chrisinth

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Whenever Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen 'suggests' there is a growing threat of a drug crisis, who is this directed at, government or public?

The figures of 343,258 people being sent to rehab over that period over an eight month period should be indication enough. Again, how many of these people went voluntarily and how many were 'forced' to attend as part of the punishment? Although early days for these people, what is the expected success rate from these type of programmes and how many are expected to re-offend?

When you consider that the figures of seizures, '83 million methamphetamine pills, 265 kilos of heroin and 1.28 tonnes of crystal meth' will only be the tip of the iceberg (unless BiB are excelling in this task) then these figures are terrifying if one thinks what is getting through and being distributed.

The demand is already there, yes it must be addressed be education. But the supply must also be addressed. I remember a few years ago the Thai army, with the help from the American military setup a special anti-drug unit which was being used on the Thai/Burma border. This unit was being equipped by the Americans and was becoming extremely effective in their operations.

Instead of the project being expanded, the reaction from the Thai government was to disband this unit immediately and spread them throughout the army as instructors in anti-drug enforcement. IMHO, the reason the unit was disbanded was because they were damaging the money lines of influential persons (both sides of the border), said people having the power to squash the opposition.

Again, IMHO, this more than anything in their war against drugs is the area that needs to be concentrated on. Increase once again aggressive smuggling deterrents on the border regions and introduce a 'proper' anti-drugs education plan for the masses.

In reverse order; the demand will not disappear overnight, problem already exists, cull the supply to decrease the demand (from new users) and remove the protection provided for these people to operate.

Note: I can't remember the anti-drug units name, this happened around the 2004/05 (perhaps before) period with the Americans helping under Cobra Gold at that time.

Travel insurance is a good idea, no doubt, as we have little control over what could happen when on holiday (anytime for that matter!).

However, as has already been mentioned, how do you control/price the policies, especially for the elderly?

If this is ever enforced, I can see a great reduction in the retired section of tourists coming to these shores.

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Excellent................

Sorry I was disturbed,

thats very apparant...when you was a teacher you have a work permit ?

Yes, why are you asking that?

By the way. for such a short sentence, your'e grammar and spelling is not very good, are you testing me to see if I know hot to construct a sentence properly.

Note to self: When asking a question about anything to do with grammar on TV, ensure you don't forget the question mark at the end of the sentence.

Because someone will pick it up if you do........................

I can visualize the OP munching on a packet of crisps as he was composing that....

And a bottle of Sangsom

Few bottles I was thinking..................

What did I just read ?

Shame that one can't unread..................

It's been said in other threads and I'll say it here.

Many, but not all, expats are out right low-life rejects in their home country.

They drag their low-life habits to my country for no good reason(s) and it makes me sick to my stomach.

While you are right, id wager to say in general the expats are more educated and have better manners as Thais. Then again there are enough expats that are as you describe.

Yes the ones that consider a clean pair of jeans as dressing up are not far removed from trailer trash basically.

Yes, but it does become ironic when some of my jeans are a lot more expensive than my trousers.

Still, I get round that by not washing or pressing my jeans so they are in their rightful place in the dress code........................

Buy her some crisps !

Make sure she isn't wearing her Tiger, Cheers or Chang dress........................

Edit: To the OP, sorry, you probably won't follow that. Please disregard.

"Meanwhile I have to break the law by taking her out on the roads without a provisional licence as would be mandatory in my home country."

I think you hit the nail on the head with this sentence...............

I don't believe it is mandatory here.

What Is a Woman?

A real woman is a man's best friend. She will never stand him up and never let him down.

She will reassure him when he feels insecure and comfort him after a bad day.

She will inspire him to do things he never thought he could do; to live without fear and forget regret.

She will enable him to express his deepest emotions and give in to his most intimate desires.

She will make sure he always feels as though he's the most beautiful man in the room and will enable him to be the most
confident, sexy, seductive, invincible ...


.... No wait... I'm thinking of alcohol.....................

Coat on, door open, gone...................

all religions are corrupt, when they threaten you with hell you know it is a scam, the old carrot and stick approach

I've heard it said that God gave mankind something to believe in.

The devil gave them religion.

More truth in that little adage than first appears............................

I think the moderator and others had answered your inquiries.

So you are ready to marry, huh?

Decide carefully because you will see many other women while here and

and you will regret later. Just kidding.

But you shall not work with non O visa.

??

Once your work permit has been applied for and granted you can apply for an extension on your Non-O to run concurrent with the work permit.

@ OP

Listen to your GF. She's probably right and you're probably stupid.

The question is this -- is she actually worth it?

1. is she the right one for you?

2. do you really love her?

3. is she incredibly sexy?

4. is she worth the sin-sod and the house you may have to buy and the money you may have to pay the mother?

If she is, do it. And be happy. And have a great marriage. And make lots of beautiful babies.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday I asked my GF to get married. Inevitably the conversation turned to money. It's just how things work here in Asia.

I'm gonna pay. And I'm gonna make it work. I'm older and wiser, now.

Forget the opinions of the schoolboys who claim that everything here in Thailand in plain sailing.

1) She's right for me on a number of levels. We have similar interests, and work histories. She writes, and has even won poetry contests. She has a job similar to the one I held in New York prior to moving here, so I understand her. And since she has a decent position, she's privy to a lot of interesting stories, e.g., corruption.

2) Faced with having to leave her and not wanting to, yes, I can say that I love her.

3) Yes, she's sexy.

4) Don't know how much they'll ask, so I'll have to get back to you if and when. I figure this next year will tell all.

Congratulations and good luck to you both! How long were you together before proposing?

Tom, without being offensive, what I read in your above points are 'work' orientated; work histories, similar jobs, decent positions.

This is a very small part of marriage mate!

IMHO. you need to be looking at how compatible you both are living together, making joint decisions, happy in yourselves with the subject of focus being home life and not work related. Sure, you have a bit of common ground there, but there is a lot more to co-existing.

You, or she do not know how the dice will roll during the coming years/ rest of your lives in your occupations......................

It is the same everywhere, the people who will notice the increased costs the most are the ones that are reliant on the minimum wage. The other ironic problem with this are the lay-offs from the companies who were previously paying under minimum to continue output as before. So you now have a case where workers who were paid under the minimum are now no longer being paid at all.

There is also the temptation for some companies to employ workers from neighbouring countries who will happily work for less and keep them off the books.

For some, life will always be a struggle

The day after the raise in minimum wages, our home delivered drinking water went from 15thb to 18thb......just to begin with.

I think that's a middleman thing, we are still paying 10 baht....................

Post #42 said, I did relent and buy her a new Toyota Vios, might not hit the speed scale she was after, but she is happy with it......................

Two separate things, marriage and then visa...

You'll have to ask the amphoe (district) where you plan to marry exactly what paperwork they need, it might differ from location to location. In general you will need two pieces of paperwork from your embassy, one stating that you are free to marry (i.e. you are single or legally divorced), and a second one, an affidavit for marriage, stating your income, your address and two witnesses of your own nationality.

Ask your embassy in Thailand what is required to get those two papers. It will require more paperwork then you might ever imagine, even a trip back home to get everything together.

Both papers need to get translated into Thai, and legalized at the Ministry of Foreign affairs.

Your future wife will need all her paperwork (ID card, house registration book, which is blue, not red).

Then you should be able to marry.

Once married, a few more visa options are opened.

Firstly, on every entry (regardless of what visa you used) you can get a 60 day extension once, no financial proof needed, only marriage paperwork and wife.

Secondly, you can get a non immigrant O visa at any embassy or consulate. In your home country you'll easily get a multiple entry valid for 1 year, with each entry allowing you 90 days of stay (+ 60 day extension as married person). Local embassies are reluctant to give a multiple entry, with the exception of Savanakhet in Laos (see Lopburi's post).

Thirdly, if you have either 400,000 Baht in the bank, or a legal income of over 40,000 Baht/month, you can extend your non immigrant O visa to 1 year.

My guess is that the bigger stumbling block will satisfying your embassy in giving you the required paperwork.

My embassy (Belgium) requires:

- Paperwork showing income (salary slips)

- Birth certificate, stamped and legalized by city hall of the place you were born, certification not older then 6 months.

- A transcription from the population register of the place you live, stating address, marital status, name and nationality, stamped and legalized by a city official.

- Name, address, birthdate of two Belgian nationals stating that they are aware of your marriage plans and a copy of their IDcards.

my consulate we have an affirmation it has all the details you ask for on it as 1 form when i go to marry her i will be unemployed as im giving my home up in the uk and not returning i plan to marry and apply for o visa as you say but my money is pretty short as im only working part time in the uk now and need to save before return ( does not working make a difference or not ? )

Now we know you are in the UK it helps.

Suggest you take time to study the website of the Royal Thai Consulate in Hull as it is really excellent and he service they provide is very good with a fast turnaround. You can apply for an O-A non immigrant visa from them and everything can be done by post, email and phone. All the forms are also available from their website too.

You'll also need:

1. Medical cert from your GP. £££'s

2. Document from the police to confirm no criminal record. £££'s

3. The Affirmation, I think you have to write your own from a list of their requirements, 2,000+ baht. There is a list of their fees on the FCO Bangkok website.

4. Proof of income is 40,000 baht/month for marriage but there are many more hoops to jump through than for Retirement with monthly income of 65,000 baht which is fairly straightforward but no WP. Marriage application is a fairly long job with a number of visits involved. Also if you divorce you have just 7 days to leave the country!

5. The 90 day reporting is on Form TM47 available to download from Thai Immigration website. I do mine by post and it is free.

6. Annual extension to stay is on Form TM7, as above, it's 1,900 baht done on the spot and no 'tea money'.

7. Re-entry Permit application form is a TM8. Without one you will invalidate your permission to stay and will not be allowed to re-enter without a new visa.

There is a lot of required reading to do! Swings and roundabouts.

Finally many things will be affected by where you live in Thailand. Hope that helps.

Best of luck.

I don't think the OP has stated his age; if he is under 50 then the O-A option is not available to him. He stated that the 400,000 baht was not available to him either at the moment, so again, the O-A visa would not be applicable.

Perhaps that is the reason he is asking about a dependency visa?

For gawds sake just stamp on it and kick it out.

Don't thump it when it's climbing up the wall of a restaurant and put a hole in the wall like .......someone did on Friday night though.

I have heard several times in the past that stamp on it is the worst decision you can make, because if the cockroach is pregnant it will release all the eggs which can be hundreds.

Have also heard that for every cockroach you see, 1 thousand more are hidden. Under certain circumstances this could be true, but generally isn't.

A cockroach cannot 'lay' or release eggs when it is dead. The eggs need a natural incubation period. Squash the roach, you will squash the eggs as well.

BTW, I also believed this for a long time, one of those urban myths.................

Happy Birthday Jake,

Hope the time doesn't drag too much before you get back!!