Small Joke

On 7/10/2018 at 11:15 AM, shackleton said:

yes I am on a 30 day visa exempt entry

just confirming they are not going to surprise me with other paperwork requirement's 

thankyou for the reply 

I am doing this now.  I am a returning retiree, been away a year. I took the THB800K P/A route. I arrived on a 30 day tourist visa exemption and was tardy in getting the money into my existing account.  So I'd burned up most of my 30 days before today (had 12 days left) that cost me thb 1900 getting a further 30 day tourist extension first. 

They also wanted my proof of rental at my address, or in my precise case,  girlfriends ID, her home ownership papers, and the slip confirming she reported my 'alien' presence there on time. 

In my case, they also now want a print out of the forex transfer of the cash to Thailand as well as the bank letter,  bank passbook and copies of the front pages and bank transfer page.

More and more paperwork than ever. 

All photocopies other than their forms must be single sided.  They have been known to reuse the blank side. Last year I got a bit of paper from them with some French guys passport data on the back. A gross security breach, elsewhere, but TIT. 

Seems the blue background supersized photo is back in fashion too.  Although they accepted a white background one from my last catch today.  I had to get another photo because  I'd botched my timing on showing up, for the whole process.  It's B200 for six on site,  or get many more for less elsewhere, if you shop around. Meechock plaza photo shop are particularly good value. If you don't know it,  don't bother, it's not near you,  and your transport costs there will cancel the savings. 

I'm philosophical  about the extra hoops and changes, it's still a doddle compared to dealing with western immigration authorities, no matter what the tabloid press say about refugee 'priveledges'. Thailand seem to be taking long term entry  seriously at last,  and if that means less shady characters get the green light,  I'm all for it. 

The recent changes mean one can reside here and even be a director of an overseas business but reside 'retired' in Thailand. 

Prior to the recent changes (they're in an article in the TV news section BTW)  one needed a permit to even enter the kingdom as the rep of a foriegn business visiting here for a meeting!  It was rarely enforced though. These latest changes were the first I'd even heard of that crazy rule. I used to go to China on a China business visa, while living as a retiree here, and nobody ever questioned it. 

1 minute ago, bristolboy said:

I'm going to nominate myself for a medal and then award it to me for not exploiting what you just wrote. I'm a hero.

That's more like it. Congratulations on your award!

13 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

What has Pence's sexual orientation got to do with this thread.

And you think this isn't homophobic?

"I'm willing to bet my nuts young Michael is as gay as a bouquet of daisies. "

or this:

"The only party he should be aligned with is his own coming out party. "

 

 

Not homophobia. No slur on gay people whatsoever. 

You're not coming across as dense, so it seems you want a flame war.  

Take it elsewhere.  I'm not your patsy. Or your whipping boy. 

5 hours ago, bristolboy said:

Actually, the bizarre thing is on the one hand Trump wants to disengage the USA from a big share of its current defense obligations, but on the other wants to massively build up the military. What exactly for?

Robust home defence vs World's Cop. It's aligned with the entire Trump populist agitprop. 

Just now, bristolboy said:

Well on the surface he's a homophobe. It seems there's a high correlation between homophobic behavior stemming from self hatred because of one's sexual orientation in that direction. Not that I'm saying this is necessarily the case with you.

What in my post is Homophobic?

I'm perfectly comfortable with myself not being entirely straight, but generally prefer my women to be fully female. Hence my post outing Mickey. I definitely agree that homophobia has it's roots in unexplored/unwanted truths about ones own sexuality. I didn't mean for my post to be interpreted as homophobic. But at least I've set you... straight.  ?

On 1/28/2018 at 12:59 PM, Jingthing said:

Yes, that is a problem but aside from his religious fanaticism, he appears grounded in basic sanity. Better him with the authority to launch nukes than unhinged trump. Also, I can't see Pence being elected in 2020. He has no charisma at all, he wasn't even going to win a new term in Indiana. I don't think people really will want to look at such a stiff straight Anderson Cooper for very long. 

I'm willing to bet my nuts young Michael is as gay as a bouquet of daisies. 

The only party he should be aligned with is his own coming out party. 

Have you ever seen images of him in his 'cupcake cute' casual outfits? ?

It sounds like he just did some basic detective work, like show up, turn on his device, and run a few name checks. 

Exactly what unsung rank and file cops do every time they pull an 8 hour shift anywhere else in the world. 

That this is national headline news is the real Big Joke!  

My 20 year plan is to relax and have another beer. 

That should see me safely out to Valhalla.

In all seriousness,  I just got back after a year abroad living in one Latin Amercan nation,  and one Asian one.  

They both have their own serious social problems and flaws.  

This place still looks like paradise  in comparison. 

Thailand is under my skin now,  for better or worse,  I'm back for the long haul.

I was very lucky to be welcomed back into a very comfortable  enclave I could not match overseas without significantly higher outlay,  even though those countries score lower on 'cost of living' indexes. 

I left here full of doom and gloom, I returned 'woke' and grateful.  

Most of the buffoonery and kleptocratic shenanigans won't likely ever affect us directly anyway, and the best thing to do is enjoy the circus at arms length.  

Thailand won't descend into anarchy, even if there is a massive upheaval.  It will all be resolved within a year when the wheels do finally come off.

And then everyone will be back to the good old Kwaam sanuk days. History will show this was the Coup Thailand had to have, to finally move forward and break the regressive cycle that's held her back from her vast potential. Now pass me another beer, would you... 

58 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

Yeah, I can really see the majority of drinkers buying into this.

 

Why don't they concentrate on the real issues?

This is the whole point. The 'real issues' are those that buttress the power play ponzi scheme that keeps everyone in their place. The central tenent of Bhuddist thought is that those at the apex deserve to be there. And one must otherwise accept their lot. The rest is just western thought pollution. 

51 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

My wife thinks this is another part of the web for southern Islam to try and repress/take over from Buddhism as the national religion. Something to do with certain high ranking government officials have Muslim wives.

This would be the last place in the world to fall to ANY ideology other than the status quo. 

Having said that,  there's no shortage of religious diehards worldwide wanting to impose their rules on the rest of us.  In most cases, those rules are warped interpretations of what their religion itself has to say on the subject.

This government 'request' seems to fit that bill.

Religion is part spiritual succour, part social control that predates modern concepts of police and justice. 

All in all it's just a 'nother brick in the wall. 

On 6/29/2018 at 8:55 AM, BuaBS said:

If it requires 3 x 800k in a Thai bank , I'll pass.

You have a good point.  That's approaching  USD 90,000.00 depending  on how forex tracks and that could really hurt in terms of sheer transaction size, it is a lot of lost opportunity cost in funds that could be working for one elsewhere.