spaceshipcrew

I also can't stand the stupid beeping in our Altis. However, being "Fair and Balanced", I will admit the beeping had reminded my wife several times that she was in reverse possibly preventing a mishap.

She worried about that and argued against us buying an automatic for that reason, she having driven only manual shift vehicles. I told her no way would I subject myself to her (less than smooth) clutch operation!

Somebody who is not aware of the gear switched in reverse should NOT drive a car at all !!!

The car in question is luckily not my car (would never buy a new style Toyota myself, also for that reason) but of a Thai friend who asked me for advise.

Garagist at Toyota brandgarage says 'impossible, will damage and loss of guarantee' but Thai often talk out of their neck, and somebody else said 'sure it's possible'

Any experiences ?

My Pinay gf is preparing her first trip to Thailand, she got the advise from a Philippino govvie employee to get a letter of invitation.

Does it have to be Schengen style including a letter of guarantee and proven income ??

If I -as a foreigner- write such letter does it have any value for a Thai govvie peep ? Can't imagine they will be very impressed.

Or I write it and have it stamped by the touristpolice ? Written in Thai perhaps and signed by a (any) Thai ?

Hints welcome !

Are there different types, with or without a national or local goverment license etc, or commercial ones. What are there different ways to get one ? Only possible for nationals and foreign residents with or without workpermit, and what are options for a non-resident who accompany a group in Thailand ?

Because of her medical history she must get prior approval to fly by getting a medical certificate and waiting for the airline to approve it. This certificate must be within 10 days of flying. In her case I think it may be more comfortable to get the approval to leave in advance too and go by sleeper train to Vientiene if possible. As they use small planes on that route there may be a problem as access is restricted and if her mobility is poor may permission may not be given.

My mum flew several times the 12 hour trip by EVA air, no problem. Airports wheelchair service is very well organized. Lao Airlines I know as a very sympathetic airliner, and the owner of the bookingoffice is a friend of me, so special certificates might not be necessary.

...why would you subject her to a bus trip etc ...

He would not. The OP, spaceshipcrew, never said anything about a bus trip. On the contrary, he wrote about "not to miss flights". It was another member, chris2dv8, who butted in with off-topic talk about travel by land.

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Maestro

Well I am sorry 'for butting in' But I would have thought a road trip would be far easier and she could stop and go at her wish

(taking her time) and viewing the country as she travels. I have done many, many border runs and I too enjoy them (I am a traveller) I can also say I have never ever been checked before getting to the border (maybe next time )

And it wasn't off topic as it was to do with getting her visa sorted. I also said road trip not 'bus trip' as a wheelchair person I've assumed (rightly or wrongly) she would have her own transport

Going by Thai nitebus for 15 hours ? Also for myself I avoid this for ANY price, it's a horrible nitemare !

There's a very good flight connection with Vientiane and it's inexpensive. The border hassle and passing at Nongkai it's very time consuming, while by air with a stopover in Luangprabang you get the Laos visa in less then 3 minutes.

3 hours for a Luangprabang siteseeing and some food, then the 40 minutes flight to Vientiane, I love it.

A trip out of the country will be needed to get a visa and then the extension will be easy.

You should take her on the trip to Vientiane but do it by air and pay the overstay at the airport. And then get her the non-o visa at the consulate there.

What are the benefits of paying the overstay fine at the airport ?

Someone advised me to arrange it a week in advance, also not to miss flights etc.

At the airport do they take this so easy ?

Somebody should go to immigration and make arrangements to get the overstay taken care of. The fine will be 20,000 baht. She could even just go to the airport and pay the fine and leave without a problem.

She has more than enough pension to meet the requirements for an extension of stay for retirement. She only needs to prove 65,000 by way of a letter from the embasssy.

If she goes to Vientiane she should get a single entry non immigrant O visa based upon being over 50. She only needs her passport to prove her age.

What is your status here? If you are on an extension of stay she can even get an extension based upon your extension with no proof of income needed.

Myself I live in Thailand for 8+ years on tourist visa (I'm always looking forward to do a visarun, in stead of most foreigners who hate them, lol) but now I might go for a workpermit and related visa adjustment.

Ubonjoe many thanks for your serious suggestions btw :-)

My 79 year old mum stays here without a valid visa since December 30, 2006. She is not too fit anymore -2 heamorrage strokes in the past- and bound to a wheelchair. She got tired of visaruns, so we followed the advise -as she never meets any govvie officials- to leave her at home and take the 'overstay' fine.

Her biggest wish now is a holiday to Vientiane, Laos. So we need to organise that. Any tips on how to do ? Is it enough to pay the 'overstay' fine of b20.000 at the immigration office a week in advance ?

Mum has a monthly pension of around 80.000 bath on her European bankaccount (no savings), can she obtain for a retirementvisa ? (after the overstay history) What steps to take for this, what costs to expect and is it worth the hassle ?

Many thanks in advance for all useful information.

Please use the word 'foreigner' in stead of the invective 'farang', thank you.

Tip: NEVER copy a Thai !

150b a day and after the job has done in time, if he did not steal ot damage anything you can give him a 100 extra.

In Bangkok, the Foreign Ministry said it had not heard of the Bonn sojourn.

Very typical again

If I would own Bt100 million or Bt200 million I would NEVER spend one more satang here !

And when it´s time to give new style traffic education to Thai, as well as environmental conciousness and the relevant changes of attitude towards evironment ?

The only rules are always being updated in this country are the visarules but improvement of the own kind seems a non issue !

MAXNET has two faces, the ultimately dumb chicks at the callcenters who are not able to do their work professional, the troubled servers who lack fulltime automated linemonitoring and automatic resets, bad servers/serverports, bad cablenetwork etc. giving downtime every few days and short hickups few times a day. But also the very kind and helpful local manager of TTT Chiangmai mr. Thanakorn who really does his best to help you, I love this man. And the sweet and patient girls of local office of TTT @ Central KSK Chiangmai who again managed to cancel a monthly bill because May was really a trouble month.

Tip: bring a bag of candies for this girls and they will be on your side from then on !

Actually, all foreigners should be registered with the local police. It's law that the head of the house should notify the police when a foreigner stays there.

Most foreigners stay in hotels/apartments and the landlords should register them.

Not sure if reporting your address to immigration nullifies or complies this law or not.

what a bleeding crap.

Is this a police country???? we are the one that help you with economy as a turists, Please bring back Mr. Taksin........

Thaksin back, holy gosh U wanna WAR ??

In Holland one of the largest cities (Rotterdam) has a Moroccan mayor, I suggest here it's about time for the much-needed foreigners to get their own own representatives in the gov...

Just back from few refreshing days in Gods fertile Philippines, above the immigration boots is written 'VISITORS' while above Thai immigration boots there's written 'FOREIGNERS'

Feel the subtle difference ?

Best way to get the ink off your fingers is Lao Kao, it´s about the same we use in Europe to clean greasy windows.

For some reason here they drink it

simple question:

Does a story like this have a DIRECT effect on tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism? etc, etc, etc,,

Ofcourse it has.

This example is local government.

Sounds like police tends to teach good morals to foreigners, but when it´s time for themselves to get educated and learn about dignity, respect, selfesteem, resposibilities and professionalism ?

When will girls stop ripping and cheating loving foreign boyfriends who care about them and bring new chances by pulling the whole family out of poverty ? When will those who participate in traffic stop smiling their responsibilities away and drive without bringing others in danger ?

Why they keep visarules for foreigners always updated but traffic rules don't matter and still not able to design safe roads and clean environment ?

The shortcomings to their own education and developments seems too often been projected on foreigners, most easy targets.

Stupid behaviour and stealing a bartowels is wrong (though in the western world it's a sport to collect bartowels and ashtrays this way) but let them please not teach foreigners about whats right and what wrong, because that's a big joke !

It's slowly but surely getting that way that over-all it’s much cheaper for me to live in the UK.

I pay heavily to live here but at what point do I say enough is enough?

In Thailand i rent a house for 15.000 Baht per month.

In the UK I own my own house.

In Thailand my lady costs me somewhere in the region of 20.000 Baht every month.

That’s 35.000 Baht or 700 pounds worth of outgoings I don’t have in the UK.

The annual visa shit is another story.

Contrary to belief, the cost of living in the tropics doesn’t come cheap.

I've had twelve wonderful years here but!!

Is it time to bail out and go home?

In the UK perhaps you have a room for rent ?

Actually, after 8 years in Chiangmai and almost start suffering from a mental illness if I stay here anylonger I'm gonna try Philippines. My new girlfriend there is a Gods gift (indeed as they say about Pinays) and it seems much more easy to setup some business, and just the amount of energy it gives to make a new start is worth a try !

Pizza Company is a Thai copy of Pizza Hut.

Both have nothing to do with a real pizza just tasteless fat for big stomaches.

If you eat such kind of food who cares which one you choose

Roberto in Chiangmai Ratchamanka soi2 is a great guy and his Thai wife talk too much, only when I order capers and ansjovis I get about 5 pieces of both, can hardly find them without binoculairs, so much too xpensive.

By own experience 2 years ago: I love Vientiane a thousand times more then any Thai city, but hospitals were a schocking experience.

My former Laotian girlfriend Noy had a minor motorbike accident but as result a painfull infection the day after. In few hours we have seen all Vientiane hospitals from the inside, including the regular hospital at beginning of Fanghum Road, the womans hospital furtheron, the International hospital, and Red Cross hospital. Consult 20 bath, medicines 30 bath and value for money. Doctors conclusion: it should heal by itself.

It did not feel comfortable at all and decided to bring her to the Nongkai Wattana Hospital right away. After a brief examination they transferred her by ambulance to the Udontani Wattana, the specialist was there and she needed immediate treatment. It appeared to be a serious infection that could have even caused death if not treated. We stayed there for 5 days.

After all I found both European styled Wattana Hospitals in Nongkai and Udontani a breath of fresh air after few personal experiences with the highly arrogant and sometimes incapable Chiangmai Ram One where only the cleaning girls are friendly.

But Vientiane standards you can compare with those of the poor side of Africa, people laying on the floor, dirty and dark, poor styled etc. and after all the treatment itself... I feel sorry for all the poor people of Laos who never could afford better.

PS we have not been in the mentioned foreign embassy clinics in Vientiane.

Noy

If a company advertises or a restaurant has it's menu in the English language, then it is a reasonable assumption that they are capable of conducting their business using the English language.

I think so yes, or let managars just stop that completely misplaced pretentions and stop using English in advertisements.

After stepping around here for 12 years and living for 8 years I do speak fluent Thai, just something inside made me stop using it (only for the respectable people usually elderly, and the many 'old style' friendly people I meet when in the province) and think 'it's about time Thai learn to speak English.

You don't help an infant to just laugh about his stupid mistakes, sometimes you may give a hint. Ofcourse my reason to stay here is not to behave like a neurotic teacher or missionary, just that they can be so helpless...

Maybe my problem is being in Chiangmai too long and started to feel 'at home' in this hole, and compare everything with my 'real home'...

Whatever

You know what I really hate about McDonald's here. "DJ Kelly". If you didn't notice McDonald's has what they call McDonald's radio (the sound of trendy). They play pop music, usually quite loudly and run ads for the food, and they have this chick called DJ Kelly and she has the most atrocious annoying way of talking that makes you think she learned how to speak English on Mars. She emphasizes all the wrong syllables in the most pretentious and forced manner. My wife also finds her annoying.

They could not a found anyone in Thailand with worse habits in speaking English. She must be related to a big boss.

Yes it's a tiny problem, I probably won't leave Thailand over it, but this seems to be a thread about petty annoyances so that is one of mine.

Hehehihihurrrp... and what to think of many callcenters 'for english please pless nine' in American accent...

asking for "mayonaise and salt" might solve your problem.

skipping McSh*t altogether might be another solution

No, you know what the solution for this ? Looking them in the eye, raising one finger when you say 'sald' and raising a second finger when you say 'mayonaise' which make them realize you asked for TWO things in one sentence. Even then sometimes they forget but usually it helps !

Thats how I learned to solve this, hehe...

Just see Thailand as a big kindergarten and it's all more easy. Actually a large part of the adults have the mental level, responsibility, understanding, cause-and-effect awareness etc. of a 6 (4?) year old back in Europe.