h5kaf

What a load of old cobblers. Old "2 Jags" has been caught doing all sorts of dubious things, such as fiddling his tax; fiddling expenses; getting caught with a female also with his snout in the trough a number of times and he is still deputy prime minister of 'Great' Britain. Here we have a normal guy doing normal things in his own private free time and the heavens fall in on him.

Reminds me why I am out here and have no wish to return to the UK. By the way, in my opinion the girls in Soi Cowboy are far prettier and more sociable than those in Nana and its environs. Long may they continue to lighten our collective load and bring enlightenment and happiness to many.

Phuket Richard has a very good point for those in Phuket. I also have made the necessary enquiries and got the same answer. I have had a variety of extensions over the years, at least 2 on being married to a Thai, and the rest on retirement. I have a Thai born daughter and therefore e-mailed Sunbelt to find out if I could get the extension on this basis, but do everything from their Phuket Office (I assume they have one). I have had no reply to my e-mail. It seems that Sunbelt will answer on the Forum (good publicity??) but private e-mails go unanswered. Oh well.

If someone can find out what it was that was put in the water, I wouldn't mind some of it. Sounds like it is very fast acting and seemingly harmless. I would welcome a good 13 hour snooze once a month or so. My pharmacist knows of no such compound so I wonder about this post. Agree with a previous poster that after a few more similar escapades this particular punter will be qualified for a 'Darwin' award.

I don't want to get involved in the silly nit picking that some members seem to enjoy. I have a question similar to "Condo BK" and would appreciate Sunbelt's view.

Happy to help

I am over 50 and have had a number of visa extensions (7 or 8). Some have been on the basis of being married to a Thai, whilst the majority have been retirement visas. The reason for the swop is that the Phuket immigration find it easier and convenient to issue the retirement visas, there and then, whilst the marriage visa extension application has to go off to BKK and approval usually takes 3 months.

I also have a 3year old daughter whom I live with and support. I now have some questions similar to Condo's questions.

Can I get my next visa extension on the basis of living and supporting my child?

If you are over 50 years old...yes

Would this extension be independent of my marriage?

yes

What documents would I need and would money be involved, if so how much?

The birth certificate of the child. The marriage certificate as well if you have one.

Our professional fee is 6,500 Baht Government fee is 1,900 Baht

Sunbelt you are doing a great job here and I am, and I'm sure many others are, truly grateful.

Thank you very much for the warm comments. Very much appreciated.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Thanks Sunbelt. One final question: do you have a Phuket Office? If so Phone number please.

I don't want to get involved in the silly nit picking that some members seem to enjoy. I have a question similar to "Condo BK" and would appreciate Sunbelt's view.

I am over 50 and have had a number of visa extensions (7 or 8). Some have been on the basis of being married to a Thai, whilst the majority have been retirement visas. The reason for the swop is that the Phuket immigration find it easier and convenient to issue the retirement visas, there and then, whilst the marriage visa extension application has to go off to BKK and approval usually takes 3 months.

I also have a 3year old daughter whom I live with and support. I now have some questions similar to Condo's questions.

Can I get my next visa extension on the basis of living and supporting my child?

Would this extension be independent of my marriage?

What documents would I need and would money be involved, if so how much?

Sunbelt you are doing a great job here and I am, and I'm sure many others are, truly grateful. Thanks.

I think that the problem is that if Thaksin returned, then he would be able to grandstand and generally comment that he was the elected leader of Thailand. The logic in that is true and not argueable with, certainly not by members of the Junta. Foreign countries with limited understanding of the reasons behind the Coup, would place Thailand on a par with Burma and North Korea for imprisoning political opponents, thus giving greater face to Thaksin, now the persecuted.

Surayud knows this and cannot risk the presence of the last democratically elected (no matter how flawed that process was) politician to be in the same country as him, the present, unelected leader. You can imagine the farce of every action taken or proposed by Surayud then being run past Thaksin by the foreign and local media for comment.

He has to ban him, however illogical the prospect of making him stateless, allbeit temporarily, is.

On a final note, it would be a shrewd political move by Thaksin to simply get on TG917 from LHR and when he is turned round, as inevitably be the case, the full force of the UK's asylem system would have to swing into action (as there would be no other grounds for re-entry to UK). This spectacle would be a huge embarressment for the Junta, as similarites could then be drawn with such hotspots as Zimbabwe, Iran, North Korea etc., which all have their fair share of political asylem seekers in the UK.

I like this post as it poses a situation that could become a reality. Just imagine Toxin did get on TG917 and arrive to be turned back. He would indeed be a refugee in England and therefore entitled to all the free handouts available to refugees. Free milk, schooling for the kids, free housing (although he probably has a better quality pad than HMG would allocate), free bus pass and of course a social worker to ease his passage into English society. After a while (3 years) there would be no problem with British Nationality and he could then make his way in the British political system and even end up a Prime Minister. If I had a magic wand I would wish this on the UK just to give the m an idea how a real politico works. Wonder which party he would join?? Possibly "Thaksin (UK) Corp." As part of the EC he could offer advice to all and sundry, he might even decide to buy Turkey or Greece.

Ha! Ha! Ha! all the whingers are out in force. There are those rich people supporting half of Isan but unable to afford a 1 year visa (if over 50) or a 1 year multiple entry tourist visa or non-o (if under 50). Both these avenues are far cheaper than the constant border runs required by the renewal of the 90 day stamps. It seems to me that whatever the laws of thailand there are those (constant whingers) who dont want to go back to their own countries but want to try and pretend that Thailand should somehow emulate their own countries.

Someone else said it, and I totally agree. If you work get a work permit; if you live here permanently get the correct visa; if you visit frequently get the correct visa. In other words get legal. Then of course you would have nothing to whinge about in this forum.

I do not understand why everyone is trying to circumvent the law. It is plain and simple. If you are a foreigner YOU MAY NOT OWN LAND. However the deal is wrapped up company wise the fact remains that there is considerable risk if company structures have been altered to favour a foreign owner. The only truly legal way for a foreigner to have secure use of the land (effectively the same as ownership) is by leasehold. There are developers in Phuket and elsewhere who are selling properties very successfully by gentl;y educating the prospective buyers of certain long term leasehold arrangements which are legal.

Land sales in Phuket and elsewhere will remain low whilst dodgy estate agents and others who are trying to fool the buyers, continue to advocate twisted illegal plots to cicumvent the law. Once the general public know the score definitively and have had time to think things over then I am sure the properety market will boom again.

There are many areas in Europe where the only way to own is to buy leasehold, and this does not prove a problem. Nor should it here when the government can be trusted not to change the goalposts.

(Quote: Jeng: It would seem that the chickens have come home to roost. You get what you pay for. If Thai institutions would value their teachers by paying a decent wage for them (all the respect and honor won't cash a check at the bank) then they would demand better qualifications. Instead they try to get by on the cheap. A lot of teachers (especially ESL) seem to have little training or qualifications other than their word and a dusty textbook. And unfortunately, teaching English has become the default profession of those who are unable to obtain other employment in the Kingdom.)

_____________________

This situation is not unique to the Teaching Profession. The same argument applies to policemen and others who work for the local beaurocracy.

What could this possibly mean? Already when entering Thailand there is the most thorough checking of visa together with 2 or 3 photos with the new computer cameras. How would an immigration officer go about checking a person's background, say within 30 minutes, and this would lead to 10-20 hour queues? I wonder if any of the Thai politicians put their brains in gear before opening their mouths.

I love the daily pantomimes and just ignore all official announcements. No wonder the average Thai is not interested.

How sad--you just can't trust anyone these days. Cheaters are now being cheated on--what's this world coming to?!

It would save everyone a lot of time and money if all politicians and people of influence (other dark forces) published a list of their mia nois in order of their importance. This would eliminate all suspicion and would become something of a badge of honour. Remember that 'face' is as important as the other attributes of greed and envy.

What a wonderful news post. A few anonymous calls to the right ears could start a mia noi revolution. What a thought!!

I dont think there is a problem here at all, its just another TiT scam. Can you realy see the local entrepreneur importing all this meat when he can cook whatever is at hand (many mangy dogs etc) cover it in grease and sauces and call it what he likes. Huge profit and fewer stray dogs in Chiang Mai. Cunning business men these Chinese.

In the uk there is no question of doubt in the case of drink driving offences. Drink driving comes under the heading of "strict liability" which means there are no excuses (or mitigation). If a driver is over the limit he/she is guilty and the only variable is the penalty to be imposed. Magistrates have no discretion over the 1 year driving ban but they do have discretion to increase the ban and to decide upon the level of fine.

There are 3 very limited categories of appeal against the driving ban - but not against the offence (strict liability). An example would be a surgeon off duty, and not on call, at a party who was phoned that an unexpected emergency had arisen and he was wanted to operate or assist. He would be expected to call a taxi if he had been drinking and only if the taxi was not available (and he had made all reasonable attempts to get to work by not driving) would he be understood to have got in his car and driven. If his breath sample was over the limit but not by more than say 50% then he might be able to persuade the magistrates not to impose the ban - under these exceptional circumstances. They have that discretion in these sort of circumstances but the offence stands and the fine is usually increased.

In the above example it would be almost impossible to persuade magistrates or a judge and jury that any passenger was in any way responsible. After all if the surgeon considered himself capable of operating (presumably after some strong coffee etc) then how would the passenger be in a position to know any better. The issue is that the police have accurate machines and passengers do not.

However TIT and the substantive issues have been well rehearsed by other contributors. I am not convinced that this is aimed at farangs. It is an incontovertable fact that most of the drunken driving and fatalities which result is done by Thais. It is also true that Thais will continue to ignore laws they dislike. It will be very interesting to see how this and other unpopular, but necessary, laws are imposed or not.

One interesting point raised by other contributors concerns bus drivers and tuk tuk drivers, but mainly tuk tuk drivers. How many times have I followed a swerving tuk tuk driver, and not always after dark.

It has all been said. The most important point, now that this poor girl is dead, is to realise that family of well connected Thais will go out drinking and driving and doing much as they please - after all the consequences can always be moderated. TiT and after all it is those nasty farangs who allow Thais to drink that are really to blame.

My deepest sympathy to the family. What a tragic waste.

A number of the various points made are very valid and needed to be said. I have a few points to add to the current thread.

I have not worked in the school sector here in Thailand but have spent a few contract years teaching at Universities, in Thailand. There are a number of quite clear issues.

1. A farang will require a salary at the very maximum of what the university is prepared to pay, whilst thai teachers will be paid between 9000 and 14000 baht. (here I am assuming that the farang and Thai teachers both have masters qualifications). Strangely a professional teaching certificate is not valued at all and a Ph.D. is only valued if there are MBA students (or equivalent) to teach. This whole inequitable system inevitably leads to jealousy and dissatisfaction - eventually by both sides.

2. In my experience Thai teachers seem to think they are preaching from the hill top and those below will inevitably learn if they listen hard enough. This has at least two undesirable consequences. Firstly the students learn that this is what is meant by teaching, and those that go on to teach use this method. Secondly as inevitably many students do not understand or are not motivated to progress their understanding, they seek other ways to get the necessary bit of paper when exam time comes. The level of sophistication in terms or cheating is very high. No one seems to care as the objective of the department is to get the best results and the students want the piece of paper, no matter what.

3. Students are often encouraged to follow a single book which chapter by chapter becomes the course. This USA type system will be mainly unacceptable in say a British instution where there is emphasis on learning/teaching the underlying priciples of a subject area so that the student can go and read any text, at the level. Thus a UK qualified and trained teacher will find the teaching conditions (in my experience the University sector but probably applies more widely in the secondary sector) difficult to say the least.

Money and terms etc are always major considerations. A good classroom teacher like a good stage comedian does not walk in and ad lib of the top of the head. It may look like this but in most cases the more relaxed and easy the teaching seems to be, the greater the time that has been spent in prior preparation and lecture/lesson planning. I have to say that after some 30 years of experience the planning is much much easier but it hasn't gone away.

Finally I make apoint about qualifications. The best classroom teachers I have met and seen performing (in the UK) were almost always not the best qualified (in terms of number and level of degrees held). They were all professionally qualified (B.Ed., or Cert. Ed. or PGCE.) and most had at least a first degree. The very best had developed classroom skills which made learning a pleasure for the student, and as a consequence had few classroom discipline problems. The Thai obsession with qualifications (many of dubious origin) needs to be replaced with an equal obsession for quality and understanding. The Thai school graduate and the University graduate need to be able to displaywhat they know, understand and can do. Any teacher Thai or Farang who can produce verifiable quality results should be paid the VALUE to Thai society of the job done. This is not 14000 baht nor even 70000 baht.

Sorry to have got on the pedestal, but like many readers I feel very strongly about education being the way forward for the Thai society.

There are many Thai run restaurants and garden bars in phuket, particularly in phuket town, and these seem to be imune from the latest regulations. Go there where you and you bottle of whisky etc. will be welcome. The cost of drinks is cheap, food is often available and very good, and there is often some music. I have never seen drug taking- but then again I am not experienced in what to look for. As for under age drinkers they all look pretty young to me, including the local police so what do I know?

For those of us who live here it seems to be a fact that the level of farang bashing will fluctuate as the politicians see advantage or disadvantage. However it surely is obvious that the 'authorities' just don't care what the farang or international community think.

Private parties could be the answer in the big tourist centres, if one wants to drink late with friends. I am sure that there is no problem in the village life outside these large towns, where everybody knows everybody and life continues as it always has.

QUOTE(Flummoxed @ 2004-11-14 03:34:46)

QUOTE(BillyZ @ 2004-11-14 10:26:49)

QUOTE(Flummoxed @ 2004-11-14 10:11:41)

QUOTE(chonabot @ 2004-11-14 10:37:34]

500 baht for an abortion... really?! Is that all? What if you were to go to a decent hospital and pay a decent doctor to do it on the sly (as it's illegal in LOS, I beleive). Anyone know the going rate?

I believe 500 will get the act done , in a hospital as well.

It is not illegal to have an abortion in LOS. So long as the doctor is satisfied that there is a good clinical reason he/she will approve or undertake a D&C which in the very early stages is all that is necessary. My experience is that the two potential parents merely have to inform the doctor that they do not want the baby. The procedure is short in an out in an hour or so. However it is never this simple as in future months the baby that might have been will appear in the mind of one or both.

On the issue of payment for the dowry. After it is paid you would not be the first to hear the happy news that it was a false alarm and there is no baby. Even if there is a baby, if you pay the dowry this will be the first of many calls on your finances - buffalo can die very often, family members get sick, and the family just generally needs money. One more human money tree is welcomed into the warm arms of fabulous Issan.

Don't know what the fuss is about. This is quite clearly a matter of self defence and a general misunderstanding. After all the Thai police are here to help and protect us all and you cant believe all your read in the papers. I am sure that if anything was amiss then our Great Leader would have said or done something.

Most times when cases get to court the decision is fair. I believe that we ordinary farangs can have trust in the courts. The big problem is getting to the court as in most less serious cases the police sort things out - apprehender, judge, jury and executioner.

One can argue that the farangs in this case did not act wholly properly, but which among us does when full of beer. The taxi drivers are happy to pick us up and charge the pissed farang over the top, so they may have to put up with some bad manners. Its not like they spewed all over the cars interior.

10 years is on the low side but appropriate. Good job I'm not a judge here.

My first thoughts are ha ha; we have outlawed drugs, beaten dark forces and now we turn our attention to corruption. But seriously there are major issues here.

Corruption in Thailand, for me, is the result of a mixture of low wages, envy, greed and outlawry. Well the government can do a great deal to modify corruption if my thesis is correct. I seriously doubt that the government wants to change anything. Like always it TALKS.

Corruption is being fought in the West as well. There it takes very suptle forms and government forces are hard pressed to catch the offenders. But they do get caught. The difference is that in the UK or the USA you can RELY on the law officer to HELP you not to stitch you up. ( At least in thre USA if you are white!!)

It is the variety of the forms of corruption which is confusing here in Thailand. If only it were consistent we would all know where we stand.

Nothing like this topic to bring us all out battling for our respective corners. A couple of points.

1. I toally agree with all those who say that if they choose to smoke then that is up to them. They know the risks and accept them. Som nam na.

2. When in the UK (many moons ago) I was responsible for the management of part of the NHS. I can assure members that it is a fact that the one common factor uniting all patients on respiratory disease wards, and vascular disease wards is that 99% of them are smokers. To see these poor devils dying a harsh death in front of their families is not a pretty sight. Yet these same people were probably the ones declaring their independent right to smoke and enjoy themselves.

I gave up 30 years ago and do not feel holier than thou. It is a real problem not just a political football.

Thank you Frostback.

Only one? Thers's plenty of room up there for many more.

I have just moved to HuaHin from Phuket so know nothing about local conditions. I have a couple of questions and would be grateful for any guidance.

1. When moving from one province to another someone told me that it was officially necessary to let the local police know your new address. Is this the case?

2. There is mention of sending the 90 day report in by post. Where do I get a list of what is required and the forms to fill in?

3. For visa extension renewal is it better to go to Bangkok or the immgration office 10 kms south of Prachuap Khiri Khan? Where exactly is this by the way?

Thanks in advance

Thanks astral - grateful.