Gaccha

On 6/26/2025 at 2:50 PM, soalbundy said:

I tried buying an anti-virus program online

This is the real crime. You can easily get entirely adequate anti-virus software for free. Right now, I'm using Avast on my phone.

My tailor (located near Saphan Taksin) actually makes the suits. I've walked in on him making them. He also actively looks for fabrics; he went off to India town for a particularly challenging request from me.

Most of the tailors on Sukhumvit are simply front shops for some giant factory of workers to stitch together a suit. Has anyone who is making recommendations on this thread actually seen their favoured tailors make the suits?

On 6/26/2025 at 6:01 PM, DrJack54 said:

After trip abroad and return to Thailand your first 90 report needs to be in person. 

The 2nd July or 3rd July will be a very important test of this. The very first guinea pigs to go through Immigration's new electronic checks etc will have to do their first 90 days since arriving under this new system. It will be fascinating to see if they can avoid doing it in person. I suspect not but you never know.

19 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

anything later than 3 days and the vaccines might be ineffective 

Of course. But there are people who got bitten years ago who never went to the hospital. And I'm simply pointing out that best practice is to encourage them to attend despite the time that has gone by.

7 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   3 days , not 1 hour 

You should aim for day zero and within 1 hour of the bite. But even going to hospital after 5 years (!) it is worth it, if you got bitten and never attended.

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Can children obtain the pre-exposure jabs?

Yes. And since they are less likely to act on bites or licks etc, it is particularly important for them to receive the pre-exposure jabs (PrEP).

There is some staggeringly bad and flippant advice in this thread. Having had an extremely healthy and fit friend die in his early 30s from rabies, I know what it can do to you.

When I attended Mahidol for my first rabies injection, they informed me that between 3% to 5% of dogs in Bangkok have rabies. They are regarded as the experts on rabies in Thailand.

If you live in Thailand you should definitely obtain the pre-exposure jabs which are available for free at government hospitals if you have social security with them. If not you will pay around 500 baht per jab. 

I have been bitten four times in Thailand so I am painfully aware of what has to be done. You must attend a hospital within 1 hour of the bite so a nurse can give you a rabies, tetanus (if necessary) and very carefully clean the wound with extremely strong chemicals. You then return one-two weeks later to get the second jab.

If you are foolish enough not to get the pre-exposure jabs, then you need to get the painful and expensive immunoglobulin, and a lengthy course of normal injections. In the countryside you might find it extremely difficult to find any hospital with this supplied, and even more difficult to reach those hospitals by the end of day zero of the bite.

Any sign of symptoms equals certain death.

1 hour ago, Stocky said:

I've yet to receive the email about tax numbers

That might explain it. I've had a Tax Id since day 1 of opening the accounts. The lack of one might get your accounts classed as higher risk. After all, their major fear is money laundering.

8 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Previously they told me the system couldn't handle foreigners

I'm taking by this remark that you visited them after they asked you to register for facial recognition? And at that time they said they could not handle foreigners?

This is strange because I never had that experience. I never needed to go to the banks. The Apps simply went through the facial recognition registration. Also other foreign friends have not had that experience either. I'm wondering what the difference was. Are you citizens of dodgy countries, such as the United States?

This is the third time on this website that this announcement has been summarised. And like the other two, this is as clear as mud. So I've checked and found out for myself what is going on. Here is my summary:

If you have an international driving permit and a valid driving licence from a foreign country then you can drive in Thailand for 90 days (some sources claim 6 months).

If you have a foreign driving licence and IDP then in order to obtain a Thai provisional ("temporary") licence, you will now need to take the written test, which was previously not required.

There are no restrictions on the provisional licence unlike many other countries' provisional licences. As is already the case, it lasts for 2 years and cannot be used to drive in other ASEAN countries. 

After the 2 years, the full 5-year licence can be applied for and used in ASEAN countries.

There will be no requirement to take a written test by anyone who has already obtained the licence prior to these new planned regulations.

So going back to the OPs summary: the first bullet point is essentially wrong, the second bullet point is correct, and the third bullet point is deeply misleading. 

3 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

My phone is less than a year old

Let us know why they marked you out.

18 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

pop into the bank on Monday

I'm just speculating, but do you have quite an old phone? Say, older than 7 years. I think the banks now take the security weaknesses of old phones very seriously. 

I didn't see any message in my Kasikorn app when I checked it a few seconds ago. Notably the message does say "just for you". Do you have a working app on your phone? 

The fact that the message is saying you need to go to the bank to complete the facial registration suggests that you have incomplete registration with them. Since I routinely have to do facial recognition on my app should I reach the conditions (which I currently specify as 20,000 baht but I can instantly change in the App) I cannot see any reason why I would also need to go to the bank.

Nevertheless, some conditions mentioned in the message are new. Increasing the daily transaction limit has never required facial recognition.

I never understood the talk on this website about needing to go to the bank to get facial recognition registered etc since I found with all my apps with all my banks (three of them), they allowed me to carry out the facial recognition registration on my phone on my own in my kitchen.

42 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

The validity of the personal driver’s license has been extended from two years to five years

This is confusing. 

The law was that you would receive a 2-year driving licence and then receive a 5-year driving licence upon expiry of that one. What is getting extended from 2 to 5? 

43 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

The license will remain valid for two years, as before.

What is remaining valid for only 2 years? A 'temporary licence' is what? What legal distinction is this referencing? 

Attend the large Rutnin Eye Hospital. They'll provide a prescription. 

I always check to see if they have received international standards accreditation. There are two particular standards to look for: the JCI and the ISO 9001.

ChiangMai International Dental Clinic (CIDC) follows ISO 9001 quality management controls. It is also compliant with Joint Commission International (JCI) standards. This place is part of the BIDC group. I've used one of their clinics in Bangkok.

The Chiangmai Ram Hospital has JCI accreditation.

I couldn't find any others with these standards from a quick internet search.

Robbery requires the use or threat of violence. There is no ambiguity on this. Simply because you're ignorant does not make it otherwise.

Here is the Thai law:

Words have meanings. Don't call it a robbery if it is just a theft. To be a robbery there has to be a threat or use of force before or during the theft in order to obtain the objects.

1 minute ago, Free the 115 said:

This is the first time I have done an online report, and now I  have a pdf (of my Tm47??

will this be ok, or do I need to print it out?

many thanks 

No. But you are supposed to be able to readily access it if needed (so keep a printout at home or work etc). Or keep as a PDF on your phone etc. 

Since you should always be able to access the online system then even that should be enough. This is my (lazy) choice. 

Hotels and police on patrol will not ask for it. I doubt they even know about it.

Interesting. I also asked AI and it suggested no clear answer. Some of its references were this board but from 10 to 15 years ago. Some said 60 days and they said this depended on the Immigration Office. 

I wish there was a definite answer.

Notoriously, for the work permit, there is a syphilis test (VDRL). Putting aside that this makes no sense at all*, I'm interested to know how long before submitting the documents the test may be taken.

To get it out the way I decided to do it 3 months prior, but that might or might not be acceptable. Does anyone have a number? Thanks.

If not, I guess I will go and get the test done again within 30 days of the submission of documents.

(*For curious readers who want to know why it makes no sense to demand a syphilis test and no other disease test, you need to ask yourself what is the function of the test. Syphilis is almost impossible to spread except by sexual contact, making it exactly the kind of disease that they do not need to worry about for somebody in a work environment. It would obviously make more sense for them to test for tuberculosis or any other disease spread by air)

5 hours ago, roo860 said:

Chiang Rai Provence 

I still don't get it. Even the province is 8 hours drive from Mae Sot police station.