Caldera

Now that the theft aspect has been dealt with to his satisfaction, lock him up for stomping on those banknotes.

He had a good run. Chapeau!

Quite a mature way to get the point across.

14 hours ago, BritTim said:

My best guess is that the annotation is code for "only admit this passenger if they have an onward flight out of Thailand within 24 hours". Essentially, it is a heads up for other immigration officials at the entry points that enforce the unofficial rule that someone must be a "genuine tourist" (whatever that means) in order to enter using a tourist visa.

Very far-fetched, unless you can actually read the entire stamp and make sense of the "code" you are guessing to see. It's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of Thailand's IOs, but I don't think they go that far in their scheming.

Even at Don Mueang, arguably the worst airport for ENTRY as a long-term tourist, IOs manning the EXIT booths couldn't care less - I just flew out from there today, and as many times before, without any issues or comments or secret codes put into my passport. The only thing worth reporting is that I got fingerprinted for the first time. Nice machine, wished me a good trip in my native / passport language once it had all my fingers.

7 hours ago, BritTim said:

I find the explanation that an airport with limited international flights had no facilities for normal processing of overstays to be quite ridiculous, with all due respect. Even at small land crossings, they have all the forms and stamps needed.

I remember consulates running out of visa stickers before and having to resort to using their old rubber stamps again. Things do break, get misplaced or run out.

If the intention was to limit the OP's time in country next time around, why state it in hours? Arrival and admitted until stamps only have a date, what if they arrive at noon? That makes no sense whatsoever and I've certainly never heard about anything like that. That an IO at Hua Hin Airport, of all places, comes up with such a novel idea is a stretch at best.

Ah, is it time to flog the monorail idea again already? I cannot even remember when I first read about it. Not a lot of progress in the meantime, if any.

For a foreigner, it would be foolish to embark on a trip far away from home without taking their passport. If you are ever challenged to show it, you'd better be able to comply in a timely manner.

It is for that reason that I wouldn't use anything other than my passport for ID when flying domestically. Unless my passport had been stolen and I needed to fly back to Bangkok to apply for a new one.

"Deputy Prime Minister Somkid said Thailand is in a great position on the international stage"

No argument there. Clowns are renowned for their great stage presence.

47 minutes ago, jkcjag said:

For K-Bank I arrange for "international roaming" for my cards which works in the UK and other countries. There is a charge, and it's not the default card normally issued...they issue a different one.

I'm not sure what you're referring to. I've been using my bog standard K-Bank Visa debit card abroad for many years, I neither asked for a different/special card nor have I ever told them before a trip / asked for "international roaming". It just works.

Standard procedure, the German Embassy has been doing it this way since at least 2006 (probably much longer than that, but that was the first time I personally saw Thai documents legalized by them). I'd imagine that the Thai authorities would have made their objections known to the German Embassy by now, if they had any.

Clearly meant to combat vote buying by paying other people's water bills.

(I wrote that in jest, but it's probably less nonsensical than their actual rationale!)

On 5/29/2019 at 5:00 PM, BritManToo said:

You do understand it's socially unacceptable for Asian ladies to casually speak with random men. 

(if not with their husband of father)

That's a nonsensical generalization.

On 6/7/2019 at 6:56 PM, Pib said:

I'm "not" enrolled in PromptPay with any of my Thai banks, but I make QR payment for my DeeMoney transfers....also make bar code/QR payment of most of my monthly utility bills.

Same here. As long as you don't want to receive PromptPay payments sent to your phone number, there's no need to enroll.

He's either barking mad or a moron, probably both. It won't matter, in any case, I don't see how the leadership could go to anyone but Boris at this point.

A DJ and a few hostesses, hardly criminal masterminds worthy of an immigration chief's attention.

Those wanted in their home countries, alright, good on them to catch and ship them back to where they came from.

Not sure how I would handle these threats (probably just ignore them), but for sure I would get rid of that "girlfriend" ASAP.

"Tourists have been advised to phone 191 if they spot anything."

I sure hope that's a toll free number. If a tourist called that number each time he stumbles upon a prostitute in Pattaya, he'd soon be out of credit otherwise.

 

So far it didn't come to my mind that "truth in advertising" was a thing in Thailand.

While I'd imagine that this moron is still someone's favorite president, as per his tweet, why listen to his address when you can follow his inane ramblings on Twitter every single day? Isn't that enough?

Congratulations, dear Japanese Overstayer, that's quite a feat. As they say though, all good things come to an end.

2 hours ago, Brunolem said:

Same question as wgdanson, which consulate? 

 

I can guarantee it is not the French consulate where requirements, as of today, are:

 

- proof of income or enough funds on bank book

 

- proof of address in France (invitation letter from a French resident) 

 

- health insurance covering specified amounts

 

- proof of plane ticket booking

 

- about 100 euros for the visa

 

- a truckload of paperwork, including ID photos which must be taken in a very specific way (3 pages of examples to show the applicants what is required) 

 

- an appointment that must be taken weeks in advance, in order to make the application

 

- no way that you can get the passport with the visa back the next day... the next week if you are lucky... 

Your list cannot be correct for the reason alone that you mentioned a fee. Spouses of Schengen country citizens DO NOT pay a fee for a Schengen visa. Your list looks like the list of requirements for a Thai girlfriend (i.e. someone not, or not yet, married to a citizen), especially the invitation letter.