GeorgeO

 

I suggested that most "users" start with "soft" or "recreational" drugs and ultimately lead on to more dangerous alternatives leading to incidents such as we have seen here.

 

You make such broad statements without any scientific or statistical basis. You also have a problem with understanding logic. Just because one event happens after some other event, it doesn't mean that there is a direct "cause and effect" link. What level of education did you attain?

 

You may wish to offer reasons for your personal decision to do drugs, but you will not change my attitude towards the use of any drugs for non-essential purposes ... the world would be a better place without any of them...!

 

I wonder how much support there is (other than from yourself) for the banning of beer, wine, coffee, tea and chocolate, and sending people to prison for the possession and consumption of these.

You already made your stance clear on this issue, and it is clear that we differ markedly; however, you do not see me lowering the tone of the thread and questioning your level of education, do you? 

FYI, after a full military career, I studied for an LLB (Law and Psychology) followed by a Master of Science Degree in Human Resource Development. Is that sufficient for you?

No one should care what prices a certain restaurant charges and neither should the government. That is unless for some reason people are coerced to purchase from it like tour groups that are told that they must pay for deck chairs on each island or the guide wont look after their property, and not stating it when looking at the brochure that this is a required extra. The PiPi island 20 baht fee for tour groups as well...  but then it's just 20 baht, right!

 

I get annoyed at having to ask the price / for a menu everywhere I go. That I can go to the same shop, that doesn't show prices, and get different prices on different days leads me to always ask the prices every time. However, that is the way it works. Another thing to watch for is when you ask the price and they prepare the item (especially food) for you without giving a price. I've asked prices then sent in my savvy local friends in to get a better price.

 

If the restaurant has menus with prices on and wants to charge whatever prices suits them, it should be their business. If they add extra dishes that where not ordered or served or manipulate the price after ordering then it should be a criminal issue.

 

PS. I just thought of a great scam. Two menus one with low prices and one with high prices. Then when the bill comes the high prices are charged rather than the low prices and when the customer asks to see the menu the high priced menu is shown. I wonder if that has ever been done!?

That has been an "old trick" in Pattaya for years...!!

The police say that he he physically assaulted a police officer and struggled over the officer's weapon and his friends say that the vpolice shot him for nothing. Someone is lying. 

Judging by the number of incidences of police brutality in the US, I think I know which story I prefer...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cases_of_police_brutality_in_the_United_States

Even if the price doubles, it's still a good deal when you consider that you get to learn the language AND stay in the country for a year without border runs. Totally worth it, in my opinion.

The thing is, at 100,000 Bt year (paid in advance for 5 years) one can stay in country with no extensions, visa runs or other hassle, and get benefits that for many are more appealing than going to school. As the price and inconvenience of studying to stay in country increases, that is a valid point.

Even if it costs 50k baht a year from here on out (which I don't think it will), the school will still be half of what the elite costs and it is paid over time instead of all at once. I do agree that at a certain point, the elite will be a better option for a lot of people. And, if the number of hours went up to something outrageous (someone said 25 hours a week at one point), then I'd probably opt for the elite. But, for now, this is still the better choice and kills two birds with one stone for me.

I don't think 8 hours a week is too much to ask. That's equivalent to less than three classes a week at a US college. Still nowhere near full time study.

12 credit hours a week qualifies as full-time study in the US. That's 12 hours in class per week. Your professors keep you plenty busy for the rest of the week with reading and homework. Perhaps some Thaivisa posters who think that 25 hours is a full-time course load have never gone to college, or went so long ago that they forgot. The baseless and unsubstantiated rumors which get posted on this forum are astounding.

I can't imagine that Thai Immigration would ever require 25 hours, that's just someone doing a wind-up and trolling the forum. 20 isn't unheard of to qualify for a student visa in developed countries. Since Thailand fancies itself a developed nation, they are probably headed to 20 hours in the long run, but I believe it would take a long time to get there, since anyone who can afford to spend that much time studying will choose to go somewhere nicer like Australia or Japan.

...well said. When I studied for my MSc degree, I attended 16 hours of seminars and lectures per week, but it was made clear to us that for each hour in class, we needed to spend approximately 2 to 3 hours in library/private study. We actually didn't need to be told that because it was obvious that the classes only provided the basic building blocks.

For those on here who whine about 8 hours per week of class studies, well I guess, they are the ones that these changes are directly aimed at...!!

If one has already gone through 5 or 6 years with ED Visas to study Thai, could he/she be granted a visa for another year? In otherwords, do they have a limit to the number of years of ED Visas for that?

If one has already gone through 5 or 6 years of staying in Thailand on ED Visas, then that 'one' is 'one' of the 'ones' that the changes are aimed at...!!

 

If it's T's idea that she return home, then he's playing a high-stakes game in terms of public sentiment and issues of morality - at least high stakes for him and his family. If it all goes pear-shape for her, then T and co lose the moral high ground on the world stage, and destroy what remaining shreds of support they have in Thailand, and this is very likely anyway. So what is going on? I seriously doubt a deal has been done with the junta as the rice scheme is far too significant to be nudged aside or diminished in any way. This is very intriguing as I doubt YL is returning as a matter of principle, nor to continue the good fight on behalf of the Shins. There is simply no way she is going to expose herself to the risk of incarceration when she has the resources to spend the rest of her life in luxury.

 

You are severely underestimating the support they have in Thailand, otherwise they would not have won every single election they stood in.

 

 ... correction: ... the support they "had"...

If the Re-Entry permit was incorporated into a one year visa then all the Cheap Charlies would be up in arms complaining the price of a One Year Visa has doubled or tripled in price.

 

If my memory serves me correctly Single RE 1900 Baht  Multiple RE 3800 Baht.

On the contrary, I'm sure that there are many people, like me, who have no real reason to leave the country on a regular basis, as being here provides a valuable opportunity for family and friends to visit me and have a nice holiday in Thailand without hotel bills. There are probably also many thousands who came here to get away from their home country, and thus, have no desire whatsoever to visit it again...! 

I would extrapolate, from the people that I know who are on retirement visas, that there are probably three times as many retirees who simply stay here without the need for a re-entry permit, let's say, in more than one year out of every three or four.

Immigration could quite easily determine exactly how many retirement extensions are made every year, and exactly how many single-entry permits are applied for each year. If the retirement extensions outnumber the permits by about three to one, why not divide the total revenue from re-entries by the total number of retirement extensions and then combine the costs. If it were to add 600 or 700 baht to the cost of a retirement extension, but automatically included a single re-entry permit, I would have no problems with that, as it would still be only around 50 quid a year for a retirement extension. On a personal note, it might even encourage me to have a holiday outside Thai borders once a year.

Anyone wanting a multi-entry permit would of course be required to pay a supplement to the extension/single re-entry cost.

As far as I can see, this would greatly reduce the workload of the Immigration Departments (relating to Retirement extensions) and would avoid anyone, like the current OP, ever having to go through his current predicament.

At Sam Koke, the Immigration office for Pathum Thani, the put a stamp in your passport after you get your extension:

 

NOTICE

TO KEEP YOUR STAY PERMIT RE-ENTRY PERMIT

MUST BE MADE BEFORE LEAVINT THAILAND

 

NOTIFICATION OF RESIDENCE MUST BE

MADE EVERY 90 DAYS

 

i figure it's nice of them to remind us of these requirements, and in the end, saves them work and complaints, too.

 

Mac

I also experience the same thing every time I go to Samut Prakhan office, with specific reference to the point on Re-entry permits.

The Samut Prakhan office is so well run that when the whole process is over and you have your passport back, the officer even provides you with a reminder that you need to get a re-entry permit now if you intend to leave the country at all.

It's a shame that this isn't common practice throughout Thailand as I also have a friend who did his at Chaeng Wattana and left the country without a re-entry permit, only to find himself in the same position as the OP.

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

 

What a truly pathetic father and son.......no doubt the wives and children knew what was going on, so if they are still here in Thailand, then no doubt they'll be in for a hard time....meanwhile pop and son live it up on the Rue De Rivoli maybe, with that other creep!

 

And the father has the gall to say he is mr. nice guy protecting democracy for Thailand and at the same time embroiled in numerous illegal activities.

 

Hope he can never return, also his son. Thailand is better off without these types.

I personally hope the whole world becomes aware of just how corrupt and self-serving the PTP government was and ultimately gives in to pressure to have them extradited to face 20+ year sentences...!!

 

 

 

 

Like the yellow Buddhist monk.

The Thug of all Thugs

 

The "thug of all thugs"? I don't recall him killing any children...!!

 

You're not counting the kids in the "drug" car my friend, nor the kids in the mosque! It's amazing how short some people's memories are!! 

 ... and Buddha Issara was involved in those incidents was he...?! Do try to keep up...!!

 

 

Oh, is this the guy who supplied the weapons to the "popcorn gunman" , the one who shot and maimed the elderly grandfather? Or did those weapons come from a different source? Maybe he provided the guns used in the murders,shootings, bashings, interrogations, torture...some of which were overseen by the poisoned monk. This is a multi-faceted story.

 
Do you have evidence to prove your allegations against an individual? Or just more tripe aimed to misdirect.
Some if not all of these terrorists and their weapons suppliers will start talking and then we shall see where the trails lead, on all sides.

 

I'm not misdirecting anything. It is more likely to be your selective memory at fault. The monk overseeing the interrogation of the bashed police officers was on the front page of The Nation. So too were the popcorn gunman and the Navy Seals arrested with an arsenal of weapons and fake ID cards from the PDRC. Don't forget the army guys arrested in relation to the asassination attempt on the red shirt leader. This is not a one way street as you would have us believe. There are arms suppliers on both sides of these incidents. We can hope that ALL of them are exposed. Unlikely.

 

Prbkk, you are a bare-faced liar...!! The newspaper showed the two men (dressed in plain clothes) having a drink and a discussion with the monk. There were no signs of ill treatment on either man, and it is only afterwards that there were allegations of mistreatment, allegedly undertaken by PDRC guards after the monk had left...!!

You talk about selective memory ... what a crock of sh1t you continually post...!!

 

 

But he is a yellow shirt and this can't be happening, Yellow shirts are squeaky clean and beyond criticism.  Maybe now people may just start to understand that corruption and other criminal activities are spread across both sides and not exclusive to red shirts.

 

Chooka, if you could take off your rose-tinted glasses for just a moment, you would see that a good proportion of us who are anti-corruption (anti-Thaksin, same thing) have been calling for this all along.

 

This is nothing to do with whether he is a yellow shirt (which of course he predates) or one of your beloved red shirts. The reason that gen. Prayuth stepped in is to bring all of this corruption to an end, which I continue to applaud.

 

Now what you need to do is try to adopt a similar impartial stance and finally cast off your obvious bias...!!

 

Where is my bias????????  If you bothered to read my post I actually said that corruption and other criminal activities are spread across both sides.  How is that being biased to one or the other.  I actually thought saying both sides were involved in corruption was taking an impartial stance.

 

My beloved reds shirts are you bloody serious????????????  I hate the piece of excrement called Thaksin and his red shirts.  I also hate the piece of filth Suthep and his mad monk.  I do however support all the good people caught in the middle. 

 

Just because I don't support your mad monk and the idiot Suthep friend that does not make me a red shirt.

So this doesn't smack of bias?:

But he is a yellow shirt and this can't be happening, Yellow shirts are squeaky clean and beyond criticism. 

 ... and by the way, if you read any of my posts you will note that I have equal disdain for any corrupt politician from any party, and also that I have never placed any support behind Suthep, the "mad monk" or any extremists within the ranks of the anti-government protestors...although the peaceful protestors have always had my full support!!

Where you get the idea that it's "my" Buddha Issara and that Suthep is my "friend" is beyond me...!!

 

 

Morris, still got a hangover mate? :)To get you up to speed, the Sondhi case has been running for years! Goes to prove that your beloved yellow shirts are not as clean as you thought huh? lol

 

You and your 'likers', the usual suspects, also need to get up to speed, as the Sondhi antics predate even the existence of the yellow shirts by many years...!!

 

Just take pleasure in the fact that the good general is blind to any colour and is pursuing one thing, and one thing only, corruption...! That of course means that the former government are all crapping themselves right now...!

You mean the democrats and their coalition partners of course.

...died in the wool, eh?!

What the democrats may have got up to in the past pales in significance to the antics of the most corrupt government this country has ever seen, the PTP government and the puppet lady led by the puppet master in Dubai.

However, as I have continually said, the good General is colour blind, so he is going after any, and every, corrupt politician, senior military officer, civil servant, government official, policeman, taxi driver and jet-ski operator, regardless of whichever party they supported.

Can you not take solace in that?

 

 

surely they are mistaken, the reds only use peaceful means

 
Like the yellow Buddhist monk.

The Thug of all Thugs

 

The "thug of all thugs"? I don't recall him killing any children...!!