mnbcm

I see there are some new Canon Ixus cameras out. Has anyone seen them being sold in Thailand yet? Everywhere I go in Chiang Mai has the last models. I'm looking at possibly purchasing the Ixus 130

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1002/10020802...0issd1300is.asp

There is but it depends where you live. Are you downtown ubon or out in the sticks?

Nowhere yet, but most likely in downtown area.

What cable or satellite TV options are there in Ubon? Any alternatives to UBC?

Quite a few police on Hang Dong Rd. too and saw a foreigner's car being searched. I assume someone important is in town. Anyway, interesting security presence after yesterday.

ha, ok. I don't know. I'm rarely on that side of town so I wasn't sure if there was a base nearby.

I just passed about 7 fully outfitted army tanks rolling down the highway on their own tracks north of town on Maejo road between the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. Is that normal?

Wish I could say this has been as easy as others.

I arrived at the office assuming I was probably missing a document even though I've tried researching on TV.

When I went in, the lady reviewed my docs and said my picture was too small because it didn't quite cover the edges of the little square and I need more proof of employment in U.S. She wrote down what we needed and told us to come back. Fair enough.

Next day, came back. New officer doesn't like my map. I have an aerial photo with streets marked and labeled with a giant red line from immigration to my house and GPS coordinates. She pulls out a hand scribbled map of someone else and says that is what she wants. Ok... She also wants to see a rental contract.

She also complained about my proof of income form from the U.S. Embassy. She said she can't find a raised stamp on it. It's got a giant red embassy stamp and it's the correct document I got just days ago. Not sure what the issue is. I guess I have to go back to the embassy and asked for a raised stamp.

We are planning to move in a couple months. Do we need to report to the local immigration office when we move?

On the lower end I can recommend the Pairadise Guesthouse in Pai www.pairadise.com for about 600 THB. Nice swimming lake.

On the high end there is veranda resort chiang mai, very expensive but only a 5 min drive from night safari direction samoeng and lots of pools http://www.verandaresortandspa.com/chiangmai/ about 6000 THB.

Both won't take you out of the smog though, because for that you have to be over 1000m in the mountains or south of nakhon sawan.

Ha! Good point. Thanks for the ideas.

Can you recommend a resort within a couple hours of Chiang Mai in the mountains? My goals are...

1. Get out of the smog and away from work

2. Read, Relax, & do basically nothing for a couple days

3. Swim in a pool

I've seen about every tourist location there is to see and just want a place to relax. Doesn't need to be fancy at all. Thanks for the ideas!

If you qualify 1,900 Baht.

Thank you! Does my wife absolutely need the actual household registration book with her? We have copies but the book her name is on is being used by another relative at the moment.

How much does a Non-Immigrant O Extension cost?

As soon as I take a couple more "around the house" photos, I'll go in and report back. Always helpful to hear recent success stories. Thanks!

its where the green arrow is

dave2

Renewal. Thanks!

Where is the Chiang Mai immigration office for applying for visas?

You guys are starting to scare me. I travel so much, I don't see how I could have a dog. I'm thinking of beefing up the fence though. Anyone have any good fence pictures of their home?

Two things. First, I've never had any real problems with Immigration in C.M., other than the obvious waiting time. And while one woman who did the interview could use a refesher course in manners, everyone else has been very polite and respectful. Try NOT to get the woman who sits at the desk by the wall in the first row. hahaha

Second:A friend of mine, who lives in the same houseing development as I do, said when he went in January they told him they were "changing things", and now they are basically doing away with the "Marriage Extension" and "converting" them to Retirement Visas. They said the next time he comes he doesn't have to bring wife, marriage certificate, etc. But I would double check this information to make sure it's correct. But it wouldn't surprise me if they did that. It would sure make things a whole lot easier. But wait, This Is Thailand, and things aren't supposed to be easy! In fact, the more complicated and problematic for the foreigners, the better the Thai authorities seem to like it. hahaha

Thanks for the tip on the interview. I'm pretty sure they aren't forcing anyone to retirement visas. I don't qualify anyway.

I'm pretty sure that new undersea cable that was opened a month or two ago has helped. It's only going to get better with Google's help too. You can see a map here.

do you use skype on that package? And if so how is it?

No matter what the speed, I always seem to have Skype issues with TTT Maxnet. When Skype doesn't work, Gmail's built in video chat has always worked better for me. You might try that instead.

No children, married 2 1/2 years, a year and a half of which has been spent in Thailand. What time do they open?

I can beat your 4 hour record by the way.

Form Kor Sor 2, obtained from amphur. It is a copy of the ledger entry that shows your marriage details. The amphur will know the document - see here.

My wife is convinced that the คร22 serves the same purpose as Kor Sor 2, but that the คร22 from the Amphur is for those who were married outside of Thailand. The documents look very similar in content. Thanks for the link. I guess we'll see what happens.

Has anyone been to Chiang Mai Immigration lately to apply for an extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai citizen?

What kind of questions are asked when your spouse is interviewed or is there even an interview? I'm a bit concerned about "work" questions. I'm self employed in the U.S. and can work online from anywhere in the world. All income is in the U.S. I have no business relations with anyone in Thailand so I don't believe I need a business visa, but I'm always a bit concerned about questions of work.

Are these the documents required?

-Proof of Marriage from Amphur and copies

-Spouse ID card and copies

-Household Registration Book and copies

-My passport and copies

-Notarized letter from U.S. embassy proving that I have at least 40,000/baht income each month and copies

-Map showing how to get to our house and copies

-Photos of us at the house

-And more extra copies of everything.

What is the document called in Thai script needed to prove marriage? Is it the ทะเบียนฐานะแห่งครอบครัว คร22?

Has anyone had anything shipped from overstock.com? What shipping company do they use?

Here's another one I stayed at recently. http://www.lanlookmai.com/

Fantastic service and beautiful woodwork.

15° 9'36.52"N, 104°19'25.19"E

3BB and Maxnet both use TTT's network right? What's the difference between them? I asked a 3BB office and they said they don't provide phone service and that's the only difference. Is one better than the other?

I've been very happy with Maxnet minus the major problems a couple months ago. Can download legal torrents very quickly. No throttling that I can tell. Any issues doing this with 3BB? Will be moving and thought about switching service if anything is better.