Flhai

The biggest scam with credit cards it's the rates the banks charge for interest and penalties. They whole system is about to collapse and it will be bigger then the mortgage crisis. I have only ever used business or corporate credit cards and use only a debit Visa for personal use. Credit cards are a scourge on society and the banks are about to get bitten the tune of trillions! I few con men are not making a major impact on what interest people pay. Yes it is factored into the rate and it is a hassle for the individual who has had their card skimmed to get their charges reversed but the real crims are the greedy bankers. Let's hope the US and other countries invest a few dollars chasing all the CEO's and VP's that will be on the run in the next few years!

The story didn't surprise me. Tucked away in villages and non touristy small towns there are probably many similar cases. Local authorities know little about immigration rules, and as long as the person doesn't make waves and never leaves the area, his status will never be checked.

I once asked the immigration police in Pibhun Mangsahan (Isaan) about staying in Thailand without a visa/work permit (in the event that I lost my job and work permit), and they said there are many foreigners living this way in Isaan. Provided they don't make trouble, immigration doesn't trouble them.

I was told the exact same thing (only 2nd hand). I was also told that it's dependant on the trouble you make and where you come from. They don't like west Africans at all and a few other nationalities. The thing is though people carry on like that and they don't have a problem until someone else asks them to make a problem and you have no recourse.

Regarding 10 yr overstay, I was overstay 1997 to 2007, went to local police station [friends], they took me to the local "Surin" court, I was fined 6,000 baht, and two days later transported by the local police to BKK, boy oh boy, were the lads at IDC peeved, kept me in the office overnight, fed me with biscuits and coffee, and next morning they took me to the Airport, where I caught the planned Flight back to my Homeland.

That was in Feb 2007, in October 2007 I went back for a 4 week stay, no Prob!

KiwiJor.

Sounds like they where peeved. I bet the biscuits where not even Gourmet!!

HA HA!! I just had my joke post removed because it contained specific information about RAMBO!! HA HA Love it!

I know of one American guy named John living in the Up-country near the Myanmar boarder that doesn't look like he has his Visa in order and for sure doesn't have a work permit for his crocodile farm. There was recently a 2 hour documentary all about him that I had a chance to see. He is an ex Vietnam Vet and a bit of a bad ass although he has put on a few pounds since they made the first 3 documentaries on him. I hope they don't send the Mib's to check his passport because all hel_l could break loose and there could be a fifth documentary about this guy.

Ditto. But I found that showing up as paying customer often yields a further reduction in the (quoted) price without any haggling. This happened at SENA PLACE on Phaolyothin Road. In the past, I used to book online using sawasdee.com

I've also had the opposite experience. 3 or 4 years back I booked via online agency a couple of nights at a hotel in Rayong province, cost about 1800baht/night. Once we got there we decided to stay another 3 nights, but when I enquired at reception they wanted 2800baht/night. When I pointed out the obvious, they said "oh no, that price only through agency." So, I had the bizarre experience of going online and making a further booking for the hotel in which I was sitting at the time.

You'd have thought they would have been happy to charge the online price and trouser the agency's margin. Perhaps things have changed recently, as the OP indicates.

I have experienced the same thing in Thailand at no less then 5 different hotels. It seems to be a Thai thing however as when I do the same thing in Australia or Singapore for example they alsways give me the same price that I had paid online. The hotel is much better off to just give you the price given that the commission to the online agent is 10%. I put it down to laziness at hotel reception in Thailand because they don't want to buck the system and request from a supervisor or manager that you get a price that is lower then the lowest price that they themselves are authorised to give.

I did also have some real problems in Bangkok at one 5 star hotel when I extended my booking online after I had been quoted double in house and proceeded to reception when they decided that if you book online you must wait 48 hours before you can check in! Ha! They don't call online booking last minute for nothing. But as always in Thailand they pretty much hated me when I proved them wrong and 2 people lost face over it. They never forget it for the next 3 days and I had way many bad looks and whispers. Was like I was Mr cheap Charlie because I saved myself 3500 baht a night! The things some Thai people will do to save 100 baht and it is like I didn't have the right to save myself 10,000 for 5 mins work online.

He got em all right, which i dont think was his intention. I bet all the educated women of the world, thai or not, who know a little about thailand think farangs who take up residence in thailand are of dubious quality.

shh theirs 1 thing missing, how big is ur ATM

The Atm's that I use seem to all be about the same size regardless of what bank you use however if you use an instore one they can be smaller then an outdoor one that needs to be more secure.

All so true about the racism. One thing that amazes me is that dark skinned thai that work in "hi so" places or pretty much anywhere also openly discriminate against other dark skinned people. For example in hotels the dark security or reception with be very cautious and speak down to dark thai customers Crazy!

Maybe the Thai government gets a bit friendlier to their tourists and investors. For the drop in tourist in Phuket, it is a typical case of som nam naa. Ripping off tourists with absurd prices and selling the place as pristine is damaging to the country.

A shame but true. Every year the ripoffs and scams get more in number in Phuket and the prices just keep going up for no reason at most places. Without thai ladies I don't know where the place would be. The only problem is I don't see anything changing because of a small drop in numbers. May just mean the folks that do go get hit even harder. Let's hope not.

In this case, we have a true victim. She was in her room, it was the wee morning hours. She was attacked. When we rent a room at a resort, a bungalow, a guesthouse, there is a certain amount of security that we expect to have. This is generally provided by the owner of the resort or hotel. It's bad for their business if people suffer criminal misfortune.

I've stayed in many bungalows at beaches (years ago), which seemed less than safe, but was assured by the resort owner they had guards and it would be safe. I was always encouraged to not leave valuables in the room. I felt safe and slept well.

There is absolutely nothing this lady did wrong. Once in your room with the door secured, you expect to be left alone.

I doubt the guy was a robber. Robbers prefer to rob vacant rooms. Even if he found a lady, few men would instantly jump to the "I think I'll rape her" idea.

Wishing her a speedy recovery from the ordeal.

Are you saying she was a “true victim” because she had gone to the trouble of providing a secure sleeping environment and therefore a woman that didn’t afford herself such security and consequently was rapped would not be a “true victim” of crime? I hope this is not what you mean but your post seems to stipulate this and there seems to be a lot of woman have it coming attitude floating around on here. The fact is no matter where a woman is and what she wears UN consensual sex is wrong. Yes it is prudent for woman to take care of their own safety and not take unnecessary risks but RAPE IS RAPE!

Many people seem to think that this drug “crackdown” and many other recent crackdowns (enforcement of bar and disco closing etc.) are motivated by desire by the new government to cement their access and hold on profits and corrupt earnings that had been lost to the military government. IMO this is not the case at all. The motives for these crackdowns now are to secure power, flex muscle and prove their legitimacy to rule. These policies proved very very popular last time around when these individuals held power and should prove to be the same this time. Let's not forget that the PPP is facing corruption investigations, threats of party dissolution and some small talk of a new coup.

This time around they are moving a lot quicker in order to shore up public support that is vital to their survival. Now that the Thai people had a taste of what they would see as the other option (military ghunta) the PPP has a much better chance to secure lasting power. They will have all the time in the world to re secure lost “revenues” but now is the time to create a solid base and I think they are following the lessons of history regarding this to the letter. It is what they will do with the real power when/if they manage to pull this off that will be the real policy and will of these people and I believe it is yet to be shown. Interesting times ahead to say the least.

I was just reading this thread and noticed how many board members jumped on the OP for posting before hard facts arrived. Is that the policy here? If so I think we better take out 95% of all posts on the board because 100% fact is a pretty rare commodity on all forums. We also better tell the worlds news agencies that they can't report without fact. Would mean fox news would only broadcast for 5 minutes a day!

So many of you board members should get off your high horse and let things flow a little. Information like this is serious and the faster that it gets to the public the better even if the fact are not yet clear. So much more of these kinds of crimes get committed in the Thailand then most would even estimate. I have knowledge of several cases that didn't get within miles of any kind of public forum or media outlet. If I was involved at the time I would have posted even if my information was second hand. If you have information be it hearsay or not however you believe it to be true.... post it! It will all come out in the wash anyway and if you are honest with what you believe to be true then you may be doing a service to tourists and expats alike to avoid future incidents or make some small changes if that is possible in AMAZING Thailand at the moment.

I was going to post my passport to Hull from South Africa but on visiting the SA Consualte I was informed that the Thai authorities are trying to get the guy in Hull removed from the consulate as he is giving everyone and anyone non immigrant type O visas even if they do not qualify. His only concern is money and if you have the money you will receive the visa. The Thai guy in SA also mentioned that border police where being asked to clamp down on people with visa's from Hull. How true this is I will not know, perhaps the Thai guy in SA was just trying to stop me from applying via post.

How are they going to "clamp down" on a person with a legal Visa? Don't think so. As long as he does it and has the authority to do it they are 100% legit.

Ok. I think it may not be so wise for me to run on tourist visa's. If I want to get a Non B 1 year is this possible in Penang and what are the exact requirements for this at the current time? If I can't get a 1 year what are the requirements for a 3 month Non B from Penang?

I think Hong Kong has a bad history when dealing with Visa Runners that have come from Thailand... but look forward to seeing the outcome.

Who knows of the current situation in Penang? I just found out that a friend was issued a double entry tourist visa in Penang 2 days ago!! This goes against everything we have been reading. I am going to go and see it for myself to confirm but he did go to Penang and now he is back and says he has a double entry. Also the Singapore Embassy has said they will only issue one tourist Visa per year because it is impossible for anyone to have a holiday for more than 90 days and they must be working! HA!

Now I also want to confirm for those that have such a negative view of people "abusing the system" that I myself am not. I don't need to qualify myself but I will give an outline.....

I made a few trips as a tourist then had an extended holiday after selling one business. I now have means and wish to spend most of my time in Thailand. I have business plans here and am already going purchase a stake in a business that I will not be working in or on however it needs a capital injection to exploit its potential and will not need a work permit or even a B Visa for this. I am now at a situation where I plan on being in Australia in 3 or 4 months for 2 months to liquidate some assets before the end of the year. I will then decide if I want to make further investment in Thailand and work in Thailand.

My situation is at the moment I really fall into the black hole. I am young (30's) founded and run 2 businesses and set myself for a comfortable life by Australian standards without the need to work anymore although I want to start some new ventures in the future. So of course the case also is that if I wished I could retire in Thailand no problem but of course no retirement Visa for me! But after being here for 8 months I don't really feel like a tourist and would like to settle. Do I now find myself being forced to get a Non B before I even conduct any business here yet and may not? I have the option to get a B Visa based on the company I am investing in but it is not even where I plan to live and in trusted hands so I am basically just a shareholder. I have to go and acquire a new Visa next week... what to do? Try my luck at another TV and feel out of place with it again? Go to the trouble of getting a non B in Penang, KL or Singapore or what? I hope to resolve this all in the thread. Help most appreciated.

A1 to that! Tell me what is good about the Korat Immigration Office? Never been there myself.

Why do the South Koreans get it so good? I know what side of the 38th Parallel I would have wanted to be when that aweful conflict ended (let's hope it has ended). The North Koreans have to provide 5 applications to get a Visa and wait weeks or months (not that many can afford to travel). Also great news for us Aussies and NZ's about the new Asean card. Get 90days with no Visa! Putting my application in soon.

Hey guys how long does it take to get a Thai Passport in the new Surat Thani office if you wait in Surat? Also is it possible to get any other travel document for a thai to go to KL? I want to take 2 friends of mine to a friends parrot farm near KL next week and just found out that one doesn't have a passport.

Posted this in the wrong thread before... sorry boss.

What do you mean turn shitty? Been a turning for a while now.

Hey guys how long does it take to get a Thai Passport in the new Surat Thani office if you wait in Surat? Also is it possible to get any other travel document for a thai to go to KL? I want to take 2 friends of mine to a friends parrot farm near KL next week and just found out that one doesn't have a passport.

Do you think they pay much attention to your occupation on a TV? Just put Tennis Speculator.

The point I was trying to make was; let's say, for example, all Thai embassies and consulates in the SE Asia region were to clamp right down and issue next to no Non Imm O (multi entry) visas while issueing only 3 month ones quite liberally, would the surge of Non Imm O (multi) from Hull entrants into Swampyboom raise an eyebrow or instigate an in-depth enquiry?

IMHO.... NO

Why do so many people see Hull as doing the wrong thing? Do you think if 1000's of people complained about police asking for bribes relating to traffic violations and anything else for that matter the authorities would instigate an in-depth enquiry?? Don't think so. I don't want to be too cynical but in the LOS and in these times most need selfish motives to even attempt to change the status quo.... Not much happens unless heads are going to roll in high places or there is a financial gain of some kind. Where is the motive for anyone to change or risk messing with Hull??

Maybe someone should go to Hull and ask for an ED Visa for coming to Thailand to study the inconsistencies of Visa Issuance and immigration law interpretation. They would probably give you a 5 year, drinks and sandwiches while you wait 5 minutes for the Visa and a limo to the airport.

They are not really being lenient on the rules just using the power they have to exercise the way they think things should be done with issuance of visas. I think it is great and reading about the 85 year old history of the honorary consulate I rather doubt that anything will change. I can't see any bureaucrats risking their shinny uniform or position by messing with Royal contacts. The kind (HA!) lady in Singapore told a friend of mine this week that you can only have one tourist Visa per year and only for 1 entry! Where is that rule???? She then went on to explain that if someone has a holiday for more the 90 day the simple fact is that he/she must be working. How many people do you know that have one or even two years off after a long career? Or even a year off whenever they feel like it because they have means... I know many. None of these guys follow the "guidelines", MFA "rules" or even the immigration act because they don't have to! Almost everything is at their discretion.