leftorright

In that case you have got little to lose by exploring – as part of the job acceptation process – if Leeds is sympathetic to the idea of you trying to temporarily base yourself in Bangkok as part of the job. Explain your situation and think (with Leeds) about how you could create value for Leeds while being a visiting scholar in Bangkok (or KL, or, even better, Singapore). Depending on how the School operates and what its strategic interests in the region are, there might be opportunities. If Leeds doesn’t see value in the proposition, OK, then it’s game over, same as declining the job offer from the start.

Must agree with SheungWan: accept the job in Leeds. With that job in hand, you can look for a visiting position in Thailand for (part of) the time your parents are here. Much easier to realize, especially if Leeds is sympathetic to your situation.

If married to a Thai you may also be asked to show a signed copy of her ID card.

13 hours ago, ignis said:

This reply is confusing...  ??   both myself and the poster before me was asking about the 'link'  from the Metro ending at 'Ban Sue' to the Purple line starting at 'Tao Poon'.... on test this month open for paying customers in August .. that is in 2 months time....

 

2 months ago on my Hospital visit got off at 'Mo Chit' much easier to get to 'Tao Poon' via Taxi

From the maps provided by Lakegeneve on the other thread I understand that the 'missing link' will be provided for by an extension of the MRT/Blue line westward from Ban Sue, meaning that it will be MRT/Blue line trains reaching Tao Poon, and not Purple line trains reaching Ban Sue or a special 'missing link shuttle service'. LG, please correct if I'm wrong.

1 hour ago, sujoop said:

Unlike in 2011 at least the Govt isn't ordering the dams to NOT release water:
 

2011: I ordered a delay in the release of water from dam : Theera

Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut yesterday acknowledged that the controversial decision to delay the release of water from the country's major dams had been made by the government.. “I admit ordering a delay in the release of water into the plains areas so that farmers could harvest their crops first,” he said.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/aec/30169695

 

Related: Thailand: Crisis in Thai Rice Pledging Scheme

The Thai government, led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, implemented the rice pledging scheme immediately after the 2011 election

http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/thailand-crisis-in-thai-rice-pledging-scheme/

 

Thankfully, there's no rice scheme/scam 'priority' this year either, thus no reason to purposely order dams NOT to do preventative controlled draining. Also thankfully, last week the current Govt announced they would be doing controlled release of dams in advance of this week's downpours. Thus, due to El Nino departing, a very heavy rainy season 'could' still cause floods but at least we know the current Govt is being pro-active, versus the criminally negligent / purposely non-active Govt in the past.

 

 

An interesting question is exactly when he issued that order. Theera (Chartthaipattana Party) was minister of Agriculture in both the Abhisit and the Yingluck cabinets. Yingluck’s cabinet was sworn in on August 10, 2011. The floods started to develop at the end of August, early September. The dams obviously were opened quite soon into Yingluck’s watch, but when was that – in hindsight – fatal order made for the dams to hold water: before August 10 still under Abhisit’s watch, or after August 10 under Yingluck’s?

Does anyone know how this will work out in the end? Will Purple Line trains run till Bang Sue, will MRT trains run till Tao Poon, or will there be new 'missing link trains' shuttling between Bang Sue and Tao Poon?

16 billion spend over a 5-day period boils down to 48.5 baht spent per day per head of the Thai population (66 million), or to just under 200 baht for a family of four. Either the 16 billion figure is imaginary or the result is not really something to boost about, I'd think.

8 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

Is there really that much of a local market for stolen expensive bikes or that much profit to be made from stolen cheap bikes? It seems that if someone decided to take the criminal career path, joined up with a "gang" and collaborated with the police, there are other things that would involve less of a logistical hassle and a potentially more liquid, profitable market. 

Of course if the police were involved in even a small percentage of the things imagined by TV posters, they'd make the Cosa Nostra look very small scale by comparison.

Whether for resale or personal use, bicycles seem to be in demand: we had 3 stolen from us in the past few years, all at MRT stations, all properly locked (locks brought from Europe) and all simple cheapies (<THB 3,000). Last time we tried to see surveillance camera recordings. Plenty of cameras, but none directed at the bicycle stand. Station staff mentioned bicycle theft to happen frequently at the station and suspected it to be the work of professionals. Not a good enough reason of course to point a camera to the bicycle stand.

The book fair in Q. Sirikit Convention Center today was packed, thousands of people, mostly young folks. Quite an encouraging experience.

I'm eagerly awaiting the day when, after having collected and triple-checked all the documents required for the extension of stay, the friendly smiling IO ends the session asking: "and would you like a re-entry permit with that, sir?"

Why they do not merge these two processes is beyond me.

1 hour ago, ChidlomDweller said:

 

Keep in mind that these are long term averages, and that year after year sets a new temperature record for hottest ever.  Anyone who's been here the past few years knows it gets higher than 35 every day in April-June, with 38 frequently.   Look here:

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=temperature+bangkok&oq=temperature+bangkok&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.3511j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Later this week forecasts of 35 and 36 later this week, in February.  According to the chart you post the average maximum is 32.   I'm not picking on you, just something I've often thought when looking at the Bangkok climate chart on Wikipedia.  What I see day to day in temperature reading (on the internet or an app, not a wall thermometer, so a proper reading) is higher than those averages.  And I also realize they're just averages, but I think it rarely if ever got to less than 35 in April in the last 3 years I've been here.  

I agree, many of these 'average weather' charts available for Bangkok seem to under-report real temperatures. Below are the officially (i.e. by a formal weather station) measured daily high and lows for the past year. Quite a bit higher than those long-term averages, especially the night-time lows. I would also think that it's especially Bangkok's warm nights that contribute heavily to its reputation as a very warm city - more so than the day-time temperatures, which are warm, but not spectacularly warm. Source of the charts: http://www.wetteronline.de/wetterdaten/bangkok?pcid=pc_rueckblick_data&gid=48456&pid=p_rueckblick_diagram&sid=StationHistory&iid=48455&month=02&year=2017&period=52&metparaid=TXLD

Got it: I changed Word's default language preference from English US to English UK and now the tm7.dot and the tm7.doc files show on the familiar 2 pages. Can't wait until my next extension with this newly found knowledge

All above formats still producing 3 pages on my computer, probably caused by some setting I'm not yet aware of. But thanks for trying to help!

Thanks ubonjoe, but still 3 pages for me (in  word2016).

The most influential players in this game probably are the big companies buying all that maize. Those are the likes of CP, who use maize as animal feed for their meat producing activities. If these would desire (encouraged by critical consumers and/or informed by long-term self-interest) more sustainable maize-growing practices, they would probably be able to organize it.  

OP, you’re probably using Office/Word2016. Most of Immigration’s Word-documents are drafted in Word 97-2003. Word2016 can still open these, but the original layout gets distorted. I haven’t been able to find a fix myself (would be interested to hear from PoorSucker how he did it), I eventually dusted off my old computer to fill out the forms for my last business with them. I guess the waiting is for someone in Immigration’s IT department to wake up to the fact that the world has moved on since Word97 was all the rage, and that perhaps it’s time to redo the forms using slightly less antique software.

5 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

They've already checked 138000 vehicles?....I say impossible!

If they have, then they should share their vehicle testing regime with all other governments, 'cos it must be really something!!

2 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I agree with you, 138000 Divided by 229 testing stations = 602.62 vans per testing center, over what period of time ? More made up crap from people that don't give a hoot.

 

 

The other newspaper mentions that the testing took place between 24 January and 2 February. Assuming 8 working days makes 75 vans tested per day per station, or almost 10 per hour (assuming 8 working hours per day). Assuming a test capacity of one van at a time, this permits about just enough time to check the lights, have a glimpse at the tires, and attach the 'OK' sticker to the van's back.

On 1/28/2017 at 1:36 PM, janhkt said:

I don't understand why this is up to the police. This is a scientific problem.

Correct. Any traffic engineer with a few working brain cells and a simple traffic model should be capable of determining what, under the circumstances, should be done to optimize the intersection’s capacity to handle traffic. It’s not rocket science.

About time Thailand gets serious about waste management: current practices are a shame for what's considered an upper middle-income country.

Including the fee in the electricity bill, as noted above, would seem a smart thing to do. Apart from taking away incentives for people to dodge the tax by way of dumping, burning or filling neighbours’ bins, it would allow for easy rate differentiation. Households generating small electricity bills are mostly either low-income or one-person households. There is some fairness in presenting these a smaller garbage bill than larger or more well-to-do households. Basing rates on the real weight of the garbage collected from households is simply undoable. An issue to solve is how to avoid double-charging of households that are already paying for waste collection/disposal.

The quoted amount of 350 baht/month anyway sounds steep and in my opinion is only justifiable if implementation of the tax goes together with immediate major investments in clean and sustainable waste disposal facilities. Vague promises about how the revenues in the future will be used to improve matters won’t be enough to generate understanding and support.

If you don't speak Thai yourself, make sure your wife is fully aware of what according to Immigration's own guidance ought to be possible - with the key thing being that to qualify for an extension of stay based on marriage "The alien must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM)" (among other things of course) - so that she can 'educate' any misinformed officers. Good luck!

It should be possible, I did the same thing 2 years ago at CW (arrive on non-B visa, first 1-year extension based on work, next 1-year extension based on marriage). In my case they asked for a letter from my employer confirming that on the day of my application I was still working with them. They didn't ask for a letter requesting cancellation of my previous extension. I hadn't brought this letter, but they allowed me to go get it, return, and complete the application on the same day. The officer who dealt with my case was then quite new on the job, her first response to my request (for changing the reason underlying the extension) was negative. Only after consultation with a senior colleague (which occurred after me and my wife had politely insisted that it should be possible) she changed her mind and accepted to proceed with the application. So unless the rules have changed, don't give up!   

It should indeed be possible to find and maintain a reasonable compromise between totally clogged pavements and a merciless clean sweep. Street vendors, apart from the life they bring to streets, play a crucial role in the city’s economy: without them Bangkok would become a lot less affordable for the legions of people on less than 15,000 baht per month salaries, many of which live in simple rooms/studios without cooking facilities. It deserves a thought: what would be the consequences for the city if 10-15k per month salaries no longer suffice to make ends meet here?

When I did the same last year, immigration (BKK) - on top of the normal docs required for an extension based on marriage - asked for a letter from my employer confirming that I was still employed (and thus had not 'overstayed' my previous extension based on work). You may want to prepare for that.

And when planning your trip take into account that the consideration period may also be 28 days (my previous one at Chaeng Wattana was just that and almost messed up my trip which I had booked thinking the consideration period lasts 30 days).

Thanks elviajero, good to know.