wedders

On 7/12/2021 at 10:53 AM, macgver said:

To Samaritan and ASEAN Now, if you need any assistance on supporting counselling service to the expats, don't hesitate to drop a private message to me. 

 

I am a pastor, also a missionary and doing a lot of counselling with the people, as well finding solution to help them. 

What I appreciated back in the 80s when I did a ten year stint as a Samaritan helper and branch director, was the emphasis on listening (rather than counselling), and the importance of never so much as hinting at personal beliefs, or lack of, in the exchange. Glad to see this principle still enshrined in its current ‘nature of services’ policy summary - “Volunteers will not impose their own convictions, or influence callers, in regards to politics, philosophy, or religion.”

3 hours ago, jimn said:

MODS please correct this article

 

This is totally incorrect information. Restaurants can open in Pattaya for eat inside the restaurant. Only alcohol has to be consumed off premises.

Was wading through the comments to find someone who had noticed that classic blunder. 
Pattaya restaurants are allowed to open as of yesterday for eat in except in malls where it remains delivery/takeout only. Restaurants are allowed to sell alcohol, but only for consumption “at home”. The curfew still applies so most close 9-9.30pm

Sheryl - thanks. I eventually found another place, Pawinee Clinic in Pattaya Klang (Dr Pawinee) opens daily at 5pm until 9pm. Think she's a paediatrician at Banglamung. Coming from the south on 3rd Road, left at Pattaya Klang lights, and it's just a few metres down.

I was surprised to see that this doctor treats chickenpox, if they catch it early enough, with acyclovir - both tablet and cream.

Reasonable cost in comparison to 'certain' hospitals. 580 baht including seeing the doctor, acyclovir cream and tablets, as well as something for the itching - probably chlorphenamine.

Child-friendly lady doctor. Quite impressed.

<deleted> tourists....

Who is going to bring their own beachbed to the beach?? Pathetic, cheap people, same as the reactions here

I don't understand your comment. People can not use sunbeds provided unless they go to the 10% area of sand which is rammed-crammed like sardines. So if they don't want to sit on red-hot filthy sand and prefer to take their own lounger/sunbed you think they are pathetic and cheap? How does that work?

If they extend the Wednesday rule to other days, I shan't bother going again.

Searched but only found a couple of old threads that either advised going to Bangkok, or had mixed views about the BPH in Pattaya. Just wondered if anyone had come across a paediatric clinic or a doc who least treats kids, outside the hospitals. I have used the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital on numerous occasions for my own daughter but despite having fully comp annual cover for in- and outpatients, I find the treatment erratic in quality if mostly ok, their eagerness to find an excuse to admit a patient under the slightest pretext embarrassing, and their pharmacy prices ridiculous.

On this occasion I am childsitting a Thai 4 year old (no insurance) who of course chooses this moment to go down with chickenpox. I thought treatment was pretty standard for this, but two doctors in practices near where I live, including Dr. Monghol on Thappraya, have refused to treat her - saying she needs a specialist paediatrician (without being able to give me a contact name/number). Advice so far is "go hospital".

Don't want to shell out for the inevitable bill running into the thousands at the BPH for some cream, maybe some pointless pills so they can inflate the bill, and advice that I don't need (keep her at home for a week). All this after hanging around waiting my turn for a couple of hours. Surely there is a normal Thai doc somewhere in Pattaya that has enough confidence in the skills presumably learned at med school to prescribe for something as basic as chickenpox?

If they have no powers of creation, salvation or judgment, then they are 'supernatural' in concept only. And I repeat, most (Western as it happens) Buddhists I know are concentrating on more important areas of Buddhist teachings, and have no belief in deities whether of the omnipotent omniscient variety, or the rather irrelevant supernatural beings in Buddhist mythology.

your western buddhist friends are a miniscule miniority.

Secular Buddhists are quite numerous, but quite naturally in developing countries such as Thailand with relatively low standards of education and exposure to outside ideas, superstitions persist more doggedly. Even certain high profile public figures allegedly belief in black magic.

I am not sure why you are picking an argument though, I am a pretty hard atheist myself, thought that was very clear.

If they have no powers of creation, salvation or judgment, then they are 'supernatural' in concept only. And I repeat, most (Western as it happens) Buddhists I know are concentrating on more important areas of Buddhist teachings, and have no belief in deities whether of the omnipotent omniscient variety, or the rather irrelevant supernatural beings in Buddhist mythology.

Dismiss = 'have no belief in'. Most Buddhists I know would support that statement.

Just come across this thread and I haven't the time to read through 142 pages, but a well known quote perfectly sums it up:

"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

my friend was in kinaree in pattaya for a few hours buying drinks etc. his bill came to 30000 baht we are all sure they padded the bill

Never had the slightest problem of that kind at Kinnaree, alone or with friends. That said, the place can be packed so ringing the bell can rack up the bin. Does seem high even so, thati is a helluva lot of Tequilas.

Tragic. Often in Thailand I have seen poorly enclosed private pool areas, and Thai parents and nannies relatively unaware of the risks (compared to Europe). It takes seconds for a child to drown, and frequently there is little or no sound or splashing. I lived next door to a house with unenclosed pool in East Pattaya last year, where the single father of a 18 month daughter left her with a Thai nanny for his 3 month stints working abroad. I just couldn't believe the risks she took with the child.

Are you still living with the mother? Because legal advice I obtained some time ago was that unmarried farangs with children when the father no longer lives with the mother cannot get this visa even if they share custody unofficially.

All along in my case as the divorced father of a Thai child, a key document in both the original visa application and two extensions since was either the ampur divorce settlement specifically stating that I had custody, or if the divorce had to go through the courts, the final settlement docs stating the same.

Yes salavan. The annoying thing was that I went into immigration a week before specifically the get the exact list of paperwork required, and they fobbed me off with the wrong one (probably because they didn't have the list for people in our case and didn't want to admit it.) Last year they needed neither the TM30 nor the tabien baans, so after enquiring here on ThaiVisa (and the latter weren't mentioned) I turned up with the docs from last year's list.

I'm still unclear on how one is supposed to get these when there is a letting agency intermediary and the tenant has zero contact with the landlord, or means to contact him.

Still I was lucky, I was able to contact mine... now I'm sitting in a vast queue right now at immigration, hoping third time lucky...

I take your point and understand the need to avoid fraudulent claims on the part of the authorities, but the same effort isn't put into ensuring other extensions especially retirement, education visas, etc aren't subject to fraudulent claims - and these massively outnumber us. Single fathers with custody of Thai kids are very few and far between.

In the Pattaya area it is a very simple matter for a fee of about 15,000 to 20,000 baht to obtain the retirement extension with nothing in the bank. And many go this route. Which means officials are complicit too, both in banks and immigration.

When an honest guy turns up at immigration having done his own paperwork, no backhanders paid, he is given the third degree. Sorry but that's the way I see it at least at this immigration office.

Does your child have a Thai ID card?

Apologies if this has already been dealt with, but 7 years old is the minimum age for a Thai ID card and the OP mentioned a 5 year old.

Yes Jomtien. Plus as extensions for dependent child reasons have to be approved in Bangkok, they wanted the entire wad of paoerwork in duplicate.

Plus they told me to come back not only with all the correct paperwork but with my five year old (presumably so that they could verify her existence despite all the paperwork).

They had a copy of her Thai passport, birth certificate, tabien baan, and the Thai divorce settlement which awarded me 100% custody but apparently that wasn't enough.

I just renewed the same visa

I also needed

Custody papers

Map of house

Pictures with children around the house and a picture showing number of house

landlord id card and tabien bahn copies signed

Just beware different offices needing different docs.

Mine wants tabien baan of both landlord's rented property and his home address as well as his ID, and the new PT30 form completed by the landlord.

Letter from child's school confirming attendance. Copy of child's tabien baan as well. Photos together with child inside and outside house as well as in front of school.

3 months above 400,000 not 2.

And don't forget map of house has to be hand-drawn - a Google maps print-off is no good.

As I said above, these are additional requirements since I last extended on the same basis.

I certainly hope the agents' activities will be looked at, but they can only exist with the connivance of people within the immigration office itself.

Yes I know, and that's about as daft as the rest of their cumbersome, corrupt system.

Just how pathetic is it that with 15,000 baht the problem of 'extra' documentation can just be made to go away.

When a father is staying in the country to ensure his daughter manages to see some of her mother's family, to learn the language and generally feel at home here, the Thai system makes ridiculously excessive demands (what happens if the landlord is living abroad, for example?) - and effectively is saying bribe us or we will throw you - and a Thai national - out of the country.

Pathetic.

Yes - when I say "new", I meant in comparison to last year's requirements.

As for a 60 day 'visitation' extension, I'm a single dad, my daughter lives with me in Thailand 100% of the time

A word of warning for anyone looking to extend an 'O' on the basis of having custody of a Thai child (in my case after a divorce) - there is now additional paperwork required.

Here is the list. All paperwork needs to be supplied in duplicate because one set is kept at the regional office and the other is sent to Bangkok (unless you are in Bangkok of course).

- the basic form for an extension of stay (so 2 passport size photos, 1 for the duplicate set);

- copy of passport with all relevant visa/extension pages and departure card;

- 400,000 baht minimum balance over 3 months with copy of bank book(s);

- bank letter with current balance (strictly no more than 3 days old);

- copy of rental agreement;

- copy of landlord's house book for the rented property (new);

- copy of landlord's house book for his/her own residence (new);

- copy of landlord's ID card (new);

- copy of TM 30 form to be completed and signed by the owner of the house (new);

- copy of divorce certificate;

- copy of custody document (ampur or court);

- letter from child's school confirming attendance;

- photo of you with your child in front of your house;

- photo of you with your child inside your house (new);

- photo of you with your child in front of his/her school;

- copy child's birth certificate;

- copy of house book where your Thai child is registered;

- your child's presence with you on presenting the documentation to the immigration officer (new).

Obviously if you own a house the procedure will be a bit different but the TM30 form will still have to be filled in by the person in whose name the house is registered (or by the company officer if applicable). Don't know how that will affect the various tabien baans required but they may well still want the Thai house owner's house book if registered elsewhere.

Having previously gone in to get the 'required documents list' from immigration and having been fobbed off with the wrong one, to say I'm pissed off would be an understatement. Doing it 'by the book' requires a kilo of paperwork and multiple hoops to be jumped through. And even then it's not good enough.

But if you're over 50 and have a Kasikorn bank account with 2 baht in it, a visa agent can get you a year's retirement extension for 15,000 baht cash, no questions asked. So much for cleaning up Thailand's extremely mucky act, as promised.

Yeah I know. TIT.

It says "caught red-handed" but when you read the article it seems to be her word against his.

All the same, here that may be enough, especially with the alleged stash of hashish.

Despite all the pictures on the computer????

Well it's by no means clear in the article whether they were photos of the girl in question, and whether there was other evidence pointing to their use in a blackmail attempt.

No doubt more will be known in the fullness of time.

What is absolutely certain is that to use photos or videos for blackmail purposes would be totally stupid in the libertarian West, while here - despite Pattaya - it would be about the dumbest move I could possibly imagine. Assuming he kept photos of many of the girls he saw, imagine the extra charges he could face if some were traceable and found to be under age. Combined with the alleged possession of hashish, depending on the quantity, he could be facing a long stretch inside.

A somber warning for any of us who like to keep 'naughty' photos of girls we meet here.

It says "caught red-handed" but when you read the article it seems to be her word against his.

All the same, here that may be enough, especially with the alleged stash of hashish.

So when i buy my beer at 7-11 im a cheapskate but when the ruskies do it theyre wealthy....der your taliking a lot of crap...

Why? Because the vast majority of people who come into contact with Russians don't like them. And with very good reason

What's the "very good reason" ? Please explain

The "very good reason" is that the Russians are better than them in every way and so they hate them out of petty jealousy. These people are from the West, How dare people from the East turn up with better looks and more money. It's just not right that others have more money than them. It felt great having a little bit more money that the poor Thais they hang around, but now the wealthy Russians have spoilt everything. The Russians have shown them to be the cheapskates that they really are. It is so funny seeing them get their comeuppance.

It's more that if we buy a beer at a 7, most of us will also go for a beer in the bars occasionally. The Russians rarely do - go to the likes of Cosy Beach between Pattaya and Jomtien, almost exclusively populated by Russians these days, and talk to one of the few remaining bar/restaurant owners - such as Richard of the Wishing Well who has been there for 25 years. He will explain the difference between Russian and other Western visitors along those lines. He gets a few Russians in for a bite to eat, but it's pretty rare.