RetroGTAndrew

Is it just me or is the ThaiEVisa website up and down like a yoyo? It was down for 'The team is fixing and updating the system' down for a few hours last night UK time and then back up, tried to log in again this morning to finish adding documents and it's down again!

 

I'm using Firefox browser on a PC, last night I tried on Chrome with the same result, I've also tried restarting Firefox to no avail.

 

Helpfully when it's down it says 'Please try your last action again in a few hours. If you still see this page, please inform us through the contact form below.' and surprise surprise, there is no contact page, there are some web links none of which lead to a contact page that I could see!

 

Andrew

 

 

 

@John Dick said 'I am currently pulling my hair out trying to complete my 60 day online visa application to Thailand 

a few questions have me stumped'

 

You and me both!

The 'Tourist Visa' required documents list on the website is:

Until you get into the application then there's a whole bunch of other stuff! The 'User Manual' devotes the first 20 pages! to creating an account and logging in and when you get to actually filling in stuff there are virtually no examples of what is required.

Andrew

 

 

 

@tomx2That's interesting, I wonder if they record the dates/times/airline schedule that you upload and would complain later if you don't arrive in accordance with those details? Also that's for an O-A Visa, it may be different for a tourist Visa.

Andrew

2 hours ago, nkg said:

 

There's some airlines that  advertise "no change fees" for all their tickets including economy, like Qatar and Emirates. Make sure you book directly from the airline, the ticket may be slightly more expensive, but well worth it if you need to change.

 

Example:

Qatar

Heathrow - Phuket:

£510 from agency

£564 direct with airline

 

From Qatar's website:

 

Double check the "no change fees" policy is still in force before you book your ticket ????

15 hours! Thanks but I travelled to Thailand via the sandpit (or should that be sandsh!t?) the first few times and it sucked! I'm no novice at international travel, in the late 90's I flew all over the world for work and quite frankly I'll fly direct or I'll be staying in the UK..............

Andrew

3 hours ago, Chivas said:

Well very few are going to do it that way around from any country. Visa could be declined for any amount of reasons or delays. People are simply not going to book a fully refundable flight direct from the airline at 2-3 times an agents fare

 

Just prior to typing that BA came in at £1869 economy fare (fully refundable direct from airline) as opposed to consolidated non refundable at £565

Haha! Bargain price!

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You have always been required to show inbound flight ticket when applying for tourist visa. 

Nothing new. 

Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that, wife is dual nationality Thai/UK and a few years ago her Thai passport had expired while she was in the UK and as she wanted to stay there for two months, she got a 60 day Visa and I'm fairly sure we bought the tickets after?.

Andrew

On 10/19/2021 at 2:57 PM, Will B Good said:

Un*******believable.

 

Just returned to our room in a Thai 'resort' and there is Thai family opposite, all sitting outside, bluetooth speaker playing full blast.

#Will B Good At risk of sounding like a grumpy old man (I'm old but not particularly grumpy!) I b!@@dy hate the rise of the Bluetooth speaker! Go for a quiet walk in the park in Oxford at lunchtime to watch the squirrels and there are people sitting eating their lunch with a Bluetooth speaker blaring away! Maybe they're scared of the quiet?

Andrew

Like the title says: Is a fully paid ticket really required (for a 67 y.o. UK passport holder) before applying online for a tourist eVisa (from UK)? It seems a bit cart before horse? I'm sure previously you would apply for the Visa which would grant you entry, then you could book travel at your convenience (within the Visa validity)?

TIA

Andrew

Thanks everyone for your valuable input.

I was fairly sure it should be quite straightforward.

I'm sure I've got a wider picture of the tank and it's plumbing but for the life of me I can't find it at the moment.

It appears that the wifes son (him and daughter have small places on the property) has b*ggered about with the plumbing while we're stuck in the UK and the tank is empty so it should be easier to pull everything out and start again.

Thanks again,

 

Andrew

Hi, that was quick, thanks!

We're on mains water (suburban SamutPrakan).

I wasn't sure if there should be a float valve on the tank input, seems logical that there should be, I'll need to have a look in the tank when we get back.

I'm not sure that there's enough mains water pressure to fill the tank (top is ~2M above ground level).

I wonder if some of the extraneous plumbing is to enable the pump output to be redirected to tank filling if the mains pressure is too low?

Regards,

Andrew

Can anyone provide or point me to a schematic illustration of how a domestic mains water well pump and water storage tank should be plumbed please?

We have a previously installed water storage tank and well pump at our place in SamutPrakan, and the exterior plumbing is somewhat of a jumble with pipes and taps going here there and everywhere!

The pump has died, probably just old age and the diaphragm in the tank gone or there's a leak somewhere (last time we were there we were having to turn the pump on as required as otherwise it would run too long).

So when we get back there we're going to need to get a new well pump and I'd like to rip out all the crappy plumbing and re-do it in a more logical manner checking for leaks at the same time.

I think I've got a better pic, I'll try and find it later......

Regards,

Andrew

'Thai scientists unveil saltwater Covid-19 disinfectant device' This is new? ~£18 from eBay......

 

1 minute ago, BernieOnTour said:

????????

Before you calculate only 30k THB for an ASQ Hotel, I would recommend to talk before to people, who where imprisoned in these cheap (and often not available) ASQ hotels ....

You're probably right!, That was however based on quick glance at a list of ASQ hotels reviewed.........

8 hours ago, Berti said:

 

Why wealthy? The visa costs 2.000.- Baht.

Yep, and the ~50% inflated flight prices plus circa ฿30K for 14 days full board at an ASQ Hotel......

 

Andrew

On 12/29/2017 at 8:56 AM, chris26be said:

Just got my Thai driver's license. Here is the current info (December 2017) for someone who does not have a driving license in the English language. I went to the Department of Land Transport (DLT) in Ubon Ratchathani (Ring road 231).

You need:
1. Your passport + copy of the first sheet + copy visa and stamp date of entering Thailand. A visa is apparently not necessary. I did not even have a visa, because this time I stay less than 30 days in Thailand.
2. Certificate of residence. Get this at the Tourist Police (Headquarters in Warin). Take your passport + copy, and also proof of your whereabouts, for example tabien job of your spouse + her ID card and copies.
3. Medical certificate. To be collected in a clinic. In my case, four doors next to the entrance of the DLT (80 Baht).
4. International driving license version 1949 + copy. Attention, Thailand does not accept version 1968.

Procedure:
After DLT has checked your documents on the third floor, four tests will follow:
1. Recognizing red, yellow and green.
2. A test in which you have to draw two rods with a cord on the same line (depth view, I suspect).
3. A reaction test: you have to brake when the light on the unit turns red.
4. To be able to recognize red, yellow and green on another device.

If you succeed, you have to watch a two hour video containing the traffic rules. Then you get your documents back. With that you go to the second floor, you pay 205 baht, they make a passport photo and then they make your driving license. That is valid for two years.

 

The bit about the Visa exempt stamp is interesting.... has anyone any experience with getting a licence at SamutPrakan with just a Visa exempt stamp (not a Visa) I'm over twice a year and it would save mhaving to remember to get an IDP each year.....

Andrew

Hi Domdom,

 

I just had a hand in helping stepdaughter get a laptop, from my research it appears that all the laptops sold at Tesco, Big C & Robinson universally come without an operating system (like Windows) so you'll need to factor in buying a legitimate copy of Windows.

 

Banana IT, IT City, JIB, Active and a few other 'proper' computer shops offer a choice, but it's a minefield, check the small print on the ticket for what's included!

 

I'd avoid the Linux, Ubuntu options etc unless you want the learning experience.

 

We eventually went for a 12,990 Baht Core i3 Lenovo from Banana IT (in Seacon Square, but then we're in SamutPrakan) in a sealed box with factory installed Windows 10, young sales guy was actually quite helpful, with my Thai and his English he offered to and ran through the initial setup wih us.

 

Andrew

3 minutes ago, Xircal said:

 

He can bring in 1 litre duty free and pay duty on the other four litres.

Nope, Like Oxx said "It's a bit worse than that.  The penalties are draconian - and they confiscate the goods."

Bring in 5 Litres and you lose the lot AND get fined for trying.

If you want to bring in more than 1 litre (per person) you need a previously arranged import licence.

 

Andrew

Firstly, keep the blades clean (wash off accumulated dust & grease) secondly with the oscillate function off remove the front guard and see if there is a lot of in / out play on the motor shaft.

One of ours was noisy when oscillating (the mechanism is driven by a little worm gear on the back of the motor shaft) and had a lot of play.

There are usually a couple of fibre washers on the motor shaft, so I went to the shop in the local market that sells parts and repairs fans and got a handful of the same washers. Reassemble the motor with a bit less play and the anoying rattle is gone.

Andrew

Moccona Trio Espresso when in Thailand..... It's a bit sweet for me (it is a 3 in 1 after all!) I use a Tassimo capsule machine in the UK but we normally bring a bag of Moccona back with us as the little woman has a sweet tooth!

Andrew

Swampy tonight were checking for phone numbers before reaching the immigration officer.

fastest i've been through. 15 minutea from leaving the plane to sitting in a taxi.

I wish it was like that on Sunday morning, joined the queue @ 06:30 (when I got to the head of the snake queue to be released to the IO queues I was asked for phone number) 07:45 by the time I walked past reclaim!

Seemed to be loads of apparently first time tourists who don't understand the concept of arrival cards? A few got sent to the back of the line but most had time to fill them in in the last 5 metres of queue.

Andrew.

We bring back mangos, from the tree in the garden, pandan leaves (for making RaChong sp.) and packs of strange dried pork stuff!

Andrew

The ones i have seen are camera equipped so you think this may be a problem Retro?

All mine are flown via a video link from the on-board camera.

Enforcing silly stuff like the proposed <drone ban> when even road traffic laws are ignored wholesale seems kind of unlikely! In eight years of model flying here on holiday I've never seen a policeman at the flying field!

Andrew

Pics from last year....

If it's any help I brought my small (250mm) kit built FPV quadcopter (drone) with batteries, RC transmitter and video goggles in with me at the beginning of this month to play with at the local model club while I'm here on holiday with no problems at all.

Last year I had two with me! No problem then either, they're probably more concerned with people bringing in silly quantities of booze and fags.

I keep an RC aircraft here that I fly at the club too.

Allegedly flying video equipped stuff was going to be made illegal in Thailand from February this year but I haven't heard anymore about that. Knee jerk reaction to people flying the ready made stuff carelessly in silly places probably.

I use the Android app 'Waze' every day here in the UK and when I'm in Thailand. Thoroughly recomend it, text search or just scroll the map and long press to mark a destination, also has an option to display a little circle with your GPS speed. Obviously needs a data connection, but I guess you have that if you're running a smartphone, doesn't seem to use vast amounts of data. Can get a bit confused with multi level roads but I guess that's going to be the case with any SatNav/GPS!

Regards

C Andrew Green

I'm not sure what good the Israelis would do with their M16/AR15's as none have a magazine fitted, and they don't appear to be carrying them (magazines) either. Maybe they carry them about in their hand like people do with smartphones and lay them on the bar!

Andrew