natee1

oops, just noticed the date, sorry I am too late..

travel agents organize 1-day round trip tours to the border in comfy minibuses, details in any of the free monthlies in the pubs, Bangkok Post as well ?

There is a train leaving early mornings from bkk to Aranyapathet- takes 5-6 hrs, 3rd class carriages only if I remember correctly, but lots of food vendors and fun, take a bottle of vodka on board... It costs less than 100 Baht (the train).

Where did I put the timetable? Will ask a neighbour about taxirides tonight.

still trying to get to 'the beach' before being arrested for overstay.

Maybe Samui police hunt them down just to give them a shower?

If someone overstayed their visa in the UK

there are few if any worries about overstaying your welcome in the uk.

the authorities are not even allowed to ask for id or identification without very good reason.

it is almost impossible to deport someone from the uk.

decisions to deport can be appealed and appealed in the courts for years, at the taxpayers expense.

if the samui longstayers want a hassle free holiday by the sea, may i suggest they move to brighton,blackpool scarborough or filey.

if they are clever enough to work the system..... and you dont need to be all that bright to do it.....they should be able to get benefits,free housing,free medical and dental care,free legal representation etc. etc.etc. and never have to do a days work again in their lives.

god bless the poverty stricken british taxpayer for his devotion above and beyond the call of duty to the lazy and workshy of this world.

completely off topic i know, but its my pet rant.

Yes, it is off-topic, also a sweeping generalisation and as such not true. This is not the place, but I lived in the UK for 12 years and it was all but a free holiday!

Back on topic: I also was unaware of the potential dire consequences ofg overstaying before I read the warnings on this forum. Based on the polite treatment at the borders and the hear-talk amongst travellers one might well not realize how serious an offence it is, even the French embasy doesn't realize.

Don't just blame the overstayers, I think few would take the risk if fully aware of the consequences!!!

Probably the only time I'd get away with saying "a portion of mushy peas" sounds like an STD

...although it is the carrier of a much more serious desease, if the symptoms habitual consumers display are anything to go by (I lived in Leeds for 3 years).

I am on about this entire threat.

If I wanna read yet more about Islamophobia or middle-east politics, I wouldn't look in thaivisaforum.

I was hoping to find observations about the Thai muslim community here.

Does any of this have anything to do with my landlord, who is muslim, or my neighbour, who is a muslim from Narathiwat ?

YOU GUYS ARE SICK

Even today, when I mimick the way she called her daughter in a very authorative voice, my wife looks, perhaps says to friends that I jokingly copy mum, but that visit really made it for me(us)

Good one, works for me too. Call her as her mother calls her to get full attention.

Jokingly threaten to phone her mother to defuse arguments.

In response to natee1's post, I live in Thailand, providing medical related assistance to outlying communities.

??Sounds like you are not allowed to call yourself 'doctor' ??

Are you a holistic/alternative practitioner? Maybe you know the answer to a question that's been on my mind a long time:

How 'healthy' are fruit and veg bought in Bangkok? Are the farmers as generous with spraying chemicals as the doctors are with antibiotics? I am quite suspicious of mushrooms that don't rot. The product in my gf's village appears O.K. , was told they cannot afford expensive chemicals (thank Buddha).

I was presented with this rule at the Thai embassy in Singapore two years ago. I dressed politely, spoke gently, smiled and made no hassle. Yet, the officer was thoroughly unimpressed and said "No more 60-day tourist visas for you. You will get thirty days when you fly back". Maybe I dressed TOO politely...?

I also understand the Thai embassy in Singapore has a reputation for being difficult.

You are being too polite again...

if i am bringing on arrival 9999 $ cash

it is for 10 month

do i have to prove to some one?

i am not using ATM only cash

You will definetly need $10.000 !!! -or you will be arrested on arrival.

A letter from your father stating that you do not intend to work in Thailand might help...

Some posts are just too ###### fUkkIng clever to reply to!!

haven't come across anything I don't like, other than these nasty looking characters in brown suites roaming the streets minding other people's business...

A very common complaint is the stomach problems after eating 'questionable' cuisine.

-ever been to Thailand???

Ms Nina, you may want to check out the area around Tonglor Skytrain station, too.

Bring one of your new workmates along to do the talking. Lots of foodstalls, openair restaurants, some upscalebars/discos, and I am afraid the odd unavoidable karaoke bar.

There are more cultural "things" to do here than people have reported, that is if you are interested in Thai history&culture (yeah, yeah, I know the kind of comments I'll get for this), and in Buddhism.

Axel -never heard of feminism -some sort of kinky sex? The two of you nicely chatting along... Am I missing something here?

ROAD DEATH: Briton crushed under No 62 bus

BANGKOK: -- A Briton was killed yesterday by a BMTA bus outside the British Embassy on Wireless Road, police said yesterday.

Is the British Embassy that bad?

yes-

There is too much talk about "these girls" for my liking...

Maybe there are more than the 2-3 stereotypical 'stories' and people aren't making things up?

First, let me dear sirs and madam, explain you something about Embassies : THEY WILL NEVER GIVE YOU A PASSPORT, the Embassador (french or English or any other nationalities will never deal with that, nor with a single national, not his business, he is here to take care of the relation btw 2 countries, not to help Mr X to find where is the door for the toilets. Then if the happy camper who started the topic is going to meet the embassador for a passport, he is wrong.

Second, passport, registration of the national who are in a foreign country, protection of the nationals who are in a foreign country are the job of the Consul and the consular affair. There is 2 possibilities, or you are a normal citizen, and things are usualy smooth, or you have problem with your national justice, in this last case the Consul will not let you access to some services (mostly the registration) but will still protect you (if possible).

The case you describe is simillar (I don't say it's you) to another who involve a french citizen "en rupure de ban aux vues de la legislation francaise", then it was necessary for all the document to take the full way and let the time to the concerned people to verify the reallity and the accuracy of the documents.

About the text in the embassy website, some comments:

it's an old text, made in 2001, then yes it's not up to date about the fine.

The wording is essentialy "administratve wording" far different of the language (slang maybe????) you seems to speak ; the 20 days is reffering about the max fine you can pay (in this case 20 000 bht, or 40 000 bht with a fine of 200 bht per day). I must also confess the administrative language can not be translated by babel or other automatic translator.

Have you ever though to throw your nationality, and became the citizen from another country? Are you sure, assuming you are a bona fide resident in Thailand, you are not "personna non grata " in France, it could be the right answer. It's named : Retour du baton, si tu as fais le con la bas, tu subiras les consequences ici

Are you drunk?

Or do you work for the french ambassy??

The fines have doubled in the past few months and are now about 200 Baht a day. You have to pay (if I remember correctly) over 1000 Baht to extend your stay with 10 days which used to be the 500 Baht = 1 extra month at Suan Phlu.

After those 10 days they charge you 200 Baht a day overstay but you can pay your overstay in advance ?!?!?! My friend did it, and wanted to extend it for a month, so he extended the 10 days and after 10 days he went back and said he wanted an extra 20 days. They said its 200 Baht a day and ended up paying 4000 Baht for those extra 20 days.

Its really cheaper to go to Laos for a day and get another 30 days then to pay this stupid money sucking gov't in overstay.

SD

Be grateful for what you get!!!

Imagin it the other way round:

A Thai wants to hang out in Paris another 20 days or more after visa expiry, and asks French immigration if he could just pay a fine in Advance to get this petty matter out of the way, and by the way, why does this money-sucking government want so much for it?

Maybe you should ask yourself: Who the xxxx are you??!!

re:bank account, one of those issues, I guess. Keep asking around til you find a sympathetic bank manager, I did.

But as I said: I don't have a Thai bank account. Just used my overseas bank. Can I prove this in any way?

As has been said : Keep the receipts, small bit of paper that comes out of the machine before you take your card.

I am one of the guys not yet 50 with more money than sense (by Thai standards), been on back-to-back tourist visas for 6 years, but the last few times I was questioned, mainly about my financial situation, asked to see US$ 10.000 for a 2months tourist visa. Saigon, Vientiane, Manila... same story. Most important airline ticket out os Thailand, and bank book and/or letter from your Thai bank. Forgot my bankbook every time (won't in future). Twice my creditcard (from an overseas bank) was accepted as proof, once it was not, but my Thai atm card was (?!?).

Just want to report my experiences, don't have any answers either, anxious what the future will bring? My impression is they just want to make sure you have money (and plenty of that) to live on.

great sex though, will do anything

still got her phonenumber???-e-mail me discreetly. ta very much

ahhh... At last a post of my liking.

Not the usual "one of my friends was cheated by a cunning, illiterate bargirl" or "please help, I want to take my Thai hooker back to the UK" kind of stuff.

Sorry, can't help you with any suggestions mate, based in BKK.

natee 1 says

I have been driving a motorbike (almost) accident free in Bangkok for 6 years now, and I feel much safer here than in any other country where people learn "properly" how to drive, basically because Thais drive defensively, to avoid accidents, there are no big western egos of the I am better, faster, smarter than you kind around. The I am right and you are wrong mentality is not very pronounced, let them play with their clutches and let me live ....

Thank you kap, Thai drivers.

O MY MY natee 1,you are so full of <deleted>,,A Thai doesn't know what defensive driving is and it appears that you don't either.

I don't know your age or where you are from,must be lower slobovia if you think that Thai are good,defensive drivers and it is also apparent that you have never taken a defensive driving coarse.

I wont go into the mistakes that are made by the Thais,but all you have to do is see a Thai on a wheeled motor vehicle and you know for sure that within the next nano-second he gonna fuk up.

This post is a good example of what I am on about:

Somebody says or does something you think is wrong, and immediately they are "full os <deleted>", need to be put in place, bashed, taught a lesson- an attitude that makes for dangerous driving indeed.

Boy- am I glad I am here rather than in the place where you come from, mate-Glasgow or Liverpool? -your spelling seems o.k., though.

It sad for a young man to die because of Viagra.  If there is a brightside that's the way I would want to go , providing I completed the transaction.

Jim

Come before you go

,and don't go before you come.