Tatsujin

Well, Thai "time" is very different from everyone else's so you may well be right lol

If you have permanent residency, it is a whole different ball game.

I am not willing to marry a Thai to operate a business, but sure seems that's the only way to work it. The 4 worker rules are killling me.

I need two well paid workers , not four over- worked, under paid hostile, sulking morons.

9000 month min divided into a 5 day work week = 450 a day. That's over 30 % more than the minimum wage. That's a real hindrance , or else make them work 30 days month.

They need to re think this minimum employee rule.

Why should they rethink anything? They don't want the big bad foreigners here running businesses anyway.

Thailand for Thai's etc.

I have such a strange felling that they implement the upgrade right now, as I've been disconnected at least 7 times from Dtac 3G in the past 2 hours while the other times it is mostly below the speed of Edge.

I know, that means it only can improve.

No, there's a problem currently with the international gateway that CAT are trying to fix.

When are they all gonna grow up and stop playing these stupid games and actually start governing this country properly and fairly?

When they turf this bunch of rabble out!!

Problem is, it's not just the current bunch of liars and thieves, it's all of them. It makes no difference who is actually "in power", they are all as bad as each other.

I know there is lying and corruption within all forms of Government world wide, but Thailand ranks up near the top at being so blatant about it. And let's not even get started on the subject of double standards.

A cry out to all the Thai's - please, please, please wake up, and actually do something about things here instead of sitting back and watching you and your country get shafted at every opportunity by your 'leaders'. It's painful to sit on the sidelines and see a great country and a great people be so royally screwed all the time. Mai pen lai just won't cut it much longer.

he also goes on about people being convicted do not lose their rank, well again there is no relevance to this as they were convicted, abhisit has not been, and they also got their rank through the proper channels.

Of course it is relevant. People who commit crimes and get convicted should not retain their rank. If they do it undermines the entire argument about who should be stripped and who shouldn't. Just imagine had this committee that stripped Abhisit declared that they were also going to strip Thaksin of his rank because he too had no right to it, and because they wanted to show that this was non-political, and simply the following of procedure. What an almighty blow that would have been to Abhisit and the Democrats. How could he have argued against them? How could he have said that it was politically motivated? He couldn't. It would have been a political master-stoke.

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Careful now, you'll be giving them ideas ... lol

LMAO (again)

Could we please just get 3G working correctly first ...?

Is this finally someone here with some principles?

Only 20%? Things are getting cheap here now then ...

Interesting piece, coincided with what many of us are thinking.

It's "cry wolf" tho, isn't it? lol

If you are on an extension of stay you must go to Immigration to have the latest details transferred to your new passport.

OK, so I get the new passport, then go back to Immigration yet again to get them to transfer the stamps. Thanks!

Nobody will transfer Visa's so you carry 2 passports - old one with live Visa/Extensions & new passport. The only problem I have heard with this is re-entry permits - you need to seek advice on this first. It will be Ok if you not have one, but farangs with multi - re-entry have had problems & had purchase a new one in some instances

Yeah, just had the 1 year extension and multiple entry done, and they've used up 2 extra pages on stupid stamps so I'm left now with only 1 page. I know dam_n well that if I take both passports they'll find a problem with this because the 1 year visa + multiple entry will be in the "old" invalid passport, not the "new".

I was looking at this myself as my passport is nearly full now whilst still having years to run. As far as I can tell, I have to apply for a completely new passport now thru HK/UK rather than getting new pages added in. Does that sound correct?

You cannot have pages added to a UK Passport, this has never been the case. You apply through Hong Kong the documentation is checked there and the passport sent from IPS in the UK.

What happens to all the current Thai visas and stamps that are in the "old" passport that will then be replaced by the "new" passport . . . do HK/UK add them into the new passport?

I was looking at this myself as my passport is nearly full now whilst still having years to run. As far as I can tell, I have to apply for a completely new passport now thru HK/UK rather than getting new pages added in. Does that sound correct?

LMAO

welcome (again) to the wonderful world of Thailand. What's the betting that it simply just gets left as us, and is never actually finished to the standard required?

Not that those (Thai's) involved care much, they already got their substantial cut out of this farce.

As an aside, one of the best hosting companies out there is HostGator . . . cheap prices, great service, very helpful.

Am not 100% sure, but if you do rent out the townhouse to someone registering a company, you then have to make sure that you declare all income from said rental and pay taxes etc on it. A lot of people don't like to have companies registered because they are keeping any income under the table. As soon as you register a company there, it comes under scrutiny.

Easy, just go here (http://www.ip2location.com/free/visitor-blocker) or here (http://www.blockcountryip.com/), choose the countries you want to block, download the file and add the details to your .htaccess file.

LMAO

Yes me too LMAO. It does at least create a stir for you guys in the sleepy villages with nothing to do. Ganging up on the bitter twisted guy must be the most exciting thing you've done for weeks. I've just baked some chocolate cake. Only the ready mix Betty Crocker but i'm quiet impressed with the end result. It'll go down a treat with some custard. Who's next , isn't it exciting. More popcorn anyone.

Interesting that (yet again) you assume everyone lives in the sticks. But then everything you write is based on an assumption, usually an incorrect one.

Just to put you right, I live and work in Bangkok and have done for the last 7 years. There's no shortage of excitement here, but not of the type you'll invariably assume I partake in.

It's quite simple, the more loans or schemes they can run, the more the greedy lying bastards can skim off the top.

LMAO

More 'business' between Thailand and China. Anyone else see a shifting away from the USA and towards China, or is it just me?

Nanapong - I have to ask . . . why are you such an @ssh0le? And why do you have such a downer on (it seems) everything?

Is it possible that you yourself got burnt (in the same scenarios you keep on spouting on about) and therefore now think everyone is the same as you? Or are you simply just a dick?

I think he traded his rosy-coloured glasses for an untinted pair.

No, he's just bitter and twisted about something and got burnt somehow. He's way past the point of taking off any rose-tinted spectacles.

Yes but there's a huge difference between living in the countryside in Issan than in your native country. In Issan you have nothing of beauty. It's just rice paddies and baron land . Ok the odd areas of forest but not too much. All the locals unless you speak good Thai you can forget any conversation. The odd grunt or two sometimes causes a laugh among those who see you as a bit of a novelty. IMO you have to be a bit of a loner to stay up there. Sort of like your own company as such. Yes i'm aware there are other farangs but from what i see they spend most of their time trying to avoid other farangs. I do wonder why a farang would want to be there. My opinion won't alter. You've been pussy whipped and followed your cock. Of course people don't like to hear this. Nobody actually admits to meeting their darling in a bar. God forbid admit she's an ex hooker. Suggest her family are nothing but a bunch of lazy leaches who only see you as something akin to a lottery jackpot brings more outcry with posts of denial. Of course i'm always accused of being bitter which is simply not true. It's your life , i don't care what you do but i find the lack of genuine honesty amazing. Why should i be bitter. I wouldn't live there for a gold pig. If i wanted to live the countryside i'd live in Derbyshire where i originate from and not somewhere so far removed from my normal life. Living with a sexy much younger darling treating me like a Roman Prince wouldn't happen and I'd probably have to boom boom some fat lard arse or become a master at the art of masterbation. I'd benefit by having people i could talk too and i'd certainly have countryside with beauty far beyond anything in Issan. So why do you live there ?

I think you already have; although I would have used different terminology.

lol , i guess you're here for the temples and buddism as well. Not to mention the ever so beautiful countryside ...

Nanapong - I have to ask . . . why are you such an @ssh0le? And why do you have such a downer on (it seems) everything?

Is it possible that you yourself got burnt (in the same scenarios you keep on spouting on about) and therefore now think everyone is the same as you? Or are you simply just a dick?

Is this somehow not the problem in Thailand? That many people think respect must be 'earned'? Respect should be given automatically and then given some more if it is reciprocated. If it is not reciprocated, it is no longer necessary to be respectful. Believing respect need be earned is the root of the problem... just ask many teachers about students' attitudes regarding respect. Hint: they are very much in-line with your way of thinking (the bolded part at least).

I prefer just to remain respectful anyway as that is the way to live life in a peaceful and joyful manner. It doesn't matter how others treat me, that is their path. The way I treat them, that is my path.

I came in through Thai Immigration at the airport last week, and the way this one Immigration officer was talking to people was downright rude. He wanted to close his booth and escorted half a dozen tourists through to close his lane. He was barking at them like they were animals. I expect this from Thai immigration officers but I wonder how first timers would feel.

He gets no respect from me. I think he was one of the more senior officers by the way he was talking to some others.

This is a very good post, I always said respect has to be earned, but I know now that this is not the case. If the respect you give is not returned,then you do not give the respect back.

The rudest immigration officer I ever saw was at Heathrow. Embarassingly he was a Scot and they had him in the business class visa lane. He was shouting rudely at an African man, even suggesting he should not be in "the business class lane" and demanding to see his boarding pass before he would look at the passport. My young British daughter commented that this was the rudest person she'd ever heard. It's difficult not to judge all the apples in the barrel by one bad one.

I had exactly the same thing at Heathrow some years ago. Some b!tch immigration officer was shouting at a woman (Japanese) and the lady hadn't got a clue what the woman was getting so agitated about. The officer just kept getting redder and redder, shouting louder and louder, then got on the "if you can't speak English, you shouldn't be here" thing. I walked over and interjected and helped the woman understand what as going on. I then went to the senior immigration officer and reported the woman for verbal abuse. She got sacked on the spot when they reviewed the video. If someone had spoken to me in that way, they would have been flat on the floor.