PadPrikKhing

I came across a guy in the Thai Visa Advice group on Facebook today saying that he can arrange a type of ED visa that doesn't require the foreigner to actually attend school or study anywhere. I inquired with him about it in private, but he wasn't able to give any info that officially states that the visa holder wouldn't need to do any education. He says it's something that is only known to certain people and there isn't any info online about it.

As you can imagine, I'm not too keen on the idea of basing my entire relocation on the word of any single visa agent that he'll sell me an education visa that doesn't require me to study. 

This same guy might be on this forum. (If so, I'm sorry buddy but you just didn't offer solid enough info, so now I'm trying to dig up more info on this. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but I need more to believe in before I move across the planet based on what you're selling.)

Do any of you know about this semi-secret subtitle 2.8 version? Is it for real? Would it be any better than what I am otherwise planning to probably do, which is to enter visa-exempt and then obtain a non-O for purposes of retirement? This same agent also stated that the retirement visa costs 45,000 THB a year, and that was the first I've ever heard of that as well. I don't even know if he was referring to the official government visa fee or his own charge for services.

On 10/9/2021 at 5:38 AM, Scrotobike said:

And you do not want to meet a cross Brit looking for an open bar.......

Wow, well if the habit is that intense, then perhaps every Brit should carry a supply of this vital drug on his person at all times...?

I have an Epiphone SG. It was only like $200 new, and when I got it, it needed a slight fret job (filing down a few frets that were sticking up too much I guess), but once I got that, the action was fantastic. With that, combined with adjusting intonation, it became as good as any Gibson SG I've ever owned or encountered.

Yours probably needs the fret job as well, since I suspect that it's a common deficiency they have coming out of the factory. Here in California it cost me as much as the guitar did, but there in Thailand I'm sure it won't be nearly as expensive. Just be sure they know what they're doing. My fret job was done by a regionally famous luthier and guitar tech to rock stars, who was pretty full of himself, hence the high price.

On 8/15/2021 at 11:53 AM, A1Str8 said:

Trying to blame it on you is a great sign of putting herself first no matter what at all times. 

I wish you find a proper woman. 

Let's bear in mind that she might have resorted to blaming him for it only after he blamed her for it and whined about not wanting to pay to repair it (the old "saving face" thing, which in this particular case I could see being warranted behavior on her part). After all, she did throw a little birthday party for him which indicates she is caring enough to do that.

On 4/15/2021 at 1:00 AM, 2530Ubon said:

Growing outdoors in this climate is a waste of time.

What? Are you in your twenties? You almost sound as if you're totally unaware of the massive history in Thailand of growing Thai Stick in the 1960s and 1970s. They were extremely successful in growing huge plots (plantations, really) without any severe fungus or other problems. I can tell from your posts that you know about growing indoors in the UK or whatever, but most of that doesn't even apply here when they grow landraces that are acclimated to the region. Yes, growing them in greenhouses might lead to fungal diseases, but that would be expected in a humid climate where greenhouses aren't really needed. Grow them outdoors naturally, and it's a whole different story.

There are similarly-sized growing operations in Lao today, though the strains they grow are not as high-quality as the famed Thai Stick was, and they don't treat it with the same love and care the Thais did (obviously).

@banagan, probably more effective for insomnia and anxiety would be a mix of CBD and THC, one that leans more toward CBD but still has some THC in it, like 2:1 CBD:THC or 3:1. I'm not sure if something like that is available. I'm not in Thailand currently. It's due to some kind of tricky synergistic relationships between cannabinoids that are still being studied.

On 8/13/2021 at 1:00 AM, martin81 said:

Why would they want you to die unless of course you marry them? If you don't marry the lady she will not inherit anything when you die.

Life insurance and will, my man... you have to put someone down as beneficiary, right? I have no kids.

I wasn't 100% serious about the "waiting for me to die" part, but it seems like there's an element of that to keep an eye on whenever there is a cross-cultural marriage wherein it's harder to read the subtleties of motivation and intention. I believe for the most part that I'll be able to rely on my intuition and ability to read a Thai lady's character, but hey... gotta be careful in these matters.

8 hours ago, jazzdog32095 said:

who comes to LOS to date women 35+ ?

I might have to... I'll be 60 by the time I get there and will be looking for a real relationship, not superficial "dating." I don't want some little 27-34 year old (pretty though they are) who is just waiting for me to die. So maybe a good looking, well-preserved 40 year old is the smarter move? It's difficult to say. But I have seen some really gorgeous older (as in 40s) Thai women.

17 minutes ago, FalangJaiDee said:

Boomers don’t know how to use technology. Same with bosses. If they can’t SEE you working how do they know you’re working!?

You know what's funny... I'm a "boomer" myself, so you're painting with a mighty wide brush there. Maybe he's a little more "boomed" than I am. I'll tell you this much, I'm old enough though that I will do almost anything to avoid that 22 hours sitting in a cramped airplane seat if at all possible. That would include learning to use Zoom if I didn't know how.

5 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Normally I return to the UK, but only for about 1 day (personal health reasons and ensuring my tenant has not wrecked the house)

I don't know about your personal health reasons, but man, ensuring your tenant hasn't wrecked the house could very easily be accomplished remotely by having the tenant walk around the place with a laptop running Zoom or another web-conference app and show it to you in real time! You don't need to fly back for that.

Thought I'd add, the first thing to keep in mind when it comes to cannabis in drinks generally and cold drinks in particular is that the major cannabinoids like THC, CBD, etc. are not water soluble. So unless a high-tech emulsification scheme is used, the cannabinoids can't even blend into the drink any more than you could get butter to mix nicely into a glass of iced tea. So all you're getting in a "ganja cold drink" is going to be the chlorophyll, tannins, maybe a little bit of terpenoids, and any other water-souble and non-psychoactive constituents.

In California, Colorado, etc., they have actually figured out the emulsification process that can result in potent drinks, but it's not something that is yet being done in Thailand, I can almost guarantee.

leba: My understanding is that smoking it in any way, shape, or form is still technically illegal, and that the only legal use currently is in tincture/oral form.

That said... that stuff doesn't look too bad, if the color in the photo is an accurate representation. Looks like it's not the fermented brown shwag. Was it a "black market" acquisition, or did some place purporting to be an official outlet sell it to you? I wonder whether it smells at all like the Thai sticks of yesteryear—the most wonderful product ever, in my memories.

How long before Thais start deep-frying them and selling them to eat?

On 5/23/2021 at 12:04 AM, Pilotman said:

I would not rent a place where the landlord just pitches up regularly to check up on me, or indeed ever calls.  if you rent on a contract then you must face the fact that you have given over your property to someone else to live it.  Its their home, don't interfere.  if you can't accept that, don't rent out the property.  

This was not a Thailand experience, but I feel like sharing it: in California, I once rented a house where the owner had left some cans of paint, stain, a few yard tools and such junk in the garage when I moved in. I thought he had just left them behind as junk. I was getting ready to throw it out. 

One day, when I had only been living there about 15 days, the owner shows up and tells me he needs to get into the garage and get some of his stuff to use it. I was astonished, and told him that was totally improper. He'd now rented the place to me, I said, and can't use the garage as a place to store his own stuff! He realized I was right and got embarrased, explaining that it was his childhood house where he'd lived most of his life and it had never occurred to him that he couldn't just keep the stuff there and pop over from time to time to use it!

Thanks Joe. It still doesn't work as designed and the bug is still there for me, but like you say, I can just use the notifications button.

Well, I just thought to check Chrome for updates, and it did need to update. Maybe that was it... someone please reply to this post, and if that fixed it, I'll know right away. And if so, perhaps we could then delete this thread.

For the past few days, when the little banner pops up to tell me someone has replied (to what? I assume one of my posts) and gives a "Show reply" link and I click on it, the banner just disappears but then that's it... it doesn't put up the reply it's supposed to be taking me to. When that happens, I of course can't find the reply or the thread it was going to take me to, anymore, because the banner doesn't mention which thread it was referring to. It shows the username of the person who replied, but I don't retain it because at that moment I'm busy going after the "Show reply" link.

I assume it's referring to a post of mine that someone replied to, but when I check my own history and look for threads where someone might have replied to me, I can't find any new replies. Very confusing.

Is anyone else experiencing this? How can it be fixed? It was working properly up until a couple of days ago.

On 6/28/2021 at 9:42 PM, Yellowtail said:

 

I guess that depends on your priorities. 

 

Is it a good high?

I think you're "having me on," as they say...

This is just a tiny little example, but when I was in Krabi Town during my 2017 trip, I was going down some steps to a shopping mall type place and I slipped and fell on my ass. Instantly, a Thai man was there to help me up. I didn't even see him approach or where he came from.

I have a hard time imagining someone offering help like that in California. In fact, it's far easier for me to imagine someone coming over and video recording the spectacle of me on the ground with their phone.

I had a similar discussion (about getting a PC to Thailand) with some people on Reddit, and more than one guy chimed in to say that he had no trouble just bringing his PC as checked luggage, just like a photographer would bring his tripod and gear or whatever. Why isn't that talked about as an option in this thread? OP is already in Thailand and trying to get the PC there after the fact?

46 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

But will it get you loaded? 

Yes, but obviously it's not worth it.

Wow, when I stop and think about it, I could have easily died in Thailand in 1988. My buddy and I got on a ferry at Surat Thani to go to Koh Samui.  The weather was rainy and the water was kind of choppy. The ferry left, and after about 10 minutes, it turned around and went back to Surat Thani—the word was that the captain felt the sea was too dangerous and noped out (thank you, unknown responsible captain!). The rain did continue to get more and more intense that afternoon.

My friend and I ended up having to get a hotel room in Surat Thani, and the next morning we got a newspaper and learned that the rains had been so heavy and torrential that they had washed away a couple of villages in the area with major landslides, killing a bunch of people. It seems like a fair guess that the ferry could have easily capsized and sunk if the weather was radical enough to do that. I'll always be grateful that that particular ferry captain chose caution over profit.

I believe that this article mentions the very same disaster:  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02594981 as well as a document I found that said: Between 19 and 24 November 1988, heavy rains triggered massive landslides that affected 16 villages in southern Thailand. Three villages were buried under 1 to 3 in of sand and debris. All of Thailand's eastern coastal provinces from Chumpom to Narathiwat were affected. The 1988 floods were particularly unusual because disastrous floods were previously rare in southern Thailand. Total damages from the flood were estimated to be 7 357 million baht (Nutalaya 1991)1. The severe floods also caused the death of 373 people, injured hundreds and rendered thousands homeless in Nakorn Srithammarat Province.