TheRavens

Lol everyone around here is so cynical. This has been the process in Australia for over 10 years for prepaid SIMs. The process is quite streamlined now and you're in the system with no wait. I'm sure it helps to curb a bit of crime, but obviously wouldn't stop everything. I'm sure this is the process in many other countries too.

Hi all,

My fiancee is currently in Australia on her tourist visa. Her Thai passport expires in April next year. We're trying to book flights online for our honeymoon in November and the online booking systems are not letting us booked as she needs 6 months validity on her passport to travel. I'm pretty sure this is also a requirement for her to re-enter Australia too.

So she will need a new Thai passport. If she goes to the Thai Consulate in Sydney and gets a new passport, what will this do to the Australian tourist visa that she is out here on currently? Will it cancel her visa or is it attached to her 'name' rather than her passport?

She also has a visa submission in for a prospective marriage visa. Do we just need to inform the case officer of the new passport, at the time of applying and once the new one is delivered?

Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Hi all,

My fiancee currently has an application in for a prospective marriage visa. The latest update from the embassy suggests that she still has a long wait and it won't be ready in time for the wedding date.

Wedding is mod-November. She currently still has an Australian tourist visa (12 month multi-entry) which expires at the end of November.

Would it be possible now to apply for a 6 month tourist visa (or even a 3 month visa) which will probably tie us over for our wedding and honeymoon and then she can return home to wait for the final decision (providing she updates the embassy with the marriage details)?

Basically, she has a valid tourist visa, can she apply for another tourist visa now from outside the country which overlaps with the end date of the other?

Thanks guys!

Hi all,

My fiance has been granted her 3rd tourist visa to Australia, and I'm wondering what to make of the following slip of paper that was included with her passport when it was returned:

You have been issued a passport for travel to Australia as a TOURIST. Your visa allows you to make MULTIPLE ENTRIES into Australia for a stay of up to THREE MONTHS. The visa is valid for entry for TWELVE MONTHS.

Does this mean she can come for 2.5 months, leave and come back for another 2.5 months again and again within the 12 month period? Or does it mean all her multiple entries can only add up to a total of 3 months?

Cheers.

Thanks very much for that. I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry and to ask.

After some more reading today I'm now a bi worried that I'm doing the right thing... A little background about us - I met her about 4 years ago and I've travelled back to see her about 10 or more times over those years. She has come here to Australia on short holidays for the last 2 years in a row and we had no troubles getting the tourist visa for that. We've also had a holiday together around Asia.

Now it's time for her to make the move here permanently. We will be living together and we intend to get married and get on with our lives. We've waited this long as she has been finishing off study in Bangkok for the last 3 years.

On the DIAC website under the section of 'Evidence of Genuine and Continuing Relationship', it has the following point:

• any periods of separation (when and why the separation occurred, for how long and how you maintained your relationship during the period of separation

Now, we spend most of our time apart, but call each other on a daily basis and I have all the evidence to support this (~3 hours of phone logs per day + emails, etc).

Is this a problem that our relationship has been mostly long distance like this? Is it 'easier' to get married over there and apply for a visa to come here?

Hi all,

I'm in the early stages of preparing a prospective marriage visa so that my girlfriend of 4 years can make the move to Australia.

We have done 2 tourist visas before which were successful. For the tourist visa, it was important to show her employment and that she would be returning to the job (with letters from the employer).

Is this also important for prospective marriage visa? My girlfriend would like to leave Bangkok and return home for a few months and this would mean quitting her job in Bangkok. Will this have a negative reflection on her application? Do they require evidence of a current job at the time of applying for the prospective marriage visa?

Thanks.

I'll try and see if she gets it. She's announced that she'll be resigning and will finish up at the end of the week. Hope she can get it. There's a spot on the form for details of previous employee where we can write in the job and note down the resignation date, which is a lot better than simply ticking UNEMPLOYED I guess.

We'll try for a letter but I don't know if the employer will be forthcoming with it.

Hi guys,

I am arranging another holiday for my girlfriend to come to Australia. Her application last year was successful and enjoyed a nice holiday here.

This time, she will be between jobs (quitting so she can actually have a holiday). How does been unemployed weigh in to the decision? I've known her for almost 4 years and we've had many holidays together. All our other evidence is well in place except for the employment status.

She has enrollment from school to prove ties as well as rental contract, I'm just worried about the employment side of things. Am I worrying about nothing, provided her visa last year was successful (and returned home in time) and she's done a bit more travel to other countries since then (Hong Kong, Vietnam)?

Any help would be most appreciated.

I'm not sure, I guess that could be it... Australian websites state 'Implanon® costs $5 - $25 every three years plus the cost of insertion by your doctor.' No indication of whether it's subsidised or not.

Email back from BNH states that it will be 12,500 baht + 200 hospital service fee. Do you think a government run hospital would be significantly cheaper?

So we've made a booking at Samitivej, they say it will be about 10,000 baht all up. I think 8,000 baht for the Implanon and then some extra for consultation I suppose.

This still seems quite expensive to me. Way over double for what it would cost to have done in Australia.

I'll try and find out the price at BNH.

Thanks girls. We'll give the Samitvej Women's Clinic a go next. We had been to Burmrungrad before for a simple operation and I thought the price was very reasonable! It was about the cost of a visit to a GP in Australia and we came out very pleased.

I don't know what went on for this Implanon visit. Maybe the doctor thought she wanted 'implants'??

I should point out that we are after Bangkok suggestions specifically.

Thanks in advance.

Hi all,

Tonight my girlfriend went to Burmrungrad Hospital to get an Implanon implant inserted in her arm. Before starting, the doctor told her it would cost 50,000 baht! I had been telling her all along it should probably cost 1 - 2000 baht. Needless to say she left the hospital without getting it done.

Can someone please help us find a decent place to get this done? Her next try will be at Samitivej Hospital, unless someone here can give us a better alternative. Are there any clinics which specialise in this sort of stuff? Is it available at any general clinic?

My grilfriend thinks the doctor was looking down on her, insinuating she's poor and couldn't afford it, so whether this was doctor's attitude or not I'll never know.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

"If Abhisit keeps on ignoring the red shirts, society, his family included, will never be at peace because the reds will resume protesting with or without their leaders," he said.

This is just a further indirect threat at his family, who have nothing to do with the current situation. I hope he gets what's coming to him.

This is the latest from the Australian Embassy website:

The Australian Embassy in Bangkok is still operational. However, due to ongoing violent clashes in central Bangkok, including in front of the Australian Embassy, the Embassy will be closed to visitors from Monday 17 May 2010 until further notice. Australians in need of urgent assistance should contact the Embassy by phone on +66 2 3446300. Contact may also be made with the 24 hour Consular Emergency Centre in Canberra on +61 2 62613305 (from Thailand) or 1 300 555135 (from Australia) (see Travel Advice for Australians in Thailand).

Any enquiries in relation to Citizenship by Descent applications should be directed to the Immigration Section at the Embassy.

so, when's the baht gonna start falling???

I kept a watchful eye on the baht the last time a state of emergency was declared and it didn't move at all. At the time it was very strong against the aussie dollar and I was hoping it would return it to normal levels.

To those asking what this state of emergency will mean, well it seems it's all to help in the legal situation of locking away the leaders. It doesn't look like they'll be busting anyone's heads open just yet (although I wish they would hurry up and do this).

The Australian government is insane, and the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, so ignore them if you want to save your own sanity. As for the others, I can't comment.

Why is the Australian government insane?? It sounds like really sensible advice. Not that it would stop me from travelling to Thailand, but it's a pretty responsible and accurate judgement of the situation.

FYI the current average price of a pill purchased 'on the street' is 900 baht. If hypothetically one knew someone who frequently dealt with such substances then one might be able to get such an item for 600 or 400 in bulk. Ive never heard of it going over 1000 and never less than 400 but then I am merely an observer and not involved in such things. By both accounts though the police are definitely overvaluing the things.

Just to clarify for you all, I believe that 'street price' figure they come up with represents the total amount of money the drugs are sold for in each transaction down the chain, it does not represent how much the end user will pay for it. So taking these drugs off the street kind of dealt a 2.3 million baht blow to the drug traffickers and dealers.

For more information, check here - http://www.enotes.com/drugs-alcohol-encycl...ia/street-value

I'm starting to plan my application to have my girlfriend out for a holiday in September.

She works in a small hotel and probably doesn't earn what it takes to show adequate funds. I notice she can be sponsored by a family member, but not by her boyfriend. This means we can't use the Sponsored Family Visitor visa and have to use the Tourist Visa...

When we apply for the tourist visa, should we still include declarations by myself stating that I will support her while she's in Australia? If I do this will they still look in to the funds in her account and make a judgement on this, or will my statement take all pressure off that?

Should I look at transferring a large lump sum in to her account now which can sit there until September?

While this truly is a tragedy I'm not that surprised. Thai people have no idea about safety

May the victims RIP.

Thanks mate I'll check it out.

Maybe it's easier to find a local gym near me and just go there, doesn't have to be a branded gym really, and the little guys would be more accommodating:)

Hi all,

I've got a 3 week break coming up in Bangkok. I'll have a lot of free time up my sleeves so I would like to get a 10 day pass to a gym in Bangkok.

Fitness First would be easiest for me I think. I'm not in to weights, I just want to make sure I keep some level of fitness up.

If anyone can tell me the approx. price of a 10 day pass I'd be very interested.

I've read enough bad stories on here about their sales tactics, but I think I should be right with a 10 day pass.

Also, are there many squash courts around Bangkok? I love squash and wouldn't mind a game if I can find some courts (can you hire racquets?)

Baan Rim Pa near Patong (Kalim Bay) is quite nice, but a little more expensive than the rest.

I really really liked the restaurant at Prom Thep, get a car and drive down there. Really worth it. It sits up high on a cliff overlooking a nice bay. The restaurant is outdoors and has a really big garden full of thai plants, etc. The food was cheap and quite nice. I'm looking forward to getting back there again to go to this restaurant.

"The province declared 12 districts as disaster zones. (Nakhon Phanom)"

Can anyone tell me which districts are disaster zones, or where I can find this info in English?

Thanks.

You can try this site. sinsiamelectronics

Wow that looks like it's exactly what I want! Thanks very much!