Toolong

People ought to (IMHO) take note of what Sheryl's saying here. Would suggest people check out the very convincing evidence out there to back it up, to an overwhelming degree. In my case mostly via youtube vids on the subject of low carb diets, including keto & carnivore.

Nothing like a good cup of coffeee in the morning. (Good = whatever your preference is; mine is for Nescafe Gold.) I have heart issues and so have been careful in my personal assessment of coffee's pluses & minuses. In my view, not only is one large mug of coffee in the morning perfectly ok for me, but damned essential! Please note: I learnt recently that there are 2 main kinds of coffee out there, 'robusta' and 'arabica'. Some coffee blends contain both, in different percentages. Robusta has almost twice the amount of caffiene in it than arabica. You drink 2/3 cups of high-percent robusta, you're gonna be doing the 'cha-cha' at 2am!!

Thujone, I have just read this entire thread today, for the first time, with immense interest and as I've done so felt an increasing sense of sympathy towards you and the ongoing predicament through which you have been. I too am British, elderly-ish (in my 60's), live in Thailand, and have for many years enjoyed living here in circumstances for which I have been, and am still, thankful. However, without going into details re those circumstances, I am aware of the fragility of what can sometimes feel like a solid, secure state of affairs, but more often than not is closer to actually being (or feeling like), in truth, just a house of cards. (Or 'Castles made of Sand', if, like me, you're a Jimi Hendrix fan!) And my own bridges are long burnt in the UK, too, sadly. So sympathy for you, yes Thujone, but much more than that I very much admire the way you have so far dealt with things, especially on an emotional level (or at least to the degree that is evident from how you describe your own feelings). And the tone of your posts & outlook suggests strength of character. I wish I could offer something more helpful or substantial than what I've said, but just wanted to say it, anyway. Good luck, Thujone, and hope you are able to keep posting on this site. (I note that so many people here have offered great advice & encouraging words, without a single post that is negative or nasty. ????)

Michael, thank you so much for taking the time to type this very interesting reply. ???? I must say it is rather the answer I had expected and I suppose I just wanted to confirm that. I have to say that your answer makes very good sense to me, both in terms of what could potentially happen, and how purchasing gold is something that those who can afford to do so might consider. I should say I speak in simple, general terms, as I am definitely no expert about these matters! Hence my appreciation for your very clearly outlined personal opinion & insight. (Even though it's all somewhat scary in many ways!????) Thanks. Have a great weekend. ????????

Sorry, I can't offer advice or info re your original query, but I am curious about your first sentence above: 'If what I expect to happen happens....' Just genuinely interested to know what you expect to happen. ???? (You've got me worried now!????)

That does sound like a 'surrealistic' farce with those phone calls! ???? This is getting even more interesting.....and quite amusing! I will ask my Thai friend to translate the back of my current license. I will let you know what I can find out about this. ???? Thanks for the extra info. Cheers! ????

Captor, sorry for the slow reply! Well, what you say is extremely interesting & useful to keep in mind. Much of what you say I was definitely not aware of. As you say, 'Thai logic' at work. Strange about the license & limitations on validity. The one I'm renewing was issued in Bkk and I have been able to travel everywhere. I live in Korat now and hope my new license does not have the restrictions in travel. I shall have to make enquiries. The ID info' you give is also very helpful to know. Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it!????????????

Thanks, Hotrats. Good to know. (Not looking forward to the process of getting them, but I'll just have to grin & bear it!)

Sympathies to robwood12, this kind of bureaucratic c**p can really be annoying. Related to said yellow book, I'm hoping to get one in Pakchong (+ the pink ID card), as I have been told they can help me renew my Thai driving license more easily, without the need to drive up to immigration to get proof of residence. Anyone know if that's right? Thanks

Don't know if this could help but....... You say you've got windows 10. If Facebook DID work ok before on your windows 10 but now doesn't, then maybe ignore my advice. My advice is to google your problem. I had windows 10 installed recently and found that it has problems doing things that was fine on windows 7. For example, playing dvds and typing the @ symbol. In both cases I found solutions on google. (Windows 10 seems problematic imho.) Worth a try maybe.

20 years ago, you say? ???? I think I'll advise my friend to change to gmail or yahoo! Why stick with a service that gives you probs? Thanks for your help! ????????

Interesting. Thanks for the info and opinion. With what you say, it will be easier to persuade him to get a gmail or yahoo account - it makes sense- but he's elderly and a little bit set in his ways! ???? Thanks again! ????

Your advice was perfect. Thanks again. ???? (netzero.com seems to be a website offering email services etc. I also had not heard of it before either, until yesterday)

Good idea! Yes, it should be accessible there. I shall give him your advice. Thanks a lot! ????????

Good day to every one, An American friend of mine asked me to help him register & apply to do his 90 day online. He registered and then submitted the new application without any problems at all. Immigration sent him an email saying information received & application successful.......and please see attached file, which would be the completed TM47 pdf doc. All seemed well. However, there was no file to open & see. He uses a netzero email account. We searched the page on screen for the file or some way to access it, but nothing. Tried another laptop, same story. In one sense it's good he had no problems registering & submitting the application, but if he can't see or access any pdf docs immigration sends him, that isn't so good! So the query is: anybody got any idea what's going on? It's automated, right? So immigration wouldn't have just forgotten to include the actual file (I guess). Or is it a netzero thing? Any help would be appreciated. ????

Kind of off-topic and many will just scratched their heads wondering what the hell I'm talking about, but hey, just ignore me! So......got a pet peeve: I'm fascinated by car design. Some designs give me immense pleasure to look at (ie, 60s/70s American). Why have manufacturers become inclined to make vehicle design so heavy on the 'aggressive' look? Bugs the hell out of me to look in my mirror and see a vehicle behind me (usually way too close!) looking like the vehicular equivalent of Mike Tyson; as if it wants to intimidate me and everyone else. The Fortuners until now haven't been too bad in that regard, but just seen the video someone attached here of future model and looks like the front end design is getting meaner and 'shouty-er'! Like I said, just ignore me! ????

Ideal. (When it goes so smoothly & painlessly doing it online, it's almost possible to forget how much of a 'nuisance' it's always tended to be!????)

Totally agree about submitting the application. 'Extensions online'? Oh, boy, yes.....THAT would be something! (Think I actually dreamed about that once! ????)

Yes, I suppose I did. Yeah. ????

I posted a tale this week about my online 90 day report anxieties! Just want to get to the point and say thanks to everyone who offered info & tips & links, and just humbly offer some simple advice to anyone who, like me, very much wishes to do it ONline and NOT have to go in person to the IO....for whatever reason. (In my case, costs me a big chunk of change to fuel up for a long-distance round trip!) My advice is simple: when you are notified by immigration email re your due date, or when you know you're in the '15 day zone', submit an application online as soon as possible, at your convenience. As those who read my original post will know I accidentally delayed submitting mine, this time, until the actual due date. In theory, in an ideal world (!), no problem, but though the tm47 form was successfully submitted, the expected, subsequent approval email + pdf of the application (Receipt of Notification) was, after 4 days, taking what I felt was an unusually long time coming, during the 7 day grace period. Status: 'Pending'. (My previous approvals had been sent back the same day as application.) So, with the end of the grace period closing in and fearful of having to go there in person after all & paying out for a full tank of gas (!) AND getting fined 2000 baht, I lost my nerve and went to the IO. Two and a half hour drive there and I received the 'RoN' in less than a minute! But being the only one in the office, I wanted to ask, politely, about my application. The girl was busy chatting to her mate on her phone but, getting her attention, was told "No speak English." (but with a pleasant smile!). Frustrated & with no choice but to let it go, another Imm official did drift in and he spoke some English and asked the girl on my behalf. Turns out the poor girl's a stand in for the usual person at the desk, who was off with covid. Though it wasn't established to be the case, I assumed perhaps that the covid and the 'human factor' was to blame for the delay in receiving the approval. Who knows? So I shall be taking my own advice next time and submitting online asap, allowing a nice old 'pending' period to run its course, without fears about wasting money on gas, or fines, or both!

Right! Perhaps I haven't been paying enough attention! (Obviously not ????????)

Yes......I understand what you're saying about a) what exactly the rules are re when, say, the 7day period begins & ends, and b) how the immigration might actually apply those rules. Your outline of how, in theory, things ought to be, I do agree with. The mysterious ways of immigration is not something I lose too much sleep over (!!), BUT.......I honestly would love to have a chance to sit down for 2 minutes with an IO official and ask them these niggly questions, so as to just dispel the mysteries once and for all! (I say that with some frustration, as at my immigration office, being able to find out info like that is very very difficult. Their service overall has become very satisfactory, efficient, friendly and so on, but it's oddly not set up to deal with queries like that. Or doesn't seem to be.) Perhaps someone reading these posts might know, from their own experiences. Cheers. ????

Thanks a lot for that info and advice, rwelim. ???? Re the Status page and what you say to look out for, etc, (which makes perfect sense btw), it always continued to say, and still does say, 'pending' even after being silly enough to press on the big red X! (Re the Cancel option btw, when I pressed on the X, a box appeared in which was a place to write a message, if one wished, and 2 options, Save and Close. I pressed close and no changes took place that I NOTICED (except me crossing my fingers that I hadn't stupidly cancelled my application!) so I'm figuring that pressing that big red X doesn't in itself cancel. If you press Save also, then I'm guessing it is cancelled, for sure. (Dunno though.) I will at this point say, rwelim, that I DID already drive there in person today (Thursday) to sort it out. I think I lost my nerve and couldn't wait it out any longer! I think my experiences with immigration, be it Bangkok in the past, or Korat office more recently, have left me kind of 'jittery' about needing to get it right....so that they have NO reason to fine me for being late or make my life difficult in anyway! The way I saw things 'deadline-wise', rwelim, I knew I couldn't count the weekend in, as I assume they wouldn't be sending me notifications as they're closed. And I was worried that if they counted my due date (Mon 12 Sep) in the 7 day grace period, then this coming Monday would technically be day 8 and I could get fined. (Or is day 1 of the grace period the day after the due date? Maybe. ????) So anyway, I cracked and lost my nerve and just went there. I appreciate you taking the trouble to calculate my options, on my behalf. That's good of you, thanks. ????????????

Interesting. I will check out the application form to see if the email address is there. (It's gotta be somewhere!????) Thanks orchidfan. ????

I'm sure it will continue to be efficient and so on - hope so - but (cliche alert!)...things can change. Such is life. ????