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cocopops

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Posts posted by cocopops

  1. Hey,

     

    I have to meet a chap tomorrow at somewhere that sounded over the phone like "Mike's Burgers" near "Arcade bus station. Superhighway!".

     

    I know Arcade bus station - that's that place you get to off Kaeonawarat road, correct? But is there really a Mike's burgers there? Or something with a similar sounding name?

     

    I remember Mike's Burgers from years ago, but I thought they closed up shop for one reason or another.

     

    Thanks peeps,

    Cocopops.

     

  2. 2 hours ago, connda said:

    7500000 infections / 7800000000 Earth population = 000967949 or .098% of the population of the Earth is infected.  I won't bother to do the deaths.  They pale in comparison to road fatalities.
    But just be extremely afraid and get your shot (which isn't available) as soon as you can.  And wear a mask and social distance for the rest of your life. 

     

    You're out by a zero - 75 million / 7.5 billion is about 1% infected.

     

    Global road fatalities run at about 1.35 million per year according to WHO. Virus has, also according to WHO, accounted for 1.7 million of us so far.

     

    While I agree people have been overreacting in many cases, you're quite misinformed. You should reconsider where you're getting your information.

     

    • Like 2
  3. 5 hours ago, Aussiepeter said:

    I was just wondering about the age of that picture of the blue skies and relatively clean air over CM. I haven't been back there since last year, when the air was putrid,  but to be honest the last time I saw the air that clear in Changers was in the rainy season in 1994. 

     

    It was genuinely beautiful a few months ago. I do a fair bit of running and I was continually transfixed by how amazing the sky looked. And how even these old eyes could pick out the finer details of our feathered friends as they traversed the atmosphere off in the distance.

     

    That's all over now though. Today the AQI sites are colored orange and the sky is looking all dusty. You can see the white smoke near the horizons. To say this is maddening doesn't quite capture how strongly I feel about this. ****ing crop-burning farmers can all drop dead as far as I'm concerned.

     

    • Like 1
  4. Give it a go and watch the daily reports would be my advice. Right now we're down to pretty close to zero community infections a day, and there's no reason to believe it will jump to 10,000 overnight. It seems to me most likely that if there is to be a second wave it will be much like the first, which took a few weeks or so to build up. So pull the kids out of school if we get back up to a few dozen infections a day if you've reason to be particularly concerned, otherwise wait a bit longer and the government will probably shut them down again.

     

  5. 4 hours ago, Thaidream said:

    The Thai people one sees in  Western style restaurants are those who have  upper management positions in banks ; the military or police. or stable industry.

     

    Quite so, but don't overlook the owners of successful small businesses - from busy market stalls to regular shops and cafes. Plenty of these people doing very well, by western or any other standards, too.

     

    They are still, of course, a relatively small minority compared to the very poor though.

     

  6. Quote

    when we see thai people, he’s not interested in talking with them. He will just say to me, they don’t speak English. When we watch tv, it has to be English, same with music. 

    Has he started school yet? Our 4 year old was just like that until he started school last August. Much more friendly with English speakers than Thai. And with men than women curiously enough. My theory was that Thais are always touching/hugging kids, which he didn't like. Foreigners don't tend to do that as much. His Thai wasn't as good as his English either.

     

    Since he's been at school he's turned all that around. Funny really - pay the earth for an international school and all he seems to have learned is Thai language...

     

  7. Quote

    I got - it's a long story - a small eyedropper bottle of cannabis THC oil from Maharat Hospital in Chiang Mai for 1000 baht.

     

    I'd love to hear the short version of the long story if you're in a sharing mood. For what ailment was the oil prescribed?

  8. Those restrictions are not universal, at any rate.

     

    I just have the basic savings account with passbook from Bangkok Bank and I receive international wires and use internet banking and the ATM. I have no work permit - just a Thai Elite visa, which is the same as tourist visa for almost everything official. I needed a letter from immigration to verify my address.

     

    If it's causing you hassle, I think most of the visa agents or farang-problem-fixer shops will help you out a smallish fee. That's true in Chiang Mai anyway. The most reputable one in Chiang Mai is called "Assist Thai Visa", in case you happen to be here.

    • Like 1
  9. On 9/23/2019 at 9:23 PM, blackcab said:

    let us know how you get in with immigration.

    No problem departing with my son through Chiang Mai airport immigration.

     

    I get the impression immigration have a lot of discretion with this. When I got to the immigration counter the officer immediately clocked the situation, and sighed thoughtfully when I confirmed that this would be the youngster's first trip outside Thailand and that his mother wasn't present. He made a big show of checking that the surnames in our passports were the same, then looked thoughtfully at my boy. At that point I thrust the letter at him. Once he had read it he seemed much happier. He asked if he could keep the letter - I said, "No, I might need it in Bangkok". So he asked quite deferentially if he could take a copy instead. That was pretty much it.

     

    My point in mentioning this is that I think it's a bit of a high-pressure situation for them. I guess the individual officer's gut-feeling is the last line of defense against an international kidnapping and, however rare such things might be in practice, it's not something you want to stuff up. And if you do stuff it up - better to have some evidence to show you made an effort.

     

    • Thanks 1
  10. On 9/22/2019 at 5:43 PM, blackcab said:

    The letter is easy to get. His mother needs to visit the District Office with her Thai ID card and house book, your son's birth certificate, plus you and your passport.

    For anyone reading this thread at a later date - the above is precisely correct. We didn't have the original handy, but they accepted a copy of the tabien baan. All told, took about half an hour to get the letter from the district office for Muang, Chiang Mai.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  11. 46 minutes ago, blackcab said:

    Where was your son born? If he was born in Thailand and he has not left Thailand then you will need the consent letter from his mother.

     

    If your son was born in Australia and he entered Thailand with you on his Australian passport (which means he would need a yearly extension of stay and 90 day reports) then you wouldn't need a consent letter from his mother (however immigration can still ask if they choose to do so).

     

    The letter is easy to get. His mother needs to visit the District Office with her Thai ID card and house book, your son's birth certificate, plus you and your passport.

     

    It's best to have the letter because immigration can and will deny travel if they are not satisfied. Like all border authorities they are on the lookout for child abduction, especially by estranged parents.

     

    Thanks for this. He was born in Thailand and this will be his first trip abroad, so it sounds like I definitely need it.

     

    So it's a standard thing - we just rock up to the Amphur and ask for such a letter? Or do we write something ourselves and then have them notarize it?

     

    I imagine the Amphur office here in Chiang Mai knows what these things are, as they seemed to know what Mum was talking about when we asked - they're just not sure it's required in this case. But surely it is - as you say immigration would have no way of knowing I'm not an estranged parent doing something wrong.

     

    Thanks again,

    Cocopops.

     

     

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