LostInBKK

Finally leaving KBR? Only folks that heavily use the word "demobing" LOL

You can change P-O-O to Thailand, just tell them in Dubai or Kuwait (wherever KBR is making you go) that you will get a visa on arrival and as long as you have an American passport no one should argue with you, I've done it twice (no 3rd time for me, done with the KBR BS)

None of it matters with the commies filtering/monitoring everything.... Oh wait, this isn't China??

I'm American too and this is what I do...it's been working out great for me.

2 Bank accounts in the USA.... 1 savings account w/ HSBC Direct (www.hsbcdirect.com) which you can set up online, and one account with my normal bank....

I also have MY OWN account with Bangkok Bank in Thailand. They have a branch in New York City and use standard US routing numbers, no SWIFT codes necessary.

I just transfer from my HSBC account to my BKK Bank account online and 4 or 5 days later, it's there. I've transferred up to 5K at once and no problems. Setting up the BKK Bank account on your bank transfers list for HSBC only takes a few days too. You'll need to convert the small amounts they deposit to verify the account on the exact same day it shows up in your account that way the #'s are accurate.

I also had a joint Bank Of Ayudhya account (closed it because they wouldn't give me my own account) with my wife and have wired 8-10K at a time from my normal bank over the phone, but I am set up w/ their military banking which allows you to do that type of thing over the phone.

All,

Thank you for the replies and information.

I am a contractor and am expecting to return to the middle east in the next 60 days so I'm not too concerned with the visa. I'd just like to spend a little time with my family before I deploy again.

The 60-day visa sounds like a good idea (90 days would be ideal, just in case), however I seem to remember being told by BKK immigration that one needs at minimum 21 days left on the current visa/stamp to extend, renew, or change visa status.

I am an American legally married in the kingdom (2 years) with 2 kids.

I have a 90-day visa that expires on 21 JUN and I also have a re-entry stamp. I left Thailand on 5 APR, I should be back in about 10 days from my trip to India. I have not transferred the 400k to my Thai bank account so I do not meet the requirements for the 1-year extension as I also quit my job back in March.

My main concern is that upon re-entry to Thailand, I will be forced to enter under my soon to expire visa, instead of getting a 30-day stamp.

Is this possible or has any one else run in to a similar problem? Thai immigration ALWAYS flips to every single freaking page of my passport and inspects them because I have a ton of stamps from Arab countries (including Iraq) and I'm afraid they'll see the latest Thai visa and re-entry stamp and force me to use that to re-enter.

My wife talked to our local immigration (Tha Li) and they said I *should* be able to enter under a regular 30-day stamp and make my way to Tha Li to re-apply for another 90-day non-O or a 90-day tourist visa. Then again, I find that Immigration does not normally have their head and ass wired together.

So a few bottles get thrown, and a few idiots get shot and it's a war zone? A bit over the top...

Having worked in a war zone for the last 3 years I'd hardly call Bangkok a war zone....

The only thing on my mind now is.... how long until the baht reaches 40 THB : 1 USD?

denysza,

Good question, I've often wondered that myself. I finally opened my own account at Bangkok Bank for that purpose, previously my wife and I were sharing a joint account at Bank Of Ayudhya.

BAY wouldn't let me open my own personal account, BKK Bank did so I moved all of our accounts over.

My wife called Korat immigration which is the closest to me and they told us that Tha Li had to give me the re-entry stamp, also got the same answer from Bangkok. I made the trip and got it taken care of in about 10 minutes, very nice people there.

Off topic...if you guys are out traveling by road be very careful. Just outside Loei my wife and I witnessed a bus accident, bus skidded across both lanes totalling 1 car and flipping the bus over on it's side...

Thank you all for the quick replies.

My wife and I have not purchased a vehicle since we're working on going to the US as soon as her visa is approved, so I have to either rent a vehicle or hire a van.

The drivers I've talked to want more to take me to Tha Li for a day so I guess I'll go to BKK.

My address with Immigration is my wife's house in Chaiyaphum...

I am an American on a 90-day Non-Immigrant "O" Visa expiring in June and need to go to India for a month or so.

I need a re-entry stamp and my question is as follows: Can I get a re-entry stamp at my regional immigration office (I live in Chaiyaphum which makes my regional office Ta Lee) or do I have to go all the way back to BKK to get it?

I am American and in Thailand on a 30 day entry stamp, I have taken an extended leave from my job and wanted to apply for a thai visa.

My current stamp expires on 6 OCT...upon talking to Immigration in Bangkok they say that I can not apply for another non-immigrant "O" visa (I had one last year but let it lapse when I returned to work) because I only have a few days left on my current entry stamp, and that I need to have 21 days left on any kind of visa or entry stamp in order to apply for a new non-imm "o".

Has any one else heard of this?

Last year when I got my non-imm O visa, I waited until the last few days of my 30 day entry stamp, went to the Immigration office on Suan Phlu and applied for a non-imm O visa to support my wife and a few days later I got a 90-day visa.

Thanks Lopburi3, I never really looked at it from that point of view. I am a Communications guy working in Iraq and get up to 20 days off every 100-120 days or so... no oil field work for me.

I guess I'll work on it when I transit through Dubai since I have everything I need with me. Meeting their "income requirement" will not be an issue.

So is it recommended that I apply for a multiple entry visa as opposed to using the 30 day stamps? I am only able to come to LOS every 3-4 months or so....

Hello All

My wife just gave birth to my son Justin in Chaiyaphum and I am wondering how I can stay in LOS based on support for him...

Here are the details:

1. Legally married, prior Non "O" Visa, left LOS to continue my work in Iraq

2. I hold an American Passport

3. Baby born in Thai hospital, I am named on the Thai birth certificate

Am I still looking at a Non-"O" visa? or is there another way to stay in LOS long term? Right now I am currently working in Iraq so I can come in and out on 30 day stamps without issue, but some day I might want to get a visa for long term stay....

My wife will be having our baby in January. I am stationed in Iraq and want to help her purchase furniture to help her out as much as possible. She's located in Chaiyaphum and from what I remember, there's not a whole lot there that we liked. I saw a lot of nice stuff while in Bangkok while walking around the various malls...

Does anyone have a link to a site so that I can purchase stuff online and have it delievered to her? She is not up for travel to Bangkok and I won't be home until January probably after the baby is born.

Thanks in advance...

LOL.....

Guilty! Remember to split it 50/50

She didn't say how much so give her 4000 a month and work from there. ;-)

4K!! I'd do maybe 2....then see what she does.

I'm going back to Iraq and will be transferring about 20-25k in to my wife's account while she's living with her family. If she asks for any more there better be a ###### good reason (and receipts to match) because in Chaiyaphum, we were both living off of about 25k a month.

It all sounds great, though the ribs and other grill-able meats will not taste right unless they're cook over a mesquite fire....haven't yet managed to find mesquite wood in LOS yet..... (Sorry, it's a Texas thing)

I cook a lot...mostly american and italian food...I would start cooking mexican food but I'm headed back to the states soon.

My wife cooks some, mostly for herself because I'll just make a sandwich or something easy.....though she makes a killer tom yum gai

I need to get to the states on 17 AUG and have found a business class flight with one 1 hour stop in Tokyo......the price is around 60k baht...

Has any one else found a better deal to the states?

What about any recent experiences on ANA?

About 2 nights ago at around 2100 I walked out of MBK with my wife, her brother and a friend from the states. She asked 16 different taxis and all refused....we wanted to go to Suan Phlu (near immigration) which is about 15 minutes tops....usually costs me about 70 baht to go there from Siam BTS area.

The funny thing is that they would usually ignore her and try to wave me over....I'd ask them to go to Suan Phlu in Thai and they'd say something like "300 baht" and I'd just laugh and slam their door.... I think I'm going to start tipping the legit guys 20 baht and tell them it's for not trying to screw the foreigner.

I try to make it a point to tell other foreigners who are getting in to the taxis to make sure the meters are running...my wife says that we should start writing down the ID numbers on the taxis when they refuse fares and call them in...but to who? and would they give a shit? Who knows....

One thing I've noticed is the taxi driver is not always the guy in the pic on the dash, I've had a few in the past month where the licensed driver of the taxi was "lending" the taxi to his "friend".... any one else get this?

Hmm, nice to see a local torrent community....I wasn't sure how popular it was in Thailand.

I've downloaded about 40gb in the last week or so....the apartment I live in has a 2/512 shared wireless connection.... soon I'll be back in the states at my roadrunner connection running at 15mb... .I can't wait!!

It all depends on the plan you have....if you dial *777# it'll tell you, and if you dial *121# it'll tell you how much credit you have and how long it's available for.

With most standard plans now (short/long call) your top ups are good for 1 year regardless of ammount. To change the plan dial *777 and listen to the voice prompts.

Remember to hit TALK/SEND/GREEN BUTTON after you press the above buttons

I believe most XBL servers are based in the states....the country of Thailand has about a 300-400ms ping time back to the states, probably due to the commies at MICT and their internet filtering...

At least that's what I've noticed when trying to diagnose lag problems....

Lost, what do you do in Iraq?

Anything IT or Communications related