gejohesch

Nothing new to me. You did not read my story correctly: I had given my boarding pass to the IO right from the start. He only seemed to get satisfied when I dug from my pockets the boarding pass from Europe to Dubai (where I transited on my way to BKK).

Thanks, that's maybe the best balanced reply I got so far. I can tell you about our experience with my GF's Schengen visas (been visiting regularly for over 10 years now). She has never had any such experience as you describe. Usually, she just put the few docs in front of the Schengen IO (in France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria) and would get through within at most 1 or 2 minutes of checking.

Possible. Makes sense of course, but then is a "grilling" attitude reasonably to be expected towards all the people who are regular visitors to Thailand?

First part : the embassy I am dealing with requests proof of accommodation. I'm not staying in a hotel or other commercial site, but in my GF's house, so there it goes! Second part : maybe you put your finger on sthg here. I actually am now traveling on a brand new passport. The Thai visa was the first and unique stamp on it. Possibly, just possibly, that combined with the fact that my passport is from a country different from the country where I am resident (and where I obtained the Thai visa) looked strange to the IO.

Believe me we (both my GF and myself) have been tempted for some time. If it was not for her family attachments....

Me and my GF have a lot of experience with Schengen (got sthg like 8 or 9 visas and visits behind us already). Yes, it's true that the Schengen visa process is a lot more cumbersome than getting a TR visa for Thailand. But maybe the real point in this story is that: 1 - Schengen countries do not depend as much as Thailand on tourism; 2 - For a EU citizen (and many others I guess), it's easier to go to a number of other interesting countries than Thailand - Thailand is not the unique "dream destination"!

As replied above, that's nothing new, but thanks!

And how do you know that?

Oh, thanks for the info! I have traveled around the world for easily half of century and I did not know that! ???? That btw is not unique to Thailand, it's rather worldwide.

Yes I have (USA, many times) and it's true it's not usually a very cozy experience either. One difference here is that the online process to prepare to enter the USA (I cannot remember what it's called, used to cost sthg like 15-20 USD) did not ask for much info, whereas to obtain the Thai TR visa, I already had to pass a number of hurdles / justifications.

I’m a EU citizen. I came in via BKK 1 month ago. As I planned to stay for a long period and did not want to go to the local immigration (in Khon Kaen), I got a visa for 60 days from the Thai embassy in the country where I am resident (not my own EU country, but another EU country). I expected to go like a breeze through immigration at the BKK airport but the officer there asked me so many questions I could not believe it. In particular he repeatedly asked for my boarding card. I could not understand as I had already given him my boarding card for the flight from Dubai to BKK. Eventually, I thought OK that guy wants the whole story, does he not? So I fished from my files and docs the boarding pass for the flight from Europe to Dubai. That seemed to satisfy him to some extent. That was beside questions on where I was going to stay, which was with my GF up country. So this is where I’m a bit puzzled: with a visa from a Thai embassy, for which I already had to provide all sorts of docs including my GF’s details (bat prachachon, tabian baan etc), why should I get such a barrage at immigration? The officer was at the limit of being unpleasant. I struggled to stay calm, knowing full well that showing any sign of impatience or frustration would only make the process lengthier and more painful. <deleted> is going on with those people? Is that the way to welcome foreign visitors? I have a long history with Thailand, I even worked in Bangkok for a few years (with a Thai company). I must say, if it was not for my GF of so many years, I would have stopped coming back to this country a long time ago! There are quite a few nice and welcoming countries other than Thailand that I can think of, easier in many respects and not more expensive!

Fort Knox must be jealous!

Well, the thing is 1) I do not know about the local snakes; and 2) my wife's brother-in-law who was there was very fearful of the snake, saying "antarai!", so I decided not to take a chance!

Yeah, I know, I already regret it

Well, looks are not the question, whether good or bad!

My wife and one of her brothers-in-law found it at the back of our garden, hiding in a sack of charcoal. My b-i-l was very fearful and would not approach it. I killed it myself with a machete. In hindsight, I may have over-reacted, but better safe than sorry!

One more thing - I hope I'm not abusing your patience! Maybe I have not mentioned that the room on the inside of the problematic wall is a bathroom. It's tiled halfway up to 1m60, and the tiles have not shown the dampness I have been talking about. It's only the wall higher up that gets damp. I can think of 2 reasons for that: 1) the water falls from the roof and only (mainly) penetrates the wall just below the roof, say over the upper 0.9m of the wall. 2) The mortar used for tiling added up an extra layer of insulation to the wall. Or maybe it's a combination of the 2! In any case, as the paint got ruined to a degree by the dampness, the wall needs some minor repair on the inside. Instead of painting again I was thinking of tiling the wall all the way to the ceiling. I think I can do that myself (I have done just a bit of tiling in a friend's place), back buttering the tiles with mortar (not just putting mortar on the wall) to make sure there is no gap between the wall and the tiles. I know some of you are professional tilers, so there could be so further advice on this tiling idea?

I will still try o get a gutter put in. I did not exclude it! But the best is to combine with some repair on the wall itself, I think.

Good explanations, I think I understood nearly everything. Quite a good summary, really, if I put it together with the comments from others that followed. It's still a bit hazy to me right now, but I think that if I print the whole discussion down and highlight the relevant bits and pieces - including the countering arguments - I will eventually be able to go to Home Pro, Global House or Watsadu, expose the problem sensibly, get the appropriate products and get down to doing the job. Of course, if I was in a more "civilised" part of the country, I would just get a skilled worker to do it, but here I am in the sticks.... At the end of the day, I may not end up with the "perfect" wall, but I'm confident I can significantly improve the problematic wall. Thanks a lot to all!

I lived there a few years. Pleasant enough when you know your ways around, but way too hot, I would say close to unbearable climate. Also, so-so architecture. Not much in terms of beautiful sites and streets where it is a pleasure to walk around - just compare with for example Lisbon or Mexico City.

Good comment. I thought about that too. However, if I could fill some of the gaps and reduce the water intake somewhat, maybe with several roller passes, that would already be a gain, would it not? As for the hydrostatic pressure membrane, it sounds a bit mysterious to me (as already said) but I will look it up to understand the concept. Thanks again!

Thanks!

It is a garden wall, and it's a pretty good idea indeed. Everything would be fixed within a few days and for a few 1000's baht. I would rather hesitate talking about it to the neighbour, though, we had some issues building stuff elsewhere close to his lot in the past.

"Can you get a galvanized steel guttering formed up to fit between the two walls and channel the water away ?" That could be the best idea! Collect the water right below the roofing, where it comes from, and evacuate it.... I will see if we can arrange that. If it can be done, there will be no need to improve the wall further below! "Or you could purchase a two part acrylic epoxy waterproofing membrane and apply it to the inside wall surface and 300/500 mm of the floor. Such a product is designed as a barrier to rising damp, from memory it can be painted within a day or two but not later. I’m a ceramic tiler and have used a product called Ardex WPM 300 for this purpose, give it a Google." It sounds interesting but, not being a professional at all, it also sounds a bit mysterious, and like the sort of thing I would not be able to do myself. And finding a worker in Isan who would understand the concept and be able to do the job properly..... our village is 10's of kms away from the nearest semi-important agglomeration, most people around here are not used to fancy work. Btw, the more I do work around my wife's 2 houses (quite a nice compound), the more respect I have for professional builders!

Well yes maybe, but that would require some work on the roof first, which I could not do myself. Of course, that would be a way to access the upper part of the wall, which is probably the one that soaks in water the most!