JeezeLooeze

My current non-O visa with the Chaeng Wattana IO expires 31 March 2023 when I plan to be out of Thailand.  Going forward I would prefer to have my annual 1 year visa renews land in either June or July annually when I know I will more likely to be in Thailand.

What are some proven strategies other knows of that work to be able to shift the date when my non- O visa is up for renewal and also ensure I maintain eligibility to re-apply for a non-O in the interim period between March and June/July together with the minimum THB800K/400K bank balance requirements over the 12 month period leading up to the new renewal date?

Thoughts?

On 7/6/2022 at 9:16 AM, Henryford said:

Is the baht sliding or the dollar rising? It seems fine against most other currencies.

All world fiat currencies are 'falling' against the USD (except the Russian Ruble). Or you could say the USD is 'strengthening' against all other currencies. Why? Because of the international demand for USD (despite all that printing) to pay off USD denominated debt and interest. A better measure, over the long term, is to compare the gold price against all other currencies. You might be surprised at what you find.

For those crypto savvy and have both a Thai bank account and an account with Bitkub I've found some of the best forex rates can be had is by buying crypto (maybe a stable coin) on the Bitkub exchange with your THB then sending this crypto to your overseas crypto exchange where you can trade it back into EUR (or USD) to send to your EUR SEPA bank account (or EUR a/c with WISE). Bitkub charges USDT4.00 withdrawal fee or USDC10.00. Cheaper transfers can be if you use some altcoins and trade carefully but there maybe tax implications. 

36 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

The national parks used to be 5 Baht for everyone,Thais and farangs. That was back in the eighties and into the nineties. I was a regular visitor of Khao Yai, biking from Prachinburi to Pak Chon and back. Late nineties (don't remember the exact year) someone in the Forest Department must have noticed that most private attractions - like the Katoey shows and the elephant, snake, crocodile, monkey etc shows were ripping off farangs and getting away with it, decided to follow suit and raised the park fees from 5 to 20 Baht for Thais, and from 5 to 200 Baht for farangs. A 40 fold increase made a nice welcome to Siam mat, on which I never stepped. 

Prior to 2002 National Parks were controlled by the Royal Forestry Department. Their attitude was less about conservation and more about resources "on their land" ripe to be exploited hence a lot of illegal logging. With serious deforestation and corruption NPs were moved over to the newly created National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Plodprasop Suraswadi was the permanent secretary at the time and introduced those huge increase in park entry fees for foreigners. He continued the attitude of exploiting natural parks to provide income but as the few remaining trees could not now be cut down (without a public outcry) he introduced and/or increased numerous fees for Thai and foreigners alike for those using NPs. In March 2020 Plodprasop was jailed for 2 years on corruption charges at the time he was acting permanent secretary. TIT.

2 minutes ago, Paris333 said:

I do not understand why the prices for Westerners are in numbers and for Thais are ....with letters .....! It is illegal with direct link to xenophobia and discrimination.

 

Yes it might seem that way but it's actually legally required for Thai government departments to use Thai language and Thai numerals in official notices and letters. What gets me is when the Thai private sector also uses Thai numerals instead of Arabic when double pricing....

Reminds me of my experience arriving at Swampy with 6 bottles of wine in my suitcase required for a New Years Party to be held later that month. I chose the customs green lane. As chance had it my suitcase was selected to go through the customs x-ray and upon said suitcase exiting the machine there was a customs officer pointing to a sign that said only 1 liter of alcohol allowed duty free. The suitcase was opened there and then and the offending contents verified and removed. In broken English the officer attempted to advise me that as I didn't declare the goods I would have to pay 4x the duty and the goods would be confiscated and that I would need to go to the office to fill in some forms. I then proceeded to withdraw some THB from my wallet and started to speak fluent Thai to him - "bro can I pay the "instant" fine instead? His eyes lit up upon hearing this farang speak his language! This farang understands the system! Before I could say 'Beaujolais' the THB was snatched from my hand, bottles returned to my suitcase, and the officer was directing me to exit in the opposite direction to where his superiors were located. Welcome to Thailand!   

One would like to think that international scientific peer-reviewed consensus and recommendations from (presumably an uncorruptable?) WHO to its member states would have every country on exactly the same page with regard to vaccination requirements and their efficacy - or lack thereof. That this is not the case reeks of political interference and incompetence with policy driving the science rather than science driving policy.   

2 hours ago, Harveyboy said:

just a question i have a medical card thanks to my wife working for the government and normally i don't pay at any government hospital even when admitted after an accident ..i did pay once but my wifes account was credited automatic 

i have a separate COVID insurance just in case so would my government medical card cover me on re entry or would insurance still be required

not that i plan leaving any time soon but  just read this post and thought id ask  Tks

I would like an official answer to this as well. Others on this thread have suggested that if you have Thai SS (or Thai govt issued "medical card") then upload proof of this as "proof of insurance" at the Thailand Pass website. Preferably do this and see if you get the pass before you leave Thailand to verify it works before leaving the country to avoid getting stuck overseas. I guess one could download a copy of one's monthly payments into the Thai SS from their website and use this as proof as they do not issue SS cards anymore. 

Just now, Bkk Brian said:

Who cares?

Those on the "Thai visa" forum might care who want to know about um..., errr..., visas. 

5 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

So PC  or should that be PRC is where they are.

 Brian holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Cambridge University. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, French and rusty Lithuanian and is currently studying Thai. Brian married his husband, Scott, in 2014 in one of the first same-sex marriages performed at the British Embassy Beijing. They are now the happy parents of three children.

Assuming Brian's husband Scott came with him to Bangkok I wonder what visa Scott is on given Thailand doesn't recognize same-sex marriages? 

4 hours ago, slsmith38 said:

I know I am wasting my time with this post but have any of you Sinovac bashers actually had any real dealings with the Chinese, worked with Chinese companies and spent time in China at Chinese manufacturing facilities? I personally have for many years and have a lot of respect for what the Chinese can do well. Have a look at all your belongings and see how many were made in China. You have a perception based on very little factual information. I do not believe the Chinese vaccines are any worse or better than other brands and they did use tried and tested methods in their development – unlike Pfizer and others. Also, please don’t quote efficacy results as all the vaccines were tested under completely different circumstances and stages of the pandemic. I admit it would not be my first choice as it is not yet recognized internationally which makes travel more difficult, but if I could get a Sinovac jab tomorrow I would certainly take it.

I also note that both the Chinese vaccines Sinovac (CoronaVac) or Sinopharm (BIBP) are 'traditional' inactivated type vaccines and not the new mRNA gene therapy vaccines that use the as-yet untested viral vector mRNA technology  adopted by Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Sputnik V. If I was to ever to get a vaccine I would only get it after this current "experimental" test stage was over and only use the tried and tested Inactivated vaccine type only and not the viral vector mRNA type.

Back in 2009 I took a return flight to Nairobi, Kenya from Bangkok but was afraid I wouldn't be let back into Thailand if I couldn't present evidence that I had been vaccinated against Yellow Fever as is current Thai regulation.

The only place offering this vaccine in Thailand at the time was the Thai Red Cross. My only reason for getting the vaccine was not because I was afraid of getting sick but of being locked out of Thailand where I worked. Interestingly enough my vax status was not verified when checking in for the return flight, nor upon arrival in Bangkok. It turned out to be a much ado about nothing.

My point being that "Vax Passports" already exist albeit on limited routes/locations. This time around though it's on a whole different scale and I suspect more to do with profiteering Big Pharma and the control of populations than it is about health. If it wasn't we would hear more  promoting good diet, exercise and building a strong immune system, and proven remedies rather than propaganda about dodgy vaccines ad nauseam.  The annual flu bug has now been re-branded as C19 with the fear-factor ramped up and from the comments one reads here it looks like the propaganda is working. 

I now read that "Merck scraps COVID-19 vaccines that produced ‘inferior’ immune response" as the vaccine candidates provoked immune responses weaker than those seen after someone was naturally infected with the virus. Maybe there is hope for us yet.

Has Part (6)(b) of the Criteria been mis-translated? To have 'consecutively been in Thailand" for retirement from October 1998 until 55 years of age wouldn't that mean retirees would have started retirement at age 32 to be eligible? ????

When in Rome you do as the Romans do.

I once stumbled upon a young thai couple having sexual intercourse in a meditation cave at the Tiger Temple Krabi. I politely apologised, turned off the light and waited outside...Slightly embarrassed they exited the cave fully dressed so I could continue my tour. Maybe I should have posted the pics of the couple on social media?

The writer spells out what the acronyms APEC, ACMEC and AC mean but fails on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) comprised of the following member nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Given the writer's assertion about the lack of awareness about ASEAN and what it is, one would think to actually include a brief explanation in the article would be helpful.

Noam Chomsky calls US 'world's leading terrorist state'

The United States is the “world's leading terrorist state,” based on its deadly, CIA-run operations in the likes of Nicaragua and Cuba, according to new op-ed by historian and social philosopher Noam Chomsky.

In a piece posted at Truth-out.org, entiltled "The Leading Terrorist State" Chomsky pointed to the Central Intelligence Agency’s classified review of its own efforts to arm insurgencies across the globe in its 67-year history.

The New York Times was the first to uncover the story and Chomsky opened by suggesting the Times’ own headline for it should have been titled, "It's official: The U.S. is the world's leading terrorist state, and proud of it,” rather than "CIA Study of Covert Aid Fueled Skepticism About Helping Syrian Rebels."

Chomsky further stated:

“To this we may add the world's greatest terrorist campaign: Obama's global project of assassination of ‘terrorists.’ The ‘resentment-generating impact’ of those drone and special-forces strikes should be too well known to require further comment,” he wrote. “This is a record to be contemplated with some awe.”

The spot gold price reflects the trading of "paper" gold by central banks to maintain confidence in fiat currencies and keep up investor confidence in stocks, bonds etc. and away from gold. The simple fact that average costs are about USD1,000 for miners to dig 1oz t of REAL gold out of the ground (before profit) indicates just how unrealistic the current gold price is for physical gold. As world gold stocks move from west to east, it will not be London or New York that will be setting the spot price but Shanghai, and the Shanghai Gold Exchange only trades in physical gold.

NZ's TV3 Cambell Live show of 15 July 2014 reports two female kiwi travellers were accused of being counterfeit dealers by Bangkok police. Video & read more here.

Isn't this guy innocent until proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt in a court of law? Police treating him like this seems to suggest that they think he is already guilty, no need for due process, stop wasting our time! The court of public opinion has already convicted you.