007

Thanks a lot. In a related question, is the new Immigration office open on Saturdays, and can one do the report on this weekday?

I suspect they will consider the application for visa change the first report (as it is the first part of an extension of stay request). I would do 90 days later and hope for the best.

Well, the difference between the extension date and conversion date is just about two weeks. Guess, I will just go a couple days earlier then.

EDIT.

Actually the Immigration website says this.

The first application for extension of stay by the foreigner is equivalent to the notification of staying in the Kingdom over 90 days.

So that would mean that your 30 day extension application counts as a 90 day report.

Cheers guys for all the good advice. So, according to that webpage I am not overdue, but will just need to report in early December!?

Thanks LB, sorry it appears I was wrong.

I am guessing he has a 12 month extension of stay. Not a B Visa.

The first application counts as a 90 days report. However we have to wait and see what he really has.

The original TV was changed to a Non "B", which is valid for 3 months; it's an actual visa, no extension of that visa as yet.

If you now have a 12 month extension from Immigration the 90 days starts from the day you applied.

If you have a Non Imm B Visa obtained from a Thai Consulate the 90 days start from when you last entered the country.

How about a Non Imm B Visa (3 months) "obtained" from the Immigration office?

I'm a bit in a dilemma, anyone can advise me when I have to do my 90-day-address report to the Immigration department?

I came to Thailand on the 10th of July; stamped in until the 7th of September. Extended my Tourist Visa later for 30 days till the 7th of October. Later had TV changed to Non "B" Visa, valid till 9th of December 2009. So, when do I need to do my 90-day reporting??

Outraguous Fortune (NZ series, on Australia Network)

House

Fort Boyard (French game show, on TV5 Monde)

The industry does seem to attract the crooks...

Thank God, there's no corruption here in Thailand- Errr.., no!

Did you acclimatize to the heat and humidity in Thailand?

How long did it take you? Is it even possible?

I'm an asthmatic; the first time I went through the airport door into Bangkok's open I almost suffocated, because of the heat and the air-pollution. It was my first visit to the tropics, and I sweat like a pig. But after only a few days I was completely acclimatized. (But yes, being fond of heat does help.)

Nowadays it's rather difficult for me to cope with the cold weather and low humidity when travelling to the old world. (Any advice how to withstand cold and windy 'temperate' climate after years in the tropics highly appreciated.)

Pls. follow the link: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article....1639&pnum=0

Tears flow over Taito Phillip Field's 'tough penalty'

Updated 7:40PM Tuesday Oct 06, 2009

By Andrew Koubaridis

Tears flowed when disgraced former MP Taito Phillip Field was today sentenced to six years in jail, with his lawyer saying he could not rule out an appeal.

Field, 57, stood in the High Court at Auckland dock clutching a bible as he became the first MP to be jailed for bribery, corruption and perverting the course of justice.

His lawyer Paul Davison , QC, told reporters six years was "a tough penalty for someone like Mr Field", who was an MP for 12 years, for Labour then as an independent.

The sentence was longer than he thought appropriate, Mr Davidson said.

"The issue of appeal hasn't been decided, but it's certainly something which is receiving some consideration."

Field's wife Maxine said she was heartbroken.

Her husband told her this morning that whatever happened, she had to look up to the Lord and be strong.

"I'll be OK. We'll be OK. God will take care of us. We are so heartbroken because all this is happening after the tsunami in Samoa," she said, still protesting her husband's innocence.

"I'm very sad. There was no intention at all," she said.

Justice Rodney Hansen sentenced Field to four years in prison on the bribery and corruption charges and two years on the charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The sentences were to be served cumulatively.

In August, a jury found the former Mangere MP guilty of 26 of the 35 criminal charges he faced, ending a 15-week trial.

He was found guilty of 11 of 12 charges of bribery and corruption after getting Thai nationals to carry out work on his properties in Auckland and Samoa in return for immigration assistance between November 2002 and October 2005.

He was also found guilty of 15 of 23 charges of wilfully attempting to obstruct or pervert the course of justice relating to evidence he gave to a Government-ordered inquiry by Noel Ingram, QC, into his conduct.

- NZPA

We have been witnessing capital inflow into our region, including our country, for many months, which is one reason for the bullishness in emerging countries among investors.

With the prime minister publicly telling people not to travel overseas (to save baht), and diminishing imports, on the one hand, and more and more transfers of funds to Thailand by morons, who think they can make money at the SET, and rising exports, on the other hand; it's not rocket science to foresee a strong baht in the short and medium term.

I agree with you 100% and people now are looking for a fast lane. No one wants to earn an honest living anymore??

It may sound like a joke - but it's not! The som tum lady just outside my apartment building had her bag stolen, incl. money and ID card, only a few weeks ago. She hardly makes any money, selling papaya salad and ice coffee; not having much money. And it's not even a major road, but a small alley, where all the Thais know one another. Some people are really desperate these days.

What kind of rabbit goes to Thailand and eats that sort of sh1t?

The tourist kind. I haven't eaten anything from Mcdonalds (aside from 1 order of their breakfast eggs a while ago) for around 10 years, but a lot of the tourists that come here would never try street food, or any Thai food that isn't almost exactly like their own cuisine. I don't presume to understand it, but I asked a colleague of mine why he doesn't eat Thai food, and he said that he didn't come here for the food, and that he doesn't trust Thai restaurants and their strange ideas of what food is. This narrow view is held by many tourists I'm afraid.

Personally, I prefer Thai cuisine to most western food, but I think a lot of the budget tourists here tend to be quite xenophobic and ignorant.

That's interesting, cause in my case it's just the other way round. I ate Thai food only, back when I was a tourist in Thailand. But having lived here for seven years, my diet now is more like 2/3 western or western-style food, and only 1/3 Thai dishes.

Beware people who befriend you on the street and ask favours or offer taxi tours. As this male senior citizen discovered, it can prove a life-threatening encounter.

Your comments are fair enough, but then again, he's a 'senior citizen', perhaps in his seventies. I don't want to remember what scams where tried on me when I travelled for the first time to Thailand (==> temple/ museums closed scam, free tuk-tuk scam, upstairs bar scam, wrong change for 1,000 baht banknote scam, etc.) and Malaysia (==> blackjack scam). And I still from time to time fall victim to one or the other, e.g. had my wallet stolen after living for five years in Thailand.

Its.. sexually-liberated.. populace..

Especially in places on the map that start with P - __atpong, __atong, Nana __laza..

McThai had targeted sales to grow by 20 per cent this year, |the same as last year, but the figure will be more than 20 per cent because of the impressive double-digit sales pace in the first nine months, he said.

Shouldn't be difficult, considering that they raised prises for many of their products (e.g. hamburger from 19 to 23 baht, double filet-o-fish from 55 to 65 baht (??)) by about 20% very recently. Raising prises by 20% can lead to 20% higher sales, if they can keep sales volumes up and costs low.. Simple 101 of economics.

I always get a kick out of people suggesting simply not paying last month's rent, LOL. I've rented 5 condos in Bangkok and each and every contract stated that NO SECURITY DEPOSIT SHALL BE USED TO PAY RENT.

I'm currently in a unique situation. I'm about to move out of a place, where supposedly (hearing from former tenants) the (Indian) management will not repay the two-month deposit.

The unique thing is, that I don't even have a valid rental agreement with them. I've been living there for more than 1.5 years. I've had a six-month contract at first, then a one-year agreement, which expired about 2 months ago. My questions are: 1) would withholding the last rent be easier or more difficult? And 2) can the landlord intervene, if my girlfriend moved out with my belongings, and I nominally stayed there?

What are you trying to say 007?

All you have done is posted quotes with no reply.

Honestly, I have no idea. Just technical probs. with the computer at the office. It's pretty much f.. up. Maybe computer viruses or food germs??

As for the bacteria, this is true, but anyone eating street food in Thailand will need a healthy immune system anyway.

So true. I remember seeing, in front of shops and restaurants, raw meat and fish baking for hours in the hot sun, with zillions of flies buzzing about, when I first ventured to the Asoke area years ago. I was close to giving one of the shop owners a lecture about food hygiene, but thought better of it.

Nah, it's the "principle" of the thing, or it's probably more likely to just be that the folks at Klong 7 slept through the multiplication class in 4th grade.

Probably true. If you buy things at a minimart (for example), more often than not you will experience that the folks there need a calculator to add up your shopping. 'How much is 25 and 10 again..?' --> Unbelievable!

Avoid content from Bangkok Post

I've avoided buying the printed edition of BP for the past five years. Thumbs up for The Nation!

What are the flood-prone areas of Bangkok?<snip>

Lower Sukhumvit was fun a few years ago.

Upper Sukhumvit (esp. the stretch from Bangna to Onnut) still is, as soon as there is a bit of heavy rain for thirty minutes, or so. Right after the road and adjoining alleys are covered by water, 10-30 cm deep.

Words like 'eheeya'/'iheeya' (==>monitor lizard) are supposedly the worst insults in Thai language. Still, I hear Thais (e.g. middle class teenagers) yelling them all the time at each other. People call each other names, call others 'crazy' and 'stupid', etc., nonstop.

(And I'm not even talking about Thai-'farang' interrelations, but Thais/Thais.)

I've been to many countries around the world, but never experienced something like that. And IMHO it seems to get worse and worse. Compare the average Thai's behaviour today vs. 10 or 12 years ago, and you know what I'm talking about.

At my school (government school) I was asked to "up" the scores by several points, so that all students had a good grade for the term.

Another experience at a branch of an international language school (three-letter acronym made up of two letters): all students passed the exam, even though they were way below the pass mark of 60 (e.g 12/100). It wasn't enough that 28 out of 30 students passed the exam, but it had to be all of them.

No matter what kind of school, it's often enough a farce. That's my experience, having worked in different educational environments in Thailand. What I think? Well, if you want to keep your job, more often than not, there's no other way than complying with this nonsense. Sad, but true.