Concerned observer

American visa required. Can someone please advise me on the current process. I am British, living in Thailand for 17 years, but I am taking my grandchildren to DisneyWorld in Orlando in March. I have been to the US but many years ago so obviously I need to apply for a tourist visa (I will only be there for 3 weeks). I would really be grateful if someone would outline the process for me please, either here of DM to <email removed per forum rules>, thanking you in advance...

Who do we believe Thanet Supharothatrangsi (and all his members) who actually rely on tourists for a living, to employ their staff, satisfy their shareholders, etc. or Yutthasak Suphasorn of the TAT who has made so many false claims over the last 2 years and relies on his BS and lies being believed to keep his job? Isn't about time that Thailand slimmed down TAT from its 2,000 plus staff worldwide in tune with all the tour operators, hotels, tourist companies, massage shops, retailers, etc., that are their members and pay their wages through membership fees? There aren't any tourists coming - yet they all seem to hold on to their gravy train, overpaid jobs - despite not delivering?

At last someone with some common sense speaks the truth. TAT the PM are government ministers are totally deluded whilst they all run round having their pictures taken patting each other on the back. 50,000 tourists have arrived so far and millions to follow - dream on! Very few tourists are going to come to a country that has only inoculated 50% of its population and where you can't enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner or be out after dark for fear of the boys in brown heavy handedly rounding you all up and pretending that they are protecting their countryfolk. Thailand is currently not a viable tourist destination and the sooner that the PM and government realize that the better.

who on earth does this guy think he is Kim Jong-un? He has had his 8 years in power and has achieved very little - next please

This has absolutely nothing to do with Anutin who as DPM/Minister for Health has been a total buffoon. I was trying to look back when he said that "Thailand was well on the way to herd immunity" but it was certainly before May 2021 as then he said that 70% of the population would be inoculated with two jabs by September. The latest figures released state that now - on October 10th 2021 just 31% of the population (less than one third) has received two jabs. And that is after Thailand held out it perennial begging bowl for Covid vaccines and received "free donations" from China, the US, UK, Japan, Switzerland, France and many other developed countries. Left to their own bumbling administration it would be well into 2023 until 'herd immunity' of 70% was reached.

Having lived and having many friends there I have seen it spelt Isan, Esan, Issan - but never Isarn

Who are you demanding to know what my past profile/s are - do you think that I really care what you believe and what you do not believe - go and get a brain! You state in a post an hour ago that you purchased property, when we all know that in Thailand the only property that you can 'purchase' as a foreigner is a condominium. Yet you live upcountry - so as ever the truth will be that you spend all night hugging a bottle of Leo, complaining about the price of bargirls and chewing tobacco and are married to a moose.

I just read through your past posts - and you suggest that I have a high opinion of myself! You cannot even spell Esan - at least I am not illiterate

As someone with a brain mentioned before, I have been a member for many years, but started a new profile last week. Is that a problem for you - do you mind or was I expected to ask you for permission? It is not 'click bait' as you suggest, and having been here for 15 years I have, in the past, loved Thailand and the Thai people but for reasons I do not want to outline my love affair with Thailand has ended. Is that ok with you?

Of course the 63 year old Swiss pensioner is in the wrong - TiT! In the UK they say 'An Englishman's home is his castle'. It is a British proverb. It means a home is the place of refuge and safety for a person. A home is supposed to be a place of shelter that protects a person. It also means that whatever happens at home must be controlled and solved in the same place. People enjoy the position of rulers in their own homes, and others have no right to enter without the householder's permission. It would be the same in the US, Australia, any country in Europe or indeed any other responsible, developed country in the world. But not in Thailand.... here a Thai is allowed to climb over a wall with a firearm demanding money and we are all supposed to just give it to him.

whining

yeah ..... stop winning and get the heck outa dodge. it's not for you Thank you for your pleasant comments - by the way I think that you may mean whining

Sincere apologies for the lack of paragraphs and length of the diatribe - I did not intend it to be that long. Just once I started it just flowed. Also sorry for the use of the long words which some seem to have had problems either understanding or following. but I have never been a prolific poster on TV, I have been far too busy working. Mostly to raise funds for Thai Charitable Foundations and those less fortunate than I am - I am not financially obsessed. I will not be returning to my birthplace, just looking at other alternatives - Puerto Rica, Colombia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, etc., hoping that my contribution to society will be better received, not for special recognition. Good afternoon

Having been here now for more than 15 years I fear that my time of investing my life's savings and pensions, earned in my home country, in Thailand, is coming to an end. Certain issues have made me rethink my future and I shall now start looking for suitable alternatives. I am sick and tired on the Thai peoples xenophobia - Thais first, their constant begging for overseas support/investment/aid, their belief that everything they do, say and demand is right, and that every other country and or national from that country is wrong. "Thailand does and always will, belong to the Thais" - as they religiously sing at 8am and 6pm every day although, perhaps not as much as they did five years ago. They are a very proud nation and always boast of never having been colonised - their history books conveniently omit to state that when the Japanese invaded on 8 December 1941 the 'war' that lasted all of 5 hours enabled the Japanese forces to march across Thailand to Burma. The previous 'war' that was over almost before it started was the Franco-Thai war in December 1940 and January 1941 was brief and inconclusive. The the Thai regime of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram celebrated the outcome of the war as a great victory, and the monument was commissioned, designed, and erected within a few months (Google it) which soon after became known as "the victory of embarrassment" by the Italian sculptor Corrado Feroci, who worked under the Thai name Silpa Bhirasi. I worked out this morning that I have purchased 5 new cars and one secondhand since I have been here. 5 new motorcycles and one secondhand. Purchased 3 condominiums, purchased land through my Thai wife and built two houses. Launched a company from scratch and employed countless Thai staff and sub contractors and paid 10 years of tax and SS - probably more than 75% of Thais will pay in their lifetime. Yet still I am treated like an idiot, ATM and with disrespect. There has been more than 30 military coup d'état attempts throughout the history of Thailand. The current "elected" government - I use the term lightly seem not to have the slightest clue how to run a country but are very good at buying useless military equipment and lining their own pockets. The "Joe Ferrari" case is and was a farce and he was even given a TV opportunity to explain his actions as "for the good of the Thai people". Watch him get away with having his wrists slapped after waiing profusely becoming a monk fore 30 days and absolving himself of any wrongdoing. What amazed me was Patchara Anuntasilpa, the Customs department’s director-general, who said the department examined its records and found that Police Colonel Thitisan had been the official in charge of confiscating 368 illegally imported vehicles, including luxury cars and supercars, during the period. Of the total, 363 cars were auctioned, raking in about 1 billion baht, and the remaining five have not been sold. According to customs regulations at the time, 30% of the proceeds from all smuggled products were incentives for police teams or those bringing cases to the attention of authorities and 25% were rewards to other officials, including police. The same could be said for DPM Prawit who has become incredibly rich despite just being an Army General being caught wearing 25 undeclared luxury watches. The majority of Thai people that I have met are gentle, good hearted, honest people but with role models in Thailand's elite purely interested in self-interest it is hardly surprising that most Thais now are always looking for an opportunity. The standards of Thai education are appalling - that is why any Thai that can afford it now either pays for the children to study abroad, in an international school or in a paid for Thai school. Prayut Chan-o-cha Thailand's prime minister and junta leader, said in 2017 that school reform was urgently needed. Following the military takeover of May 2014, Prayut, in a televised broadcast in July, ordered schools to display a list of 12 "Thai" values he composed.They are as follows: Honesty, sacrifice, endurance, and noble ideology for the greater good Gratitude for parents, guardians, and teachers Diligence in acquiring knowledge, via school studies and other methods Preserving Thai customs and tradition Morality and goodwill toward others Discipline, respect for law, and obedience to the older citizens Physical and mental strength. Refusal to surrender to religious sins. Uphold the interest of the nation over oneself. Such a pity that he does not practice what he preaches.

and think that someone actually gets paid to think these mindless, nonsensical slogans up