KhaoYai

Its a pain in the proverbial that you have to apply - especially as the authorities don't seem to take it seriously once you've entered. However, its not a difficult process. If you want to pay me 5000 to do your applications, I'll be happy to take your money ???? but just remember this - you'll have to send an agent exactly the same documents as you would submit if you were doing it yourself. To a non computer savvy person, the only difficult part in doing the application is the fact that most of your documents will be sent to you in a format known as PDF - this is quite normal - its the internationally accepted standard for electronic documents. Thailand being Thailand though, the pass website does not accept PDF format - they only accept JPG, JPEG or PNG - formats that the rest of the world uses for images. I've heard that many people just photograph their documents using their phones and send them in that way - not something I would take a chance on. It is quite easy to convert a PDF into a JPG and you can do it free online - much better quality than a dodgy mobile phone photo. Bizarrely - when your Thailand Pass is approved and sent to you, its in PDF format!!

I very much doubt your Pass application will be approved unless it shows medical cover including Covid for at least $20,000 US or equivalent. Obtain a letter from your insurers to confirm they will cover that amount and include it with your application.

I'm pretty sure the Thai government will have been in touch with the Russians and that the 'trapped' tourists will have been in touch with their embassy. How difficult would it be for the Russian government to provide re-patriation flights? They seem to have enough money for missiles and bullets.

So, Russian aircraft are banned from EU. UK and US airspace. Someone help me here, I must be missing something. Exactly which piece of EU, UK or US airspace do Russian planes have to fly in on their way from Thailand to China to repatriate their citizens? Has Laos, China or Mongolia joined the EU then?

How nice of him. ????

Yes, I know now but thanks. TAT sent me the governmental order. I sent it to Vietjet - no reply ????.

To be honest, this is the first time I've booked with Vietjet and it will definitely be my last - even if I have to pay double. I must have spent 4-5 hours in the last week e-mailing them and trying to call them. My issues have been: 1. The CM Chana thing - each time I wrote and told them the link they sent didn't work, they simply resent the original e-mail which I believe is a standard one they send out to all customers. The last e-mail they sent was exactly the same except it simply said I needed to register on the CM Chana App but missed off the link ????. The TAT kindly sent me a copy of the government order cancelling CM Chana - I forwarded that to them and that's the last I heard on that matter. 2. Schedule Changes - They have notified me of minor changes to my flight times on no less than 4 ocassions and I only booked 3 weeks ago. Each time they send out what appears to be a standard e-mail offering me the choice to change my flight or a credit. The changes didn't really matter too much until the last one where they said my outbound flight had been changed to the same day as my inbound - I immediately e-mailed them saying that was no good, I didn't want a credit, nor could I travel on any other date. so I wanted a full refund. They replied - again with a standard e-mail, this one advising me of another change to my schedule. As if by magic, the flight they changed was suddenly available again. At the end of each e-mail there was a link to 'Manage My Booking' - I thought I'd check to make sure the flights they had now settled on were confirmed. The link didn't work ????. I e-mailed them to say the link didn't work, could they rectify the matter. The reply - nothing to do with the faulty link, just another advice of schedule change but this time no alternative times/flights. I wrote back asking a). Why have you not sent me a working link - the point of my email and b). What is this latest change, there are no alternatives given and no mention of complete cancellation? Next day a new reply: 'Dear Sir, we would like to inform you that your Thai Vietjet Air flight has been rescheduled due to “OPERATIONAL REASON” - exactly as before and again no alternative given. By this time I was ready to scream so I replied in both Thai and English - very firmly asking them if they understood either language and in no uncertain terms asking again that they send the correct link to 'Manage My Booking' and what they meant by rescheduled without any alternatives. I told them not to send me yet another standard e-mail. This appeared to do the trick - they sent me a completely different link to something called Skyfun. When I tried it, it was in Thai and despite clicking the button to change to English, it wouldn't do it. I googled Skyfun, found it, found the problem with the link they sent and eventually got to the correct place where I found my flights were confirmed and there had not been any further re-scheduling. However, I will not feel confident until I've actually boarded the flight. All in all I reckon that the time I have spent messing around with them has cost me 10 times what I saved by buying their 'cheap flight'. I'm not at all surprised they 'are currently experiencing high call volumes' - if they'd just reply correctly the first time they could free up a lot of time. Never, never, again. - same goes for the booking agent Opodo who I couldn't even contact.

Non-confrontational or Machiavellian?

Really, I don't remember Ukraine 'confronting' anyone - look what's happened to them.

Whilst I agree with you and applaud members of Ukraine's civillian population who have taken up arms to defend their country - that just gives Putin the perfect excuse for aiming at apartment blocks. He will simply say that his forces were being fired upon from those buildings. In his mind, anyone left in Ukraine now is a target. What Putin is doing in Ukraine is exactly the same as he did in Aleppo, Syria - surround a city, cut off all its supplies and bomb it into submission. He's a total liar, this is not about Ukraine's wish to join NATO - Russia already has 2 Nato countries on its borders. If he takes Ukraine, there will be more. Lunatics and liars often slip up and say more than they really should - on more than one occasion he's admitted he simply wants Ukraine back within Russia's control. He doesn't believe it has any right to exist, never mind any rights to sovereignty. However, he knows he will never conquer the minds of the Ukrainian people - that's clear from the 2013/14 revolution. Perhaps that's why he has no problems slaughtering them now? To my mind, and I know this is not a widely held viewpoint - I'd rather defend Ukraine and risk WW3 than let this bully keep on slaughtering people for no good reason. We've put up with enough from him, its time he was stopped - at the moment the West is letting Ukraine fight its war for them. Ukraine is being thrown to to wolves in the hope that it ends there. A foolish attitude in my opinion - the free world is going to have to fight Putin at some point - I'm convinced of that. Then Thailand will probably have no choice on who it aligns with because they have to consider China's position. Its entirely possible that at some point in the (maybe not too far distant) future, that those of you living in Thailand may either have to leave or face a whole new regime. After WW2 there was a big world shake up, borders were re-drawn and alliances formed. If, heaven forbid, we are facing WW3 and there's anything left afterwards, the same thing will happen again. China's intentions are clear, they want all of Asia within their control or at the very least, their sphere of influence. Thailand is close enough and has a large coast - I believe it will be one of the areas they will want to control. Pleasing to see Singapore start imposing sactions yesterday.

Thankfully it seems that the post you reacted to has been deleted. I support free speech to a point and that point is when someone is either trolling or has views that are outlandish and vile. Not sure which category Mr Henk Langeweg falls into - possibly both but it seems the moderators won't tolerate his views - well done them.

You really think Putin was Trump's buddy? Putin was using him, he lies constantly (they , in fact he both do) lives in a fantasy world of his own but he hates America, always has, always will - he doesn't care who's in charge. All he was doing with Trump was finding ways to get closer and closer - entirely for his own purposes. The fact that Putin and Trump have some things in common - like lies, making billions in dubious ways and get drunk on power + talk sh*t, made them a pretty good match.

Thanks - I've been in touch with the TAT who have been very helpful. They sent me a copy of an order (in Thai) that cancelled CM Chana as of 4 March - sent it to Vietjet, not heard a peep ????....................loss of face and all that rubbish.

Its OK, I got in touch with the TAT and they confirmed that the CM Chana App has been cancelled as of 4 March. I sent a copy a copy of the order to Vietjet. Thanks

I have posted this elsewhere but I'm posting it here in the hope that I might get a reply: I am booked to fly to CM on 16 March. Vietjet are insisting that I register on the CM Chana App 24 hours before I travel. I have been told that the APP is no longer needed. However, the link they send me doesn't work - or it won't work from here (UK). Every time I ask Vietjet about the problem they simply repeat the same e-mail - except in the latest reply they have simply missed off the CM Chana link. Neither of the links in the reply below work for me. Does anyone have a working link to the CM Chana App in English or anything that says its ended? Dear Passenger, Regarding your email, we would like to inform you that the Travel Measures for Domestic flights entering Chiangmai International Airport are as follows: (choose either one of the documents) Passengers must show the Negative of Covid-19 test results within 72 hours before the flight departure (RT-PCR or Antigen Rapid test method or ATK negative test result from medical facilities ) upon check-in. OR Fully vaccinated of Covid-19 vaccine (according to the requirements of each vaccine, except AstraZeneca can enter 14 days after the 1st injection). Register your information at CM-CHANA Webpage( https://cmsdm.net/COVIDH/cm_rule.php) at least 24 hours prior to your arrival. Remark: For further information about Covid-19 travel documents requirement, please visit the website www.moicovid.com/ข้อมูลสำคัญ-จังหวัด/

I really need some help here guys: Vietjet are insisting that I register on the CM Chana App 24 hours before I travel. I have been told that the APP is no longer needed. However, the link they send me doesn't work - or it won't work from here (UK). Every time I ask Vietjet about the problem they simply repeat the same e-mail - except in the latest reply they have simply missed off the CM Chana link. Neither of the links in the reply below work for me. Does anyone have a working link to the CM Chana App in English or anything that says its ended? Dear Passenger, Regarding your email, we would like to inform you that the Travel Measures for Domestic flights entering Chiangmai International Airport are as follows: (choose either one of the documents) Passengers must show the Negative of Covid-19 test results within 72 hours before the flight departure (RT-PCR or Antigen Rapid test method or ATK negative test result from medical facilities ) upon check-in. OR Fully vaccinated of Covid-19 vaccine (according to the requirements of each vaccine, except AstraZeneca can enter 14 days after the 1st injection). Register your information at CM-CHANA Webpage( https://cmsdm.net/COVIDH/cm_rule.php) at least 24 hours prior to your arrival. Remark: For further information about Covid-19 travel documents requirement, please visit the website www.moicovid.com/ข้อมูลสำคัญ-จังหวัด/

I read, yes only read, that a certain club on Walking Street, Pattaya used to have representatives present that would open bank accounts for you and I don't think they were particular about your visa status. Whether they were actual bank staff or agents, I know not but the wording on the website said bank. Clearly that was pre-covid and may be closed or unavailable but it just goes to show the BS that goes on.

Yet I'm with Kasikorn already and tried to open another account..........back to the old 'cannot, need work permit or retirment visa sir' and showed my wife the rules on a tablet. However, I metioned this during a phone call with the call centre staff recently and they advised me that things have changed again now and its back to simply needing an long stay visa - she did say 12 month Non O though. I believe that's in addition to other methods such as work permit. Bank accounts in Thailand have been a nightmare as long as i can remember - different bank, different day, different staff, often = different answer. Post on here that you've had problems opening an account with XYZ Bank and within hours you'll have several posts from members saying they opened an account with them on a tourist visa (which I believe can actually be done in Pattaya).

The ATK IS listed as a requirement. 'Paid AQ / SHA Extra+ hotel reservation confirmation for 1 day (Day 1), and the booking must include the fee for 1 RT-PCR test, 1 ATK self-test kit and airport transfer.' https://tp.consular.go.th/en/plan I asked my hotel for an amended confirmation letter.

Well that's 2 of you so I'll go with the flow ????. I'm holding you both responsible ????. However, they are a bloody useless outfit, they take days to reply and instead of dealing with the enquiry, they simply repeat the same e-mail time after time. Each time they include links to - 'more information on covid policy' and to register on CM Chana. I reply that the links don't work - they send the same ones again. I'm just going to go to their office when I arrive at Suvarnabhumi - probably un-manned. I've had no less than 4 itinerary changes so far and each time they write to me in Vietnamese. When I send a reply I get an automated reply in Thai. I asked them to please send me an English version of the amended ticket - which they did with full apologies. Today, another itinerary change - in Vietnamese ????. I give up.

I believe they are doing these applications manually now and more or less in order of the entry date. Your ex's return is almost a month away, I wouldn't be expecting anything yet.

Did you try writing to the email address that is suggested if your application is urgent? [email protected] I did that, I can't say that's why I got mine today but I don't think it did any harm either.

Thailand Pass approved Saturday 5 March 16:35pm GMT. ???? I would suggest that others check their junk mail. My notification of application went in there.

Did you by any chance get a 'friend' to do that brickwork? I've rarely seen bricks laid as well by Thai builders.

Nothing wrong with building without a concrete frame but you will need to accommodate that when choosing the footings. In most areas of Thailand a traditional Western concrete trench footing will not work.