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jitenshaman
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Posts posted by jitenshaman
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BKK FILM FEST SCANDAL
US court delays sentence on the Greens
<snip>
The hearing is postponed until March 4. According to TheWrap.com, the judge requested some sort of official statement from the Thai government declaring Thailand had been harmed by Gerald and Patricia Green's activities.
The judge seemed to signal a belief that the Greens' crimes (bribing a foreign official, conspiracy, money laundering and tax fraud) weren't to be considered all that serious because, allegedly, Thailand may have profited from the Greens' work on its film festival
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-- The Nation 2010-01-22
[newsfooter][/newsfooter]
Thai government declaring Thailand had been harmedThailand may have profited from the Greens' work on its film festivalThat's quite interesting.... catch22 for Thailand?
regardless of what any of the charges are...the reality is that was one fantastic film festival with sold out shows and top rate films (And yes, the Thais made lots of money and profited greatly by the Greens work), and since the Thais have taken over managing the festival, the last few years the BIFF has been absolutely dreadful with generally second rate films, low attendance, and other weaknesses.
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Different consulates use different requirements for the non-O visa. Haven't seen anything posted about the consulate in Jordan.
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Maestro
i would be curious to know any of the same..i'm planning a trip to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan and was thinking to try to get a Non O or Non B....i was able to get a double entry non B in Pakistan a few years ago with just a form letter, so wondering how the Middle East might be.
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Why oh why do tourists still pick girls up off the street,dont they read the news
why oh why do tourists keep $2,500 in cash in their rooms?
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that's 8000 tuk tuk ripoffs that might be lost!
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Both Perth and Brisbane are excellent Consulates with their own little quirks but NO hassles. The OP mentioned that the Non O was hard in Brisbane --- That's crap.
anyone know about Non B's in Perth...i have several times got Non B's (once in Houston, once in Islamabad) with a basic letter from a company here inviting me to be a consultant, and was wondering about Perth since it is supposed to be so user friendly. Or is it just easier to stick with a letter and ID card and get a Non O?
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Rather than make two trips to the 'easy to find" Laos Embassy in "Town in Town" Wang Tong Lang - which I have never heard of - (or pay 200 baht extra and wait) is it not easier just get a Visa -on-Entry at the Laos border?
Certainly for the Vientiane Friendship bridge crossing this is the easy option (and only 35 USD for 30 days for UK Passport holder, but generally more if you pay in baht)).
http://www.bkklaoembassy.com/Map/map.htm
From Victory Monument get bus 92 .. down Lad prow rd .. get off at Big C Lad Prow .. Taxi down Ramkhaeg Haeng (about 40 Baht)
also easily accessible from eastern Sukhumvit...take the 501 or 71 or 40 up Suk Soi 71 (Pra Kanong) to Ramkamhaeng soi 35 (Wat Tep Lila)...hop on the white songthaew on soi 35 headed west, 6 baht, and in 10 minutes you will pass the Cambodian Embassy, Lao Embassy is just around the corner.
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I have said I am not sure of the price of Lao Visas on arrival
The Laos VOA costs bt1500 or $30 - this price remains fixed.
totster
Lao visa is not one fixed price, it depends on your nationality.
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That you are not working inside Thailand would seem to be the primary concern and your frequent trips to other countries probably helped lower that.
it makes you wonder...i mean what if you you gave them a bank statement with sufficient funds, condo ownership papers, et al...they could obviously see that you didn't need to work and were obviously living in Thailand (and not eligible for retirement visa)...if they took the time they would also see that someone who doesn't go in and out for a day, and say stays out of Thailand for a month or two here and there most certainly cannot have a fulltime job in the country...yet this doesn't seem to matter...it still strikes me as very very arbitrary. I am headed to Vientiane in 2 weeks, i have a passport that has stamps since 2004, 7 TV, 2 Non B's, and I am certainly expecting the worst, but you never know.
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An easy way to check is to apply for a visa and if you are turned down, then you are on the blacklist!
However, if you get a visa, you may discover on arrival that you are indeed blacklisted! A heroin-smuggler previously convicted and jailed in Thailand recently discovered that for herself.
in the case of the heroin-smuggler... she deserved it - but still didn't answer the OP's question i.e: can someone put him on the blacklist for no reason at all?? The answer is NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I doubt if she can, but I know it can be done.
i would be far more worried about her going to her contacts and trying to have someone beat you up or similar than i would about being blacklisted...far far more worried...the wrath of an angry Thai woman has no rationale!
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it seems to me you will be warned and asked OK if there IS a 150 fee
what i am interested in is making the same transaction from different bank machines at about the same time to see if there is a discrepancy in the rates
does any one bank give a better rate in general?
good news about Ayudhya
i hope that is true
i will have to give it a try
though some atms simply stop working with my debit card, blank screen
BTW 20,000B for 600$ is a good rate i think for now
i would be happy with that
33.33 give or take after fees!!!!
Zero fees using the yellow bank and a UK issued visa debit card
my buddy used a Visa credit card at B of Ayutthaya in 2 locations in the last week with no charges...i tried an ATM card at a different one of their branches (On Nut) and the 150 baht fee still came up.....
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There's a land tax that you have to pay.
Can't remember the rate except that it was reduced to 0.1% for a period.
if you are a farang and have owned your condo less than 5 years you will pay an extra percentage, i cant remember what it is
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Or that waterpark could be fun ... bonus is you get to see her in a bikini too
failing that try lingerie shopping.....
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You don't specify exactly where in On Nut you will be, but if you are out on On Nut Road itself for example, lots of people I know use Fitness First out at Seacon Square on Srinagarinda Road. They do some good package deals there and are much better than True Fitness or California (Ripoff) Wow.
Tats
I live on Soi 50...the 50 Tennis Club is good if you play tennis, otherwise, the "weight room" is abysmal as are the facilities, especially for the prices they are charging (I believe it was 1500-2000 a month)..more of a tennis club with a tiny weight room...As posted, Calif. Wow is nothing but a hard sell, they supposedly are also deep in the red....I go to Now Fitness which is at On Nut 16, you can take the small white songthaew truck for 6 baht up soi 77 for the 10 minute ride...Now Fitness is a gym and yoga studio...the gym isn't as fancy as other places, but it does have most major machines and free weights, running machines, bikes, and cross trainers, and isn't crowded...they are always having promotions too, i got a one year membership for about 500 baht a month...you can also pay a bit more and take all the yoga/pilates/aerobic classes too....
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Sign of the times! Money is not worth what it used to be hence the conversion to coinage.
When I was a lad you could buy the whole villages votes for 20 baht....
with a mia noi thrown in for good measure as well.
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why do so many many people commit suicide in LOS ? i can not understand this.
My friend from Germany commit suicide in BKK. i can not understand this. For what ?
Every case is unique. But many westerners move to Thailand as a last shot to find a kind of paradise, but there is no such place.
there is usually a lady that "love them too mut" involved
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On Nut. What do you folks that live or travel by there think? Say from Tesco on out... I think it looks like a possible main road for crime because the footpath is narrow (on either side of road) and there are no quick breakaways from there as there tend to be walls from one block to the next, it is pretty dark at night and there are also a lot of obstacles such as concrete poles and telephone booths making the place even more crowded. Walking out in the street isn't possible as it's also narrow and busy with cars transiting through. Footpaths are really bumpy and poorly shaped making a run difficult. Any experience?
i am also surprised not to see Klong Toey mentioned. I live just off of Suk Soi 50, On Nut BTS...for the most part, it seems that even late at night, there are always people about, a few food stalls etc open, so not the exact lone dark environment to pull off a crime. It might not be Tokyo, but I do feel far safer living in Bangkok then in the west for just crime in general, not to mention that wherever I have lived here (always in 99% Thai neighborhoods), i have heard little domestic violence, gunshots, or stories of robbery (not that they don't occur, but just not so prevalent as i have seen in some major US cities).....honestly, the only place in Bangkok where i ever watch my pocket and back and make sure not to get into any kind of arguments or scenes is in the heart of the beast, between Sukhumvit Soi 4 and 11.
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Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch) coming to Thailand.... India or Malaysia brews it locally ... cant remember which...
Thank god.. American beer is almost here..
This Buds for you!!
Yes, there are downsides to everything!
Looking forward to having more variety anyway, though I definitely won't be drinking that American pish...
Well they can always send the stuff from Europe here as that was the original Budweiser and it tastes GOOD. To my taste in America there isn't any good beer...
Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Boundary Bay IPA, Fat Tire, Pike's, Bridgeport, Alaskan, Red Hook.....when was the last time you were in the US? The Pacific Northwest rivals anywhere on the planet for beer these days.
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Don't hold your breath. It's a well kept secret that the big boys, Chang and Singha, bully retailers into not carrying competing brands from overseas even though they're three times as expensive as local brews. They'll manage to keep imported beers with low tariffs off the shelves as well. Furthermore, the big boys keep Customs in check through bribes to make sure that few beers can ever clear customs. They languish in unrefrigerated warehouses for months.
For more perspective, consider that Thailand has had an FTA with Australia for about three years now and the price of wines from down under are only marginally cheaper than imports from other countries.
Finally, the beers brewed in other Asean countries are merely bottled rainwater, just like the Thai brands.
It's a sad state of affairs when people praise Beer Lao and hope it's coming when we all know the wonderful craft beers that are prevalent in the UK, Germany, Oz and US.
I'll continue my illegal home brewing operation so I don't have to drink the suds of Thailand.
Maybe the former prime minister can make amends by introducing Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Anchor Steam as part of some sort of package deal.
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Dont forget that Pol Pot died of natural causes in his retirement home in Thailand, they are as bad as each other,.
Correct in so much as it is totally wrong. Pol Pot died in April 1998 whilst being held under house arrest, by a faction of Khmer Rouge, in Cambodia and was cremated in Anlong Veng shortly afterwards.
At the time of Pol Pot's death and ever since, there have been persistent rumors that his death was faked. As the body was cremated almost immediately after the death, the truth of those rumors will probably never be unearthed.
The story goes that a prominent Thai general/politician with close ties to PP and other Cambodian leaders helped him fake his death and whisked him away to Thailand, where he died of natural causes a couple of years later in his Bang Saen villa.
Someone told me they saw Jim Morrison at Bourbon Street the other day. Might be a rumour.
No, just a rumor. But he was seen at Long Gun and later on in Baccara staring at the short skirts upstairs
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The FACT of the matter is that Thaksin OVERWHELMINGLY won TWO elections. By all accounts, he would do so again if given the chance. The people have spoken, and the Bangkok minority should do away with the politically motivated persecution and face him in another election.
Love or hate him, democracy should rule.
So many are condemning his "conviction", yet conveniently forget that he was illegally and removed from power in violation of the Constitution, and the current government removed the previous (replacement) government and snatched power in much the same way. They held the entire country hostage by occupying and closing the airport. Though it was weaponless, coercion or extortion, take your pick.
I would defend the current government if they had won by the ballot, but they DID NOT. They snatched it via parliamentary maneuvering. Bring on the votes and let the people decide again!
Interesting that probably 90%+ of the posts on this forum are by Westerners who support democracy or attempts at it, don't support coups or military governments, et al....yet probably 90%+ of the posts on this forum are also anti Thaksin....says something doesn't it?
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again...where did i put that long range sniper rifle?
I really don't know which person I should respond to so I picked you because you must have fascist blood in you somewhere.
As this forum goes I'm just a newbie and figure my opinion doesn't mean squat to most of you. I get from your responses that a lot of you are liberal Europeans. I've only been here for a few years, but I remember when Taksin asked the King if he should step down. The King told him no. I remember when the legally elected Prime Minister left his country to attend to State business outside of the country and a bunch of military leaders that were trying to cover for their dirty friends took over the country by military coup. I remember that they tried him in abstentia, which means that he didn't have a chance in h3!! of defending himself. I remember that the opposing party lost the second election too. But their rioting and protests caused the government that was in power (Taksin's government) to step down for the good of Thailand.
I have to admit I'm a naïve American. I believe that the majority rules. (Or I would be out hunting for a Presidential pretender!!) Why is it that many of you think it's alright for the losers of the election to take this country by force, but that the head of the duly elected government should be shot, arrested, or incarcerated?
I know this sounds like a rant for Taksin, and I do believe he is good for the country, ( I know stupid American Yah dah, Yah dah, Yah dah,) but beyond that you talk about second world countries, like they're a bad thing. If this is so, and you choose to live in one, then shouldn't we be encouraging democracy (the majority rules), rather than who owns the media wins? I know your going to roast me, but that's okay it's been done by experts.
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Hello fellow American Stevemck,
I remember Thailand before Thaksin was PM, while Thaksin was PM and after Thaksin had been PM.
I also remember the United States before George W. Bush was president (in a clear steal), while GWB was president and after GWB was president.
I'll take both Abhisit and Obama, thank you.
i also remember back in early 2000, when a Thai court found that Thaksin had done no wrong despite the fact that his maid and housekeeper were in the top ten of the Thai stockexchange with "their" investments, and there was no cry of the courts are unfair or being paid off, and i remember when the 2500 "suspected" drug dealers were shot in the head without a trial on orders from Mr Toxin, and there was no cry about unfair justice or courts back then.....and I remember when it was found that Toxin and his wife had tried to bribe the judges prior to their conviction for the most recent charges, with still no cry of how the courts are impartial and unfair....face it, the man is a convicted felon, an egotistical and shrewd money grubber who got caught red handed. Even G.W. didnt go that far.
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Cambodia's recent activities with Thaksin really scaring thai gov......i wonder why..
I don't think it's about being scared. He is doing irrepairable damage to the country so something had to give.
They should have done it a long time ago. Get this matter resolved once and for all so the country can move on.
You must be kidding right? The Thai people elected Thaksin and the "other" political party with the help of the military took over when Thaksin was out of the country. The current government is a sham without the people's support. Thaksin is the rightful democratic leader of Thailand. Thaksin's a good businessman and was good for Thailand. Even if he profited from government contracts ............ any government leadership would do the same thing. All politicians are crooks in ALL Countries. I would rather have a good businessman running the country than the people currently in office.
The Thai people elected him. That is right, at 500 baht a head. Why dont they invite international observers to come in and monitor a non paid for election scam next time. There might be some very different results.
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Interesting in all the posts here, not one thing said about earnings as opposed to costs. As an American, Thailand is a far cheaper place for me to live. Excellent local food, 1000X better than any Thai food i could get in the US is available around the clock for a pittance. Taxis are dirt cheap, as is most public transport....and there certainly isn't Air Asia in the US...possibly the biggest one is coming from a country without cheap national healthcare, Thai hospitals are very very affordable and certainly the private hospitals (Bangkok General, Bumrungrad et al) rank up there with any in the world....
However, your average Thai is earning 10,-12000 baht a month in an office job, while his/her similar counterpart in the US may be earning $2-3,000. Thus, paying 2-3000 baht for a tiny room for rent is still paying 20-30% of one's salary, while in the US paying $500 amounts to the same thing.
When I lived in Japan, paying $5 for a cup of coffee did not seem expensive, because salaries were very high, and actually, based on earning power, that cup of coffee might have been cheaper than in developing countries.
The one thing that I do find expensive and poor value for what you pay here is alcohol. In most of Bangkok, the price for a beer is expensive relative to peoples' salaries. Even going to all Thai joints, a small bottle of Singh goes for 120-150 baht if the place is at all nice. That is $4-5. In Seattle, $3.50-4.50 gets one a pint of one of the best microbrewed beers in the world.
At any rate, most farangs living here are living on salaries/pensions/savings that put them into the Thai upperclass, so value for money is very very good, and makes it possible to live locally but also splurge on some good bread, cheese, wine, or whatever now and then.
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Just a quick update as I am in Phnom Penh now.
I ended up using an agent (almost any travel agency will do) for $19 to obtain a simple 60 Day Tourist Visa. Was quoted $15 for the "express" (same day) service but then inexplicably as I went to pay the price suddenly went up $4. At this point I couldn't have been bothered to go looking for another shop so I paid. This all occurred AFTER I personally went to the Thai embassy this morning
It's Thursday morning and here's what happened at the Thai embassy. After completing all the required paperwork I was told to come back Monday at 3 PM to pick up my passport! A five day turnaround? I asked if I could get the passport today or even tomorrow. "No, that's the rule here!" Also not possible is a multiple entry Tourist Visa. "Impossible!" as quoted by the kind lady who waited on me. Was told by a couple agents that they could do this for $75 but after endless phone calls it was "not possible."
Tips on a PP visa trip that may be obvious:
1) Book in advance on AirAsia, I couldn't and it the price was not exactly cheap.
2) Use an agent for a 60 day tourist visa unless you don't mind waiting a long time for your stamp, multiple entry visas are not issued (that was my experience).
3) Consider Vientiane instead.
This is pretty normal...i just picked up a Cambo visa at the embassy in Bkk....submitted on a Monday, it takes 3 working days, meaning it was ready Wed morning. If I had submitted on a Thursday, would have had to wait until Monday....in Vientiane, it is a day faster, so if you submitted Thursday would have been ready Friday, but if on Friday, not until Monday...not really a 5 day turnaround, i think you just need to time your visa runs appropriately if time is a factor and you dont want to hang out in a place...for 5 days, i think PP is pretty okay, certainly enough to do, some decent restaurants and bars as others have posted
Tuk - Tuks With Fare Meter Coming Soon?
in Phuket News
Posted
it would be nice to read this forum in a year or more's time, to the headline of "collapse in tourism in Phuket leaves tuk tuk industry in ruins." Pretty obvious by this governor's take on things that as usual, NOTHING will be done...there is only one response. Do not go to Phuket.