Poilu

11 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

 

It doesn't matter because they are unusuable in Thai waters anyway. They are also no match for surface vessels either because they can't hide in shallow water and can be easily caught up with bu surface vessels and sunk with depth charges.  Subs need much deeper water so they can hide under the layers of water at different temperatures that makes them harder to find and hit. They are also complete sitting ducks against anti-sub aircrafts. 

I think you are right. The American submarine USS Lagerta was depth charged and sunk with all hands in May 1945 while on patrol in the Gulf Of Thailand. 

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever" - Dalai Lama.

4 hours ago, tonray said:

Yup...zero enforcement. I live in Nonthaburi and just across from our MooBaan are two rice fields...after each crop...yup you guessed it...they burn the stubble. Also the area has a few clothing/textile factories employing loads of immigrant laborers from Myanmar. They live in housing just outside the gates of the factories and use an open pit area across from the factory to burn their trash...what about the uber wealthy Thai factory owners paying for some trash pickup for their employees...yeah....then I woke up....nobody cares enough to stop making a few more baht..

I fully agree. I live in the upper part of Nonthaburi province where we are surrounded by rice fields and they are alight at the moment.

33 minutes ago, greenmonkey said:

Yeah sure.

 

I've had similar experiences to you where the process is smooth and quick (not as quick as 1 hour but still fairly quick) and this has been down largely to the officer. But on a couple of other occassions (even though I have provided the same paperwork etc...) I have had much worse experiences with the officer simply looking for reasons to send me away and return with new documents/copies/photos. I learnt my lesson pretty fast and just a few months ago when I did my extension I had a new guy who really wanted to make it difficult for me.

 

Instead of the standard 4 photos on A4 he requested 8 photos on 2 sheets of A4. Luckily I had them with me. Then he asked for photocopies of my full bank book going back 6 months (even though I had supplied the last 2 months as needed). Once again, I had that with me and presented it to him on the spot. My general impression was that he really just wanted an excuse to send me away just because he felt like it. He then got his calculator out and started doing all sorts of sums with my bank balance and then went away to talk to his superior about something. In the end he reluctantly processed my paperwork. If i had not had this extra paperwork he would have told me to go away and return. And in the past when I wasn't so well prepared I did get sent away (even though I had met all the requirements).

 

What I am trying to say is - it won't always be so straight forward and easy. Just be prepared!

The new office is much better than the old one. I have not been queue jumped by agents with boxes of passports yet like used to happen at the old office. There is a young captain and an older female sergeant major who are both very helpful and easy going. The only trouble at the new office was when it first opened and an aggressive and foul mouthed motorcycle taxi rider thought he was going to tell people where  they could and could not park in the car park.

2 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

Go to Portugal, buy a 500,000 EUR house and get permanent residency.

Maybe not a lot questions asked from where money came from.

And 5 years after your purchase you qualify to apply for citizenship. That is a good deal.

2 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

Why is Thai Visa NOT ALLOWING COMMENTS on the protests in Bangkok????

I think because it is a business first. It would risk being shut down.

On 9/27/2020 at 5:47 PM, Mavideol said:

yes, very similar to Chinese/Japanese.....

I lived in S Korea for some time. Spoken language is not tonal and not too difficult to learn for westerners. Written Korean is another matter, very difficult. 

I find that cats get used to most deterrents so I use a full size waterproof cover specifically designed for my model of car. 

13 minutes ago, Krabi King said:

How can a construction mogul (the family owns Sino Thai) be fit for a position as health minister anyway? A government that consists of millionaires, with big egos, who think they know it all. He'd better stick to making cement... and sink away in it...

It is like a club. His papa, the founder of Sino Thai, was also a health minister.

Bonne chance, good luck to you Udom.