erobando

lol at the people pointing to Samak and the PPP as standard-bearers of democracy.

Or that Sondhi will gain political power and that all of his proposals will actually come to fruition.

A lot of reports seem to also paint this as Small Urban Educated Elite v the Rural Poor.

1) Thaksin is not poor.

2) The South is poor. And they don't vote PPP.

great news for thailand ,hopefully the damage done will have been minemal ,i for one is relieved....

It's extremely bad news for Thailand. i is not relieved....

As far as I know, nobody has resigned yet. Whatever happens, The politicians need to prevent at all costs that the PAD idiots are going to have a say in any of this. They don't have a mandate.

Again, the PAD is not a political party but various groups protesting the government for various reasons.

Protests ARE usually allowed in true democracies. It's normal. As are strikes.

These large-scale protests started back in July.

The violence and aggression occurred only after the Thaksin/Samak/PP-paid drunk-and-armed thugs began attacking the protesters in late July/early August.

Were these all calculated moves by the PAD to take down the Samak government? Probably, but Samak was never going to last without the support of the military.

The military (and Gen Prem) still has the most say in Thai government, for better or worse.

Thaksin's problem was that he tried to dismantle the existing political establishment and create his own. He also didn't see the need to be subtle while manipulating the government to aid his own personal and business interests.

Thailand wasn't really a democracy before Thaksin and it wasn't while he was in power.

Samak was never a true democrat and had a major role in the the past right wing crackdowns on pro-democracy movements.

The current change of government won't really affect any of us expats here in Thailand.

It's just another change of power. Sometimes it's via "voting", sometimes it's not.

Maybe the Democrats will eventually be able to develop a coherent political platform and maybe a true alternative to them will eventually develop. (The PPP doesn't qualify.)

Until then, we should all relax and enjoy the ride.

Oh well PPP is out PAD is in!!!

Burma and Laos are run by dictatorships, why not Thailand??? The place is probably getting to progressive for its own good anyway, wind back the clock 30 years, bring on the good old days.

What?!?!?! The PAD is rolling back the clock 30 years? Samak is not pro-democracy.

30 years ago Samak instigated violence against the pro-democracy Thammasat student protesters and branded (and arrested) dissidents as "communists".

He advocated the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the early 90's, too.

The PAD is not a political party and will not obtain power.

There will be new elections. Not necessarily an open, transparent government but a new one.

IMO the West doesn't understand and tries to over-simplify politics in SE Asia as a whole.

Simply having elections is not the same as a open Democracy.

I think it's all about income taxes and nothing specifically anti-farang.

The Thai Government sees farang as a potential income source in the present. Maybe they think the law will change behavior of some farang to work "legit"?

I don't think they're concerned about the economy, long-term growth, and the resulting future higher tax revenues.

The rules aren't only changing for Tourist Visa's.

I currently run a Thai business, on a Non-Im B and have Work Permit. I employ 5 Thai nationals and they do real work.

Last year, Immigration said they would not renew my Visa because my company did not show a profit in 2006 (the first 6 months of its existence). Re: No Corporate Income tax was paid.

The Immigration Officer asked if was married to a Thai national, which I am.

He advised me to re-apply for the Thai Spouse Support Visa. Since my salary was above the required minimum, the Visa was renewed without problems.

The problem wasn't me as a farang; they just wanted my presence to result in regular tax revenue.

I would like to thank everyone for your advice/info.

My wife got her multiple-entry Schengen Visa without any problems at the Italian Embassy.

We had our itinerary all planned out; her bank account had enough to cover the trip so my info wasn't needed.

My wife was required to report after her return.

None of the visits to the Italian Embassy (Application, Visa Pick-Up, Post-Trip Report) took longer than 40 minutes.

Everything was direct, simple and easy.

Nothing like our past visit to the US Embassy.

Thanks again.

make sure you get a multi entry visa for the trip. Entering Switzerland you are exiting the schengen visa area, and presumably you'll need to get back in.

Actually, I don't think Switzerland will let you enter unless you have a multi entry schengen in the Thai passport.

A valid point but for clarity it states here

3) A single-entry Schengen visa which has already been used is accepted for an entry into Switzerland without a Swiss visa provided the Schengen visa is valid and the foreigners' departure from Switzerland towards a non-Schengen country is assured

It is clear that you can't simply enter Switzerland on a Schengen visa from a non Schengen country you must enter from a Schengen country.

Hello,

I thank everyone for responding to my Query.

I now have a follow-up...

From what I understand the above, Switzerland would need to the last country we visit since my Thai wife could not enter a second Schengen country from Switzerland unless she obtained a more difficult multiple entry Visa?

For example, we could get the Schengen Visa from Italy for a trip to Italy then France then Switzerland.

But going from Italy to Switzerland to France would be problematic because we would be leaving the Schengen countries once we crossed into Switzerland and, therefore, would have used up her Visa.

Is this correct?

Thanks again!

Hello,

My wife and I would like to travel to Switzerland, Italy and France this Fall.

We are recently married.

I am and American citizen living and working in Thailand on a Non-Imigrant Visa with a Thai Work Permit.

My wife is Thai, has a job in Thailand, and does not yet have a US Green Card.

My questions are:

1) Provided that we have all necessary documents (travel itinerary, Travel insurance, bank info showing we can pay for the trip, etc.), is obtaining a Schengen Visa a realistic goal for a Thai woman married to a US Citizen?

2) Does anyone have recommendations on which country for my wife to obtain her Schengen Visa? We will likely stay in each country for about 1 week and our schedule is flexible in terms of which country we will visit first.

3) How much time should we plan in advance? That is, wait is the usual waiting time for a Schengen Visa Interview at the Bangkok Embassies of these 3 countries? (For example, we know that there is usually a 2 month wait for Visa Interview at the US Embassy.)

Thank you.