PawyiLee

The visa doesn't matter any more, unless you have a valid multiple entry visa.

While that is true, Kuhn Mario, when you apply for any extension, the Immigration Officer will request a copy of your underlying Visa no matter how many years back (or your transfer of that Visa into your new passport).

I wasn't asked for mine last year at Suan Phlu, or this year at Amnat, but I did take my old passport with me, just in case.

I went to Amnat Charoen Immigration today for a one-year Retirment extension based on monthly income from abroad, and they are making me get that letter translated into Thai by an Authorized Translator.

Was your embassy's letter in English or some other language (other than Thai that is)?

Yes, it is in English, and that has always been okay when I got my extensions at Suan Phlu. But now I must go to Amant that wants a Thai translation from an authorized translator (usual charge. 400 Baht.) He faxed Nong Khai Immigration for permission to go ahead and give me my extension and have me mail in the translation next week. He said for next year he'd accept a bi-lingual letter in English AND Thai (like the applications are) signed-and-sealed by an American consul, and won't make me get it translated; and would cut me some slack as to its date if I get it early during an American consul outreach visit to Khon Kaen.

YMMV.

...- If using income from abroad you will need to obtain an income letter from your embassy....

I went to Amnat Charoen Immigration today for a one-year Retirment extension based on monthly income from abroad, and they are making me get that letter translated into Thai by an Authorized Translator. They gave me the address and phone of one in Roi Et (who charges 400 Baht.) Amnat checked with Nong Khai Immigration and got clearance to stamp the annual extension in my passport, but they want that translation mailed into them by the end of next week.

The officer said it would be acceptable for original affidavits from embassies to be bi-lingual, and you can bet your bippy mine will be bi-lingual next year.

The only other demand new to me was for a copy of every used page in my current passport (in addition to front matter and entry card with border stamp, but I was asked for those, before. As only one other page had been used in my new passport, he made a copy of it on his machine.)

I was asked for a map to my place, and a copy of its household registration (has my wife as Head of Household) plus all the other stuff you mentioned. Only having to have the income affidavit in Thai caught me short.

Oh, and this: The officer contacted Nong Khai Immigration by fax, and while waiting for them to fax back, he shared his lunch with me. The angry Frenchman who spoke only French and left in a huff got none.

American Citizens Abroad (ACA) warns that if the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act – HR 3933 is passed, banks outside the US would likely refuse deposits from Americans rather than have to comply with this American law. See Concern: HR 3933

Don't know why Admin removed link to PDF, but Google wil find it for you if you enter "Sir Anthony Rumbold".

...Thanks for posting, and now everyone knows about the history of Thailand...

You're welcome, but, no, not all of it, only slices from the Hitler era, and there's more than that. Stern's "Slices of Thai History" began at http://www.pattayamail.com/485/columns.shtml#hd6 and continued with a few gaps to http://www.pattayamail.com/563/columns.shtml#hd6.

...Thailand was not officially invaded, and gave right of passage to the Japanese so that they could enter Burma and Malaysia. It is also worth noting that Thailand did declare war on Britain and the United States after signing a treaty of alliance with Japan, so maybe you should have listened a little more carefully.

Japan did invade Thailand, and Thailand was on both sides of the war at the same time. See "Slice of Thai History: The Japanese invasion of Thailand, 8 December 1941 (part one)" at http://www.pattayamail.com/504/columns.shtml#hd6

To read more, change the digits 504 to those in front of the colon:

Japanese invasion of Thailand

504: Background

505: 8 December 1941: 0105 hours

506: [9 December 1941 - 25 January 1942]

See also:

Foreign Journalist's view [1935]

514: Did Japan dominate Thailand?

517: Rise of state-sponsored militarism and socialism

494: Tarutao: island of prisoners and pirates [1937-1949]

Thai invasion and occupation of Shan States

507: 1942

508: 1943-45

Death Railway

489: Background-Fall of Singapore [1942]

490: From Changi to Kanchanaburi [1942-43]

500: Construction of Chiang Mai-Burma Road [1942-1945]

Air war over Thailand, 1941-1945

512: Japan moves into Thailand, December 1941

513: Allies attack Thailand, 1942-1945

Escape from Bangkok 1945

557: Shot Down and Rescued

558: (Continued)

559: To Bangkok

560: The First Escape

562: The Final Escape

... We learnt in schools of the treatment afforded to allied prisoners of war at the hands of Thai and Japanese soldiers during the building of the Thai / Burma Railway from Bangkok through to burma

Ubon Ratchathani's Candlestick park has a monument erected by former POWs in gratitude for their treatment at the hands of the the Thai in Ubon. If all you know of the death-railway bridge comes from the Frenchman's highly distorted version, go ogle up English Lt. Col. Philip John Denton Toosey, Thai Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu, and Japanese Sergeant-Major Risaburo Saito.

Applying for a Resident Permit as opposed to a one-year extension still requires applying for a National Police Records check through your Embassy, doesn't it?

If you are married to a Thai the amount is only 400k in the bank (if it hasnt changed lately) marriage has to be registered in Thailand though..

Yes, thanks, but the topic is RETIREMENT extensions, yes?

YES, i know that.. i just wanted to give another option here if he wasn't aware of it.. as it is an easier one too..

Easier on the money requirements, but not for the somewhat complex procedures for verifying the marriage is a true marriage, not just a piece of paper. Also, when the marriage ends in death or divorce, so does permission to stay, not only in the country, but wherever you're staying; it would require starting over from scratch at a very bad time, when you might not be up to it.

1. Amnat Charoen (อ านาจเจริญ) - - - Yasothon (ยโสธร) Roi Et (ร้อยเอ็ด)

I live in Roiet and go in and out through Nongkhai. The Immigration office for Roiet is in Amnat Charoen, a one day round trip in the opposite direction.. Yet another reason to have as little as possible to do with the Immigration Police.

Today, 10 Oct 2009, Amnat Immigration, also responsible for Roi Et and Yasothon, has its office on the top (4th) floor (former exercise room) of the Provincial Police Station, accessible from the right staircase behind the phone booths.

Phone Number 0 4545 2789

Amnat Immigration at Police Station

... I live in Roi Et and was told not to return there for my retirement extension but to go to a new office in Amnat Charoen!!!

Today, 10 Oct 2009, Amnat Immigration, also responsible for Roi Et and Yasothon, has its office on the top (4th) floor (former exercise room) of the Provincial Police Station, accessible from the right staircase behind the phone booths.

Phone Number 0 4545 2789

Amnat Immigration at Police Station

I was in the Mukdahan office yesterday, 4th Sept. I live in Roi Et and was told not to return to Mukdahan for my retirement visa but to go to a new office in Amnat Charoen! As from Monday 7th no Roi Et people will be given extensions by the Mukdahan office. They couldn't say much about the Amnat Charoen office, except that it will probably be set up in the police station until it has permanent offices. No phone number available.

Today, 10 Oct 2009, Amnat Immigration, also responsible for Roi Et and Yasothon, has its office on the top (4th) floor (former exercise room) of the Provincial Police Station, accessible from the right staircase behind the phone booths.

Phone Number 0 4545 2789

Amnat Immigration at Police Station

now i am more confused than before.

mukdahan office told me go to amnat charoen,the pdf file from the list with offices told me go to phibunmangsahan.

were i go???

can somebody give me the phone numbers from muk,amnat and phibun?

thanks in advance

Effective this month, October 2009, Amnat Immigration is responsible for Amnat, Roi Et and Yasothon. It is at the Provincial Police Station, on the top (4th) floor in the former exercise area accessible from the staircase behind the phone booths.

Phone Numbers

0 4545 2789 Amnat Immigration at Police Station

0 2287 3101 BKK (at Suan Plu)

0 4261 1074 Muk (in town)

0 4544 1108 Pibun

A (Thai) friend wants a meaningful abstract phrase to print on a T-shirt in English AND Thai. Does the idea of "Carpe Diem / Seize the Day" have a Thai translation that would go on the reverse side of the t-shirt? Anyone?

Thanks in advance.

ถือโอกาส

Bangkok Post bans Thaivisa from using its content

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Given their request that no content be published on ThaiVisa unless as an RSS feed, which is an automatic feed with no commentary, Bangkok Post articles can no longer be published in any ThaiVisa forums from now on since the forums are not an RSS feed.

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"But no worries, we have The Nation and The Phuket Gazette already on board, and we are soon hooking up with other local news sources. Our goal is to serve our members with a mixed and balanced news feed. Bangkok Post has changed this balance, at least for now", says Barry Main.

Avoid content from Bangkok Post

For legal reasons, and to protect the website and its members, Thaivisa.com must comply with this new policy and urge all members to avoid all Bangkok Post content, advising its members to find alternative content instead.

Members quoting or posting Bangkok Post content will be warned by our moderating team, and the post will be deleted without warning.

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The ban on Bangkok Post articles is in effect immediately.

-- thaivisa.com 2009-10-02

I will remove Bangkok Post's RSS feed from my toolbar, to avoid temptation.

งู ๆ ปลา ๆ 'ngoo ngoo bplaa bplaa' - a little bit

Lit. 'snake snake fish fish'

To be more precise, I think this has the meaning "for someone to know very little."

Yes. It's a description of an eel by someone who does not know what an eel is.

The one I like is " Kee chang chup takataan", ride an elephant to catch grasshopers, in other words something like "breaking eggs with a sledge hammer"

Or US-er's War on Terror.

"Carrot's help you to see in the dark" is a good one.

This actually comes from WWII just as the RAF started using radar. Radar was still a secret at the time and the luftwaffe must have been wondering how it was that the British where able to 'see' so much better in the dark, therefore the MOD 'leaked' information that they had discovered a vitamin in carrots which improves night time vision and where feeding it to their pilots.

It was all a load of <deleted> of course.

No, not quite. You are correct in everything you say except for the bitter end. You can easily see for yourself by eating some, as long as you keep in mind (1) you must eat them raw and (2) the carrots you eat today will help you see better tomorrow night, not tonight. See the article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotene. (I'm assuming you're not a carnivore.)

2. Never get your hair or nails cut on a Wednesday. ( No idea way not).

This comes from the legend of the Hindu god Ganesh (Thai: Pra Phikunet). He had his head was cut off by Shiva. When Ganesh's mother demanded that Shiva replace his head it could not be found. So they took the head of the first animal to come along, an elephant, and put its head on Ganesh's body. Supposedly this all happened on a Wednesday. And that is why most barbers are closed on Wednesday - and maybe you should avoid any that are still open - if you want to keep your head that is.

I never heard that, but have no reason to doubt it as Ganesh is very popular over here; so, Thank you for the info! Here's what I have heard:

The middle day of the week is named for the planet Mercury. English "Wednesday" is from 'Woden's Day', reflecting a widespread association of Woden with the Roman god, Mercury. Thai วันพุธ 'wan phut' is from Sanskrit name for the planet, बुध 'Budha', but Thai spells and pronounces the same as 'Buddha', leading to a popular if erroneous association with the Lord Buddha. It has long been a tradition in Siam/Thailand for butchers, barbers and beauticians to close on Buddhist Sabbaths, governed by quarters of the moon, but others regularly close on Wednesday. So, in some places you'll find it hard get your hair or nails cut, or buy meat on a Wednesday, but in others it's when there's a red Buddha image on your calendar for a given day of the week.

Since I'm expounding: Budha the God's color is green, and so is Wednesday's, but for reasons unknown to me, the Thai differentiate between Wednesday day and Wednesday night - the latter's color is light green. You can find Thai birth day colors (and Buddha images) here: http://www.usmta.com/Thai-Birthday.htm

I'm on my 8th RETIREMENT extension of a Non-O visa and have lived the whole time 10 kliks from Yasothon. A few years ago plainclothes police came by a couple of times when when my wife's grown daughter was THE only ONE home, but haven't heard from them lately and have never been told to register with the police.

This evening, however, I got a summons from my tambon health clinic to report to the village meeting hall between 7 and 8 AM, because I'm over 35 (way over), high blood pressure (141 - is that really hi?), and fat (because my waist measures 101 cm - come on, now!) The summons says not to eat or drink anything after 6 as THEY WANT MY BLOOD! WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO ME?

I mentioned in a prior post having done an ATM withdrawal from Government Savings Bank....

I declined a Yasothon Kasikorn ATM's offer to charge me ฿150 and went to the GSB next to the post office, instead. It was off line. So many TV farangs are hitting on GSB ATMs, we may have melted down their system. ): I didn't try the local Ayudhaya as it started to rain.

Thai-Isan-Lao Phrasebook with sound tracks: www.thai-isan-lao.com

I went with my Phuyai Ban to the Nai Amphoe of Meuang Yasothon, who typed up and signed, at no charge, a statement ID'ing me by passport number and giving my address. That was good enough to get me a one-year license, which was replaced by a five-year license when it expired. I did give my Phuyai Ban gas money.

The help files are not at all helpful as to how to start a new topic, so, this being the closest I can find, I'll post as reply, here.

Study: SE Asia will be hit hard by climate change

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer Michael Casey – Mon Apr 27, 5:15 am ET BANGKOK – Southeast Asia will be hit particularly hard by climate change, causing the region's agriculture-dependent economies to contract by as much as 6.7 percent annually by the end of the century, according to a study released Monday.

Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_...limate_change_4