MeaMaximaCulpa

Most of these products contain aluminium, so best to use sparingly

At Jomtien it is at desk 8 (retirement) and there is no charge. Be aware that you have to leave your passports there overnite to pick up the next day. You can get the form and photocopies in the shop next door.

Thanks for positive and useful replies!

I know some will disagree, and that is OK. But I do believe in giving credit when credit is due. I was there at 12:50 yesterday to transfer stamps to my new passport. There were 20 people in the queue + a similar group that had tickets from the day before and possibly some retirement folks who get special treatment. The latter group(s) went in first, then my queue. Beware that in the shortish time I was in the queue, probably 30 more people arrived, so time your arrival well. Or go around 9-10 in the morning, after the early group of eager beavers is through the system. And of course, avoid days just before or after week-ends and holidays. So I was in the door (which opened after lunch at 13:00) 13:10, did document check and my number for desk 8 was already up on the board when I got there. So instant service, 2 minutes and I was given a numbered card to return next day after 14:00 to pick up. Total time 25 minutes (plus 5 minutes pick-up today). I asked the nice and helpful lady please also transfer the reentry stamp, which before was done at the reentry desk, to avoid queueing one more time. She checked and confirmed that all the stamps will be transferred. OK, yes I have to come back again, but I prefer that to waiting in a small room (or outdoors) with many people. If you live far away and/or is frail, that may not be so good for you. And yeah, you have to walk through the door with a mask on (eeewww!), but can drop it down around your neck immediately inside, since most of the staff now don't use masks anymore. So keep one ready in your pocket, otherwise they send you out to the copy-shop to buy one. I noticed that a big roof has been built over one side of the old parking lot, so something is obviously coming there soon (a better queueing/waiting area is my guess). The other side is covered with tarpaulins, and there are lots of chairs to sit on while waiting. A little coffee outlet is also new (to me), so you can grab a cup while waiting. This time I also used the parking lot just across the road. 40 bath (seems no time limit) is OK in my opinion, but I am sure someone will complain. Then you can park further away if you so wish, usually there is space up on Jomtien second road. Beach road and soi 5 are usually too crowded to find parking. So overall some improvements, and more to come it seems. Of course, the facilities are too small for the job, but I give credit to the staff squeezing the max out of what they have to work with. And they are all very nice, polite, and helpful. I have no experience with the sections other than retirement, 90-day and reentry, but I have NEVER in my time at Jomtien (since they moved from central Pattaya) had ANY bad experience with the staff. So there! ???? The one thing I do think needs attention is adequate toilet facilities. I believe there are toilets inside, but possibly now reserved for staff only? Can anyone fact-check/confirm this? But as far as I know there is nothing outside. Now that would be a nice addition if you have to wait for a while and had too much coffee in the morning. So please take this for what it is, a visit report and a tribute to the nice and hardworking staff at Jomtien Immigration. Way to go guys!

The 200 drops to 120 if you prepay a card. And yes it is steep even at that lower price. But think about the location, fairly central in BKK. A piece of land that will soon house a condo or suchlike if the driving range doesn't bring in the money.

At 42 Tee-Off you can pay walk-in rate per tray (B200) so you can try it out without committing money to a card. The price per tray is otherwise B120. The minimum is 1,000 on the card, and it will expire after 2 months (IIRC). If you put 2,000 or 3,000 the unused amounts will expire after 3 and 4 months respectively. I go there when in BKK, since I stay just across the road. It is quite OK, with a very small putting green but no sand bunker. Give it a try!

A few weeks ago it said on a sign outside to wear a mask inside. However, several officers didn't wear one, so I quickly removed mine too. Nobody said a word, even a masked officer that served me at the re-entry desk. So it seems you can choose. Try it and see, no big risk.

What he said

Do we?

Yeah, just thought about that. I also use BBL, and can get current balance without any transaction. If you use other banks that may not be the case.

I also always use bank letter from previous day, but I NEVER do a same day transaction. Ever. I do use an FD account, and is therefore also NEVER asked for bank statements. At Jomtien. YMMW.

Let me indulge in a bit of "mansplaining" (yes, my pronouns are he/him/his ????). Root canals, especially done by non-experts can trap very aggressive anaerobic bacteria which can later (often many years later) leak out and get into the bloodstream. In turn these bacteria can lead to serious infections in the heart and possible other organs. I would rather extract the tooth, and then either do without it (if far at the back and still provides functional chewing) or go for an implant some months later, if needed with a bone graft. If sensitive to titanium there is a ceramic called zirconium that is totally inert (I believe both implant and crown can be made with this material), but it is somewhat brittle and possibly more expensive and harder to find here.

I can highly recommend Dr. Tapasit @ Aden Za clinic on North Pattaya road, just before Healthland going towards Sukhumvit road. Website: http://www.adenzadental.com I have used Dr. Tapasit for more than 20 years, he speaks perfect (US) English, he was educated in the USA and worked there for a time.

It was just meant as a joke, and not to offend anyone. Sorry but I cannot help you with your question.

Where's Doctor Jack when you need him...? ????

If by "some form of address" outside of Thailand (most likely in your home country or where you hold permanent residency) you mean a proforma address meant to deceive the authorities or facilitate certain processes, it may become a problem. For me at least, to legally avoid most taxation in my home country (and at the same time legally avoid tax on the same items in Thailand), I have to have my officially registered address in the country I reside (i.e. Thailand), and not in my home country. Then my bank there will obtain my address from the national address register, so I cannot operate with one address for taxes and one address for banking. I recently also had to supply the home country bank with my Thai tax ID (same as the pink card ID number if you have this, unless you registered for a tax ID before you got your pink card) AND also I was asked to "re-identify" myself due to EU regulations. And if I didn't comply with these requests, my account would be frozen/suspended, and my access to all internet-based government services suspended. So surveillance is increasing step by step, and control is soon 100%. But as usual, YMMV depending on your home country rules and regulations and any double tax agreements with Thailand. And how risk averse you are...

I may be wrong, but doesn't tax residency have to do with the time spent in the country? Like more than half the year in Thailand you are deemed as tax resident here?

Sure, I agree, but unless we can get the rules changed, they are what they are. I think most of us can agree that the basic immigration law, rules and regulations are quite easy to comply with in Thailand, but it is the big variations in enforcement between (and even within) offices and over time that is the real problem. If you know the rules and they do not change often (and grandfathering is used where appropriate), it is quite easy to comply. But we live in the real world, not some fantasy world. And it is not a human right to live in Thailand for foreigners. I respect Thailand for enforcing their border protection, unlike what is done in many countries in Europe (and now US), including my own country.

Sure, that extra one hour per year will surely make a big impact in the quality of our lives. But since we have chosen—for whatever reason—to live here, it is not so unreasonable to follow a few simple rules.

About that form. Twice I have not been given the form, and therefore not gone back to show the money. It seems a bit random, like they give out forms sometimes but not always. But if/when I do get the form in my sweaty little hand I will do as told and go to show the money. To be honest, I am pretty sure nothing will happen if we don't go back, but I am not so brave as to test this hypothesis. YMMV.

What he said. I have many years of very good service at Jomtien desk 8, never a problem if you have your stuff in order. Way to go. Yes I know we have to come back next day to pick up, and yes we have to show 800K in the bank after 90 days, but no big deal in the big scheme of things.

Same experience for me 18 days ago. I asked an official at the outer gate, and he just said go queue with the rest. A pity, because the booking system process was flawless, with instant confirmation and an e-mail follow-up the day before. But perhaps it was because the large covid extension crowds at the time, so with some patience, it may be introduced later.

For what it is worth, the OP has at least made us aware of the problem. Most of us do not dare to put our existence here at risk to fight corruption, I am the first to admit that for myself, even though I would like to. But from there to actively support corruption because of your own convenience, or to ridicule the OP for "not standing up" or for his grammar is just preposterous, wrong and uncalled for. They say do not feed the trolls, but sometimes one just have to.

Thanks for that, we have considered metal sheets, but came down on tiles. See my other reply today for more.

No, we never had problems with the ceiling insulation. It is around 5cm of sprayed-on foam, on top of a thin sheet of aluminium foil. So not too heavy. We have had the occasional rat up there, but not because of the foam. It happens in the rainy season, where the rats seek shelter. And with many openings to get in, it's a given. And it is very good for lowering the temperature in the house plus reduce rain noise. So well worth it. But we have been advised against spraying foam on the back of the tiles. An update to my initial post: We have had SCG here to survey and give us a quote for a full replacement of the roof tiles. They seem very professional, used drone to survey outside of roof + checked inside roof. They measure angles and give you an accurate size of your roof. We're just sorting out the final questions. It will not be cheap, but we deem it the best long term solution. The original roof was built by non-pros using substandard tiles and methods. Patching and putting lipstick on this pig is not worth it.