Mike Teavee

If you want a great diving/snorkelling experience with Whale Sharks then check out Oslob (more accurately Tan-awan)… (https://www.oslobwhalesharks.com) Awesome experience & that side of Cebu Island has some stunning beaches with crystal clear waters.

It was around June last year so approx 8 months ago & I got the new bankbook at Bangkok Branch in Central Festival. .

Had no problems getting a new passbook from the Bangkok Bank branch in Central Festival for my account in Bangkok when my old one was full. NB it doesn’t seem possible to move your account to a new province so whilst they updated my address for me, the account is still considered to be a Bangkok one so I get charged for using Bangkok Bank atms in Pattaya but not in Bangkok.

On a trip around the North of Thailand at the moment & tried Khao Soi (Beef) for the 1st time… Loved it ???????? Also tried a Burmese (should this be Myamarese now?) Jungle curry that was very nice… Oh & I found that the Massaman Beef curry at the places on “Muslim street” ( don’t know it’s proper name but it’s near Chiang Mai Night Bazaar) was much more like Indonesian/Malaysian Beef Rendang which I love. Am off to Udon Thani tmr, any must eat recommendations for food there?

Thanks, you’re 100% correct it was Mae Sai (not Mae Sot) that we visited. Hopefully I’ll get the right border crossing when we go from Udon Thani to Vientiane on Thursday ????

I was there on a day trip from Chiang Rai last Monday (30th Jan) & it was still closed to foreigners…

I seem to recall reading some time ago that one of the Airlines (Laos Air?) won’t let you fly if you’re leaving Thailand with an Overstay. Could be completely mistaken, again one of those things to check if it might impact you.

I’m sorry but in the eyes of immigration it is 100% your responsibility to fully understand your permission to stay in Thailand (even if it’s them that stamp you in wrong) so I can’t see your school doing anything to help here. Although the fine won’t go up anymore (it’s 500b per day overstay but capped at 20,000b) you should make arrangements to leave the country asap as if you’re caught by immigration you would face at least a 1 year ban. Am sure others can confirm/correct but it’s my understanding that some land borders will send you back to leave via an airport if you’re on a significant overstay so best to check before heading to UT.

Snow Girl (Netflix)… https://m.imdb.com/title/tt15787870/

At the end of the day it’s all down to whether you believe the agents are giving you enough value to warrant their fee & for me they do. I’ve posted before my experience of doing an extension in Bangkok a couple of years back where not only did the agent catch that my Bankbook had consolidated entries that wouldn’t be acceptable to Immigration (they took me to the bank to help get the statements I needed) they also got me in for my extension 42 days before it was due when CW was only accepting people extending 3 days before their extension expires which saved a holiday I had planned/booked. I knew nothing of these 2 things before I went into the agent so would have used them anyway but it’s just a couple of examples of where the agent added real value to me. End of the day I think if the agents service cost 100,000b none but the most desperate would use them, if the service cost 100b everybody but the most stubborn would use them ????

I have this “Argument” with 2 of my mates all the time… I pay 8,000b for an Agent to do my extension (keep 800k in the bank but more to have funds available in an emergency than for immigration) + 4,000 for a multi re-entry permit so 12,000b total = 1,000b pm. They don’t pay anything as they’re working & their companies do it all for them but if they weren’t working they would “Definitely Do it Themselves” for 1,900 + 3,800 = 5,700b so save 6,300b per year. Then they sit back & light up a cigarette with no thought about how much money they could save if they gave up their pack a day habit (at least 4,500b pm). My (laboured) point is we all have different values we place on things & what might not be worth it to you is worth it to me.

I use Maneerat & they are excellent but for everything I’ve had to do with Immigration via them, I have needed my TM30 which is obviously linked to my Pattaya address. Might be worth running it past them to get their thoughts. BTW as you pay 12,500 I’m assuming you don’t keep the 800k in the bank (I do & pay them 8k to do my extension), if this is the case then the agent I mentioned in my previous post would not help you as they mainly deal with Work Permit/Visa related business & will only do retirement extensions if you keep the 800k in the bank..

It’s possible you’ll have a problem doing your extension in Pattaya if your residence address is in Bangkok (as a minimum I would expect you to have to change your address to Pattaya, get the extension & then change it back to Bangkok) so might make things easier to just use an Agent in Bangkok for your extension. I used to use AsiaVisa Travel, they’re located on Sukhumvit Soi 24, about 3 minute walk from Phrom Pong BTS station.

The problem with not updating your bank book on a regular basis is you end up with consolidated entries which are not acceptable to Immigration when doing your extension so you need extra statements from your Bank. Immigration want to see the end of day total on your account for everyday to ensure that you haven’t gone below the limits.

I can’t speak for CW as I always used an agent to do my 90 day reports when I lived in Bangkok but at Jomtien IO, as long as you’re on a Long Term Visa & are returning to the same address then you don’t need to do a new TM30 & should have no problems doing an online report (I had no problem doing mine after my last UK trip reset the cycle). My advice would be to try it online with 10-12 days to go & if it doesn’t work go to CW or get an agent to file it for you. [there is also the mail-in option but I’ve never tried using it]

This is normally a “Residency Certificate” from Immigration which (in Pattaya at least) can be got by people who are on visa exempt / tourist visas. However, if Chiang Mai is only giving these out to long term visa holders you could try explaining to them that the reason you need the RC is so you can open a bank account & start the long term visa process but failing that you could ask your Embassy for a letter confirming where you live which should satisfy the bank. And if all that fails, book a weeks holiday to Pattaya & use an agent there to sort out your conversion to non-o, 1st years extension & 1st bank account (23k for visa/extension, 3,500 for bank account)

Was at Chiang Mai night market last night & sat there whilst a young (I’d guess 21-23) Caucasian girl gingerly steered her big bike into a parking space then couldn’t move it back to straighten it up so her bf riding a similar bike parks his & goes over to move hers. Then they walk into the bar & start downing Changs…. An accident waiting to happen if I’ve ever seen one…

In the Philippines a few years back, it was quite common to get a “Hey Joe” greeting if you were “Long Nose” (White).

Edit… YES!!! Just earned my 1st post badge & on my birthday as well… Happy Birthday/1st Post badge to me, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge to me, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge to MTV

Just never type Google into Google… or you could break the Internet!

Approx 1 or 2 months back Google (Win10/Chrome) started this annoying behaviour of returning search results (I could see the link I wanted) & then immediately refreshing the page sticking loads of ADs above it. So I switched to Brave (which very helpfully imported all of my bookmarks etc…) On my iPhone I mainly use Safari so don’t have the same problem.

The fee is 300b at Jomtien IO… https://pcec.club/ResidencyCertificate You were lucky ????

I needed a residency cert to get my Tax Identification Number (TIN), normally I use an agent to do everything immigration related but as I was already at the Tax Office in Jomtien I thought I’d do it myself. Went in with everything I thought I needed (Passport, condo lease, TM30, Photos etc…), no queuing outside, approx 20 minutes filling in the form, getting the necessary copies & waiting my turn then pay 300b & come back 1 hour later to pick the Cert up. This would have been July last year & I’ll admit that immigration wasn’t that busy but my understanding is you go in & talk (nicely) to the guy at the desk who tells you what forms/paperwork/photocopies you need… & once you have those gives you a queue number (1 guy in front of me getting a Residency Cert, vast majority of people were getting extensions).

TBH I’m more annoyed about the <deleted>ty Netflix support i got. The Nvidia Shield would be my #1 choice but it’s very expensive compared to other options (I have a couple of Hi-Media boxes that probably cost me less than 1/2 the price). Off for a 3 week trip up north tomorrow, when I get back I’ll order an “Eric Box” (in Bangkok it’s a “Bob Box” ) which will give me all of the streaming channels, can’t remember how much it costs but I know it’s less than 2,000b more than 1,000b and comes with everything including live sports & P2V events.

Have a (actually 2) Android box(es) + 2 chrome casts (long story short I spent a couple of years with 2 lives split between Singapore & Bangkok so I basically have 2 of everything) but it only supports 1080p so if I were to go down this route then I would need to buy another android box (am loving the excuse for an upgrade ???? ) Oh I also have a couple of FireTabs ???? - But don't use them for TV except downloading Amazon content when I'm travelling,