grin

I got the Non-O 60 day extension in Chiang Mai. I had been here for 18 years on retirement extensions until COVID showed up. I may have done one 90 day report in all that time due to constant coming and going but I can't remember for sure. It now occurs to me that since my 60 day extension was for a Non-O 90 day visa that I should have done a 90 day report at the same time. Do I assume correctly that my 90 day timer was not reset by getting the Non-O 60 day extension? In any case it seems like it's pretty easy to do at the drive-up window in Chiang Mai. Do I need more than my passport? Is there a form for this?

We have a steel frame roof with concrete tile and a reflective foil under it. We also have StayCool laid on top of our suspended drywall ceilings. We have two forward facing gables so what I did was have fans installed at both gables facing outwards. I have two switches wired to each fan. One switch is wired through a thermostat and the other wired directly to the fan. That way the fan can be switched on or off or under thermostat control.

Last but not least we increased the number of soffit vents  in our eaves. The original plan only had about 20% of the eave area vented. We changed that to 80%. The vents are just wood slats backed by wire screens. With the large amount of soffit vents we seldom have to use the gable fans but on really hot days the fans help as well.

Just to clarify, we asked every person we could find in the tent about the 60 day Non-O extension but no one seemed to know about it as all answers we got pertained to the one year extension. This is not a COVID extension being referred to here either.

We showed up around 2:00 PM the next day and this time waited for our queue number to be called in the tent. The guy checked our documents and asked about banking details, map, etc that are not required for the Non-O 60 day extension. I managed to convince him that these were not required for a 60 day Non-O extension and he sent us into the building to the information window.

At the information window the young woman did not understand the Non-O 60 day extension either but a man that was probably her supervisor took over and explained to her how the Non-O 60 day extension worked. Basically there was very little time spent at this window and all they did was re-order our documents and staple them together with a new queue number slip on top. Our queue number was TF18 and it was 2:30 PM when we left that window.

They were processing queue number TF12 at that time and only window 6 was processing TF (Thai Family) queue numbers. I'm guessing that most of these were one year marriage extensions as they seemed to take at least a half hour to process. However, they did seem to be processing them in parallel. Several couples were sent away to get more documents or copies. That seemed strange as I thought the people in the tent outside would have caught this. Our number was called up at 4:10 PM.

The interesting thing is that the woman at window 6 assumed that the reason for wanting the 60 day extension was to season 400,000 Baht in the bank prior to applying for a one year extension and warned us that we had less than a week to get the money in the bank and that it could not be a joint account. We did not disillusion her and it only took about 5 minutes to get the extension approved and stamped in my passport.

As our intent was not to season money but to just get a 60 day extension it got me wondering if seasoning money is the normal purpose of the Non-O 60 day extension. It makes sense in that only one 60 day extension is allowed. Maybe using the extension for another purpose is a loophole.

Much appreciated. Assuming TM7 form is required in blue ink. It asks for a reason for the extension at the bottom of the first page. Wondering what will pass muster for that. Oh yeah, 4x6 cm photo with blue or white background?

Thanks, my understanding is that I need the following:

Copy of main passport page

Copy of passport page with Non-O entry stamp

Copy of Non-O spouse paper eVisa

Copy of TM30 slip

Copy of wife's house book

Copy of wife's ID card

Copy of marriage certificate

Did I leave anything out?

Assuming my wife needs to go with me as well.

Is it still possible to get a 60 day extension for a 90 day Non-O spousal visa?

I went to Chiang Mai Immigration near the airport to try and get a 60 day extension for my 90 day Non-O visa for visiting my spouse. I had my wife with me and had a TM7 filled out, had copies of my appropriate passport pages, her house book, her ID card, and our marriage certificate.

We were directed to the tent in front of the building on the left side and they kept asking for the usual documents for the one year extension. My wife kept repeating that I wanted a 60 day extension, hok sip wan, to no avail.

Were we directed to the right place? Have the requirements for a 60 day Non-O extension changed? Is it even still available? Has anyone done this recently in Chiang Mai?

Also curious what reason people might give at the bottom of the TM7 form.

My stepson had a nice custom rack built for his motorcycle there and for what I thought was a reasonable price.

Not sure what the problem with recognizing anger is. Some family members seem to think I'm angry when I am not. I may be sad, disappointed, disturbed, or whatever but I'm seldom angry with anyone but myself.

Some amusing usage I've heard a few times are the words threegether, fourgether, etc. I wonder if these would be considered to be portmanteau words?

I moved to Chiang Mai semi-permanently when I was in my late forties. For the first ten years or so all I had was a nice little 125cc Honda Wave and it served me well. I could easily hang ten bags of groceries off of it. Eventually when I got married we bought a Honda City but it was driven more by my wife than by me for the first few years. Then after being T-Boned on my Wave by a pickup running a red light I started driving the car and seldom rode any of our motorcycles anymore. I did fully recover but it took about 9 months including rehab.

However, a few years ago my stepson, who now lives in Bangkok, got paranoid about his Kawasaki Z1000 being stolen. That would be a Zed 1000 to some of you. So he started keeping it here at our house in Chiang Mai. My wife doesn't like me riding the Z1000 but every time I get on it and take it out I feel 10 years younger. Of course I tell her that I promised my stepson to keep the battery charged, etc. There are lots of nice rides around here that I used to do on my Wave and they are much better on the Z1000. But now having diminished reflexes in my late sixties I seldom take any chances when riding. And I still have my nice DOT approved helmet that I bought in the US.

In general I feel like your location has the most to do with whether you need a car or not. Also whether you have a family or not and if you are still working and need the convenience. Being still employed and married here on the outskirts of Chiang Mai it's hard to imagine living here without a car. Plus at this point it's hard to see relocating just to remove our dependence on a car.

This is not a case of a birth certificate being lost. My wife's birth was never registered as she was born at home in a village north of Chiang Mai years before registration was normal. Thus no birth certificate exists and we need the "Certificate of Birthplace" as I mentioned in the OP.  My question was what exactly is this document? The only place I've ever seen it mentioned is on the US government website (see OP). It gives no details as to what the document might be.

My wife and my stepdaughter (college grad) visited the Amphur for my wife's birthplace yesterday and even though the people there tried to be helpful they were not aware of exactly what this document would be. They did mange to pick up official copies of my stepdaughter's and stepson's birth certificates while they were there.

So my current guess as to what the US calls a "Certificate of Birthplace" is some sort of affidavit from her Amphur that attests to her birthplace and birthdate plus is witnessed and has an official seal on it. What would be nice is a template for such a document that we could give them. Either that or the official Thai name for such a document.

My wife acquired her Thai ID card about 15 years ago with the assistance of her Pu Yai Baan. He died a few years ago but the new Pu Yai Baan knows my wife, her children, and their history and would probably be willing to help.

My wife just found a one page document in her files with an official red stamp that she was given when she got her Thai ID Card. Even though it is in Thai I can see her birth date and also the names of her parents in the top half of this document and it has her picture on the bottom half. We will get this translated to English so I can tell if it will be useful.

My step daughter and her husband had an Isuzu D-Max diesel that has now passed to my stepson. I've been quite surprised at its handling and comfort. I've driven it a bit and it seems like a nice vehicle. I have ridden as a front seat passenger on trips from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and back and it was comfortable as well. However I've not ridden in the back seat so I can't comment on that. It's never really used for hauling except for luggage and the occasional motorcycle.

Interesting, some people seem to think that reading a book on a smart device is not "reading a book". It's still a book, just a digital book and not a paper book.

Also one can use a Kindle app on a phone or tablet. Personally, my preference for digital reading is the the Kindle app on an iPad.

My local library in the US participates in overdrive.com. It allows you to check out digital books for free. It has had almost all of the books I've ever wanted to read and has even added two of the books that I suggested. While in Thailand it is my only source of books.

My wife is Thai and an avid reader. She did not get much of an education other than by reading. She went through all of the kids' textbooks from high school and college, except the math books. I remember helping my step daughter out with her calculus and linear algebra.

13 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Having sat next to someone who tested positive, and being negative yourself, does nto entail hospitalization. Rather, quarantine in a designated facility which almost no insurance will cover.

 

Best one can do is try to select a seat without a seat mate and hope for the best.

 

It is a risk, no question about it, so is testing positive and being confined to a hospital. The latter would be covered by insurance but still far from desirable.

 

Ultimately one decides whether the need to travel is pressing enough to warrant these risks as well as all the other hassle and expense. I find it helpful to also think through what I will do if these eventualities occur: which Quarantine Hotel, which hospital, how to ensure I have what I need for an additional stay of up to 14 days etc etc. Having all that thought through in advance helps should it occur.

 

In terms of not testing positive yourself (a different issue), masks and hand sanitizer, try to avoid having a seatmate, and, if you can afford it, go business class. Maybe also board late after most of the crowd has been seated - the biggest risk I think is not in the actual sitting on the plane but in the crowding that accompanies embarkation & disembarkation.

I flew in on ANA and business class was full. Premium economy had a few empty seats but cattle class economy was less than 20% per cent occupied, only one or two people per row. At the time I was wondering if flying business class made sense as there was a lot more separation in economy. However, business class has other things going for it.

They are in a new building on the Superhighway just a couple hundred meters north of the Big C Extra on the same side of the road. It's a large white single story building with blue lettering. Parking may look limited but there is more around the back. Just go clockwise around the building.

Have already tried Thai Watsadu and Home Sukkapan. Forgot about Boonthavorn so will try them tomorrow. Suggestions much appreciated.

I thought that I remembered seeing 8 inch square wall tiles in the past here in Chiang Mai. I've gone to all of the places I've bought tile from before and the other usual places but this size is not to be found. The smallest I see now is 10 x 12 inch in size. Is my memory faulty or do they no longer make or sell this size wall tile? I'll admit it has been quite a while since I looked for tile. Has anyone seen this size recently?

Meh, I'd hire an MIT, Stanford or Caltech grad over an Ivy League grad any day.

As of the last few weeks this site has become practically unusable for me using the latest version of Safari on a MacBook running Big Sur.

When loading a new topic or going to the next page in a topic it redraws the page multiple times and keep jumping around. It never stops at the beginning of a post.

When going to a topic I've been reading it never returns to my last position correctly. It seems to position to several posts before the last one I read. I do not have any ad blocking extensions installed. Does anyone else have a similar problem?

Is something wrong with Safari? Anyone have better luck with a different browser on Big Sur? Or is there a problem with the web site? At this point the site has become completely useless to me.

No comments on the atrocious English on the main web page?

We have solar hot water running to all of our bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry room. Currently our dishwasher and washing machine are fed from cold water taps. Both of these appliances obviously have heating elements for the water. They do expect cold water input as indicated in both manuals. I was considering hooking up hot water to the dishwasher to see if it would speed up the cycles. This would also save some energy costs. I would expect that the hose might need to be changed for hot water but was thinking that using hot water might affect the programming adversely. Any ideas on pros and cons of doing this?

There used to be a carpet store on Mahidol Road on the south side about halfway between the river and Airport Plaza. However, i haven't noticed if they are still in business.

In the Padaet area we have city water but never enough pressure for showers and the like. All houses in our moo baan have tanks and pumps. We recently switched from an underground tank to an above ground tank and we have just enough pressure to get the water two meters off the ground to the top of the tank. The city water was off all day last Tuesday.

Thai First Translation Services on Charoen Prathet Road (spelling?).

Used them for many official documents over the years but not in the last 3 years so not sure if they are still in business.