Caldera

I'm out and about very often in Bangkok (including Thong Lor) and have been since 15+ years. I've only been asked for my passport twice, more than 10 years ago, both times when walking nearby Ekkamai bus terminal which falls into the Thong Lor police precinct. I didn't have my passport with me on both occasions (I never carry it unless I travel overnight or out of town) and they accepted photocopies. Friends of mine who've had "the same pleasure" more recently have reported the same. Be polite, don't talk too much (it only confuses them or makes them think you are nervous) and have at least photocopies of the relevant pages. Personally I wouldn't recommend carrying the original passport, too much hassle if it's lost or stolen.

No need to claim that I have high ranking police friends either, that kind of barstool nonsense always cracks me up.

I've been through checkpoints many times though, it's almost inevitable when being out late at night. My taxis have been stopped at night more recently in the Asoke and Rama 4 areas, but they've just shone their flashlight inside and waved us on. I guess that were close encounters, maybe I didn't fit their profile for some reason or another.

1 hour ago, PremiumLane said:

They DO neuter dogs and cats here, that is one of their main functions, and they also try to educate people... look at their website and what they do

I'm aware of that and actually donated to them some years ago, upon reading an article about their neutering efforts. When I wrote that they should focus on that, that is exactly what I meant.

I'm 100% opposed to this adoption nonsense, so I won't support them anymore in any shape or form while they're (also) doing this. Asking Thais or expats who reside in Thailand to adopt a soi dog, fine. Shipping one over to Europe or America, lunacy.

If you believe in "cheap gold", it would be better if your mommy still managed your finances for you.

That's nonsensical. Thailand currently isn't a "tourist destination" at all (safe or otherwise), as tourists aren't allowed to enter.

4 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

Treated different by that disgusting creature Trump is?

 

Is that why they started the birther drivel already?

Well I did say "differently", not "better". ????

What do you expect from Trump and his minions? That he's pretty desperate doesn't help things!

Queue up and wait your turn, Michael. You obnoxious piece of lawyer scum.

Who is NOT writing a book on Trump these days?

Hillary, dear, the treatment you got had nothing to do with sexism and all to do with your obnoxious personality and unethical conduct.

I'm sure a fine and upstanding lady such as Kamala Harris will be treated much differently.

What I don't like about the volunteer visa is that I've asked several agents (in both Bangkok as well as a few other places) who can facilitate this what I thought were perfectly reasonable questions, and none of them could or would give me a straight answer. It's pretty much a pay cash, don't ask too many silly questions and pray for the best kind of deal.

I don't like that your passport goes on a little trip for a few weeks and will then miraculously come back with stamps from an immigration office you've never attended to. Everything else I could probably live with if I had to.

4 minutes ago, alexlm said:

I have said MANY times that I'm actually waiting for the borders to reopen before coming back into Thailand. Even though I could come now with my Wife...

 

The school didn't tell me when the borders would reopen, why do you think they would know that??

 

When I used to go to Vientiane in solo I paid a similar price anyway so it doesn't change anything.

The thing is that reopening the borders might not be such a binary thing, "open" or "closed". We've seen that already, actually. While I realize that you plan this for the post coronavirus future, it's not unlikely that many regulations we've been used to will change. So when you quote a price for a visa run from the past - it's just that. That option might never exist again.

2 hours ago, alexlm said:

If I choose the ED visa route:

My school offers 7,000 THB trip to Vientiane, all included, with fast tracking at the Embassy to apply. No waiting time...

So that would be fine.

That kind of plan comes with quite a catch nowadays. Did your school also tell you when the border will reopen, what the entry requirements in both Laos and Thailand will be? For all we know, it could happen tomorrow or in two years time...

I think the Scottish government should wait for a little longer to let the economic downturn fester and the Brexit fully materialize. I predict they will be able to secure a much larger majority for independence then, maybe in the 60-70% range.

I'm of two minds about the guy. His reporting is often excellent and he clearly fills a void as local journalism is in a really sad state. On the other hand, he often comes across as arrogant and attention seeking for nothing but his own gratification.

I'm not surprised that the Thai authorities see his shenanigans with suspicion, and again I'm of two minds about it. Sometimes I'm glad that he exposes the truth and we all know how much those in power despise that. On other occasions he picks silly little battles (double pricing) and effectively baits the authorities by saying he shouldn't really do that while his "visa" is up for extension. So his trouble is kind of self-inflicted, maybe he wants to get kicked out to secure a book deal or something.

Then there's the fact that he says blogging is his "hobby", when clearly it is a lot more than that. As he gets compensated with stays at hotels quite frequently, the question of illegal work might also be on immigration's mind.

My guess is that he will ultimately get his extension. But who knows!

22 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

That would barely cover the fuel cost.

Maybe they do it in the same way as some forms of public transport - you'll have to wait until the truck is full. So depending on how many others they catch who need to be transported to Bangkok, it could take a while. ????

On 8/10/2020 at 10:36 PM, edwardandtubs said:

That's a far more sensible way of doing it. Pity the Pattaya branch didn't get the memo.

Apparently they've received the memo in the meantime. When I contacted them a few days later, they only wanted a photo of the entry stamp, plus a confirmation from me that I'm not / wasn't on overstay. I agree that it's unreasonable to expect photos of each and every passport page.

Their deadline (August 17th) is fast approaching though and I'm still exploring other options, so after having received their confirmation that it could be done, I have yet to decide if I'll go ahead with it.

As there are flights to the UK available that actually happen, I think they will probably follow other embassies who have stated that they will not issue visa extension letters.

I'd imagine that an embassy (any embassy) might still issue them in cases of extraordinary hardship, decided case by case, but that remains to be seen.

"The first case is a 24-year-old Thai construction worker who returned home on July 7 and went back to Japan on August 1, where he was found to be infected, Dr Suwannachai said."

I'm a bit surprised to read such a report. So this construction worker went through all the trouble to secure a repatriation flight to Thailand and spend 14 days locked up in state quarantine, only to travel back to Japan 10 days after being released from quarantine?

I don't buy that Thailand has eliminated the coronavirus, so I'm not surprised that it's seen as a possibility that he got infected while in Thailand.

I think one reason why neither Thailand nor its neighbors seem very eager to open the land borders is that they would all find plenty of cases imported from supposedly virus-free neighboring countries. That would shatter the illusion.

Phnom Penh has been known as quite strict and there's very little if anything that agents can do to help. While it's hard to predict what they (or any other Thai embassy for that matter) will be like next year, I wouldn't go there.

Well in fairness, according to the news report that included the address of the premises that were raided, this was NOT the Thai Visa Centre office, but Grace's residential address.

If they had targeted Thai Visa Centre, they would have (also) raided their office - even Thai immigration should be able to get that address from their public Facebook page. ????

So their explanation that this raid was related to Grace's other (or past) activities cannot really be dismissed out of hand.

Whatever we may think of this drama, I cannot help but notice that they are very confident that they've resolved the situation to everyone's satisfaction. And they probably have, as it so often plays out here.