spacemand

We drove from Rayong to Amnat Charoen which is pretty much the same, we used Google maps as well to, nice roads no issues just go around the bigger cities instead of through them. We spend 2 days on the trip taking it slow bought the best grapes I've ever tasted in the mountains somewhere near Khon Kaen, saw some spectacular sights. If it were me I would make a trip out of it.

I agree with the parking at the border its been a couple of years since I parked there it were 100 per day then but no issues and super friendly people and you can not miss it, coming from the main road turn right towards the border and then its the first left..

If its your first trip to Savannakhet you will be pleasantly surprised been there 4-5 times making an annual visa trip and love the place :)

If you go to Ubon by plane and then to Mukdahan by minibus its hell takes 2.5 hours and then you need to get to the border from the bus station, I have done the trip a couple of times also had a GF half way between Ubon and Mukdahan  and its no fun sitting in a cramped mini van.

Remember to buy the bus ticket for the border bus before you go through immigration.

Competition for AirAsia have increased in the last few years maybe thats the reason.

When I moved close to Ubon there were 2 daily Thai Airways flights, then Air Asia moved in and had at a time 5 daily flights I think, then Nok Air and another company moved in on the route, now Air Asia have 2 of something like 13 daily flights on the route from 4 different companies.

You start making trouble for the Local police yourself, it won't go down very well, it might not be right, but it's the way it is.

There will never be an end to corruption in Thailand, and remember, the corruption money flows uphill, hence the reason the Generals are all fabulously wealthy on a paltry salary.

Leave it to the Insurance reps to sort out.

There is the problem, while I agree with everyone posting about reporting it, it comes down to, is it worth the hassle? I like to think I am a man of principle but I would let it go because down the road with the hassle these people can bring then its not worth it.

Anywhere I can order it in Thailand?

I am talking the salty, strong kind like Fazer mints, or Haribo Piratos the kind we eat in Scandinavia, the salmiak kind.

I found one website but their ordering system is down and they do not answer the phone and the problem getting it from Scandinavia is that its more than a 1000 baht in postage for up to a kilo, I crave it but not that much.

Isn't it bad form to publish the passenger list so early? I thought this information was usually held close to the chest until they were certain what had happened and family had been notified. It seems very odd, but perhaps I'm mistaken and it's normal.

Yes a new low from TV especially since its not an official release.

Very very bad taste.

While weather could well be a factor there is a rather cryptic message from ATC: the plane requested an "unusual" route.

Nothing cryptic, its for anything deviating from the "normal" route and it seems that weather is the factor here so that is highly likely its the cause for the request.

Registration PK-AXC with 138 adults, 16 minors and 1 infant. 7 crew including engineer onboard.

Cuckoos is good for tourists and the food was usually good when I frequented the place.

Just keep in mind what happens/said at Cuckoos does not stay at Cuckoos.

I take it then you have not been there for a while? Why only "...good for tourists..." and not locals? Perhaps you could elaborate on your rather cryptic last sentence.

For me it was for personal reasons, I expect people not go spreading very personal secrets when they tell me its between you and me, then tell me about other peoples very personal secrets, that I really don't want or need to know, why I have not been there in 16 months, while living in SSK all the time and never will set my foot there again, other people have other reasons.

Nice place if passing through town, easy location and decent menu but the pretty much the same food except for the tex mex you can get other places in town.

Cuckoos is good for tourists and the food was usually good when I frequented the place.

Just keep in mind what happens/said at Cuckoos does not stay at Cuckoos.

My brother just got out of Free town Sierra Leone this morning. He said its very serious and a lot more are dying in the bush than are being reported but he is happy to be out of there till January .

Yep could be a million by the end of the year according to some sources.

This thing is serious but until you see 5-10 deaths in US or Western Europe people don't care and by then its to late.

GF talked to a taxi driver yesterday about the situation they have had regarding picking up people there and he said they were allowed back into the airport to pick up passengers anyone have more info regarding this?

She won't give me a bath :( I figured if she made some extra baht from a job I found for her maybe she would give me a bath or two for assisting ;)

In all seriousness I have suggested to her do some farang assiting on a freelance basis, because she knows the bureaucracy, where every office is located and her English is very, very good. I know I have taken advantage of her serveral times, for help with dealing with official issues. (mind out gutter :D)

 

My girlfriend works for the revenue office and used to work in Sisaket but has transferred to a nearby province, right now she is advicing small businesses on how to properly report their taxes but still visits Sisaket regularly (I am here).

She speaks and writes very good English, communication between her and you would not be an issue, if you are looking for assistance I would be happy to run it by her and ask her if she is interested making a bath or two by assisting you.

 

 

          I'm always surprised how helpful members on the Isaan forum are. Can't believe that she'll make a bath, or two for SantiSuk, while assisting him.   

 

Took me 3 reads to get it.

Her English is better than mine :D

My girlfriend works for the revenue office and used to work in Sisaket but has transferred to a nearby province, right now she is advicing small businesses on how to properly report their taxes but still visits Sisaket regularly (I am here).

She speaks and writes very good English, communication between her and you would not be an issue, if you are looking for assistance I would be happy to run it by her and ask her if she is interested making a bath or two by assisting you.

Questions for OP

Do you have the rights to legal rights to broadcast all these events?

I have to ask since I am interested in your service but not if you are breaking Thai or any other countries laws by infringement on copyright for EPL, F1, NFL, NHL and so on.

I know the border pass were suspended so as a Thai national you needed a Thai passport to cross the border is this still in effect or can a Thai national get the border pass and stay in Savannakhet for one night?

There is a NOTAM for parts of region in conflict, not where the plane went down but still commmercial planes don't avoid the area, after a freighter were shot down only a few days ago.

Unconfirmed video from The Telegraph of smoke from the crash

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10974050/Malaysia-Airlines-plane-crashes-on-Ukraine-Russia-border-live.html

MAS confirms lost contact - https://twitter.com/MAS/status/489795857101750272

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/malaysian-passenger-plane-crashes-ukraine-151316125.html

For mods

know its not Thai relateded directly but close enough

MAS17 drops off FR at aprox 13:30UTC at FL33.
No erratic changes in speed or altitude prior to it. This was flight MH017 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. 250 passengers and 15 crew members. It disappeared from radar at Russia Ukraine border near the city of Rostov on Don. Registration is 9M-MRD a Boeing 777-200

From Reuters: BREAKING NEWS: Malaysia plane was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile: Interfax

http://nl.flightaware.com/live/flight/MAS17/history/20140717/1000Z/EHAM/WMKK/tracklog

Just saw this in the news section Don't forget that Thai Immigration will be closed on Friday & Monday

I planned on a trip to Savannakhet on Monday to the consulate and it seems like they are closed so I guess a 4 day weekend.

Forgot to mention that there was a police checkpoint just prior to Mukdahan, and an officer check everybody's id. I have done over 50 visa/border runs and this is the first time this has happened - thought it was an urban myth. Could just be coincidence that it happened with the new rules on overstay coming into effect, but if your passport is not in good order, i would go to the airport.

Would be interesting to hear about the continuing or sporadic presence of these checkpoints near road borders around the country, for .... reasons.

Yes, it would be interesting to know if it is happening at other borders and related to the crackdown. I occasionally hear stories about visa run buses getting stopped, but never any first-hand stories, so thought it was just to scare overstayers. Normally, police checkpoints usually stops cars and motorcycles to get on the spot fines, and check traffic in both directions, so was surprised when they stopped a bus load of people. This time it appeared they were only stopping traffic to Mukdahan, because they had barriers with neon lights on just one side. The officer asked everyone to get ids out, but ignored the people with id cards, and only checked passports.

Been stopped once ona bus on the way to Mukdahan and everyone had to show ID card but no me, no need for Farang.

Going to the border in Surin or Sisaket by car its more normal than not I have been stopped by police or military and asked where I came from and where I am going. Usually stopped both going to the border and returning.

If you have your previous bills it should show the previous meter reading and your current reading.

My electric from PEA shows the previous reading the current and the use.

My water bill the same.

I ran 2 old aircons 24/7 and the bill were around 6K with 7 people in the house and the water were around 800.

Now I live aloneits about a quater of that.

There are lots of people who work online and choose Thailand as their base of operations. Now that immigration seems to be against people staying longer than a few months, is it even possible for a freelancer to live in Thailand now?

In Chiang Mai a couple of years ago they had an event at the hotel run by immigration where the commanding officer was asked about people who work online but their work has no connection to Thailand whatsoever, and his answer was it was fine to work online as long as you're not doing any sort of work that deals with Thailand.

So at this point what are the options for someone who has been living here for years already and has built a life here?

I'm going to go get another tourist visa in Cambodia and hopefully that will be alright for the short term. But after that what is there? ED visa?

Their intention is to stop people working illegally in Thailand in jobs such as tour guides and such where Thais could potentially have a job, but in this case it's individuals supporting themselves in a situation that only adds money to the Thai economy and does not take away any jobs at all.

Are they just going to start telling me 'no you can't come back' since I've been living here a long time already?

There are lots and lots of people just like me who aren't doing anything wrong and contribute to the Thai economy by living here. It doesn't sound like we're not welcome, but we're being painted with the same brush as others and it's going to affect a very large amount of people.

I don't see the problem. Start a company, pay tax and social security for you and 4 Thais and get a work permit and extension of stay based on employment. Then you contribute more than buying subsidized rice, eating subsidized food, fueling your car/motorbike with subsidized fuel and using subsidized electricity.

Yes I know that 80% of Thai people also don't pay much tax, but it is their country. Thailand expects foreigners to contribute at least 100,000 baht annually in order to be welcome. Be that via taxes or a PE elite visa they don't care.

That's fine if that's the case. 500,000 baht up front for 5 years of the elite card works out to a somewhat reasonable amount like you mentioned but having to pay 5 years in advance is quite the commitment when that money could be put to other uses.

If the official stance is everyone must either start a company or get the elite card then like I said that's fine if they feel that is the best course of action. But the rhetoric over the years and what they say publically now doesn't make it sound like they don't want the average person making a decent wage working for themselves or a foreign company online, it sounds like they don't want people taking reserved jobs for Thais.

As nice as Thailand is 2 million baht reserved capital and 4 salaried Thais doing what would amount to nothing but being names on an application is a pretty steep price to pay for someone who can just go and live in another country. I just don't think that is their intention with these changes, but I could be wrong of course and like you said they want everyone to start a company.

Paying tax would not be a problem and having a way to pay tax and get a legitimate visa would be nice. If they wanted to set a limit of 100,000 baht contributed via taxes that would fine too. Anything would be better than the current gap in the visa system for the large amount of tourists and long term stayers who make a living via the internet(it's just going to be a larger and larger number as time goes on as well).

I am in the same situation and you and no, there is no way to stay as a under 50, working online without being married, father a child or open a company.