femi fan

It seems from all my research (key word, 'seems') that being self-employed in the creative arts of the human world is still not possible in Thailand? To earn money from book sales, and pay taxes is what I'd like to do, but despite the more relaxed new laws relating to work permits back in about 2018, it seems this line of work is still not open to me?

I've done heaps of research, but suddenly realised that Thai Visa might have people in the know about my predicament, or with the same experience who have found answers.

(I've lived in Thailand 30 years, am married, and have always been a teacher before, but stopped that to write my book.) 

It's been raining here in Phuket for the last 4/5 days constantly so playing golf is a risk at the high prices they charge, best value is Phuket country club (country course) very good test!

I hope the rain becomes somewhat more intermittent by the end of June!

Will proof of my residence in the kingdom get me a discount do you think at this club?

Thanks everyone for your info.

To sum up:

I should contact Blue Canyon to see if they have any deals.

Phuket Country Club at 2200 baht (two years ago) seems cheaper than most - it's a 9 hole course, yeah?

With my Thai driver's licence (I also have a yellow book), it seems I can get a 50% discount? Is that all the courses? In June and July?

As for weather, i'm in Phuket for two weeks, and i'll assume that i'll be lucky in the main! If it's like Chiang Mai, showers would only last 20 minutes or so and then play can resume, no?!

I'm driving down from Chiang Mai next month to Phuket for a two week holiday. I know Phuket is more expensive than CM, but are there any good deals at golf courses on the island at this time of year? It looks like an expensive place to play golf! But perhaps a deal for residents of Thailand? Or maybe some lesser known courses that come in for lower green fees?

If I am to swallow the prices, which one course do local golfers recommend me to experience while down there? I would love to find myself teeing off or putting next to the sea!

I'll be staying in Kata Noi, if that has any bearing.

I have stayed in Khao Sok many times. Can recommend Arts Riverview Jungle Lodge.The tree houses are nice.

If your budget will allow, a day at Koh Sok at Rajjaprabha Dam on the floating raft houses. The biggest expense is the longtail to get there, Don't miss Ranong. You can get a room at Tinidee Inn for only 570 Baht including the use of the hot springs, Jacuzzi, and swimming pool or 550 baht if you book online.

Ranong is very nice, hot springs, mountains, waterfalls, Ranong Canyon. Plus the highlight of your trip will be get the ferry and go to Koh Phayam and/or Koh Chang. (Not Trat,) Ranong. Koh Phayam is a little more civilized with electricity and you can rent a bike to get around. It also has nicer beaches than Koh Chang, has solar power, but if you want to just chill out on a beach with very few tourists, Koh Chang is the spot.

Thanks for the tips mate. The Arts lodge place, doesn't seem to have a website and my first effort at seeing its prices suggested it might be booked up, which seems doubtful in June. Just wondering what sort of prices the bungalows are, and why you recommend it. In looking for it i found Our Jungle House which seemed to have some link to Art himself.

Now, i'm very much an island person, but after a couple of nightmare boat trips back in the 90s i've been sort of ruined fovever! I like the sound of both Phayam and Chang, but June is the start of the rainy season so fears already invade my mind! How long is the journey to each island?

Ranong sounds good, is it a big town, or quite easy to get about and find places? Does it have any mainland beaches nearby which are nice alternatives to the two islands? After all, if i can enjoy mainland beaches i don't need to step onto a boat and mess with my mind!

I'm very excited by the prospects of staying in Khao Sok. It seems to offer what i thought i'd need to go to Borneo to find!

Hi, Art's phone number is 0901676818. I think it was 700 baht a night there. I recommend it as it is lovely to sit in the restaurant, overlooking the river, eating pretty good food, reasonable prices, or was last time but everything in Khao Sok has risen quite a bit more over the years compared to many other places. Khao Sok isn't what it was 10 years ago, prices have gone up as they have been spoilt by the many tourists. The rooms are very basic but tastefully constructed, with the river below, but don't leave things lying about or the monkeys will pinch them. Lock your windows also when you go out. If you see a monkey with white teeth and a nice breath, that will be the one that stole my toothbrush and toothpaste, I have stayed at our jungle house before, but prefer Arts.

If you like you can make arrangements with the longtail to the floating rafthouses beforehand. The guy I have used is Wit. If you message me I can give you his number. He can also arrange the accommodation.

Can't say what the weather will be like on the islands, but normally it misses a lot of the rain from Ranong. There are no beaches in Ranong that you can swim at without dying from the pollution and rubbish. Wait for one of the other many stops along the way to go to a beach, if you don't want to mess with your mind. You can swim at the canyon and get eaten by thousands of fish and other . Buy some fish food over the road from the canyon and let the kids feed them. They will almost jump out of the water to eat. You can also buy some food for yourselves there and eat on the little shelter at the end of the small piers if not full, or relax on the grass. The restaurant will lend you mats the sit on and eat your food.

Yes Ranong is the wettest part of Thailand, but that is why it is so green and lush. Any one that says it smells of fish and is nothing there, would have been one of the many thousands that go there for the visa run, and never see much more than the pier, normally leaving the same or next day. As I said, there are 2 places there to stay that sound the same, Tinidee Hotel 1600B and Tinidee Inn 550/570B. The inn is only 50 metres across the carpark from their main Hotel. One more thing, go to farmhouse for breakfast. 120 baht buffet, with great coffee,

The ferry to the islands is fairly large, but if the weather is bad, maybe give it a miss. The speed boats are even worse in bad weather, quicker and dearer. Better the ferry. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for your time mate, you've been really helpful and we shall uptake you on some of your tips! Arts sounds good. So did Our Jungle House. I noticed OJH did lots of various tours to get to the lake, stay overnight, go trekking, and so on. I assume Art will offer similar, or is that what i go to Wit for? Khao Sok is definitely on our agenda. Your description of Art's bunglows fits my preferred choice of style.

We'll probably give the islands a miss, but i think we'll go down to chumphon then cut across to the Andaman side and go down through Ranong. Wondering if it's worth coming back home from, say Khao Sok up the Gulf side to Chumphon? Can't see much on my map that suggests we should do this.

So much depends on what you are interested in! If coming from CM why not try Huai Kha Khaend off the 3438/328n from Uthai Thani?

For other similar places try some research at

wildlifethaiand.com.

I spent a while in the forests outside of Ranong; beautiful, but not the sea!

The coast from Ranong to Phuket is without much merit including Kao Lak and as for Phuket itself including Kata Noi the less said the better. Cannot see why you would go all that way without doing the extra mile to Ko Lanta and the Southern Islands which are still pretty unperturbed by Russians and Chinese!! And Fun!!

I

I've been a samui/phangan/tao person for my whole Thailand career! However, since moving to live in CM i've managed to get to Krabi province a few times (including ko jum three times which i just love), and have been to phuket a couple of times. I'm pretty green when it comes to the Andaman side though. The whole trip is because i have family and friends coming over to Phuket for two weeks for a big birthday celebration, so we are taking the opportunity to spend two weeks or so on the road down there and back to enjoy whatever places along the way. While Phuket is not my choice, everywhere else will be!

Thanks for the tips. What's the attraction of Huai Kha? I've never given Uthai Thani a thought, in the past i either stop at Kampaeng Phet or Lopburi.

The ferry ride to Koh Phayam is between the mainland and the islands that arent far out and therefore protected from big swells.

Having said that I wouldnt go there in the middle of the Wet Season when the island is almost empty.

If you read a bit about it , you will see that the Ranong area is one of the wettest places in all Thailand and thats the main reason its so quiet in low season The town itself is somewhat drab and smells of fish , but the boat building area is interesting , and the harbour is spectacular and has a couple of small beaches if you go to where the ferry runs to the casino on the Burmese side.

With regard to rain , the same goes for Kao Sok I think - I have been going to go there with a friend who lived there 5 years , but both times he cancelled saying it was no fun there in the rain , so I take it the rains can be as torrential and prolonged as Ranongs.

Less so in Phuket.

You will generally find the rain in July occuring like clockwork , for 2 to 3 hours every day.

You are going to be staying at one of the finest beaches on an island of fine beaches ... those around HH , Prechuap and Chumpon will pale into insignificance once you get to Kata or Kata Noi.

But be careful , KN can have rips and be quite dangerous when a swell is running and it may be prudent some days to go and swim in the flagged area at Kata Beach.

Does mid-June count as rainy season, or is it just getting itself into gear? I mean in Ranong and Khao Sok, being very rainy places. I did read that they are both very rainy.

Almost any provincial town in Thailand gets me excited at least for the first time i see it! Mind you i had an exception the other day, going to Surat Thani town for the first time ever despite going to samui and phangan dozens of times. It had nothing going for it!

I did get to Kata Noi and Kata beaches a few months after the tsunmai, and i recall the kata noi town area being full of interesting restaurants and cafes and so on. I don't swim much in the sea, but thanks for the reminder, i'll have to tell my family and friends who are all jetting in for the two week phuket holiday, hence our road trip down there.

You can get to the dam. We stayed at a place on the river that comes out of the day. Quite nice. There are some government type hotels near the dam, and they seemed OK, but were booked out when we got there. None compare to the trip to your room ON the water, the return trip, the tour, etc. Fantastic.

Not certain what you mean here mate. What trip do you mean? Getting there by long-tail boat? What tour? I have seen that we can get two day one night tours from Khao Sok town to the dam/lake, is that the tour and return trip you mean? If so i won't drive there, i want the nature man, i want the jungle!!

Both the 401 and the 4006 are great. As for Borneo, yes, it's a bit like that. Though Borneo is amazing. Can't really compare the two.

Ao Manao is inside an air force base. No big deal, but facilities are limited. To the north is Prachuap Khiri Khan. An OK town with a fair bay and OK hotels, but the beach leaves a bit to be desired.

I'll try to figure out where we were that had the stunning views of the sea. I've driven pretty much the entire coastal route from Nakhon all the way to the border with Cambodia. Sometimes, on small dirt roads! Beautiful scenery, but at times, not much to see at all.

It's kinda fun to drive from Ban Kruit, hug the sea, go to the part that juts out. Some restaurants there and an interesting bay. Then continue on to Bang Saphan. You get glimpses of the sea for a bit in that stretch. Quite a bit as you are going into BS. Fair as it's a bay and the water is a bit cloudy.

I've not done the entire stretch north of Khao Lak. But around KL, it's fantastic. Both north and south.

Yes, my map shows Ban Krut and down as having some coast roads so we'll do that i think.

In fact, i could drive along the coastal road from Ban Krut all the way down to Chumphon. Do you think it would take that much longer than simply going by the main route 4? Just trying to get a feel for time here.

I"m only in my saloon car, so can't get off the beaten track really!

u will love it,

i do a road trip every year in July FROM phuket to the north. love north of Chiang Rai

Prachup khiri khan is a great stop point, good hotels with sea view rooms an great seafood on the street

on ur way down stop at Ayutthaya for a half day

Ranong is ok for a small trip up to the hot spring and the Tinidee Hotel ( across from the Tinidee resort where u can use their pool) is a great value for the $$ (only thai tv) good Japanese food next door

from there its only 4 hours to the Phuket Airport

Take side trips out of Phuket over to Krabi with a stop at the monkey cave outside Phang Nga, the shell cemetery on Krabi and to the temple south of town,( wat Tam Suea) great views if u make the climb up the steps)

Missed your post first time round! Thanks for the input. I do definitely plan on stopping overnight at PKK. Is it fair to assume these good hotels with sea view rooms can simply be found once i get there? I don't really want to book much up at all, just travel like i used to in the older days, pitching up. I know June is low season, in fact i think June is our best month all in all! Are the rooms sort of in the town? A little pointer to where they are will help me in advance. Cheers mate.

We'll give Krabi a miss, been there a few times, can easily get there direct from CM these days on Air Asia. But if you've got any tips for Pang Nga province, fire away!

Can we drive to the lake in Khao Sok NP, or do we have to take a tour?

A day or overnight trip to Ko Yao Noi is well worth it. Lovely island and quite laid back. Catch the ferry from near Ao Por. Make sure you get the public ferry and not the private boats at the marina. Go east from the Heroine's monument for about 8kms. The turn off to the public ferry is at the mosque on the main road. Turn right for about a km. to the ferry dock. All resorts will pick you up at the ferry landing on Ko Yao Noi.. East side of the island is where all the resorts and the good beaches (Pasai Beach) are located. Bicycle and MC rentals everywhere. For a day trip you can rent a MC just 500 meters from the ferry landing and they will pick you up as well. Ms Opal, [email protected] I have done six bicycle tours of the island. Great place! Even more remote and laid back is Ko Yao Yai.

I can't locate Ao Por on my map - is that on the mainland east of the island or on Phuket? How long will the boat journey take? I assume boats must go from Phuket to both Yao islands?

The beaches are very nice on the Gulf side, south of Hua Hin - Pranburi, Prachuap, down to Baan Sapaan and Chumphorn - many little coves and each seems to have at least one small resort these days... nice seafood - enjoy.

This is more persuasion for me to get off the main highway! Are there a lot of seaviews? What's the drive like between the nice coves?

We did 401 on the way to Khao Lak and 4006 on the way back. Parts of both roads are a bit dull, but the part through the mountains is stunning.

Ao Manao Bay is really beautiful. There's a military hotel you can stay at right on the bay. Expensive, but the only option right on the water.

Another option would be just south of Hua Hin. I stayed at Beauty Beach Resort and loved it. Just north of this national park:

Some options down the road a bit are Thung Wua Laen and Khanom. Both very nice. If you can, drive off the main highway. Slower, but at times, you'll have stunning views of the sea.

Craig, which road has the stunning bit through the mountains, the 401 or the 4006?

Ao Manao sounds good to me, thought about it before. What kind of town is it? I assume there are other places to stay, if not on the water. Any more info on this place?!

Which section of the drive are you suggesting to get off the main highway? I would like to do that, but not all the way, so choosing a stretch which i know will have great views will be grand to do! Did you mean all the way from HH to Chumpon, or a smaller section of it?

Thanks for all the tips mate.

I have stayed in Khao Sok many times. Can recommend Arts Riverview Jungle Lodge.The tree houses are nice.

If your budget will allow, a day at Koh Sok at Rajjaprabha Dam on the floating raft houses. The biggest expense is the longtail to get there, Don't miss Ranong. You can get a room at Tinidee Inn for only 570 Baht including the use of the hot springs, Jacuzzi, and swimming pool or 550 baht if you book online.

Ranong is very nice, hot springs, mountains, waterfalls, Ranong Canyon. Plus the highlight of your trip will be get the ferry and go to Koh Phayam and/or Koh Chang. (Not Trat,) Ranong. Koh Phayam is a little more civilized with electricity and you can rent a bike to get around. It also has nicer beaches than Koh Chang, has solar power, but if you want to just chill out on a beach with very few tourists, Koh Chang is the spot.

Thanks for the tips mate. The Arts lodge place, doesn't seem to have a website and my first effort at seeing its prices suggested it might be booked up, which seems doubtful in June. Just wondering what sort of prices the bungalows are, and why you recommend it. In looking for it i found Our Jungle House which seemed to have some link to Art himself.

Now, i'm very much an island person, but after a couple of nightmare boat trips back in the 90s i've been sort of ruined fovever! I like the sound of both Phayam and Chang, but June is the start of the rainy season so fears already invade my mind! How long is the journey to each island?

Ranong sounds good, is it a big town, or quite easy to get about and find places? Does it have any mainland beaches nearby which are nice alternatives to the two islands? After all, if i can enjoy mainland beaches i don't need to step onto a boat and mess with my mind!

I'm very excited by the prospects of staying in Khao Sok. It seems to offer what i thought i'd need to go to Borneo to find!

Hey, many thanks for all the input!! Please bear with me, i'd like to reply to most if not all of your ideas with some questions. I've wanted to do a road trip for a long time. Yes, i could easily spend a month doing this, probably a year!! In reality we have the two weeks fixed in phuket, and can probably manage two weeks of actual travelling time.

Although my daughter is likely to have google maps on her smartphone, i prefer proper maps still! I have a couple already, but if people have a specific publication to recommend me i'll look into buying that. I prefer the book style maps because opening up these huge affairs takes up the driver's seat, the passenger seat, the windscreen...!

Khao Sok is also a beautiful area, but I am not sure if the west coast rainy season is happening in June....(?)

Several places to stay in different price ranges... in the main "village" of KS

Hi mate!! How's samui? We've been stuck on 40 degree days since the start of April, and no let up in sight! The joke's wearing a bit thin by now!

Thanks for the input, it looks like KS will definitely be on our list. I don't care about the rain, we've had an hour or so of it in six months, i'll be very happy when the rainy season starts!

Khao Lak is great. The main area as well as north and south. As is the national park not too far away. Can stay on a floating hotel. Pretty neat. But not cheap.

North and south of Khao Lak have accommodation? What is good about them? Do you mean really close to KL?

Cha Am, Hua Hin (Vana Nava water Park), Prachuap (Ao Manao bay), defo cut across through Khao Sok NP, then perhaps Phang Nga Bay before Phuket (Kata Noi Beach a must). Been up and down over the years, highway 4 is a bit of a bore. You could always do Phang Nga Bay on the way back, doing a loop along the 44. Quieter drive along there through all the palm plantations. Be sure to cut through Chainat and Suphanburi to avoid Bkk -- highway 1 spur and 340 etc.

Well, i'd never heard of the Khao Sok NP, so that's a good call, i've just been reading a bit on it. I saw quite a long list of guest houses, are they outside the park? It looks like we can't actually drive much in there, so have you got any recommendations on how to see it? Walking, cycling, get a tour guide?

We will be staying in Kata Noi beach for two weeks as it happens! I think i've been there before, about ten years ago, and I enjoyed the town area. We were there shortly after the tsunami.

If highway 4 is a bore, would you suggest we keep going on down after Chumphon on the 41, and then turning right onto the 401 which would take us to Khao Sok NP? That would mean we'd miss Ranong. Maybe Ranong hasn't much to recommend it? or we could go this way on the way down and back home along the 4 bore!

Your quieter road sounds good, but do you mean the 44 for the palm plantations?

Yes, we will avoid Bkk! We've driven down to HH before, but no further.

What's Ao Manao Bay like? What format is the accommodation?

Many thanks for your ideas Dave, some good ones to get me started on our plans!

Greetings thai travellers!

We're going to drive down to Phuket from CM about the middle of June. We have a least a week to get there and probably a week to get back.

I"m just touting for posters' recommendations south of Bangkok to stop at and spend some time, based on their own travel - could be for places to stay, beaches in general, beaches off the beaten track, beach towns (eg Kao Lak I've never been to, will plan to visit there), national parks, special places, whatever. We can go down the eastern side or western side of the isthmus, depending on exciting places to discover. I'm keen also on visiting prachuab kiri khan, so any accommodation places there that don't break the bank would be good to hear about.

Probably won't go any further south than Phuket, even though i love Krabi town and other places in that province.

I'll be with my thai wife and daughter, so we're not really looking for overtouristed places, and i won't be lacking in the lingo!

Beaches do tend to be quite important since we have none in Chiang Mai! We could take a side trip to an island, but not with the car. Forget Samui Phangan and Tao, love the places, been there heaps of times, we want new places on this trip.

Looking forward to some tips, any tips will be welcome!

What do you mean by updated KR2??! The original one is no good?! Mine is seven years old, is this too old?

Many thanks for your time ubonjoe!

I've had 400k in my bank all year in anticipation of going for the 12 month extension, but just two pages in my passport is causing me ructions.

I then thought that getting a multiple entry non-O would be a good option. So if 100k is needed i can do this in Penang, and that's much easier than going to Suvannaket from CM! How much space would that visa take up in my passport do you know?

One other thing if i may trouble you with... if i just leave the country before June 2 which is when my current (non-imm extension and work permit will expire, do i need to bother with the termination letter that my workplace will write? I guess that's only needed if i want to extend on the existing visa? It seems to me that i if go to Malaysia or UK, they will just give me an exit stamp and then i get a new visa to start again. Is my logic flawed?!

Just only the two pages ubonjoe. Maybe a third somewhere too. That 60 day extension is one option for sure. But i'm currently waiting to find out if that can be done on a non-imm B visa.

Right now i've thought of going to Penang Thai embassy. Leave Thailand and my age-old visa with 12 years of extensions is finally brought to an end. Then get either a three month non-imm O single entry or multiple entry if i can, by using my marraige certificate. Then i can get my new passport once i get back home to CM.

I could also fly back to UK to get my new passport there, and then go to the London Thai embassy to get the same visa.

Question: is it easy to get these three month multiple entry non-imm O visas with all the appropriate marriage documents in Penand and/or London, or anywhere? I'm completely new to having to get my own visas after 24 years in the kingdom!!!

I'm British, married to a Thai for seven years. I live in Chiang Mai.

My work permit and nom-imm B visa extension expire on June 2 since i'm stopping work.

My problem: I have only two clear pages left in my passport.

One solution I'm interested in may be to exit the country and my visa then expires. I then apply for a non-imm O visa three month multiple entry valid for one year based on my marriage. I know i don't need funds for this option, but what i don't know is what embassies i can go to in the region. I believe Suvannaket, but not sure how i get there from Chiang Mai. If Penang there may be a direct flight from Chiang Mai.

Can anyone tell me the best flight option for a Thai embassy that will issue such a visa to me? I'm continuing to do my research, but this post is part of that research!

Will the visa into that country plus the visa issued by the Thai embassy be possible in two pages of my passport?

I could go back to England for a sudden holiday, and get the visa from the London Thai embassy... any problems with this option? While there i could of course get a new passport quickly.

Many thanks.

I now have to move over to getting visas and extensions based on marriage after working for 12 years in CM. My current extension and work permit expire end of this month. The original visa was non-imm B.

I assume i'll need to leave the country to make that a non-imm O? Or will the B be okay for them to extend based on marriage?

It will sound like a daft question, but which counter do i go to simply to ask for information regarding what i have to get together to make this exchange from work-based extensions to marriage-based extensions?

Furthermore, am i better off going alone to ask my questions in a mix of thai and english, or going with my wife and getting her to do all the talking?