Seagull Sam

I'll wait as long as is necessary because I'm lurve with a beautiful Thai lady I met in a bar in Pattaya. Pity about the sick buffalo.

All cannabis is hemp, not all hemp is cannabis.

Thanks for responses. The issue is not with the rules, as always it is the enforcement. Our current government doesn't help matters much by appearing to make up rules for the sake of it. International lockdown should have happened a very long time ago if it were to happen at all.

I was in hospital in Bangkok (and Trat) for a while so I may arrange an appointment to help my case.

Suffering? Not really, just having to take a lot of little knockbacks. Some Buddhist style equanimity can go a long way. And yes Thailand has a great record on Covid. Hats off to them.

Does anyone have information re how / if this ban being carried out? For what it's worth I have worked hard with a lot of help from this board to get everything together for Non-Imm OA with a potential leaving date of 18th March. Just as I approach the final hurdle the rug is pulled.

I guess you don't have to be a Buddhist to work out the first noble truth - life is suffering (otherwise translated as simply unsatisfactory).

and step in Kim Yo-jong!!!

You want go short time? Given the parlous state of the North Korean economy this may need to become a reality.

Mixed personal feelings about Koh Chang. On the one hand it is an unspoilt tropical paradise. But then I did get my head kicked in there by a drug crazed bar girl. 

By happy circumstance on my first visit I stayed on Soi 49 and went to Broccoli Revolution nearly every day. It's totally wonderful, just like Brighton really. You can ask the restaurant to hold the fish sauce and so forth as much as you like if it makes you feel any better. The fact is the Thais don't really get the concept of vegetarianism despite the very first Buddhist precept being not to harm any living creature. To them a dish lacking large pieces of meat is vegetarian.  Néua generally means beef and doesn't include mŏo (pork). My vegetarianism is about intent but if you are the kind who check the ingredients in the supermarket be warned.

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the man had come in contact with five relatives, two of whom are living upcountry.

And is routine testing performed 'upcountry'? All those on this board parted from Isaan gfs please enlighten us.

On 8/31/2020 at 10:20 PM, webfact said:

Peace is not an empty word used to normalize crimes and oppression. Peace is the outcome of justice

Nothing more needs saying 

It's off topic if Gaza is a sovereign territory. 

Israrl are deliberately stoking the Covid bongire by shutting down & bombing Gaza.

3 hours ago, eeworldwide said:

Stupid hairbrained "Schemes" are not going to solve it  - because nobody is thinking about thailand. Nobody wants to come

Only old farts like me who will turn the place into a rest home. There will be long queues at nurse recruitment centres in Isan.

All very gung ho, chest beating stuff. I was attacked by a drug crazed bar girl on my last visit, repeatedly kicking & stamping on my already injured head. Now I have difficulty walking unaided. I know the damage yaba can do. Execution is wrong in all cases, end of. Summary justice? This isn't a John Wayne movie. Or perhaps you would like to live in the Wild West. Howdy partner let's give them thar baddies a woppin! Yee Haa!

Is this a deliberate attempt to destroy western tourism & by implication the sex industry?  Chinese don't use these services (unless very discretely). Result more lovely wealthy chinee, less single old falang, sex industry moves to less public UK / USA model.

Prayut / govt is claiming 95% Thais don't want us dirty farangs back. Now this is not a scientifically verified Gallup poll & I only know other farangs & those in the hospitality industry but if 100% of the people I know are screaming for the return of tourism someone's got their sums wrong.

Is there some reasoning to this or are the govt so paranoid about their tiny covid rates they are prepared to screw the tourist industry?

Those smiling doe eyed passive orientals just don't deserve democracy. Stick to providing cut price sexual services or for those too old or ugly dishing up a road side pad thai when we've had a Chang or two too many.

Thanks. The issue with the O-A was firstly they wouldn't accept my certified accountants' books despite paper statements also showing my income.  Secondly, I had a letter from my GP to suggest I wasn't displaying any symptoms of their odd list of proscribed diseases.

This was all confirmed as acceptable by email with relevant attachments but were somehow not considered sufficient when I turned up in person. Perhaps because I was reasonably well behaved and even had a western monk based in Thailand as my reference they issued the O visa as a compromise. Perhaps. Basically you follow the rules and then they make it up on the day depending on what mood they're in.

I'm not quite sure I fancy carting £20k around in cash frankly. Can I have it sent by TransferWise or other cheap service? I can see problems trying to draw that much cash from anywhere in Thailand.

The Dolphins had to go as a name once the animal rights types had them freed. It is said the Seagulls came about as a response to the Palace's Eagles chant. But yes I was there in the 70s North Stand as a teenage pseudo-skinhead. Happy days!

I was trying for the O-A immediately before the E-Visa was introduced. I was in touch with the London embassy with the necessary information which they seemed to confirm. When I arrived to present the paperwork in the flesh they were having a bad hair day. After a few impromptu arbitrary objections and some assertive factual observations from myself they eventually settled on the compromise of the Non Im O. 

Due to having my head kicked in by a drug crazed bar girl in December which curtailed my last visit I haven't had quite enough usage out of the visa. Pity.

Thanks for the advice. I'm still in UK unfortunately. All this is something I was expecting particularly given the current situation. I

t looks like my best bet is the 800k Baht route but I don't currently have a Thai bank account and it might be difficult to open one on a tourist visa or even the new single entry Non Im O visa. I guess it's a question of slogging around a few places in Bangkok or Chiang Mai until I find a friendly member of staff.

There are a few moans on here about the situation in Thailand. Just be grateful you are in the sunshine in a country with zero (or somewhere near zero) new infections and not back home in Blighty. You can get a beer at 7-11 before too long. 

????

This time last year I was lucky enough to be issued with a one year multi entry visa 90 days per visit. This was immediately before the E-Visa system was introduced. I think this visa isn't available any longer but in theory could I apply for an extension with the same conditions?

The London Embassy looks like it's closed of course so I'm not expecting anything to happen in a hurry. The visa expires on June 4th. 

I'm 61, £10,000 / 400,000 Baht in a UK bank. I'm not married to a Thai or have any Thai kids. My plan is to ultimately spend maybe 6 or 9 months of the year in Thailand. (I have a pre-existing medical condition and had a big claim on my holiday insurance last December but that's probably for another thread).

I think I already know what the answer might be to this one but putting out there to see if there is any way round this.

Great tune & a real breakthrough for international recognition of reggae music.

Do you suppose any reggae (sorry Bob Marley tribute) bar in Thailand would understand that without trail blazers like Millie Small there would be no Bob Marley? 

12 hours ago, glegolo said:

maybe checking the rules again,??

But we all know the embassy staff are a law unto themselves. I was refused in UK on the grounds that my bank statements & certified accounts were not sufficient to prove income. They were kind enough to tell me to go away & put 40,000B in my account. After a bit of a struggle I managed it, returned the next day & was granted non-O. I didn't have 40,000B the next day.

So everybody in Thailand travels home & infects everyone on the cramped minibus, their family & everyone else in the village. Brilliant idea.