Rango

Let’s all hope that Khun Abhisit gets the time and the backing to get Thailand back in order. I, for one, am happy to see an educated man, who appears to have no hidden agenda, leading the country, and, hopefully, giving my young daughter a future to look forward to.

If it was that obvious, it wouldn't be a hidden agenda would it?

It appears that there may indeed be rough times ahead.

Let me be the first to nominate you for Thai-Visa Understatement of the year award!

Rotting economic conditions and ongoing political standoffs rarely go well together.

My Thai girlfriend of several years is pregnant. I am quite happy about this, however she and i are not married. We have been talking about getting hitched for some time now but never quite got around to it.

My question is, if we are not married at the time of the birth, will this have any affect on wether or not my name goes on the birth certificate? I have seen that the rules have changed for the dependant's visa so it seems like simply having a child here won't take care of my visa problems. I am wondering if there maybe any additional knock-on effects of not getting married prior to giving birth that aren't blatantly obvious.

thx!

The other night i was talking about this very thing with the girlfriend. She wants to go to Yanhee for boobs, a western nose and rounder eyes. I figured they could maybe add a little slant to my eyes and flatten my nose a bit while we were there! Maybe get a volume discount

Travel all over the world for work. First thing to do in any new town is find the "authentic" thai restaurant...the one where the thai people go...where the staff aren't so hi-so that they will actually speak with a falang in thai...Golden Mile in Singapore...Thai Wi-Rat in Brisbane...

When i get home in Phuket, snap on the TV and change the channel to Luk-Thung videos....leave it on all day...feels like home...Think Singapore would be a lot cooler if the cable operator would bring up some Thai channels.

I think i have worn out all my Ponglangsaon mp3.s I have taken to watching the videos on YouTube while my computer crunches numbers at work...Sek Loso...Carabao...Kratae...the list goes on...seems like i don't listen to anything in english anymore.

Keep the Yaah-dome next my mouse...not that the office stinks but the rush is nice...

never without a few Halls candy's in my pocket...

I based my decision to not take an apartment based on the fact that it had no bum-gun...samkhan maak maak!

i learned my lessons about poking grumpy bears a while ago....but it can be irresistable fun indeed!

Hi gang.

A couple of months ago i was in phuket and i was speaking with a gentleman who had a wireless transmitter attached to his laptop. He was french and his english wasn't so good so he had some difficulty explaining the device.

What i was more or less able to understand was that he had become tied of relying on the wireless internet provided by hotels which can be slow at best and downright dodgy at worst. He had visited the local CAT office (i think), and they had sold him a device which allowed him to access wirelss broadband at a very good bit-rate. It was a simple wallet-sized silver box with an antenna and it was plugged into either his USB or Network port. He was very happy and said it could be used anywhere in the country with mobile-network service.

I never saw the guy again, and i have never seen anyone else with a similar device. Has anyone had experience with such a thing? At this point, a contraption of this nature would be endlessly helpful for me.

Any pointers/suggestions would be appreciated.

thx!

Hi Gang.

A c

Hi Gang.

I am looking to purchase a motor bike in Phuket for myself. What do i need to know about the process? Is insurance an issue? Does my type of visa matter (non-immigrant "B")? What about registration?

I aim to go to a Honda dealer and go buy something new. Can i pay with credit card? If i pay cash, can i negotiate with them?

Any pointers would be appreciated.

thx!

During my limited time of 24 years in Thailand I have known so many expats who consider themselves fluent in Thai but when I hear most of them attempting to speak Thai it sounds like the scraping of fingernails on a chalkboard.

and speaking of fingernails on a chalkboard...I listen to an awful lot of thai music and that helped a bunch in developing an ear for the language.

It was important to me to learn thai simply so i could tell if the bargirls were talking about me and what they were saying. I don't always let on that i can speak and it can be pretty fun when my secret leaks out

But seriously, back in the US there is an ongoing debate, partially fuelled by racism, that immigrants should be obliged to learn english and the english should be made the "official" language. Sidestepping "right or wrong" on the issue, my opinion is simply that if you are going to live somewhere, things will be much better if you learn to speak the prevalent language...so i went to school for a month when i started coming to Thailand in order to learn the basics.

Eventually met a girl who didn't like speaking english. We stayed together for two years and she taught me a whole lot (including some phrases that aren't intended for polite company!)

Now, i certainly regard myself as above average, but only with speech. I have been picking up the letters of the alphabet over the last year and intend to move to Bangkok next year and enroll in classes to learn reading, writing and broaden my vocabulary.

I think its wonderful fun and a great trick to walk into a thai restaurant in Kansas City and start rapping with them like a native

Hi Guys.

Just wondering how big the expat community is on Koh Chang. I have been hanging around in Phuket for quite sometime and I am getting a bit burned out on it frankly.

I'd like to go someplace a little more remote but still be able to find some permanently residing mates to hang out with.

any comments on the white-guy/gal community would be appreciated.

Thx.

its even rougher for me to quit saying "alai nah?" when i get back to farang-land.

of couse living in Singapore only compounds the difficulty. They speak english so well, it has become its own language

Getting an apartment in SG is a huge pain the a$$. I have one and i regret it. You have to pay 2-3 months rent up front (this covers part of the agent fees) and usually a 2 year lease. They are quite overpriced and the place just kind of bites by comparison to Thailand anyways.

That said...

You could try Craigs List Singapore:

http://singapore.craigslist.com.sg/

or take a poke around on Singapore Expat Forum:

http://www.singaporeexpats.com/forum/index.php

You can often find rooms to let in the Straits times as well. Also there are several longstay places around Chinatown and Geylang. Serviced apartments that advertise online are pretty spendy. Your best bet is going to be looking around while on the ground in the country.

Good luck.

i dunno....kind of a lousy location seems to me. i love his joint in Chiang Mai. Its saved my hungry butt on more than one occasion.

I took a month of private lessons at Patong Language School. Its in the development behind Talat Arun Som. It was a bit pricey but it helped me get started pretty well. Then staying with my girlfriend in the ensuing 2 years has helped even more.

Hi guys.

I am a 34 year old American Citizen. I am not married to a Thai girl.

I am currently employed in Singapore which allows me to travel up to Thailand quite often. On my last trip up, the woman at the immigration counter in Bangkok looked at me and said, "next time you get visa!" I know that i have been in the kingdom for only about 60 of the last 180 days, but i figure that with the number of entry and exit stamps in my passport (i go every other weekend), it probably looks like i live there and i am abusing the system.

I checked the resources linked from this website and went to the Thai Government's list of availible visas but i am confused about which one would apply to me.

Do they grant multiple-entry non-immigrant visas to guys under 50 who aren't married to Thai women? I remember hearing about the business/investment visa but i have heard conflicting reports that it is no longer availible.

Later this month, I am going back to the US for 2 weeks and would very much like to get some type of extended stay visa so i can stay out of trouble. Can one of you kind folks please advise me as to what type to get and what type of documentation i will need to provide?

Thanks much.