dragonfly33

I notice that if a post involves a westerner we get a lot of pity and RIP and such rubbish for the victim(s). If the victim(s) happen to be Thai we get NOTHING, Something smell racist to you?

P.S Oh, and then we get moans that Thai's are racist ones - what a joke!

Firstly I think the victims are Burmese not Thai, secondly I personally give the Thai's as much respect as they give me (a Westerner) that is zero!

Funny, I am also a westerner, I get a lot of respect from Thais. Firstly I think that whether or not one gets respect depends upon one's own behavior (i.e. in this matter I would look more at myself than blaming a whole nation of 60 million people), and secondly, if I really felt that that Thai people as a whole did not respect me, I for one certainly would not live here. I wonder therefore why he doesn't go home and stop complaining (although I imagine he probably also has some similar issues with the people in his own country, which is why he is here in the first place.)

I am doing the same thing so here are a few points:

1. Some banks, like Krungthai, have sales every few months in which they regularly reduce the price. But you can always make an offer when the sale is not on. IAs far as I understand, you can make offers as many times as you want. In reality, however, it appears that if you are to make too low an offer, the bank will tell you at the very beginning that they will not submit it. But in general, you should be able to get substantial discounts from the listed price. (Note though that some banks operate by auction.)

2. I think the land should be the type of land deeds that you say, but you must ask them.

3. The way bank land sales seem to work is once you buy it the bank is responsible for nothing. You really have to check the place yourself before buying it, preferably more than once. In many cases, the former owner is still living there, and the bank takes no responsibility for having them leave. Also, of course, if the former owner has lots of relatives in the area where you are buying the land they might have a lot of resentment both for the bank and the new owner. If this is the case, best scenario is they will make it impossible for you to live there. Worst is they will kill you.

4. I don't mean to scare you. However, because the responsibility is entirely on you and not the bank, the more you investigate the property before you buy it, the better. The truth is that many of the land for sale come with history and problems. Not all--- but they need serious checking out.

I agree that earlier writer is way out line with his criticism. He tells us a lot more about himself than he does about what he is criticizing. If he can't deal with life more than five miles from a Starbucks, one wonders what he is doing in Thailand. However, I suspect I already know. There are lots of people who come here for the cheap standard of living, women, etc., who have spent years in Thailand and speak about a half dozen words of hardly recognizable Thai. The odd thing is that he thinks everyone else is like him. We are not. The thing that is not odd is that he is complaining, because generally people who live in Thailand and can't be five miles from a Starbucks are a rather miserable lot. Anyway, I myself think the house is gorgeous, and an amazingly good deal, and would love to buy it. I have my own coffee grinder.

I doubt if you'll really need to postpone your trip. Most of Chiang Mai is perfectly fine, and next month even safer (I think).

I'll tell you my recent experience to warn you. I was having a 30 year old Philippina woman visit me last month. She had a round trip ticket, a letter of invitation, and a lot of money to show, but the immigration officials in Manila would not let her leave. As a result, we lost the cost of the ticket because it wasn't the airlines fault. I think it's very difficult for Philippina woman to travel alone out of the country, whatever they show the officials. The official told her that my invitation letter hadn't been notarized at the US embassy, that she failed to bring a snapshot of me for him to look at, and more generally that western guys were dangerous. My advice (if you don't want to lose the price of a ticket) is to spend the extra money to bring her over here yourself. Then I think there should be no trouble.

The guy who originated the thread was simply seeking help in finding someone to raise the cats. Unfortunately, as usual on thaivisa, a lot of expats apparently have nothing to do with their lives but complain, and have no intention of either helping or being nice to anyone else.

(I'm sorry that I can't take in the cats, cause I travel too much.)

I am surprised there is no more mention of two countries:

1. Malaysia; Apparently they have a retirement program to attract foreigners that makes things a lot easier than it is in Thailand. For example, you can own your own house. I personally would rather live in Thailand, but it seems that Malaysia would be easier for many expats (in terms of language, certain kinds of convenience, etc.) There are many more places than Penang to check out.

2. Laos; There is almost no mention of Laos here for some reason. It is debatable as to whether it is cheaper than Thailand, but it can be more pleasant.

Thanks for the helpful posts. She did have all that they said was needed as travel requirements on the Cebu Pacific site, but it didn't help:

Passengers intending to undertake international travel must possess a valid passport with at least six (6) months validity and the applicable valid visas. They must also have a return or an onward journey ticket and must be able to satisfactorily prove upon request sufficient means of financial support during their stay in the country of their destination.

To add to the drama, it turns out that they are allowing her only to rebook one half of the ticket for free (i.e. the return trip from Bangkok to Manila). As far as I understand, this is useless, because one ways are generally not much if any cheaper than round trips. I figured that I would contact them because maybe I'd have better luck, but if you look at the website, they are very clever, and I can't find a single email address to write them. (If anyone has better luck finding an address, let me know.) It would be much better to write than to call.

I didn't intend to travel to the Philippines, but who knows, maybe I'll enjoy it there (just not in the Cebu Pacific office).

My girlfriend went into the Cebu Pacific office in Manila. At first they told her they would not refund her and her ticket was no longer valid. Apparently, after she put up a fuss the best they would do was allow her to re-schedule the flight, but no longer than the next ninety days. She had enough money, and a return ticket, and as you said, the rest is all BS. Unfortunately, the immigration officers have the power to enforce that BS. My idea now is that I should travel to the Philippines in the next three months and bring her over. If we travel together she should not have any problem, I think. Or am I being overly optimistic?

I agree, they seem to make it up as they go. Of course, maybe I'm crazy in the first place bringing a Philippina girl to Thailand. I once brought a Thai girlfriend to Malaysia. We had no problem getting in. Then we booked a flight from KL to east Malaysia (Sarawak) because it sounded interesting. At the airport in Sarawak, they denied my girlfriend entry, with me right next to her. To top it off, they seemed to think I shouldn't be upset, because I could still travel in Sarawak and spend my money there. I just had to say goodbye to her. Anyway, we left on the next plane out, and completely lost the 200 or so dollars for the round trip. All this was after she had already been accepted in Malaysia at imigration.

Any way, I think I will go to the Philippines in about a month and bring her over her. I hope there won't be trouble then.

Further update: My girlfriend was not allowed aboard the plane on March 10th, 2010. She was told she needed a) a letter of invitation notarized on my embassy, a picture of me, and c) proof of reservation of hotel lodgings. The airlines (Cebu Pacific) stated that they will not refund the ticket (or allow the date to be changed) because they say we should have known the documentation that was required (like my photograph!) Does anyone know where requirements for this type of documentation (and personal photographs) are listed. Interestingly, the airline would refund the ticket if the immigration officials did not let her go for another reason: 'that they did not like how she looked. That means officials can and do turn people back simply if they don't like what they look like. Remember, my girlfriend was not a 17 year old, but 30 years old. She also said that in explaining why she was being rejected, the official told her foreign men are dangerous.

So I would warn anyone against having a Philippina travel alone to visit them in Thailand.

It's funny how the past two messages have just totally ignored what I said in my message. (message no. 14).

The last writer wrote this:

she will have to pay, I think it's 5000 pesos, departure tax, that's it. If she has a passport no problem to enter Thailand.

Getting back to reality and not people's opinions, my Philippina girlfriend (age 30) was not allowed to leave, and I am talking about last night (March 10, 2010). They lost the departure tax. What I found out further today is they told her in addition to needing proof of hotel reservations, she needed a signed letter from the Thai embassy guaranteeing she was a tourist!!!

So remember, if you want your girlfriend to be allowed out of the Philippines to come to Thailand, she is going to lose the departure tax and never make it here, regardless the opinions of the experts on thaivisa.com

I made arrangements for my Philippina girlfriend come to Thailand from Manila today. She was dressed conservatively and she is not particularly young (30 years old). She had a round trip ticket, over 600 US dollars in cash, and a letter from me (that I sent her by internet) saying that I would support her. I thought there should be no problem, and guess what, she wasn't allowed to board the plane. The immigration officer in the Philippines told her that she could not leave the country because my letter was not signed and she had no proof of hotel reservations. What does it matter that my letter was not signed? If one were to produce a fake letter, it would be easy enough to sign it! I could easily send her a new signed letter (or better yet, have her sign it herself) and fax some hotel reservations to her. However, I'm sure they would make up some other excuses. If anyone in the future does plan to bring a Philippina girl here to Thailand, my advice is to pick them up in Manila.

Always knew they should have been colonised by the Brits and had some common sense and honesty knocked into them. You don;t get this sort of carry on in Singapore now do you?

i myself kind of wish the Brits had been colonized by the Americans to get some commn sense knocked into them...

I have a question about usufructs that I have yet to see answered. I am planning on buying a house, and when going into the local land office, they said that I could get a usufruct (sitthi kep kin), but they felt it would make more sense to draw up another type of contract, 'sitthi yu asai', or 'the right to reside'. It made sense from what they said, because what I really want is the right to live there, not to make use of the fruits/products on the property, although I'd like to eat a tamarind or lamyai from time to time. Do you know if I should have it drawn up for both, or is there something that I am missing? Thanks for any suggestions.