sanooki

From what I learned, people can thank Thaksin's daughter for messing this up. Her gaffe resulted in a block of the parliament abruptly leaving the ruling coalition. This block happened to be the ones supporting cannabis freedom. As soon as they left, support promptly collapsed and the remaining MPs didn't waste time taking advantage. Apparently, she was set up by "Uncle" who traditionally was a friend of the family. Experts are pondering why the double-cross. The tangled web of a show goes on.

She's probably earning that at the hourly level now. Hence, the logic and math involved.

Hey, thanks much for that info. I will check them out. Sorry for my slow response.

Greetings Sir, this is an interesting bit of information. Can you possibly share any locations, or links, of these military hospitals? I currently live in Korat, but I'd consider moving to be near reliable healthcare as I get older.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Since my last post, we've already found a new place in a larger, more professional building that routinely welcomes foreign tenants, and will be taking one-year leases. We've decided we don't want to be here anymore and will be informing her the day before our move, which will be a bit over one month early. I'll gladly take the hit. We will dutifully inform immigration immediately of our new address. I had to go with the landlord and and sister this year because we were caught unaware that they would want two. We tried around our place to find others, but none of them had tabien bahns in-district, which was also a requirement. This poo-bahn knew she had me in a corner, and did take advantage of it. I don't exactly know what it helps anything, as the opposite effect will be had, she will lose a good-paying customer. This was our first extension here in Korat. We don't know yet if they would come again on a second, but this office seems a bit stricter than others and I've heard sometimes they will do if you don't have a child. I also don't know yet if the visit is triggered by a move in-district. My wife did get a chance to ask if our landlord will do the same next year, and what was her reasoning for what she did. The reply was baffling and illogical. Firstly, she said if we use only her as a witness, we could pay each month normally. But, if we need her sister again, we must pay the rent ahead of time. Secondly, the reasoning she gave was that they once had a foreigner stay who moved out somewhere else after she was a witness, and the police came to check if he was still there. She claimed it was "difficult" for them, without explaining exactly how. Two problems with this story. One, when we originally looked at the apartment, I emphasized that I would need a witness for my extension. She said, of course, no problem at all. She didn't mention ever having such a problem. I would have never moved here if I would have known. Also, why no problem with one witness even now, yet if I want two I gotta pay through the nose up front? Two, these people seem to believe that they are guaranteeing to the police that I will live in my apartment continually for the term of the lease. Where is that ever required, and by whom? It's ridiculous. Everyone takes trips, and can have multiple residences. The only thing the witnesses are attesting to is whether they've occasionally seen me together with my wife at the apartment. If I were to go anywhere else, the police would only be interested in whether I was with my wife and my location was legally determinable. Nowhere in any lease ever have I promised I will only stay in that one place. A lease is a guarantee of access to a place for a set fee. The only reasons I prefer the marriage visa in-country are that I may want to work some day, not yet sure, the money requirements are less than the retirement visa, and I prefer not to need to leave the country. None of these are insurmountable if I'm forced, but I'd rather have these options the way they are. Anyways, thanks for the info, and the opportunity to vent. :)

Thanks, I didn't know they can visit for the 90-day retirement visa. I thought the only reason for a visit would be to check the husband and wife situation. I am considering the retirement visa to avoid this in the future, and my other backup is to go for a marriage visa in Savannahket. But these options have drawbacks for me.

The second witness I used I had also never met. But, she was the older sister of my landlord and a pooban here. You'd think she might know of me, or at least would trust her sister to tell her I was a decent tenant. She's the one who insisted on this insanity. I guess she considers herself clever or something.

Nice. I've been surprised at what I've been seeing in Korat.

Right. We cleared the hurdle already for this year, but did the extra 6 months lease at the beginning of the month of renewal. One of the staff actually groused a bit that there were less than 6 months on it. What you say about the requirement makes sense, and I can't imagine anyone at immigration will make trouble if we move out before lease end. We did our last two times, and the facts are surely there for them to know, if they care. But, really, I think a lot of this is down to bureaucracy and underlings not understanding the reasoning behind rules. That's what bites us sometimes, unfortunately.

Hi. It's downtown Korat. We are looking to move not too far from here. We like Korat and were even interested in keeping our apartment. I know different places have different requirements, such as some only require 1 witness, which is part of why we were caught off-guard on short notice. We also don't know if they will visit every year or only the first time.

Instead of saying if one encounters all aholes, then he must be the ahole, I will say that encounters rely on the beliefs and experiences of the people involved. Thai people often seem to have a simplified stereotype ingrained that comes mainly from the media and other Thais amplifying that stereotype. Their encounters with foreigners are limited, and many of them may fit the pattern of their stereotype. They also have their own, often cookiecutter, motivations based on their somewhat limited prospects, that come into play. So, it's pretty rare, in my years here, to encounter someone who has an independent and unbiased stance to me, who must outwardly appear the same as any other foreigner they've ever seen. Although understandable, it does sometimes get very tiring to seemingly never be able to make progress in these challenging relationships over many years. I try to look at the advantages, which sometimes is not easy, but always to me seem to outweigh the disadvantages.

I've been living in Thailand for about 13 years in total, and haven't been out for over 8. I'm on my 3rd consecutive marriage extension since retiring a little over 2 years ago. I had two others with my ex-wife. My wife and I are trying out places where we might want to settle down, so we're on our second location now, in Isaan. Timing apartment moves has been a little tricky due to what I think is an odd requirement by IOs: that one must have a lease that extends for 6 to 12 months after the application date. I'm not sure about the expectations of immigration offices, as well as how the resulting leases are interpreted by landlords. In many places I've stayed, landlords don't even require a lease after the first one expires. One can continue on for months with no problem. But, as soon as immigration gets involved, and especially if the landlord serves as a witness for a marriage extension, things get a little weird. They seem to think they are somehow now responsible for our behavior and whereabouts. Some assumptions: I do not believe a witness to a marriage extension application promises, by signing as a witness, anything other than that she has seen the husband and wife together frequently or believes they are truly living together as husband and wife. As far as leases go, I believe they are promises to pay rent for an apartment for a period of time, on the part of the renter, and promises to allow the renter access for a period of time in exchange for rent, on the part of the landlord. I have never seen in any lease, or in visa and extension documentation, any mention of a promise by the lessee to physically live in an apartment under lease. Sure, I can understand that having a long-term lease is one indicator that a visa holder is seriously domiciled with his wife. But, there is nothing to stop one from having multiple apartments, or from going to the wife's home for a month, or from taking a few weeks vacation, for examples. If an alien moves to another location, I understand it is the responsibility of the new location's owner, and also the alien, to report the new location within a set time period, so that immigration can know where we are. So, excuse the long-winded intro, but why are IOs and landlords often fixated on how long, after a visa extension is granted, one will stay in their apartment? What they should be concerned with is that if I am moving around, does my wife go with me. Right? My extension is predicated on whether I'm really married and living with my wife, right? Not on if I'm staying in one particular place or another. Why should I be made to feel that it's suspicious to travel around this lovely country? I mean, that's a big part of what many are here for, right? Why am I worked up about this, you might ask? Well, my landlord decided to make it a requirement that if I want to use her older sister, who is a poo-baan(elder boss of the moo-ban) as a payan(witness) on my extension applications, I must pay my rent 6 to 12 months in advance. She hit me with this on the morning the police were coming for their marriage visa home visit a few months back. I had no choice but to go along with it. This feels to me more than a bit like extortion, and I'm (understandably?) wanting to find a new place to live. She cannot be reasoned with on this issue. I still have a couple months left on my lease, which is pre-paid at this point, but I want to get out now. Somehow, I feel that the loss on rent that I will endure is not enough for them. They want to guarantee that I stay exactly here until the end of the lease. How is this logical or fair? There's more to this story, but I'll save that for possible discussion.

Laugh from your cage soon.

Until they've got CBDCs.

Maybe this is another topic, or subject of ridicule, but I wonder if anyone has had success taking their Thai wife to live in the Philippines?