have a letter from my former employer certifying I have experience doing all of this work for over five years already (as a monk) and I'm planning on bringing a copy of my Bachelor's Degree as well, just in case.

My question is:
 

Is a photocopy of my Bachelor's enough to satisfy the requirements for the work permit, if I also have a letter from my former employer?  Do I need it notified or some sort of official, legal recognition that this document is true?  Any other advice before I waste another day waiting to be told no?

Many thanks for your time and your help,

B