ZZZ

Don't you think that Naam's comment makes it even more interesting. I had forgotten that's how the system works!

Still I will comply as always - seems easier that way - I will continue to do that until it all gets too crazy.

Naams comment don't really mean anything as he "forgot" to mention that he did have to supply a valid document to verify his address. It would maybe be interesting if he did use his old drivers license to get his "Proof of Address" to renew his license

If you have proof of permanent Thai residency you will get in at Thai price just about everywhere.

I disagree. I have had Thai residency for 17 years now, and regularly, after attempting negotiation at various entry points, leave in disgust. Success rate about 60%. Failures at zoos, some national parks and historical sites, and Nong Nooch, . Never tried the other private operations, but understand they are in the main bastards! The negotiations, whether successful or not spoil a day out with the family and rejection causes the Thais embarrassment.

The Alien registration Booklet is stated by immigration to be the same as a Thai ID card. Maybe they understand this but nobody else does, In fact they have no idea what an Alien registration book is for.

An ID card, similar to a Thai ID card, should be issued to residents which would help . Don't forget Residents have had to pay enormous sums for their residency status (currently around 200K baht) and it is not unreasonable to expect something in return (other than just not having to do a visa run!) And I, along with many other foreign residents no doubt contribute far more in tax than the vast majority of Thais!

I agree that someone with a recidency permit should get Thai price, but it seems that this may be a problem with people not understanding what an Alien registration booklet is, as you suggest an ID card could solve this.

In any case it's a silly discussion, personally I would not let my family and kids suffer because of a principle regarding a few dollars especially as it seems that it's not really a question of the amount just the difference.

Make sure the bottles have a recycling symbol 1, 2 or 5 as other types of plastic could leach dangerous chemicals. Most western countries have banned baby bottles made of bad types of plastics, not so in Thailand. Tempered glass is probably best apart from the risk of breaking them.

Yes that has my name and address in it, but the car is actually older than my Thai driving licence (car is 4 years old). So what does it prove??

I suspect pretty soon we will see postings here that say the Jomtien Immigration want a 'recent document' less than a month/year old or some specified period of time, as they do with proof of bank savings etc... when renewing the annual visa.

I'm pretty sure you are supposed to inform the relative athorites when you change address to get the documents updated, the address should still be correct even if the car is a few years old.

I had the address changed on my drivers license when I changed address, not sure how this works with the new licenses without an address printed on them but would imagine you still have to inform them so the database can be updated.

If you have proof of permanent Thai residency you will get in at Thai price just about everywhere.

A Thai drivers license or work permit does not make you a permanent resident in Thailand, but it will get you in at Thai price at most venues anyway.

Yosemite Park Entrance fees:

Normal fee: $20

Other Passes

Yosemite Pass (annual pass): $40

America the Beautiful–National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass: $80

This is an annual admission pass covering admission and standard amenity fees. This replaces the National Parks Pass and Golden Eagle Pass.

Access Pass: Free

This is a lifetime admission and discount pass for US citizens or permanent residents with permanent disabilities.

Senior Pass: $10

This is a lifetime admission and discount pass for US citizens or permanent residents who are age 62 or older.

As you can see there are several passes restricted to US citizens only.

The annual pass is a very common way to give the local residents a good discount.

Rather than a long welt which is what I usually get from the tentacles of a jelly, this sting left a short 3-4 inch long half inch wide "wound". Usually it takes a while for the sting to become visible, but this one became red and extremely painful almost immediately.

I got stung on the middle of my calf. I didn't have any vinegar on hand so I did the only thing I could which was a nice warm "golden shower". I'm not sure any of the locals saw me pissing on myself, and quite frankly I was in so much pain at the time that I didn't give a fok.

Sounds like it could have been a stingray.

The best way to neutralize the stingray venom is to soak it in really hot water, vinegar will have no affect on this venom.

I have been a board member here for quite a long time but post infrequently because there are so many negative people posting on this forum. There is lots of useful information for falangs interested in thailand or involved already, but so many people are so negative about everything. If they dislike it so much, just leave the place alone. If you can't make constructive posts don't make any. Just get a life. And to the Mods, I believe this to be the view of many expats, and others involved in thailand, It is up to you to help sort it out.

Sounds like the OP has been in Thailand for to long.

To be quiet about bad things, stick your head in the sand and pretend everything is fine is a typical Thai thing. Don't make anyone loose face, it's bad for everyone.

Criticism is essential for improvements, if bad things are not pointed out and discussed they will never be taken care of.

In the end I don't think Thais and farangs are so different, most of the bad things pointed out on this forum would be considered bad by most Thais as well.

Is electricity measured the same in all countries? I ask cuz I'm in Japan and this month it's as hot as Thailand, I'd be curious at how my bill here compares to there.

And isn't it strange that the two most popular votes are 1000 to 1500 and then 4500+

Most countries use the same system, charging per kWh. In Thailand the rate is about 4 Baht per kWh.

1000 to 1500 means you use aircon in the bedroom when you sleep.

4500+ means you use aircon all day. Most people probably fit in one of these two categories so not so strange.

Stop complaining

I have used baht buses to the nearest golf courses, about 30-40 min drive from Pattaya. They usually charge me a total of 500Baht to take me there and then come back and pick me up 5 hours later for the return trip to Pattaya.

They have always been on time for the return, occasionally they have sent another baht bus to pick me up if the original bus could not make the return.

My fat burning advice would be following:

1. Never drink any cold drinks.

I know that some people advice the opposite as the body needs to heat the liquid to body temperature and thereby burn calories.

My belief is that the brain will interpret the cold inside the body as if cold has entered thru the skin and will then use all available fat to build a protective insulation layer to prevent further cold to enter.

I believe a great deal of the obesity in America is due to Americans addictions to ice cold drinks.

(Sure, I like my beer cold and some ice in my gin tonic but take the rest of the drinks warm)

2. Never drink with meals.

Much nutrition require saliva to be properly absorbed, by drinking while eating you are washing away or diluting the saliva and much of the nutrition will be lost and the food will not be properly digested.

Much food require a certain acidity to be present in the stomach, this acid will also kill some germs and parasites. By drinking while eating you are greatly diluting the acidity in your stomach and the food will not be properly digested.

If you have to have a soup with your meal have this, like the Chinese, at the end of the meal for same reasons.

An added benefit is that you can sometimes cut half the cost of a meal if you don’t have a drink.

(Sure, I do like a glass of wine or a beer with my meal but only occasionally; all “routine” meals are without drinks.)

3. Fasting.

I know that many people say that if you fast you will only train your body to store fat and you will not lose any weight only add fat. My belief is that if this was true everyone would be skinny as we presently don’t train our body to store any fat as we are never more than a few hours from our next meal.

The thing is that our bodies are perfectly trained to store fat, just have a look around. The thing with fasting is that it will train our bodies to BURN stored fat, something most people have never experienced.

Fast 2-4 days a week for a month and you will notice a great difference. Only drink (warm or room temp) liquids during the fast, vegetable juices are good. For the days you do eat try to stick to a vegetarian (raw) diet as much as possible. Avoid any kind of grains and dairy products. The first day will be the hardest after that it’s usually easy to go a few more days as the stomach shrinks and the hunger feelings disappears.

4. Exercise.

I’m too lazy and undisciplined to go to the gym. I also think the gym is dangerous as most people tend to over do it and injure them self.

The better way is to live an active life. Walk when possible, if you have to use a transport walk the first kilometer, use a bicycle, don’t use the lift or get off a few floors early, make your home a “gym” where you have a few work out stations where you do a few exercises whenever you have a minute to spare, swim in the pool, play games you enjoy.

In all, don’t make exercise a chore you hate, make it part of your daily life.

Get your heart pumping 5 times a day, no need for 10km runs, just a quick walk up the stairs, a 50m dash or some quick push ups will do.

All this help me maintain a BMI of 22 without any great effort.

In condominiums the rates charged for utilities are decided by the owners association. Condominiums have many costs to cover like gardener, security, pool maintenance, garbage removal, cleaning....

Normally the only income the condominium have is the maintenance fee payed by the owners. This fee is decided by the owners association.

In many condominiums many units are not used for several months a year as the owners are not permanent residents there. In these cases the condominium association may have decided to charge a higher fee for utilities. The effect of this will be that people who live there 12 months a year will pay more into the maintenance of the condominium than people who only live there 6 months a year, witch is fair as the permanent residents use the facilities more.

All this will not really help you if you are renting a place, then it's all demand and supply and you have to decide if the total cost of the place is worth it, if not find another place.

Some landlords charge a flat rent, all included. Some landlords will charge you rent, maintenance fee, cable tv fee, fixed line phone fee and utilities at inflated rates.

Up to you to decide if you get value for money

Sounds like he did the right thing.

Question is would you have allowed him to do other tests, you refused the x-ray because your "chest felt fine"

This is normal practice in many condo's. Should be regulated by the owners association.

The difference between 3 and 10 Baht could be several thousand Baht in a month if you are using aircon. The difference in water will be next to nothing, 20 or 40Baht for 1000 liters will not make a big difference over a month.

Normal electricity is just over 3Baht per kWh.

Water should be around 30Baht per cubic meter.

I'm not sure shorter trips are safer than longer. Shorter trips are normally in the city and that's where most of the accidents happen. The speed might be slower but if you travel at 50 kmh and hit a car doing 50 kmh in the opposite direction you will want to have a full face helmet, even much slower speeds can do a lot of damage to your face.

If you bring a full face make sure the ventilation is good. In any case do bring a helmet as good helmets are hard to find and very expensive in Thailand.

It takes about 5 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water that you buy in the shop, plus fuel for transport and other waste.

If you don't want any waste you could go for a uv system, with particle/carbon/resin pre filters.

There are RO systems available with less waste but they are bigger commercial systems that re use some of the waste water. The way a RO system works you will always have a lot of waste.

I have a RO system in my kitchen and it produces a lot of waste water like all house hold systems do. This is not a problem as the tap water cost next to nothing but you need to have a drain where the system is located.

As far as I know there is no law saying that you MUST have a mobile so if they ask for a number and you don't want to give it just say you don't have one.

I have a Retirement visa but have to go back uk for health issues for maybe 6 months. What happens about the 90 day reporting, will my visa be revoked ??

No, the retirement "extension" on your Non-O visa will still be good, assuming that:

--  you get a re-entry permit before you depart, and

--  the expiry date is beyond your date of return to Thailand.

When you do return, then the 90-day reporting clock starts anew.

Mac

I arrived back in Thailand last Thursday and had to report to immigration on the Friday, as my 90 days were up while I was out of the country, you still have to report every 90 days, or when you return, 90 days doesn't start to run again from the date of entry.

Makes little sense to me either!

Not correct, you only have to report if you stay more than 90 consecutive days in Thailand.

You say that your 90 days run out while outside Thailand, so how much did they fine you for reporting late?

No, the retirement "extension" on your Non-O visa will still be good, assuming that:

--  you get a re-entry permit before you depart, and

--  the expiry date is beyond your date of return to Thailand.

And, it has been reported that, in the event your current extension's expiry date is NOT beyond your planned date of return to Thailand, you can go to your local Immigrations office before you depart with documentation showing you will be out of the country at your normal extension date, and they will issue a new extension in advance. This process does not change the effective dates of your extension, the new extension will be for 365 beyond the current expiration date.

I have had a new extension issued in advance but only about one month before it was due to expire, has anyone had their extension issued as far as six month ahead of time (or 2, 3 months) ?

If you have internet banking with a Thai bank you can pay using that. I use Kasikorn and pay using their internet bill payment service.

I also think you can pay using credit card from the 12Call website but that is the worst web site I have ever seen and not very user friendly.

Most farang who don't like Thaksin rely on the Post and Nation for their news. Enough said on that one.

And which Thai newspaper in English would the farang who like Thaksin read??

deleted stupid posting

The advantage of the usufruct is that it can last for your lifetime.

With people getting knocked off for for very small amounts in Thailand this could be a very big disadvantage.