thailien8

I was fined 2000 baht today at Chonburi Immigration.  

Went to extend non-o for retirement, paperwork in order including letter from my guesthouse that I stay there.  Was sent upstairs and told about this reporting requirement that had not been done.  I had assumed this was routinely done by folks at any guesthouse when I checked in.  Immigration seemed unable to find anything about me staying there.  

I was was given a choice of paying 4000 baht now, or to somehow get the guesthouse owner to show up at Immigration the next day and pay 1600. 

Not having 4000 on me, I was confused and showed it.  Then they cut the fine to 2000, so I paid and got a receipt of notification in my passport.  Gotta go back and pay 1900 more for the visa extension.

Back at the guesthouse, I showed the clerk the slick brochure (all in Thai) that supposedly explains this law.  He seemed clueless about it.

Thai driving mantra:   Must to Pass, Overtake now now now....

Sorry, mduras01, not mudras.  This iPad keeps sabotaging me.

It changes what I want to write, and loses critical information that I need.

mudras, could you please elaborate?  Did you have the same problem I described, and did you get a new appointment by switching names?  

Dear JT

You are my TV hero.  Can I offer to buy you lunch in any Indian restaurant with WiFi, 

if you can walk me slowly thru what you have kindly described?

I know from experience that I could not do this on my own.

It would be a pleasure to meet you sir.

Can anyone translate "print to a PDF"?  I was born well before this techno era.

Jomtien Immigration suggested I go to US Embassy for a pension income affidavit to boost my dwindling baht in Bkk Bank, enough to support a retirement "visa", if I may call it that.  

Researched this on TV, sounds like a practical plan.  

So I got on my iPad and tried to make an appointment at US Embassy in Bangkok.   My details given, an appointment form appeared, with instructions to print it and bring it to the Embassy.  Hmmm...  I have no printer.  To an internet shop, where the guy could only print from his machines, not from my iPad.

So I tried using his computer to make the appointment.  Uh-oh, Embassy website informs me that I already have an appointment, and that I will need to cancel it before I can make another.  Problem is, in order to cancel, I had to provide the appointment password.

Well, in another attack of This Modern World on this hapless baby boomer, my iPad somehow managed to lose the appointment form, along with the password.  I searched History;  I searched Recent Tabs....  nothing, nada.  The precious password was gone.

Without it, I could not cancel--an error message stopped that.  Their "email" form to contact them was useless, as it demanded technical computer settings that I have no idea about.  I tried twice without success.  Without canceling, I could not make another appointment.   

Any suggestions?

The Thai phrase I say more than any other is    ไมีเอาถุง    =  not want bag; 

pronounced  " MY  (falling tone)   OW  (middle tone)   TOONG   (short rising tone).

Many 7-11 clerks like to hear this.

I did that walk twice, closer to half an hour at a brisk pace, good exercise.

Thanks JT for discovering new restaurants.  I tried Bollywood Kurry this evening.  

For comparison, ordered my usual bhindi masala, tandoori roti and lassi.

instead of salt lassi the menu had masala lassi 70 baht, which was a bit different, but good.  One roti 25 baht was enough bread for me, tho the owner wanted me to order two.  Unfortunately the okra in the bhindi 160 baht was partly inedible.  They had cut big okras into big pieces.  Small okras are tender and easily chewable, but the big ones in this serving develop tough stringy fibers.  I chewed and chewed, but it wasn't happening.  

I had to give up and spit it out.  This was about the worst bhindi I've had.  

All else was ok:  quiet, no annoying TV that plagues some Indian restaurants, attractive menu, clean environment.  I might return and try another dish.

This is a more serious situation than some of you seem to realize.

Your water could stop flowing out of your taps. Then what would you do?

This has already happened in California.

Luckily, CA has been temporarily rescued by the same El Niño that is now parching SEAsia.

IMHO, this Songkran will be Thailand's acid test. Will the Thais, and farangs, be able to cut back on their annual orgy of wasting precious water? I sure hope so, but my hopes are not high. If the usual Songkran thoughtlessness prevails again in this dire drought emergency, finishing off water supplies here, I will flee back to CA.

Hopefully, the proverbial door will hit me in my butt on my way out, discouraging my return to LOS, Land of Stupidity. Just because water has flowed freely out of your taps until now does not mean it will continue.

There's a new 200 baht Indian buffet in the old food court next to the former Tops supermarket, now closed. Big building with bowling alleys on NW corner of Second and Klang.

I've not tried it, but there was a good crowd of Indians eating, a good sign. Same price lunch and dinner.

Yes, Centara Corporation offers good buffets, but rips you off on water, because they can.

An opposite of Centara Corp. is Everest Indian restaurant, where I dined again this evening.

Everest is a mom 'n' pop Indian, hidden down a side soi (soi 10 on the dark side of Second Road).

So nobody goes there, tho the Scandinavian restaurant next door is crowded every evening.

It's a strange scene. Two small restaurants, side-by-side, on a side soi; one crowded with convivial Northern Europeans; the other empty, tho open and welcoming. It's like this every evening.

It was an easy choice for me. I like Indian much more than Danish (food that is).

I can relate to my tablet much better than I can chat with foreigners; Everest's Wifi is excellent.

So is the food! IMHO the Indian mom here can really cook well.

I would like to nominate her as the up 'n' coming Mrs. Balbir of Pattaya.

I've become addicted to her Kadhai Chicken (200) and her Daal Makhani (140). What a Combo!

But this Sunday evening I was again the only customer. My emotions were mixed.

The flavors were heavenly. It was quiet at one of the four tables inside as I dined.

But I couldn't help notice the crowd outside next door, yet again, as always.

I feel sorry for the Indian mom who can cook well, but has a most unfortunate location.

May I appeal to those few of you who might like to save a starving Indian restaurant, to spend just a littlle bit more in the Mom-n-Pops, spend just a little bit less in the Corporatocracy that threatens to rule us all.

Yes, that Friday buffet isnt bad but watch out for the water (local, plain, small bottle) which will set you back another 100B or so. That's simply a rip-off and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Haven't yet tried the Saturday one.

Born into Yankee land, I was brought up to believe that Lincoln was a hero for saving the Union and freeing the slaves.

50 years on, with further education, I wish that Lincoln had just let the Confederacy go ahead and secede from the Union, as they wanted to do. That would have saved America from its worst disaster, the Civil War.

Had Lincoln been less warlike, America today would be two nations, and my Yankee land would be free of the likes of Mitch McConnell.

The USA today is too big to survive. The North-South divide is still tearing this nation apart. Smaller countries are better. No more USSR.

IMHO, Lincoln was the worst president. His tragic war kept the North and South "united" tho they are still at each others' throats today.

Thanks to JT's new thread, today I tried Crown of India for lunch. Got there about 1 pm., Tuesday afternoon, I was the only customer.

I like the restaurant's atmosphere: lovely aircon, quiet, attractive decor, cloth napkins, tablecloths.

I ordered the only Indian dish I have any experience with: Bhindi Masala. Crown's Bhindi is above average in my opinion. The okra was cut in small pieces, not too spicy (as I'd requested thanks to their inquiry), tender, and quite satisfying. Fairly priced at 155 baht. I also ordered a tandoori roti at 25 baht, and a water at 20 baht.

I have no complaints about the food, but the service guys could have been less annoying. One guy hovered nearby for no reason; then when I had finished eating and asked for the check, he was useless for that. Paying the check was a bit of a pain, tho the Bhindi I'd eaten was for some reason priced on the check at 145 baht, 10 baht lower than the menu price. The check sadly included the dreaded plus plus. The service guys seemed a bit confused, tho overly willing to "help".

With a lousy location, I can't hope that this ambitious Indian fine-dining restaurant will last long. Enjoy it while you can, if you want to. I did.

According to the following

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/810629-too-often-in-and-out-travelling-causes-problems-in-suvarnabhumi/?p=9226199

Jomtien is accepting again visa conversion. If that is confirmed I'm happy to have been wrong above.

What is sure anyway, not a word about on immigration website. A little shameful.

Tried at Jomtien today, and still feel like a hamster on a wheel. Got there Friday, 1:30 pm. Still trying to change 30 days into non-imm O, then eventually Retirement extension of stay, which I've had before, and still qualify for.

Came prepared with TM7 and TM 87 completed, photos attached, copies made, money in hand.

A receptionist at the right-hand desk insisted on "two copies of everything". The copy shop next door profited.

Back again with two copies, she expertly arranged all my papers into two neat piles, gave me a queue number and sent me on. None of the queue info boards were working, but I must have wandered the right way, as an officer sat me down with her. No waiting!

She glanced thru my papers and sent me into the office behind her, where two young lady officers actually smiled briefly and I sat down to wait only 5 minutes while they finished up another one.

She took a while with my papers, and I was starting to think that I might actually make progress.

But she found a flaw -- I have no rental contract. I showed her receipts for rent payments, owner's business card, even photos of me standing outside my apartment building (These were left over from my Education visa renewals in 2014, when photos of residence were required.) The photos helped then, but they were of no help today. All I had was "not enough".

I would need to produce a contract for the cheap room I rent month by month in Pattaya. Never mind that I've never had a contract for this room.

When I asked what this contract should have, the officer showed me a formal contract form, already filled out and all in Thai. When I asked for a blank form for my landlady to fill out, the officer would not give me one.

She wrote a message in Thai on a scrap of paper and clipped it to my passport. " ขอสัญญาเช่า " (request contract of rent)

She urged me to talk to the owner of my building who would hopefully produce this contract before my 15-days run out on 1 April.

She seemed to imply that if I can do this, then my non-imm O visa might possibly actually happen...?

Well, at least there was no waiting time, and she didn't tell me to go to Laos.

Are you SURE that there were at least 15 days remaining on the original permission to stay ?

There have been no "sudden" changes in policy

I went to CW immigration on 23 March. My 30 days will expire on 16 April. So her refusal was not for this reason.

Before going back to try this at Jomtien, I wonder if I could try one more time at CW. Maybe if I just write the name and address of the hotel I'm staying at in Bangkok?

ubonjoe got my hopes up (posts 3&6) enough so that what happened to me at CW Immigration today seemed strange.

I'm American on a 30-day stamp, still enough time, enough money in Bkk Bank long time for retirement extension of stay, my goal.

I had TM.7 completed, copies in order, cash in hand. I wrote that I wanted a non-imm O visa so that I could then apply for retirement.

The first lady officer offered me 30 more days. No thanks. She handed me off to an older woman, who had me fill out another form, TM.87, and told me to report to another office. I thought I was in the right place. I wasn't.

The third officer I met seemed pretty high-up. She examined my papers, pointing out that I live in Pattaya, not in Bangkok. Thus, according to her, I must try and do this two-step visa dance in Jomtien, only, since I live there. I told her I thought this kind of visa conversion could be done only in Bangkok, so I made a special trip here to get this process started.

Since I'm hard of hearing, she was kind enough to write four words for me on a bit of paper: " New laws Last Friday ", while pointing at Friday the 13th of March on her calendar. She refused to give me the non-imm O. I will have to go to Jomtien immigration, a place I dislike.

I came away in disbelief, feeling like she was playing with me.

Has there really been another sudden change in Immigration policies?

Complete "madhouse" this place at the moment. I went there this morning to get 30 extension to 30 day airportstamp. Place was totally packed. a trainee looked my passport and say i have to come back monday. Man with uniform said same thing. Coming back monday would have meant that i would had overstayd.

Lef my passport to agent and went to breakfast.. One was asking 8500 and another one 5000..Totally ridicilous.

If your permit to stay ends over the weekend you will not be fined for overstay if you go on Monday.

Perhaps a short road trip to a city that has a immigration office . Check into a cheap guest house or hotel to get a receipt and address for it to put on the application.

When I went to Jomtien a week early to get 30-day extension, they said to come back on Feb. 6, Friday, the last possible day, I thought, to extend before expiration on Feb.7. But when I went back there today at 11 am., I was too late, they were too crowded, and will have to come back on Monday, two days into overstay. I'm afraid I blew my cool a bit as i didn't realize Monday is acceptable to them.

So I like ubonjoe's suggestion as I don't want to ever have to deal with Jomtien again. Is Chaeng Wattana any easier these days?

Went to Jomtien Immigration on 29/1 to extend the 30-day stamp for 30 more days. I never got past the young lady who "helps" while standing next to the check-in desk. I told her what I was there for. She examined my USA passport, saw that my 30 days will finish on 7/2, and informed me that I cannot do the extension now. I must come back on Friday 6/2, the only day on which this office will do the extension, according to her.

I've never done this 30-day extension before. I've had many years of non-imm visas done in Bangkok without problems, and Jomtien's service of ED visa renewals was OK. So I'm surprised that I was given only the last day on my stamp to do the extension. What if something goes wrong on that day?

As an American, I'm trying not to take it personally, despite Bkk. Post's front-page headline on 29/1 concerning rude remarks about Thailand by a US gov't. guy, resented by Khun Prayut.

I don't understand why a tourist would be treated this way. Are they willing to create bad feelings needlessly so we don't come back?

Did the young lady "helper" know what she was talking about?

I'm from USA, 67, long-time Thailand resident on retirement and ED visas.

In March I will apply for a double-entry tourist visa to Thailand, at the consulate in Auckland NZ.

If I get one, I'll use the first entry right away. Plan to stay in Thailand 60 days, then go to USA for an extended time, I hope.

So my question is, how long do I have before I must use the visa's 2nd entry, before I lose it? How long is it valid for?

Madras Darbar, the long standing Indian restaurant of decent quality across from Central Beach mall on 2nd road is greatly expanding their space.

http://madrasdarbar.com/

When I first went there years ago I received wonderful personal warm service and was recommended some wonderful dishes that were new to me, and they were great.

Some years later I've had some mixed experiences. The service is definitely less personal than when they opened.

Had a masala dosa there and the spicing was good but it seemed overly greasy.

Had a thali there, and the portion seemed very small for the price ... and not interesting.

Recently I tried a curry I had never tried anywhere before, a Kerala Fish curry.

I had looked that up on the net so had some idea what it was supposed to at least look like (and the ingredients).

Well I did enjoy their version but at 280 baht for a rather small portion and less spice complex than my expectations, I felt a little let down.

But I liked it, it was more that I didn't think the value was there at that price.

Anyway ... obviously a lot of Indian people like it, that's mostly their crowd and they must be doing a lot right to survive this long and be ready to expand, so wondering if people who eat there can mention some specific dishes they have had there and their impressions.

For a while last year I was doing an informal comparison of Bhindi Masala offered by several Indian restaurants in Pattaya and Bangkok. This somewhat spicy okra-based vegetarian dish is modestly priced, normally in the 150 baht range. From the dozen or so restaurants I tried, IMHO the Bhindi served by Madras Darbar was the best. I went back a second time, and it was still the best. Their okra was cut into small, tender pieces that melted in the mouth, deliciously flavored. Some other restaurants offered large uncut okra that was tough and stringy, some pieces nearly inedible.

Good to hear that Madras Darbar is expanding.

I'm finishing up my second (and final) year on the ED visa. Actually, I've already finished the 120 hours of one-to-one study that was enough to get the ED visa for the second year. My visa is good until the end of this year, but my last lesson was in mid-October. Sadly, my excellent tutor saw the writing on the wall for Thai language schools, quit, and got a job and visa in USA, where she is now. So I increased my study schedule with her, from 4 hours a week, to 6, so I could study with her the full 120 hours, before she quit teaching.

I thought that would be the end of it, but no.... I can't do much traveling around in Thailand in my free time now because the school owner told me that I must come to his school once a week, until my visa expires in December, to simply sign my name on my page in his register of students.

It seems that "they" are checking student attendance, and if I fail to sign in each week, this could endanger what remains of my time on the ED visa.

I don't mind doing this, if it means that there is actually an ongoing campaign to check up on class attendance of ED visa students in Thai schools.

This is what they should be doing, checking to see who attends class, and who doesn't. But this involves effort. Enforcement of the rules is not a Thai strong point. So they make up new rules instead, confusing and burdening the students, some of whom actually want to learn Thai.

During my first year on the ED visa, in a classroom situation at a Walen school, I came to dislike when certain students came to class.

Usually, they stayed away, so the few of us in those classes who wanted to learn Thai could get lots of chances to participate, answer (and even sometimes ASK) questions, speak Thai, and stay awake. But on the rare occasions when the non-interested "students" would waltz into class, normally very late during the first hour, they would be a major disruption during the second hour of class.

Things would slow down to a crawl. Not good.

So I would be happy to see these fake students discouraged from scamming the ED visa; but changing the required hours of classroom study, which will surely cause the costs and inconveniences to escalate, is not the way to do it.

Halloween afternoon's storm was the most amazing weather event I've experienced in Pattaya.

On my 20-minute walk to Booze Bar on Soi Buakhao to play pool, just before 1 pm., it was rain, sunshine, rain again, then sunshine again as the rain continued. Beautiful contrast... Perfect rainbow weather, tho I didn't see one.

Booze left the front door open, so I could check on the weather while playing pool. It seemed to change every five minutes. The rain-sun alternation was blown away by the fantastic lightning & thunder that followed. It was a bit scary out on the Booze front porch. One Booze maiden fled screaming inside from the boom of a close strike.

Then the rain, a real rain, not petering out after 10 minutes like most of the few rains in Pattaya this "rainy" season, but continuing on and on.

After losing another pool game, I peeked outside and saw a small flood blocking the way into Soi Buakhao. I put on sandals, waded across thru the wonderfully slow traffic on the Soi, cut thru the empty lot (that would be a lovely public park in many non-Thai cities and towns), and reached Second Road, un-flooded and rolling along.

In short, I really enjoyed this beautiful rare storm in Pattaya, giving water that we really need here.

I'm a 67-year-old American longtime expat teacher and retiree in Thailand. I'm finishing my second year on the ED visa. First year was classroom, second year was being tutored one-to-one in reading Thai. I would sign up for a third year, but sadly my good tutor has gone to New York City to work as an au pair for a year. I'm excited for her, and will miss her tutoring, that I have enjoyed learning from.

I would like to keep on learning Thai. I know from experience in teaching English, that teaching is a great way to learn. I understand my native language better, after having to spend so many hours trying to help Thai students understand.

Now that I'm too old to teach in a classroom any more, I miss teaching. It was fun.

So here is what I would like to try: If there are any English-speaking expats in Pattaya at the moment, who are interested in learning more about Thai, esp. reading and writing....

I would be happy to meet with you, using any teaching materials you would like, and try to help you learn more.