Stocky

Just received my 1 year multi non-immigrant O visa from the Thai Embassy in Jakarta, no problems, same as last year.

Provided passport, application form + 2 photos

Copy of marriage certificate

Copy of wife's ID card

Copy of wife's Tabian Baan

USD 175

plus

Covering letter from the wife

Kasikorn bank book showing >100,000THB

The last two items weren't requested when I checked with the embassy, but I included them just in case.

Took 3 working days, submitted Wednesday collected Friday.

No problems with torrents and TOT in Hat Yai

I saw Waitrose Self Raising Flour on the shelves at the Robinson's TOPS in Hat Yai today 1.5kg Bht149.

Well these days they're both part of Central Retail Corporation, so there's not much to choose between them. The recent renovations to Central has seen them lose their electronics, household electrical department, there's only the Power Buy in Robinsons now.

Hat Yai's pretty safe, and a pleasant city to live in. There are western expats here but their numbers are relatively few, there are more Malaysian and Singaporean expats in Hat Yai, and that's where most of Hat Yai's tourists come from too.

Rental properties are inexpensive, just drive around town, you'll see plenty of vacant shop houses with boards giving telephone numbers for sale or rent.

On average the general living costs for my family of four are around THB50,000 per month, there's no rent as we own the house.

As said Songkhla isn't far and it makes a pleasant day out, but there are better resorts further afield, not just in Thailand, Langkawi Malaysia isn't far away.

Flight connections via Bangkok from Hat Yai are good, but I find it just as easy to take a taxi to Alor Star and connect via KL. It's handy when the lunatics close the airports.

Why not Songkhla, it's a nice peaceful sleepy part of the World.

I cross that border regularly, he'll get 90 days. As for renting in Hat Yai, yes there are apartments readily available, but for the number of trips you make annually surely staying in hotel accommodation would be cheaper.

As mjnaus says, some foreign blockbuster movies will screen with an English soundtrack for a few days on release. I'm not aware that Diana, Lee Gardens or Robinsons have websites giving details of 'what's on', phone numbers for Lee Gardens and Diana as follows.

Diana 074-237456-8

Lee Gardens 074-261111

Not that I know about, we've not many farang in Hat Yai and I don't really know how our Chinese Christian community celebrates Christmas, but I don't think it extends to turkey and brussel sprouts!

The Novotel Christmas Dinner is on Christmas Eve, they don't do Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day.

The Swan Pub on Thamanoonvithi Road does Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day but you need to book.

Indeed, life's a bitch.

Thailand Embassy , Indonesia

74, JaIan Imam Bonjol

Jakarta Pusat 10310

Tel. (62-21) 390-4052 (hunting)

Fax. (62-21) 310-7469, 319-1411

Email. [email protected] , [email protected]

Public opening hours :

Visa Section: Monday to Friday (except official holidays) : 09.00 – 12.00 hrs and 13.30 – 15.00 hrs.

Visa on Arrival isn't free, the visa fee is US$10.00 for up to 7 days and US$25.00 for up to 30 days.

I was thinking of going there next year did you have to show any bank funds for your multi and if so how much.

I should add a caveat, whilst I wasn't asked for evidence of funds, I know from the experience of others that Thai visa issuance is often whimsical, so I had with me evidence of funds in Thailand and a recent bank statement from Singapore, I also had a copy of the wife's Tabian Bahn, but I wasn't asked for any of these. But I would recommend you go with as much extra documentation as possible, just to be on the safe side.

No need to show funds.

I submitted the application on a Friday and collected the following Tuesday.

I've obtained my visa in Jakarta for the last three years.

I've just received my new one year multi-entry non-immigrant 'O' from the Thai Embassy in Jakarta. No fuss, just application form, photos, copy of marriage certificate, copy of the wife's ID card (front & back) plus USD175. Allow three working days.

I've applied for and received 1 year multi-entry Non-Imm O visas from the Embassy in Jakarta for the last two years. I'll be looking to renew my visa again next month. I didn't attend in person, but used the agent the company I consult to here has in Jakarta, though they'd not had dealings with the Thai Embassy before.

All that was needed was the application form, photographs, copy of my marriage certificate and a copy of my wife's ID card, the visa was granted in 2 or 3 days I can't remember which.

Another earthquake but no tsunami alert

Because it's inland!

Seismicity and tsunamis off the Sumatran coast are associated with the subduction zone that forms the boundary between the Indian/Australian and Eurasian plates. As the lower oceanic plate is subducting beneath the continental plate the two plates tend to lock and as he lower plate slowly descends it pulls the upper plate down with it. When the stress buildup overcomes the locking friction, the plates suddenly break free from each other and the upper plate slips back. This sudden slip generates an earthquake and a quick upward displacement of the ocean floor can which can cause a tsunami.

The 2004 quake unlocked the fault over a distance of 1500 km; the rupture started beneath the epicenter and progressed northward along the fault at about 2 km/sec. The whole rupture lasted about 10 minutes. The Richter scale is a base-10 logarithmic scale so whilst todays quake at 7.6 looks big it's nowhere near as big as the 2004 quake. Making the comparison in terms of TNT equivalent, today was about 300 megatons, 2004 was 114 gigatons of TNT!

As I've pointed out todays quake whilst off the same coast is over 800km south, go look at at map. I'm well aware of where it is I'm based in Bengkulu just down the coast, whilst I'm in Thailand for todays bump I was in Bengkulu for the 8.5 event in 2007.

This one is over 800km south of the 2004 epicentre, and in no position to propagate a wave that would affect Phuket.

Presumably the shock would pass through 500km of land on west sumatra and create a wave in the straits of melaka on the east.

Errr, no.

Phuket's safe, trust me I'm a geologist.

There's a need some basic geography lessons.

How does an earthquake 50km off Padang Sumatra propagate a wave that could come anywhere near the coast of Thailand?

Rendezvous Hotel

Stayed at the Rendezvous with the family last month, our third stay there, good hotel, good location, price isn't cheap, but as pointed out hotels in Singapore aren't.

There are currently some 310 reported cases in Thailand, mainly in Bangkok and Pattaya.

There are so far no reported cases in Songkhla/Hat Yai. Though there's nothing to panic about anyway, the AH1N1 flu virus is no worse than normal season flu.

There's been no charge using Bank of Ayudhya ATM machines either.