Searat7

The old MRT will be very crowded now unless they bought more cars. The original (from 2004) 3 car train is no longer adequate.

About 6 weeks ago it was stated that they had passed the deadline date to file a further appeal so this is a bit surprising....they are innocent..hope they get a break.

I have a friend who is teacher in Ubon area. He is being forced to attend weekend seminars very often because he is younger than other teachers and single. The older teachers are set in their ways and don't want to use their weekend time for the seminars which at least one teacher from the school must attend. 

My condo has very old and broken pool lounge chairs but claim they cannot afford new ones. Does anyone know where (around Bangkok) these can be bought at a reasonable price ?

This morning I arrived around 7:30 am and had to wake up female immigration officer working in the Priority area

They don't need more desks at Don Muang....they just need to staff the ones they have !  I worry that the extra staffing there will come from Suvarnabhumi in the short term which could cause long lines there.

You don't negotiate with people breaking the law...just show up with a bulldozer.

Why don't they just check all bars to see that they have licenses ?  It seems that most raided places are not properly licensed.

If the old MRT still uses 3 car trains I think overcrowding on that line will get worse.  Very long lead time to purchase additional train cars from Siemens since they are so old.

On 7/9/2017 at 0:35 PM, BritTim said:

When entering in the situation you describe (reentry for short period of, in your case, a Non Ed entry) the immigration official will commonly give you the option of using the reentry permit (which you might want if planning to apply for an extension) or a visa exempt entry. In the place on the entry form where it asks for visa number, I suggest you write in visa exempt to make your intentions clear in case of language problems.

I always knew I could get nearly an extra year from my O--A visa by utilizing a well timed re-entry permit but I did not know that I could go to CW for an extension of stay after arriving on a re-entry permit (when the original visa expired long ago). Could someone please clarify this ?  I have always started over wth a new O-A visa from USA after the re-entry permit expires.

The ones I wonder about are the teenage students still dressed in school uniform playing instruments on the street.  Are they helping to support family or are they saving for the next I phone ?

Trump should have told Putin and Lavrov that he would accept their assertions about no involvement in last year's USA elections if they took lie detector tests....those 2 guys are the biggest liars I have ever seen.

I thought they fixed the problem with Cambodia about a year ago and I remember Cambodian authorities making passports and documentation affordable at that time....and then the workers returned with passports .I guess that fix did not last long and with all the corrupt officials in Thailand this new legislation will just become a cash cow for them.

Open an FX account in pounds in Thailand and then you can better control the exchange rate.

What I would like to know is who will pay to rebuild the war torn countries once the fighting stops and the wars end. The UN wil undoubtedly arrange donor conferences but should the western countries increase budget deficits (already high in many countries including USA) to fund this effort ?

ACH transfer from my bank in USA to FX dollar account at Bangkok Bank takes 2-3 days.

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Just a couple of months ago there were stories of the coffers being almost empty, with a rise in VAT being mooted as one way to help raise more funds. Now we read reserves are near an all-time high. What happened since a couple of months ago to take Thailand from near bankruptcy to having record funds? Answer: nothing but poor, irresponsible and uninformed reporting.

The coffers are almost empty in Thailand as I recall BUT foreign currency reserves are supposedly healthy. Every time they announce a new program I wonder where the money will come from.  The Junta will not be leaving the new government in a good situation if and when elections are finally held.

When complicit officials are moved to inactive positions but not prosecuted to the full extent of the law then it would be unreasonable to expect an upgrade.  

The BTS is aging...will be 18 yr old this year. Some breakdowns will occur but when you look at how many people they handle I think they do a pretty good job. Overcrowded cars are a concern though and this could get worse as lines are added or expanded. I wonder if they are planning ahead by ordering additional cars for the trains. The same concern applies to the MRT which still has the original  3 car trains from 2004 when the service started (unlesss there has been recent change). Orders for Siemens cars from Germany will have a long lead time. 

I am a bit surprised that salaried officials are eligible for overtime so I learned something new too. 

I use Magic Jack to call USA (or be called). Have USA phone number...I think I paid $100 for 5 years.

25 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

It was only yesterday morning that here in Perth that an Air Asia plane had an emergency when a turbine rotor blade snapped off. The plane had to come back and was shaking like mad. Passengers said it was like being in a washing machine. The pilot  "Reassured"  the passengers telling them he was scared and to pray !!  <deleted> !  Has put a lot of people off Air Asia now. Apparently they do have a very poor service record.  From Perth Thai is just as cheap as the others, now only $639 return to BKK

The airline involved was Air Asia X (not Air Asia) I feel very comfortable traveling on Thai Air Asia flights on A-320 planes as these flights have short duration and Thai Air Asia has never had an accident.  As for yesterday's incident I wonder why the pilot did not shut down the faulty engine (which would have stopped the shaking) and fly back to nearest airport on one engine. 

Those 2 poor Burmese boys rotting in prison for crimes they did not commit should receive a pardon. 

5 hours ago, thaijoe said:

I had surgery on my knee, (ACL)  the doctor was in bumrungrad, but my gf did research and he worked at a different hospital as well. I asked the doctor he said to make an appointment there to talk to him. he couldn't tell me there.

so made an appointment, and shi# you not it was 100,000 baht cheaper.

so shop around. and most of these thai doctors, have there degree from the states and UK.

 and I have no regrets on having my surgery here. all good

 

and good luck to you,

ps. just get the doc's name and you can do a search on them,

I had a similar experience- when I told the doctor the price was too high he told me to see him Saturday at a less expensive private hospital and I saved over 100,000 b and walked home 40 hr after back surgery. It turns out that his crew from the public hospital joins him for operations at 2 other hospitals.  A good doctor will try therapy first and operate as a last resort.

On 6/17/2017 at 10:12 AM, Gulfsailor said:

I assume you meant to say that the Philippines vessel had right of way. 

But just 30 minutes prior to the collision the PH ship made a strange U turn and then nearly straight into the destroyer, with only a last minute adjustment in course, hence the damage on the PH vessel just on the port side of its bow. After the collision the PH vessel turned again back on its original course heading northnortheast. Very strange the erratic behavior of the container vessel and very strange that the destroyer never appeared to have seen it coming. 

If this was the start of a Tom Clancy novel, I would put my odds on a live test of some new cyber warfare equipment, which made the US destroyer go blind and altered the autopilot on the PH container ship. 

No...I feel the US ship had the right of way based on the point of impact. The erratic travel path of the PH vessel was published after I wrote my posting...the container vessel is definitely responsible but the USA ship should have seen the problem on their navigation system/radar and gone to to flank speed to avoid collision.