CWMcMurray

You need to attend the classes, the school will need to issue a letter stating the same.

If they issue the letter without this being true, then you are both breaking the law.

Why would you not want to actually attend the classes? If you are living in Thailand, I can not see any reason why you would not want to learn Thai.

Plus you have already paid the tuition costs, why would you pay without wanting to get what you paid for?

You will need a letter from ABAC stating the completion date of your degree program as well as a letter from the Thai Language school advising that you will be taking thai lessond from them.

I am not 100% on the dates required but I would guess that the best thing to do is to ensure that there is at least a couple of weeks overlap to ensure that you will not have any problems. (ie. ABAC letter states ending 12 DEC and Walen letter stating you will start 1 DEC)

This should ensure that you visa can be transferred rather than cancelled.

I would recomend taking a trip to Immigration and check with the ED visa section on what they will require and then ensure that both letters are written to meet there needs.

It may also be helpful if you politely ask them if they can write a very short note for you in Thai to advise both the schools what is needed. You could advise with a small smile that your Thai is not good and you are afraid that if you explain it to the schools your self you will explain it incorrectly.

This will alsocover you in case when you come back, you speak to a different person who has a different interpretation of the regulations.

Do you still have your Tax ID number?

If so, you should contact the Thailand Revenue Department.

RD Call Center Tel. 0-2272-8000

RD Call Center handles tax enquiries by telephone.

Open at 8.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. (except public holidays)

Thailand Revenue Department

I had not thought about this issue in the past... just walk over to the cashier and pay the bill.

I will most definately be requesting prescriptions to buy medications outside the hospital from now on.

If you use a customs broker, there is never any case of "Ransom". Each type of goods has an applicable HS Code, that HS Code has a tariff amount assigned to it. You can even look this up yourself online.

Customs Tariff

If our import via "Freight", there is no such thing as "Gift". A shipper's invoice will need to be submitted and if Import Duty and tax are applicable they will need to be paid.

If you chosse to put "No Value" on the invoice, then you are playing with fire... if no value is given, then you are leaving up to the customs officer on duty at the time the goods are cleared to assigne any value he sees fit.

You should also be aware that many types of Light Bulbs require an import permit. This means that if you do not have the required import permit the goods could be siezed by customs and may result in additional penatlies.

I recomend consulting a customs broker.

Sounds like the transition is going very smoothly and from the few few reports coming in, the new office is a great inporvement.

Will be heading in for my 90 day report next week, so will have the chance to find out myself.

You have advised that you have a copy of ID card signed... I would go back to your home country so that you can get a non-o multiple entry visa that will last a year.

As other have said and extension of stay will expire the day you are divorced, while a via would not. This would give youa year to go through the court system to end your marraige (if needed), get your affairs in order & get things lined to get your self another non-o visa after the dvorce proceeding have been completed.

Otherwise you may run the risk of not being able to stay legal in Thailand long enough to see your divorce proceddings though. (no more extension based upon marraige & recent crakdowns on back to back tourist visas).

It would be a really big shame if she gets 100% because you get get your visa status set up to stay in the contry until the end of the proceedings.

Hate to tell you, but I think she is right... she should not expect O/T pay.

I workfor a Thai company and the situationdescribed seems pretty standard for white collar workers (no need to be management).

Some don't or won't put in the extra mile and are likely to never make it into management; others do and they are likely to get promoted faster and get higher bonuses...

This is the way it works here and in a lot of western countries as well.

Based upon Thai labor Laws it looks like she would owe him 3 months pay...

Labor Law

If he has a signed contract from her, isn't it possible that she is trying to bully him into not contacting the labor department to ensure that she keeps up her side of the bargain...

See if you can get your hand ona copy of the contract... you (GF Father) may actually have a case against her for breaking the contract rather than the other way around.

A saw in your original posts "Thing were going well for the last few months", sounds like he was past the "probationary period" and would have a claim for severence...

If any property tax system is set up there is chance that it may have the unintended consequence of causing some of the "Land Rich, money poor" Thais to be forced to sell their land to pay property taxes.

I do agree with your comment on the coruption... but the girl did admit she was guilty of the crime and the program did show the sign stating the penatlies for being caught with drugs that tourists see once they get off the boat.

I would say that considering the Laws pertaining to Drug posesion that exist in Thailand, she got off quite light. While I do not like the idea of coruption at all... the corruption in this case was the Thai Police willing to look past the law for a person who amitted that they were guilty of the crime.

This is still bad, but not as bad (in my opinion) as the Police abusing their position to extort money from people who maintain their inocence.

Both are wrong....but only one of the above situations actually contains a true victim. The other contains a person paying a fine for their crime (fitting based upon the crime in this case), the only problem is that the "fine" is going into the wrong pockets.

I have watched the "Big Trouble Epsisodes" and from what I have seen they appeart to be doing a good job both for their community and the tourists...

I say keep up the good work.

fyi.. other than the "Jet Ski Scam", I haven't seen anything else that really shows Thailand in a bad light... or would deter anyone from coming to Thailand for vacation.

The bribe asked for (60k baht) in the "drug bust"...a paltry piece of smoke.....of the young English girl clearly showed the corruption of the police.

The corrupt legal system and the equally corrupt Thai police, don't give real credence to a foreigners complaint.

The brutal jailers and the sub human conditions in their jails are shocking to any Westerner.

No. Thailand is not looking good at all.

The only thing I wouldsay is that the massage course I have seen here in Thailand normally only run in the 4-6 wk range (some significantly less), so you may not get a whole lot of benefit from this (visa wise).

It sounds like you have adequate recources to study any subject at an acredited university... any have anythought about a 4yr degree in any subject? Or masters if you already have your first degree. If your Pension"is not continued after 2012, you would be well set up to start what ever career you would like...

or if it continues, you would have a few years to get to know your girlfreind and decide if you want to get married. If so, you could then qualify for an extension based upon marraige and your pension would cover you for all of your future extensions...

I have watched the "Big Trouble Epsisodes" and from what I have seen they appeart to be doing a good job both for their community and the tourists...

I say keep up the good work.

fyi.. other than the "Jet Ski Scam", I haven't seen anything else that really shows Thailand in a bad light... or would deter anyone from coming to Thailand for vacation.

I actually like the fact that they repeat many shows... I am quite busy and my schedule is not alsways set in stone. There are only a few shows that I really want to see, so if I miss one showing I can check it out at another time.

But I would guess that if you watch a lot of TV, then this would be annoying rather than convenient.

I hate to pile on, but in this case I agree with everyone else....

It is not important that it did not say "non refundable" on the receipt as this is the standard, if you wanted it to be refundable, you would have needed him to state that this was refundable on the receipt.

I believe if you make it a requirement that the reservation fee is refundable, you are unlikely to be getting condo owners to reserve their condo for you anywhere in the world...

I believe he is a good "face man" for the country... I think he did well in the interview and I think he will do well in terms of dealing with many of the international leaders.

Whether or not he will be able to follow through and deliver results is still yet to be seen...

My last renewal for my Thai drivers License in BKK. The staff was all really nice and super helpful...

I made the mistake of forgetting to get my medical form and asked the person at the information desk if she new of a nearby clinic where I could get one done. She said come with me, I am just getting ready to leave I will drop you off on the way.

I said that I really aprreciate the offer, but it really wasn't necesary for her to take me. She said really no problem, I will be passing right by it...

Once I got back with the form everyone else seemed to be geneuinely happy, helpful and was in and out within 20 minutes.

Can anyone give directions if driving?

My guess is the best way is to get on the express way and follow the signs to Chaeng Wattana.... but have never actualy driven around that area.

Usually get off at Rama 3 road exit (coming from bang Na direction), but I know if I continue on straight ahead there is a sign saying "to Chaeng Wattana", so how do I go from here???

Please find my answers to your questions in red below

Hi thanks for your reply.I don't know what you mean with the hs code but if you mean the resolution it is 1920 x 1080 full hd.

1. HS code stands for Harmonized Tariff Code - these codes are universal around the world and if this is know it is very easy to determine the import duty

2. I am not certain exactly what the commodity is, so I am asking for more information about the product i.e. picture or product catalogue, so that I can correctly assign the appropriate HS Code and advise estimated import duty amount

Also don't know what you mean with point 2 but the dealer is the sole importer for the brand in Malaysia and is a qualified exporter so I guess they can make a form .

1. Thai import Duty is based upon the commodity (HS Code), but if Thailand has an FTA with the other country, then some commodities can apply for a reduced tarif amount. The shipper would need to provide you with Form D to qualify for Inter ASEAN FTA (as you advised below, the actual origin of goods is Taiwan, so you can disregard... Thailand does not have any FTA with Taiwan)

It seems you have some experience with importing goods,maybe you can tell me how big is the chance that it passes the border without duty when send by road transport or EMS.

1. I handle freight, so I can't say with any level of certainty on whether or not it would make it through using EMS. But if it is caught, from stories I have heard it is likely that the amount vharged may be higher than if handled by a customs broker.

2. For road transport... I hear that ther is quite a bit of smuggling at the border, but if it is declared then technically you should pay the same import duty and tax.

Edit to add: the manufacturer of the projector is origin Taiwan.

In this case the general tariff rate will need to be used

Why don't they round off to your favor? Because at the end of the shift, if the cash register is a few satang short, the cashier must make it up.

So if the drawer is over, do they get to keep the extra?

So is it sotre policy to "round up" and keep the additional or is it based upon the cashier?

A couple of quick points....

1. Can you advise the specs of the projector (HS Code / picure), if so I could advise the estimated duty %.

2. If the Asean FTA Duty amount is less than the general rate... Ask the shipper if they can provide a "Form D", this would be needed to clear customs in Thailand Asean FTA

3. Do not believe claim that you could claim these as "being sent to Malaysia for repair", this is not possible.

Rules for re-import of repair shipments into Thailand: (duty free)

1. You must have previously exported the goods from Thailand. You will need to show customs a copy of the export customs entry. (if you need to send the goods for repair at a later date, be sure to keep a copy of the export entry)

2. The invoice value and all of the details on export & import invoices must match (cost, serial numbers, descriptions)

3. The invoice value needs to be the same and a separate entry for "repair cost" will need to be put on the invoice

4. Import duty would only need to be paid on the "repair cost"

Agree... just sign up for social security on your own.

As long as you are still in the 6 month window all should be ok.

To be honest... the absolute worst thing you can ever do is put "gift, no commercial value" on the invoice, this raises a red flag for customs...

If they see this statement and no value is listed on the invoice then they will interepret as follows: "Thai customs can assess at any value they feel is fair" which is usually higher than the actual invoice value.

If they see this statement and a value is listed... then they will normally interpret as follows: "The value listed is more than likely undervalued and does not represent the actual value of Goods"

Do your self a favour and just use the actual value of goods...

Good Point Simon....

Even though "The Law" allows for a WP to be issued for an LP, please be sure to check with your local Labor office and be sure to get their confirmation prior to forming the Partnership. Otherwise you may be in for a very rude awakening if they will not issue a WP.

Just like every other government agency, each local office may have their own rules or interpretation of the rules that may vary from the actual law as it is written.