Dart12

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

Unless you are using a car, getting to Ban Laem is difficult under your own steam. It is even trickier than going to Ban Pakard. I only went to Ban Laem once, just after it opened to foreigners. (At that time, they encountered an average of fewer than one foreigner a day: different now.)  If planning to use public transport, Ban Pakard is to be preferred. There are direct vans/songtaeos from Chanthaburi. If wanting to do this, leave very early in the morning. It is difficult to find transport back from Ban Pakard in the late afternoon.

 

Phet Prasert used to have fast, comfortable early morning buses to Chanthaburi. You could contact them to see if they still do.

 

Estimated costs for experienced travellers who can dodge scams without upsetting officials:

• Pattaya to Chanthaburi return about 500 baht
• Chanthaburi to Ban Pakard return about 200 baht
• Cambodian visa on arrival US$30 (must have pristine notes). The officials will probably want more. Your demeanour is extremely important. You are friendly, quiet and smiling. You apologetically indicate that, while you sympathise with them, you are a poor traveller who cannot afford to pay more than the official visa fee.
• 0 to 300 baht for same day return. There is a Cambodian law that mandates an overnight stay. Officials will usually want to charge an unofficial fee to disregard this regulation. You can try to dodge it, but pay up with a good grace if they make it clear they want to be paid.

The above represents the costs if all goes well. There are expert scammers at work at Ban Pakard (and according to reports also at Ban Laem). Well done if you can emerge unscathed.

 

Doing this trip under your own steam involves a pretty long and stressful day (unless you have your own transport). If an agent has a comfortable, not overloaded van, and can provide a package deal that includes all fees, then paying a premium for an organised border bounce is probably justified. It almost eliminates the uncertainty.

it would be under my own transport.

ok. fee would be roughly 1500 baht at the borders if all is done kosher without an agent.

More so wondering the difficulties exiting and re-entering at the border if on my own.

My Agent price is good. 

But the vans, even the newest ones...have been packed full. 

And they have No leg room.  I ACHE eventually pretty bad during the trip in the legs and my back.

I remember swearing to myself not to do that to myself again last time. 

Plus, all the agents seem to get there about same time...it was like an additional 4 hours standing in lines.

It's an absolute miserable day.

Unfortunately, I have to make one more trek to get the needed time to process a long term visa again.


But to revisit the most important question.... you think it's a minefield to just go myself with no agent help?


o

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

If you already have two visa exempt entries by land in 2023, there is nothing to stop you from going to Vientiane or Savannakhet for a tourist visa. However, you will not have the security of knowing you will still be able to re-enter Thailand visa exempt by land even if your visa application is denied.

ahh. I see the conundrum .

1 hour ago, Gaccha said:

I don't know about your country, But my recollection for the emergency travel documents is they can only be used to enter your Motherland. 

 

Not sure though...

 

My emergency passport is already canceled too.  I now have my permanent fresh one, but need the stamp transfered from emergency to perm.

Which brings me to a question, that can be done at the border exiting, right?

I just ordered new US passport.  

Embassy website said 21-28 days.

I had 45 days.  I didn't waste a second after getting visa and mailing it to embassy.

4 weeks in... I asked embassy if it ready.

they said, friday.  if not, it will be here monday.

I waited and both failed to appear.

Week 5.  Same thing.

Week 6.  repeated same refrain.

It's one thing to to be running late, but they were claiming something specific that I NEEDED to know.

Day 40 or so I called again, and they said ....same thing lol.

So, my last visa day was good on a monday.  they called me friday and said I can come get an emergency visa as it will be there monday (they said if official this time).

Of course I took it.  But I had to cancel my day and rush my butt to BKK and barely got there in time as they decided they were going to close early since it was friday.  Got in by a whisker.

Now, if they were just polite and honest...and told me wednesday that it would be MOnday...I could have EMSed it for 40 baht and they could have mailed me the emergency one...instead it cost me nearly an additional 5000 baht and a lost day to get there and back.

the last thing in the world I wanted to do was to start my new passport off with an overstay.

It all worked out...but it was a much bigger pain than it should have been.  They were 3 weeks later than said delivery date when I sent it.

I paid an agent to get my 30 day extension.  I don't think they charged me extra for the stamp transfer.

If you need to get stamp transfered on it's own...the agent charges 900.

I'm doing a border run soon where I'll need to transfer stamp again from emergency to the official passport.

No. Since I got emergency passport to 4 days later...they NO LONGER GIVE OUT LETTER FROM EMBASSY.

they say this is fine and immigration and border will accept.  But hey, when is it ever easy during a new process?

We'll see.

Goodluck!

On 4/27/2023 at 12:32 AM, BritTim said:

Although I absolutely do not recommend it, the cheapest way of getting from Pattaya to the border at Aranyaprathet/Poi Pet is by train (Pattaya to Chachoengsao in the afternoon, connecting with the train out of Bangkok heading to Aran). It is even cheaper than using the casino bus.

 

To the OP: there is a high probability you are going to stuff this up. If you do not already have the 30-day extension of your tourist entry, do that first. Do not use Poi Pet for your border bounce unless you are a wild gambler. That crossing is known to hate those doing border bounces, and they can find ways to really ruin your life. Unfortunately, the other border crossings are not easy to do independently as a casual traveller. Leave very early in the morning. You need to take the bus from Pattaya to Chanthaburi and take a van or songtaeo from there to the border at Ban Pakard. Check the current location of vans and songtaeos when you arrive in Chanthaburi. As a naïve, inexperienced traveller, you will get scammed at Ban Pakard, but may well remain oblivious to the fact.

any issues with Ban leam border if I try this myself?  

Tired of hitting the swamped part of day and aching in a van for an entire day each trip.

BTW, what is the cost of runs to cambodia without agent?  I've only done this with an agent before.

On 4/28/2023 at 8:33 AM, Rosho said:

You may avoid all the hustle with our very affordable long-term visa alternatives https://thailand-success.solutions Check it out! We could help this year already dozens of people in our Social Enterprise ecosystem to find peace of mind, opportunities, compliance, and security.

that website needs some serious work to be helpful.

15 hours ago, BritTim said:

I assume you want to do an actual visa run (i.e. visiting a Thai embassy/consulate for a tourist visa). Laos has recently been a good place to do this. I really do not advise using a visa run company for this. They will almost certainly take you to Savannakhet on days when the consulate is swamped with applicants. Also, note that a recent report from a credible source indicates that Savannakhet has become stricter in issuing tourist visas.

 

If you are enquiring with the view to doing a visa run several weeks from now, I strongly recommend that you make an appointment at the Thai embassy in Vientiane, and get the visa there. Travel to Nong Khai by train or fly to Udon airport. If your application for a tourist visa in Vientiane is unexpectedly denied. you can still return via the Friendship Bridge with a visa exempt entry (assuming you are eligible, and have not used your two allowed land based visa exemptions for 2023).

can I get this after two land runs?

What is this famed ladyboy insurance?  

I need to contact my agent and make sure I get me some.

Seems more lucrative than bitcoin right now.

Make me more worried they got a suicide bombing tip.

Only fear I have in a club is what the bar tab is at the end of the night.

...and in Thailand, that maybe all the goods are original expected equipment lol.

where was this quote?

I was really hoping others had some quotes to share as well in this thread to get an idea what a fair price is in thailand for this kind of procedure.

On 4/11/2023 at 1:40 PM, jvs said:

Would you agree that if you want to kill a bunch of people at once

a gun is a lot more convenient then say,a knife?

Your question doesn't change the data that exists.

It's just an attempt to use diversion to take away from the real, and actual, facts on the subject.

Not to mention that over 55% of the deaths caused by guns are suicides, not homocides.

You can't just ignore facts because you don' t like something.  

I get it though, these are exploited news stories of gruesome events that are emotion evoking.






 

I don't own a gun.  Never have.  

But blaming deaths on guns is an over reach.  When you check homocides in all countries, USA is smack dab in the middle.

People wanting to kill others are going to do it and are doing it.  And that's seen thru the homocide numbers around the world where guns are NOT available.  No guns are not stopping other countries from having higher rates of homocides.

More than anything, imo, it's the culture (both national AND local/ethnic and also usually poverty level) that predicates the homocides and not the instruments of death available.



 

Favorite cars I ever drove and owned.

Here in thailand? Getting in a car for daily living is like throwing away my day vs taking a bike.

So, depends how much you drive really?

Maybe just rent one for kicks when you want might be better?

Yes.  Self waterboarding is well known for good health!

Not sure if advice about the son matters if you don't like being with the woman.  

Also not sure if that's your house, or you moved into her house?

I might have it wrong, but it sounds like you don't enjoy being with her either...that she "tricked" you. 

If thats the case, it's simple...move on.  Even though you love her youngest son.  I'm sure she wouldn't prevent you from seeing him still when monies being shared.

If things are good with her, then yeah, you have a head scratcher on how to make things good but no matter what way, it will require a lot of patience and effort.

good luck!

has to be attached to gpt 4.

3.5 is like using rotary phone compared to iphone 14.

It's evolving that quickly.

And gpt 5 is, well, gonna be like using a toothpick to dig a hole vs a land excavator.  and it's due out in only a few months.

excited and scared at the same time.

Don't send your kids to college any more.  Get a skilled labor job training.  Skynet can't do that stuff yet lol

On 4/5/2023 at 1:29 AM, Puccini said:

Question:
What countries have banned ChatGPT?

 

Answer:
As an AI language model, I have no information that any country has officially banned ChatGPT. However, accessing ChatGPT or any other chatbot service may be restricted or blocked in certain countries due to government restrictions, firewall or internet censorship policies, or other reasons beyond our control.

it's data  3.5 is from 2021.  It really wouldn't know the current countries anyways.

Pattaya Memorial will answer you via FB messenger on what their price is usually within few hours..  And answer email in about 24 hours.

No need to drive to it.

They are pretty fair (for the going rates) on services.

BKK Pattaya answers LINE app quickly as well.  But their prices are 3-4x PMH.

1 hour ago, ozimoron said:

No, coconut water from fresh coconuts contains carbs (sugar) and will break a fast. 

 

https://www.verywellfit.com/coconut-water-nutrition-facts-calories-and-health-benefits-4110619

 

 

never had it around when I fasted, but have heard it recommended.

It's fantastic for you.  And our bodies are built for it.  Trust me, you are not starving yourself if you don't eat for a day, or most of a day.

Your testosterone and hgh levels also INCREASE while doing it.

However, in the beginning it's difficult, and we FEEL hungry (or at least our mouths do).  Why?  Because you've conditioned your body and mind that its gonna get X, y and z at certain times.

You can also condition it to absolutely not feel hungry after a little time of practicing it. 

Again, it's NOT easy in the beginning.  WE got that little devil on our shoulders that will tell you to go ahead, eat that, it's little.  Or eat that, we'll start for real tomorrow.

It's tough, I know.  I used to do it for quite awhile, and I'm trying to get myself back to it now because I just gained 7 kilo over the past month because I bought a sugar replacement supplement to put in my new BLEH protein shake I was trying....

that I thought was sugar free/calorie free and it ended up highly concentrated, meaning i was eating like two candy bars a day suddenly and not knowing it.

Check this guy out, he's got a ton of material on fasting, and is well respected, and a lot of short simple videos on it in YT:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting

You don't have to worry about electrolytes etc at just 48 hours or 20 hours.

I prefer building myself to 19 hour fasts daily with 5 hour eating window in which I eat my first meal big and completely healthy...then I eat whatever I want after that for the rest of the night. (I like to eat from 6 to 10 so I can be social with others and drink).

It's also easier to not eat if you don't eat anything in the morning and kick off a certain gland I can't remember the name of.

Now, if you are doing 48 hour fasts...it's really only one day you don't eat.

For example:  Monday you start your fast...but you eat all you want until noon.  Start fast.
Tuesday:  Eat nothing (to me, this day is much easier than Monday.  My body has just turned off the desire to eat really.  But Monday I keep wanting to sneak a snack)
Wednesday:  Start eating again at noon.  Or maybe keep going if you are not hungry.

I"ve heard cocnut water is ok during coffee water fasts, and for electrolytes you may want to get ahold of some pink sea salt (not table salt).

Best of luck.  It does work if you go thru with it.

Fasting is amazing once you uncondition yourself from the bad habits (ease of access of bad, processed foods) everywhere all day everyday.

openly sold in every market and on the streets everywhere.

19 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I usually know what tedldts may be needed.

 

If I do not, or the doctor recommends test(s) I have not had I usually get it done at the hospital unless it is something unusually expensive. Which is infrequent.

 

There is no problem to be candid with a doctor about cost concerns. Ask how much tests will cost.

 

It will usually not save money once in a doctor consultation to leave and go to a lab outside as that would entail 2 separate paid doctor visits eheras usyally get charged jyst ince if you are sent to hosputal lB and return right after.  Makes sense only if the test is something that won't yield results quickly. 

ok.  As I had never considered testing outside of a hospital before, or bringing tests.  In US most anything outside of their own circle is rejected for use on the basis of possible litigation by the patient for wrong diagnosis/treatment.

But everything is a whole different game here in Thailand.

thank you for helping once again, Sheryl

@Sheryl  is it ok, or how do you approach it, to go see the doctor first....who then wants to run different blood/ urine tests.

How do you broach the subject of getting the info on what tests they want to take and then leave to get them done at the lab instead?

or do you not do this ever?