hughden

Just a small correction, The Blind Watchmaker was written by Richard Dawkins not Stephen Hawkins. Whatever your beliefs, it is an elegant and beautifully written book which will amaze and challenge you.

Apart from donating cash, there appears to be a need for farang sized clothes, shoes etc in Phuket. Are there any collection points in Pattaya for such items?

Thanks

If you are in the Jomtien area, come up from the beach and carry on up Thrappaya (sp?) road towards Pattaya. After you go over the top on the hill there is a large showroom on the left about 100 metres past Sugar Hut which appears to sell marine related supplies as well as some exceedingly expensive looking boats.

Hugh

Gents

Thanks for all the feedback.

Yes they are difficuly to fly; which is why I need a model shop to replace the two propellers I managed to knock off and drop off within half an hour of each other!

Hhugh

Dirk

Planes; electric mostly

Cheers

Hugh

Plenty in Bangkok and one in Rayong so I am told; but does anyone know of a shop in the Pattaya area? There was one behind Big C at Pattaya Tai but it has disappeared.

Any advice gratefully received

Hugh

The Retirement Visa and the Multiple entry visa are two separate visas. Once you have the Retirement Visa you fill in a separate form for the multiple entry visa.

I did both in BKK but I would imagine you could do both from overseas; or arrive in Thailand and then apply for the multiple entry visa.

There appear to be no extra requirements once you have the Retirement Visa, just fill out the application and give them 3,800 Baht (and a photo I think; not sure why they wanted that!). I had my passport back within 10 minutes with the multiple entry stamp. Basically it is just a way of extracting more cash!

Hope this helps

Hugh

You should be able to use a credit card (Gold or otherwise) for international purchases; I used an SCB standard card for 3-4 years buying from the likes of Amazon with no problem.

However, I did have problems with purchases being declined locally; usually when I was around 75% of my credit limit for the month. I never received a satisfactory reply from SCB. They screwed up a number of other services and in the end I closed my account and credit card and moved to HSBC.

I am seeking a maid to do cleaning and ironing at my condo. Any advise on where I might find one (avoiding the obvious ribald responses please!).

Thanks

Hugh

As anywhere; location seems to be the key. Prices have been rising over the past couple of years and still are; but that does not mean they will continue to do so. Beach front is more expensive than other locations; but maybe more price secure in the long run and there is a limit to what is allowed to be built by the sea now.

I bought a 252 sq metre condo for 6.7 million over 2 years ago and could probably sell it for twice that now; but I bought as a place to live and not as an investment which I would suggest is the safest way to approach property purchase in Thailand.

My understanding is that you are allowed to remain in the Kingdom for seven days after your work permit related visa is cancelled; so best to get all your paperwork ready and then apply for your retirement visa as soon as your other visa is cancelled.

In my case, my company cancelled my work permit; then had to wait for three or four days for a letter before they could cancel my visa; and it was from this latter point that the seven day countdown started; although I got my retirement visa within a couple of hours of having my other visa cancelled. I will admit I do not really understand the relationship between a work permit and the visa that goes with it; but they do seem to be different things!

Hugh

Cost was 1900 Baht. Once I had the visa I went to another counter and obtained the optional multi-entry visa by filling in form TM8 and supplying another photo. Cost for this was an additional 3,800 Baht.

My medical came courtesy of my previous employing company who arrange a medical on completion of assignment and I just asked the doctor for the necessary form for a retiremen visa application. Charge from the bank for the various forms; but suspect those costs will vary by bank.

I have checked the visa every day since and it still sits in my passport!!

Hugh

Having had my work permit and visa cancelled at 1400; I arrived at Immigration at 1500 and by 1520 my passport was stamped with a one year visa, Another 10 minutes for the multiple-entry stamp and that was it!

All staff involved helpful and smiling and no problems. Had done an earlier visit to collect the form and the guidance note which listed what I needed. Made sure I had all the right documents, multiple copies (and multiple photos which was useful cos I needed one for the visa and one for the multiple entry); wore a shirt and tie and smiled as sweetly as I am capable; seems to be all that is required.

Thanks to those on this forum for advice; now I must go and kiss my visa again!

Hugh

Someone once told me that what a Thai lady is looking for in a relationship is "security" (maybe we all are). From the relationships I have had here in LOS that seems to make sense; and it is as much to do with emotional security as with evidence of providing material security.

I live next to the Conrad hotel. For the last couple of months there have been armed guards. For the last couple of weeks we have had spot checks of vehicles entering the area. For the past couple of days we have had..... a fire engine parked outside the hotel!!

Presumably there is little confidence of actually stopping a terrorist attack; but some excellent pre-planning to extinguish the resulting fire quickly so that the APEC delegates will not be troubled by smoke on the BKK skyline!!

Enough!! I am off to the beach tomorrow and will be back when the nonsense is over!

Gents

Thanks for the advice. One more question if I may: After I cancel my work permit; do I have to apply for my visa on the same day, or is there some form of grace period?

Cheers

Hugh

I have been living and working in Thailand for the past 4+ years; under an employment visa obtained by my employing company.

Later this year I will be retiring and plan to remain in Thailand by means of a retirement visa.

I would be grateful for any guidance on how I would apply for such a visa from within Thailand; for example do I need a police report from the Thai police as I would require from another country I was coming from?!!

In summary, where do I go to apply and what do I need to provide?

Many thanks

Hugh