sandmonster
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Posts posted by sandmonster
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On 4/13/2021 at 2:03 PM, Pattaya Spotter said:
Nothing like a little racism to brighten the day.
Entitled white privilege never fails to rear it's ugly head on TV.
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On 1/15/2020 at 5:20 PM, Captain 776 said:
I did mine in Chiang Mai 40 minutes, new Retirement and multiple entry.
extremely efficient.
Thats nice to know as I am gonna do mine in a few months there. So they can renew the 1 year extension on the same day you walk in to apply ( assuming everything is in order ) ? Bit concerned as I am travelling the following week so if it takes a while I may have to delay my trip.
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7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:I'm currently selling at 10,750 baht/bar, excellent investment, please send cash payments in advance, 21 days waiting time, P.O Box 555
Whereabouts are you in Lagos then ? ????
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8 hours ago, SheungWan said:
A disaster if the timing is wrong.
So what isnt a disaster when the timing is wrong ? ????
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19 hours ago, Enoon said:
The article says two different things.
That the top three tourist patients were French, Russian and Chinese.
That half of all (not just the ones in the top 3) tourist patients didn't pay their bills.
Any bets that it is mostly Chinese, but they don't want to say so?
All bets are off. I am sure Chinese will be no 1 by some huge margin.
You need me to explain the stats to you below ? ????
http://www.atta.or.th/statistics-international-tourists-arriving-in-thailand-as-of-29-february-2016/
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19 hours ago, FarangULong said:
Anyone with a half decent credit card already has travel insurance. I do with both of mine (even though the insurance on my main card is more than enough, as it includes everything incl. being flown home in a medical plane, if needed). Problem solved. And if someone doesn't even qualify for a credit card, maybe they shouldn't be travelling and get their life in order instead.
On a side note, when I read "3 nationalities", I immediately thought: "Gee, let's see. I'll go with Chinese and probably Russian." French does, admittedly, surprise me though.
You go with Chinese immediately because of your prejudices or because of this statistic ?
http://www.atta.or.th/statistics-international-tourists-arriving-in-thailand-as-of-29-february-2016/
Based on that bar chart I would go with China, Russia and Japan. Yes the French appear to be an outier. Cant be !.. they are white europeans ????
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To finalise the adventure, I went to get my 1 year extension yesterday using 800K method. In the morning, went to BK bank, took some money out just to update the passbook. Got the letter from the bank staff, drove to the petrol station opposite CM Immigration, and got photocopies of all pages of my passport including the TM30 and TM6. Also copies of my passbook, bank letter, proof of address documentation. It was around lunchtime when I arrived so it wasn't busy. Filled in the TM7, signed every photocopy, submitted at the front desk and got a ticket for extensions. Didn't need to wait as I was the only one. Went straight to the desk where a friendly and smiley IO had a quick check at all the papers, made me fill in 2 forms about overstays etc, 1900bt paid. She said the first 90 reporting needs to be in person and there is NO NEED to show any financial documentation. 2nd reporting can be done online etc. Then sat down and waited for my photo to be taken. Waited another 5mins and my passport was returned with all the new stamps correct. In all, it took under 20 mins from joining the first queue to walking out. I decided to do a TM8 multi-entry at that point, so over to the petrol station to get the relevant passport pages and the new page photocopied. Went through the Re-entry queue and that was all painless too, and done in 30 mins.
Well done CM Immigration. 10/10. In and out in under 1 hour on a Friday lunchtime.-
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23 hours ago, ajnamoon said:
You have 7 days to report TM30 on return to Thailand from abroad
This was confirmed to me by IO at Chiang Mai 2 months ago
I did it last month, and the officer said you have 4 days to report if the residence information hasn't changed. Does that imply its less if you change residence ? Who knows... the rules are up to the officer is my conclusion.
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9 hours ago, Ravi98008 said:To Sandmonster
Thanks for your post describing your experience. For the sake of my benefit and the rest who will follow this thread, could you please be kind enough to list in order the documents you put together to make your application complete and accepted by the immigration office, greatly appreciate, thanks
This is what I submitted under my circumstances, 2 sets
1. Main page of passport, Tourist VISA + extension ( Need 21+ working days remaining for the application )
2. Entry stamp, TM6.
3. Original Bank Letter (no older than 7 days), ID page of passbook, passbook entries for period of 800K+ funds sourcing with the LAST ENTRY SHOWING the balance on the DATE OF APPLICATION and MUST NOT BE LESS THAN the amount confirmed in Bank's letter ( So don't take cash out on the day to get an update. Do a deposit or a counter update if available on the day )
4. Evidence of foreign sourcing of funds. In my case, all receipts from Transferwise.
5. Residence details. In my case, Blue book signed by owner, owner ID card. Signed Letter in Thai from owner confirming my residence & relationship.
6. TM30 notification ( + receipts for any associated fines if relevant - IMPORTANT )
7. Letter to whom it many concern declaring your full name, identified with passport number and citizenship, how you will financially support your retirement. A statement of truth. A paragraph or 2, not specific details.
8. Photo 6x4 blue background. signed at back
9. TM86 form . Add phone and email on the back
All sheets ( except the original bank letter ), signed in BLUE ink, + FULL NAME IN CAPITALS, same orientation as info. I would advise writing below, leaving a white space area all around of approx 3in so they can stamp over the signature + name part. You do not need to date any sheets. Do not simply photocopy the original set. All signatures must be original.
For the bank letter, ONLY sign and name the duplicate copy. DO NOT write on the original !
I would advice only use 1 sheet single per piece of info. Definitely do the TM30 notice on its own. Don't use double sided photocopies.
Safer to use their TM86 from the information counter ( It HAS to be double sided )
Create 2 sets. Note 1 as the original set ( with official bank letter ). The other is the duplicate. Put in 2 seperate folders for them. Group the TM30 stuff with the residence info. They will appreciate it.
Hope that helps. Be sympathetic to their inflexibility. There is method to their madness if you imagine each IO has to do this 20x a day, 5 days a week, 85% from non English speakers.
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36 minutes ago, JackThompson said:
I am glad to hear they are no longer setting appointments way-off into the future - beyond which your 21-days minimum hass passed - unless you used an agent. No idea why they still want 21 days instead of the normal 15.
I would say your process went very smoothly for that service. Thanks for posting the report. I think you are very likely to get your stamp, but let us know if any issues come up.
My next appointment works out at 15 working days after submission ( 31 and 1 are holidays ). No idea why they said I needed 21 working days remaining on my VISA to apply. But I heard that from 2 seperate IOs.
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I was at CM Immigration yesterday to change my 2 month tourist VISA into a non-O for retirement purposes. I have read most of the posts on this so I was kinda prepared but never 100% sure. Even so, here are some oddities and ad-hoc rules I faced yesterday. Its gonna be stressful, so stay relaxed and calm ( even with a local friend helping to translate .. it helps for sure as the officers can't really speak English well, and it certainly puts them at ease dealing with a local CM dialect speaker ). Accept you may be going back and forth to get the application submitted ( but not yet approved ). I had got my Bangkok Bank letter the previous say for 100bt and all the documents I thought I needed. My funds were sent in 2 batches in early September using Transferwise and I printed out the statements from them. Thats the only "proof" I had that they were sourced from abroad, so I thought what the hell, better than nothing. The dates and amount entries match whats in my bank book so fingers crossed, pray and hope. My 2 month tourist VISA expires on 24th Jan.
I arrived at 10am and went to the main information queue to get a TM86 application form. The grumpy male IO handed me 2 blank TM86s ( without even looking at me ), said "fill in and come back". Just accept that he's stressed out and won't be all smiles unless you are a young, pretty chinese or korean girl. The place was chaos with nowhere to fill in the form. Bring a dark BLUE biro ( NEVER use black ). I filled in 1 form on my knees in the carpark and attached all my documentation, all signed and dated ( DO NOT SIGN the bank letter ). My photo was 6x4cm with a blue background. Went back to the info queue ( quite short around 10am ), and he had a quick look through all the sheets, took 1900bt and handed me a receipt, wrote the words Tourist and some dates on the form ( not sure at this stage why ). He then handled me a "T" queue slip which was confusing as that means "Tourist extension". I used the happy queue app on my mobile to check the position and queueing time. I was no T59 , and 20 behind the front. The app had an ETA of 11.45am. Anyway the queue shortened much faster than the app estimated as many people either didn't turn up when called or had popped out, trusting the accuracy of the app ? I was called at 11.15 to another IO. Junior and much more cheerful. He seemed confused when I told him I had applied for a non-O. In my passport, they had given me a 30 day Tourist extension. After discussing with the seniors, he said I didnt have enough time left on my tourist VISA to do the non-O. They stated I needed 21 WORKING DAYS left on the current VISA to apply. So it seems without telling me, or explaining, or asking me to apply for an extension, they just gave me one ( even though it was on the wrong form for a Tourist extension ). OK, stay calm.. and start again. Back to the info queue and the grumpy officer gave me 2 more TM86 blank forms. He said "fill in, 2 copies of everything". I asked if I could do one set and photocopy the other. He blanked me or didn't understand so I did 2 sets seperately to be safe. So back to filling in 2 x TM86 on the bench outside, then across the road to the petrol station to get more blue photos and photocopies. I signed the copy of the bank letter. Keep the TM30 seperate from others for copies. Then back to the grumpy queue again. This time he looked again through the pile and gave me a K queue ticket of K12. It was already on K11 but I could see the counter for processing K was at the back of the room where 1-1 desk interrogations took place with a non smiling female IO. 20 mins later, K12 was called and I walked up to disturb an existing interview. The female IO gave me a dirty look and sent me to the back to another female IO, much more smiley. This IO went through the documentation and commented my bank book must show an entry for THAT DAY ( with an amount EQUAL to or MORE than the amount in the bank latter ). YOU CANNOT withdraw money from an ATM and update the bank book as the amount would be less ). She kindly advised us to go to the bank counter where they can do a current day entry update. She said ONLY Bangkok Bank can do this current date entry, and with other banks, you need to deposit cash and then update. She also asked me to write a simple letter confirming where my funds came from e.g savings, rent , etc etc. The MAP was not asked for. Also, there were 2 new forms with T&Cs and warnings about overstay penalties which I signed but didn't date at that point. So off to Airport plaza, get some lunch and sit down at a coffee shop to write a letter and its copy. After lunch, back to get another K ticket and revisit our friendly K queue IO. At the desk she went through each piece of documentation on on both sets and highlighted key parts with a marker. Then she stamped each form over my signatures and asked me to write my full name as well next to my signature. She warned me I shouldn't have dated each. Finally I dated the 2 new forms. During all this she happily answered my questions about how the approval works and how many she deals with a day. Suffice to say its scores a day, 50% are from chinese, each needs over 10 levels of management approval, her boss didn't like signatures upside down from the main information so please make the orientation right, and about 3 inches below the information ( so her stamp fits perfectly over it ). She praised me for staying so calm and how I had included almost all the documents perfectly first time. I would deduce it takes multiple visits with non english speakers or stressed out ferang. Then I paid 2000bt, got a receipt in my passport stating a return date of 21 Jan. They took a photo and I was on my way about 3pm.
I hope my report will be of help to you and others. But remember, its just one friendly IO at CM dealing with a local dialect friend of mine. I have no idea if my non-O will be approved it yet.
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Its all vetted online before you personally handover the hardcopy application form now. They are VERY VERY strict. The online part will say certain items like proof of finances are optional and then their online vetting will say its needed. So give that part a day or 2 just in case to allow for the possible back & forth negotiations. My advice is to forget Singapore. If you MUST, then pass the ONLINE part first before going to Singapore. You will need images of all the documents and get them uploaded into their web form. Once thats approved, get everything printed out and submit at the Embassy on a weekday morning. Then its usually picked up the next working day afternoon subject to final approval. The lady at the Embassy was grumpy as hell and if you have a history of STVs, they warn you about only spending 90 days in 180. They CAN reject you at the window during submission and they can reject you after that too. I printed my form direct from their website and for some reason the last line of the form was cut off by the printer which I hadn't noticed ( maybe something to do with A4 or Letter format ). The lady at the window refused to accept it and refused to let me re-write on a blank form which they had there. It MUST be printed from the online version. Luckily she took all the other documents and told me to go and re-print it and return before lunchtime and she would accept the submission. I ran around Orchard Rd trying to find a print copy shop. The high end hotels will do it for you if you have the PDF file but you have to bend over $S5. I found a small shop that did it for 50c. So I went back, rejoined the queue, waited for the same lady to be free and she accepted the submission. The fee must be in cash S$ and exact amount. She gave me a receipt and told me to come back tomorrow to collect if the online status said Approved. Sometime that day the status changed to Approved, so I went in the next afternoon to collect.
Never again.... HK is much more laid back, friendly and fast. The staff at Singapore appeared very aloof and anti-tourist. One young lady asked if she could get someone else to collect the next day. She explained she had taken a day off work already and couldn't afford to take another. The embassy lady had no sympathy. Her attitude was "Tough sh*t, I don't make up the rules". Reminded me of my headmaster ...
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I think you will find they will use up your Tourist Visa first. I encountered such a situation years ago and the officer insisted thats how its done. You may have better luck, but don't bank on it...
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In my experience, computer says no.
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Thanks for the recommendations. I was hoping to find a shop closer to my neighborhood but guess I can try avoiding the heat by traveling to Warorot/Kad Luang early before the temperatures really sizzle. I've been here over three years and still get dazed by the heat. And to think I complained about cold nights in January....
Theres quilting supplies shop/school on Sirimangkalajarn at the Huay Kaew end. Not sure if quilting uses the same threads as normal sewing, but they have lots of colours. Its in the row of shops beside the carpark at PT residence near Roastniyom coffee. Owner/Teacher speaks good english.
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When I fancy Thai food that is different from standard central Thai or Issan fare, I go for Chiangmai style food. Theres the always packed one in Nimmen with the small BBQ at the front. I But be prepared to queue.. an hour is usual most evenings. Never had a bad meal there. However, recently been introduced by local born Lanna Thais to what many see as the best "chiangmai food" place in the area. Its called Huaeng Jai Young in San Kamphaeng. I can't argue with them. Nice traditional garden setting surrounded by an art gallery. Not ostentatious or expensive. Clean, friendly and well presented. Have tried lots of new stuff, all delicious. Its not very "Thai" in the usual 5 tastes sense. Not spicy at all but packed full of wonderful jungle herbs. Great foody place. Been a few times for lunch and usually quite full despite its out of the way location. Not a ferang or foreign tourist in sight when I've been, but quite a few Bangkok tourists.
Gets rave reviews by Thais in Wongnai website. Well worth a trip there.
This ??
Yes and I think its only open for lunch. Around 11-3pm I recall. Having eaten in 4 or 5 great "chiangmai food" places around town, mostly at the BBQ outside one with queues in Nimen, and the a bit posh one which I'm told used to be a royal residence in Canal Road ?, and I personally rate this in SK above them all food wise.
The busy one in Nimen is Tong Tem Toh on Soi 13. Used to be better without the queues 2 or 3 years ago. Its still nice but I do detect a slight drop in standards in the last year or so.
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When I fancy Thai food that is different from standard central Thai or Issan fare, I go for Chiangmai style food. Theres the always packed one in Nimmen with the small BBQ at the front. I But be prepared to queue.. an hour is usual most evenings. Never had a bad meal there. However, recently been introduced by local born Lanna Thais to what many see as the best "chiangmai food" place in the area. Its called Huaeng Jai Young in San Kamphaeng. I can't argue with them. Nice traditional garden setting surrounded by an art gallery. Not ostentatious or expensive. Clean, friendly and well presented. Have tried lots of new stuff, all delicious. Its not very "Thai" in the usual 5 tastes sense. Not spicy at all but packed full of wonderful jungle herbs. Great foody place. Been a few times for lunch and usually quite full despite its out of the way location. Not a ferang or foreign tourist in sight when I've been, but quite a few Bangkok tourists.
Gets rave reviews by Thais in Wongnai website. Well worth a trip there.
This ??
Yes and I think its only open for lunch. Around 11-3pm I recall. Having eaten in 4 or 5 great "chiangmai food" places around town, mostly at the BBQ outside one with queues in Nimen, and the a bit posh one which I'm told used to be a royal residence in Canal Road ?, and I personally rate this in SK above them all food wise.
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When I fancy Thai food that is different from standard central Thai or Issan fare, I go for Chiangmai style food. Theres the always packed one in Nimmen with the small BBQ at the front. I But be prepared to queue.. an hour is usual most evenings. Never had a bad meal there. However, recently been introduced by local born Lanna Thais to what many see as the best "chiangmai food" place in the area. Its called Huaeng Jai Young in San Kamphaeng. I can't argue with them. Nice traditional garden setting surrounded by an art gallery. Not ostentatious or expensive. Clean, friendly and well presented. Have tried lots of new stuff, all delicious. Its not very "Thai" in the usual 5 tastes sense. Not spicy at all but packed full of wonderful jungle herbs. Great foody place. Been a few times for lunch and usually quite full despite its out of the way location. Not a ferang or foreign tourist in sight when I've been, but quite a few Bangkok tourists.
Gets rave reviews by Thais in Wongnai website. Well worth a trip there.
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My 3.5 year old Jazz is due its 60km full service soon. Was thinking whether I could save much by using an independent rather than Honda. I am out of warranty anyhow.
Can anyone recommend any good independents near San Sai who are competant ? Will they follow the check list as per the service book, and let you bring your own oil ? I noticed Honda only used pretty average stuff.
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I have used Intermover . Packed carefully, crated if necessary, and shipped without problems. V Good personal service from Oil.
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cirrus is the Mastercard ATM network, Maestro is the POS online network for debit. Mastercard brand can be all devices and debit or credit, online or offline.
If the bank counter doesnt display the Maestro brand then they are simply not certified to accept that by Mastercard. It could simply be they don't have installed any electronic read authorisation terminals with pin pad. I honesty dont think the branch is trying to pull a fast one. if the maestro brand was displayed inside and they refused, thats another matter. But sorry to say, in this case they are 100% correct in not accepting.
i always prefer cards with Mastercard or VISA brands at least whether debit or credit. they are the most functional and work in all legacy devices and all modes. maestro and cirrus sub brands are meant to be always online authorised, often with PIN in some markets, and add more risk management but the trade off is less flexibility and acceptance.
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Without a written contract things could be a lot worse. At least the new owner is giving you some time. Your best bet is to try to negotiate with the new owner and come to a happy medium. Your biggest bargaining point here is you are a good renter. Something landlords want more than anything. It puts you in a good position Good luck
Thai landlords/ladies are the world's worse. It does not matter if there is a contract or not. Do not expect to ever get damage deposit back as they will always
find something
Thats what I always read in TV. So after 3.5 years renting with no issues, i had to leave and was prepared and resigned to accept TV ferang gospel. Called the Thai landlady 1 month before and simply asked if I could miss the last month payment and use one of the 2 months deposit. She said no problem. Come leaving day, I wasnt quite ready to leave and stayed an extra 5 days. She said no problem. finally vacated and she said she would check the place over the next few days and return my deposit into my account minus final electric charges. 4 days later i got the final month deposit back minus 150bt electricity which was about right. she didnt even charge me the extra 5 days I overstayed. So there you go... TV folklore isnt gospel as usual lol. For every ferang that had rental issues there must be multiples like me but dont shout it out. I guess you only complain if you have problems.
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Never ever had problems booking online via HK express, but they only fly Tues, Fri and Sundays. Thats probably your problem.
They are consistently cheaper than the others I have found. last trip was $174 return all in. 10kg carry on only.
Dragon Air is by far the most expensive usually. Air Asia can be cheaper at times if you plan well ahead but watch all the sneaky add ons. HKExp are a lot more up front. HKexpress arrival in HK is almost midnight so its the most inconvenient for public transport. Thats the only downer, otherwise its the best choice for short notice trips with not much luggage. they got sales on up to booking on 24th at the moment $HK80+taxes per leg..bargain.
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After 3 years here, I am pretty comfortable with driving here. In the early days I saw jaw droppingly bad road craft from 2 and 4 wheelers routinely but gradually I learned to accept them as being normal to Thais. Even police m/cs do shocking moves. I am no longer surprised by much as I expect the unexpected. I am even beginning to adopt some of their "safer" quirks lol. It recently dawned on me why most Thais drive cars the way they do. They all learned their road "skills" on m/cs as kids, and the vast majority have never had a lesson in their lives and just jump in a 4 wheeler without any road education...and yes, it follows they drive cars as if it was a Thai kid on a m/c. Strangely my car has been hit 3 times in the last 5 years. Twice it was stationary waiting in traffic at traffic lights. The other time it was parked and some guy managed to scrape the rear nearside whilst reversing out of a parking space. Luckily each time, the cause was not debatable and their insurance paid the fix in full at my main dealer.
Its been so long since I have been "surprised" on the roads, however last week I was nearly caught out by a chinese tourist couple on a rental m/c ( u can easily recognise them with rental brand helmets and female with map as passenger ). I had stopped at the centre of the road in Nimen signalling and waiting to make a right turn into a Soi, and when the oncoming traffic finally showed a gap, I turned in, only to see a m/c flash across my path from the right going the wrong way, diagonally across my path onto the left hand of the road. I admit my heart skipped a beat for the first time in many months. Another crazy move to add to my memory bank. So... keep an eye out for this new population of 2 wheelers with the rental helmets.. they do things even the very worse Thais m/cs don't.
Stay safe, watch the "bees" and let them swarm around you, expect the unexpected, especially when stationary
Driver has called twice today telling Thai GF a COD is on the way
in Chiang Mai
Posted
My wife fell for the scam. I ordered a mechanical keyboard through Shopee, from a reseller in China. But decided to cancel the order before it was dispatched as I found a better deal elsewhere. However the details of the order were somehow leaked to a scammer a few weeks later. The wife got a call from the courier for a keyboard from a Bangkok seller for COD for exactly the same amount as the one I had cancelled. She assumed it was mine and paid for it. When I got home I opened it and inside there was a cheap nasty $5 keyboard. Shopee didnt wanna know even though someone is leaking their data. I tracked down the actual sender of the package on the labels to a an address in Bangkok with a Line ID. I suspect they are not the scammer but were fulfilling a drop ship order from the scammer. I sent a message to the original seller in China and the Bangkok shipper saying they are involved in this scam and I would report to the police and Shopee. To my surprise they agreed to take it back and refund me the full amount. So I returned the crappy keyboard using Kerry's COD service and got a full refund.