aqua4

Time for lampooning...

They came first for the Visa Runners,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Visa Runner.

Then they came for the 3m Baht Business Visa,

and I didn't speak up because I did not have one.

Then they came for the Tourist Visa,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a tourist.

Then they came for the Retirement Visa,

and I didn't speak up because I was not that old.

Then they came for me,

and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Cute!

Thi is an old reharshed story.

The article reads "crack down".

There is no crack down from what I see. They are only making it more difficult to get a work permit. "Crack Down" in its usual context would be round ups at schools of illegal teachers, not the regular ones being squeezed even more.

High time. We have been transfering money into Thailand with a Thai credit card for the last few months already. Bangkok Bank, New York branch has been setup for Paypal since Paypal was allowed in Thailand.

They just never told anyone unless you asked. TIT

Have you seen how many people are reading this?!?!?!

It affects many many people and some might just be worried. This MIGHT only be the start of more bad news. Since the cutting of the investment visa and tourist visas, I would think that they might just tighten all the screws on visas.

Who knows what falls out of the wood work in the next few months.

Always comes down to $ ?

Lets see from this thread we can surmise that only 25% of teachers are legally teaching English. That leaves 75% or 7-8 out of every 10 teachers out of the government system. If criminal records are going to be checked, they will only check the 25% of registered/work permit teachers. The great majority will just carry on as if nothing had happened.

Speaking of salaries, many Thai teachers earn more baht in a year than the average farang teacher, if you deduct the farang teacher's additional expenses, and add in the value of the Thai teacher's pension and other benefits.

Well done you must be the first personwho brought that up! Nobody thinks of that do they?

MAYBE, just kids buggering around. Nawamin 101 is not a populated area and is not a predominately Muslim area such as Minburi. If they wanted to make any form of political statement it would have exploded near or at the Happy Land / Bangkapi market which is densely populated.

With the damage caused it must have been a chlorine or ammonia bomb. You would not need a timer on such a device as it will take a while for the pressure to build up in order to explode. This would account for the explosion occurring so shortly after they got off the bus. Added to this that there appears to be no accounts for any shrapnel which means that no nails or nuts such as buckshot had been added to increase damage to the area. More likely just kids playing around, the the newspaper article is poorly written so not much information given!

A couple of years ago I was in Singapore getting a one year multiple entry B visa. They told me they don't issue them there, I laughed of course "yes you do you little <deleted>, now run back there and talk to someone more important than you, about getting me one"

Again with the "so sorry, all we can give you is single entry"

Well this is a laugh, I have a work permit, and all the usual documents.

You have a work permit and are applying for a multiple "B"?

Then the work visa rules should be eased not ignored.

The work permit rules eased? I don't see that happening! Labour Department, Education Department, Immigration. I don't think they talk to each other. Do it again for your extention of the work permit. Round and round. Most schools refuse to pick up the tabs, they expect the teachers to pay for everything. Most don't even know how to get the work permit going. So it becomes a stale mate where it is "up to you".

This was the right thing to do for those with out proper work docs/work visa should be made to do this.

It would make the situation much worst then. Ask any agency in Bangkok if they are short of teaching staff and they will say yes. Many schools cannot get any teachers as there is a drastic shortage. Look at Ajarn and see the amount of ads being placed over the last month. This in the middle of the school semester.

Odd.

It opens the door to further clampdowns later like a limit to the number of back to backs you can get. also the clampdown could happen more abruptly, not having to wait for huge #s of outstanding triples to expire

That has crossed my mind. If they pushed everyone to the borders with "Visa Runs" they could turn around and say, too many Cambodian stamps - Go home.

Thanks!

Hi,

Does anyone know what time the last taxi leaves for Penang from Hat Yai be it a weekend or during the week. Maybe even to Sado. Are there Penang bound taxis from Sado?

Thanks

He knew his girfriend had Yabba on her and was afraid to stop thinking that he would be arrested for her possesion. He was so affraid that he left his car behind and fled.

Why did she sit in the car and wait? Now she is helping police Maybe they should give her a urine test first and see if she is a user.

April Fools Day?

Who tipped off the tourist police that the company was assisting illegal aliens into Burma. Could it be one of the other "visa run" companies?? I have done one organised visa run before deciding not to put my life in the hands of some he11 bent speed freak.The first thing they made clear was that they would not accept overstays on board because of the hold ups at immigration. Maybe some companies are a bit pizzed off with the hold ups this company are creating with overstayers and decided to put an end to it themselves. Just a thought.

nice conspiracy theory, but if you've ever been through a police checkpoint on Thailand roads, they pull over every vehicle that matches the "target de jeur"... in this case, bus or van loads of people, particularly if they are foreigners onboard.

You are correct, however they never use to pull off visa busses to check for overstayers in any event. BTW, they is not the first but the second one that I had heard of. The first time I heard of something to this effect was in Novemeber last year near the Poi Pet border. Same MO.

Police arrest 12 on Ranong ‘visa run’

“I think that’s impossible. I can guarantee that the Tourist Police officers did not ask for money because we are not in trouble [financially] and I constantly remind them to not do that.

He can guarantee that they did not ask for money. Why? Because none of his officers have financial problems, BUT he constantly reminds them not to ask for bribes? Why would he have to remind them not to ask for bribes unless they are?

that rural people might stage a rally to show their dissatisfaction against Sondhi.

rural people can afford the time and money to travel to bangkok and stage a counter rally ?

this crackdown/war on poverty must be succeeding faster than expected....

That is a good one.

Kat, please don't answer him. To many CIS movies!

So she rode on the back of his bike to near his house without a helmet to pick up a helmet that she could wear to Walking Street.

She was on Tepprasit Road, so they went to Soi 17 on the Tepprasit Road his home to pick up a helmet to go to Walking Street. (Nothing wrong, now is there?)

He had told her where he lived or at least the general vicinity...and allegedly raped her in that area.....

He is an amateur and not a psychopath, you commit your crime in an area you feel safe in or know. That would be normal.

DNA does not prove rape....It only shows that the male has had sex with the girl. The subject of consent is another issue entirely.

Well since we are not privy to ALL the information, we would assume that as in any other rape case you would make use of a rape kit for examination and also examine the condition of not only the victim but also the genital area.

Now for the confession...as I said in the Samui thread....Sometimes faced with DNA evidence the person may confess...after all he probably has limited knowledge of the DNA system....look at this, this way....

Well there was a confession and an identification parade was there not? So guilt was not only admitted but he was also identified by the victim. What knowledge does he need?

So far I have yet to see supporting evidence presented in the reports. There is nothing to suggest she was a first time tourist based on the reports listed here.

What difference would it make if it was her first time in Pattaya or not? There is nothing that can be inferred.

Could I suggest it would be unlikely that a rapist would work so close to home and tell her where he lived....Could this be a case of mistaken but honest belief.....could it be that she has cried rape because of whatever reason ?????

Nope!

Rape is a violent crime not a crime of passion. As usual the Thai reporting both in the Thai media and local English media is shoddy to say the least. Short of that, I dont see anything else pointing in the direction of it not being a rape.

Well if it goes wide spread it will have a knock on effect on the clothing industry. I know of many people who come just to buy clothing. If you had to tell them to get a "B" visa they will move onto China as they are already cheaper. Bottom line is you either want the money or not!

3 of my friends arrive 2-3 times a month just to ship out their clothing. The other one ships out 1-2 containers a month of fabric. However their margins are comming under pressure and China is looking more attractive at the moment.

So who knows. This crack down might just push some people over to the next market. Who looses out, factories, hotels, resturants, taxis and basically all! So go ahead demand work permits and "B" visas, they would just end up hurting themselves.

Most likely just the tip of a large iceberg.

The emphasis on native english speakers is part of the problem. They should emphasise on qualifed teachers. Bachelor of Teaching degree, and government endorsed professional english teaching certification(teaching license of sorts)

Speaking english does not mean you can teach it, most native speakers unless qualified cannot teach grammer properly. It get really technical when you have to explain tenses, punctuation.......... plus most native speakers still speak a sub-set of english with its unique regional variations.....american english, oz english, saffa english, singlish

Well that is the problem. You would actually have to pay people. Do YOU think schools would be interested? I think Blondie sums it up rather well.

1. The systems don't pay adequate salaries and have to accept totally unqualified farang of all ages and nationalities.

2. The Thais are too xenophobic to think farang can help them solve problems which they think don't exist.

3. The administration of almost all schools, public and private, is so abysmal that anybody who's familiar with organization and common sense will go mad trying to make sense out of it.

4. Thai employers don't know how to identify a good job applicant, or how to keep a good teacher.