mohinga

It was a U.S. coast guard vessel... in the Persian Gulf. The 'Mericans now calling it the "Arabian Gulf"; but to mariners it's still the Persian (i.e. Iranian) Gulf.

Thanks for the reply.

It has been six or seven years since I've been to LOS, and I haven't been paying close attention, but I think many rules have changed. So I would ask to be directed to any appropriate links here on Thai Visa.
I am a retired Canadian living in Malaysia (MM2H) and would like to do some short trips to BKK/Hua Hin. Is it still the case that I would only be able to do two such trips (of less than 30 days each) if I arrived by land at a border crossing?
Is it still advisable to have minimum 20,000 baht in cash to show at border?
If I do two land border crossings, and then wish to do another short trip within the same calendar year would I be able to do this if I arrived by plane?
I have read about the health insurance requirement. Is this applicable to me in the scenarios described above (visa exempt)? or is it only for other long-term visas?
Any other advice that might apply would be appreciated

Many thanks NCC1701A... that's what I was looking for.

3 minutes ago, kralledr said:

let me ask sherlok homes ^^

Sorry, don't understand...

I tried the search feature but no luck... I'm looking for info on busses from BKK airport to H.H.... i.e. hours of service, duration of trip, any choice of bus company, reviews etc....

I seem to remember hearing that the owners of the old Federal Hotel had a new hotel somewhere in town. Anyone know where it might be?

36 minutes ago, khwaibah said:

Thats one Canuck that won't be playing ice hokey for sometime.

Hokey? In Canuckistan it's just called "hockey". No "ice". The other kind - 'field-hockey'- is played in South Asia and in private girls schools.

20 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Cannot possibly be monks, monks are so honest, they would never steal   

Well, regardless of whether the one who stole the phone was a genuine monk or not before the action; he is automatically defeated by committing this parajika offence... and hence no longer a monk.

http://bit.ly/2mOsL2W

Not being an ace with regard to "situational awareness" and "procedural knowledge" could be a contributing factor. But the drugs he took (perhaps to compensate for a sense of inadequacy) might have been even more relevant.

http://ind.pn/2bQIpYX  A recent article in The Independent refers to his case:

"On 13 March 2016, French investigators released a report on the case of Andreas Lubitz, the German wings pilot who locked himself into the cockpit of a plane and crashed the plane carrying 150 people into the Alps. When I opened it I felt sick; just nine days before the accident, he was put on exactly the same antidepressant medication that I had been on when I became psychotic and nearly killed my kids. It was clearly stated in the toxicology report – citalopram, mirtazapine and zopiclone sleeping tablets.mentions

No Ireland. I don't know where they have a list of countries where they have servers. But since I use Linux I configure my settings manually, and the list of servers is more than I require... e.g. fully-routed openvpn for Canada (2 servers), Luxembourg (more than 10), France/Germany/Switzerland/Sweden/Netherlands/U.K... many of which have multiple servers. In addition to proxied servers for Canada/Germany/Netherlands and Switzerland. Also surfing/streaming only servers for Italy/Japan/U.K and U.S.

​It might be worth a couple of minutes to send them an email to see if Ireland is a possibility.

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PS.. after posting this I went to their site. Countries are listed on page named "About Us": http://bit.ly/1OUbwH4

​I've been using BolehVpn for several years now. They are a Malaysian company that punches above their weight-class, often mentioned in "top 5/top 10 best vpn provider"-type articles by Lifehacker, Greycoder etc.

They have released a notice regarding a fix (new server) for the BBC IPlayer problem :

http://bit.ly/1NoQdLY

​One of the reasons they rate so well on the various lists is that they don't keep logs. Those interested in privacy may also like to know that it is possible to fund an account wish a cash bank deposit in Malaysia. That, coupled with webmail address of ones' choosing provides a good degree of anonymity.

​But the main reason I like to recommend BolehVpn is that, whenever I have had a problem, their support people always come through promptly.

Not so common these days to find a service company that knows the importance of customer service.​

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Why didn't the just set the office furniture on fire?

I will be in Bkk for a few days, and would like to find a shop selling Therm-a-Rest camping mattresses.

I sort of remember there being a few camping supply stores in the vicinity of Wat Saket, and I think there also used to be one in the upper back reaches of Mah Boon Krong. But that was a long time ago.

Any suggestions?

I will be in Bkk for a few days, and would like to find some cheap blue cotton work shirts. Many years ago I found some in the port town outside Ranong. They were made in Thailand, and were not expensive. I guess they were mostly sold to local fishermen.

Any suggestions?

I'll be coming to Thailand for the first time in 5 years. Previously I had usually stayed at the Bed + Breakfast Hotel in Patumwan. But during an internet seach I saw one refererence to it being out of business. No detail... just 'out of business'.

Anyone know if this is so?

As well as getting access to sites blocked locally, many choose to use a VPN to protect their online privacy. If this is a concern to you, then you might wish to check out this article on which VPN providers keep logs on your traffic.

http://bit.ly/nob4XI

Strong VPN does not fare very well in this regard.

As to the point made about being able to switch servers "for free"... other providers also permit this. I'm with a Malaysian provider (Bolehvpn.net), no logs, servers in many countries, and reasonably priced. If, for some reason, I had to switch providers, I think I would go with "privateinternetaccess.com" the second one listed in the article.

Not plugging these companies... just saying that I'd check out a lot of other options before choosing Strong.

Like I said, most of us here would not qualify. So it's irrelevant if you can't live there. Cheers.

Hey Jingthing, please don't think I'm promoting retirement in Malaysia. I, too, would not qualify if the present criteria were in place when I applied. i.e. the RM 10,000/mth in pension income.

But I checked the link you posted, and I believe there is a bit of misinformation there. The fixed deposit is 150,000 ringgit... not $U.S... so it's closer to $U.S. 50,000, or a little less than double the 800,000 baht required for Thai retirement visa.

I don't know if there is a way around the RM 10,000/mth requirement. But it is a fairly recent rule, and it might be subject to change.

Although, I have to say, it seems that the trend over the past 5 or 6 years is for the requirements to become even stricter. So, when my visa runs out in a few years, I may be forced to move to Thailand.

Not too bad an option.

I'd be interested in Malaysia as I do like the place, but I daresay most retired expats in Thailand wouldn't qualify for their retirement program. So we may as well be talking about retiring in Australia.

The visa requirements are more costly, but if one can qualify then the cost of living is nowhere near that of Australia. The RM150,000 fixed-deposit must remain intact thoughout the term of the visa, but it does pay interest (currently about 3%p.a.). I don't know how flexible they are on the income requirements. They didn't exist when I applied. But, for sure, it is possible to live on a small fraction of what they deem to be necessary.

One plus - compared to LOS - is that, once one has the visa, then that's it. No checking in with immigration every three months. And no re-entry permit required. Once one is in, it's quite hassle-free.

Another plus, for the wealthier expat, is that one can purchase property in ones' own name

So, I think that the program is set-up for primarily "comfortably well-off" retirees; but if one can manage to get the visa, it is possible to live at about the same cost as in many places in Thailand (discounting the fixed deposit).

I've been in Malaysia for five years. It is possible to live quite cheaply here if one is just interested in the basics. e.g. can rent a small house in some towns for RM 500/mth. Food at wet markets reasonable... but fruit a bit more expensive than in Thailand.

I find that, in general, people are friendly and tolerant. Perhaps as a result of it not being a very popular detination for farang khee nok, many locals still have a postive view of Westerners. Maybe a carry-over from the Raj?

The retirement progam - Malaysia My Second Home - does require a heftier fixed deposit that LOS. RM150,000. In addition there seem to beem more income requirements being imposed.

A very good site for info on this topic : http://www.my2home.info/index.php

I hope I'm not being rude by posting here... I am a Canadian expat; but living in Malaysia, not LOS. I will soon be able to apply for CPP and OAS (or whatever it is now called) and I'm seeking advice on the ins and outs of the application process.

There are not a lot of Canucks here (almost all pension queries on the local expat forums seem to deal with UK pensions); so I'm guessing that are probably more Canadians in Thailand.

I have a year or so to go before I qualify; so this is just a preliminary kind of thing. Even if someone could refer me to another forum dealing with cpp/oas matters, that would be a big help.

My situation: I have been out of Canada a long time; so I will only be eligible for partial pension. During this time in Asia I have been living on savings; so I have had no income to report. When I acquired Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) status I checked with the taxman here (Hasil) and was told that, since I had no income other than bank interest here in Malaysia, I was not required to register with them.

So now I am wondering about the means test for the OAS (sorry if the terms are out of date). I think it used to be something like 50K or 60K per annum as the cutoff for oas clawback. I only have something like $1,000.per year from bank interest, but how do I present and substantiate this without a Malaysian tax return?

I have until next year before I am eligible; so I guess I could go back to Hasil and request that they register me. But I am still stuck with the fact that I have no reportable income here. Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through for nothing.

Any thoughts/suggestions/referrals would be much appreciated.

Thanks, eh?

All depends on what promotions you can catch with Air Asia. Yes, generally the 1 hour flight to Phnom Penh will be the cheapest. I've done it for as low as $50 return, but keep in mind you also have to pay $20 (for visa) on arrival in Cambo and $25 when departing. Also flew to Medan (Indonesia) for $50 return in January. The Bangkok to Yangon route can also be really cheap, but you have the hassle of the Myanmar visa then.

What is the hassle with the Myanmar visa? It is a VOA. now.

AFAIK Myanmar visa on arrival termiated around last September.