FreddieMercury

Our taxi came within a hair's breadth of mowing down a scooter rider in the Chalong Underpass a while back. Came around the bend and there he was in the middle of the road, happily trundling along with his missus. Max braking from cab, lots of flashing lights etc. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Even if everyone on this forum said yes it was ok, I'd be hesitatnt to take it on-board. Should the police stop you and detain for whatever their interpretation of the law is, you may very well have a judge decide that it is legal and you'd be fine. However, finding out may take many months which you would likely spend behind bars. Err on the side of caution, mate.

Would a trip to a Thai embassy work?

That video is sickening.

I think I've seen Hue bulbs in Central Festival. I think the shop is called Life. It sells tech gear and is on the same floor as AIS if I remember correctly. I brought several Hue bulbs in my luggage and had no problem bringing them in. Update: Yes it's this shop. https://www.phuket.net/directory/profile/dotlife-central-festival-phuket/

I did visa waiver and extension Then three weeks out Then another visa waiver and extension Then three weeks out Now on third visa waiver (and hoping to extend) Was told by the IO that next time I would not be allowed in without a "Visa Already" which I assume means a 60 day tourist visa from an embassy. Reason I say this is that I was told it would be easier to be allowed back into Thailand if I stayed away for two or three weeks each time. But I think if this is your first visa then a visa run will be ok. Freddie.

A word regularly used by my grandfather when referencing anyone under the age of 15.

Yes. It's all a bit messy.

That would be great. I'll have a chat with an agent maybe.

Thanks for the update ????????

I'm good til the end of March and then I think I can get a 30 day extension

Thanks. I'll explore it a bit more.

Yes. That's the plan. I'll check some more schools and see if I get the same response.

The lady down the road from me uses an agent and has a one year visa. Might have a chat with her. The 'this is your last visa waiver" convo with the IO at Phuket a few days ago was odd. Posted about it on a separate thread.

The school said they are pushing over 50s to getting an O-A / O-X instead. I can't figure out why.

Immigration from what they told me.

Went to a language school in Phuket today and was told that my missus at 36 could have an ED visa but me at age 49 (50 in June) could not. They said it was new rules. That was a bit of a surprise.

I'll do that. Thanks again for your help.

Thought so. We have 45 day entry stamps. Can we get that extension immediately so as to show the school we have more visa time? Many thanks.

Hello again. We are back in Phuket and when we arrived at immigration we were told that we could not come back on a visa waiver again - and no extension. (I'm not sure if that is actually correct as from what i read I can come and go indefinitely as long as I'm a tourist.) At least that is what I think the lady said. This is our third trip in and we were granted a 30 day extension on the last two visa waivers. We have found a language school that we like and are planning on getting an ED visa. They tell me at the school that we need to have at least 45 days on our visa as it can take that long to process it. My question is: Having arrived in Phuket yesterday, can I go to Patong immigration today and request an extension immediately for another 30 days with the reason being that we are applying for a visa? (Bearing in mind that we have already had two extensions for previous visits - we left after each extension and stayed out for three weeks each time.) Thanks for any advice / input you can give us. Freddie

The minute they swipe your passport, everything is in front of them including images of your previous passports, and a list of all your visits. Have a quick look back at the screens next time you've cleared. My wife commented on seeing my marked loss of hair across the images of three passports and 30 years of travel to Thailand.

Absolutely proves that you have an income but as someone else has said. It raises questions about what kind of work you do and if the whole online thing is ok in Thailand. More grey areas.

My thoughts on 'valid' would be a story backed up with verifiable facts. In my case that would be proof of funds and income. Copies of relevant correspondence with real estate brokers etc while touring the country trying out different places. There are indeed a lot of grey areas here and in other places in relation to proper rules.

To give you some insight: I came in on a Visa exempt and extended it for 30 days. Then I left and came back two weeks later. This time the entry was for 45 days and I extended for 30 days. I'm leaving again later this month and will be away for three weeks. I'll be coming back in on another tourist visa after that, but won't be extending as have to be somewhere else after that for a month. The reason for all this bouncing in and out is that I'm waiting to go on a retirement visa in June. I've already got a rental contract here for a year, and the landlord has registered me with a TM30. I feel that if you stick to the rules of entry, extension and a reasonable time away (say 2-3 weeks) then you should be ok. That being said, my reasons for being here for the intention of retirement are honest and I assume valid enough for an inquisitive IO. If you are in your 20s or 30s I think you might want to have a fairly robust reason as you why you are here. Freddie.