lounger

You don't have a tourist visa, you have a 30 day exemption. You can re-enter Thailand after travelling to Vietnam (by air) & immigration will give you another 30 days. Alternatively, you could obtain a (free ATM) 60 day tourist visa at the Thai Consulate in Hanoi.

What is a free ATM 60 day tourist visa. What does it cost how long does it take and what forms are needed?

I think you are correct. The girl will not have a 60 day tourist visa but a 30 day tourist visa exemption obtained on arrival. So what does she do next. Can she apply for a 60 day tourist visa in Vietnam? And how long would that take, what is required etc?

Dutch national on a 30 day tourist visa wants to stay a further 50 days. What is the best way to achieve this. Could travelling to Hanoi Vietnam for three days accross a weekend during the TV term help?

Why they only warn US citizens... ? And the rest of us are what exactly... ?

I don't even see a warning from the US about this on their website or the link provided in the OP. The last warning was Dec. 19th in regards to the RedShirts ... http://bangkok.usemb...wwc/recent.html

Nor does the state department list any current warnings about travel to Thailand ... http://travel.state....tw/tw_1764.html

I smell an item for the conspiracy theory

US Embassy moves out days before the spring rallies

CNN crtiicised for showing biased anti government footage during rallies

US warnings this weekend inconsistent, indicating lack of official stand.

any more?

One day these little scumbag idiots are going to pick on the wrong tourist(s) and end up on the receiving end of the blades that they so eagerly wield.

The Irish are known for their ability to demonstrate violence when provoked (just ask the English) and they can be very tough nuts to crack so these Thai morons were lucky on this occasion. We should invite a few groups of lads from Edinburgh and Glascow over and see how the Thai mini mafia fair against them!

Divvent forget the Geordies! After all, we are Scots with our brains kicked oot!

The geordies are handled like the ghurkers. When the enemy is tough, send the geordies in first. fearless and crazy.. Nothing like an angry tacham

toon, toon

blackandwhite army...........

translations available on google!

Abhisit has his hands full trying to stem the corruption at govt level................ no one is policing/ watching Pattaya anymore.

On a logical level, the turn down in tourism has hit the pockets at the top of the food chain. its no wonder they step up the crimewave; someone has to fill the gaps/pockets.

We are on a downward spiral..........

Posters are just a part of it.

I was at a wedding with about 1000 guests and the speeches seemed to be going on a bit. I asked and the answer was 'Oh he Government minister want pay respect to couple'. yes and another 20 minutes self promotion. Since then I have got used to these grovelling politicians together with groupies gate crashing private parties and moving through the tables..............

Last week we had the police chief's priorities for his last few years in office. There was no mention of crime drugs fraud illegals ...... The headline was his wish to route out anti monarchists

Maybe Thaksin is in this category... but otherwise this sounds like the police are directed by someone on early retirement

Please do put them first and I can help you a couple of hours a week free.

I regularly get asked to help so I guess every rural expat is a target. The problem I am sure is loss of face, any time I am dragged into a school to help out the teacher that same teacher does a runner and leaves me alone.

The problem with this is that one becomes a stand-in. I dont want to be a cheap diversion I want to create a lesson and carry it through. I prefer to actually carry out the appropriate lesson as expected in the time table. But no. One is shoved in naked and abandoned. I taught ages 11 to 15 for four years and so know what I am doing but now I explain I will assist but not lead. That has stopped the requests.

Back to the topic of second language. Its a good idea, it shows intent and in due course better qualified teachers will come through. It may take ten years to see a difference but each year will be more literate than the preceeding one and at least everyone knows the game plan.

Extra information on the Retirement extension.

All the previous posts apply but

the bank letter, certifying your balance in a Thai bank to be 400,000 married or 800,000 single and saying the cash has been in the bank for three months ( two on first ap), may take several days to produce.

The photocopies of passport should show the original visa and every extension since that date, in addition to the date of last arrival and entry form.

People inaccurately refer to 'retirement visas'. They are not visas they are 'extensions for retirement purposes' granted before the expiry of an extension or a visa and are only provided to those over 50 who can prove income or capital. The choice of extension for retirement therefore is only an option for the over 50's. The rest do border runs.

To get back to the subject ( the Thai Baht) I, like all who have to buy baht, have been concerned about the ecurity of the currency.On the face of it I/we should be buying trunk loads of baht and save ourselves the pain of it strengthening. But is there a likelyhood that Thailand will follow Vietnam and devalue?

this topic is going nowhere and should be stopped

It must be terrible being locked into watching something you dont like!

Meanwhile back to the plot:

My immig dept is well staffed and got no customers. The threat of custody may bring out a few paying customers. Good. Why should I and the compliant pay for a dept when the cost can be shared.

The law is the law......pay up.

NB I hear when in jug you have to pay extra for decent food etc, so the two days wont be a free experience but an expense........

In Nongkhai the embassy letter stating your income MUST be in English or Thai AND must be verified in Bangkok Chaeng Wattana. This is a rule for many years there. The bank statement must be from the same day you apply. Nowadays they want you to sign a letter stating that IF circumstances change after you had a new extension they can kick you out of the country. My lawyer asked them about these conditions and their answer was that there had been fraud with embassy papers. I talk about a ret extension; do not know about other extensions.

Aaah, At last a post that tries to get in behind the facts . I didn't realise the forms have to be in English. Maybe Canada would like to say in what language his letter is written and whether it is a copy,how old etc. Postees just assume too much and expect a personalised response when half the facts are missing.

Another thing that interests me is the difference between the postees claiming to be telling the same story. For example I have seen guys having a hard time in immig standing in flip flops bony hairy knees and sleevless vests.When the next guy in long trousers has an easy ride....

Respect.

Ah Pattaya you have done it again. The crime capital and Sin city of the world. When will Thailand learn and close tis place down. Thailand is drowning and Pattaya is the anchor. So many stories every week of crimes, murders, pedophilles being found in the back streets, scams, and every other dirty thing you can think of comes out of Pattaya. <BR><BR>Thailand is a great place but Pattaya is sinking it.

Geography or comprehension not your strong suit, then.

Not sure about sin city but sun city in S Africa. I read in the spectator that a correspondent defended the 18,000 annual murders by saying he had only been attacked once in that period......

So the bank is at fault, gladly? Does it make any difference? What I want to know is what happened to the other 12 Million?

Man escapes with two bags of loose change, police pocket 7,999,000 baht....it was stole me'lud.

The evidence is all around. In USA, and I guess elsewhere, the middle classes are the new poor. In Asia the middle classes now include anyone earning more than 65 baht per day.

Government is the control of the poor.

Corporate wealth is going to protect the wealthy and increase their wealth.

The materialist worldwide system stinks.

In Thailandfor example who is going to benefit from high speed trains at billions of baht? Every month there is some mega project widening the wealth gap and the youth can see this. To say that youth is not getting guidance is to ignore the fact that their parents and neighbours are also losing their places in society. They are in a rut and there is no way out........

A sucker is born every minute.

This is an interesting original post. It shows the readers up for what ( not who) they are. I can imagine the stuffy old gits eeking out their old age pensions living on one beer chang per week or going without to save money. keeping money in a shoe and not tipping anywhere.

I lost a card once. It was a problem but more of a learning curve. Now I keep back up cards etc. I didn't want sympathy or patronising advice. I am still daft and have gone from bad to worse, kidnapped, mugged, left cards in ATMs, left the cash in an ATM once!

Saying the guy can afford it because he is Norwegian is idiotic. Maybe the 200,000 was the last bit left after divorce,losing job and paying for a flight to Thailand..maybe he was so pissed he didnt know what he was doing. maybe he is rich and doesnt care and is enjoying the 'told you so' postings.....

For me, Ive got the Tshirt and I'm not a sucker just a bit muddled!

This had to happen. It probably a good thing. You'll "hopefully" see performance of voip, web mail, etc.. improve. Torrents are drain especially since most peers exists outside of TOT, if you look at an average torrent drainer using a steady 1mbit the economics just dont make sense. I cant even buy full transit routes on 1000mbit commits for < 550baht/mbit (or anywhere near that). So hopefully TOT stop, separate, or traffic shape them.

Ideally I'd like to see torrent drainer pay a massive premium. Part ignorance for most windoze users as the systray hides the little U, but wow imagine how fast the internet would be in Thailand without torrent drainers.

Ends rant.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think you are very much in the minority

Its back on and much faster. I join the supporters of anti torrent

16 million foreign travellers visited the region in 2002, rising to 22.4 million in 2006. This year, tourist numbers are expected to increase to 30 million, while 52 million are projected in 2015.

Thailand becoming a tourist hub is wishful thinking, rather like the figure above projecting the region getting 52 million tourists. I guess the stats relate to the greater Mekong subregion region but Thailand could fancifully claim it as suggesting there will be a massive influx of Tourists to Thailand

..........ha ha ha

There is no curfew in effect in Bangkok anymore.

Are you saying i'll be ok to go out, for a few drinks, past a certain time. I was under the impression that after a certain time, nobody was allowed out ??

Thanks.

No curfew in Bangkok. A fact. Or do you mix curfew with the closing time of certain entertainment venues?

Well, all i wanna know is if i can go out for a few beers when i arrive next month, past 11pm. I wont be to happy if i'm out and get lifted. Also, are there a few bars still open down sukhumvit area, again, past 11-12 at night.

Thanks again for your help.

John.

The emergency decree which is being extended gives the security forces special powers of arrest, detention etc. It no longer enforces curfew.

The red shirts need to get organised and have a political wing that causes mischief and claims responsibility, Like the IRA do in UK. The existence of an Organisation will maintain some control and allow themselves to deny activities that they have not initiated.

Who planted this bomb? The redshirt brigade should have the knowledge of their order and should be able to confirm or denounce this atrocity. That would stop outsiders creating mahem and shifting the blame.... The non players must be excluded otherwise anyone can join in and waste neighbours and create more anarchy

All these random accusations are worse than a straight forward confrontaion.

Thailand thought the tourists were coming back.............nope. Excellent timing to put off the people booking now for their next holiday...well done...................

............. the feudal society that is perpetuated by the powers that be, until the needs of the neglected masses of poor people are addressed, there will not be harmony in the land. ........

Show me one country, other than certain rich oil countries, that have legislated money to the poor. It doesnt happen. The rich get richer and the great wealth divide gettes wider. All the fancy projects carried out by governments are to aid the capitalists. The only way to raise the standards of the poor is to take money away from the rich money earning, tax payers and that never happens.

Education. The next generation needs to get ambitious, learn to work and haul themselves out of the gutter. Its the only way. Join the gravy train.

In my local karaoke a 22 year old is reading commercial law books between serving (!) customers. Not a happy solution but she will make it. Government intervention leads to a welfare system and that is not productive.

With due respect, we have heard one side of this story from a man who sounds agitated and maybe even confused. Assuming there is no scam (and that is my bet) do you think a combative attitude is going to help with getting this sorted out at immigration? File a complaint from where? Prison for being on overstay, Laos, Canada? There is a solution and calm heads should prevail.

Another point. Its a good idea to come in for extensions 30 days before expiration of permission to stay. I believe most all offices will welcome this with no question. That way, there will be ample time to fix problems that are fixable.

I am amazed that all posts are on the side of the immigration. That scamm has such a high profile cannot be ignored and it has to be considered here. But what to do? I dont have any advice but the information suggests that the applications are in time unless the pasport expiration date is a problem; this should have been overcome by the issue of a new passport. Insisting on an explanation maybe the only way out............

Interviewing the wife is a red herring (she supports his application) and is clearly not relevant.

Good luck.

what did you guys expect?

this project is about bring internet to the masses

Exactly! In Singburi province we are still on semaphore.

For two years I have been paying 700baht per month for in indifferent service (so slow sometimes I cant get a speed rating). They advertise 4BB and 10MB in the town but says it will never get to rural as there is not the demand to string the wires, which I dont understand as I have a landline phone.

Using my mobile as connection is a bit slow but only 100baht per month. 30 hrs plus depending on the deals.

So bring on 2mb wifi whatever its called... we the rural masses are looking forward to it.

<BR>600 billion THB , of course with the actual exchange rate they can have 10 million tourist and 800 billion THB. the baht is the strongest currency in the world at the moment, incredible...<BR>

Baht is strong and about to get stronger !!!!!!

Tourism to increase?

Time to put a dampner on it.

Tsunami, SARS, see Daeng, aah I know, lets strengthen the baht. Yes put up the interest rates that should do it......