pete_r

No drink... Pity but healthy! For me it does help communication with my brothers in law.

Smoking is generally seen as impolite in Thailand today, but I guess no problem if there are smokers in the family already.

True. What I'm trying to establish is whether the notice stapled in the OP's passport is really about 90-day reporting, or something else like a deadline for an extension of stay. I think the opening post is ambiguous on that.

I got my work permit at the end of July and got a notice stapled in my passport about going to imm. in 90 days. I left Thailand and came back at the end of August but the notice wasn't changed or replaced.

So, my question is do I still have to go to immigration at the end of October, the original date, or is it 90 days from my last entry?

Thanks in advance

The notice in your passport about going to immigration could be either a deadline for you to do an extension of stay (form TM7), or a reminder for the 90-day report.

I think we need the following information to give a proper answer:

1. When you did your work permit in July, did you also do an extension of stay (form TM7) at the immigration office?

2. If yes, did you do a re-entry permit at the same time? Single or multiple? A re-entry permit is a big rectangle stamp taking half a page in the passport.

3. What is the "admitted until" date on the latest entry stamp in your passport (the one you got when you came back to Thailand in August)?

Dont try waiing youll look like a tit.

I see waiing as a body move like shaking hands or dancing. If you can learn to shake hands or to dance, you can learn waiing. It feels awkward at the beginning, then it becomes natural.

As a foreigner, one can get away with not waiing, but it leaves a feeling that something is missing, like when someone doesn't shake hands when it is expected in the West. Better to try to do it, even if it's not perfect (imho). For the OP, he could ask his girlfriend's family to show him how to wai, a good occasion to have some fun together.

Assuming your girlfriend's family is like most Thai people with limited experience of westerners I've met, they will be curious about you and at the same time nervous about interacting with you. Be prepared for the attention, and prepare your behaviour to reassure them and show that you are easy to interact with. I think it's the key point for a first visit.

By easy to interact with I mean avoid showing you're annoyed or angry (if you happen to be), it seems to be one thing westerners have a reputation for which scares Thai people. Also don't get defensive if you feel embarassed, invaded, or don't understand what's going on. It's ok to disagree but keep your smile (chai yen). Anything that bothers you, ask questions later in private with your girlfriend, I've learnt a lot about Thailand that way.

Once the family is convinced that you are ok (hopefully they will be ok for you too, it goes both ways), it's great.

A quick look at the literature indicates that a rice-wine-turmeric pill may have been tested in the laboratory with encouraging results, but clinical trials haven't been done yet.

Such a pill may be good for cancer prevention, but for treatment the active ingredients must be administered at high doses, which are difficult to achieve inside the body.

Use of cancer chemopreventive phytochemicals as antineoplastic agents

Maurizio D’Incalci, William P Steward, Andreas J Gescher

Lancet Oncol 2005; 6: 899–904

Curcumin: The story so far

R.A. Sharma, A.J. Gescher, W.P. Steward

European Journal of Cancer 41 (2005) 1955–1968

I'd like to know too... No report in 4 days, does it mean everyone is using the departure level???

On one hand, they are showing desire for a change in temporal matters (Burmese politics), which seems opposite to the teaching of detaching oneself from desires.

On the other hand, their action is driven by compassion for the Burmese people (I'm assuming a few things writing that, including that they don't have anything to gain for themselves by leading the protests), which is another essential teaching.

Are there guidelines in Buddhism to help choose between contemplation and action (motivated by compassion)?

Guilty people go free as I am sure innocent are in jail w/death penalty being carried out. The equation balances itself. It may not be fair but this how life works for better or worse.

Mathematics work like that, but I can't extend the conclusion to life in general just yet. Two wrongs don't equal to one right, do they?

the wonderfully organised railway system , and real steam trains.

Sorry for the OT, but I can't resist bringing up that story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3561640.stm

>>>>>>>

UK looks to India for rail help

Friday, 13 August, 2004

British railway bosses have flown in 12 Indian railway engineers to work on revamping Victorian-era signal boxes, it has been revealed. The Indians have experience repairing systems dating back to the Raj.

>>>>>>>

This is generally a feeling of irritation because for what ever reasons I get the impression that there is almost an air of arrogance and superiority from those Vietnamese I’ve had the displeasure to come across in the past. There seems to be a reluctance to help out, of course, this is not always the case.

Maybe Vietnamese (and Thais) get similar impressions when they apply for visas at embassies of Western countries...

On another note, I share the general feeling that Thailand is far ahead of Vietnam for making visitors feel welcome. The Thai industrial sector may look at Vietnam warily, but the tourism sector has little to fear.

The only time when you can safely say a murderer will not murder again is once they are dead. Personally, I feel much better knowing that they are being executed and removed from society permanently.

And when is the time you can be 100% sure that you are not condemning an innocent?

Miscarriage of justice is always a possibility, and one problem with the death penalty is that errors cannot be corrected.

Thanks for the replys,,,,If they are undder there Canada passport can they not just stay because they are Thai citizens?

If they are under the Canadian passport, they must keep up-to-date with the visa extensions, 90-days report etc... Otherwise the passport will show a big overstay next time the family wants to take a holiday in Canada, which means some trouble with the immigration officer at Suvarnabhumi (at least a fine to pay).

Assuming you haven't kept up-to-date with visa extensions and you don't want to pay the overstay fine, you still could use the Thai passport to leave Thailand, but that would make the Canadian passport risky to use for any further trip to Thailand, since it would have an entry stamp without matching exit stamp. Seems too much trouble to be worth it.

Agree with Lopburi3: If they enter with their Thai passport they won't have to do the visa, visa extension, 90 days reports and so on... Saves time and money.

Hats off to you Pete. Excellent explanation...

Thanks, although all credits should go to my wife...

As an experiment, she decided to participate in a share with her colleagues recently. After reading sbk's and soundman's posts, I don't feel too optimistic, but it's too late to cancel. We'll see.

Just general considerations on fruits:

- If the skin bursts, it may well be a sign of too much water. It is a problem with lynchees, mangosteens and rambutans when heavy rains start near harvest time. Same also with cherries back home.

- If a tree bears too many fruits, don't be afraid of removing some/a lot of them before they start developing. The remaining fruits will receive more sap and have a better chance of reaching maturity.

Each person in the "share" contributes X Bahts each month for Y months. The number of months is equal to the number of participants. Let's take an example of 12 people, each contributing 1000 Bahts (can be much more than that) per month for 12 months. That's 12000 Bahts available the first month.

Each month, the participants bid to indicate how badly they need the cash. The highest bidder takes the money, then until the end of the "share" he cannot bid anymore, but must contributes the 1000 Bahts, plus the amount of his bid every month. For example someone who won the cash on the first month with a bid of 100 Bahts gets 12000 Bahts immediately, but has to pay 1100 Bahts every month for the 11 remaining months. So the second month, the amount available is 12100 Bahts, and increases every month as each winning bidder starts to pay the nominal 1000 Bahts plus the amount of his own bid. At the end of the "share", only one person without winning bid remains (normally someone who doesn't need cash but wants to "invest"), and collects the cash, something like 13000+ Bahts depending on the bids of all the other participants in the preceding months.

In total, the winning bidder of the first month gets 12000 Bahts early, but pays 1000 + 11x1100 = 13100 Bahts, equivalent to (1100/12000)x100 = 9.2% interest. On the other hand the person without winning bid on month 12 has invested 1000x12 = 12000 Bahts, but receives 13000+ Bahts, equivalent to a (1000/12000)x100 = 8.3+% profit. All the other participants are in between these two.

The system is based only on trust between the participants with no enforceable penalties apart from social stigma, so there is always the risk that one of the participant will disappear with the cash at some point.

Looks like Bangkok Pizza is for sale: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=143782

The same happened with me 3 weeks ago, arriving from South Korea. We taxied all the way to the domestic side of the airport, docked on a mobile 'arm' station, only to be directed down the stairs outside the docking 'arm' into buses which took us to the international arrivals.

The lady doesn't even know what her family owns? Or she owns the family but doesn't know what they do with her money? Do Thai politicians accept positions as Minister and Dep. Minister without checking what the law is affecting the job? Maybe there is a law or a constitution, maybe there isn't, depending if this is an odd numbered Friday?

It was a honest mistake!

Just like Thaksin...

Talking of books... This thread reminds me of a famous story about cobras and mongoose.

http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/au...itikkitavi.html

Ekkamai is closer.

Depending on your destination, you may also be able to catch your bus directly from the airport public transportation center next to airport terminal (10-15 mins free shuttle to get there).

Do many of the farming communities here in Thailand use liquid sadao as a pesticide and how does it compare to 'manmade pesticides' in your experience?

Sadao extracts seem to be used in small quantities for gardening (maybe also for commercial vegetable crops), rather than for farming. But I don't know whether it is because sadao is less efficient than man-made pesticides, or because the production is not enough in Thailand to supply large quantities for farming (resulting in higher prices than man-made pesticides).

Thanks for sharing your experience with sadao in India,

Canned bamboo shoots are known to cause botulism in Thailand, when the sterilization hasn't been done thoroughly enough, or if the cans where re-contaminated before sealing. The culprit for botulism is Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that can survive prolonged cooking at 100 Celsius and is then able to grow and prosper under the low-oxygen conditions inside the sealed cans.

There was a big outbreak in Nan province last year: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=63726

Not my favorite but I enjoy a piece or two from time to time. What I don't like is the aftertaste lingering in my mouth for 2 hours afterwards.