grain

I'm so excited that I've booked a flight to Australia near the end of March.

Update: we put in the application for the 10-year frequent stream visitor visa on Jan 28, and we've been sitting around waiting to hear something for the past 5 weeks. But the notification came today and her visa grant was successful. She was granted the 10-year visitor visa, she cannot enter Australia after March 4, 2036. So that's a fantastic outcome for us. As I said above neither she nor I want to live full time in Oz, but she can make frequent trips with me now, and we can plan ahead. So she can enter Oz at anytime and remain for up to 3 months, but must not spend more than 12 months in Oz in any 24 months period. Anyway, that's the update, hope this info is handy for others.

Well there's the solution to your problems.

Looks like a karate chop to me, and looks like a deliberate strike to a specific part of the neck, you can see the guy with his hand ready in a chop positiion getting his aim, then chop, and it's instant lights out for the Aussie, he collapses. First degree manslaughter.

Yep, there comes a time in every man's life when he must realize that he can't take the punches and blows like he could when he was younger, so a whole new approach is required, that is deescalating tense situations, and backing down gracefully.

There are plenty of short-time rooms close to BR, why do these idiots bring LBs and dodgy gals from the BR back to their hotel rooms?

For me it was an assortment of factors, I arrived in 1978 at the age of 30, and Bangkok was an exciting city to be in. After the falls of Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, many of the journalists, war correspondents, soldiers of fortune, military types were in Bangkok. I soon made connections and doors opened for me to get into photojournalism. So it was this mixture of being in a very exciting place at an exceptional time, and finding employment. I was soon settled in renting a house, found myself a GF, had a large circle of friends. Everything just fell into place. Fast forward half a century and I'm still here, now living out in rural Korat with my Thai wife. Obviously I still enjoy living here. Yes, the Thai gals were a big part of the attraction back in my younger days, but I don't monkey around anymore. The cheap tasty food is a big plus, also the affordable holidays we can take around Thailand and the neighboring countries. The climate suits me, the locals are OK, I learned long ago how to keep a clean nose in Thailand.

Yes, I always include cover letters, where I give those additional factors. I state that my wife has absolutely no intention or desire to, settle permanently in Oz, she just wants to continue making regular short visits with me. This is true as she has a better life in Thailand than she would ever have in Oz, furthermore she has made many visits, never had the 8503 condition on any visas, so if she wanted to jump ship and stay she would have done so by now.

I'm currently in the process of applying for that frequent visitor visa for my Thai wife. She has made many trips to Australia over the past decade, usually has the 12 month/90 day visa, once she was granted the 3 year/90 day visa. So this time having a shot at the 10 year one, though they make it clear that you may not get 10 years, you may get less. The application fee is $1480 compared to $200 for the 12/90 one. But I reckon it's worth a shot, even if she got 5 years it'll be worth it. One interesting thing is she didn't have to go to BKK to do biometrics because she has done the biometrics previously. Instead we were told to download an app to her phone then scan her PP chip, scan the data page of her PP, and take a photo of her face, and all that gets uploaded auto. This was great for us because we live upcountry 280kms from BKK, so we were saved all that time and expense. Application went in last week, now we're just waiting. We have a few pluses that may make the difference. Wife owns her own home in Thailand, plus she owns 2 large lots of land used for fruit farming. She has a track record of making several trips to Oz (about a dozen) and always returning to Thailand. I own an apartment in Oz, so I'm providing accommodation, plus a have a pretty decent bank balance in Oz (100K AUD). So I think these are important factors they look at.

Ha Ha, so the shoe's on the other foot for a change.

Seems like he's got a lot to learn about how to get along and enjoy one's time in Thailand. 😁

Yes Noi has always been the better of the two. I first went there about 30 years ago and checked it out (I used to write travel features for Bangkok Post...long ago)

Not really, I've been there several times, mostly just stopping a night while driving. However I've never seen anything in Chumphon that made me think that I'd ever want to stay longer. If you're looking for a new home down that way perhaps take a look at Bang Saphan Noi (there are 2 - Noi & Yai) it's been some time since I stayed there but I liked it, I also saw something recently that there's a bit of an expat scene going on and some development. Perhaps LA knows more.

Agree with those who say PKK is a bit boring and not much to do. I've been going there often for about the past 20 years, the scenery is lovely and I've often considered moving there but I know deep down I'd be bored quickly. Personally I think HH is the best spot in that area, much more to do there and easy enough to pop down to the quieter spots for a few nights if you wanted.

Depends where you ate, I haven't tried every seafood restaurant along the waterfront, but all the ones I have tried the prices were OK, I was last there mid October, so just 3 months ago, we had dinner at the waterfront and all prices were just average, but there are a couple of fancy looking places there, so perhaps they are expensive.

I remember getting PP photos from the machines, you'd sit inside put the coins in and a strip of 4 photos came out. How times have changed.

I'd just go there and ask around. A couple of years back I met a Thai woman named Maggie and she ran a couple of guesthouses, if she's still there she'd be easy to find. Also I noticed down on the front road facing the sea where there are a string of seafood restaurants, there's a store with seating out front and in the evenings it's a farang hangout, you could ask those people, plus drop into the smaller hotels and ask them about monthly rates. Dunno about a pool though, none of the places I've stayed at there over the years had a pool.

You keep going on about you just want somewhere to sleep, I already told you on Page 1, go to a temple, you can talk to the monks or not talk to the monks, it doesn't matter, if you do talk to them they probably give you somewhere to sleep, even if you don't talk with them you'll find somewhere to curl up and sleep. All temples have some basic ablution blocks where you can go to the toilet and have a wash. There are many temples around and you may well find one where the monks would also give you some food. I believe in Thailand nobody can be refused shelter at a temple, unless it's some big super important temple.

You could always go to a temple if you're down and out, you'll find somewhere to sleep and the monks should give you some food, plus there will be toilets/bathrooms for you to use.

I do the same, I actually have 1 mil, it stays in the bank all the time, every now and then I scoop the interest off, it's in a special account that gives a bit higher interest, I'm quite happy to have that sum behind me here, not just for Immigration but also if any emergency or accident, then I have a good backup sum.

It's a joke mate, relax, Merry Christmas to you.

or he's at the Salvation Army Mission, they're near the city center. 😂

Yes same here, the lowest I remember 17 after Keating devalued the AUD. I flew into Bangkok 2 weeks ago and managed to get 21 THB for my AUD, the rate was actually a bit lower but I had $10,000 in nice new $1000 bills, so I was able to haggle to 21.

Korat is an ugly boring city in my opinion. Udon Thani and Khon Kaen are the pick of the NE, along with the quieter and smaller NE cities along the Mekhong River, like Nong Khai, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom, not a lot to do in those places but nice to chill out in riverside restaurants looking across the river into Lao. Many here have rubbished HatYai however I lived there for lengthy periods and it really is a pretty good place, only 30 minutes from the sea and Songkhla, and you can be in Penang in a few hours by road. There are some mighty good restaurants and street food in HatYai, along with a sizable expat community, and if mongering is your thing then HatYai has it in spades.

A couple years ago I was cutting across Hyde Park in Perth on my way to the shops, there was a group of drunk aboriginal men and one began shouting things at me. I was far enough away from him but at the shop (Coles) I did buy a can of beans and had the can inside a couple of plastic bags, so when I walked back across Hyde Park if I got attacked I had the beans to clock the abo. However, nothing eventuated. 😁