direction BANGKOK

On 4/12/2019 at 3:01 AM, ubonjoe said:

The visa is valid for one year from the date it was issued (shown as the valid until date on the visa sticker). 

You can use it to get a new 90 entry up to the valid until date. It is possible to get almost 15 months of total stay from by doing an entry just before that day.

Did this used to be different? I could have sworn these non imm o visas used to activate upon first entry, but maybe i remember that wrong. 

4 hours ago, jackdd said:

Thai pricing is only about being a Thai citizen, not about being local, this was explained many times before.

Somebody who is living and working full time in Thailand for 10 years (but didn't get citizenship) does still pay the tourist price. In western countries this person would probably get the locals discount.

I realize that, and all my points still stand. I was using local as synonymous with Thai. I live here, and realize a Thai from Chaing Mai wont be charged foreign prices at a Bangkok attraction. 

I know for a fact, on many occasions, I do not have a statistic, but foreign workers with work permits or even Thai driving licenses do get Thai price. 

Look, forget all that. New point here... life is way way to short to get this bent about things like paying an extra 40 baht somewhere. Seriously, wake up and enjoy your lives, and i mean that in the best possible way, hope it is taken that way. 

It is "tourists" vs Thais, not "asians vs whites" or foreigners. 

I see this happen in western countries all the time. College tuition can be 10-20 times higher for foreigners and non residents. Even Disneyland got in on this, I remember there were massive discounts for people with local id's. 

Foreigners and tourists are treated differently than Locals in every country. 

Todos Santos in Baja is lovely if you do not mind the occasional large hurricane. 

I have been to Peru and Ecuador and could see myself in either one quite easily. It is cheap, I think the food is probably better than Thai food, although it is all amazing. I mean ceviches, cmon. You are gonna get sick more though, trust me on that one. Except Mexico... i have found their street food to be quite well looked after, at least according to my intestines. 

I think the latino people are much more on a western wavelength. I am actually surprised this has not been mentioned. Plus, every city has a main "plaza de armas" down there and I find it very quaint. It is basically prime real estate in the middle of every town that is meant for the people... to do things like socialize with foreigners and each other. Cannot beat it. 

If you do stupid things in any country over there, it is going to catch up to you. Try 3am taxis solo for example. You aint gonna get awat with that every single time like you will here.  

Lastly, and probably most important, the alcohol is much better down there. Most inow about margueritas and Mexican beer. But in Peru grab a fairly cheap bottle of pisco, some sprite and a few limes and let me tell you that will rival anything. 

If you were gone a week that does seem off, although things like your refrigerator are still running. There should be a box in your place, turn the main breaker off and go check to see if your meter is spinning. I think that should solve if there is a leech or not. 

Cant u just buy a refundable flight home, and then get it refunded? i have never done this but seems it would work. i suppose you could get the flight to anywhere too, just whatever was the cheapest flight out of the country.

3 hours ago, Jim P said:

I would be betting the private care he is getting will be better and better accommodation than the UK NHS. Imo it has grown into a completely unworkable and outdated Goliath. For example I have been waiting for a shoulder surgery for a year now, twice they have lost my records and and my last appointment, which was last week, the letter arrived on the same day, I opened it 45 minutes before my appointment! The NHS haven`t caught onto a thing called email yet, staff are still alerted by pagers, it`s an outdated and glorified system that I wouldn`t trust my life with against private care in LOS. Also it`s used and abused by those that have never contributed to it and expect everything for free.

 

My younger brother died of cancer in a UK NHS hospital, and whilst no treatment would have saved him once again his records were lost for a period between two hospitals. 

One thing that stands out to me as far as differences, I have a hard time comparing uk to thai of course, but i would think uk would be similar to usa, is the fact that usa docs are under constant pressure to perform due to lawsuits or malpractice proceedings. I am honestly not sure the exact system in thailand, but if i had to guess they can actually get away with quite a bit more here? that alone seems to be reason enough... for me, as i was saying. in other words, lets just say wuality if care was equal, well, the docs are under actual performance pressure in more western style hospitals. 

but yeah thanks for the information. it sounds like uk hospitals do not have to be fun at all. 

1 hour ago, Jim P said:

Have you ever had treatment in a UK NHS hospital?

I do not even know what an nhs hospital is. I am still betting the care is better though. But you are right, being inexperienced on the matter i could be wrong. I know for a fact i would head back to the usa for cancer treatment, and i would do anything i could to force any loved ones or friends to do the same - even if i "had to pay double" as someone noted. 

Are you betting nhs care is better, the same or worse than thai care when it comes to cancer?

17 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

Some are considerably better ... Tiger Woods has Thai blood running through his veins on the mother’s side?

That seems to assume athlete (or doctor) skill level is attributed to genes. I would say genes are more or less a level playing field between countries (although some countries have many more people which is an obvious advantage).

I do not think it is too big a leap to say in Tiger Woods' case that it was much more about his environment that made him great. 

It is an interesting topic though. I only brought it up because I think it it easier to see skill levels between athletes when compared to doctors. And again, I am betting the overall skill levels of the top doctors in both countries more or less follows the patterns of each countrie's athletes. 

16 hours ago, Jim P said:

Because he has been out of the country 4 years and is not eligible for NHS treatment without going private, which will probably cost him double again, jeez do people just get up and go and not research this stuff, pure ignorant. The treatment he will get Thailand will be just as good if not better than UK.

As I said, cost means nothing. To me anyway. This is his life at stake. 

I did not even know people thought Thai medical was on par with top countries. To me that would be like saying Thai golfers are "just as good" as USA golfers. 

21 minutes ago, Jim P said:

But he didn`t put up a go fund me, in fact he took full responsibility for his silly mistake. He has also brought out a video explaining the pros and cons of returning home for treatment.

I did not watch.... but i can sum it up for myself:

pros of treatment at home - greater chance of living.

Ok, end of summation, no more data points necessary. 

I am being fully genuine now: do people really debate this type of thing?!

3 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

But if he goes home he won't be the legend in his own lunch time that he thinks he is now. 

He's got it firmly in his thick little mind that he is a celebrity in thailand.

Got cancer, so let's call the news papers?

I still do not get it. Don't you have to be alive and healthy to continue to be a legend? I am sure he could find a flight back over on one of these thimgs called airplanes. It is not like he would be stuck there for life... unless I am missing something. 

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

No but they will bill him for it, you have to be a permanent resident in the UK for free treatment........or a refugee.

My thought is, "so what". Bill me anything you want. Or you could get lucky and talk to the right people and get it for free. Whatever the case, he needs to have this stuff done at home I would advise anyway. Costs are unimportant at this point in my opinion, your actual life would have to take priority. I can't believe i am the only one who feels this way? 

4 hours ago, shadowofacloud said:

Subscribe to any of the BKK expat groups on facebook and ask there. I am sure there are lots of people, who rent condos, but don't use the parking space.

That is me, i left a reply earlier but figured for the rate i would get it is not worth the trouble. 

How much are u looking to pay for a month op?

The more you spend in life, the more you have to work. 

The less you spend, the less you have to work and the more you can enjoy your life.

Who knew if was this simple. 

7 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

yes except you dont really change intent.. You intend or you dont intend.. Proving intent is notoriously difficult. 

Right. I see this as very problematic. Why on earth wouldn't I leave my hotel room with the intent of making a video as a hobbyist?! That way, every avenue is open to me. If i leave my hotel room with the intent to use it commercially, I am screwed. And it is as simple as a choice. I suppose maybe there is just something in there I am not understanding. 

Drone laws are like this too, which is why it is such a quandry to me. Intent at the time of flight is the criteria. So, why would I not fly my drone up as a hobbyist? That way, I am covered on intent, and I can do whatever i would like with the image later. 

Have you cleared up that Thailand is going to recognize your Swiss citizenship? 

You are in the middle of it so you know more than me, but I thought the way it worked was Thailand essentially does not allow dual citizens. But, and this us a big but, there are dual citizens all over who just sorta keep their other passport and don't necessarily waive it around in Thailand (becausr they are not supposed to be a dual citizen). 

12 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

1) yes working illegally.. Of course a 14 day work permit exemption is easily available should it be requested and theres clearly issues about 'performing work' versus 'managing investments or staff' and other listed exceptions (export, MICE, trade shows) but broad strokes its a violation. 

2) no (with again caveats) How the Dept of Labour have defined it the act of monetising the account is how they have defined when its for hobby / enjoyment and when its for work. The clear outcome of this is that it comes down to 'intent' which is a common legal aspect worldwide and as always is hard to prove. 

RIght. 

So my point, not that it matters and not that I personally have a solution, is a guy can get on the phone for two minutes and be in violation. Meanwhile a youtuber with 40 million subscibers could come here on a holiday/vacation, changes his intent and decides to monetize when he gets home, make millions of dollars, and not be in violation (potentially anyway).

This is such a confusing topic.

Let's take two scenarios to show you what I mean.

1) A business man comes to Thailand for vacation, and while here gets on phone calls and on internet and makes money. Working illegally? If you answered no, what if the cacation was extended a few months? 

2) A youtuber makes videos while in Thailand, all videos are not monetized. He gets home and monetizes them. Working illegally? 

On 12/11/2018 at 9:06 AM, fruitman said:

Are the shirts hard under the arms? Deodorant might do that, i had the same issue years ago...Rexona for men doesn't do that i noticed but hard to find in thailand (buy in Malaysia or singapore). Those shirts can't be rescued, buy new ones.

 

Also i never understood how a horizontal spinning washing machine can clean properly, i would always buy a vertical spinning frontloader.

 

 

THAt was my first thought too. The front loading machines seem to clean better and are easier on the clothes. Overloaded top loaders especially and the clothes seem like they just churn stuck in their own muck in the middle, not to mention tearing the clothes apart.

I wonder which style the op has. 

I used to try and arrive right before they stop taking the applications, i forget what time, noon maybe. A little unnerving but it works. I actually would give myself a buffer. That place is an absolute nightmare early in the morning, at least for me. 

11 hours ago, Pib said:

When you are paying for most everything with a cash back card (little or big purchases), that cash back adds up fast to significant money.  

Until you open your own business one day, and everyone has been completely brainwashed into using credit for every single transaction, and as a business you end up paying the fees, which as you say are significant.

But i would agree actually, if you do not care about privacy of your transactions, and if you pay everything off, you will make money off the cards and it is a good deal. I am just demanding you realize that collectively it is NOT a good deal, as people and businesses are generally getting screwed. 

Look at what cc companies have done. I am gonna try to stop soon because I could write a book. You have to, it would not be good, you HAVE to use credit to live in a apartment, at least in California. You HAVE to use their product. It does not stop there though, you HAVE to be in good standing with the cc company via credit reports. They have essentially extorted the world into using their products, AND being good clients! That is amazing!! Name me one other business, say Apple, that makes you buy their products? Makes you. But it would not end there, you eould have to be a stellar client and never miss buying a new product to keep up with the cc analogy... or else you can't LIVE in an apartment. It is insane, and we all have not only let this happen, we rejoice about it and say oh wow it is so great I get to swipe my little card here and there. 

11 hours ago, uwe_rayong said:

I doubt that. The governments around the world love cashless transactions.
It makes the tax collection so much easier, if every payment for a purchase or service you receive has a digital trace.

 

 

 

 

We just hand over more and more power every day to governments and corporations the more we use cc. They give people peanuts back like a free flight after however many transactions. Of course the bankers are making bundles in the meantime. 

It is interesting, one poster asked "what privacy issues". That right there will tell you how good credit card company propoganda and suppression of information is. 

Take the expediency of cc use off the table, if they are in fact faster I am not sure but let's say they are, there is nothing but negatives with the use of credit cards. The govt has way more power and leverage, as do corporations, they have more free marketing information they can sell and shove back in your face. These cc purchase profiles are a nightmare and only going to get worse. 

Bottom line, if everyone stopped using cc tomorrow the people would gain more power over their own lives and purchases. I get in srguments with friends about this all the time... what do we buy?? We buy things that are in our faces, whether you know it or not that is how we consume goods. We are essentially living in a world where all the purchasing patterns we have get regurgitated back in front of us over and over and it controls us. You think you ordered a Newcastle because you like the taste? You ordered a newcastle because there was a brilliant marketing campaign somewhere along the line where consumer habits via cc purchases were bought and paid for with your own money. We are subsidzing the commercials that get put in our face today. Cash for everything turns the tables and essentially levels the playing field for the advertisers.

Anyway, I am just getting started on this topic because honestly cc ruin people's lives in about a million ways that cash never could, but i will end it there.