Lee4Life

The other problem I have had here in NongKhai is that there is another house in our moo ban (neighborhood) with exactly the same address as ours. I sometimes get their mail so I wonder if they get ours. I asked the guys at the post office how to fix this problem and they scratched their heads and said "that would be very hard to fix"

        Glad you got the item

you had better luck than I, I live in NongKhai and ordered a laptop mainboard on aliexpress. The last time I tracked the shipment it said "cleared Brazil postal customs inspection, out for delivery" !  That was a few months ago.

4 hours ago, gandalf12 said:

Rear tires bursting don't normally result in a vehicle overturning

Actually they can, back in the 90's the ford explorers in America were investigated by officials after it was reported that they had an extraordinarily high amount of rollover accidents. Investigators found that the rollovers were caused not by the vehicles but by the tires, people who were still driving on the factory installed tires once they were badly worn were experiencing blowouts and when the blowout was on the rear at highway speeds the result was that the rear of the vehicle "steered itself" and no matter what the driver did in many cases they lost control and rolled.

        The result of these findings went against the old idea that a blowout on the rear was better than on the front. The fact is that if a front tire blows out the driver can still steer it. I know all of this because I was a Ford dealer technician then. 

      That said, no matter what the cause may she rest in peace and the others recover well

14 hours ago, crazydrummerpauly said:

Scott - been while since i was there four times year, but we liked to go in the evenings when it is really laid back with few farangs, mostly locals going home from work - it was open until 10pm i think but that might be out of date - and there was a $1 'overtime' fee.  We used to leave Nong Khai about 7pm. and do a U-turn to be back in NK before 9pm even including a meal on the Laos side of the bridge.

These days better plan on crossing into Laos before 9pm, I would suggest even earlier to avoid problems on the Lao side. I live here and one night I picked up a couple of backpackers who were walking into town because they couldn't cross, it was just after 9pm. Unless something has changed the bridge is open until 10pm but the Lao Visa on arrival is not.

Weekends get really busy, but the flow tends to be Lao out in the morning and then Lao back in come afternoon/evening, Sunday afternoon/evening is especially bad, usually both directions. The other busy times are when the visa buses from Bangkok arrive, maybe someone else is more familiar with those, but from what I have seen they come early in the mornings Mondays through Thursdays, then cross back over on Tuesday through Friday in the afternoons and evenings. Fridays mornings are quiet because most people don't want to apply for their visa on Friday and then wait until Monday to get it. If you don't mind spending a weekend in Laos that works well both border crossing and embassy wise.

"Nok goot" in Thai or Lao I believe,  

3 hours ago, Thomas Hannah said:

It is.All visa,s are.

then the requirements to have the funds in a Thai bank would not have to be met if the visa was applied for in the home country and the applicant had sufficient funds in a bank there

I would be interested if it was available through Royal Consulates and Embassies in my home country.

Wow...the police had reports of foreigners renting a house without notifying them and were investigating? And they had the military come as backup? I didn't realize that was such a serious thing. Makes me glad all of my paperwork is in order.

27 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

A lot of traffic incidents are save face related.

Agree with this, it may happen a bit more here but it also happens back home. Pull out to pass and people all of the sudden find their accelerator pedal, complete the pass and they stick on your rear for miles. But the problem is also that those are the ones we remember, not the nice polite drivers who yield even when they don't have to..

7 hours ago, Alan Deer said:

Sadly this video does nothing to improve road safety in Thailand.

What it is a  racist attack designed to reinforce prejudices about Thai people.

there are no more stupid drivers in Thailand than any other country.

What WOULD help road safety is an intelligent analysis of WHY and HOW this incident took place.

You can analyze it all you want...unless you make some changes in enforcement and attitudes you're not going to get anywhere.

I live in NongKhai and bought a bike registered in Udon Thani, I didn't have any problems changing the green book over to my name and address but leaving the bike registered in Udon, have been using the bike for over two years and gone through a lot of highway checks with no problems. 

Not sure on a new bike...never had that pleasure

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 11:57 AM, Thaiwrath said:

A big lump that motorbike driver. I certainly would not like a dig off him.

Me neither...he isn't even able to buy flip-flops he can fit into!

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 1:24 PM, ramrod711 said:

Properly adjusted brakes don't fail, you don't need air to apply the brakes, you need air to release them. If air pressure falls springs apply the brakes. The brakes didn't fail, the driver did.

Properly adjusted brakes do fail...if you overuse them and overheat them severely, but you are still very right in that it is actually driver failure. I was following a big truck in the mountains of Laos on my motorbike and could smell it's burning brakes long before I ever saw it. When I rounded a corner I saw something lying in the road and when I swerved to avoid it I saw that it was one of the trucks brake shoes...and it was still smoking!

17 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

In terms of notarize a document this is false.  A Notary is actually certifying the person who is  signing the document.  I was a Notary in California for several years.  In the US a Notary is commissioned by the state and the commission is good for 4 years.  A Notary cannot certify any document as being authentic.  If you bring a completed document to any notary the best he can do is to attach a second page with his seal on it.  During the process of Notarizing the Notary verifies the identity of signer, obtains his thumb print, observes the signing and then  makes an entry into his Notary book along with the singer of the document.  If these steps are not followed then the entire process is invalid.  Therefore, one would have to hire a notary and bring him to the doctor's office, the police department, and the bank in order to comply with these requirement.  In my case I would have to bring the Notary to my pension board office (which is only 400 miles away) and have my retirement income document notarized in person.  If this is the case then I would give up on the notion of obtaining aThai retirement visa.  

Some doctor's offices have their receptionists become notaries, and banks always have notaries, usually tellers or account service reps, most of the time more than one. Many police departments also have some of their staff become notaries, notaries are not all that uncommon. In this case you would have to ask ahead whether or not they have notaries in their offices so that you could be sure you could have the document notarized.

The worst one for me, and probably for most people, is the doctor's certification form.

On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 7:32 PM, tlock said:

thanks for the helpful replies.  I'll keep aliexpress in mind for future purchases.  Unfortunately I can't seem to find Olympic weights on aliexpress, only on alibaba.  

I have ordered a few items from them, most with good success...except for a motherboard that somehow got shipped to Brazil, but even then they are good about refunding for problems.

I have looked at a few heavy items such as treadmills, and have found the shipping to be very costly. I think you would find the same for weight sets.

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

How do I get everything notarized?  I can print copies of bank statements and statements of income from the internet, but notaries don't notarize things printed from the internet.  Also, my doctor doesn't have a notary working in his office, so the medical certificate he signed wasn't witnessed by a notary and can't be notarized.

 

There must be a way around this "everything must be notarized" rule, but I haven't found it.

 

 

  It is difficult to get everything notarized, but it is part of the requirements. I am sorry your doctor does not have a notary in the office, many of the larger clinics do. When I applied for the background check through our state police the application form had a box to check if you wished to have the results notarized. As far as the proof of income, I went to my bank and had them write a letter verifying the most current statement and funds and had them notarize it. I would be very surprised if they accepted something you printed off the internet for proof of funds.

     While I waited for my visa at the consulate I overheard another fellow who was attempting to apply for a visa say to the person who was going through his paperwork. " notarized! how am I supposed to get that form notarized? I can't drag my doctor to a notary!" .

          I expected them to hand his paperwork back to him but they didn't, I couldn't hear the reply of the consulate worker because they were behind security glass.

            Maybe you could talk to someone at the consulate you are applying at and explain your situation and see if they have any leeway as far as the notarization rule goes.

17 hours ago, mstevens said:

As you across the border so frequently, it would probably be worth your while to apply for a multiple-entry tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Vientiane which will allow you unlimited entries across the border to Thailand for 6 months.  The cost of this visa is 5,000 baht.

 

If you visit Thailand most weekends, that would work out at a defrayed cost of around 200 baht per visit.  Yes, it is a hassle and an expense but given that you visit Thailand so regularly it would appear that it is worth your while.  Ditto for all the other expats who make the same trip.  I can understand if you were an occasional visitor how it would be a hassle but for those who visit so regularly the multiple-entry visa will allow you to continue what you were doing.

They did say that they were a family, 5,000 baht x 5 is 25,000 baht. That's a lot of money and a lot of hassle.

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 10:05 AM, heybruce said:

Thanks for the info.  I didn't know about the August date, I only just learned that I couldn't get my visa in the same manner as last year, and several years before.

 

It's humbling to admit this, but I definitely qualify for a retirement visa.  Perhaps I could get the visa with a background check from my state Department of Law Enforcement, but since the DC visa service had no reason to lie to me (it cost them my business) I will assume they told the truth when they said the Thai Embassy in DC will only accept FBI background checks.  I will attempt to get my visa through the Chicago consulate using a visa service there.

 

As always, the written rules don't matter, it's how the bureaucrats choose to interpret these rules that matter.

I applied for and received a multi-entry retirement visa from the LA Consulate a few months ago. I used a background check from the state police and they accepted it unquestioningly. Make sure you get everything notarized though...including the background check, our state police (Washington) charged an extra fee for the notarization. I applied for the background check online.

I went to the consulate in person because of the long wait time listed on the website for the consulate, but others reported that they had applied by mail and received their passports back with the visas in less than half of the time on listed on the website.  hope this helps

12 hours ago, maoro2013 said:

What is the logic behind reducing the number of vans?

 

I don't think that is the answer, maybe cutting them totally would work, but reducing!!

  You are correct in that the logic behind reducing the number of vans on the road is flawed, if in fact the driver was on his umpteenth 500 km trip in only a couple of days then if their were less vans on the road that would mean more overworked drivers in the remaining vans.

 It is more likely that an "hours of service" rule that limited how many hours commercial drivers could drive in a 24 hour period would help, of course that would also depend upon enforcement.

On ‎1‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 0:50 PM, ubonjoe said:

That is not clear yet. Strictly by the order it would mean that but they may come out with immigration procedures that allow more than two if the entries are not done as a border hop starting from here.

     Two of my friends who live in Laos came across at NongKhai in the past two days, the officers stamped them in and warned them that they will only get two visa exempt entries per year.

    The foreigners who live in Laos are being told by the Thai Embassy there to obtain METV's. It sure seems like they could give these guys a three day entry stamp or a one day border pass so they could continue to come across and obtain medical services and shop in Thailand. 

On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 0:08 PM, Brer Fox said:

I am shocked! I must be ignorant as I have always believed the people of the USA to be remarkably erudite. Most of those who I meet are always telling me they are anyway.

I too am remarkably erudite! (what's that mean anyway?)

Am I supposed to believe the results of a poll in which there are such wide variances year-to-year? How could the results change so rapidly?

I guess I'm just ignorant.

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 3:08 PM, mstevens said:

 

Absolute rubbish.  It is nothing to do with money.  They are fed up with folks doing visa runs and this is just another measure they have introduced to make visa runs more different.  Sure, you could say they are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but this is not about money.

Wouldn't that be a "visa-exempt run"? Where is the visa involved?

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 1:20 PM, gettingno said:

 

I just walked straight to the Lao Arrival area at the bridge (if you cross the bridge to Thailand, this is the left side of the building.......where the drivers of the cars doing the paperwork and getting the stamps, walking on the street NOT the walkway for pedestrians ) Also here nobody asked me anything or stopped me :-)  Visa was done in under 5 Minutes.

They aren't really looking for people who are in the country without a visa to be walking up to immigration from the wrong direction, the authorities are just going to think that you already got your visa and are returning to wait for a friend or ask a question.  I have seen what happens to people who get off the bridge bus and then try and sneak past the passport control not getting a visa though...the last time I saw the young fellow he was being escorted inside the building by a couple of officers.

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 6:52 PM, Jip99 said:

Can't see an issue here, and I really do wonder why people with visas suddenly become concerned.

I live in NongKhai and have many friends on the Lao side who come across and shop at Tesco, go to Udon for their healthcare, come visit us and so forth, maybe that's why I care.

    Besides...people with valid visas still don't like to see every door closed in case something goes south with their visas. Let's say for example that you have a valid retirement visa and then they up the financial requirement beyond your means. Then you would like to think that you would have a bit of time to explore your options or to sell off belongings and get ready for the move back home.

         Don't think it could never happen!