Promula

1 hour ago, Kurtf said:

In my humble opinion as high in the mountains as you can get. One of my biggest complaints is the high temps and the high humidity most of the year. But high in the mountains that problem is mitigated a great degree.

Better off in the Cameron Highlands Malaysia, Dalat Vietnam, Bandung Indonesia, or Baguio Philippines for that. Thailand has nowhere to match them.

Yeah I've scrapped that idea already. I'll either look at doing two month stays in each and apply for a tourist visa in Penang before each Phuket entry, or I'll do 30 Airbnb condo days in Phuket, Penang, Cebu, and Bali, then repeat. Surely they wouldn't deny me a visa exempt every four months.

Thanks.

There's also the 2 land border entries per year issue, so I'd fly of course.

5 minutes ago, greggraham said:

Until Oct 31st, presumably yes. Either the new 60 day extension, a 30 day embassy letter / medical one, or something more long time.

 

The wording from PR Thai Government is "Stranded foreigners who wish to stay in Thailand after 31 October must submit an application to an Immigration office by 31 October".

It'd be odd to let them wait until the end of Oct and then let them apply for a 60 day. They could stay until the end of Dec and be better off than those who applied before 26 Sept 

I wonder if this 500,000 baht seasoned for six months (in a foreign bank, couldn't be in a Thai bank for most tourists) mentioned on other news items this week will now come into play for these 60 day extensions?

3 minutes ago, trappedinasia said:

Those people get an amnesty until Oct 31st. People who got extensions already get an extra 30 days after the amnesty, thus November 30th. 

Presumably anyone without an extension until 30 Nov can now apply for one?

Should I be unable to get a longstay visa when things return to normal or want a slightly more nomadic lifestyle, is there anything to stop me visa wise in Thailand from having a place in Phuket and another in Penang and spending 30 days at each alternately?

1 hour ago, Pedrogaz said:

Ahhh yes, Bangkok. The stench of sewage, the flooding whenever it rains, the awful humidity, the filthy air, the traffic.....does it for me too ????

Bangkok is the exact opposite of what I want. I left KL because although I love most things about it such as the greenery, regular rain, infrastructure, and many hills and forests within the city, it was a bit too big, busy and far from a decent beach. Bangkok has nothing that I like about KL and is even bigger, busier, and further from a decent beach.

52 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Phuket was becoming like a concrete jungle there is no control was it reaching a saturation point before covid19? business was going down before the pandemic

I don't agree. It's the same size as Singapore and 1/10th as built on.

23 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Im beginning to think the Thai government think they can live without the mass tourism and are not interested in bringing back any time soon.

 

I was speaking with a middle aged car rental company owner in Phuket a few days ago. His father set up the business as one of the first several decades ago. He said those days were far happier and the island was relatively quiet and unspoiled. He said there's now about 70 car rental busineses on the island that started up since his father's, and it's now very cut throat and not a pleasant industry, while much of the island has been spoilt by development and tour buses everywhere. He said the last few months of much quieter roads have been a joy, and despite the lack of customers, he's really enjoying the trip down memory lane. He's planning to sell his entire stock of cars up country and diversify into something new.

1 hour ago, tonray said:

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-health-chief-issues-advisory-over-haze-air-quality-74431.php

Yes, nearly everywhere on the planet has the occasional day or two of smog. What's interesting in that article is that they had no idea where it came from, which shows it's fairly unusual in Phuket.

Where I don't want to be is somewhere that's almost guaranteed to have it non-stop for several months every year.

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

Wiki's just trumped my 10 years of local living experience. I could have sworn there have been times where it hasn't rained for many weeks. 

I'm sure there is. They're averages. Some Jan & Feb periods will be wetter, and some bone dry.

20 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

 

I always felt strange why the poor people never revolted against the elite and just accepting their fate

 

but now I understand how this could be .... brainwashed since birth, for generations... 

 

It was probably the same in your native country centuries ago until a civil war or two came along.

1 hour ago, Surelynot said:

I go back 30 years and the abject poverty was not pleasant........

You can say that about anywhere at any time in history. That doesn't in itself make mass tourism a good idea. Perhaps 100 years from now your ancestors will look back at your life and think it was abject poverty.

1 minute ago, Old Croc said:

To be fair, Phuket does have a long dry season that borders on drought at times.

I looked into that before choosing, having only been here in December before and seeing blue cloudless skies every day for a week. The stats show that even in January and February, the driest two months, there should be on average eight rainy days in total, which is pretty much once per week https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phuket_Province#Climate

1 minute ago, Old Croc said:

Some espouse HH's relatively low rainfall as a plus, I personally love the rain in Phuket and look forward to the start of the wet season each year. Not so good for short term tourists who want to laze on the beach, but great for residents who enjoy the greenery in gardens and on the hills.

You don't have to settle in the beach tourist towns unless that's your thing. Try the expat areas in the south. It's an Island, beaches are never far away wherever you live.

I second that. Some love Chiang Mai's cool season, but with it comes months of cloudless skies and dry dust, tinder dry forests which love to burn, & air pollution everywhere. Give me a place with wind & clouds straight off of an ocean and almost guaranteed weekly rain throughout the year to keep things clean and green anytime.

6 minutes ago, tonray said:

????????

Phuket is as remote as you can get from large land masses, heavy industry and crop stubble burning without being on a remote island. 

7 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

Yearly volunteer/Education/retirement  visas have been available , no questions asked .

Why these people not get those visas ? 

Because they're exactly the same inflated prices crooked BS we faced from tuktuk drivers as newbie tourists.

22 minutes ago, teacherclaire said:

For me, it would be Ko Lanta, or a similar island. A swim in the morning wakes you up and keeps you fit.

 

And what could be better than breakfast at a lovely beach?

 

Isn't it basically like Phuket would have been 50 years ago? Fine if that's your thing, but I need some creature comforts like a mall and international hospital. 

35 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

You might try Cha'am, Hua Hin, Prachuap area... just go check it out. 

I will, thanks. Any advantages to them over Phuket?

4 minutes ago, Seik said:

If you think amnesty was extended because of the overcrowded offices to begin with, you are extremely naive... The government and immigration colluded to push people to get a visa based on an empty threat. 

Of course. They like making whiteys jump through hilarious arbitrary hoops. It reinforces the "never colonised" national pride.

9 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

What you describe is the reason I swapped to elite from marriage extensions. The application process for the extensions is made for humiliating the applicant, a perfect opportunity for an IO to show off the "power". Desk 6 @ Jomthien, you should get a kickback from TE.

And isn't the Elite the perfect opportunity for a foreigner to show off their own "power"?