vahack

One side of the cabinet is about 30 different types of pouch tobacco. Not sure if it's for pipes but it's loose leaf. I was just there today.

The new hiso liquor store across the canal from old Serm Thai (next door to the taxi company) has a tobacco cabinet. Lots of cigarillos, half coronas, and a few full corona options. Not the best selection (Dannemann is the best there) but it's good enough to get your cigar fix. They have Swisher's too if you like those. The place is called limcharoen. They are on Facebook too.

Typical Thai taking on more debt with a new car when the last one isn't paid off. Cars are relatively easy to sell if they haven't been wrecked. Make sure she doesn't have your ATM card. Sounds like she has money management problems.

Oh, and yea everybody had it right. Call the popo and have them help you straighten it out. You may not have to report it stolen. They will go over and get the story. You'll have to pay for their time tho. Cops don't do their job for free in LOS.

Yea I'm wondering how they arrested him too. Child support is not an extradition offense. Did he go back to the US for a visit?

No, the driver is responsible to pay for livestock they hit in Thailand. Don't assume the law is the same as it is in your home country. This is one of the first things I learned when I started driving in Thailand by seeing a driver pay a farmer for his dead cow under police order.

On the other hand, buffalo should be in before sun down. The farmer might have been too drunk lol

yea you have 3 choices really:

- say "relax bro, TIT"

- pretend you don't understand him (use a shrug)

- agree with him and get everyone hating you too

i usually go with the first. sometimes the 2nd.

i was like him when i first got off the boat. it only took me a few weeks to start going with the flow of Thailand - which is really slow and usually flowing backwards.

- Does Thailand have it's fair share of alcoholic expats? 50% of us are alcoholics? 30%? 90%?

Or is this actually a very healthy thing, a good thing, staying away from alcohol now and then?

my guess would be that only about 90% of expats in LOH (land of hubs) that have been here at least a year do drink at least once a week. most i would say drink 3x or more a week. i've been here 6 years and i stopped drinking 3 years ago after songkran. i found that having a healthy family and drinking were incompatible activities.

however that's just my own opinion and what works for me. i drank for over 20 years and never knew another way to live. now that i've been a non-drinker for a few years, i make much more money than i ever have, my family is strong, healthy, and happy, and i feel great. of course, i'm bored all the time lol

and that's why expats drink. Thailand is a boring place, even if you do work 40-60 hours a week. i end up watching too much tv and eating too much food. both are probably pretty bad for me..

i've been here long enough to be cynical too. its highly likely something else is going on (boyfriend, husband, sponsors). however, it doesn't sound like that's why she dropped off like that. if she was milking it, she wouldn't stop BEFORE his next trip. there's no money in that.

i'm guessing she is hurt or dead. people die really easily in Thailand. i'd follow up, but cautiously.

Why appeal? They told him that he already got an extension 4 times based on wrong, misleading information.

TIT rules change every day/ every minute.

Just remember you're being a guest in Thailand.

Don't take the risk to lose the opportunity to stay in Thailand.

Maybe there will be some kind of law that if you appeal and you stayed for 4 consecutive years that you'll be blacklisted and may never return.

Don't play with fire and just get 400,000 baht on your account just like every other farang under 50 years does.

Good luck!

no offense man but your immigration knowledge is years out of date (if it was ever accurate?). 400,000 is not required and every other farang under 50 doesn't meet the income requirement that way. a majority just prove the 40k a month.

i've never once been told by immigration that 400k in the bank was a requirement. my first year i was told to get a bank account set up and show 40k or more in foreign wire transfers over 3 months. the 2nd year i was told the bank account had to be in my own name (it was a joint account with my wife). and in the 3rd year i learned about the notarized embassy paper. i've been showing that every year since without any issues.

you won't get blacklisted for following the law..

I only asked to speak to his supervisor AFTER he said that he could not extend my visa. It was the very last option I had, not the first thing I said after I sat down.

yea i think that's where you went wrong. if not before. in my first couple of years getting extensions i learned that when the immigration officer is wrong, don't argue and don't look upset. they will just fortify their position.

one year (my 3rd extension) i had to go back and forth to Amnat 9 times to get all the paperwork right - a 2.5 hour drive each way. some of the mistakes were theirs, some were mine. it was a humbling experience and i learned that its better to work with them rather than against them. you cannot win - EVER - by challenging or arguing with immigration. the front-desk officers have too much power and the supervisors are way too busy to care about one farang.

if u know u are right and they insist that you are wrong, just say, "sorry i must have made a mistake in understanding", then wai and leave. you can regroup and come back another day. maybe he will be having a better day on your next visit.

it sounds to me like he was having a bad day and you were tired from the 3 hour wait. otherwise an immigration visit wouldn't escalate like that. your wife should have chewed him out him tho for the insult (mine would have). there's no way he ranks high enough to insult another Thai. my wife would have called the PM lol

Slip the officer a little tea money or a bottle of his favorite drink.

I think that is the problem. This has grown beyond a little tea money or a drink. They are looking for larger sums now. 10K plus.

In the past, the attorneys have been paying 5K for a hassle-free process and now I think the amount is going up. Now it's becoming pure extortion to buy your extensions now.

Going by the OP, it appears they are getting quite arrogant about it where before it was more covert. I hope the OP's experience is an exception versus a new rule.

luckily the immigration officers i work with in Amnat have so far been friendly and a great help. it doesn't hurt that i donate to their tip box every 90 days.

i get stressed and nervous every year when i go through this process of getting permission to stay in the house i built and live with my wife and kid. its pretty crazy.

one thing to remember - Thais are always right! in the stores, on the streets, in the offices, everywhere. if you get into an argument, you have to bribe or tip. and always smile and wai.

this isn't our country and they don't want us here.

news would be reporting a day when someone didn't die on a motorbike. its a dangerous place. gruesome deaths every day.

college is about learning how to be a good drone so you can be a good drone worker when you graduate.

if they really wanted freedom and individuality they shouldn't be plugged into the drone system. they should be starting their own businesses or getting out of Thailand.

there's only a couple paths for a college grad in Thailand and most of those jobs require wearing a uniform. get used to it kids.

yea i think the OP was too vague. is he talking about the country or the city? there are different protocols.

out in the country i see 1-5 farang a week so i always at least smile and nod. its the same protocol i would use in the sticks back in the US. in the city, i usually smile all the time anyway, but never engage. talking to city farang can be dangerous and time consuming.

it does annoy me when i smile and nod in Macro or Lotus to the only other farang in the place and they give me a dirty look or sneer. i usually say '<deleted> you too' (still smiling, as i would in the states) and see if that gets a reaction. usually they ignore that too, which leads me to the conclusion that they don't speak English lol

There are crimes like that everywhere in the world .... Pattaya makes no exception .... As well as many other tourists destination worldwide. Pattaya is not more dangerous than Ibiza , Nice or Miami .

the difference is this is Thailand, not Miami, LA, or even my hometown of DC. people come here thinking its safe when the truth is its not. you have to watch your ass just like anywhere else. and you should never go out alone. by preaching that Pattaya is safe, you are only putting other tourists at risk. it would be the same as telling people that bus or van transport is safe.

i always thought Pattaya is a cesspool - the worst of Thailand. i prefer almost any other province or city.

if the numbers are true then its somewhat impressive that there was a rebound. however most of that is rice income which is unaffected once flood waters recede. the stats above say gdp growth between Q1 2010 and Q1 2012 was only 0.2%. so the flood knocked out ALL other growth even in unaffected regions?

this is an optimistic sounding article but the stats show a different story. and so does the baht exchange rate.

how come she was walking in the middle of the track while a train was approaching ? Its not very clear to me .... anyway sorry for this girl to lose her life in such tragic way,

"Ms Budreeyah walked onto the Asok-Phetchaburi railroad crossing and stood in the middle of the track"

i dont care how many show up, just as long as they leave quickly without burning anything down. you guys are bitching about the govt taking action against the protestors. try to build illegal military-grade barricades in the middle of any other city in the world. try it in DC. they'd all be shot or sent to Gitmo.

Thai people will never understand democracy, so they don't deserve to have it.

You can get shot or sent to "Gitmo" if you're innocent or guilty, so that's not really the best defence. Some countries even when they allegedly achieve "democracy nirvana" do their best to dismantle it, so don't you think it's a bit presumptious of you to speak on behalf of the Thai Nation, unless of course you happen to be Thai, that is. Even then, that would be just your viewpoint to be balanced with the rest of the citizenry.

the nice thing about freedom of speech is that i can be presumtuous. the nice thing about learning to read is that i was able to learn about the violent failure of an experiment called Thai democracy - from the beginning when the hiso merchants forced the first coup, through the 26+ coups since.

i dont care how many show up, just as long as they leave quickly without burning anything down. you guys are bitching about the govt taking action against the protestors. try to build illegal military-grade barricades in the middle of any other city in the world. try it in DC. they'd all be shot or sent to Gitmo.

Thai people will never understand democracy, so they don't deserve to have it.

At 03:00 on May 9 the detectives traced Mr. Michael through his mobile phone number.

Very interesting??

Cell phone companies can approximate your cell phone location by "pinging" it. When cell phones are turned on, they emit a signal. Cell phone companies can "ping" or contact the cell phone and discover the nearest tower the signal is coming from. Police and law enforcement use this method regularly to track down missing persons. So for future reference, if you're on the run, turn off your cell phone and take out the battery...

its not the cellphone its the sim, but yea..

"At 03:00 on May 9 the detectives traced Mr. Michael through his mobile phone number."

not the smartest cookie in the box.

what a douche.