KhaoNiaw

Been here since 1988. I was just passing through but had a good time and stayed, well over half my life now. No regrets at all but will be moving on next year. Not because of anything wrong with Thailand, just a new adventure in a new country.

One of my annoyances is paying VAT at source when you shouldn't have to. I have a couple of regular places I buy similar stuff from in the UK. One of them automatically deducts VAT for items going to Thailand (which pretty much covers delivery) and the other one's payment system says they do but the price actually remains the same. It's not that much and the products are good so it's not a big deal, just an irritation. I try to avoid couriers but I've found that DHL are OK with low value items. One place I buy from will only send through DHL and, not sure of the exchange rate used, the cost to me would be a bit over the 1500 baht limit but I've never had to pay anything. Once I tried 2 items and I had fees on that. I'm also finding items in the regular post get hit much more often than they used to. They go through customs after they arrive and there's no way to do a deal with your local post office because they've already been assessed and the local PO is just collecting.

I've known three guys who've got into trouble and they were all reported by other farangs. IMO much more likely to happen than being reported by Thais.

Would that be the same Mu variant I read a lot about in UK media in early September?

Quick maths suggests employer & employee contributions for a salary of 9,000 baht. Contributions are capped at 750 baht for salaries at 15,000 baht.

It's based on salary and not voluntary. Maximum employee contribution is 750 baht / month. I think the minimum is less than 100 baht.

Based on my social insurance contributions, I would be getting about 4,000 baht/month from the Thai government when I retire.

Part of their Thailand Pass registration?

You would never see me reading either but I read a lot.

He had a lot of female groupies in Thailand, including some rather hiso types. Seemed very attractive to the ladies.

You're quite wrong. He was a huge figure and story in Thailand before he left and these monks are prostrating themselves out of respect for who they perceive and believe him to be. There probably should be an investigation into why it is they still revere him in such a way after all this time.

I'm not sure but could it be the that it works to a specific agent's benefit to get a bit more out of you? I had something similar happen with Direct Asia a couple of years ago, where the quote was higher than the previous year. In the end, when I talked to the agent, she agreed to a quote a little lower than the year before. When you get a renewal reminder from Direct Asia, it names a specific agent (not necessarily the same each year) and if you call, you talk to that person. It didn't take her very long to change the quote and she didn't seem to need any authorization, so it made me think that she may be working within certain parameters and earning based on those. No idea if that's the case and this has only happened once from a number of years with Direct Asia.

I once helped a Thai friend go through the online visa application form. She was going to travel alone and just wanted me to check that she'd understood it all correctly. It looked like all the information about requirements etc. was on the UK government website: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor

It will go through customs before it gets to the Post Office. If you get a notification from your local PO, everything will already have been officially logged and recorded and you'll have to pay what's due.

A couple of people have explained that to you already. A karaoke bar where girls just come and sit for drinks is definitely not a go-go bar.

I know they are. Just saying they're not go-go bars.

Go-go bars are very much for western tourists. The Thai bars you're talking about are almost always karaoke places.

Yes. They won't extend beyond the validity of the passport.

It is recognized now.

You don't need a UK account.

The time regular mail has taken to arrive from the UK has been a bit variable but I haven't had anything disappear. Earlier in the year I had a few things that took a couple of months to get here but I got a package a couple of days ago that took almost exactly a week. Though I read stories of disappearing mail, in over 30 years I've only had one piece of mail from the UK that has gone completely astray. If you're not getting anything at all, it could be a rogue postie or someone in the local post office.

You should have a 13-digit ID number on your vaccination certificate following the 2nd shot that will allow you to register on Mor Prom. Worked for me.

Yes, you're absolutely right. I was just unhelpfully musing on them going all gestapo about someone staying longer than number of days stated in the application. It reminded me of the days we had to go for a mini grilling at the tax office to get a certificate to be able to leave the country.

It doesn't actually say the visa is for 43 days. It just says that's the length of stay, which is what you said you've stated in the application. Most likely the visa will be valid for a stay of 60 days but it opens up the possibility of being questioned about reasons and means for an extension I suppose.

Did your last one work online? If so, have you since done an extension of stay? It seems that many people are finding that this is not being updated in the system and the 90-day report can't be done online.