Nickelbeer

My agent lives in the same BUILDING where I live. There is no getting an extension from a province where I do not live. She lives here and rents me my condo. Her whole family is very efficient in communicating with Immigration. You simply do not know what you are talking about.. FIFTEEN thousand baht is expensive but it is not eight times the legit charge. I refuse to keep money in a Thai bank and my agent is the solution to the problem. She must be legal or Immigration would not welcome her with open arms.

Thumb and four fingers.

The older I get, the more I realize that there is considerable HELP in inflicting problems. Nothing occurs in a vacuum. Insane bureaucracy is not a personal choice. It is a "take it or leave it" proposition. Blaming yourself is an easy out but it explains nothing.

Agent bashers are just jealous because they decided to stand on western principle and refused to do things the "Thai way". Immigration makes this possible by being completely duplicitous about the process. I just consider myself "grandfathered", since my income requirements were perfectly fine when I first moved here. An IO officer even told me that they didn't care WHERE my money was, as long as it was the required amount. Now, as then, my income is STILL above the requirements. Now, I learn that they are considering upping the required income. My agent says not to worry. Judging by the welcome she got at Immigration during my last two extensions, I would trust her without reservation. She also provides me with my condo rental. The asinine "buying privilege" argument is just a way for some to feel superior.

You do not seem to understand that this is an EXTRAlegal way of circumventing the system. Technically, it is probably illegal, but technically, Vietnam was not a war.

Errata....that should be THEPRAYYA ROAD.

Another scapegoat who obviously stepped on the wrong toes.

And your comment could be construed as rambling apologetics for a system that is unfair, immoral and just plain inferior.

If the brewing companies cannot buy off enough lawmakers to secure their interests, then it's hard to feel sorry for them. The machinery exists to buy whatever you need from the system, you just have to pony up the cash.

Wrong. I use an agent and so do many others.

No matter what they do, there is alway a Thai apologist ready to defend them.

Permanent trouble over a harmless psychoactive substance. Drugs are not worth the pain inflicted by the government. If you want to use cannabis, go to Cambodia.

Just one more reason that I will not keep more than a small amount in a Thai bank. They are a law unto themselves.

Chanya Clinic, Thepprasit Road.

I simply do not give them repeat business. No need to risk running afoul of the archaic defamation laws.

Many of us agree with him. Despite being corrupt, he got things done. The Shinawatra family has benefitted many Thais for many years. Most any politician here is corrupt by western standards.

The ones who use it, only know that it is offensive. I don't think it goes much deeper than that. It just surprised me, that's all.

Typical Thai logic.

More Thai logic. They want to argue. That is all. You are ALWAYS wrong. That is worth remembering.

That is debatable. I am as white as I can possibly be and I have had Thai people call me a "n*****r because they know that it is offensive. It is all about insulting you as much as possible.

Lunatic logic and simplistic thinking. Low cost of living is the ONLY reason a lower middle class person like me would move to Thailand. Even the poorest states in the USA are too expensive.

Once they EARN my respect, they will have it. None have stepped up to the plate, thus far. Thay need about forty years of brutal colonization.

Absolutely NOTHING you could do or say would make a smidgen of difference in the attitude of Thai people towards foreigners. Might as well take the easy road.

Nope, and don't want to learn. I am not interested in their language, only their relatively low cost of living.