sriracha john

Isn't exporting considered "working" in Thailand, necessitating a work permit?

I have been comming here for the last 20 years and have witnessed the decline (to almost abolishment) of obvious, genuine respect for the falung.

but realise I'm not Thai and never will be... and to be honest I dont want to be, (that would take a full frontal labotomy and I dont like scars..)

At work we have a saying, " If there is any possible way it can ####up, some Thai #### will find it, and it will become the "word of GOD""

I love it here, the insanity, moronicy, and the sweet... sweet p###y

Perhaps it's because it's difficult to respect bigoted, sex tourists?

There is the Elite Card which would eliminate any visa run being required. There are investment visas available. For others there is the one return to homeland yearly O visa which will only require 90 day runs that many are still able to obtain.

Most people who have the means to live well here could get into one of these. But agree there will always be those below eligibility levels who will not. That is the reason all countries have visa/immigration rules.

I just wish there was viable alternative.

As for the elite card, over-priced and no confidence in the first place

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?ac...t=0#entry172168

not really confident in throwing down 3 mil for investment visa for the same uncertain nature.

really the only choice is flying home yearly... and hope the consulates will continue to provide non-o's..... sssssshhhhhh once again

Will certainly comply with all visa regulations while here, but prefer to spend the time and B50-75K for the trip home, in Thailand.

Just a matter of preference and inconvienence.

Thailand Privilege Card Co’s board will convene today to tackle Thailand Elite Card’s massive debt problems, which are putting the project at risk.

doesn't exactly give people confidence to invest in one for visa purposes. The whole project is on the rocks and the teetering ship is breaking up.

A 6 month wander on a double entry ( twice extended ) tourist visa is the way to go for him to go.

agreed again.... a six month wander through Thailand can be a heck of nice time, trev... enjoy

Savings hub? Don't make me laugh. Outside the top 10 - 20 % of earners I doubt if there's much more than a few hundred billion baht in genuine savings out there. Even at 650 billion, that still works out at only 10,000 baht for each person in the country, which ain't a lot, when one considers the levels of public and private debt. Nearly everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt and it's accumulating fast. Check out the used car sales "tents" to see the rate of repos and people trying to get out of debt. The bubble look's pretty near to bursting in some sectors I'd say, but the property sector might have a year or two to play out. Depends largely how the downturn in long-haul tourism, due to higher airfares and jumpy tourists plays out over the coming cool season, when a lot of tour operators and hotels could feel the heat big time and start a downturn. That would lead to a lot of cancelled projects and unemployment would start to rise. The stats here take a helluva long time to show the "true" picture and that's often just a massaged version.

Very astute and very accurate. Given those factors you mention, I see turmoil on the horizon.

agreed... and wouldn't certainly "brewer" be included in the ever-extensive "banned occupations list"?? ... thus curtailing his only trade?

He does have assets and that could cover his daily costs..but he seems reluctant to tap into them.

best to come for as long a tour as he is willing to give up some of his assets for?

just to be realistic, trev.

I just don't get it. Thats probably my fault so just call me stupid. But it took me relatively little research before I came here to decide that the Non Imm "O" was the best visa for me. This was issued with no hassles at the consulate in the states. Now as I understand it from the other Falangs here in Nong Khai unlimited renewals of the "o" are available at the embassy in Lao with no problem. With this option available why would anyone wanting to stay here use a tourist visa option? Makes no sense to me but like I said I may just be stupid.

Mikey... something you need to know. The reason many people of means are reduced to tourist & transit visas is because they don't "fit" into one of the categories for non-o's. Under 50, single, etc.

Others who do have non-o's are still required to make their 90 day journeys.

As for the usa non-o from the consulate... sssshhhhhhh

continued talk of them may result in their demise

you can't get those here in SE Asia... (i'd definitely be interested if they someday DID become available in Laos, but NOTHING in this forum indicates they have or ever will be)..

btw Mikey, you're not stupid... just new-ish, and there's nothing wrong with that..

we all were once.

That particular S&W goes for between 36,000 and 45,000 new... but probably only around 15-20k or so 2nd hand

, but even the slightly well to do (falangs included) would more likely get away with a fine.

... and now with Heng's most informative posting (btw, thanks so much, Heng), we can all arm ourselves against the pending coup. .....

"the natives are getting restless, Dr. Livingstone"

I am just wondering why?

... Or is there some other underlying problem that has been long brewing and has just recently exploded?

... this is not to scare people off that were earlier talking about buying condos here... I still feel very safe in Thailand and still consider it a very safe country with the advice in the other post above adhered to.

Why?.... well, many people believe that if there is ever truth to be found in history....

Thailand is overdue for a military coup... something in the Thai psyche seems to have a proclivity for frequently having them.

But in this different Thaksin era/world:

the result will be a business/economic coup resulting in absolute control with all the same ramifications of a military coup.

Sorry, but I can't agree with you 100%. Everywhere I go with my (non-bargirl) girlfriend (many of the) younger Thai guys stare at us, envious of my pretty girlfriend.

We live in Hat Yai, so it certainly isn't about Pattaya or Bangkok...

Also, I am just sick, that the poorest Cambodian sucker is still more respected as any one of us Westerners, because he is "Asian"...

Sorry, but I can't follow your comments 100%.

How do you know that the Thai's that stared at you and your GF were doing so out of "envy"? Did they say as much or are you relying on unreliable facial expressions? There are any number of reasons to stare with Simple Curiosity, chief among them.

Hat Yai?...there are certainly the same massage parlors, karoke bars, etc. as there are in the places you've mentioned. It's certainly not some quiet backwater town. More than once I've heard it referred to as, "Pattaya of the South".

If you think Thais respect Cambodians, then you have a lot to learn about Thailand.

Respect is something earned, not freely given out.

Funny no one bothers rich asian people here in San Diego.

But they certainly had no problem hassling the poorer SE Asians in the Linda Vista section of San Diego..... or has that all gone away now?

Watched the video beheading of Mr. Armstrong today....

no words to describe it.... 

indeed a very sad state of affairs with no solution in the foreseeable future.

Why would you even watch it? it sounds a little sick to me.

Very sad for the family and for this man.

Now, rally in the streets and tell your governments that they should leave Iraq.

I consider it news and I wanted to see what it was about. It's also the topic at hand and I prefer to know as much about as subject as is possible.

Was it horrendous?... yes. A lot of news nowadays is.

Indeed, it was extremely sad.

I would disagree about an immediate pullout. I think that would only serve to compound the dissaray and plunge Iraq into an ever worse chaos. At the same time, I certainly don't agree with a foreign occupation force staying on indefinitely.

It's a conundrum with no easy answers.

checking for underage latte drinkers?

looking for illegal drugs in the scones?

Watched the video beheading of Mr. Armstrong today....

no words to describe it....

indeed a very sad state of affairs with no solution in the foreseeable future.

Wow, you did all that research on my behalf? You make me feel so.....important.

Perhaps he felt it important enough to point out the uninformed-yet-overly- opinionated posters on this forum so as to weed out those that don't know what they are talking about. For that, I can fully understand doing about 5 minutes of research, because that's all it takes to find contradictions in your history of posts.

If you've never, ever made a land border crossing, what are you basing your opinion on about who is going over and back and why they are there?

If you've never, ever made a land border crossing, what are you basing your opinion provided earlier on whether a visa run bus service is a good company or not?

You might find you'll receive less criticism if you confine yourself to those matters which you know something about...

there's 2 words for you to ponder, validity and credibility. If you can grasp those concepts, then you truly will be brighter (as suggested earlier).

I liked his REAL short plan to solve the problems in the South within 30 days.... announced last March or April, was it?

Respect their country, respect their people and their ways and you too should not every have a problem.

I agree with the other things you posted, but we can't assume that all the crime on tourists lately is because they were being disrespectful. The type of "ugly American" things you describe has been ever-present, but the attacks definitely seem to be of a recent escalation.

Unbiasbob, while searching for some other topic on the thaivisa.com site I came across the following statement of you:

Just wondering what made you change your opionion by 100% within less than a half Year?

Sunny

Hahahahaha.... biasedbob getting busted once again.

Get yourself a Toukay,That will get the little lizards

...and a python to keep the toukay population in check....

they are the top of the food chain, so it's up to the human occupants to rid the place of pythons... I'm sure a call to that crazy Australian tv nature show would help out.

There does seem to be an increase lately of crime against tourists... perhaps running parallel with the slightly increased numbers of tourists. Just imagine what the headlines will be like when tourism hits the 20 million visitors goal (almost double what it is now) established by the government.

Could also possibly be the crackdown on the drug trade. I somehow can't see anyone who wants to get out of the business holding down a 9-5 job in a factory.

I would imagine the price of drugs goes up when there's a clampdown, meaning that the druggie then has to get more money for his fixes.

The clampdown on drugs resulted in 2500 unexplained, uninvestigated murders of Thai citizens... none were foreigners or tourists.

As for dog poop, funnily enough never see it . I think most dogs , if hungry enough, have no problems in eating crap

hahahaha... especially funny when they lick human faces afterwards....

The government also aims to stimulate national savings to 34 per cent of GDP, making Thailand the savings hub of Asia.

awww.... Ovenman... you missed it.

or getting knocked on the head by tree branches.

does that include branches being held in someone else's hands at the time?

the baht is a stable currency, a solid currency

it was extremely stable and solid in '97.

.... when's the next crash?