BananaGuy

13 minutes ago, khaowong1 said:

This I totally agree with..  I would like to see someone hang outside that shop for an couple of hours and tell us if the Thai's that go in there take off their shoes.  

Great idea … you can start Thursday. 
We can’t pay you and you’ll need to bring your own lunch, but tabulate the results and post them here after ‘a couple of hours’ and we’ll give you all the up-votes you can eat.

Context

In Australia: a lot of the commentary would be about this bit …

Ploy told Channel 3 that the Russian woman’s boyfriend tried to seek help from a local politician in the province to evade charges

In Thailand: that bit not yet mentioned but a lot of chatter about farangism, wearing shoes indoors and various nationalities bad behaviour leagues. 

Language is so important isn’t it?

Tourist :

Welcome to Thailand ! 🙏 💰 😊

Foreigner : 

Hello hello, what’s going on here then? 👮‍♀️🦹‍♂️😞

17 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Something many don't realize, you can actually "recharge a non rechargeable alkaline battery".  Though not really recommended, but it is possible.

 

You can also "revive a dead rechargeable battery".

 

Those that wish to verify those 2 statements, simply search youtube for "quoted" statement.

 

 

Mad bad and dangerous advice.

Do not try this at home.

16 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

Yeah, a lithium battery of any flavour is dead dead if it goes below a couple of volts for any appreciable time (even over night) ????  

Not true.

A (very) smart charger such as Powerex will include refresh and recovery functions that restore near-original capacity to ‘dead’ Li cells.

A slow process though - can take 12 hours to complete all cycles on an AA cell.

But typically these devices can charge 4 batteries simultaneously.

Rechargeable.

Assuming you are talking AA or AAA size … look for Panasonic Eneloop or Eneloop Pro technology (pricy)

IKEA-labelled rechargeables are cheaper and reportedly supplied by Panasonic using the same tech … but are lower capacity.

I guess these were all pre-Covid or Photoshopped ...

(courtesy of Sydney Morning Herald and Xinhua)

It’s a metaphor …

either …

Japanese hi-tech transport system

or 

children’s fantasy

… take your pick.

Like this … ?

15 hours ago, PhanomR said:

This is pretty much spot on, getting a visa for a different girl 2 years ago and now after a visa for a new girl is a big hurdle to overcome and raises a lot of red flags. 

 

 

Actually three years and for what it’s worth at least one contributory reason for that relationship failing was the total shutdown of Australia immediately after the visa was granted.

But thanks for the response.

15 hours ago, simple1 said:

OP: Unlikely you would get a marriage / defacto visa for girlfreind until can demonstrate you have known each other for a least 12 months. Once you commence living together you would receive the equivalent of a married person for Age Pension. Not up to date with the latest legislation, but likely partner would not receive any welfare payment for approx two years after arrival, but she would be eligible to work / access Medicare. Any partner earning would be pro rata deducted from your Age Pension. 

Thanks for that, I’m aware of most of what you discuss … have you any source for the ‘12 month’ reference there?

That’s feasible if de facto needs to be established but our intention would be to marry and I’m not aware of any waiting period there.

Would really like to hear from actual experiences - I realise there have been few during last 3 years but I don’t think these 300 visa conditions have changed much.

Hi All

I've posted elsewhere ... but here exploring options beyond a tourist visa for Thai girlfriend to visit/live in Australia.

I'm aware that an Australian 'Prospective Marriage (Subclass 300)' is as dear as poison and there is an approx 12-month wait and reams of paperwork, but it's the effect on my age pension that's the unknown ...

...  at what point does the Australian age pension get reduced to the 'partnered' rate (ie effectively halved)?

Is it when the application is submitted? when granted? on arrival? when married? some other point in time?

Sharing of any experiences would be appreciated. 

On 9/24/2022 at 12:49 PM, Lacessit said:

I'd say choose another tourist destination.

It seems the automatic assumption by Australian authorities about Thai women is they are coming to Australia to work as prostitutes.

 

I took my GF to Australia about 6 years ago. Our first tourist visa application was rejected despite ample evidence I could afford to support her, and she owned a home in Thailand. It must be wonderful to work in a bureaucracy that does not have to account for any of its decisions.

 

A Brisbane-based lawyer, who boasted a 100% success rate, got the visa on the second try. It does beg the question of how he did that without some corruption involved. $1200 thank you, plus the cost of the first and second applications. In four weeks, I spent about $15,000 on the holiday.

 

It's either BOHICA, or saying f##k Australia as a tourist destination. They certainly won't see my tourist dollar again.

Thanks for that. I sense the pain of that $15k 'investment' rightly lingers ... agree with you 100% about Oz attitude to inbound visitors ... still very 1950's and difficult not to compare/contrast with the reverse situation - as an Oz citizen i can show up on arrival in Thailand with a toothbrush and swan around indefinitely.

I have a slim hope the huge Oz backlog in visa processing, new government here and a collapsed Oz inbound tourist industry may produce another fluked success for me.

Hopefully, DFAT are automating a lot of their processing these days. As an ex-IT guy, i have faith their systems misfire frequently and may yet spit out a 'Computer says 'Yes'' result.

On 9/24/2022 at 12:22 PM, Will27 said:

30 000  Baht for a 4000 Baht visa is exorbitant.

There isn't that much paperwork involved for a stock standard visitor visa.

 

 

From the little information you've provided about your relationship, the chances

of obtaining a visa for her at this stage are pretty remote anyway.

 

If circumstances allow, a trip to Thailand to try and establish some sort of history with her would be

money well spent.

thanks Will for that (gloomy) assessment ... i believe you helped me with advice back in 2019/20 too ... yes, i maintain an optimistic face but likely you're correct.

i have seen Thailand before - she has not seen Oz ... better for us to use scarce resources to get her here first ... but meeting her in Thailand is our Plan 'B.

Nevermind. I'm happy to 'invest' a small amount in an application - just looking here for recommendations that will give it the best shot.

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

A friend of mine is a lawyer in pattaya and she just organized a 3 months visa to Oz to a thai lady, however the woman has her own home and a business, her boy friend in Oz has his own home and no money issues AND it still took 2 months plus to get the visa, a lot of running around and lots of documentations and other stuff that takes time and cost money, so my advice to you tale the 30K offer, it's cheap, just make sure that they will not come to you with extras...

Thanks.

Far as I can make out, the B10k + B20k outfits do not even include ‘extras’ such as translation … their fees seem to go 100% to them.

B30k cheap? All relative I guess … but regardless of whether I can afford it or not, I’m naturally reluctant to pay the price of a return Scoot airfare for a visa that’s got a base price of about B4k …

… hope there’s some middle ground here!

After a three-year cross-Covid, mostly remote and now failed relationship, i embark on the journey again to help new Thai gf acquire her first Oz tourist visa.

Neither of us are great candidates, practically no history together, me not super-rich but able to pay for her trip and support her financially ... but she has no regular job, no property in Thai etc etc.

I'm familiar with the Oz IMMI process and, as shared here, fluked a three-year visa for GF #1 in early 2020. She ended up allowing it to lapse (grrr!).

This time though, i'm in Oz and new gf is in Thailand (Phetchaburi) so i can't assist directly - a Thai-based agent seems to be the best option.

She has (randomly) found one in Buriram - one-person business by the look of it - advertising a service for B7,000 - which sounds suspiciously low to me.

I've e-trawled the usual suspects - Siam-Legal etc - which offer deals for B10,000 upfront and B20,000 on success - which sounds suspiciously high to me.

Anyone got current recommendations for an agent? Phetchaburi would of course be ideal but more desirable features would be :- 

(a) ability to massage her application

(b) talk her through the biometric and document-gathering stuff

(c) hopefully some pay-by-results component - we can't afford multiple bites at the cherry.

Positive responses* welcome either here or via DM

* but please, no 'Walking ATM'-style comments 

Don’t ask. Bluff.

Just walk in for your usual swim.

What’s the worst that can happen?

How did they find him and the vehicle? ???? 

… the time-honoured ‘follow the trail of brake fluid’ method perhaps ??

On 8/14/2022 at 6:01 AM, pomchop said:

  As i get older the thing i miss most about Thailand is FUN.....if you are so inclined you can always have fun joking around with Thai people ..in usa trying to joke around often just gets you strange looks or if it happens to be a  hot gal perhaps a ride in a police car.

 

  Bottom line is to me Thailand is just more fun...i get a kick out of observing all the strange and funny to me things that Thais can do. I love being smiled at all the time (yes i know some are fake smiles but still better than a sad frown).  I love listening to how Thais can mangle the English language and string together non sensical sentences that may not make sense but are fun to hear. I love watching how Thais come up with ways to solve problems without spending a fortune.  I love to watch how Thais seem able to avoid most conflicts by just ignoring it.

 

  The older I get the more I realize that one of the most valuable things in life is to  smile more, laugh more and have more FUN.  If you can't have fun in Thailand I suspect you need to take a good look in the mirror as sanuk is all around you.

Dumb ‘piece of string’ type question but this is one of the smartest responses I’ve ever seen to anything in this forum.

Goodonya Pomchop.

Please continue to have fun ???? for a long time.