FRK

Good one, George.

I have to make my first visit to the new immigration office. Just went to the Immigration website to get a map. It is 16 July -- eight and a half months since they moved from Suan Phlu to the new location. The website is still showing the Suan Phlu map and has no notices of the new location.

Where to complain? I suggest the prime minister's popular call-in, "6 days, 63 million voices." It's as likely to solve the problem as anything else.

You've been scammed by the oldest scam in Thailand. You should have talked to a lawyer first. You should talk to one now. Why would you act on any advice given by anonymous strangers?

"... will inspect security measures of the buildings of cinemas, hotels, department stores, apartments, markets and other structures which can affect lives and property of the public."

Nightclubs are not in the list.

I'm a U.S. citizen with a one-year non-immigrant B visa with multiple entry. I first entered Thailand on this visa on 9 April 06, and my latest 90-day stamp expires soon (before 9 April). I had planned to return to the U.S. to get a new one-year non-imm B but have had to delay my trip.

Can I get an extension of this non-imm B visa at Suan Phlu (i.e., without leaving the country) -- ideally a 90-day extension, but if not maybe 30 days? If not, can I change to a tourist visa at Suan Phlu? Or should I (and can I) just travel to the Cambodian border, exit, and return and get a tourist visa-on-arrival stamp?

I've been searching websites of Immigration, Thai embassies, and Sunbelt but can't get a clear answer. Any advice would be appreciated.

Are we so excited about the latest gay club in town that we don't care (or don't notice) that the club's name may be highly offensive to many people for whom dancing till dawn is not their life's mission?

who? The Grand Order of Dorks? I don't know who else uses the initials G.O.D. - or am I just not politically correct enough?

but you are lucky, I have found iGod and repented for all my sins!

bkkguy

Guys On Display was meant to be provocative by being offensive. Open a club called "Boys Using Drop Dead Horny Attitude" and see how fast the police show up to close it down.

methinks he's still enjoying the rustic life somewhere in the jungles surrounded by loving Malay kampong boys who have somehow remained untouched by Western men all this time.

Where does one find these Malay kampong boys?

4- Tim Johnson's house

Don't waste your time there! Go to Jim Thompson's House instead.

Are we so excited about the latest gay club in town that we don't care (or don't notice) that the club's name may be highly offensive to many people for whom dancing till dawn is not their life's mission?

PHUKET: -- Some of the winter holidaymakers who have booked their trips to Phuket through the Finnish travel operator Aurinkomatkat may have to cancel their vacation entirely or at least change their destination, as all hotels in Phuket are filled to capacity.

All Finns resident in the Grand Tropicana Hotel in Phuket are being transferred to other accommodation, and the popular beach resort hotel will not be used until it has been satisfactorily demonstrated whether or not dangerous Legionella bacteria are hiding in its water and air-conditioning systems.

Surely this threat is not limited to Finns, but that's what the articles suggest -- perhaps because they appear to come from a Finnish news source.

If the danger exists at the Grand Tropicana Hotel, anyone can be affected by it.

It is a law of Thailand that you can not have dual citizenship If the Thai Government finds out that you do have dual citizenship they can confiscate all of your assets

What law is that? I know a lot of people with Thai passports (because they were born here) and a passport from the country where they're now a citizen.

I know someone with THREE passports, one of them Thai, all of which he displayed to Thai immigration when he entered last week and asked which one he should use to enter. He was told the Thai passport was most advantageous for him. They didn't confiscate anything.

This is just a symbolic move. It has no effect on Thaksin's ability to travel or enter any country. His ability to enter any country, and on what terms, is up to the country he wants to visit, regardless of what kind of passport he has. Some countries hand out diplomatic passports like candy. It's still up to each country to dictate terms of visas, and they don't care what color the passport cover is.

Thaksin's surely got an advantage with all his money, but he still has to qualify for entry wherever he goes, with or without a red passport.

So where is Thaksin? I was hoping someone would post that information. Last I heard China I think playing golf. That would put him 2 hours away.

China.........He aint coming back!!

Why do you think he's hopping around Asia and staying within 2 hours of Bangkok, instead of relaxing with his family in London, as he initially claimed he wanted to do? Also, in China there's no free press to follow his movements and report on who he's seeing and what he's doing.

If it does happen, hope it is as nonviolent as the last coup.

And as democratic.

The attachment shows how I calculated Fred’s visa-exempt stays in Thailand since October 1. I arrived at a total of 90 days.

--

Maestro

Using the calculator page it shows 87 days (plus need to add one for the first day) = 88 just using the start date and stop date, not calculating each group of dates.

Maestro is correct. Today (Dec. 29) is the 90th day, starting with and including Oct. 1.

I think it's wishful thinking to expect any immigration official to look at all your entry and exit stamps and count the number of days you've actually been in Thailand. That's hard enough when you only go between Thailand and a neighbor and back, but for people who travel around to several countries and have Thai stamps separated by numerous others, it will be a chore -- and if there's a long line of people waiting to enter, forget about immigration officers doing math on every passport.

I think (and I read this in the forum a couple months ago) they're only counting the number of stamps, not calculating days between each entry and exit. If so, then three stamps is the limit, even if you stay only one day on each stamp.

I also went to Poi Pet today. I was an overstay -- by one day. 500 baht fine. No "one day, no pay" treatment for me.

If a group identifies a certain way and generally prefers a certain word to describe that identity, what is the big problem with just being polite and going along with it? Not politically correct. Polite.

Jingthing has been co-opted by the PC Brigade. When did black Americans as a "group" decide unanimously that they prefer being called "African-American"? Did non-American blacks vote?

In fact, I think Jesse Jackson announced one day that it was time to start using that term instead of "black", and the PC Brigade mindlessly went along.

I have heard more than one black person object to the term, saying "I'm not African". Furthermore, calling someone "African-American" or anything-American assumes they are American, which is obviously not always true.

So if you want to prove you've been together 6 months, go to the library and get a June edition of the Post and photograph yourselves with it. One year: use a December '05 Post. Eighteen months: June '05 Post. Why not go for ten years? Use a 1996 Post. You get the picture.

that sounds like a GREAT idea FRK. i basically gave up on the idea of being able to prove i'd been with my GF for the last 1.5 years other than just regular photos taken here & there with a date stamp on them & emails from way back when.

I can't tell if you realized my suggestion was made tongue in cheek. The "kidnap photo" works only to show that someone was alive on or after the date of the photographed newspaper. It doesn't prove anything about what they were doing on the date of the newspaper, since you can photograph yourself with any newspaper from the past. So this evidence is worthless.

The dated-stamped photo is not much better, since anyone can set the date on their camera to any date they want.

If you want to make sure photographic evidence stands up as proof of the period of time you've been together then do what kidnappers do. Make sure you have the front page of the Bangkok Post in some of the pictures then any authorities should be more convinced of the time frame.

So if you want to prove you've been together 6 months, go to the library and get a June edition of the Post and photograph yourselves with it. One year: use a December '05 Post. Eighteen months: June '05 Post. Why not go for ten years? Use a 1996 Post. You get the picture.

The one problem concerning me is how would we go about proving that we've been together for X months if/when we apply if we've been living in Thailand for that time?

PhuketRichard is right. Living together with a gf/bf is not a qualification for getting a visa.

Scouser makes a good point too. You can't paper over strong circumstantial evidence that she's planning to move there. You can do all the things suggested here whether you're living together or not, so it's not very convincing evidence.

If this is possible, then why does anyone on a visa run actually enter the next country, and not just go from the "Exit Thailand" window directly to the "Enter Thailand" window? This deserves further research and (informed) comment.

What dif does it make you were refused entry to laos? You left thailand, all you had to do was come back. I use 2 passports and often use the second for entry to the next country so when I return to thailand it looks like I went nowhere. Have never even been asked where i was...

True, and notice that the honorary consuls are forbidden to issue this three-year visa.

Where are you supposed to get it then?

There are official consulates and honorary consulates. The Thai government (e.g., embassy) websites identify which are which.

will <honorary consuls> issue 1 year,, non im?

As of now, yes.

So me being the LAZY ASS i am! I filled out one of them & switched the other for the identical one i had prepared earlier!

I handed both forms along with my fistful of dollers & sat down waiting for my visa into Laos to be processed!

After maybe 5 minutes i was beckoned back to the window and was quizzed on whether i had come alone or was using the services of an agent!

(He had oviously seen the X's on the form that was filled out for me & i had only signed)

I said i was alone & was not using an agent!

Why didn't you just tell the truth when they first asked you? The truthful answer is what eventually got you the visa.

I've searched the Post (and the Nation) on all sorts of keywords from this post and can't find this alleged article, or any other mention of this new law (except months-old articles about proposals to do it). I'm skeptical.

I found it -- it was VERY hard to locate on the Post's website. The full article is below.

Apparently one can still buy alcohol FOR the youngsters under 25 ... the article says they're raising the age to BUY, not DRINK. A dumb implementation of a dumb idea.

Minimum age raised to 25 for buyers of booze

14 Oct 2006

APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL

Health authorities have stepped up measures to curb alcohol consumption among youth by moving up the minimum legal age of buyers from 18 to 25 years. Narong Sahamethapat, deputy chief of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday that the idea was proposed by a network of parents early this year during a public hearing of a draft bill to control alcoholic drinks.

The measure to raise the legal minimum age of buyers is part of a national campaign to save Thai youth from alcohol abuse, he said, adding that it has already been incorporated into Article 28 of the draft.

Under the bill, the following areas will be designated as alcohol-free zones _ temples, state offices, schools, universities and other places of education.

Also, the authorities plan to declare an alcohol-free day when alcohol sales and promotional activities are prohibited.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said earlier that a ban on alcohol advertising in all forms of media will be announced on Monday, while the draft alcohol product control bill will be proposed to the cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) for approval as soon as possible.

If approved, it will be the country's first law that gives health officials comprehensive power to tackle all alcohol-related issues, similar to the Tobacco Control Law.

A study conducted this year by the National Economic and Social Development Board found the number of young drinkers, aged 15-24, has increased from 21.6% to 23.5%. It also found that Thais started drinking at a younger age, with almost 50% of new drinkers aged between 15-19 years old.

Bundit Sornpaisarn, director of an academic centre dealing with alcohol problems, said the measure to raise the minimum legal age of buyers to 25 would effectively reduce youngsters' access to alcohol. Previous studies on alcohol controls showed that the earlier teenagers were exposed to alcohol promotions, the sooner they started drinking, he said.

Wallop Tangkananurak, a member of the NLA, urged the government to hike the excise tax on alcoholic products.

Phra Ratchdhamanithet, better known as Phra Payom Kalayano, voiced strong support for the anti-drinking movement.

He said the drinking of alcohol, which is prohibited in the five Buddhist precepts, is much more harmful and sinful than lottery betting.

Thailand ranks No. 5 in the world for consumption of alcohol. On average, a Thai consumes 14 litres of alcoholic drinks per year, according to the Thailand Development Research Institute.