Markaew

The thing is, that Thaksin would win handily if you bothered to put him on the list - the same problem that the powers that be have in a real election.

Agreed. There are a lot of Thaksin haters here but he would still win.

I would vote for him.

Anyone know what this Thai Airways International-TG is about?

The fights appear to take twice as long as the main website. (2 hours fight time versus 1 hour)

Let's put the blame where it belongs. I can't believe there are so many here that are asking the Prime Minister to make changes and improves things.

This slide is not just a result of the economy, this slide started when this Prime Minister took office. You are speaking to the devil when you are asking for something from heaven.

Unfortunately, change is needed again.

I should have listened to urbonjoe in the post above about the 60 days. It has been 60 days later and I went for my "extension" of 30 more days. That was a setup. There is no extension. Previously, I was careful to take notes on the information I was getting as not to cause myself any more problems. It didn't help.

This information came from the woman that does the final sign off on your documents before you leave. Of course there was a different woman this time and she was enjoying my confusion of the "facts".

Anyway, I paid another B 1,900 to buy myself 7 days so I can get to Laos. My Thai wife explained it very well. "If they make no mistake then they make no extra money".

Translation: If they don't suck you in with lies then the government doesn't make more money.

Several have stated that they applied for a visa for their gf/wife and received one good for ten years.

How long did it take to get those visas?

Watch Thai Air carefully. I looked on their sight and they had very low tickets prices but when it came time to book, then taxes and other fees jacked it up to double the price!

Air Asia has the best price as far as I can see.

Yep. they are using UPS. The biggest Ripoff delivery company in Thailand. Stateside knows about the ongoing problems but does nothing. Also Costa's you sent a personal gift and were lucky. I had some stuff from the States via USPS, value $290 no duty. another $90 delivery and 900b customs. Its just the luck of the draw.

I have had the same experience thaicbr. It's the luck of the draw and the courier. UPS is the worst. 100% problems. DHL close behind but not 100%. I have had 4 boxes sent to me from companies in the US. One came UPS and I got hammered with a 4,200 baht tax valued at $164. Second box came DHL with same story as first box sent UPS and second box with DHL had no tax. Final box sent regular mail and no tax.

You figure it out. Does it help to have a Thai name on the box verses a Falang?

From Experience first hand within the last 2 months -

my Thai Wife ( final divorce hearing is end of July !! ) also stole all my company Papers / documents / chanoot.

i was only a shareholder in the company holding my property .

this is what i did to get all the papers /Documents replaced AND sell the house afterwards !!

i used BSS business services in Pattaya on Soi 17 ,( a good thorough company ) ( who formed the company originally ) to replace all the documents / blue book .

the task was easy because they had copies of everything on file - cost just a few thousand baht and took about a week or two .

the hard part was replacing the chanoot -- ABC Lawyers on Dolphin Roundabout were dealing with my divorce case ( DONT USE THEM for yours ! ) they advised me to report the chanoot as stolen in the Police Station .. ( since found out a thai wife cant legally steal from her husband >? ) the reason to report as stolen was to prove a history of thefts committed by my wife against me , family and friends .

it turns out that if the chanoot is known to be stolen by the land registry ( we gave them the police report as reason to replace it ) , and the wife is known to have it , land registry cannot issue a new one because its where abouts is known and advised me to take civil action against my wife which could take years !!

bad legal advise given initially caused a LOT of problems ..

enter Magna Carta Law Firm =) i had a buyer ready to buy the property but no chanoot .

Magna Carta advised with the newly replaced company papers to change directors to the new owner . the new owner then files a police report that he is not in possession of the chanoot. this police report is taken to Land Registry and used to obtain a replacement chanoot -- legally and safely ... took about 7 weeks and 20k baht for Magna Carta s fees which was the best money i have spent so far in Thailand ... looking forward to going to court on 31st and showing the lease agreement for my newly RENTED property to the soon to be unhappy ex wife =)

you need to make sure the change in directors / shareholders is published - if there is any recourse by your wife that you have illegally removed her from the company , this published article acts under thai law as the chance for someone to object within a small time frame ... and protects you .

i may not have explained myself well but the main point is --saying the chanoot is lost or misplaced is better than saying the wife has stolen it .

depending on the share structure of your company that holds the property you probably have 49% with 2 or more thais holding 51%. if the share xfer documents have been signed you could probably xfer enough shares to your control to call a share holders meeting .. in this meeting you write ( minutes ) that the nominee shareholders have not fully paid up there shares and publish in the local to you thai newspaper that shareholders will be transferred in your company , citing non payment of shares . ( thus removing your wife as shareholder -- can she prove she paid up her shares ? )

good luck .. pm me if u need anymore info ..

keep your chin up.. i know how frustrating / painful it is when the greed comes into play !!!

Good for you, if more guys did what you did, maybe the scams would decrease.

But it doesnt seem like most guys caught in these bad marriages have neither brains nor balls to go trough with it.

Actually Hammer, some of it has to do with amount of funds available. Sometimes the wife has made a money grab and what I have found in LOS is that in every learning experience, even the smallest, cost a good amount of cash. So hiring lawyers and then hiring second lawyers begins to add up. So not everyone that has arrived here has deep pockets to compensate for steep learning curve that we all must go through.

I was a "Stupid Falang" several months and everybody here was polite and let me vent my frustrations so I feel for you. Even if you get this straightened out it might be a "cloud" on the ownership of the house.

You always have another option: Does your house have insurance? Need I say more?

I'm not sure if it is proper to discuss this topic, but if not, please delete.

I have an encounter with ***** name of school deleted under forum rules **** and my best advice is to run away!

They don't pay promised salaries or other agreed upon compensation. The probation funds they dock from your pay the first three months will be kept and they don't reimburse plane tickets as they promise. Any money for additional classes over and above contract hours is near impossible to collect.

Lifespan for native speaker is about three months. Basically, when probation is completed (or sooner) then start looking for problems to arise. They have to get teachers from abroad because the teachers from other countries don't know *****' reputation.

Maybe this is common for Thai schools. Just worked at a few so far and this one seems worse than normal. I know this is an old topic but I always appreciate it when someone throws up a flag so I can avoid problems.

Edit:

Name of school deleted as our forum rules do not allow to name and shame for legal reasons. Mario2008

I think you are talking about a 12 month extension from Immigration based on your Marriage.

You can work with that if you have a Work Permit. It is a better option than a Non b visa.

The fee is 1,900 Baht every year NOT 90 days.

OK. I stand corrected.

Maybe the Immigration Officer thought that I was just attempting to extend/continue the extension I was applying for verses applying for the non-O.

Since I received so much help and quickly I wanted to report the results of my dilemma.

I was successful in obtaining the extension of time for "visiting my Thai wife". I received 60 days with the option of extending an additional 30 days. (total 90 days)

I did get a letter from the school stating that I worked for the school and that the school has applied for a work permit. This worked. I took the letter to Bangkok Bank (who rejected me before) and was able to open a bank account with the stipulation that I bring in the work permit after the school completes that process.

When the school found out that I was attempting a non-O that became a bit upset and insisted that I get a non-B. They said it would save me money. They forget to include the headaches and expenses I was to fund as a result of their brainlessness. The school made no offer to compensate me for the trip to Laos for the non-B they were insisting upon.

While I was at immigration I did inquire about the requirements for the non-O. This was the list of items they said I needed to bring for the non-O.

Application form

2 Copies of pages in passport

2 months of a 40K income in a Thai bank account

2 copies of a document proving marriage from the same government office where you get married

a letter from your embassy acknowledging your income/amount

1,900 baht

I will report further after I make application for my non-O. In my opinion, if you have this option it is the only way to go. Costs a little bit (1,900 every 90 days) but piece of mind is worth the costs. The school appears to becoming more and more caustic in their behavior and this is a safe way insure there are no surprises.

Thanks a million for the rapid replies!!!!!!

I have to accomplish this in the next three days.

I will try again with the bank account. So far, all have said no without work permit.

I need some help with my visa. It seems all the information I have researched so far is conflicting or out and out false. I don’t even trust the Thai lawyers and the dribble I am getting from them.

My situation: The school I work for has completed screwed up my b visa where I am starting from scratch. Out of time on my B visa. Not really surprised because incompetence definitely rules here.

I have been married to a Thai for 5 months and 3 weeks. What are my options? Go get a new tourist visa and convert to an o visa? Paying for the school’s incompetence is getting old. I would really like to take this b visa out of the control of the school because it costs me money and they don’t care.

I have a fellow teacher that claims he has an o visa and a previous school obtained a work permit with this o visa. If the o visa is the correct route, maybe I can use the 40K income to qualify which is also difficult because I can’t get a bank account to show this income without a work permit. (I’m getting flashbacks of the movie “Catch 22”).

Is this incompetence that I am experiencing inevitable or is there a way to circumvent some of this?

USA/55 years old/Live in Thai

Add 2 and thanks!!!

Well of course I will be as well, it wont be the same without Buckwheat though. RIP

I suppose I have been out of touch. What happened to Buckwheat?

I am not sure if we can discuss schools by name here, but I am aware of a school in Min Buri that is having huge problems and I am guessing they will not resolve any time soon. Ask about the history of native speakers in the school and see if you get a straight answer. This one school eats native speakers like candy.

In this particular case I would tell them just to keep the package. Sometimes they will change their story if they have to keep the package.

I shipped 4 very large boxes here (via UPS) from the US and customs wanted to charge B60,000. I told them I will buy new here and forget the boxes. They dropped the charge down to B6,000.

Also, I shipped an item by UPS and the the package was damaged and unusable. I reported this to UPS and after 6 weeks of communication they refused to pay damages.

Further, I have found anything sent standard mail and not having any tracking or insurance is open game for theft. I have lost 2 expensive boxes sent through the government post office. Their response to my lost was "it probably was delivered to the wrong address". I will try DHL next and see if my luck improves.

legally but what about morally?

I am surprised you have any money at all. You are so willing to give it away.

In this place there are plenty that that will take/con your money. You will be broke very soon.

I can't believe this topic is being taken seriously at all.

This is just a distraction for the Thai government. It takes a poor situation and creates a bit of nationalism/protectionism.

I am from the US and my exposures to Brits have been very few until I came to Thai. In the US I had a good friend from the UK I frequented the pubs with but he disowned the UK because he couldn't tolerate their behavior. Since I have been here I would say all of my encounters with the Brits (which have been many) have been extremely negative. Obnoxious, arrogant, self serving, superiority complex just to name a few descriptive words. To say that these Brits only represent a small percentage I have a really hard time buying into.

I wonder if that is how after a trip to BKK last August where I used several ATMs on Sukhumvit Road and at MBK, my ATM card went on a trip to China and whooped it up at a "drinking and dancing" establishment, where the transaction was posted as "card present" at the same time I was in the grocery store in Denver, CO? My card had a grand time to the tune of nearly USD $5000!

It took three months to investigate the fraud and recover the amount charged back to my account.

What are those tricks? How strange that an article would say that and not elaborate on those tricks. Am I supposed to be a member of a secret club with a special logo jacket to "know about" the tricks?

The same thing happened to me. After one of my visits last year (now residing) I had about $900 charged in various places in China.

Those that believe that the Thai immigration is to protect their country are a bit naive. This whole process of making runs to the border and keeping people in a panic of the next hoop they need to jump through is purely revenue generating. Thailand makes a ton of money off this process directly for the government and indirectly through the economy. They have this process tweaked perfectly to generate revenue at what can be afforded by expats and not making you say screw it I'm going home.

As for this association, how do you expect to negotiate with corruption? What is going to motivate them to listen? They don't care if you leave because another is waiting to take your place. In another country this might make sense, but for now it gets no traction from my point of view.

The organization would have to generate funds because the only way to gain any ground is for the organization to hire a lawyer and stay in court. Then again, I am being naive because the courts could care less as well.

I've been reading all the praises, complaints and general issues people here in the travel forum have with Thai Airways. I've only ever flown them a couple of times and while I found the service good, the food was mediocre and the planes not so great.

What would it take to rescue this airline and make it a first class airline along the lines of Singapore Air?

Isn't Thai Airways run by China?

I can't remember the last time I posted something to Thailand from out of country that it actually arrived. If I mail something WITHIN Thailand it seldom makes it to its destination if it isn't registered. Or, even when it "IS" registered it seldom makes it to the destination if the writing is in English. Only a simple letter in a semi-transparent envelope has any chance of reaching its destination.

Getting someone to translate English to Thai and print it in Thai also seems to be a near impossibility.

Over 2 weeks ago I mailed a simple parcel (CD disk of photos) from the post office in Chiang Mai to a destination in Udon Thani. It STILL hasn't arrived. I guess it was just stolen by someone in the mail service who THOUGHT there might be something worthwhile in the package. It's really a shame when the national mail can't be trusted to deliver a small package or envelope printed in English.

This has happened to me as well. I had a friend send some items from the US that totaled about $400 USD and they sent it regular mail. It never showed up. It has 3 months. I may be wrong but I believe you have a better chance of receiving a package if it has tracking because they have to account for the package. I went to the Post Office and they don't seemed concerned at all that it may have gone to the wrong address. In fact, they use this as an excuse for non-delivery.