rideswings

I see that this post has not been updated in a couple of years. Is there is a bus from swampy airport to cha am? I have seen a bunch of them from swampy to Hua hin but then you have to pay another hundred baht to get to cha am. The wife and I are done taking VIP Vans, it seemed a little too homicidal for our tastes.

As much as I don't personally like the "new beetle", it's a great car for someone learning to drive.

You sit up relatively high, and the visibility all around is excellent.

They're not cheap to maintain, but you should be able to pick up a 7-8 year old one for 5-6K USD.

Those were exactly my thoughts. Good visibility, good for shorter people, and not too quick. Plus thats the car she really wants, so its a win-win. If it gets scratched or dented I wont car so much since it wont be new.

Bugs are standard transmission which can be a good thing to learn - you decide. They've been hammered in the press about crash safety. They don't have air conditioning. I don't think they have enough power to keep up with any but town driving, just my opinion. - All up to you.

Actually, she likes the new beetle, maybe 2006 and newer. Front mounted 5 cylinder engine, automatic, front wheel drive, air, power, heat that actually works.

I think a compact Toyota or Nissan would be better, but wanting a Beetle is a girl thing. I had better find a good mechanic.

If she knows English, do it in the USA. The only difficult part is them passing the written test on the computer if they don't know English.

If she's never driven, don't start her in Thailand. One week of driving here, and those learned techniques of how they enter and exit roads, cut in front of people, etc will get her killed in the USA, as well as a handful of tickets.

Also, as mentioned, getting a license here is very time consuming, and they must come back a year later to keep it renewed for another 5 years. Do you really want her driving in Thailand? If the answer is no, then simply do it in the USA where driving is actually needed, and safe for the most part.

Here, it isn't her, but the other drivers you need to worry about.

She knows English, can speak and read, but her comprehension for technical terms is not very good. Learning specific driving terms such as yield, crosswalk, accelerate, etc will take alot of studying and patience.

I will also focus on getting her into a few English language programs. It will make driving easier if she can understand more English so she can read road signs.

Yellowbird is a good place to meet some girls, but you might be past your prime for some of the girls that go there. The music is great there, and it stays open pretty late. I used to get there around 11pm and it was just getting started.

You might also look into going to Nong Prajak Park between 5 - 7pm. Take a walk around the 4km walking path, or rent a bike, and you will see some of Udons finest ladies there. You can buy some fish food and feed the fish on the bridge, and strike up a conversation with someone. There is also an aerobics class on the walking path near the fire station that is a thrill to watch. Most of the women in the class are between 30 and 40 and most are in great shape. There is also a yoga class not too far from there that starts in the early evening.

Or that fails, you can get some business cards printed out that say in Thai and English, "Single man looking for gf/onenightstand/gik. Please call the number below" and go to Central Mall and hand them out.

And if all else fails, join one of the Thai dating sites. TF, TLL, TK. I recommend any of them if you are lonely.

Chok dee.

Completely disagree. Not necessarily cheaper or easier, depending upon your travel habits and which immigration office(s) you have to use, particularly when one can get two years' in Thailand (the first of which is multiple entry) by obtaining the O-A visa.

The extension is certainly cheaper.

O/A visa Bt 6,000 + 1,900 multiple re-entry for the 2nd year = Bt. 7,900.

Extension (two years) 1,900 x 2 + 3,800 x 2 = Bt 11,600

With the same re-entry rights, difference so far Bt 3,700.

BUTfor O/A the border run to activate 2nd year,, police records, medical certificate, and notarization are not free. their cost can much exceed Bt 3,700 - depending on the country. And the inconvenience of getting them makes so the extension is easier.

Your own math shows the O-A visa to be less expensive by 3700 thb.

Police record cost me 150 thb; medical certificate 180 thb; notarization 150 thb. None of those were difficult, time consuming, or inconvenient and everyone I dealt with spoke perfect English which made the transactions all that much simpler. Parking was abundant, there were no multi-hour queues, and the people I transacted with didn't ask for a bribe or make up new rules as they went along.

So the O-A visa was less expensive for me by about $100 U.S. and I received two years without having to step foot in a Thai immigration office (still haven't, btw.)

By contrast, one must make multiple trips to Thai immigration offices to do yearly extensions and spending an entire day - beginning at 05:00 a.m. standing in line - at the Chiang Mai Immigration office to obtain an annual extension is most certainly inconvenient, frustrating, and time consuming, especially when dealing with officials who tend to make up rules when they feel like it. (Many, many threads on this topic.)

Regarding the "border run" assumption - many of us enjoy leisure travel. There's no additional cost associated with the O-A visa by timing your next leisure travel trip to coincide with the expiration of the visa.

So yeah - for many people, the O-A visa is less expensive and more convenient.

Thanks for this information and comparison.

For what its worth, I would like to avoid ever having to make another border run for the rest of my life. The numerous times I have made them has been crammed in the back of a commuter van, life in peril every kilometer of the way. I know there are other ways to do it, but I would rather spend the whole day at immigration than in the back seat of a suicidal/homicidal driver

Thanks everyone. I will try to apply early while I am here, and get a re-entry stamp at the airport as Im leavng. I already have proof of travel, so I will just see how it goes.

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Leaving in June. Extension expires in July. How many days between departure and expiration? If not too many, you could apply for your new annual extension before you leave and of course get a reentry stamp as well. That would be good until July XX of 2016.

There is no such thing as applying for a retirement extension while abroad. Those are only done in Thailand.

I assume you mean you are considering applying for an O-A visa while abroad.

It will be around 55 days between departure and expiration.If I apply for it before I leave, will they send it to me in the mail or will I get a blue slip and have to pick it up? That might be a problem.

Yes I would be applying for an O-A while abroad then applying for an extension when I come back to LOS.

You cannot get a retirement extension while abroad. You should apply for it while you are in Thailand, starting 30-45 days before expiration, together with a re-entry permit. The re-entry permit will be valid for the new extension, not the expiring one.

Ok thanks. I just need to make sure its not more than 45 days. The big question is whether or not they will mail it to my address in Thailand.

Hi everyone. My retirement extension expires in July of this year but I will not be in Thailand at the time, and wont be coming back for at least a few months after that. I will be laeving Thailand in June, so should I even bother getting and paying for a reentry stamp since my extension will be expiring the next month anyway?

When I am ready to come back to Thailand, how far in anvance should I apply for the retirement extension in the USA? Tourist and A visas usually just take them a few days to prepare, but I have heard that retirement extensions take longer.

Thanks!.

Sent you a PM. Wife and I went to Bang Rak in Bangkok.

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Good idea. I will get her a drivers manual for sure. Her English is ok, but since she has never driven before, some of the rules and language might be hard for her to understand.

I would suggest getting her the Thai Licenses. The Thai license in the US is valid without an IDP, since it has the Name, DOB, Expiration Date, and type of license in English. As far as the 1-year vs the 5 year, from the perspective of a police officer I know the temporary 1 year is legal to drive on, as it says Temporary, not restricted or learners permit. My insurance company also accepted it as a valid license, and insured my wife on my cars.

I taught her to drive with it as we were waiting for her Green Card, as she could not take the test for a learners permit until she had the GC. Never had to test it with a police officer, but I was always in the car with her. I am confident it would be a non-issue.

The only problem I have with getting her a Thai license is that she works 6 days a week which allows only Sunday for lessons in Thailand. I know it can be done, and it would give her some driving experience before she gets here.

OP, every state is different. Driving is the province of the states. My state is so tough I had to take a certified copy of my birth certificate with me last time to renew. I won't have to do that again but I'd been licensed already for many years. We register to vote when we get our license so that's part of it. Oregon.

You might want to check with DMV in your state to see what they will require. Some states like California are as loose as a goose last I knew.

BTW good luck to you and your wife with your move.

Thanks for that. I will ask my state what their requirements are. And thanks for the good wishes!

I would suggest starting to learn in the US. Changing from right-hand drive to left-hand drive could be very difficult for a new driver.

My wife got her license in California, and was able to take the written test in Thai language. The Thai community there has copies of the tests, with every possible question and answer. I don't know if any other states offer the test in Thai, though.

If your wife is coming to the US on a spouse visa, I believe she gets her green card immediately, so there's no waiting period to become "eligible" for a US driving license.

Provided she passes the written test, the road test should not be too difficult. My wife was able to pass with only about 2 or 3 hours of practice time behind the wheel in parking lots and the streets of our neighborhood (she had never driven a car before, but had lots of motorbike experience). Learning, practicing and taking the road test in a small car is a definite advantage, in my opinion. In California, the road test was given on the streets around the DMV office. No parallel parking. In Thailand, however, the road test is given on a closed course, but includes maneuvers (like parallel parking, k-turns, stopping on a hill) that were not included in the California test.

California has always been an amazing state. Thats great that they provide the test in Thai. Yes she will probably have her green card in a short time after arriving. I guess my biggest concern is her English language skills, thats why Im thinking about getting her license in Thai first.

If she's Thai I would say have her get her Thailand license 1st.She should get some experience before getting A license in the US.Many people have trouble getting use to driving on the opposite sides of the road.I would take all
Of this very slow.

Yes I am taking it very slow because her English is not great, and she is worried about that too. For the time being I can be her chauffeur, but I want her to be able to be independent as well.

By the way, any suggestions for a first car for her? She likes VW Beetles, and a pre-owned one can be had for not too much money. They are small and efficient, and good visibility from the inside. I drive a van which would probably not be a great car for her to start pout in. Big V-6 engine, and not great visibility,

Hopefully some time this year my Thai wife will be coming to the USA. She has never driven a car before. Im wondering whether it would be better for her to learn to drive in Thailand before she comes, get a Thai license, then an international license, then apply for a state license once she gets here. Or should we just start from scratch in the USA with a driving school. I will teach her a little bit but sometimes my Jai Yen runs out... haha

I already called my car insurance company and they told me that to add her will only increase my policy by $60 per year. I was really happy about that.

Thanks!

Wouldn't that also be 525, Soi 10?

nope

525 is the structure number i.e. condo or building, and the slash indicates unit inside the structure

The last time I had an address with a slash, the first part was my house number and the second part was the soi. it corresponded with my soi, and the other houses on the soi had the same second number as mine but the first part went in a sequential order.

I don't think there's any consistency to the way that house numbers are assigned.

In my case every residence (private home, apartment and condo) on the soi has the first 3 digits. After the slash is a sequential number that corresponds to the order in which the residence was registered on that soi, which is why the numbers don't run sequentially when traveling along the soi.

Thanks, that explains what that number means after the slash. My kneejerk reaction was going to say how insane that is, and why would they want that number anywhere but the county registry, not on a mailing address, but then I remembered that this is Thailand.

Not sure where to post this, so hopefully it will get redirected to the correct forum.

Might as well face it....posting isn't your thang

lol

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The post office and couriers have to deal with a lot worse variations of addresses. I'm sure they can cope with that.

I hope youre right.

Get the postcode right and you have no problem. Thai Post gets a lot of slagging off on TV, but locally they are brilliant. My postman is a friendly chap who sometimes stops for a cig and a soft drink. When I pick up parcels from the post office, they never even look at the pink card, but go straight to the parcel. Signature, customs duty if required and all done in a couple of minutes. Parcels posted inside Thailand not requiring signature, he will leave at the in-laws, who live a lot nearer to us. Way better than Royal Mail.

Yes the post code is right but its a high density post code.

Wouldn't that also be 525, Soi 10?

Actually its Soi 24, but she didnt even tell me to write that in the address. She just said my address is "525/10 xxxxx Road, Bangkok, Thailand 10250,

Im not sure what the -10 represents.

Im going to take Stradivarius' advice again, and have another drink. Maybe some time this century the package will arrive or get returned to me..

Probably be fine - go have a beer and relax.

Might be a good idea. She needs a few...

Not sure where to post this, so hopefully it will get redirected to the correct forum.

I am sending something to Thailand, and they told me to send it to this address:

525/10 on a big road in Bangkok.

When I went to mail it online, my governments postal software would not let me use a slash (/) only a dash (-).

So I sent it to 525-10

Any chance the package will ever get there? My GF keeps telling me its wrong, and Im freaking out.

Who would ever think that a dash could be so important?

Great, thanks!

Oh BTW, do I check in to my flight and then get the reentry stamp before I go through immigration?

I forgot how I did it the last time...

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I forgot about Lad Prao...

Thanks Ubonjoe. I will give myself some extra time to get it done before my flight.

I finally got my 90 day report receipt in the mail. They attached a yellow note to the receipt that read, "In the future, please apply 15 days before the due date."

Well, I applied 13 dats before, so I dont know what they mean by that. I thought I could apply up to 15 days before.

In any case, doing it by mail was far easier and cheaper than going all the way out to Chang Wattana.

Hi everyone. I will be leaving Thailand and need to get a reentry stamp at the airport at 4am to keep my retirement extension valid.

I did it last time, and it wasnt a problem, but it was in the afternoon. This time it will be at 4am. Anyone know if they are open at that hour to get a reentry stamp before I leave LOS? Thanks!

You will need to sign up on your states health exchange and/or will need to use the healthcare.gov site if your state does not have one. If you are signing up outside of the open enrollment period you will need show a Qualifying Life Event (QLE) of why you did not sign up during the open enrollment. Since you have been in Thailand and not living in the states, that would be a QLE. The insurance plans are horrible compared to any of the plans I have ever had through an employer, or private insurance before. The only good point is no pre-existing condition exclusion. They are expensive depending on your age and lifestyle (smoking etc). We can only hope many parts of it repealed in the coming year.

I would recommend to STAY AWAY from the state or federally sponsored ACA health care plans... The premiums are astronomical and deductibles so high that you will never benefit if you need treatment...

There are still state-specific 3rd party insurance providers that have policies available which are cheaper and provide better coverage than the ACA... The who, what questions are based on which state you are going to live in... My only other advice is to bend over and grab your ankles, because are not going to like the premiums... My example being myself as I still carry insurance coverage in the US... My premium is $904 per month, just for me and I have zero pre-existing conditions and am in perfect health... There are reports of families of 4 paying in excess of $2400 per month, just for health care coverage... I know you are not going to like this, but it's reality under the Obama regime...

EDIT: Another option is to claim indigence and go on Medicaid... That's how the millions of illegals in the US get treatment...

Yes the premiums are astronomical, almost double what health insurance for me costs here. We will be living in Florida, probably one of the more expensive states for coverage.

Yes your premium of $904 per month is really high, but you probably have good coverage. Some of the lower cost plans I was looking at dropped to about $250 per month, but the deductibles are $12,000 per person for the year per person!

My income places me above the indigent level, so I prob wouldnt qualify for Medicaide, but its a thought... haha

On second thought, you said your thai wife might be in the USA for only one year or so. I am not sure your wife will be required to get insurance. Are you filing a joint income tax return? Is your Thai wife your legally married USA wife? You are not actually required to get insurance, but if you don't, you have to pay a fine, which at the moment is trivial. You might want to consider having her on Thai medical insurance and handle it that way. If something severe happens, fly back to Thailand.

Yes we plan to be in the USA for at least 1 year or more. We plan to file joint taxes in the USA after she gets there and gets an SS number. Our marriage is registered in Thailand.

I see that the penalty for not having insurance is trivial in the USA, certainly cheaper than some of the monthly insurance payments, but the downside is not being covered.

She currently has Thai medical insurance that costs around 3000 baht per quarter. Yes she could fly back to Thailand if something severe happens, but its 24 hours travel on an airplane, so I hope if it was something severe, she would still be able to fly.