realthaideal

I hate when they talk about Thai things, and in this case one with some reputable uses and properties, and they don't give the Thai name. Luckily it was recognizable from the picture. Many people take ฟ้าทะลายโจร (fah talai jone) for sickness here and elsewhere. Whether it's applicable to CV is speculation at this point, as others have pointed out.

Hi. I had a Non-Imm B visa that was issued on Dec 15, 2015 in the US. I did a land crossing on the very last day of the visa's 90-day stamp power/ effectiveness, Dec 15, 2016. So the visa is now thoroughly expired and my 90 days are up on Mar 14, 2017, just two weeks away. Will it be possible for me to go to Immigration, pay 1,900 B, and get an extension of 30 days? I'll be starting the process for my new visa to be obtained here in Thailand either today or tomorrow, but am worried 2 weeks won't be enough time to secure the new visa. I imagine going to Lao and getting a tourist visa is a possibility to give me some breathing room, but if I can get the 30 day extension that should be sufficient. Any advice from someone in the know is appreciated.

FYI - I did go to Lao and to get a tourist visa for Thailand about 2 yrs ago when I was between trips to the US and between business visas, while living full-time in Thailand. But it's been about 2 years, since I've done that, and I haven't abused the system, so I'm fairly confident they'd issue me one.

There was one guy who posted here about 3-5 yrs back who won his case after a huge plot of land, custom house n many millions of baht - originally in pounds went poof when divorce time came. I eventually ended up meeting the ex by strange circumstances in the local hi-so scene and never let on that I knew about her past.

From what I saw over the last few yrs, is that the place was up for sale since even before the decision, and without any buyers, the whole resort-like property was defacto hers. So that kind of gets towards enforceability, even if a judgement is made in your favor.

You might search a bit more for it - headline was something like "Justice Received of Justice Served," though my memory could be off. If you find the thread, pm him to find out the lawyer's name and what happened in the end.

Best of luck.

It's been so long since I've been here on a tourist visa (from Vientiane) that I forget the extension procedure.

1) I see that my first entry (60-day) expires on Saturday April 4, so I do believe I have to go on Fri Apr 3 to ask/pay for the 1-month extension. Am I risking anything by waiting until that last day?

2) I know the 90-day B and O visa people start to queue up around 5am. Should I plan on doing the same thing, or is there a separate queue for the tourist visa extensions?

Anyone's recent experiences welcome. Appreciate any tips about changes to the Chiang Mai office or procedures that I should know about.

Cheers.

Great show ! Glad I got out n had a few laughs. Always happy to support Gate Theater.

And if they use misters along the bridges of the river again too - problem solved.

Thanks for that, Tywais. Having them in the big anchor stores makes sense.

I'm still curious what the options are in town so that I don't have to always give vouchers to the same places every year. Vouchers can be great because it spares everyone from picking/ receiving a gift they don't want. It is rather hard to argue with Swensen's, actually, but I'm hoping some other people chime in with places around town that we've never thought of.

One time a a few years ago I went all around - maybe 10-15 places - inquiring if they had them, or if I could pre-pay and give it as a gift to someone, and only Swensen's knew what I was talking about. Major had these gift booklets of like 1,500 or 2,000B each, and I had to tell them the friend they were for didn't rank that high -5555.

Who's got a favorite place to buy gift vouchers for friends and family? It's a pretty common thing to be able to buy all over town back in the US, but so far I only know of a few restaurants through the Dining Guide Chiang Mai, Swensen's, and some really pricey ones they used to have at Major Cineplex. Would love to be able to buy from local bookstores, spas, local product craftshops, so I'm open to any suggestions from someone who knows other places.

I remember the 380 fiasco. I waited for a cpl hrs on the footbridge by the motor vehicles office only to hear it had had a fender-bender on its press tour inaugural voyage from BKK. Couldn't be bothered to wait a cpl more hrs to see it arrive that day, though remember hearing it.

Met some friendly Menonites up on the bridge that day - truly a cross-section of CM showed up to watch or photograph the event.

I too believe it's probably a 777 variant that I'm noticing by size and sound. Trouble is that I'm often out on the moto when I notice them overhead and then never remember to look them up on flightradar24 when home and they're still in the air.

This page seems to have the kind of info I'm looking for, and seems to be current. http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByAirport.do

Mainly I wanted to know if the 787s were in service here anymore or if I really was just seeing the fat 777s up there (though I suspected they'd be easy to discern by sight). I'm certainly no plane expert and that's also why I was posting. I guess some of the other new jets aren't even in service yet, like the 350 - but see that's why I was posting - to find out what's in service and what might be up there when it draws my attention.

Reading up on some of the newer Airbus 330s too - will have to research a little more to compare to 777 sizes and what's actually in the CNX-BKK TG routes. Seems the 777s win on engine size, though the A330-300's carrying capacity is seemingly close to those of the 777. But we'll save more investigations for the next round of procrastination in a few hours.

So probably if it's from a .gov you're good. But if it's like socialsecurity_gov.com or some other tricky manipulation of the real keywords to look like a legit .gov site, you might have cause for concern.

And if it is all good, then it's good news to know about ease of communication from Thld to check on US SS status and benefits. So thanks for that post.

Hilarious, Winnie - SS would be Social Security for those retired folks from the USofA.

And Bangmai, yes, you might want to double check that you didn't just get tricked into handing over your profile info to a phishing scam. Could have been legit, or not. Also, I'd look into what kind of antivirus n antispyware you use, and do a full sweep of things. You might have had a legit experience or been completely taken. Be safe.

I've tried looking around at a few flight schedules, but it seems to me that the new jumbo jets we were talking about last year - maybe the 787s and A350s have stopped flying here. Just curious as I do notice that maybe at 10a, 3p, and 5p the planes do have a very different sound to them, quite a roar of a powerful engine. I remember several had said they were being put on the BKK-CNX route so that pilots could get some hrs on them before switching to use in long-haul flights.

Like I said, I tried searching but came up only with lists or 330s and 777s at those times. Any of you more web/plane savvy folks might know better, and any links or info offered are appreciated. Just curiosity as I like to be able to tell them apart from size, looks, and sound.

Thanks for that. Same as I figured. But now I got more "real" facts - pitfall of posting for someone else. She's been on a visa extension thru employment for like the last 2 yrs or something, using just some kind of small immigration ink stamp to extend the orig fancy visa affixed to her passport - I've never had this, so have no experience with it. Anyway, this one really ends on Mar 5th, so it looks like she'll do a Mae Sai border run, cross and get either one month - what her visa advisors are telling her, though they seem to be unsure, or a 2 wks upon land re-entry, then recalculate for the real new B visa application in Lao.

Thanks for takin' the time, UbonJoe.

Asking on behalf of friend… who doesn’t use thaivisa… maybe this thread will convince her to participate…

Anyway, I have a friend who wants to know about a Non-Imm B visa extension.

The deal: Her multiple entry Non-Imm B visa with Company A is expiring (by expiration date) while she is transitioning to Company B (both companies are friendly with each other). Dates are not convenient for her to leave the country right now due to projects on hand. Both companies are loosely affiliated, and Company A has no problem to support her in an extension under their auspices if paperwork is required.

If, say, she goes to Mae Sai and does an exit n re-entry within the original 1 year of the visa issue date, will she get a 90-day entry stamp?

Otherwise she’s willing to go to Immigration and pay something to extend the visa that way, but she wants the maximum time possible via legit extension – i.e., a simple 7-day extension isn’t enough. Do they issue one month extensions or better ?

And yes, the whole starting/acquisition process for new visa with Company B is underway. The question of timing is the only thing, and thus inquiring about best strategy for maximum time while still keeping it legal.

Apparently there's a Western thief who's been caught recently out in San Sai and it looks like they're trying to get some of the stolen goods back to the proper owners. You can read about it on Facebook on the What's Happening In Chiang Mai page. I'll repost what one lady has said onto TV here, so that you can go search for it if you need to get in touch with her yourselves.

"Sorry this is not quite related but...URGENT TO EXPAT COMMUNITY! We have caught a thief with stolen goods. Trying to locate the owner of one of the (very valuable) items based on the confession of the thief: does this man sound similar to you? He is quite tall, American (we think) in his 40's to 50's with white hair and beard. He may have worked in England too. His name is Matt and lives in the San Sai area. Has been here for at least 4 months (when goods were stolen). If you think you may know someone that fits this description please send me a PM. (I am helping the Police with this)"

Hope this helps someone who might've been hit by the guy.

Sí, Jefe. And thanks too, Prem-R. I've got enough dollars for the VOA, and will use baht for the rest. I was there last in 2011 n just forget some of the details of how I did it. Plus wanting to be up-to-date on the latest info. When I first went there in 2003 there wasn't even an ATM and I was traveling with cash and travelers checks - hilarious, those old days. And back then the baht got a very bad exchange rate - using dollars was key to better pricing.

Actually, for Winnie the K and any others who're Thai literate, there's some upset going on in the Raks Mae Ping Facebook page over them right now. The deliberateness, the fact that it's just across from mansion, so close to TAT, and Thapae/ historic downtown. It's a good read and nice to hear some voices of concern being raised on the Thai side. Admittedly they mostly feel it's a hopeless cause and point out that the whole bridge area is now surrounded by these big eyesores.

https://www.facebook.com/Raks.Mae.Ping.Page

Yeah, will speak with others n carpool where I can. I also speak Thai so can find out where something is, how it goes, however I've sometimes received not-good advice when asking locals and under time constraints. That's what I'm hoping to avoid with a good pre-game plan for the trip back from Vientiane to the Udon Airport or city if need be.

Best to get a business visa if you can, or just work solo on the down-low as per some recent events in the realm of Thailand online living http://www.chiangmaibuddy.com/can-a-digital-nomad-work-in-chiang-mai/ - as you can see, there is a ton of info on the topic, and thankfully here it's spelled out clearly without simple hearsay.

So on the return/Thai side, is the bus the best option to the airport? Like catch a bus to Udon first, and then an airport bus from the station by Central Udon? Wouldn't it figure that there are vans going from the Nong Khai side back to the Airport to pick up the next wave of travelers?

My biggest concern would be getting on a Thai public bus that will stop every 500m and make me late to the airport. If taxi or van is best, then I'd do that.

If I arrive at the Nong Khai side of the bridge at, say, 2pm, and can take buses to get to the airport by 4pm, I'll be fine with that.

I can see that US dollars is the way to go for visa on arrival at the bridge @ Nong Khai, but before I go do the money exchange here in Thailand, I want to know whether it's better to pay for my hotel/guesthouse in dollars, kip, or baht while I stay for a couple days?

If I save by taking in more USD vs exchanging baht for kip on the Lao side, then I'll change out a few thousand more baht here on the Thai side.

Great UbonJoe - thanks! You know your stuff.

Last preparation things:

1) This time I think I'll print the Lao application out in advance and have it ready at the bridge along with my photos any thoughts on this helping with efficiency vs filling it in right there?

2) The Thai Consulate says 2 days turnaround on visas - assuming my nighttime arrival allows me to submit forms early next morning, will that count as the first day? Or should I plan one full day in between drop-off (day 1) and pick-up (day 3)? Anybody reporting next-day turnaround recently?

Planning a trip to Udon and then busing it over to Vientianne for a visa run. For planning (/timing) purposes I need to know the most recent hours for the Nong Khai/ Friendship Bridge border crossing. Couldn't find them anywhere else when searching.

Basically, if I arrive in Udon at 5pm, will I be able to get over and into Vientianne that same night, or will I have to wait it out in Udon a night first?