TGIR

I have never been in the kind of trouble you are reporting,  but I don't see anyone offering to really help you, so here is my advice:

1) Put your best, clean clothing on, shave, shower and look as good as you can.

2) I'm not sure where you are, but go to the nearest, biggest airport you can go to in a taxi, don't talk to the driver.

3) When you get to the airport go to the ticket counter and try to buy a ticket home.  If they won't accept your copy of your passport ask to see an immigration officer.

4)  You should at some point be seen by an immigration officer.  Don't take two hours to tell him stories, just tell him you got mugged, robbed and you just want to go home.  Don't mention all of the stuff you did on here.  If they find out about your problems and question you tell them you have been through so much trouble you don't know what to do and beg them to forgive you, ask them can you pay fines or whatever they want you to do (do not tell them how much money you have) you can just get out of Thailand and go home.

Hopefully they will not know some of the trouble you had and will charge you 20,000 and let you go.  If you end up in detention or whatever just deal with it and wait quietly until you get out of there.  Don't tell everyone your amazing story, not the police or anyone else.....play dumb.

Good luck to you......

22 hours ago, travelling wilbury said:

If you choose to live with 37 other condos you cannot complain about people using the pool etc if you want quiet  ...move

We did not choose to live with daily renters.......MYOB

17 hours ago, ukrules said:

The stain is caused by the aluminium in your anti perspirant reacting with the sweat on the fibers of the clothes.

 

Read this : http://mentalfloss.com/article/527024/why-we-get-sweat-stains-and-what-you-can-do-about-them

 

 

I found out a few years ago the antiperspirant I was using (Mennen from the U.S.) had too high of a content of Aluminum, which in itself stained my under arm area.  Also my wife lets me know often that white clothing in Thailand will be dingy looking very soon after you start using the clothing.  Your best bet is to switch to an Antiperspirant (not just deodorant, and not too high an aluminum content) and to soak your whites in detergent with Haiter bleach for color (light yellow container) and Fight stain remover (blue bottle).  Soak overnight then wash as normal. I guess quantities depend on how much you are soaking and how bad stains are.

Per the post on page 1............Netting.  We have tried everything else and nothing works long term but the netting.  It isn't expensive, lasts a long time, and in our condo the maintenance people install it for us.  

13 hours ago, emgthailand said:

Someone made a comment about Mazda service. Have you had any problems when taking it in for service.

We've had zero problems with service but have only been a couple of times.  After 2 1/2 years we only have 21,000 km on it so I don't take it in more than once a year.   We also have a 2006 Ford Escape here at our condo which we sold when we bought the Mazda......too bad they won't bring the Escape over here anymore, we had four of them.  At any rate we always had good relations with Ford along with Mazda service departments.  I see some questions/comments about MG.  They look good but haven't been out long enough to gauge the quality of either the car or service.  Personally I would hold off for awhile (they really don't have one that gets me excited anyway).  

A note on Honda which doesn't get mentioned much.  We were and are still looking at CRV, BRV and Mobilio......put down 10K on a BRV before they came out and I didn't like it when we saw a real one.   Needless to say we didn't get out 10K back and there wasn't any big push on their part to get us to buy anything......a couple of months ago I went in there browsing (Hua Hin) and some woman started asking me questions about how many time had I been there etc.  I got a really strange vibe and left......kind of a weird, suspicious attitude which really put me off.  

Final note......I shop for cars as a hobby as mentioned before so I feel qualified to judge them against each other.  My (and my wife's) choice right now would be the Nissan X-Trail, probably the Hybrid.  It's 1.3 mil but big enough to not get smushed in a wreck, and not too big like Fortuner, MUX, Pajero etc . Also I believe the X-Trail gets some very good mileage numbers due to a tiny engine.......good enough for the flat driving around most of Thailand.  CRV is a strong choice but yesterday I read they are going to make them even bigger in 2019 and that does it for me.  I didn't like the added inches in 2016 or 2017, forget which year.  It's starting to look like a school bus.  Heads up on the X-Trail though......major body change coming in 2020.   I love the CH-R  but the wife doesn't so it's out for us.  She doesn't like the BRV either......but I would if they would spiff it up a bit.

I have  a 2016 Mazda 2 sedan......very nice car, lots of pep with a auto trans that you can flip to manual in the hills.  Great gas mileage.   Only thing is I'm looking for something bigger like a CRV, X-Trail.  However those will cost more, use more gas, cost more to clean etc.  It would be mainly for crash protection......one of the smaller cars would be smushed by all the pick-ups and SUVs around Thailand.   I can't buy until we sell a house......so am holding on for what I think will be a remake of the X-Trail in 2020.  I really love the new CH-R but the wife hates the styling.   Take a look at it, I think it beats everything in its class right now and has many of the newer electronic features.  also for less than 1 million baht you can get it in a Hybrid.  CH-R has some great color combos unlike Honda where it's white/silver/black......ugh.  Same with Toyota....old style, old colors, old interior.....I wonder what they do with all their profits.  Must have been plowing them into the CH-R .  I did look at the Yaris sedan, the ATIV.  Looks pretty good and could compete with the Mazda......Also I think depending on your likes and dislikes the Honda BRV and Mobilio are interesting......would buy a BR-V if there was a little more class in the interior.  Honda City is boooring and B-in law has one that's two or three years old.  Leather interior is definitely not wearing well.....looks really drab.

I just had a new passport issued last month.  This is the second one I've had.  In both cases the local immigration office took both passports and transferred all my data from when I first entered Thailand and transferred it into the new passport.  I don't see how that process could be done in the instance of the original poster.  Doesn't he have to have 90 day stamps and annual visits to immigration?

I got one like this yesterday.   Scared the heck out of me because they said I had been infected by ransomware.  Shut the computer off then turned it back on.  The next one that I got this morning said a fan was broken on my laptop and could ruin the computer.....checked the fan and it wasn't running, so again scared the heck out of me.......kept track of the heat all day and it didn't seem to be a problem.  About an hour ago I took of the back cover and the fan was running.

Kind of wonder how my Kaspersky software allowed this to get by.

Re CH-R vs Juke  -   At first I thought there was some similarity until we looked at one up close.  Nothing there but a passing resemblance.  The CH-R is "stylish" in my view and ugly in my wife's view.......I actually never even got in the Juke as I was turned off by the fact that style was everything and practical usage apparently not considered.

CH-R on the other hand, is Toyota built for quality (one would hope).  The Hybrid version is what I would take, not the base  model.  It has all the new electronic goodies I would want, specifically dual zone climate control, blind spot warning, 7 inch touchscreen, collision warning system, ten airbags, and more.  Also great colors instead of the two or three choices you get with most of the others.   Have fun selecting your new car and plz let know what you end up with.....I'm searching for my next one too, but have a house to sell before I can buy it.

I'm a car nut and have either had or perused nearly every reasonably priced vehicle on the market.  If you want to stay under a million My clear favorite would be the CH-R Hybrid......Eco Sport is too small and has a tiny engine.  Have checked CH-R trunk and .golf clubs will fit in it along with three others.   I put down a deposit on a BRV but it was really cheap looking inside and I wanted a little more glam.  Size and price wise it would be second on my list.  You can now buy aftermarket NAV and camera systems.  We ended up with a Mazda 2 sedan due to price limitations and are quite pleased with it.....but I've had it over two years and am ready for something new......If you can go over a million get either the CRV or the X-Trail.   I like both but don't want that big of a vehicle. My Mazda costs me about 700 baht every ten days or so for gas.  That's something to think about as well.  Had a 2006 Ford Escape 3.0 and loved it but gas was probably more than three times what it is in the Mazda.  

31 minutes ago, BEVUP said:

Best bet 

A friend just traded one in 6 yr old very good condition low KM's 

Traded in for new Ford at a dealer & got 350,000 bht 

This is not what the trade-in would sell for by the dealer.  I'm surprised anyone got 350,000 for a 6 year old Avanza.....seems more like that would be a retail sales price.  At any rate, one couldn't buy much for 400K in reality.    Perhaps the OP was thinking of a down-payment of 400K.

7-11 has them at all their stores but not on a regular basis

"I guess I was expecting too much from a brand such as Mazda!"

Yet you bought one didn't you?  You should insist (politely and quietly) that they take this car back and give you one without damage..........no telling what this one might have been through with all the flooding the past few years.  Don't expect them to comply though.....you will have to twist their arms to the point of breaking probably.  You're lucky you are financing.....I bought a Mazda 2 a couple of years ago, and when I ordered it I told the salesman I wanted EVERY optional thing it could get on it.  Got the car and drove it immediately to a tire dealer for different new tires and rims.

When they were installed I went to back up there was no rearview camera............and the damned thing had only 27 k on it.....I got Mazda to install and aftermarket rear view mirror camera but I'm still highly pissed at them and myself for not getting what I ordered.   I can tell you it won't happen again......next car I get I'm going to inspect EVERYTHING before I give them one penny.

2 hours ago, newnative said:

    My experience with the BKK embassy?  Horrible to deal with--and I am an American citizen.  

I've been dealing with the Bangkok Embassy for over twelve years without any kind of problem at all.  They assisted me and my wife when we wanted to get married in 1988, both with her fiance fisa and in 2006 when we moved here permanently after I retired.  Notary signings and my annual income affidavit have always been done easily and with no problems getting appointments.

In light of my experiences I walked through the Embassy site and found a section for registering a newborn.  This is partially what I found:

"Starting May 1, 2018, all appointments for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA) at U.S. Embassy Bangkok will be made only after receiving the application by mail. After a determination is made that all required documents are complete will we contact you to schedule an appointment with parents and child at the Embassy. Please note that the scheduling of the interview does not necessarily mean the application will be approved. Please follow the steps on how to apply for your child’s CRBA."

There are, indeed, few appointments if you just look at the appointment calendar.......but reading the above one could come to the conclusion that an application has to be submitted before an appointment will be scheduled by Embassy personnel.

I don't see anything requiring a rant........there appear to be detailed instructions and assistance with the requirements of an application.

I would get one from InvadeIT.   They will custom build it and you'll have service from the people who put it together. I have an HP Ultrabook which has had some problems lately and it has been very difficult to find anyone who  knows how to fix it.  If my wife wasn't around to translate for me I'd have already had to buy a new one.  The owner of InvadeIT I'm pretty sure is still the Swedish guy from years ago.  Worth checking out anyway.

UNFREAKING BELIEVABLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How insane...........yet we'll have nearly a thousand people killed in car wrecks this week without a single highway patrol car...................hard to imagine how this is possible.

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Agreed of course. But you're ignoring political complexities. The current U.S. political situation can't be described in such simple terms. Traditionally when a president wins but loses the popular vote she works very hard to unify a divided nation. "trump" has done the opposite catering only to his rather narrow base and creating even worse divisions. Civil war level divisions. It is a risky tactic because more traditional Republicans may throw him under the bus as soon as being complicit with his demagogue style costs them more than leaving him. Another reason the midterms are so important. The complicit republicans will be paying a price. The only question is how big.

I'm really not smart enough to engage in this odorous banter but I can't help but notice your clever use of the word she.  She didn't get elected, He did.  Will you people never get over it?   

Why is this in Thai Visa?  This is Thailand, not the U.S.A.   Mind your own business please.

To put everyone's mind at ease, at least for the Feds..........a Notary seal on a document means ONLY that you have proved you are the person signing the document, nothing else.  No-one at the Embassy is going to ask you to prove the contents of the document.

Immigration is a different matter as they may ask for proof of any document you give them.

1 hour ago, Formaleins said:

It's done in the West every single day in the name of the Jews and in the name of the Muslims - I agree, it is pretty grim, but the west has put up with this torture under the name of religious practice for years.

Huh?  Explain please.............what is done in the name of the Jews and Muslims?

11 hours ago, YTP said:

Appalling and extremely upsetting, but not homicide.

Second degree murder in my book..........how do you kill 18+ people without facing  life or the death penalty?  He's an adult with a brain and no apparent mitigating circumstances.    The Company's owners and/or managers should also face some kind of negligence charges.