lounger

Thai Society!

Prostitution is and always has been a big part of Thai society. You will find the younger girls are in Thai only brothels. Much too good to allow Farangs access to them.

Go up country and look at all these Thai bars surrounded by fairy lights. What do you think happens there?

Chris

Actually about a year ago I was told by the local policeman in rural Thailand, that he was instructed to tour the bars nightly and check girls were not sitting beside customers.

Anyway on a more humerous note the banning of street soliciting is not extended to tuc tucs and nepalese tailors so we will still have people to talk to!

Internal Security Act lifted in Phuket as Asean talks end

PHUKET: -- Thai government on Friday lifted Internal Security Act in place in Phuket as Asean foreign ministers meeting with dialogue partners came to an end on Thursday, said Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

Glad it all went off without any hitches. The extra security on the island wasn't overly disruptive. It was good to see police stopping people for actual security and not just tea money.

Ah yes! with hindsight an unfortunate post, as since security withdrawn there has been a running gun fight

Soon to be the hottest selling item in Patong

No self respecting tourist will be seen without one.

issued as you depart the plane, a mask for the flu, and vest for the bullets.... and heck have some condoms too

don't forget to have enough money to pay for any missing bar mats and please make sure you pop in our ever popular duty free shop at BKK on departure;)

Good point, when the duty free farago burst and the guys were taken to a hotel ( as opposed to police station) did they have to pay for the hotel or was it covered in he £8,000 bung.

Anyway the point of this post is assume extra costs not inc in holiday inc surprise accom near airport, flak jacket, flu mask, condom..... oh yes and expensive free gift at the duty free counter.

In 1960 no one ever contemplated holidaying in Thailand, all we knew about the country is that it was the setting for 'The King and I' when it was previously known as Siam. I have a friend who actually went to Pattaya in the 1960s but that was only because he worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and they sent him to Bangkok. Apart from GIs on R&R it was unknown as a holiday destination.

In 1960 the British holiday makers were considered fortunate to be able to afford 2 weeks on the Costa Brava let alone SE Asia. It was the same for the other Europeans, the Americans and probably the Australians. These claims in this article are nonsense.

I think you are actually answering your own disbelief. You say there were minimal tourists in 1960 and the global travel infrastructure was not there. So if the tourist visitors drop by 22% in 1960, then its not really so many people. Maybe a plane load. Easily achievable. But in the 21st century to lose 22% inspite of the massive difference in continental bias, that takes some doing. And the thais did it. Amazing Thailand.

Ps Everyone should post something today. If there were 11 million posts, one for each chap/ess who managed to get into/stay in Thailand then someone might start to listen...

I always thought that if you arrived in your own country with a valid passport all that was required was that it was indeed valid and the photo was of the person handing it over. In UK when I go through immigration they just look at my face and photo and hand it back, they don't look to see if I have an exit stamp from Thailand.

I think you will find that the UK immigration are rather more high tech than a benevolent Dixon of Dock Green manner.

At Newcastle airport they, without ostentation, slide the passport across a scanner. A bit like building societies checking your signature, without fuss but effective. It does not go beeeep like in Tescos but nevertheless has pegged you.

Yes you can apply straight away but you must address the concerns of the ECO in the rejection letter.

You say your girlfriend applied for a six month visa, yes that is the minimum visa but how long was the visit? anything longer than a couple of weeks will start alarm bells ringing, did you explain the purpose of the visit and supply her intended itinerary?

quote]

My girlfriend was declined due to insufficient data. She had already visited UK twice with no problems. We were actually shown a file that was considered acceptable...no, not the contents. The thickness. We were advised by an agent, not employed by us, to get letters of invitation, or hotel bookings, and photos of the people/ places to bulk out the file.

A conversation with a UK embassy senior administrator said dressing for the interview was important. Avoid anything creating anonymity (eg white shirt dark jacket is bad). The amazing advice was to apply for a longer period. It seems criminals want access at the lowest apparant cost. You have to distance yourself from this low cost, cheap and cheerful, economic with words and ideas presentation.....

The visa process is trying to eliminate organised crime and criminals don't bother so much with the flavours of authenticity. Standard answers are a no-no.

There are only two effective treatments for influenza, Relenza and Tamiflu.

You forgot chicken soup and rest... Always works for me

Yes get thge flu then treat it........

A UK virologist said we should have pig flu parties; meaning we should all opt to catch it as soon as possible. If you cannot get immunisation catching the current strain will be far preferable to the mutated version that is due to materialise later..... That one will more than likely kill you....

avoid crowded places whenever possible. Sensible advice.

Is it?

A UK virologist said we should have pig flu parties; meaning we should all opt to catch it as soon as possible. If you cannot get immunisation catching the current strain will be far preferable to the mutated version that is due to materialise later..... That one will more than likely kill you

Get flu and build your immunity

see you at the bar...

Yes ..... Just an unfortunate accident with nobody to blame! So all of you people that just want to read something into this at this poignant time for his grieving family, why don't you go and get fuc_ked! Get a fuc_king life!

Its not JUST an unfortunate accident. People are killed all round the world in the badly designed water filtration plants etc. I see previous posts relating to the states and myself recall one in Spain. Another I remember a young girl getting her hair caught in the down suction. There needs to be a recognisable accreditation. ISO ???

The Asian culture is to laugh off misfortune and grief. Its weird but life is cheap here. We take our lives in our hands when we expect western standards of engineering. Tourists dont realise, they deserve better.

'They charged that although the government had announced tourism as a national priority, to date no concrete measures have been implemented by concerned-agencies to boost the country's tourism industry.'

Yes,there have been plenty-concrete NEGATIVE measures enacted.

National priority,my ***.

Mandatory visas,no visa runs,rules,new rules,what are the rules?????-skip,hop,jump.

The average guy that wants to find a low cost living somewhere just got fed up and left.

Hello???????

Cambodia and Indo-can buy long term visas.

Malaysia-three months upon arrival.

Thailand-nobody can even figure it out except you get the overall feeling 'nobody wants you'.

Lost the plot,folks.

Thailand,great people,great country.

Utter silly nonesense when it comes to implementing conditions to allow foreigners to boost your economic stature.

Get it together Thailand and protect tourists.

Start with ATM fees and close with implementing the old visa rules and plenty of tourists-short and long term-will come back.

I sympathise with the less educated Thai. Twice a day he/she has to observe the national call to keep Thailand free for the Thais and be bold in repelling the outsider.

When these people storm airports they are sticking together doing what they are brainwashed into thinking is good. Also you can understand that they are trained to be insular and therefore suspicious of the foreigner raising their hopes, by offering jobs and money or making something they dont want or understand, only to have them dashed again by the removal of the source of the money. When their jobs vanish they blame the foriegner for removing the business.

I am often told that village life is changing. Why is this? If the farange business man/ tourist goes home will the good old days come back. Of course it wont. But too many people want being not so clever think they will.

So I sympathise with the local less educated Thais...... but what I dont understand is how they come to be running the country?

Hi can anyone recommend a hotel about 1500baht with a good car park and doesn't charge visitor fees in the Sukhumvit area.

I used to stay at the Grace but my car was dunshed one night. I brought it to the attention of the security and reception. The next night it was hit twice more!!!!!!!!! Thai retaliation for losing face? A letter to the absent manager brought no response.

reception were even less helpful the second time and the security totally unconcerned..

Thanks guys, I'll go have a look. But maybe I need to raise the budget!

lounger

Hi can anyone recommend a hotel about 1500baht with a good car park and doesn't charge visitor fees in the Sukhumvit area.

I used to stay at the Grace but my car was dunshed one night. I brought it to the attention of the security and reception. The next night it was hit twice more!!!!!!!!! Thai retaliation for losing face? A letter to the absent manager brought no response.

reception were even less helpful the second time and the security totally unconcerned..

to get USA Visa will be difficult,

Getting a history will be difficult. History implies reliability. Reliability comes from provable history..

I can imagine the US immigration when they get the application. Their first question will be how sure can they be that the subject will actually leave US at the end of term... the track record smells a bit.

Dont rock the boat.

Surely what it boils down to is that any foreigner in dispute with his wife will draw attention to himself and their financial dealings. Any dispute is acrimoniuus and leads to interpretation over division of spoils. The land Dept is saying the legal logical situation (Tort in UK) does not apply as it goes against constitutional law. The recent announcement helps put the constitutional law ( foreigners cannot own land) back in first place.

So if I keep my head down, am I safe from investigation?

However, on the other side of the coin, there are some among us who might be inclined to step in to try and rescue someone being browbeat. pedestrianus emptor.

Bad idea. I know a guy who tried to intervene and was put in prison for three days and charged 10,000 release money.

We assume the thai blamed him for the incident.

I have a pension and have to renew my retirement the end of Juni. Is it OK that my 'embassy letter ' proving my income is on that moment still 2 month old??

If you mean that your letter is 2 months old it will not be accepted.

It should not be more than a few days old.

I disagree. A bank letter certifying balance should be new, but in my experience an embassy letter confirming income has been OK for two extensions (2 years running.)

However better to be safe than sorry.

3. You can open an account but you have to go to different banks and branches to find one that will let you open an account.

Once you open the account you can do it by wire transfer.

Several points:

Interest rates are constantly changing so (1) dont lock everything into one term. Currently rates are low but they will climb when inflation starts to bite or the banks need more deposits...and (2) dont lock everything into one interest rate. The guy with a five year fixed term is nuts because he locked in at a low rate and

Use a bank near home as there are fixed charges applied when using remote facilities.

Another technique would to say stay 5 nights pay for 3 or 4 - they can then say they are offering free rooms but still getting some money!

In phuket a 5 star resort was offering somethng like 20,000 free rooms but, if I recall correctly, the free was one in 14. which is a discount of 7% only if you stay 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!

some deal, huh

So far none of Thailand's top security people have come out to admit that they failed to provide security for regional leaders and Thailand's guests.

Abhisit is known to have sought advice from a special unit, set up in haste under his command. As Thaksin played his cards one by one, the advisers countered each hand effectively until Thaksin lost his bet.

At this hour, with the power of the emergency decree in his hand, it is Abhisit - not the Army chief - who is the most powerful person in Thailand. He must use this occasion wisely by controlling the red shirts and dealing with the failure of the security apparatus, which has been undermining national interest and the government's stability.

We expect to see a reshuffle of top security and peacekeeping personnel soon.

However, if Abhisit resorts to his image of a timid Oxford graduate, he would be missing out on an opportunity to take the country forward. Now is the time for him to stand tall and be the prime minister of Thailand.

Source: The Nation - 15 April 2009

Nicely understated sentence " We expect to see a reshuffle of top security and peacekeeping personnel soon. " I would have thought the personnel in question are wondering whether they are criminally liable for failing to take action, and busily wondering whether they can effectively CTA. ( cover their <deleted>). I guess a reshuffle will be less explosive...

A lot of them don't even like Taksin. They were a people trying to have their say. You are right, Thailand is still better

I live in central Thailand, (Singburi. Maybe Lopburi is different as they have a massive army base) and the people here are above all this. They dont wear coloured shirts and at the bar this evening not one Thai even mentioned the emergency....

The backbone of the country is intact....thank goodness (and common sense)

This is the best source of up to date information.

Do not believe you will have any problem with the fixed account.

Thanks Lop, This site is too big and has too many undesirable posts.. I can never get to read all the salient details as they get spread too thinly. I guess the answer is to ignore other posts just write my own questions.....then brouse for entertainment..

Just curious if it's possible to extend a tourist visa for an additional 30 days if you were issued multiple tourist visas. Thanks

There is a program currently in effect that if you get a multiple entry Tourist Visa between now and June 4th (I think is cutoff) you can come into Thailand for 60 days, then get a FREE 30 day extension at immigration.............

I am now so confused with entry permits vv tourist visa's, non imm visas, sometimes paying sometimes free, sometimes extendable sometimes actually shrinks ....what is the best official website?

Also what is latest feeling on ( for retirement extn on non imm) having 800k on fixed term deposit expiring after extension date. This has caused me no problem in the past. I saw a reference earlier that under new regs it was ok but that so long as had other bank a/c showing how day to day living expenses were covered.

I understand the frustration of the people, but surely by now they must realise, the rich always win......

I weep for Thailands image.

Which rich people. The red shirt rich or yellow shirt rich

Taksin now maintains that his aim is to help the Thais by kicking the old ruling parties out. He got into politics by marrying into the powerhouse family the Damapong. Now his wife has dumped him maybe because she realises his aim is to kick her family off the top slot.

So who are the rich guys?. Certainly it looks like an upper class war fought by the poor sods running about in coloured shirts.

Massage parlours can no longer employ anyone under the age of 40

No point in coming to Thailand anymore.......Are they for real !!!!! With this mentality why don't they just ban all farrangs under the age of 85 unless accompanied with BOTH parents. New2thai Newbie

Mr Chanaporn of the committee for returning Thailand to the dark ages is upset with the leak that rules are going to apply to farangs under the age of 85.

That impotent farangs has been the subject of many closed meetings was not supposed to leak until the final draft of immigration legislation was reviewed by the inner circle of the ministry of culture.

A document leaked was a copy of the minutes of a committee meeting and listed restriction on visas for under the 85s as a possibility.

Also 'guests' staying at any hotel with anyone born after 1923 was to carry a surcharge payable as tax.

to follow..

it is based on the expiration of your 'permitted to stay' stamp -- but not the expiration of your visa (which, again, is irrelevant).

I think readers will agree that expiry dates are expiry dates and not fictitious after the event too late irrelevancies. Most offices will show penalties for failing to comply with the expiry dates. An extension by definition extends the expiry dates beyond the original (visa).

Some paperwork takes ages and the applicant is advised to apply early especially if using agents ( such as official /legal Bangkok supereagles) who dont want to be pressured to work faster than their normal speed.

I have found many Thais imply an immediacy and proceedure that is actually incorrect but used just to get the slow coaches off their asses.