billd766

Sorry I don't understand your first sentence 'Dave'. How many times do you need a residencey letter ? I got one once. It allowed me to open a bank account and put the car in my name. Never required one since, and that's a good few years now. Some banks and car dealers will do that anyway, without the letter. The 'yellow book', "It's a good form of ID", no more a "good form" than carrying your driving licence. The 'yellow book' doesn't have your photo in it, so how can that be a "good form of ID" ? Even Thais cannot use their 'blue books' for ID purposes, it's not acceptable and neither is a 'yellow' one for us. Any 'Tom, Dick or Harry can use it and say they're the person in the book, without a secondary form of ID.

I never carry my passport, or have ever been asked to do so, other than at the bank, which I'd expect them to do for security. Even with the "Yellow Book" you're still no more than a "lowely tourist" and always will be. I know of no "National Parks" that treat you differently because you have a "Yellow Book". I'm sorry, but I still see the "Yellow Book" as a comfort tool, an expensive one at that, for a married farang that feels insecure. Sorry, but that's my opinion.

I can see your point of view but others have a vastly different reason for wanting one.

You need the residency letter to prove where you live albeit that that the embassy has no real idea and will take your word for it.

I have lived and worked in Thailand since 1993 and I must have moved about 10 times so in theory I should have applied to the embassy 10 times though I didn't.

My driving licence says that I live in Sukhumvit 93 in Bangkok though in reality I live in Klong Lan in the central region.

My licence is due for renewal next year and I want to get it done in Khampaeng Phet wich is 65 km from where I live now. To get a letter from the embassy would take me 2 days minimum, an 800 km round trip and probably 2 overnight stays in a hotel plus the 2,088 baht to pay the embassy for a letter.

I bought my motorcyle this year in Nakhon Si Thammarat and I need to change the registration to Khampaeng Phet as well.

All of the above has nothing to do with it as a "comfort tool" for myself and my wife. (which by the way I find slightly offensive)

Hi,

Going to Mae Sot in the morning for extension of Non-O visa (Thai wife).

I have the address at 390/15-16 Moo 2, Tambon Tha Sai Luat, A. Mae Sot.

I thought I remembered someone posting that the office was moving, but I can't find the post.

Anyone know if I am still going to the same address?

Thanks

Too late. I have just seen the post and the time

It is still where it has been for a while which is to left side of the bridge almost down to the end on the left side and they are farang friendly.

Parking is easy just outside.

The thing that confuses me a lot is that there are so many SUV with roof bars and roof racks permanently fitted and never used.

They knock your fuel consumption up by about 15%.

But they look flash anyway.

Useless but flash.

It is the little red barstids that sting me the most

Usually when I am out with my kruang tatya or strimmer and I find a few as I cut under the trees.

While I am too old to dance the macarena I do a passable foot stomp dance.

The weaver ants tend not to sting me if I can brush them off first but they did catch my wife out once.

That hurt twice, once because I was laughing so much and the second time when she clumped me for laughing so much.

I have been tracking the GBP for a long time now but using the KBank rates of exchange simply because that it the bank I use here.

I normally check after lunch on a Monday to Friday just before I log in to ThaiVisa.

I have attached my file should anyone care to look at it.

Bills_Forex_2009_2.xls

Pity you haven't gone back to the time, not so long ago, when we were up at 72 plus THB to the GBP.

"A weak currency is a sign of a weak government" Eat'em Brown, eat 'em and choke.

Actually somewhere on my laptop I have the data going back 10 years but I have been too lazy to compile it.

However just for you as a one time only offer I give you the 2008 stats.

It wasn't 72 but it was 68 +

Forex_2008_v2.xls

It reminds me of the old gospel song

"Oh happy days"

I guess as in the UK civil service it was Buggins turn next.

Perhaps he was not as well qualified as Police inspector general Patheep Tanprasert.

My starter kit, plain not smoked arrived yersterday via EMS.

I got loin pork from Makro last Sunday and mixed my first batch this morning so it should be ready by Sunday morning.

I hope it works as I usually buy my bacon from Makro in Nakhon Sawan as I live way out in the sticks.

I made some homemade sausages a few weeks ago and for a first try at least I can eat them and the dog hasn't been sick yet.

Next month I start on homemade bread but no we don't grow our own veggies yet.

That is in next years plan.

Back in 1973 the cash limit to take out of the country was only GBP 50.

I blew the engine of my car in Belgium and had to write 5 post dated cheques of 50 each to pay for it.

I have been tracking the GBP for a long time now but using the KBank rates of exchange simply because that it the bank I use here.

I normally check after lunch on a Monday to Friday just before I log in to ThaiVisa.

I have attached my file should anyone care to look at it.

Bills_Forex_2009_2.xls

I dont understand why one must have a certificate of residency to get a yellow book. To get the certificate, you must provide the same information they ask for to get the yellow book, except the witnesses. So, you are really going through the process twice.

I don't understand it either and having had a rant at my wife about it (she opened both ears to let it pass through) I will be going up to Mae Sot in a few days to collect one and make a 90 day report at the same time.

Go with the flow and keep your blood pressure down.

I felt better after the rant though.

But that was only because you had the requirements for retirement extension of stay (65k pension/income or 800k in account or combination meeting the 800k level). They do prefer the retirement as it lowers the investigation paper/foot work.

I understand that but I wish they had told me.

Back in July the GBP was around 55 and this afternoon it was a fraction less than 53.

Back in February however it was just over 47.

Ouch.

Yes. Nothing changes when you reach 65. Husbands money only.

The only difference for me when I reached 65 in May this year was that when I got a Non Imm O visa extension and asked for the married one they gave me a retirement one.

And yes it was my money only.

Logistically speaking Mae Sot may not be your best bet.

I live in Klong Lan 125 km north from Nakhon Sawan and 202 km from Mae Sot.

Granted you may not be going off at a tangent as I do but figure that it is about 300 km to Mae Sot from Nakhon Sawan though at this point in time anyone in Nakhon Sawan, Khampaeng Phet and Tak provinces HAS to go there to get the visa done.

It may be easier for you if there is access across the border for example at Kanchanaburi or somewhere to the southwest of Nakhon Sawan.

The new immigration office in Nakhon Sawan is supposed to open this month but in Thai time as it were.

Could I suggest the title of this fascanating subject be "Are you ready to die in Thailand and if so, why?"

Best of luck to TVs senior posters but when you {and me one day] face the last hour, are you convinced you will smile upon your dying breath as the agonizing cancer slowly destroys your cadaver? Will you be as dismissive as your home then? {Not to mention the free health care in Europe anyway, and eating the comfort food you are used to?]

Quite happy to spend my dying breath here, but if it is going to be an agonizing cancer inflicted one I think a bottle of Mr Walker's finest and a large pot of pills might be the order of the day! I wouldn't want to spend my final months/weeks/days in a hospital here or any other country.

Not sure about Mr Walkers finest. For me I would prefer a good bottle of Pussers Rum or some Stroh 80 rum from Austria.

For the rest of your post I agree 100% and I have already discussed it with my wife and made my intentions plain.

Can you change your mind and revert back to being paid in the UK and getting the bank to transfer in Sterling?

Excellent rambling Chinavet.

A big thumbs up.

When we moved here privacy was a major issue. I was used to living alone, nice and quiet. When we lived in Chiang Mai it was just her and I..nice and quiet.

Here, it's family all the time. Something that was still difficult for me to deal with.

Last weekend we ( all the rual country folk )loaded up in several vehicles and went to Rangsit for my wifes brother's wedding.

Something happened to me there, cannot put my finger on it, but it was just this feeling of ..ah hel_l...I don't know how to express it in words..I enjoy having them all around.

I really feel accepted by all of 'em, even if they still think that me having some eggs and bacon in the morning is strange.

and I can beat any Thai guy around here in the lazy department...I am the King of Lazy.

Yeah gpd I understand. Lately the wife's mother, sister and her family have been coming here (to our rented house) every Saturday afternoon. We have a palace compared to what they live in. They pull out their floor cover and sit eating and gabbing on our patio. Afterward they come into our air conditioned TV room, watch TV and eat and gab some more . Lots of smiling and laughing. I don't understand anything being said, but the good vibes are there from everybody. I sit back, observing, and feel kinda good thinking I am bringing them some pleasures.

...and of course, ä whole lot of money.

SOME GUYS JUST DONT GET IT.the family would be happier if op moved to bangkok and made more . if they not trying to talk to you its a bad sign fella!

And you of course know this for a 100% certainty because you know the op and his family?

Some guys like you don't get it actually.

You can have most of mine as they keep growing and the papaya falls off as we can't use them quick enough.

There is one outside the house nearly 6 metres tall and I am going to have to cut it back to the verandah level before it falls over.

I live near Klong Lan which is about half way between Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

moohala is not mr maigo. if it was he would have signed in under mr maigo.

leave the village you know you dont want to be there. if you hab too leave the wife.

Oh really?

yeah right as they say in NZ.

I told my wife that and I don't know who laughed the most, her or me.

From your comments I can only assume that you are not married, do not live in or have ever been to a Thai village and are basically brain dead.

It is only half that for me on supersonic Honda Phantom.

Well, than you can leave 45 minutes after I do and meet me there!

Still awaiting confirmation that it's good food.....

I am up for that if it is OK with my wife

I suppose it has something to do with where you live.

I live in a small moo ban in the Central region and I haven't really noticed any change here but there are very few resident farangs here.

Most of the people I meet on a daily basis in the shops and the bank are just the same and the kids wave and shout as we pass each other on the school run.

It is very surprising to me that it is just now being discovered. You would think that someone would have seen or heard it crash and investigated or that someone would have "stumbled" up on it before now. I will admit that I know very little about Tak (spent the night there at a friends house during a road trip) and the area mentioned in the post, but 12 years is a long time to go unnoticed. At the same time, it is good that it has been found and that, yes, the families can now have some sort of closure. May the brave soldiers/airmen RIP.

It is not surprising to me as I live 6 km outside of Klong Lan.

You take the route 1117 from Klong Lan through the Mae Wong national park to Chong Yen and you are then only 30 odd kms from Umphang.

The tricky bit from there is the fact there is actually no road between the two and to get from one to the other the route is back though Klong Lan via Khampaeng Phet, up to Tak and across to Mae Sot then turn left down to Umphang. A total of about 350 km for the one way trip.

If the helicopter was 10km inside the jungle then it was pure luck that it was found and it will not be an easy recovery job though the remains of the crew will be fairly easy to bring back.

I live in Khampaeng Phet province and I will have to go to Nakhon Sawan instead of Mae Sot.

I was told that it will be at the police station but I cannot confirm that and opening sometime in October.

Does anybody have an update for this?

Thanks

Yippee it worked.

Thank you Thank you Thank you etc 10,000 times

If you hold the CTRL key down and hit the + or - key you can increase/decrease the font size. Not sure if there has been a change in the default font size for TV.

Hi Tywais

Thank you for that.

It worked great. Now to come out and back in again and see what happens.

Can somebody please help me.

Yesterday the screen for TV only shrank its font size down from normal to where I now need my glasses and a large magnifyiong glass to read it.

This is only happening on TV and all the other wbsites I use are normally sized.

I have no idea what the problem is or how it happened.