Toolong

I too am 'mired in planning the future', swissie. I can empathize with your sentiments and do appreciate someone reminding me of what gets so easly forgotten in that boggy mire we create. Dance around the fire at night, swissie. Chant your head off. Let the neighbours - anyone - think what they will. Think it was that bushy-mustached German thinker (Nietzsche?) who said something like: 'And those seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music.' Reckon the planning can stay, but make the dancing part of it too, eh? ????????????

Good post. Useful. Been an online 90 day reporter for quite some time now, but I learned a few things in your post! ????

Notrub, you have clearly made errors of judgement to some extent (my god, haven't we all?), but you sound like the kind of fellow who would be the first to admit it and for that I give you credit. ???? I hesitate to offer much in the way of specific advice, but then you didn't get very specific about any advice you might be seeking. And anyway, your key query seemed to be concerned mainly with the simple question of how nasty it could all get. As someone already said, it could get very nasty, unfortunately, so care must be taken. A falang I had the pleasure of meeting last year was in a quite similar situation to your own. Recently shocked to hear he was found dead in the burned out ruins of his home......an 'apparent' suicide. 'Apparent', as in no ****ing way. I've a question of my own: you appear to have your back against the wall a bit, so to speak. And I wondered.....does anyone have your back (so to speak!)? Friends locally or back home? Thai or falang? I don't know you, or your background. So don't want to impose suggestions blindly (which might not match with your situation at all) but would suspect that as you're probably like many of us, it helps to not feel too isolated & vulnerable. Keep us informed on this forum, if you've a mind to do so. Be careful. Good luck.

Marvelously helpful! I appreciate your assistance, Henry. Thank you! ????????????

Right....I gotcha. ????

Yes, I noticed that after I'd asked the question. Oh well. ????

Thanks NextG!????

Sorry, Henry...but may I ask how it works? I want to do what you do but not sure about the process. So the 160 baht programme is what exactly? In relation to the 500 baht card you mentioned. Please correct me if I'm wrong.... The 160 baht is an initial membership fee? Or the price of the subscription you opt for, which determines the variety of movies you can access? And the 500 baht card determines the length of time (ie, 3 months) you can open Netflix and watch the content? And how do you pay the 160 baht? Online? I don't have a credit card. Any help would be welcomed! ????????????

Well, I wish I could honestly say my own ignorance is in any way 'blissful'.....but I know what you mean! Btw....I could probably find the answer to this in this thread, but maybe easier to ask you...... - the 169 baht package (or any priced package) for membership: is that monthly? Or by the number of hours you watch Netflix? (Just thought you might know. Never mind if you don't. ????????)

I'm with you there, Red. ????

'Slightly tech challenged.'? Oh boy, do I hear ya, DrJack. ???? Believe me, you ain't alone. I've got very similarly-related queries that I want to ask on this forum in due course (unless they're by chance answered for me in this thread), but I fear that some members may be too stunned by my ignorance to answer. ????

A verse will do as I'm in the mood for one.....and I'm on the beer Sing, too....so...y'know....cut me some slack. Heavy is the head that wears the crown it's said, But lighter than air are kingly thoughts, A penny for your thoughts Charles is the most I'd pay, but still think I got no bargain, The crown will weigh you down, fathoms deep, End it, can't mend it, but the House of Windsor bends it, To gasp and thrash to the last, like a fat mullet laid on the riverbank mud. (Just sayin')

Well said. And - bar the imaginative allusion to Vatican white smoke!???? - a true enough summary of how it is, has always been...and will likely be yet again. What you mean by 'eventual outcome' clearly (imo, anyway) points to an uprising against perceived electoral fraud & judicially-manipulated power-grabbing by those currently incumbent parties with the power to use foul means not fair to do so. Such an uprising will, I think (if it happens), be distinct from others in recent decades, in one particular regard: a move away from 'colour camps'....red, yellow, orange, etc.....towards a more common cause. And I think that cause is a sense of, 'No, we've really had enough of this ****!'

Yes, I'm looking into the online option. (But......from what I've gathered from this helpful thread .....problems can still arise - though they might be rare perhaps - when hotels submit wrong details. But then maybe I'm being too skeptical about the tm30 online system's reliability. I used to be very skeptical about the online 90 day system until I realised it was actually excellent!) ????????

Sure, I know that. And fair play to any hotel that chooses to abide by that law without exception. But....I'm guessing that some hotels may - if they understand/believe my explanation for why I'd rather not register myself but my Thai wife can - think it reasonable to 'make allowances' in that case, esp. if only for one night or a few nights. But it's their call. ????

Ah, ok....I did not know that. Thanks for explaining that! ????????

But don't they just refer to the passport number which is clearly stated on the Thai DL? ????

555 ???? 'Passport renewal'. ???????? That's a good 'un. PS: Unless it was a top hotel, which wouldn't go for it, I think I'd just be honest and explain why I'd rather not register with my pp number. Just the wife's. Some places might be ok with that. If not, stay home with my limp!

'Limp'!?? How dare you, sir! Pistols at dawn! ???? No, you're right. It IS limp! But let's just say....my overall past experiences with immigration matters has not always been 'smooth', so I kinda like to stay off their radar (so to speak) as much as possible. Of course, maybe I'm just being paranoid! Btw....is it really possible to avoid me personally registering & giving my passport details to hotels - if accompanied by Thai wife/family - like you suggest? If so, that would be fine!

Pure gold, Red Phoenix! ???? I have been needing to understand this for a long, long time! And now I do....thank you! I particularly appreciate your advice on ensuring that hotels do submit the correct details + asking for a copy.......AND.....better still (for me!), alternative ways of using hotels without registering. But anyway, like I said, it's good - thanks yourself and andersonat - to finally understand how the process works, including the pitfalls in it! ????????

Andersonat, Sorry for delay in replying. I very much appreciate you making this post and laying out so clearly what you understand to be the case re hotel stays/tm30 registrations/subsequent online 90 day reporting. Thank you. ???? It sounds very 'logical' to me, in the sense of how the system might be set up to work 'ok', but with potential problems later on - for the foreign 'alien'! - if they are not aware of the points you make. IF the online TM30 system is 'problem-free' (I'm not yet familiar with it) - that's a big IF! - then I guess I should not be so skeptical about using it, but atm I am a bit paranoid about it all. Atm, I carry on my life without any trouble with online 90 day reporting and hate the idea of glitches! (Hour and a half drive away from immigration office!) Price I pay is never staying in hotels when I travel! ???????????????? (Not ideal, I know!)

Sorry, Red Phoenix, delay in seeing your message. Thanks for your advice. I definitely will study the guidelines you kindly sent. But I will be honest and say that I'm a bit skeptical about how 'problem-free' the process might be, in the sense of how much it might actually cause problems to my current trouble-free status-quo (re online 90 day reporting, etc) rather than allow it to continue smoothly. But maybe I'm being paranoid!! ????

Well, well, well....???? What you say gets my attention, andersonat. I'm on yearly marriage extension, live and am TM30-registered, in Korat....and my Thai family are currently enjoying themselves down in Pattaya while I remain here in Korat, after I refused to go with them because of fears that what happened in your case might happen to me. I live very far from the Imm. Office, so 'hiccups' like this would be very inconvenient & quite costly. I guess that apart from just having a good old moan about the system, the point of my post is to say that I just don't feel confident that WHATEVER my 'local' Imm.Office did say ( and tbh I haven't yet enquired) about me needing or not needing to do a new TM30 if I stayed in a hotel in Pattaya (for example), I can rely on that as being true in ACTUALITY, down the line. It's very frustrating. 'Oh, 'The Shifting Fog' of Thai immigration rules! Your post makes me feel maybe I did the right thing by staying home. ????

Oh my......(*sigh*) Mine was bright yellow, bought it second-hand in '83 for 180 pounds (less than 8000 baht in today's money!), a 2 point something litre, had a differential whine that made it sound like an F1 McLaren, and went like a bomb. (Way too much of a cheap charlie to buy a camera then, so no pics......and for any Brits reading this old enough to recall those days, no, I did NOT have fluffy dice hanging from the mirror or played bl**dy Bananarama cassettes really loudly on the cassette player with the windows down, parked in the chippy car park! ????)

Yes. Frustrating.