connda

This should be moved to the Humor Forum.

Well what does the Tuk tuk driver have to say? Is that the man or not? I guess life must be very very difficult for the tuk tuk driver right now.

So many farang customers. They all look the same.

Mystery man in Bangkok bomb probe 'never said a word'..........................which adds to the mystique !

Maybe he watched the Season 5 Episode 13 of Sons Of Anarchy [Otto Delaney interrogation].

nitrate based fertilizer; trinitrotoluene as secondary detonation catalyst; 'fuse line' which I'm assuming is safety fuse; didn't mention det caps for primary detonation, but who knows what chemicals where in the room, and it's not like they don't sell firecrackers in Thailand.

Now, that's much more palatable evidence than the picture of a plastic bag showing tape, screwdrivers, batteries, and stuff that you can find in most any guy's collection of hardware supplies. That just made me think, "hummm" Koh Tao redux

Now I'm in the "yep, looks like a terrorist cell" camp. Now it's interesting to watch.

Who and why? Ahhh, now the fun starts in earnest.

Dang!!! In the end, Freddy got you too Wes. RIP man. I was definitely a fan.

I have lived all over the world and seen similar tragic events everywhere, but nowhere are the numbers even close to Thailand. Somehow, though, I am continually amazed at the tales of woe coming from TV posters. It is a veritable soap opera of bad judgement and ill-conceived emotion. Why be so stupid? Have you never had a real relationship with a woman--and that goes for the ones who claim they were taken to the cleaners by their Western wives as well as the ones who were cuckolded by their Eastern wives? Are you so totally blinded by the international brown spot you simply cannot see the situation objectively? Then, you compound your ignorance by hanging your embarrassing laundry on the line for all to see. There must be a major flaw in the character of expats living here.

It's just that Thai woman are so damn sexy! How can we resist them?

Red-blooded male farangs don't need to resist them. Just don't marry them.

And stop being gullible! Understand "The Game". Almost all my wife's girlfriends including female family members have more than one relationship going at the same time. Some are playing one or two farang at at time. Some are playing a paying farang with a Thai B/F on the side. Some are playing multiple farangs, and maybe a Thai B/F on the side. It is common in a certain socio-economic strata of women here in Thailand. For those who may disagree with me, you just fooling yourself. I'm speaking from direct experience and know many of these gals myself. It is common in The Land of Adulteress Smiles.

First three wives all cheated, and I divorced them all. Gut wrenching! All of them.

But, staying with a women who has blatantly lied and used you, and then had someone else's kid? It's time to go bro'! I feel your pain. Really. No joke.

"You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free"
-- Paul Simon: Fifty ways to leave your lover

Wife and I heard an accident happen on Highway 11 in Maeta, Lamphun directly across from the Maeta amphur offices. We drove by about 20 minutes later headed to Lamphun Big C, ambulance and rescue vehicles where on the frontage road but the victims bike was off the right lane and into the center divide of the north bound lane and another car parked on the left shoulder. I was wondering if this hit any of the local Thai news stations this evening. Just wondering how the driver made out. It looked pretty bad.

Between the radical change in the manner immigration is treating the local expats recently, and the fact that the air pollution 3 months out of the year is actually dangerous, especially for your kids, you might want to rethink what you're doing. Really! Not joking.

If the quality of school is the primary driver, then set that as your criteria for the move and look for a better location. You'll be happier.

A bit off topic sorry but since you mention it, the 2 or 3 months when smoke is a problem in CM (and CR) is it something you can get used to? Or is it completely toxic and intolerable especially if you're asthmatic? Is there a difference in smoke there from a natural burn off compared to smoke from for instance, an industrial burn-off? A natural burn-off can almost be comparably pleasant but if intense can be.overpowering, sickening and pungent. There isn't a huge evacuation from CM I presume so it is reasonably tolerable?

Have a good look at the Smoke, Smog, Dust 2015 sub-forum in the Chiang Mai forum. Read and draw your own conclusions. Air starts getting bad starting as early as January and sometimes lasts well into April or until the rains start.

As far as health. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/179362-living-in-saraphi/

Draw your own conclusions.

Very inconsistent.I have been reporting for 2 years, thats 8 mail ins,not one has been returned in more than 4 working days.

A couple,looking at the date stamps, have been processed on a Saturday.We live in Hang Dong not that it should make a diffence.

What mystifies me is that why,it would appear, is CM the only Immigration office in the country that is making life a little more difficult for expats?

Reports from former colleagues and friends, only in the last 2 weeks, in Phuket ,Hua Hin ,Pattaya and Bangkok all report no changes ,no problems.

A friend made this comment that I'll pass along because it did make me pause and think:

1) What shirt color supports the current government?

2) What is the predominate shirt color in Chiang Mai?

3) What is the predominate shirt color in BKK, Pattaya, and Phuket?

Draw your own conclusions.

My conclusion was, "Da*m, caught between a rock and a hard place."

But I also had an, "Ah-ha" moment.

Technically the Owner or House-Master of the place a foreigner stays at for more than 24 hours should submit a TM30 to immigration.

...

Legally, section 4 of the Immigration Act defines House-Master as the chief possessor of a residence. "Owner" is one of several capacities in which a person can be chief possessor. When an owner rents his property out, he remains the owner but is no longer the chief possessor of the residence; the tenant now is the chief possessor.

This is the reason why some immigration officers are expecting the tenant to submit the form TM.30. The lease agreement is evidence that you are the chief possessor.

I don't know if that makes me want to laugh or cry. I've got it: Catch-22.

I wonder which think-tanks decided it's time to destabilize the bad-boyz-on-the-block in Asian Pivot / TPP arena. Just thinking outside the boxz.

Thats a soft kill. Put them in a cage and set it on fire..sends a message

Wrap them in a pig skin carcass first. Will send a very big message.

I believe a certain US general used that "technique" when fighting Moslem insurgents in the Philippines many years ago.

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/pershing.asp

Between the radical change in the manner immigration is treating the local expats recently, and the fact that the air pollution 3 months out of the year is actually dangerous, especially for your kids, you might want to rethink what you're doing. Really! Not joking.

If the quality of school is the primary driver, then set that as your criteria for the move and look for a better location. You'll be happier.

Too many fish in the river to worry about the one that just snagged your line. Yeah, you really liked the leader setup and the lure: one of your favorites. But it's time to cut the line. You'll be happier when your back to fishing again instead holding on to your current catch-of-the-day.

These big companies have a lot of choice where they source their product and they hate bad press. The Thai finishing industry will soon find itself without customers.

I wonder if the Thai fishing industry would relate this to Karma?

It's interesting to see that those with the desire to attain the most money and status just don't seem to grasp Karma. Egos are too big -- concepts like that are paid lip service then laughed off.

Karma = cause and effect

Laugh away. He who has the last laugh.......

Never mind having a moral conscience about what we feed our pets. Much of everything we buy in the developed world is produced by the exploitation of cheap labour in underdeveloped countries. Coffee, sports gear, electrical goods - the list is endless. The question is, other than launch incredibly expensive and probably fruitless litigation, what on earth can we ordinary consumers do about it?

Start becoming self-reliant. The globalist love calling people like that 'preppers' and other pejoratives - if you're not a functional corporate consumer, your a "useless eater" as Henry Kissinger aptly said [dude's a piece of work]. So - stop buying their crap. Buy local if you can. Plant your own food. Feed your animals what you eat. Our's get rice, various meat scrapes, you don't need to buy dog food. Recycle and reuse. Learn to fix stuff instead of tossing it and buying new. Live simply.

so I guess none of you guys eat seafood here in Thailand? And the ones who do - verify with the restaurants / vendors / supermarkets that it was all legally caught by fully and fairly paid crews??

Well of course we do, right after filing our TM28 with the local police while visiting the coast to feast on fish.

Train full of gold found after 70 years. Would certainly make a good film.

The FED probably put it there a couple of months ago so they could repatriate German gold reserves without losing face. Lol

I have been to Chiang Rai once (recently).

It is a superb city. it has everything except traffic jams & pollution.

Many rural tourist attractions in close proximity.

You can cut the air with a knife for three months of the year. Everything except traffic jams and pollution, get the facts before posting, one trip after rain does not tell the facts. However it is a nice city most of the time.

Agreed. You don't want to live in Northern Thailand between February through April. Maybe you can come up during that time. Plenty of folks who value their lung flee this area during the slash and burn down the forest season - easy to find someone to rent your place, Lol. I plan to be renting a place down South that time next year.

Not everything is the government's fault - Soi 38 is closing because the landowners want to redevelop the area.

That will keep up until the next financial meltdown. Maybe 2017 will look like 2007: half built sky-trains going nowhere and a lot of half-built construction projects looking to crumble into dust over the next decade.

Let's just say I don't see Thailand being considered part of the 'developed world' until way after my life-time.

Just curious, but what criteria do you need to meet if you don't have 400K in the bank, and yet can still get an Non-O? Anyone know how's that work?

I was at Klong Thom today and everything is off the public streets ,

even the area across the street that was full of street sellers at the first crackdown in March is now gone ,

There was supposed to be another place somewhere that they were going to be sent ( re-education camp ? ) but I never found out where it was .

Really makes it boring........ but its the "NEW" Thailand

Maybe TAT can spin that:

Welcome to The New Thailand:

Less color, Less diversity, Boring as hell

(and - shhhhh! - more out of work, poor Thais unable to make a living due to the 'clean-up' of Thai society.)

Personally, I liked 'old' Thailand 100% better. If I wasn't married to a Thai, I'd be looking for friendlier and more interesting places to live, where folks are encouraged to be entrepreneurial and self-reliant. I now considering moving here years ago as a mistake. One decision in life that's hard to take back when you have a Thai family that depends on you, but a life in a country where 'the powers to be' make living here as difficult as possible for foreigners who seem to be barely tolerated any longer, and have the social status of Water Buffalo at best, imho -- at least my family understands who butters the bread. It's one of those things in life I'd like to take back. C'est la vie. It can always get worse.

lostoday

"This is the procedures for a business (hotel/guest house) to obtain permission to submit online guest registration"

What is so difficult to understand?

The on line reporting system is ONLY available to qualifying Businesses ! Reports are made by Businesses ON-LINE not via a CD!

The system is in use. A friend of mine who owns a hotel business has one of his front desk employees enter new guests details on the system every day !

Yes I have seen the system being used !

Wives and Mothers do not qualify for access to the system.!

If I understand what you are saying there is a website where this information is downloaded to one Thai government department?

25 million tourists per year and given a number of hotel changes that is roughly 4 million hours of data entry work.

Do you see why I find it difficult to understand?

Do you find it difficult to understand that you've taken this thread way off topic?

A poster above asked, "Is my wife supposed to fill out a TM30 on me even thought I have a valid Foreign Tabian Baan (Yellow Book);

also

If renting, I thought it was the Rentor who was responsible for filing a TM30, not the Rentee. If that is the case, then why are Rentee's being harassed by Thai Immigration."

I answered. I guess I should not try and be nice and answer a question. I should have reported his post as being off topic. You're right. I stand corrected.

And I was just responding to Post #3 by NancyL regarding the TM30. So the topic branched this direction very early on. She has been doing an outstanding job of trying to keep CM TV members informed of a broad array of irregularities that have been happening since the inception of the new Promenade Immigration Office and the split of service between two different locations.

It may seem off-topic, but these new immigration issues are interrelated. Well, imho.

This would also be true for everyone housing a foreigner. I think it is a good idea. But I've never met anyone who does it. I've never seen any examples of a wife or mother or hotel clerk submitting this data with a cd. Have you?

No, it is only for a formal licensed business. Rentals, except perhaps condos, do not qualify for the online reporting and have to do it manually - as does a friend or family one may stay with. As for hotels, the CD has an application that is most likely installed on their computer along with the supplied registration number of the business and unlikely you will actually see them entering the information but when checking in you are required to supply your passport information. When they enter it I wouldn't know. Perhaps not when each individual guest is registering but enter all the guests at a certain time of day and send en masse to immigration.

Tywais,

Do you have any idea where my wife would send a TM30 to CM Immigration. Same address as the 90 day report or is there somewhere else.

Anyone who's has a Thai wife, Thai Husband, or Thai girlfriend and has sent in a TM30 for their partner, please, please, please feel free to add comments/suggestions/info.

Thanks,

TotallyConfusedInThailand