retiredusn

Visa run turns into a nightmare for Chiang Mai ex-pat

As I have said many times JUST BE/GET LEGAL and then there are no problems. I think the Thai goverment/border crossing was very correct.

Because the previous two dependent cases today were for elderly mothers and getting tired and then it all runs together.

Lopburi, your right what they require from the wife and I even though the extension is based on my pension is the "tm7 , pictures, ect. just as if she was applying herself.

Need help and Hope I explain this right. I can not access thavisa.com, as the encoder keeps reverting to western european vice either thai windows or western iso, I have tried changing the encoder by putting it on manual and have tried auto but it keeps going back to the western european mode. (Any suggestions (if I have explained this properly.)

I would offer to take care of the baby. That would mean after the birth she can get on with her Law studies and continue to a productive life.

I would go along with this as well. Once she gets the college done she can give a good life to the child, but she will need help, at lot of help. So, I would say it would be easier to just step and take of the child. If you have the means to that is.

Assuming that the persons taking full-time care of the child don't have "productive lives" and other things to do also?

A big commitment for sure.

Take the girl and leave her at the boys house until the baby is born then leave the baby there. She does not deserve help with anything, thats the problem with teens they know someone else will take care of everything.

Thanks guys for the responce..Its really not the 3k tax that i'm concerned with..it really is no money in bank and what have i done the last few years, and what will we live on in the states..Yes i have money to do what i need to do but can't prove it..infact what happens when my visa for here runs out..I can't prove i make 40k a month and now don't have 400k ect..Oh my who said living was easy..it is if you live alone in the states and go out with women that make you sick in the states..did i tell you my thai wife things I'M THE MAN? My girl friend in the states would drink millers all day and ask me to go to Burger king for dinner.

In the states I'm white trash

In thailand if i'm white i'm right

Does trol or b/s come too mind for anyone...........................!!!!!!!!!

Just want to thank the staff and whoever inputs the different visa forms. (ie:)90 day reporting......Sure makes life a bit easier when you have all the forms prepared in advance..........ONCE AGAIN "THANK YOU"

Maybe the U.S. military is getting tips from the Thai military on how to over throw the President of the United States.

The U.S. military dose a lot of good duriing these war games, provide free medical and dental to the local villages and help with schools and orphanages and of course training for disaster relief

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't Thailand already have free medical care?

Not really sure what they do with schools. I can't imagine it is too much if they have been comming here for a quarter of a century and the schools are less than impressive.

Not really sure about their disaster relief either. We saw their performance with Katrina. Unless it is the Thai's training the U.S. how to conduct diaster relief.

The only good it does is for the troops when they go into Pattaya and find short term girlfriends to help pay for them sick buffalos back in the bargirls village. I'm sure during their shore leave safety briefing they pass out free condoms to the troops to make sure they wives and girlfriends back in the USA don't catch any STDs.

It seems like a waste of U.S. taxpayer money and it should probably be cancelled.

You have never been on these type training mission or you would know how valuable this is . As far as a bit of liberty "try a ship for a couple of months and even your back-yard would look good.

The only definition of 'right' that most Thais apply in their daily life is what they can get away with

Very good!

But is the mentality really so much different in farangland? Or rather, that you can not expect to get away with the same things there?

Lived in the Aran area for three years and never locked the doors, once while I was gone 23 beer chang disapeared but was returned with ice three days later, now live in Chanthaburi and the same is true. I have had a lost wallet returned by a tuk-tuk driver I would never expect this in the U.S. home........

hello. i'm a newbie, 52 yr. old American VA pensioner, single male.

i'm trying to decide on the best place for me to retire on my small pension, which is $910/month. I've been to thailand twice and absolutely love it. i don't know a lot about the visa situation. if possible, i would love to stay single and be able to stay in thailand permanently, but i surely don't meet the financial requirements even if i combined everything.

whatever help/info you can provide me with would be greatly appreciated. thank you, and take care.

al

The Thai retirement visa is pretty stright-up on the requirement for 65000bt, you can use your 1099 tax form issued by the va for a portion of the monies and then the remaining can be in the form of a bank account/statement . I strongly suggest if you are planning on thailand to get your first retirement visa/mult. entry stamp in the US prior to arrival here the yearly extensions of visa are really no problem and the thai immagrations are normally more than helpful.

Sorry to repost on this, but I can't find the recent post. I remember reading you have to use 50% of the hours at night and 50% during the day, other wise you are billed at 1 baht per minute? I am wondering about this because I paid 500 baht for 250 hours (prepaid) and something has eaten up most of the 300 baht credit I also bought.

I pay 960bt per month for unlimited and have had no problems, I hit telewiz and pay for 3 or 4 months at a time. their monthly programs are much better that by the hour.

6 months to go before putting my US home up for sale .. goal is to 'close the house sale' in early '08, an IRS driven time line..

trying to decide what to pack trans pacific .. & what is easily duplicate-able

a life time of BS into a dumpster or friends pickups .. some I'll be glad I got rid of & some I will regret leaving behind for the rest of my life

this must be a quandary many re-locators go through. ??

TVs & 2 Lazy Boys & futon couch & tables are easy decisions .. I may loan my absolute favorite chair to a buddy.. in case I come back to this town / area / state..

.. with the price of gas the way it is, a cross country drive to retrieve personal items is prohibitive any more.

electronic gizmos are an easy 'leave' because of the electric..

will discard winter garb that is frayed .. or not worn for what ever reason .. probably 1/2 my winter cloths never got worn this winter + walmart sweat shirts

guess I'll keep the better winter clothes for the "I give up" day & return to 'home' ..

Some of my cutlery I really like, a couple favorite ice cream / ramin noodle bowls, a couple favorite skillets & pots .. one skillet is over 30 years old, burnt a lot in meals in that ol gal.. favorite coffee cups.. ..

what did YOU leave behind YOU wish YOU still had?

what is easy to find in the west that has driven you bonkers looking for in Thailand?

there will be a period that I will be tourist like .. transient, moving about before I find a long term rental ..

think I will leave a box or 3 with a friend to forward to me after I settle in.

suggestion, thoughts & regrets appreciated.

The wife and I loaded up and brought everything! What a dumb thing too do!! If I were doing it all again, I would bring 30 pair of shorts 30 shirts and two pair of nice slacks and dress shirts, all else is here and its kind of fun to find everything else. All I would suggest is GET YOUR RETIREMENT VISA AND MULTI ENTRY in the states the yearly renewal is very easy here. Best of Luck

Anyone know which site I can get upgrades for Smart Cards??

Thank You....................

I really don't understand this "New Luxury tax on internet usage in Thailand"

Just received a PM from Administration telling me that all Thaivisa Members who haven't actually been in Thailand since January 1, 2007 will be disconnected as from tonight because of the high costs involved. Just members & posters living in Thailand or very frequent visitors are allowed to stay 'onboard' with Thaivisa.... That's utter nonsense!

I haven't been in LOS since some 5 months ago, but I feel discriminated now !

Why on earth would I be disconnected from Thaivisa?

Anybody else received this message ?

I'm real angry now !

LaoPo

Get over it, you don't pay Tax, Taxes support the park and pay that man's salary. 400 baht is not a big deal, you say it's more than the average Thai pays in a month... They are paying it all year every year their entire lives, and you wanna bitch about a month??? Suck it up.

Now, if it was a PRIVATE company like say Mini Siam in Pattaya that is supported by customers and charges forginers a higher price I would say SCREW them thats just bigotry at it's finest.

But Tax is Tax, if you pay taxes then it should be the same price for you too.

Yeah, but I PAY TAX in this country and have done so for many years. Indeed, I'm 100% legal here in terms of tax card, work permit, tabien ban, visa, drivers's license, etc. And my opinion is that 400 baht is an utter ripoff.

I also am completly legal in Thailand (retirement visa) and pay tax everyday be it gas or food sales at tesco the only time I go to the national parks is when invited and as such expect to be paid for as a guest, when my thai friends have to pay for me they have no problems yelling at the gate keepers ect. several have sent emails and letters to the goverment asking how to change this injustice

Parking is easy on the Thai side of the border -- just go straight for the parking lot. Nobody who is going to gamble or to stay in the casino hotels takes their car over the border. The visa costs $20USD and 1 photo. No need for tips or bribes.

On a side note: Somehow I seem to always lose at blackjack in Poipet, but in Vegas I do pretty well. 100B minimum hands.

BTW Star Vegas has a dim sum buffet open in the casino near the tables. It's all free, so well worth a stop in there.

That makes sense, cheers. Lets hope I get a decent amount of beginners luck. Hopefully it's like playing pool the more I drink the better I get. Wonder how long my complementary 500 baht will last...

Stay at the Market Hotel in Aran the rooms run 400bt a nite with a great swimming pool,/air/refer and its only a 50bt totut ride to the border.

how about new york or dc?

anyone has experience with these embassies or conulates in obtaining retirement visas?

it would seem a good idea to do this in the usa to avoid having to transfer american dollars to baht, especially now, plus one may feel more secure with a large amonut of money in ones own country and bank

perhaps there are other advantages/disadvantages of applying for the RV in the USA / Thailand

would love to hear more about this

any info would be very helpful

I found getting my retirement visa and mult. entry very easy in the US. What I did was contacted a lawer in TX who does immagration visa's (Texas Towers). The lawer from Houston ask me to send my passport , tax form (1099)for military, a local police check which amounted to asking over a beer and getting a leter from the police station station stating I had no wants or warrents., photo's ect I downloaded all the Thai form off of the internet prior to sending my package to TX in approx. 2 weeks passport ect was returned too me with a retirement visa and mult. entry. Did not even have to go to the embassey after that no problem here in Thailand getting yearly extensions. "oh" The medical Which was another downloaded Thai form was filled out by the VA for free........Hope this helps.

SOURCE: Pattaya People: March 26th 2007

Porn Film Victim in Pattaya

A woman reported to the Pattaya Police at 00.30 am on 26th March that a foreigner recorded having sex with her friend on video and requested the police to go inspect a room at Opal Apartment located on Central Pattaya Road.

When the police knocked on the door, a foreigner answered. His name was later found to be Mr. Graham Elliott, aged 52, an Irish national.

Inside the room police found Mrs. Maliwan, aged 40, claiming that she came to this room to sleep with Mr. Elliott. When she went to the bathroom she noticed a video camera near the bed. She immediately called her friend to ask for advice who told her to ask for assistance from the police, which was what she did. However, according to the woman, Mr. Graham had already noticed that she knew about the camera and deleted any evidence.

The police inspected to find no evidence of what the lady claimed but did seize the computer and camera to take to professionals to retrieve the evidence if there indeed was any. More investigation is ongoing.

Lets not hang the man yet,,,,looks to me as if the lady in question had a few problems also "such as" she is a MRS. , what was she doing there to start with??

Could anyone tell me about Rayong ? I am coming over this summer to stay. I have stayed in Pattaya and Jomtien, and would like it a little more less in your face and cheaper. I have a Thai lady who is going to stay with me. I am going to look at Hua Hin, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen. I was thinking of Rayong because of the

ocean and beach. I make $2,200 USD a month on my retirement. With the exchange rate I hope that will be

enough to live good. I don't drink, or smoke.

I would like a place where there is an expat community. Any info, or suggestions, you could give me would

be most appreciated.

Thanks

whittler/ aka Mike

Take a look at Chanthaburi, you have much the same in the way of beachs ect. but at half the price. Also with your pension it would be much easier to get a retirement visa in the states prior to coming over.

Ah . . . and that's it? While driving around the rubber plantations the driver pointed out a few houses here and there owned by Caucasians (German, Brit, Australian) but they don't seem to be here.

Odd, nice place. Much nicer than many other places that seem to be inundated with expats.

I live in Chanthaburi and find it very nice. You do not have the lights and glitter of the tourest cities but you do have great air, beach's that are uncrowded and clean, three major department stores and local folks that make you feel wanted.

Anyone use the DVR that UBC have? I work long hours and miss all the shows I want and after having TIVO for two years, really want one, just in time for the start of F1?

Any info on price, contract etc? I have platnum package from UBC.....

I have been using the "ACONATIC AN-8010 DW" ,, DVD RW R PLAYER - RECORDER for about a year and it works great for all recordings off of the sat. you can buy at Best Buy for about 7-8000bt. take a look at it.

Can anyone please tell me the cost of getting a "Residence Certificate in Thailand" from the Immigration Department? The one that is needed for driving licences, bank accounts etc. I can find the form on their website, but not the cost. Also how long does it take?

The form is provided free of charge and only takes about 10min. The great part is you can download the form from ThaiVisa download section and have it all filled-in prior to going to any immigration office. Be sure to take your passport with you.

Do they give you a drivers license with your photo on it like in the US? Do you get it the same day or do you have to wait for it in the mail? I have a California drivers license. Do I have to take a driving and written tests?

Here's what you need;

RESIDENCE CERTIFICATE

DRIVERS LIC.

HOUSE PAPER/RENTAL AGREEMENT

PHOTO (2)

passport with non-ema. stamp

If you are under 60yrs old no drivers test if older you will have too take a color test and a breaking test. Everything takes about 30 min. and yes your picture is on the license..........

I guess this will be a vacation that the tourist will always remember.

Shame on the kids.

You make it sound as if they are children,,,,,,"shame on them" they should be sent to prison for a very long time for assult with intent to kill and theft look at the age of the tourist................shoot the bas a ds

I reside in Los Angeles and usually deal with the LA Thai consulate. We all know what a joy that can be given the hurdles you have to jump through oWbtaining visa's.

Can I mail my application to the Denver consulate for issuance or will they tell me to utilize the Los Angeles conulate? Maybe if I say I am travelling extensively within the states.

Looking for peoples insight and experiences.

Have done the obligatory searches but no specific answer to the above question.

Thanks in advance.

Yes,,,,,,,,,,,What I did for my first retirement visa was contacted a lawer in Houston Tx and then forwarded all needed paper work.passport ect. and within two weeks had oa visa and multi entry so when I arrived in Thailand was good for a year and then renewed here........Hope this helps.......

When will thry realize that in those tourist areas theywould make more money if they would change laws back to opening bars till 6am and it would help the whole country out!! What is the theory in closing? If they let one city stay open all hours like say Pattaya then eveyone would know where they could go. 24/7

hey everybody! sober up and smell the coffee!

I agree wake up! In my 60 years I have run tourist locations all over the world and 2am is more than enough time to party after that trouble begins weather it be the merry makers themself's or the local thugs. Let Thailand try to protect those that want protecting.....................