StandardIssue

That's great, by AA's definition you are not an alcoholic. You stopped and moderate on your own will power and discipline. Very good you were able to take care of the matter on your own. I could not, so I sought help in AA and did the 12 step program.

Other helpful links which give some explanation of the AA program of recovery: Simple explanation of how the 12 step program of AA works.

I should also add that there are no requirements to attend an AA meeting. All that is suggested is a desire to stop drinking. Anyone who believes they might have a drinking problem and may have a desire to stop drinking are welcome in meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. In open meetings of AA people anyone is invited to attend such as medical professionals curious to learn about the fellowship and the 12 step program. Also friends and family of people with drinking problems who want to learn more about AA are welcome in open meetings of AA. thank you, SI

If anyone visiting this forum has a drinking problem and thinks they might be alcoholic AA is available to help. The first thing to do would be to attend an AA meeting. AA meetings can be found online and you don't even have to leave your living room to attend one. Online meetings are happening around the clock 24/7 most using the Zoom app available for smart phone, Windows and Mac. go to https://aa-intergroup.org/ If you are already in Thailand you can also visit in person AA meetings. Two websites to visit: https://aathailand.info and https://aathailand.org. Also https://aa.org is the official website of AA. Visit it to read the AA basic texts. The AA 12 step program for recovery from alcoholism is outlined and described in the Book "Alcoholics Anonymous" and it's companion text "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions". These books were painstakingly written to be as accurate as possible in communicating the simple and practical AA 12 step program of action. They were written to save the lives of alcoholics willing enough to do the 12 step program described in them. Alcoholism is a serious illness and most alcoholics left untreated die early deaths. The original authors understood this and wrote a historic text which is the first 164 pages of the AA book. They wrote it as thoroughly and as accurately as possible to describe the program they had found which gave them recovery from alcoholism. This portion of the AA book has not been changed since it's first publication in 1939. It is a piece of history and is considered as such. Therefore, it is recommended in most good AA meetings that anyone looking for a solution to their alcoholism thoroughly study this literature. Anyone with alcoholism who studies the program contained in the AA book can recover from alcoholism using the simple program contained inside.

For anyone who has read through this thread please understand this about the AA 12 step program. The AA 12 step program for recovery from alcoholism is outlined and described in the Book "Alcoholics Anonymous" and it's companion text "The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions". These books were painstakingly written to be as accurate as possible in communicating the simple and practical AA 12 step program of action. They were written to save the lives of alcoholics willing enough to do the 12 step program described in them. Alcoholism is a serious illness and most alcoholics left untreated die early deaths. The original authors understood this and wrote a historic text which is the first 164 pages of the AA book. They wrote it as thoroughly and as accurately as possible to describe the program they had found which gave them recovery from alcoholism. This portion of the AA book has not been changed since it's first publication in 1939. It is a piece of history and is considered as such. Therefore, it is recommended in most good AA meetings that anyone looking for a solution to their alcoholism thoroughly study this literature. Anyone with alcoholism who studies the program contained in the AA book can recover from alcoholism using the simple program contained inside.

There is no other type of AA other than AA. In my opinion these so called secular or agnostic AA's have adopted the AA name and portions of it's program in an effort to promote their misunderstanding and prejudice toward AA's fundamental principle of relying on the individual alcoholics own experience and understanding of a Higher Power, God, Power Greater or Spirit of the Universe or whatever they choose to call it. Secular AA and Agnostic AA IMHO has been and is a wasted effort formed out of simple laziness to study and understand the true AA program as outlined in AA approved literature. Kind of tragic really as it causes disunity within the fellowship of AA. On Page 17 of the AA book they all agree they found a common solution. All this secular AA or agnostic AA is divisive.

What you talk about is not completely isolated to Thailand. But I have lived here on and off for over 12 years.. I know what you are talking about. But something to consider is quite a few elders men tend to be disgruntled and complain a lot anyway from what I know.. For whatever the reason Thailand and what it offers seems to attract a few narrow "demographics". People who engage in vices to be one. A friend of mine and I (when I used to live in Pattaya) used to call some of the odd ball types the "Pattaya Strange". Another of those demographics is the "Pay to Play" crowd of men who lust after women and have no problems paying for sex. These kinds of men have their own set of identifiable characteristics and it seems, through scientific social studies that narcissism tends to be one of them. You are not wrong. This is definitely true. The very fact that there is so much graft going on here also makes it easy for unscrupulous types to get on with their criminal activities. One example. There have been many Indian scam call centers set up and taken down based in Pattaya. Entire teams of Indians calling USA, UK and perpetrating romance, refund and other types of scams on the unsuspecting victims abroad. Saw a news item on this and one of the scam centers was having their victims make wire transfers to a famous Thai bank. So yea, if one has a desire to live here then plan on meeting a few individuals with personalities a bit of left of center to be polite. I've personally run into quite a few odd ones that are totally preoccupied with conspiracy theories. US government faked the moon landings, US elections are rigged blah blah etc etc.

I don't drink any more... big problem for me so had to stop and started doing the AA 12 step program. I would probably be close to death and one of those incoherent Turkeys complaining about how the world is going to hell and explaining to everybody how it really should be :-). I want to live the rest of my days fully awake and not anesthetized with that crude drug alcohol until my last day. What a waste that would be.

Satisfied with your answer here. Thank you I appreciate it.

OK. this makes some sense.. But, if the owner of the domicile where I stay in Pattaya does it via the online TM30 immigration site I'd bring the receipt given to me from the domicile owner to immigration at the time of submitting the TM47. What else would be needed and why?

Forgive me but your instructions are not clear. Why would I need to "do" the TM30. That is for the owner of the domicile to do. What I would "do" is what I call "submit" my TM47 at Chonburi immigration for a 90 check IF this is allowed when changing to a different province etc.

probably the 5th time they have replaced drain pipes on Jomtien beach road. Was walking Dong Tan beach the other day. Clearly the so called "upgrade" done several years ago had little to no effect and actually magnified the problem in sections where the water now gathers to a clear channel and streams focused directly in two places completely washing away the 50 foot sections of beach! Who's Hi-so nephew who cheated on his engineering exams got the contract ??

I'm thinking of moving from Bangkok to Pattaya soon. I have a Non O retirement visa with one year permission to stay. Issued at Division 1 CW. No agent was involved. What immigration business is necessary at Chonburi? Of course a TM30 issued by owner of domicile but anything else? 90 day check in in person? My CW 90 day check in will be due mid June. Chonburi is rogue so what do they want these days for this? please only those with experience need answer. Let's not clutter with guesses or heresay please shall we?

How do you know what he already knows? A medical exam and suggested tests from a good reputable Doctor could very well find a lot of other issues that could be addressed to help the man live longer.. WTF?

Not sure why you are asking this kind of question here. But my two cents is use common sense. Go see a Doctor!! If you have not had regular common annual health checks then might as well start now ... unless you don't care about your health. My advice... don't play Doctor and also avoid all the so called "advice" here. No place to be asking serious medical questions. even some of the replies here are just comical to the point of disturbing. Here may well be the last place you want to ask for serious medical advice unless you looking for experience with particular procedures from particular Thai institutions. That can be helpful here. I'd ask the moderators to move this topic to the appropriate forum too. This is the I drink to much forum. Seems the OP is concerning general health. Drinking and Smoking too much... well that is obviously frowned on by the medical community at large and asking here just seems to be a form of procrastination. Get up from the desk, go outside, take a car, bus or other mode of transport and get yourself to a reputable hospital for a general physical exam. From there a good doctor will suggest further particular tests based on their findings etc. It could be an MRI, CT scan, ultrasound depending... more than likely a full panel of blood tests and xrays etc..

In my experience CW (officially known as Division 1) follows the published rules. Check here for Division 1 information. https://www.immigration.go.th/ Other Immigration offices go "rogue" as people like to call it in this forum. Other immigration offices sometimes don't follow the published laws and make up their own requirements.

A good resource for AA meetings online is https://aa-intergroup.org/

Thank you very much. This will help my friend because if this is actually the case her agent wasn't bamboozling her. But NOW it looks as though it's not required and she can either just not tell her agent or refuse to pay more if the agent still insists she pay 1000THB for another TM30 submission after her travels. 1000 THB for 2 minutes of computer work.. I hate agents and never have used them in all my 12 years of getting 4 Non-O visas and extensions of stay. Not necessary and sometimes one is held captive to their whims depending on the situation. Typical "rogue" rules from this office (Jomtien). For example this office's Non-O visa official requires two months in the bank "seasoned" funds before application of a Non O for the purpose of retirement. Immigration Division One in Bangkok does not. Glad to see they backed off this so called TM30 submission "requirement" .. How would they enforce this anyway? One can only guess why a TM30 rule like this would be required. Snagging more "fees" or fines? Glad it is now not required.. Immigration Division One has no such requirement.

Fined where? Which office? How did immigration become aware that you didn't do a "fresh application"? Your post doesn't help without detail.. quite a few others say they have never had to make a "fresh" application.

Yes, the owner of a house or any "domicile" is supposed to, by law, submit a TM30 to immigration when any foreigner is given "accommodation". My apartment/condo owner did this and all hotels who follow the law usually register to the TM30 website and do the TM30 online for any new customer etc. If this is not done by the condo owner or hotel AND you want to do business with immigration foreigners are sometimes forced to do it themselves and go and ask the owner for documents etc.. This is because, for most immigration business the immigration officers want to see a TM30 receipt. My personal advice to anyone on this forum who looks to stay long term in country. Before you sign a lease or pay rent make sure the owner of any accommodation where you plan to stay will file/submit a TM30 application on you whether online or in person at the local immigration. Also, make sure once it is done you get the receipt. My condo/apartment owner did this for me and I have the receipt stapled in the back of my passport. I DIY all my immigration business and have had no problems.

Yes

This is concerning an agent telling a customer they must pay 1000 THB for submission of a TM30 every time they return from a trip outside of Thailand. I haven't asked her yet if the agent is giving her a new receipt or not. This appears to be an agent charging for an unnecessary service to fleece my friend who is relying on this agent for her immigration business. As far as I know, and in my 10+ years of doing immigration business myself, a "current" TM30 is the last one ( and only one necessary) you did for your present address. Good idea to keep the receipt of submission that is given stapled in the back of the passport.

A friend of mine has a long term visa on retirement through and agency. She has a re-entry permit and her agent claims every time she returns from a trip outside of country she needs to pay them 1000THB for them to fill out and submit a TM30. I have NEVER heard of such a thing. Although the address she is using is one of these bogus addresses that Pattaya agencies use. She actually has a place in Bangkok but got the visa in Pattaya. I know I know, not advisable.. any information appreciated. I think this is a money grab by the agent. I plan on doing some travel outside of the country too, I have a long term visa and re-entry permit all above board done myself at CW. In the past, say a couple years ago I had NEVER had to re-do a TM30 every time I return. I've never used and agent and never had to submit a new TM30 on return. Also in fact I think the 90 day checkin report day resets when re-entering Thailand if you have a long term visa and re-entry permit. I believe the 90 report doesn't have to be done until 90 days after re-entering since my passport would show an entry stamp back into Thailand a 45 days after the last 90 day check in.

So discouraged! No mention of Dolly Paron, Kim Kardasian or Beyonce! They have the most influential figures I've ever seen.

I'm not knocking meetings. My point is that they are not required. Personally I found I had to travel the AA path that is laid out in the AA Book. Rarely have we found a person fail who has thoroughly followed OUR path. the people who wrote the Big Book wrote that in Chapter 5. Their path is the 12 steps. I don't mean to be argumentative but it is not a good idea to tell new comers that everyone has their own path to recovery in AA. There is only one path and that is to do the 12 steps if someone wants recovery the AA way. Most people can't stay in meetings 16 hours a day. Doing the 12 steps gave me a way to live sober the other 15 hours a day. I am 31 years sober. I go to meetings maybe 4 times a week, sponsor 2 men and most of my social life is outside of AA. When I go to meetings it better not be for my satisfaction. It should be for me to serve God ... by helping others get to be recovered by sharing what the steps are, how I did them and the result of becoming recovered. Just like people who wrote the AA book 80 years ago who "recovered from a seemingly hopeless stay of mind and body" Forward to the First Edition.