Curmudgeonly59

2 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

The health minister would be better advised to devote his energies to preparing for the epidemic while he still can, rather than making racist attacks on the countries foreign visitors.

Perfect.

Forum curmudgeons will be out in force on this one - and rightly so. 

What a nasty, xenophobic little creep!

Always a symptom of a fearful and repressive government: blame the outsider! The ones that look different! It's worked well through history.

Knowing these half assed idiots, he'll probably reappear as the Minister for Tourism in the next government...

1 hour ago, nuckyt77 said:

I think the BMW's are not the only thing they adopted from the Germans.

Spot on !!!

They may simply be doing their jobs thoroughly - there's always hope. Ask for their names &/or read their name badges. It's pretty basic. Make a point of writing them down. Then ask to take a photo of them, with you in frame, keeping it all polite and jai yin of course. Maintain the businesslike attitude and grimace if you can. Any negative reaction & you immediately know there's a problem...

21 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

They are local franchisees, working the franchise. They are looking for easy marks.

Funny. Unfortunately it's also true...

So, not just a loud, fascistic, xenophobic , foul-mouth but an incompetent moron into the bargain!

Quick! Someone find a superspreader to sneeze on him, for heaven's sake. The country has enough over-reactive hotheads already, without promoting them to such responsible positions...

On 1/30/2020 at 10:49 AM, Harveyboy said:

said I have to pay 2000 Baht for them to come is this another scam

If this is fact, at best it is coercion. Most would call it flagrant corruption. To capitulate would simply encourage this nonsense to become more widespread. Offering a drink and a snack during their visit is enough. Otherwise you're paying them to do their job, for which they're already remunerated. Nip it in the bud immediately or they'll be turning up on falangs' doorsteps every five minutes. 

Informative post - thank you!

1 hour ago, Beautifool said:

How do they come up with this values. All apps and websites I check have a MUCH worse level....??? ????

That's enough reality and fact for one day, thank you very much! Everything is lovely and wonderful. Happiness has been restored to the people. We'll continue to monitor the air quality, corruption levels, traffic death statistics, world class education system, Thai Baht and 'forum curmudgeons'...

It will be interesting to see how the implementation of the new health insurance requirement plays out, particularly at the major airports. I'm trying to imagine a Thai immigration officer reading through the fine print of an insurance policy, trying to find what the out/inpatient cover amounts to. I mention it because if the IO asks for evidence of the passenger's health insurance and he/she flops an ATM sized card on the counter, it won't show the in/outpatient limits - just the passenger's name/policy number/essential emergency contact numbers. Will they drag people aside to 'consult' with a dedicated officer, trained to scan insurance policies? And hopefully with enough English skills to avoid resorting to barking and snapping at the old pensioner sitting in front of them? It would be easy enough to fake these wallet friendly sized insurance cards - just saying. In any situation of ambiguity, there's corresponding opportunity for exploitation. And Thai bureaucracy/law enforcement seems particularly good at ambiguity... 

38 minutes ago, JackDenz said:

Several months ago there was a list if prescribed companies that would be accepted for the Non-O-A holders.

Yes - here it is: 

http://longstay.tgia.org/home/companiesoa

1 hour ago, WaveHunter said:

directly from Thai Immigration? 

WaveHunter you're overthinking it.

Go to Thai Immigration. The same office where you do your 90 day report. Tell them you need a letter for your driving licence at DLT. They have the proforma ready and simply fill out your details. Maybe they can do it the same day, but I doubt it. Recent info was 500 Baht (maybe that was a sap) for two separate letters from Immigration testifying residence. 

You won't need to sit the 50 question multiple choice test, or the practical driving test. You will have to do the color blindness test, reaction time test and peripheral vision test. All straightforward.  So do yourself a favour - get it all done in Pattaya before you leave and have a peaceful trip to Chiang Mai, safe in the knowledge there are no potential legal/insurance risk minefields in your path  - other than the usual lethal driving hazards of any long trip in Thailand. Save the motorcycle licence for when you're in CM and settled...

If you have a valid licence from your home country, it should get you through to Chiang Mai, if it's a one-off trip. The international permits available online need to be clearly associated with your home driving licence. Believe me; no police pulling you over on your way to CM will give a tinker's cuss about ''international treaties" from the 1940's and 60's, unless you're appearing in court.

With any non imm visa, which I assume you're on, it's best to get a Thai driver's licence after 90 days in country... 

9 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

How long is the Thai DL expired?

5 years

"Home" is Canada.

Anyone have experience of successfully obtaining a car driving licence, whilst on a Non Imm O-A (''Retirement") visa? Applicant already has an old expired Thai driving licence, plus a current valid licence from the home country...

9 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

As a regular reader of TWTW, I have seen this basic column several times; yes a few of the names and places have changed, but 'back in the 80's' and 'newspaper reporter at 18' and 'the Thermae' and 'drinking late in to the night' and etc etc etc.

Agreed, it's less 'Rooster' and more Old Chook. But let's give credit where it's due: the social and political commentary is there, but wisely tends to be buried under a few paragraphs. The mate in Buriram is a good example of that - and probably as close to the winds of press freedom as ThaiVisa dares to sail. So despite preaching to the choir, let's praise the Lord for small mercies, not least of which is the humor...   

9 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

how many readers on TVF are left that know anything about them. Maybe two dozen?

Two dozen tens of thousands...

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 8:35 AM, rooster59 said:

It's like I'm being stalked!

The irony. An internet based commentator, complaining about moaning on the internet. But at least it's original, and occasionally humorous....

20 hours ago, rooster59 said:

How much more sensible it would be for PM Uncle Too to stop wasting our money (in this case US$175 million) on sixty Stryker infantry carriers and machine guns and instead put it into preserving the lives of the nation's youth.

Hear, hear!

23 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

We Safe Thailand Safe Touris Safe na

Please: someone tell me that photo has been photoshopped or is fake!

If it's genuine...what an embarrassment...

12 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Like i said, might be good for poor people there, you included. Not for the rest of us.

Lord above! I'm the only Curmudgeon in this village!  Doesn't that well balanced comment apply to just about anywhere on earth?

7 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

Actually, it is most Thais :Arguably one of the most xenophobic countries in the world. I would say they don't even consider us farangs fully human (absolutely nothing to do with age, as a previous poster suggested:it's a racial thing). And it's not from the top down, it permeates the whole of Thai society. A 3-year old has learned it already, when they point you out to their parents and say 5555 a farang. 

Back on the subject matter please: the original clickbait/provocation post asked for comments comparing Thailand with Vietnam 5 years from now...