smileplur

Just out of curiosity, why not post the entire report here. Copy and Paste is the same for a large chunk of text as a small one. It wouldn't take any more work than copying and pasting the URL provided. At any rate, thanks for the report ....

In additon, there are more shops up the road a block or so in All Season's Place. Au Bon Pain, etc. are there along with Burger King. The Garage is a nice place to grab lunch on the way out if you are in the mood for an excellent burger!

Yes, the building opposite the embassy is home to several coffee shops and places to sit and wait. I usually park there and have a cup of coffee myself if I have an appointment at the embassy. They will be open to serve you. Just enter the ground level of the building and you can't miss them. Surely, one or two of them will be open anyway. Yes, that is from my own personal early morning experience when my wife had the first appointment slot of the day. I hung out there with my son for a while and waited for her.

As mentioned above, you may need all of that time to transit between the bus terminal and the embassy. A few of the streets you will need to travel down will be severely congested. Wireless Road itself can be hit or miss, but when it gets bad ... it is horrific!

Best of luck finiding that cup of coffee should time permit.

Thank you for the report. This is very similar to what I am thinking about doing next month. I wonder if you would be so kind as provide a little bit more information about this place. How much did you pay? Which building did you stay in? Are there any facilities at all for children, as we have a 2.5 year old son? Was the food good? What kind of transportation options are available if I don't drive myself? The idea is to lose the car keys once I get there and rely on my feet to "kick rocks" for a few days to foget about life in the city. I also want to give my son some exposure to the "greener" things in life because I feel he is just too accustomed to concrete, traffic, motorbikes, u-turns, and loosly organized chaos. A return to nature and peace and quiet for a few days are most certainly needed.

Thanks in advance!

Not this old moan yet again!

That said, the photo in the OP's post indicates, on the surface at least, that discrimination is not all one way: in Thai, on the left, the charge for a 'four-wheeled motor vehicle' is 100 baht. The charge for what is stated on the right in English simply as 'vehicles' is, however, only 30 baht.

I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but I really do think you should go back and 'read' the sign again. Maybe you should brush up on your Thai reading skills. I am not sure. Maybe you were just skimming through. Vehicles with 4 wheels are charged 30 baht. Vehicles with 6 wheels are charged 100 baht. Motorcycles are charged 20 baht. It is the same. I don't think they would let a foreigner driving a large truck into the park without paying the appropriate fee. I think they simply didn't list it because the possibility of it happening is remote.

^^It is called Charles Schwab

When I finish up with work today and have the time to write and post my story about Friday night at the same location, I will also include a picture of the shirt I was wearing and shorts. That is, I will do so if my wife hasn't thrown them away. They were a bloody mess. I suspect that the same people may have been involved. I was also entering my car when it happened. The blood is still there.

I have a very similar story that took place Friday night where I ended up pretty bloody. I am just now feeling better. I am planning to write the story and post it tonight as a warning for others. I was also at Asoke-Montri. I was viciously attacked. The robber had at least one accomplice around the corner. I certainly was not drunk. I had my two and a half year old son with me when it took place. We happened to be walking to buy him some milk from 7-11. I will link the post here.

I can certainly appreciate the gravity of this guy's situation.

It's also coming down ... Actually, it's coming down and sideways here in Chonburi City. I thought we were going to avoid it, as it was hot and sunny when I first read this post. If I had known, I would have gone out for lunch. Now, we are being held captive by the torrential downpour and my son just keeps saying "pork and rice" because I promised to take him to our favorite restaurant for lunch. Sigh! I guess these aren't real problems, as it will stop eventually and we will have our pork and rice when it does!

Great .... They will outline the boring, lame areas to avoid. I feel sorry for business owners in these areas, as they are the ones who will feel it financially.

Note to self - don't swerve to hit debris, you might ram another vehicle.

You would swerve to hit debris.. ? Most people swerve not to hit debris

You would think so. That logic does not prevail here. Read the article and you will see that your western attitudes, beliefs, and ways of thinking regarding debris found on the roads in Thailand earn you bonus points if you manage to swerve and hit them head on. Merely grazing them or side swiping them will only earn you a fraction of the points in the driving game that is played here! It certainly feels like an arcade game sometimes when I'm behind the wheel in this magnificent land of enchanted roadways and mysterious traffic rules!

For a US citizen in Thailand to prove the child is yours first step is to go to the US Embassy and they provide you with a DNA kit and doctor/lab you must submit it to. If confirmation is returned to them that the DNA samples match then they will process your child's passport. They chose the doctor/lab you don't.

They do not request a DNA test for every application for a consular report of birth. Only if the consular officer doing the interview suspects the child might not be the US citizens child do they ask for it.

See: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service/birth-of-a-u.s.-citizen-in-thailand.html

The Americans that I'm aware of all have had to submit to the DNA test at the US Embassy in Bangkok.

I'm American with a Thai partner. We did not have to submit a DNA test. The process took about 5 minutes from entering the small room where they asked a few short questions and looked at our son briefly.

Another congratulations from me! Having a baby is a big game changer. It certainly changed my life in ways I could never possibly imagine. Best of luck to you.

It was stated above that the procedure for the US requires a DNA test. This is not the case. They may request a DNA test. It is at their discretion. They did not require one when I applied for my son's Consular Report of Birth Abroad (his US Birth Certificate) or his passport. It is true that you do not get to select the hospital that will administer the DNA test if they do require you to have one. They only accept medical reports from a handful of hospitals. The hospitals on their list are generally the most expensive, first-tier hospitals you will find in Thailand. Bumrungrad is on the list. If you are going to get a DNA test without being required to do so by your embassy in order to obtain the paperwork required to pass on citizenship, I would suggest looking around for more reasonable hospitals. DNA testing a fairly common procedure these days. If you want to do it for your own piece of mind, I am sure it can be done for a fraction of the price that these first-tier, international standard, western hospitals charge. It is probably worth doing your homework if you want to keep some money in your pocket.

Again, congratulations and best of luck. I hope you are caught up on sleep because you probably aren't going to be getting any more of that for some time to come!!! LoL! I am kidding. My son slept through the night from very early on. Even when he did wake up to eat in the early days, his cries weren't loud enough to disturb me. Mom had it covered as she was breast feeding. Every child is different.

I am not sure why CFC is recommending a double entry tourist visa for this particular situation. It might provide some more options if he was planning to travel outside of Thailand during the aforementioned three months. As it is written in the OP, the intention is to stay in Thailand for a period of 3 months. There is no mention of leaving Thailand. That makes a double entry tourist visa a more expensive proposition in many cases when you factor in travel and visa costs. Of course, one could only get an extension on the first entry, but that would mean a waste of money on the second entry of the original tourist visa obtained in France.

The terminology associated with these things always seems to confuse people, and it often gets mixed up as a consequence. The 30-day stamp that a French national would receive upon arrival is called a "tourist visa exemption". A tourist visa obtained from an embassy or consulate outside of Thailand which gives 60 days on entry is called a "tourist visa". They are two very different things. As of last year, the regulations state that a "visa exemption" or "tourist visa" can be extended for 30 days in Thailand at any immigration office for a fee of 1,900 Baht.

By obtaining the "tourist visa" in France prior to coming to Thailand, your friend will save himself the hassle of doing a dreaded visa run. For a period of stay up to 90 days, there is no need to leave the country. He simply needs to file for an extension of stay prior to the end of the original 60 days given by the tourist visa. As mentioned, there is no harm in doing it a few days early. In fact, I would recommend it just in case anything goes wrong. There is no penalty for extending it a few days early.

As Lite Beer correctly pointed out, having a tourist visa in his passport will eliminate any problems associated with the airlines and the policies they must follow concerning boarding the aircraft.

Maybe an email to R. Barrow might help ... He could know ..

I would certainly be interested in getting more information about this. Is there anything in Chonburi? I would be interested in Chonburi or Bangkok!

Can you give more info please? Where is it in bang Saen? What are prices like? Hours? Food?

Thanks

Interesting. I've just moved to Chonburi City. I haven't had any interaction with Sriracha yet, but it doesn't sound like it will be fun from what I'm reading and hearing from the few foreign residents I've met around town.

Interesting. I've just moved to Chonburi City. I haven't had any interaction with Sriracha yet, but it doesn't sound like it will be fun from what I'm reading and hearing from the few foreign residents I've met around town.

I don't know if I struck a nerve with my request for clarification. I have lived in Bangkok for a long time. I am in the process of relocating to Chonburi City. As a result, I asked for clarification ... I would avoid Jomtien like the plague if given the choice ... Thanks for the clarification ... =)

My son has only ever been required to have his passport. Actually, both were presented at check-in (US and Thai) for the purpose of providing evidence that he will be admitted into the United States. He has only ever presented his Thai Passport when exiting Passport Control with his mother. There is no need for a birth certificate, copy or otherwise.

Chonburi is a rather large province. Within the province, there happens to be more than one immigration office. Which one are you referring to in this post of yours?

I have never seen an abundance of 'grape' Jolly Rancher's or any other flavor for that matter in Thailand. I think your recipe is flawed. It doesn't fit the target demographic, so it's best to hit the drawing board again. If we were somewhere with Jolly Rancher's readily available, could I substitute 'cherry' for 'grape', as I find it much more pleasing??

As for a 'shake and bake' recipe, you have to be kidding! Google is your friend. SIgh ... I think Shake and Bake does a wonderful job of adding a bit of extra flavor to your pork chops with very little effort on your part. Pick your poison .... shake ... bake ... eat. Why would you need instructions to do something so simple???

Why do you need to use a "visa run" service? It is very easy to do yourself. Simply get a bus (from Mochit preferably) to Aranayaprathet. It is equally easy to hop in one of the many minibus services that originate from various parts of the city. While I understand that there is an appeal to using these visa run services because of the simplicity they offer, it is cheaper to do it yourself. Personally, I have always found it better to be able to do things at my own pace. I enjoy having a few beers on the other side where better beer is significantly cheaper. I find no-man's land to be an interesting environment. I like strolling through. I also like to keep my money in my pocket .... Cheers!

I go to Sukhumvit 77 Clinic. It's a 5 minute walk from the BTS opposite Bic C, On Nut. Takes about 5 minutes if they aren't busy.