mgjackson69

Old price = 100

New price = 600

The new price is 600% of the old price.

You are paying 500% *more* than the old price.

Before, you were paying 100 (100%). Now you are paying 600 (600%). 600% - 100% = 500% more.

It may seem a bit counter-intuitive, but it does work this way.

And we have all wasted more than 600 THB worth of time wrangling over this

There is no office in city of Korat - it moved to Chok Chai. On map in pinned items useful information at top of forum.

Is this a recent move?

Also, I did not see the pinned map...

edit: delete double post

Thai immigration are very neat with their stamps - religiously filling up every inch of a page before starting a new one. Too many nations seem to want to spray their mark everywhere. The US particularly.

I have to agree...I like the way Thai Immigration always tries to put the entry and exit stamps together, and to maximize the use of the pages. My most recent visa extension did use three pages though....one for the application, one for the extension granted, one for the re-entry permit. Although, it probably would have been two pages, but I traveled outside between the application and the extension granted, and when I came back in K Duangjai stamped me in on the same page as the application for extension stamp. K Chalemchai (aka K White-Out) was not pleased....

So far, India has been the worst...stamping on top of their own stamps and others, not even making an attempt to put entries and exits together...even though they always look for the entry stamp.

USA is just hit-or-miss...sometimes stamp, sometimes not...sometimes the stamp looks like only half of it was inked.

>>> The hydrologist, now an employee of Team Consulting Engineering, called on the public not to panic over the IPCC findings <<<

There is the key phrase

Give Africa a try for queue-jumping, or more accurately, no concept of a queue.

But if you throw them a bit of shit about it, something like point and say, "There *is* a queue", they typically will get embarrassed and move back.

In India, I do not think it is queue jumping so much, but if you leave any space between you and the counter, someone will try to squeeze in front of you.

I agree. I have not found anything comparable to the UK Ordnance Survey charts. They are contactable and very helpful. The most accurate maps I have found are the American ONC series which can be obtained from the Thai Marine department. Unfortunately the scale is 1:1000000.

Might be worth having a look at the Jeppesen products, although they are GPS orientated.

I have four ONC maps in front of me now, they are 1:500,000, but are also old, dating from 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1970, although they are marked as "air information current through dd mm 1989". I forget where I bought them, someplace on the internet about 5 years ago.

These maps are also marked "Civil users may purchase NIMA products by ordering them from the following address:

NOAA Distribution Branch (N/ACC3)

National Ocean Service

Riverdale, MD 20737-1199"

so that might be worth chasing also.

I was in the amphur here in Chok Chai a while back and saw a pretty decent topo map on the wall. But I did not get a chance to ask anyone where I could find one.

I just did my yearly extension (based on marriage), application visit was 23 July, follow-up was 18 August, at Northeast Immigration (Korat).

There was no mention of Khor Por 2.

I consider myself as much as a naturalist/conservationist as the next guy...but if that critter is anyway around my house he is not being left alive.

"I AM LEAVING FOR HOME RIGHT NOW"

Translated: "...after I have three more drinks"

Seventy percent alcohol and inflammable...who would have thunk it???

The "V"/rabbit ears thing is very common amongst children in USA also. I have no idea what it means but it is annoying as hel_l when you are trying to take a group photo and the kids are doing that crap.

I would suggest that you do a scientific experiment as follows and post your results here:

1) Start out with your corner speed at 200 kph

2) Attempt to negotiate the curve

3) If you crash,

a) buy a new PreRunner

lower your corner speed by 10 kph

c) return to step 2

else

go to step 4

4) Report the maximum "safe corner speed for a Hilux Vigo"

Good luck, keep us posted.

I am having a hard time figuring out what this guy is even saying/asking....

But it appears that he has been fed a big shit sandwich of misinformation by his wife/ex-wife/girlfriend? and he has eaten the whole thing.

To the OP - I would suggest that you try to put your thoughts into some sort of coherent form. Outline your current situation accurately, including what you have been told, etc...then ask your questions.

I am sure that someone here can help you, once they figure out just what it is you are asking.

I have to agree with a couple of other posters here... use any B.S. line you need to get the wife to agree to divorce, but *do not* tell her about the current situation with the girlfriend. If she knows she can put you in a bind, which you have really done to yourself by not already securing a divorce, you will certainly see her vindictive side come out.

I think a good line about "your home country tax office coming to take her house/car/whatever she has" will go a long ways toward getting her to sign the divorce papers. If you have to sweeten the pot a bit, do so if possible, get her out of the picture.

Great to get it so fast!

Was the renewal before or after your birthday (expiration date)?

Am reading conflicting reports that one can and cannot renew before the expiration. Some say, can only renew only within 30 days after expiration.

My 1 Yr expired on the 24th July. I renewed for my 5 Yr on the 31st July. I have been told that you can only apply once it has actually expired and that you can do this at anytime after expiry for up to a maximum of 3 months.

I do not know how true the 3 months thing is......and to be honest, I cannot remember where that info came from.

If I recall correctly, I obtained my original one-year licenses in April 2007... it might have been May but certainly no later than that. I renewed/upgraded to the five-year licenses on 12 January 2009.

It seems that the information about waiting until the one-year expires has been consistent...not so much for the window after expiry. As I recall, the "lady boss" at the Chok Chai 4 office told me the window for renewing/upgrading was one year.

This exactly echoes my experience doing the 1 year -> 5 year in Chok Chai earlier this year.

Well, except for the short wait...but I was still there perhaps an hour, so it was not bad.

I had a cell phone shipped in a while back. First the nice lady from FedEx called and asked me for my importer number. I told her it was one phone, for personal use.

After several calls back and forth and a week later, FedEx tried to deliver the package to the house in Chok Chai...of course, I was in Bangkok, so that did not work. The wife got on the phone and redirected the delivery man to a relative's house, where they left the package.

About three weeks later I received a bill of sorts in the mail that indicated a 200 THB duty on the phone. I had the wife look at it and she said, "Is paid already."

So I guess FedEx just covered it. The phone was shipped on my previous employer's FedEx account, so I have no idea if it was ever billed or not.

<shrug>

<snip>

You may be a guest here, but this is my home. I may not have any guarantee as to how long it will remain my home, but while it is, I do not have any problem with viewing it as such.

Go ahead and view it that way...but you *are* a guest here, just like most of the rest of us. Unless you have been granted Thai citizenship...and even then that could probably be revoked.

I consider Thailand to be my home now as well, but I do not pretend that I have any sort of special status. I am just another guest here on an Extension of Stay based on marriage.

Reading this thread makes me appreciate dealing with Korat Immigration all the more.

I just went for my second Extension application based on marriage. As usual, everything went smoothly. The same person has seen me each time (K Chanchai aka K Whiteout) and has always been professional and courteous. This time he was very sure to explain to my wife thoroughly and that I understood that I must re-enter Thailand before 18 August or my current extension will be invalidated, and therefore the extension that I just applied for would not be approved. I made sure that he knew that I understood that, and thanked him for explaining it to my wife as well.

On the first extension application they never sent anyone out for a home visit. Neither time did they want to see photos.

So far I have visited K Chanchai 5 times...for the first extension application, for the first extension approval, for a re-entry permit, for a letter of residence, and now for the second extension of stay application. Never has there been any mention of additional fees, either for a trip to the house as detailed by the OP or mentioned as a way to "make things go smoother". K Chanchai has jokingly mentioned that he would like a bottle of Johnny Walker...I might just give him one this time...provided that my extension is approved.

The OP stated:

"I'm prepared to but a non commitment phone from Apple (699UDS) as I'm out of contract with A T & T."

By "non commitment" I am assuming that he is referring to an open-market or "unlocked" phone. That being the case, all he needs to do is buy a SIM here, plug it in, and go.

He should be able to go the route of getting the subsidized phone from AT&T with another two-year contract. If he is a long-time customer in good standing they might even unlock the phone for him.

I particularly hate it when one of them touches me, that gets a very immediate and very negative response.

That is the one that sets me off, every time. I have no problem giving a polite "mai ow khrap" even dozens of times. But when someone puts their hands on me or tries to "help" me with my luggage, they have just crossed my personal tolerance line.

Never had a flu shot, I do not plan on ever having one

I had a Mia Noi for a while.

When the farang wife asked the wrong (or right, depending upon one's perspective) question, I answered truthfully.

The wife became the Plaintiff, the Mia Noi became Mia Luang.

basically a big green light for all those who never even considered stealing from bags; 'well its ok to steal twice and get caught, after that i'll revert to honesty'

This point has been made several times, but evidently not enough....

From the article:

:

:

AoT will act swiftly against staff caught stealing.

They will be fired and the contracted company that hired them will face legal consequences.

A firm whose staff steal from passengers' bags more than three times will have its contract terminated, Mr Piyaphan said.

:

:

I take this to read "An individual caught stealing will be fired. A company whose employees are caught stealing more than three times will have its contract terminated"

Evidently many here need to brush up on comprehension skills.