Caldera

54 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

Isn't it safer the other way around...? With Vient. more likely to stamp the blue/red stamp before Savanna...I think Savanna....just reject at the window vs stamping...I've not hear of them doing the blue stamp of passport death on TV unless I missed it.

I'd keep savana till the end after 2-3 at Vient...with supporting money far in excess of 20k to show to be safe.

Once that stamp is in passport it makes it hard(er) to get the TV in the region....

I agree, I haven't heard of Savannakhet using that stamp either.

Make sure that your USD are in pristine condition. That's pretty much true for Vietnam as a whole, but certainly for the Thai embassy there as well as the consulate in HCMC.

2 hours ago, elviajero said:

The only way to achieve that is with multiple exit/entries. Multiple entries are clearly ok, but the practise of back to back entries to extend a stay for tourism clearly isn’t.

Since you "clearly" know all the facts, please define "back to back" in that context. How many days/weeks/months do you need to stay away in between entries so that they aren't considered "back to back"?

Taking the usual grandstanding into account, rolling out the new system will probably take twice as long, has a third of the functionality they hope for and costs four times as much as planned. The latter won't be a problem, obviously, as they can simply increase the price of a visa accordingly.

3 hours ago, Bang Bang said:

But you might then be liable for maligning the BB, not that they do not include the occasional bad apple on the take.

The occasional bad apple. Right. The others aren't apples.

4 hours ago, gamini said:

I think most of the problem is that people don't seem to understand that they just can't live in a country indefinitely on a tourist visa.

But the thing is that you could do just that - in Thailand - for at least the last couple of decades (probably longer). Transitioning away from that "tradition" obviously causes some friction in the process.

Personally, I'd prefer if Thailand introduced new rules that leave no doubt, instead of letting each border checkpoint make up their own silly "interpretation". How can they expect visitors to follow the rules when there are no rules that are clear and enforced across all checkpoints? That mess is on Thailand, not on the country's long-term visitors who would (have to) adapt one way or another.

One problem I see is that what is "right" and what is "wrong" often depends on the immigration office or border checkpoint you are dealing with. It might even depend on the individual official and their mood that day. Those inconsistencies would make even a pinned thread where only the experts give advice lengthy and confusing to read.

9 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

I though the OP meant bike as in bicycle. I've never heard of anyone renting out a motorbike with only a 1000 baht deposit.

Good point, but at the other hand, I've never heard of the plod impounding bicycles.

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Out of interest UJ, if the owner did manage to have him charged for theft, what's the statute of limitations on a case like that?

Ten years

The condo office seems to do the reporting online. All they could do is take a screenshot, but maybe they cannot be bothered.

It took them some time and tremendous pressure to do the right thing, but credit where credit is due, ultimately they did the right thing and I'm glad about it.

I'd rather just write off the loss instead of calling the useless plod for their inane finger pointing exercise, trampling all over my property. The icing on the cake is that photos (or in this case, even a video!) of this kindergarten event then end up in the public domain. Seriously, who needs that?

4 hours ago, mcsiva8 said:

Don't forget $1 for border crossing, maybe others who pay more than 30, don't get charged it, but I got charged with the Aussie passport

 

That's probably the "overtime" charge that needs to be paid late in the evening, during weekends, on public holidays and etc.

1 hour ago, oMega69 said:

Savannakhet visa run.

 

My agent told me they not accept USD for the Lao visa... sounds strange to me "they want u to pay 1500thb so the IO officers can make more profit"  at the friendship bridge Nongkai boarder point i pay USD all the times.. hm.

Any one been using USD here lately ?

I went to Savannakhet last month and I paid for my Lao visa in USD - the official price, they didn't ask for more. No problem whatsoever, but I didn't go with an agent or on any kind of organized visa run (maybe it's them who want payment in baht?).

59 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Immigration Checkpoints exist to weed out those cheating the system.. primarily those who may be on a Tourist / Type O / Education Visa but are actually working here... 

You seem to mistake Thai immigration officers for professionals with certain skills that are required to serve in other countries' police forces. You allude to interrogation skills in particular, but in case you haven't noticed, most Thai immigration officers cannot hold any meaningful conversation in English.

Personally, I'd start with teaching them how to recognize fake passports (it's clearly hit and miss so far). Once they've mastered that crucial skill, maybe one day they can become proficient in "weeding out" other types of miscreants.

29 minutes ago, jackdd said:

If he currently holds citizenship of a country which revokes the citizenship if he acquires another one (for example Germany), this might not be an option for him.

Germany has a procedure that allows you to keep your German citizenship. I'd daresay that the requirements to do so are easily met by most Germans who might wish to acquire Thai citizenship.

5 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Not everybody is corrupt.

Thanks for the laugh.

2 hours ago, BestB said:

If you married and employed you can skip the PR and go direct for citizenship , Thai skills not needed.

It's correct that you can skip PR if you're married to a Thai national.

It is not correct, however, that Thai skills don't need to be demonstrated in that case.

Apparently they have 300 slots available per day, so you might need to book your appointment well in advance to make sure you get one for the day you want to apply.

If you tell us where you plan to apply, we might be able to tell you if the embassy or consulate in question will be okay with your ticket.

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I'm just wondering how many fear and loathing threads will be generated on the topic of medical insurance.

Take a wild guess, then multiply by 3 for good measure.

Just get another SETV in London while you're there, or ideally a METV if you can meet their requirements and plan to visit frequently in the near future.

Point (3) of that list is a bit funny when you know about Section 44 of the interim constitution. Does Thailand believe that other countries don't know about the coup and the legal framework it created? Hard to believe they could be that delusional.