NanLaew

Suck it up, Buttercup. It's CNY this time next week, and it will only get worse before it gets better. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

I am curious. Were you there back then? I think you chaps are conflating the semantics and sentiments of the quoted newspaper article with the reality of the 1960's. The linked article suggests that 1) The US military discovered Pattaya, 2) that all the guys on R&R from Vietnam went there, and 3) they created the whole girly bar thing and somehow initiated or pre-empted the whole sexpat scene. All this while 4) being an unwanted foreign aggressor in a foreign land. I think I'm safe in saying that NONE of the above is anywhere close to the truth, and it's nothing more than a hackneyed and biased narrative that some new, young and totally inexperienced 'journalist' has hijacked. It's a crock, OK? Now, American servicemen did visit Pattaya, mostly the guys who were based in-country but also some of those from out-country who were 'in-the-know', weren't interested or were otherwise fed up with Bangkok's hedonistic offerings. Americans did go to Pattaya in notable but not significant numbers, OK? I was introduced to an American Vietnam vet in Korat way back when I was quite new here. Nice chap, if rather rag tag and barely surviving on his disability pension or whatever. He had one arm and after a few beers and getting to know each other, I asked what battle or theater of war he'd lost his arm. He laughed and regaled me with a story of him and his buddies paying some Patpong tuk-tuk drivers to be their "pilots" in alcohol-fueled drag races on Silom. He lost his arm when, with it hanging outside the tuk-tuk passenger cage, it got ripped off on a passing power pole. Unlike me, he'd never been to Pattaya either.

I had a provisional diagnosis of a renal stone (slightly elevated RBC in urinalysis). When I asked the renal specialist for the ultrasound at the local hospital, he refused and said the CT scan was better, no argument. Went ahead and booked it, around 13000 baht, day after tomorrow. The next day, visited a private hospital, explained the provisional diagnosis and their specialist recommended an ultrasound, carried out an hour later. This confirmed one, small renal calculi. Being asymptomatic, I was advised to drink plenty of water, up the citrus intake and come back in 3-months for a follow-up. Cost 2800 baht. Subsequently, I cancelled the CT scan! Follow-up at private hospital 3-months later. Another ultrasound and it's still there, same place, same size, still asymptomatic. Same procedure, same advice, same 2800 baht. See you in April.

NB: More recent threads about the 1-year MENO application at Savanakhet says they only accept evidence of the 400k baht being in a Thai bank account. They won't accept it if it's in a foreign bank account.

Really? Maybe only folks with red nose would notice that.

Interesting, thanks. I wonder if Haleon's share price has benefitted? I saw another story in the UK media recently about a blood test that seems to a reliable predictor if one has Alzheimer's versus undergoing lumbar punctures and brain scans. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/23/blood-test-could-revolutionise-diagnosis-of-alzheimers-experts-say https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/22/alzheimers-blood-test-revolution-for-over-50s-dementia/

Can't say I've seen any "families that walk around and look at things with their kids in tow" in either Pattaya's sweaty underparts or in Nana. Why does a sighting of a single family suddenly morph into multiple families? It's like that picture of the Chinese kid taking a dump on the Pattaya Beach road side walk. The pages here were full of comments from people, most who either don't live in Pattaya, don't like Pattaya or have never been to Pattaya, suggesting that loads of Chinese kids were dumping all over the place every day. Curb your enthusiasm.

Perhaps by law they need special facial recognition or similar photos? Just asking for a friend. Or maybe @Kinok Farang's high school year book pictures weren't considered to be a true likeness any more?

So you trust a Thai government worker to be more dilligent than an employee of a private company with a government contract? It is staffed 24/7. The only time you may have to wait longer than 5-10 minutes is when the IO staff have gone AWOL from their office.

Then why did soldiers from the 7th RRFS outside of Udon Thanii like to go down there for in country leave? As you say, it was in-country leave but most stopped in Bangkok, same can be said for those on R&R from out-country. I agree that small numbers did venture to Pattaya over the years, which greatly disturbed the nomadic Germans who had been occupying the place for years before it was 'discovered' by the soldiers.

Not sure what you mean. Did my reentry permit at DMK last Nov. The reentry office is just past immigration. It seemed I was the only one with filled in TM8+ photo etc. All the others were paying the extra 200b to have immigration fill in forms etc. So the DMK IO's add a 200 baht service charge for doing it themselves? TBH, I never noticed if they charged me an extra 200 baht. It was over a year ago and receipts have been binned. The key difference for some is the RP service desk/office location: BKK is immediately before passport stamping, DMK is immediately after passport stamping. Another note for those using the Premium lanes on departure from BKK who need the RP, you will need to hike from whatever Premium lane security you just passed through to the aforementioned RP service desk in the common people's immigration halls. Not sure if the Premium IO guy keeps a hold of the boarding pass so you need to hike back that way but I did get my ear bent by a very upset Premium passenger having a gurn about it.

Centrum can delay Alzheimers? Citation or link to the news story? As noted earlier, buying Centrum on local online market places in Thailand isn't a guarantee that it's the same Centrum you get at Walgreen's, CVS or any US drug store or Boots or Superdrug in the UK.

The 200 baht service fee is only charged if you ask them to complete the form and take the photos, if you take them yourself, it is 1000 baht as normal. Yes, that's correct and your choice. But I am 67 and life's too short to download, print and fill in a form before I go to the airport just to save 200 baht but waste an extra couple of minutes at the service desk.

At BKK, they add 200 baht service charge as the RP service desk isn't operated by Immigration staff. The people at the desk get your information, take your picture and walk your application to the actual RP office adjacent while you wait, maybe 5-10 minutes if they're not busy. Never seen more than 2 or 3 people at a time waiting, but mostly by myself. The upside is they save your info/picture so the next time it's even faster. This is all BEFORE you get stamped out. At DMK, there's no service desk and you do the RP application yourself inside the IO office immediately behind the passport desks. The fee is the same as your local IO office, no service charge. This is all AFTER you get stamped out. Done both several times and never ever came close to missing any flights.

Weak you say? I guess it's never been the same since Tony got out of the local neighbourhood gym business.

Is the bad behavior getting worse and reports of related incidents increasing? Don't forget that bad news sells and, "Deranged naked tourist breaks door in 7-eleven" will always beat, "More than 1800 visitors including 14 large tour groups visited Nong Nuch Garden yesterday" to the front page headlines.

Maybe start a Hua Hin bank account and yellow book specific post in the Hua Hin Cha-am sub-forum? That could get some valid responses from those that have "been there, done that" and managed to get both. That should save on wasted time and frustration when you get here.

That would apply to a multi-entry visa that's already been presented. AFAIK, the MFA doesn't notify the RTP when they issue a visa and there's no reference in the RTP database if it hasn't been presented yet. The IO scans the passport first, and all previous activity linked to the passport holder's biometrics will be displayed. Then they start flicking pages. My experience is that some IO's will ask at this point if I have a visa, probably to speed things up (you are doing their job of scrutiny for them). That's maybe because my history shows a mixture of entries as visa-exempt, on a visa or on marriage/retirement extensions. There habe been several posts, including on this thread, where people have either managed to get a visa-exempt entry while holding an unused visa in the same passport due to the IO not checking properly, while a few others have tried (with varying degrees of success) to get the IO to ignore the visa and stamp them in on the visa-exempt allowance. My understanding, based on my experience and what I was told by an irritable and irritated Immigration 'boss' at BKK, is that if one has a visa in any travel document, that is the only travel document and only entry entitlement that can be presented for entry to Thailand. Good luck to the OP on getting the less observant IO if he tries to get a visa-exempt stamp. Make sure it's a bloke, as the ladies tend to have eagle eyes.

You cared enough to butt-in and answer a question I specifically asked of another member. But of course, your knowledge is... Stroll on. Oddly enough, last year while working on my 'weak' knowledge of WRlife, I asked a broker about them. He said he wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. When I asked why, he said, "Google is your friend". You too, eh? Stroll on, I mean.

If you tell us where the banks and brnaches that refused your application and what Amphur the yellow book application will be filed, members with experience may be able to tell you a better bank branch option or if the Amphur will even issue the yellow book. Some are easy, others bugger you about, while a fair few will say it's impossible.

With school holidays and Songkran looming, the kids have a hankering for "the beach" last seen before Covid when we did Hua Hin for a week. We've done Pattaya/Jomtien (lived there too) and also Mae Phim, down along Rayong coast as far as Chantaburi but not as far as Trat. Done none of the islands down that way either, but a friend made a recommendation for Koh Mak. Done Samet, Samui and Phuket (no longer interested in the spendy islands) but not Krabi (again recommended but by an older couple with no kids). So, anything nice on the sunrise side of the Gulf, south of Hua Hin and Cha-Am? Prachuap or Chumphon have any nice 'hideaway' type places. Maybe go down as far as Surat Thani? We're in Udon so would plan of flying to Bangkok and renting wheels. Not up for long-assed drives any more, especially on Issan highways I've driven dozens of times already. Personally, I want to take the clan to Vietnam and Cam Ranh/Nah Trang since there's non-stops from DMK, but the appeal of Songkran is still strong in teenagers, so I may get vetoed on that call. Thanks for reading and looking forward to some advice from them what lives down that way.

Relevance?

Thanks for that. Where is the "pile of reviews"?

You think their financials look sound? who is their regulator? if you wanted to take them to court where would that be? I didn't ask your opinion on their legitimacy, thanks. I asked @BestB if he knows if WRlife have bottled on any claims?

This just in... some folks use teaching in Thailand as the legal workaround for being allowed to stay here long term and pursue their real interests that are unrelated to education.