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Thank you. I bit the bullet and made a booking to visit the Outreach team at Marriot hotel in CM on 19 June. Photos all organized: need to give outreach officer at Marriot 3 photos. Not expensive - as required by the Oz Gov't passport rules. Photo shop can do the required photo format very close to Marriot hotel. No need to get 'endorsed by lawyer, teacher, bank manager, old friend etc. ( guess this is because the applicant hands the new photos direct to the Oz Embassy officer. Have to take a completed application form (from this website: auth.passports.gov.au). Aiming for 5 year passport (I'm over 80 years old) all up cost 8,300Baht (includes the charge for overseas customers), must be paid to the outreach team 19 June by debit or credit card or scan of bank app (e.g. K+), cannot accept cash. No need to hand in expiring passport - keep it forever. New passport by mail, about 6 weeks after my 19 June visit to the outreach team. But I've read that new / renewal passports have arrived much faster e.g. 2 weeks - wait and see.

Yes you are correct, I was hoping there would be another CM outreach every 3 months, i.e. in September and December. You mention 'apply online', to be honest I've been searching for such a facility without success. Would you please share the website address. Much appreciated, thanks.

His meaning is quite obvious...

I need to renew my passport. Expiry date of current passport is 21 Feb 2026. I've found a lot of info on line and from calling the Embassy in Bkk. Next planned outreach to CM (Marriot Hotel) is 19 June and I will make an appointment tomorrow. I asked the consular man at the embassy in Bkk if the outreach in CM is 3 every months. His response: - The next outreach date is not yet planned. - There is no policy of every 3 months. Same officer mentioned 'after attending the outreach appointment and at same time paying the fee the wait time if 6 weeks to receive the replacement passport. Also mentioned 'don't allow your current passport to expire before you receive the renewal passport'. any comments, especially re whether the outreach is 'every 3 months' much appreciated. Thanks.

In Thailand (and some other countries) Police and Military keep their rank after departing the service as a respect for their previous service.

Interesting subject, globally. Years ago in Australia I was asked to join a counselling group for gay people. I didn't have much knowledge about the subject and I assumed the callers would all be young gay men / gay teenagers who need to talk to someone. I mentioned to the counselling team leader 'I would like to join and contribute if i can but I have no real knowledge about this. And I repeated 'I'm assuming the callers would all be young gay men / gay teenagers who need to talk to someone'. The team leader responded 'the vast majority of the callers are from about 35 years old and up. Generally males who have tried all of the lives to brush aside their sexual desire for other men, and have reached a point where they are having difficulty to continue to present a totally 'straight' persona / often present themselves as a straight husband (present themselves to: wife, children, other family, friends, work colleagues etc., and they need to talk, to a man (maybe several phone or in person sessions sessions) who can help them to rationalize their situation. The leader continued; the objective of any counselling sessions is NOT to help them become straight. The team leader continued 'in every country there's large numbers of men who are trying to brush aside their homosexual desires, most reach a point where they need to talk to someone who can share a balanced discussion.

Also meaning that the army believes it is entitled to take whatever action to ensure the outcomes protect the military and their position.

Summary: - Yes Hamas have committed atrocities and there should be punishment. And The Palestinians need to do a lot more to promote a Palestinian state without Hamas. - Yes Israel has committed atrocities including the deliberate starving of innocent children and the destruction of hospitals and health care facilities and supplies and there should be severe punishment. Israel needs to remove the main instigator Netanyahu who has created a very bad image for Israel, flying in the face of the very awful events of many decades back.

OK, but seems to me that the Israelis also have no respect for other nationalities.

True. In his case he declared himself to be the PM. No election. Not democracy.

Condolences to his family by not one of my favorite people.

A question: Is it possible to have a bank app (any app) on your smartphone but use the app on your note book screen? Hopefully that's possible which would mean that if a bank cancels it's 'internet banking' and the customer has the bank app then the transaction could be done on the customers notebook screen (or any monitor).

OK, but the Thai authorities sure are slow.

But do you mean calls using the paid telco link, or using the free LINE link?

I've met only 2 others: - Retired lawyer from respected international law firm, applied for PR I guess 12 months before retirement. - The farang guy who worked with me for many years, he applied, got approved, six months later died of a massive heart attack.

OIC, you need anal lube. KY better.

We all have some differences in the process to share. 28 years agao after my interview was completed the agent politely asked if he could ask a question. Officer said (all in English) 'yes of course'. Agent asked 'does it help to gain PR if you have a Thai wife'. Officer responded 'no it doesn't help, because the application for PR is totally / only about you and your personal contributions to the development of Thailand and the development of Thai people. Officer continued, 'please note that 'marital status / name and Thai ID number of Thai wife or children' is not mentioned anywhere in the application documents.

Bottom line, all banks (also in other countries) are trying to consolidate all banking to one platform - an app. Why? If the bank has internet banking and an app they need to maintain two computer systems which is not cheap. So they consolidate onto just an app.

Hi Yidie, Are you aware that the Thai law includes a long list of occupations / jobs which are reserves for Thai citizens only. Also to work legally in Thailand you must have a Thai Work Permit. Search under Thai Work Permit, I think you'll find all the details, including the fact you must be employed with a legal letter of employment by a Thai company to apply for a work permit. The letter of employment must state the type of work. If it's work which is reserved for Thai's only you have no chance of gaining a work permit. 'Simple legal work' can easily be carried out by a Thai person so you would not get a work permit. Working for free isn't accepted for a work permit.

Not so fast, please make a big batch of cornish pasties (20 please) before you go. Thanks.

But be fair, it was lunch break time.

4..... Point taken, but from my personal experience it's more than that. Otherwise why did the senior officer (during my personal interview call and speak at length in English* to 3 of my Thai staff, asking them and repeating his point, that he wanted to know specific details of deeper knowledge and insight they were gaining from working with me. He also requested each of the 3 staff member he spoke to share share that I had given them work assignments which needed deeper knowledge / insight, and they were able to fulfill those requirements to my advanced requirements. ) (* English... the officer spoke perfect English, he wanted, if possible, to speak to my 3 staff embers in English so that I could listen to the whole conversation. He did ask me to not interrupt the conversations. Before these conversations he mentioned he wanted t talk to 3 of my staff in English and he asked if I could give him the names etc., of 3 of my team who could speak good English. I confirmed yes (in fact all 3 had studies / worked previously in an English speaking country). What's also on my mind is that the approval rate to gain PR is very low. In fact in the year I applied a total of just 5 applicants from my original country were approved. At the start of the interview with the officer he did politely mention that the overall approval rate is very low. That's all 28 years ago. Has anything changed? I don't know. Further the agent who helped me to apply for PR was helping another foreigner at the same time. In fact I guy I worked with (but he was working in another dept., of the company - it was a new petroleum / chemical manufacturing company which had just started up with a combination of new computer based operational management - from my understanding the first in the world). He was also interviewed very quickly after he lodged his application. He was interviewed in English but not the same officer who interviewed me. We shared the details of our interviews and factors like 'strong contribution to the development of Thailand and Thai staff, also advanced education and long-term investments' was consistent across both of us. His interviewer also mentioned low approval rate. Ultimately he was also approved. I have noted that in many of the postings on this subject to 'Thai Visa / Asean Now' the low approval / very low approval rate has been mentioned many times.

From above: "...With the new banking rules, there is a risk that an account will be blocked ..." What does that mean? Does it mean that foreigners here with Permanent Residence (PR) will have their bank accounts blocked? And how will any bank know that account holder is / isn't holding Thai PR? And what if it a joint savings account (the foreigner and his Thai wife or with his adult Thai children?