phuketrichard

Simon;

great, am up in Luang prabang now an i see lots of changes since was last here in 2004

still ur right, very laid back

and another one as well::::

PHUKET: Phuket immigration today arrested for illegal entry a British man who had been working on the island as a realtor, a profession reserved for Thais, since 2011.

Richard James Daffund, 44, was picked up by police as he walked along Phuket Road, just several hundred meters from the Phuket Immigration Office.

The Englishman was recognized by police, who notified immigration, Capt Angkarn Yasanop of Phuket Immigration said.

Capt Angkarn, along with Phuket Immigration chief Sunchai Chokkajaykij and immigration officers, set out to find Mr Daffund.

“We spotted a man who matched the description of Mr Daffund and asked for his passport. He could not produce it, so we took him to the Phuket Immigration Office,” said Capt Angkarn.

“According to our records, Mr Daffund entered Thailand in December 2010 and left in January 2011. We have no records for him after that date,” he said.

He confessed that he had entered Thailand illegally through Malaysia in 2011 and had been working in Phuket as a realtor, he said.

“He will be transferred to Bangkok to be deported,” he added.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-Immigration-British-realtor-to-be-deported-21520.html

u will NOT get a multiple entry without a WP and even to get the single u need the paper that the labor dept issues u that shows u have applied for the wp (forget the name).

Penang is easy for both,

takes one night

cost 220 MYR single

or 550 MYR multiple + 50MYR service charge from the agent i use

Plenty of thai lawyers in phuket will do all the paper work for you ( for a price of around 15-18,000)

flew Firefly to Penang 2 weeks ago, my first time on a prop plane since i left Nepal :-)

BTW Penang airport is new an very nice but very empty ( at least when we were there)

will have to head to pp after koh kong/SHV

than easy bus up

Suggest,

koh Kong-PP- Siem Rep for temples than over to hanoi unless u want see Saigon.

any travel agent will do it along Riverside ,i use the hometown hotel on street 172 where i stay as will " the last home gh next door"

i know the road as last year went from Chaing Khong to Meng Sing-Luang Prabang- Vietainne- Savanekhet

We are driving north from Oudom Xai to the Chinese border as heard it is a beautiful drive,

also will try an get into Long Tieng south of the Plain of jars, during the Vietnam war the most secret palce on the earth.

Where is ur wife's homestay??

look forward to the report,

I am heading up form Phuket to Mae Sot-Mae Hong Son- Chaing Khong, cross over to Laos- Luang Namtha and up to the Chinese border than down to plain of Jars,

Back to Vientiane ( was there last year with car) re enter Thailand, follow the river and enter Cambodia as Osmach,

down to Phnom Phen via Siem Rep and on to Svay Rieng so the gf can visit family before heading back to PP- Battamabag0 cross at Poi Pet an dback to Phuket,

pretty much a repeat of last years trip except adding Mae sot/Mah hong son rather than head right up to Chaing Khong and this year adding Plain of Jars and up to the Chinese border

Agree with edh; all my years of driving in laos and Cambodia with my thai car never had any trouble an when the car had trouble everyone was very helpful.

Northern laos i fantastic with ur own vehicle.

And some tips I gave them for SR which may be useful;

1) Get yourself a copy of the Siem Reap guide, glossy A5 size, free publication. It has lots of great maps and info. Very, very handy. Cannot highly recommend enough.

I was going to give you mine but you went straight there.

http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srhome.htm

2) You will need to hire a tuk tuk/moto driver to go around Angkor Wat area. The hotel should have a list of drivers. I expect that it will be about $8- or so now. This is for the whole day or practically 5-6 hrs, whatever you can last.

the candy guide says "motorcycle taxi (‘motodup’) for $6-$9/day; "

http://www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srstarted.htm

3) Get the 3 day pass which gives time and flexibility.

4) Don't go too early as the tour buses tend to leave early. Work out your tour to avoid the buses. Whatever you do, avoid where the buses are as you can literally have hundreds of tourists swarming over diff sites. They tend to do the main sites like

the Bayan, Angkor Wat and Angkor Tham. Late afternoon tends to be quieter for these places

5) Spend time around the old town as lots of nice cafes and restaurants there. New Seam Reap is quite tacky. Just a short walk from you to the north around pub st.

Other may wish to add............

Oh and they stated that the taxi ride to SR from Poipet was fine, 2.5- 3hrs.

the above must be old

2 hours poi pet to SR by taxi $40-50

Tuk tuk ( just ask outside ur hotel) for the day MIN $15 an ur's from sunrise till u head to bed, I would usually be picked up ( before i started taking my own car) before dawn and than driven around till about 11 am than back to the hotel for a nap before back to Angkor around 4 to catch the sunset.

RECOMMENDED to go to Angkor before Dawn to see the sunrise, The book below tells u where to go an when for the best views. One of the most magical sights to see, also sunset.

Pick up a copy of "Ancient Angkor" available via street sellers and once u arrive in the complex $7-10 .

Pay a visit to the NEW museum located in town before u head to Angkor as it gives u lots of information.

You can get a free admission to see a sunset as the park allows u in for free after 4:30 pm.

3 day pass $40 but must be 3 consecutive days or $20/day

Head out to Kampong Phluk ( Vietnamese village on the lake), its a 1 hour tuk tuk ride an a 2 hour boat trip . Prices for the boat trip about $15 /person

Pub street, Ko San road for the suitcase backpackers. entertaining for an evening, Plenty of shops, clubs, rests an bars

MY trip in Photos; Cambodia

that mazda was a piece of shit 20 years ago when Larry brought it. :-)

Guess i was just there the wrong 2 days

PHUKET!!!!

they require a copy of ur ATM card from the bank u receive the money into

NOT a credit card.

You do NOT need to import 800,000 baht ./year, only receive that amount in pensions or.....if doing the combo method or getting ur extension on income. If ur doing the full 800,000 and no letter ( which we are not talking about here) than it has to be in the bank

My SS direct deposits go into my US bank, I have no problem giving them a copy of my US atm card and they asked 2 others while i was there for copies as well.

IF you do not want to give them what they asked for ur free to go elsewhere>> Seems the ONLY people that have troubles at Phuket immigration are those that don't want to give them what they ask for..

It really doesn't matter if its required at Pattaya, Bangkok or Ubon or not, it is required at Phuket

Cambodian internet and mobile phone systems are as good or better than Thailand's. Cheaper too. For mobile phone USB modem services, You can choose from Mobitel (Cellcard), Smart or Metfone. Landline services, I don't know. But if you depend on net access, you will want a main and backup service anywhere in Southeast Asia.

HUH:::

internet speeds are half what u will find in Thailand ( Apx $25 for 4 MBs) while i pay $20 for 10 Mbs with triple B in Phuket

http://www.livingincambodiaforums.com/ipb/topic/2748-metfone-internet-adsl-home-connection-installed/

Mobile rates are indeed better and u can get decent 3 g internet service.and use ur smart phone or buy a dongle for connecting. Plenty fast enough for skype calls/video and work unless ur doing stock market stuff

still many of us that moved here in the 80's/ early 90's still remain, we brought our land, build our homes, raised our families and still enjoy it here,

If u stay out of Patong and don't need travel to Phuket town much, its a dam nice place to live ( especially over here in Kamala)

My extension took 15 minutes last Thursday including re-entry..

Purgatory/ Hell?? long long way from that. All one needs to do is get off the island for awhile an you will see its still all good :-)

I'd really like to know how you get a letter from an American bank and what it says? What exactly did you ask the bank for? My bank (Schwab) isn't going to send me a letter saying I draw XXX amount every month.

Last year was the first time they pulled the letter from a bank thing. Let's just say I solved the problem of a letter creatively.

as did I :-)

I also gave them the letter i received from ss showing how much i receive

Phuket will change when it stops voting democratic!!!

and those in power stop treating phuket as their personal bank account

Bill;

best of luck, But, as i have know ya , what over 27 years?? Since u helped me open my Deli in Patong way before anyone else, (Don included) had one on the island (to bad it only lasted 4 months) i seriously doubt ur going to enjoy Pattaya,

Phuket still is the best place i have been in Thailand.

U should have brought ur own tuk tuk and allowed Flower to drive it years ago an saved tons of $$$$

I still don't know why so many locals still harp on the tuk tuk mafia, Who cares??? who uses them ( i have never been in one the whole time i have lived in Phuket) ? we all own motorbikes and cars and only the tourist take tuk tuk and arrivals continue to go up each year.

Everyone keeps saying this or that is killing Phuket but ......

if u apply via an agent in sr it might take up to a week,

as it needs be sent to Phnom Penh.

Why not apply in Vietnam, (Saigon, Hanoi)

he doesn't want to fly and the train is a great way to experience Thai life.

Its very easy to navigate from Bangkok Hua Lamphong station, so even a first time traveler could manage it

Beats siting on a bus any day :-) and adds maybe less than a hour

I sent some friends just last week who wanted to do it, though they were coming from Koh Chang

Koh Chang is off of Trat>>>>

You sent them to Bangkok than Poi Pet to reach SR??

Trat to the border and they cross at Koh Kong and taxi to SHV or PP than up to SR by bus or Taxi??

Plenty of taxi to pick up, but best bet is find one wanting to get back to SR

I note you have two youngsters!

You may care to investigate the possibility of flying from Phuket to Penang, KL, or Singapore to secure your tourist visas. I am sure this will be easier than attempting the trek to Laos with the two little ones!

Hopefully one of the experts will come along and advise.

none of those places offer double entry visa only single

Best bet for double is Laos and its easy to fly to udon and bus to Nong khai an travel across the border, tuk tuk to hotel and than embassy next monrning

Vientiane is great for small ones as its not a big city and easy to move around,

next day pick up ur visa an head back to Thailand or say another night

Will be there in a few minutes for my 11th consecutive extension. While not really a pleasure it has never been a hassle, always efficient.

maybe not as pleasurable as a nice swim or...

still its only a once/year visit!!!

Siem Reap is one of those towns that basically wouldn't exist if it weren't for one of the world's most incredible tourist attractions in its backyard. It is a bit of a tourist trap but does have some good places to eat & drink with a wide variety. Never lived there.

been there a half dozen times and would never consider living there. No angkor-- SR would be a backwater Cambodian town.

Full of Upper class backpackers "suitcase packers" or Asian tourists that hang out on pub street and eat all kinds of food BUT Cambodian even thou there are a few good ones but there not cheap and u can get some good breakfast deals ( same as PP)

There is a western style supermarkets so that's nice but the city is overrun with Korean, Japanese visitors staying in Japanese and Korean owned hotels but they are 90% package tourists

When i worked for a tourism publication back in 2008 80% of the 3-4 star hotels were in SR

I do have a few close friends that live there and there either Photographers or Travel agents

One has a really nice 3 bedroom 2 story house 2 blocks from the small river near center of town for $600/month so u can get great accomodation deals

Central is 3 d,

junk ceylon is not

http://booking.sfcinemacity.com/

last shots i had was back when i was in africa in the peace corps in 1981

Never had any since i have lived here

A second to the accidents for injuries is Dengue fever and nothing u can do to prevent getting it except cover up all the time and use mosquito replient.

good idea , u would Only need work out of ur house ( get a nice two bedroom)

advertise and spend time with the local expats to pick up business

a good friend of mine here in Phuket is a pscho therapist and thats how he works and does very well.

I think u would need be in Phnom Penh as those that live/hang out in shv are not what one would call wealthy and any monies they have would not go towards what ur offering.

Forget the rest of the country

Make sure u aply for the "Ordinary" visa on arrival $25 , which can be extened in country for up to a year at a time.