Lee4Life

Pass laws to protect personal information but make vpn's illegal.

Is it possible to apply for and receive approval for the Thailand Pass before exiting the country?

Except that the news article states that visa on arrival will be available at "some checkpoints" and doesn't say which ones..... edit: I stand corrected...other news articles state that the visa on arrival has been reinstated at all checkpoints .

How do you not see and eighteen-wheeler coming?

If I can get another year out of the visa by leaving and re-entering on the last day it is valid then I don't really have a problem with buying new insurance plans for that year, I just don't want to get caught up in a deal where I am denied entry because I don't have the proper insurance, or I am forced to get a 30-day visa exempt because I don't have the coverage required for the O-A visa. Thanks

My Non O-A visa from the LA Consulate expires on 06-15-22, my plan is to purchase a re-entry permit, then cross into Laos and return on that day so as to get stamped in for another year. But the health insurance and Covid insurance plans I was required to purchase will expire also. Will I have to purchase new insurance plans for the period of my new entry stamp?

It's sad to see a life ended and another ruined. I've been here going on fifteen years now, lost count of how many times I have been told I can't park in front of a shop. As much as it irks me I just move on, things can get out of hand much more quickly than most people think here.

It's been a while (two years of course!) but the last time we bought re-entry permits we did so at the bridge, after we entered through the doors at the passport control area there was a counter along the wall to your immediate left where people could pay overstay fines and also buy re-entry permits.

I have been leaving old appliance out by the garbage cans on the street, by the time I make it back to my front door they are gone. I did take one to the local recycling yard, where they buy scrap metal, plastic & bottles, I got 20 baht.

My wife and Niece were run over by a hit and run driver in a Toyota pickup while riding a motorbike. They were on a downtown city street and were not traveling at a high rate of speed, nor were they in the middle of the roadway. (until they were left there by the pickup). In spite of it being a busy street nobody got a license plate number. Having your wife drive is no guarantee. I am thankful that neither my wife nor niece died.

As much as I agree with you, I have also had quite a few close calls with foreigners on motorbikes. I was making a right turn at an intersection today, had a green turn light, and an elderly foreigner on a motorbike blasted through the red light from the opposite direction on the shoulder. He seemed totally unaware that he was very nearly run over....was just looking straight ahead as he went speeding on his way. Nobody has the monopoly on bad driving.

So when one of the many rabid dogs in my neighborhood runs out when I am riding my bike past and bites me it was because I wasn't being nice to it? Venture out and about a bit more and you will have a different view of Thai dogs. Many of the dogs here are just plain mean and aggressive.

and as far as Laos goes...staying in a Government Approved Hotel and only being able to travel with government approved guides and drivers. (at this point in time)

You just proved ignorance is a worldwide trait.

You are correct about how dangerous it is here in regards to how many of the vehicles are running along in the dark without lights, especially tail lights, but to say you don't care about people driving while drunk is not very responsible of you. Do you have any idea how many people are killed every year by intoxicated drivers? Probably a lot more than those who are killed every year as the result of bad lights.

Nice guess....but The NongKhai Border crossing is in NongKhai Province. Udon thani is in Udon Province.

Interesting...you say "Condemning achieves nothing", then go on to condemn Western govs and the US. Why listen to anything else you have to say?

After being here for twelve years we left sixteen months and have been back now for four months. I have thought about exactly what you are saying a lot, and can't figure out whether or not I am glad to be back. It almost seems to me like there has been a shift in the attitudes towards Westerners, those who were friends when I left seem genuinely glad to see me, but many of those I don't know seem wary of me or are holding me at a distance. I am interested in seeing how others answer this.

Maybe you can settle for being a Rickshaw driver....Wait a minute, #2 seems to prohibit that, and Pedicabs.

the US imported 37 Billion U.S., Russia 719 Million U.S.

While we all would like to see the aggressive soi dog problem go completely away, and it's easy to be negative in regards to them, I applaud the Animal Army's efforts! It would be great if there were more of you.

They are free in our State.

I checked the Royal Thai Consulate in Los Angeles just now and it shows the one year retirement (O/A) visa as requiring 1,200,000 baht. (36,300$ at today's exchange rate)

Not at all what I found, as far as the Embassy staff goes they have pretty much free run. We are a U.S. registered non-profit and applied for a J1 for one of our staff. We used one of the approved foreign exchange agencies in the States and became approved exchange hosts. It cost a lot of money and a lot of time, then the U.S. Embassy here rejected her visa. We appealed to the foreign exchange agency and they sent a letter for the Embassy staff explaining that she had been pre-approved for the visa. The Embassy staff (a different person) refused to read the letter and rejected her visa application again. The exchange agency then placed a call to a Senator and also the State Department to protest, they told me they were told "we have very little control over the Embassy staff's decisions and are unable to interfere".