keenok

i hate to put a spanner in the works(i really do),but i think it should be understood that not all immigration officers see the new rules the same way.i have already posted my experience today in another thread,but think it warrants telling again here.my visa history since october 1st:

29 oct. enter suvarnabhumi, 30 day visa exempt.

27 nov. depart nong khai.

4 dec enter nong khai ,tourist visa (60 day stay granted)

26 jan .apply for extention at jomtien (30 day extention given)

the officer told me that i could get a further 7 day extention in case of emergecy. otherwise i would have to leave thailand for 90 days at the end of my extention!! so basically his view is perhaps that the tourist visa and visa exempt days are both counted. i say perhaps because my extention was given which will take me to 120 days since the new regs came in.maybe he didnt notice the 30 day stamp ?. i really dont know,but it goes to show that there are going to be many different interpretations of the rules !!!!

does anyone know,if the Royal Thai Embassy in Vientiane issues double entry Tourist-Visa for a german?

single entry only im afraid ,cost 1,000 baht.

what really adds to the confusion is that if the officer sees the days on tourist exempt visa and tourist visa as both counting towards the 90 days, why did he give me another 30 days??

now i really am getting pissed off with the inconsintencies here. i have just been to immigration in jomtien to extend my tourist visa. visa history since october 1st is:

oct 29 enter on 30 day visa exempt at suvarnabhmi

nov27 exit at nong khai (30 days up)

dec 4 enter at nong khai on tourist visa (60 days given,expire on 1 feb)

jan 26 extension at jomtien(30 day extension given to expire on3 mar)

the officer told me he could grant me a further 7 days in case of emergency,otherwise at the end of my extension i will have to leave for 3 months!!!!!. this makes no sense to me at all. theyre making it up as they go along i think.its going to be the same old story ,its going to be up to the INDIVIDUAL you deal with and how they interpret it.

Hold on.. Did he give a 7 day extension or did he grant the 30 day until March 3rd ??

You should be ok being on a tourist visa and non visa exemption but the whole mess is looking shaky.. No clear cut policy beween border and airport immigrations, local consuls, incountry immigration, etc..

maybe i wasnt clear ,sorry. the 30 day extension was given. was told a further 7 day extension would be available in case of emergency. according to the officers interpretation, after this extension is up i must leave for 90 days.he sees the visa exempt entries and days spent on tourist visa the same apparently( maybe ,dont really know ,completely confused by his interpretation)

now i really am getting pissed off with the inconsintencies here. i have just been to immigration in jomtien to extend my tourist visa. visa history since october 1st is:

oct 29 enter on 30 day visa exempt at suvarnabhmi

nov27 exit at nong khai (30 days up)

dec 4 enter at nong khai on tourist visa (60 days given,expire on 1 feb)

jan 26 extension at jomtien(30 day extension given to expire on3 mar)

the officer told me he could grant me a further 7 days in case of emergency,otherwise at the end of my extension i will have to leave for 3 months!!!!!. this makes no sense to me at all. theyre making it up as they go along i think.its going to be the same old story ,its going to be up to the INDIVIDUAL you deal with and how they interpret it.

Isn't here a Barbara Walters section where Mr Whiny can address his Mother fixation somewhere else?

Boohoo. I'm half Cuban and half Icelandic; an "Ice-Cube" if you like. My father was a lesbian and ran away to hunt Minkey Whales in the Antarctic floes. Mum ignored me, and just continues to roll cigars on her thighs. I feel sooooooo unaccepted and like, need to be like,....

More cheese with that whine, sir?

laughing my are off lol

2 have left that i know. both teachers working illegally.i know a couple more are thinking of going,1 over 50 without the required cash.another guy under 50 ,unmarried. still considering it myself, depends how things go in the next few months.

its good to see that some officers are counting the days(as opposed to entries). at least if they implement the rules consistently,we will know where we stand and can work out our visas accordingly.

i knew a woman who lived in the suan lum apartments and they were talking about evicting them back in 2004 for new development. i thought it had all blown over, as havnt heard anything for a while. its a shame it will close down,as its a great affordable night out. couldnt care less about the market ,that was always an overpriced tourist trap.

no wonder people in thailand laugh at pattaya. the place is full of strange thais and even stranger farang.

I've had a reasonable lump sum of cash brought over from the UK and its now sitting in my Thai bank account earning no interest.

I'm not married but have a 2 year old son with Thai nationality. if the cash is going to sit there any length of time, whats the best way to make sure its earning me something.?

Can I open up a high interest account in my sons name?

\

If I do will I have control of the account , ie get money out when needed; and will I have to sign over anything to the uncontrolable, other half;

so the GF can help herself to it; or can I get sole signitory rights on the account.

Are there other ways, Off shore accounts etc that might be a better way forward.

I'd be greatful if anyone can give some good advise on it.

thanks

why not just put the money in a fixed term deposit at your thai bank? you should be able to get 3-4 percent depending on the term and amount. not much but better than nothing

To be honest, I don't really blame the Thai guy for walloping the cheap old fart for refusing to pay for merchandise that he had broken, but I will admit that using a potentially lethal weapon was a bit much.

agreed. no excuse for excessive violence. but i get the feeling theres more to it than the op. the bib wouldnt ordinarily let it go if it was a seriously unjustified violent assault.

Why would a slim, lean and fit healthy Thai vendor need the aid of a knuckle duster, to smash the face of an elderley, frail, mild-mannered American tourist?

no mention of this in your op. or are you just guessing that it was a slim lean and fit healthy thai vendor?? also, are you just guessing that it was an elderly ,frail ,mild mannered american tourist ??? if you know these are facts why not tell us??

does make me wonder what an elderly,frail, mild mannered american was doing in the early hours perusing knives in walking street?? or perhaps just another <deleted> in town.

im sure it was overpriced (what isnt in walking street)but if you break something , surely you should pay. if you broke things in a china shop that you were handling you would expect to pay.

if you break something you have to pay for it,as the thai vendor has now found out shame the silly old guy didnt realise that. he was obviously keen enough to fondle the goods but not pay for it when he broke it. im not excusing the use of violence by the way.

it makes no sense at all that the foreigner should be over 50. i read the rules as over 50 refering to the person being supported. pattaya immigrations site seems a bit easier to understand. seems they are interpreting it as the person being supported being over 50(which makes sense)http://pattaya-immigration.e-webonline.com...&groupid=19. i think the officers who are interpreting it as the foreigner needs to be over 50 are the ones that have got the wrong end of the stick. there will be dozens of interpretations no doubt

Edit by Maestro: made quoted URL a live link.

Like it or not Baht Bus is here to stay, and I predict you won't see any metered taxi(s) in Pattaya apart from pre-bookings or drop offs from airport elsewhere. Acceptance is the key to happiness.

Lor - no you won't get the ride for 10bht in a metered taxi. Just imagine the same amount of taxi(s) roaming Pattaya as BKK.

As a Pattaya resident myself, I thank god for cars and MC's. I'm living on a soi of sukhumvit (eastern side). For me to get to downtown Patt. I will have to use three bath busses (not considering the hassle walking down the soi to get to sukhumvit).

so here is the travel route:

1 One white song teaw southbound past pattaya klang, stop at a walking bridge to get northbound (or walk in the heat and get wet and sweaty).

2 One white song teaw to pattaya klang.

3 walk a couple of 100 meters and find the empty blue song teaws. (this means negotiatimg prices and all sorts of anoying stuff, esp. if in a hurry)

On a lucky day, that means 60 bath a day for a roundtrip. I guess I've could have a taxi meter for that, or close to it incl. taxi waiting

So as far as I'm concerned SCRAP the song teaws and get better transportation

It's a pity it won't happen, this being Thailand and all

sounds like a lot of hassle,which is why i wont consider living in east pattaya.would consider it if there were metered taxis

You let a taxi system good or bad decide where you live

Ha Ha Ha, Give it a rest mate.

not the only reason ,but certainly one of them . its called using your brain and making choices . hahaha

It always surprises me how intolerant some people who live here can be.

I live here precisely because of the live and let live attitude of the majority. You don't want to listen to what you call sex tourists well just ignore them and peruse the books. How can the quality of the conversation effect the quality of the books?

You remind me of that strange women who comes on here occasionaly and says she lives here but its so horrible god should smite the place.

lets be clear about 1 thing shall we.when i say they were sex tourists i wasnt guessing ,as the conversation revolved around how many more whores could be f***ed before going home. secondly its hard to peruse the books in peace(which is what i like to do in a book shop) when you have to ask people to breath in so you can carry on looking. if you read the post again you might notice i said there is a time and a place for everything. the quality of the books was not affected , but then i dont remember saying that . does your live and let live attitude apply to people in the nirun condo by the way ??

Like it or not Baht Bus is here to stay, and I predict you won't see any metered taxi(s) in Pattaya apart from pre-bookings or drop offs from airport elsewhere. Acceptance is the key to happiness.

Lor - no you won't get the ride for 10bht in a metered taxi. Just imagine the same amount of taxi(s) roaming Pattaya as BKK.

As a Pattaya resident myself, I thank god for cars and MC's. I'm living on a soi of sukhumvit (eastern side). For me to get to downtown Patt. I will have to use three bath busses (not considering the hassle walking down the soi to get to sukhumvit).

so here is the travel route:

1 One white song teaw southbound past pattaya klang, stop at a walking bridge to get northbound (or walk in the heat and get wet and sweaty).

2 One white song teaw to pattaya klang.

3 walk a couple of 100 meters and find the empty blue song teaws. (this means negotiatimg prices and all sorts of anoying stuff, esp. if in a hurry)

On a lucky day, that means 60 bath a day for a roundtrip. I guess I've could have a taxi meter for that, or close to it incl. taxi waiting

So as far as I'm concerned SCRAP the song teaws and get better transportation

It's a pity it won't happen, this being Thailand and all

sounds like a lot of hassle,which is why i wont consider living in east pattaya.would consider it if there were metered taxis

Jeremys is now Canterbury Tales Cafe on Soi Chayipoom. Easy to find. Up Soi LK, past the LK Metropole at the top turn left cross the road and then take the first right and look for the huge banner that says Soi Chiyapoom.

Run by Dave (no relation to Crazy Dave next door) who is you guessed it from Canterbury.

Nice cafe, great place for English food of the grub variety. Although I usually eat Thai food I always go there when a 'full english' desire comes upon me.

If your lucky you'll be there when the guy with the (very soppy) rottweiler is there. He loads himself the dog his wife and baby on one scooter. It is a sight to see. You can also view the maritals in Love Bar across the way. All life is there.

Posted from a Thai IP (for Monty).

this might be a good place for a feed ,(i dont know)but as a bookshop its definately gone downhill. when browsing the shelves of a bookshop i dont want to be listening to the sex tourists rattling on about their exploits last night within inches of the shelves!!!!(litterally) theres a time and a place for everything and the combination seems pretty odd to me. each to their own of course, but i wont be choosing a bookshop on the basis of maybe seeing a guy with a dog!!!

Of course, displaced baht bus drivers would be naturals for taxi meter drivers, but first I suggest a criminal background check and perhaps a yaba rehab program for those who need it.

maybe its the background check thats the problem ??

using baht buses as a taxi is just another pattaya rip off. bangkok taxis are great. anybody know anyone at sophon tv?? maybe they can get that fat fella to ask some questions of the local officials, instead of talking to another bar owner.

Yeah! Lets get that fat fella on this post haste.

You mean Howard Miller, I assume. He would never take the risk of upsetting anyone in authority - his earning power depends on keeping everyone happy.

When in Thailand I live in Suksabai Villa, up Soi 17 between Thepprasit and Pattaya Tai. Not on any baht bus route, so I walk about 1 1/2 kilometres to TukCom and catch a BB from there. Has anyone else tried walking? It is the cheapest form of transport that I know. I also have a push-bike, but it is a Thai make and much too small for me. So if you see a farang tooling along Thepprasit with a windsurfer strapped to his back, wave :-)

yes ,thats the guy. i thought his name was howard ,but wasnt sure as i only tune in about once a month ,as it seems thats about how often the news items change. it would be a much more interesting and watchable tv chanell if they did ask a few hard questions about things which concern the farang community (such as the baht bus issue) instead of endless ads and endorsements for any establishment that cares to be featured(good or bad!!).

pattaya beach books (2nd floor of TOPS) has a branch down soi buakhow ,towards the south end on the left.jeremys in soi chayaphoom is now a cafe as well .stopped using it since i dont like tripping over tourists and their full english while browsing. swan books not so good in my opinion,last time there the guy refused to give me credit for a returned book.(so <deleted> em) pattaya beach books upstairs at tops is my choice.

using baht buses as a taxi is just another pattaya rip off. bangkok taxis are great. anybody know anyone at sophon tv?? maybe they can get that fat fella to ask some questions of the local officials, instead of talking to another bar owner.

something really needs to be done about this sort of thing. not just the working as a teacher, but being able to get here so easily undetected in the first place. he was released on bail nearly 8 years ago !!!!!!!!!!