borracho

Upstairs in Carrefour.

Ermm is this really a Thailand related subject?

A discussion of current HIV statistics would be more informative than the perversions of the Netherlands!

hi again..

thanks for posts , i gotta say im abit gutted bout weather, i was expecting clear blue skies and crystal waters!! 3 weeks to go! - maybe ill get lucky.

thanks again for posts ....

The weather lately has been running in 3-4 day cycles. Unless we catch the edge of a cyclone (which usually happens later) you should catch some decent weather. Even when it rains it's mild and warm.

I like it now because it's not crowded and the traffic isn't too bad.

Just be very careful swimming at certain beaches. At least one person dies every year getting caught in currents.

If you're intent on swimming and using the beaches you need to know the tides and the characteristics of the beach. Some are just fine. Some are quite treacherous. You don't want to be one the the statistics for the season.

Also riding motorbikes requires a very large measure of caution and "savoir faire"! 300+ people die every year from motorbike crashes just in Phuket.

If you hit a poor spell of weather plane rides out of here are frequent and cheap.

But like I said this is my favorite time of year here. There are many things to do and many options.

hi i have just moved to chalong from koh samui(thank god)i am looking for places for a beer and some nice restaurants in the area any ideas? thanks.

Hello Samui bill,

I can warn you against one rather famous place, Mom tri's boathouse. Hotel looked great, but pricey. At the restaurant we were served some very good prawn cocktail and deep fried tiger prawns and some spoiled crabs. Yup the crabs had gone off, their putrid odor was enough to put us off much of the rest of the meal. Our several complaints brought nothing other than an apology. We did not eat the creepy crustaceans and thought some monetary refund in order. No dice.

God I hate places like that.

For the best seafood on the island the Parlai restaurant is the place!

If I had a rocket launcher!!

\ They used to have pork pies, but I haven't been there for a while and every time I have passed the place,

Be careful you might offend out Muslim brothers by discussing "PORK".

^It's not fair to label all Fortuner drivers as a$$holes because many aren't.

If I bought one it would be white, remove all the chrome and I'd never wash it.

Fortuners are victims of their own success. It's a great truck. But It's become a poser status symbol for the easily influenced.

A black one pimped out with 22"wheels and low profile tyres screams ignorance.

The drivers of these pimped out shiny garbage zip around honking at pedestrians as if to further prove what stupid a$$holes they are!!

So what at least I don't have to be making their payments!

What the OP in his myopia doesn't know is that a very large share of Patong real estate is owned by Indians. As a rule they made better landlords than their philandering Thai counterparts.

If you don't like East Indians...well it's tough tit because they aren't going anywhere.

When I apply for my 60 day visa, can I show the Thai embassy an airline ticket with a 90 day return date or do I have to purchase a ticket with a 60 day return date and change the return date (at an extra charge) while I am in Thailand?

You don't have to show a plane ticket for a tourist visa.

Google thai consulates in the US. Printout the visa application and instructions. Follow the instructions and you get a visa. The visa is valid for 90 days before you have to use it. It can all be done via mail or fedex.

Yes but alot has changed in phuket and for the worse..................

There's good and bad everywhere. Maybe you haven't travelled around enough. Bon Voyage. I hear all the grumpy expats are moving to Cambodia and having a wonderful time gripping about Thailand.

Bubbye!!

Where ever you go there you are!

Steak and kidney pie saturday and sunday special at the Islander restaurant in Patong. Excellent!

A harley fatboy.

byeth .... I thjink you missed the part about this thread being about visa regs

To sum up how I see the numbers running right now .... 30% unhappy or moving ... and 70% OK with things as they are though that is split 50/50 by people that say it is getting harder.

The visa regulations have really only changed significantly for 30 days stampers and certain income requirements for b-visas/WPs.

I like to watch!

If being weirdo was enough to get you indicted and extradited most of the expats here would qualify.

Ain't it the truth!

I know I'd qualify. I live in Patong and I prefer studying thai and swimming to drinking with and bonking bargirls. Weird indeed.

I was wandering around in VT5 a couple of months or so ago and they seemed to be putting in foundations for VT7.

The Viewtalay company has one of the best tract records in Pattaya. They are an extremely well connected outfit.

I'd say I't would be a bad bet to count them out on the VT7 project.

I looked at the plans. It will be the best of them all. It will get built. And Jomtien condohotel owners will continue to have conniptions.

I own a spa.

Just being able to ask yourself the question indicates that if you do have a problem it isn't terribly severe.

Indications of serious drinking problems are fights, DUIs employment problems and assorted health issues.

One early sign of a liver problem is either finding yourself smashed on just a couple of beers or being unable to get smashed even though you've consumed a large volume of alcohol.

It's a sign you're getting older.

I'd say listen to your body. If it's saying taper off a bit do it. Just stop drinking for 3-6 months.

That will give you're liver a chance to rest and you will see whether or not you like looking a the world stone cold sober.

It has happened often.

I have a really hard time believing that tourists are often and routinely tossed into the immigration jail for a one or two day overstay. If it did we'd be hearing about it.

Just like an one or two day expired drivers license there is some latitude. The thai drivers license allows 6 months to renew it.

Do I wait till the end of the six months to renew? No I try to go in the day after it expires.

If I knew I would be overstaying 1 day would I count on the immigration unofficial latitude? No I'd go ahead and get a 60 day visa and be prepared for the unexpected.

I had a flight cancelled out of Don Muang once which caused me to overstay a day and half.

No one raised an eyebrow.

But would I make my travel plans knowing I'd overstay? No I wouldn't.

Problem with slagging stupid drivers is there is no end to it.

Thai people, expats, and tourists all seem share the road with equal stupid driving tricks!

Even "I" the "greatest driver in the world" has a brain fart once in a while.

How about a poll: "Is anyone perfect?"

I don't get it.

Sure Phuket is crowded. Anyone tried to drive around Samui recently?

All the attractions of Phuket remain and continue to improve.

So what if jumbo jet full of chinese are invading.

If you want deserted beaches just drive north 200km.

If you want good food, entertainment, nightlife, massages for affordable prices go to Patong.

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

If you can't find what you want here it likely it either doesn't exist or you will never have the "eyes to find it.

I think it exactly means that, "planning to migrate away from Thailand." JRTexas, I'm hoping that your dream of getting out of Thailand will come true soon. I'm rooting for you to get out of my country asap! That's from me personally.

Why take this issue so personally?

I found JRT's post articulate while raising some valid points regarding living here. We should have our eyes open given the current changes occurring in the government.

I certainly don't think it's time to panic and "abandon ship". Nor is it time to let your personal emotions distort reality.

It's very unlikely an Idi Amin will happen here.

Thai society is a very mixed bag, things are stirred up a bit now as they are all over the world.

I'm afraid we are living in interesting times which I think require one to be dispassionate.

I'd prefer people spare us their alarmist hysteria or otherwise myopic perspectives.

In March 1991, Alan M. Maxfield, 59, was convicted in Pueblo District Court of sexual assault on a child in a position of trust and aggravated incest.

At the time, Maxfield was free on a $10,000 bond. He was sentenced to two consecutive four-year prison terms, according to court records.

Slightly different circumstances!

The only thing they had on Karr was a suspicion of child porn on a computer that was lost and for being a weirdo.

If being weirdo was enough to get you indicted and extradited most of the expats here would qualify.

^ agreed at least 1 day overstay doesn't incur a penalty.

Not necessarily true.

If you are stopped for some minor offence and you have overstayed, even one day,

you will land up in the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok.........

Now that is a penalty.

Not worth the risk.

That has only been known to have happened once.

When a visa run bus from Phuket to Ranong was stopped by army looking for drug runners.

I think 12 people on the bus were overstayed, detained and taken to Bangkok.

In the end it was a big embarrassment for the Thai officials. And indeed one or two of the detainees had only a one day overstay.

In the end all the detainees were taken back to Ranong and allowed to continue their visa run.

It's highly unlikely the Thai officials want to embarrass themselves by hassling someone one day overstay.

That said it still might be wise to have a 60 day tourist visa which would give you plenty of breathing room