BarnicaleBob

Just curious...

How many American expats are living in Chiang Mai province these days?

The U.S. Consulate doesn't even have a handle on that number, although you'll hear numbers that are more than 10,000-less-than-100,000 to put the estimate into an order of magnitude.

But, this isn't just a party for Americans. The headline band is Aussie John. The Master of Ceremonies is from the U.K., the opening bank is from a Thai Rotary Club. It's truly a party for all nations. I always see people from all countries at the River Market 4th of July parties.

Thanks for the information, but no need to get defensive. I was asking about the population,

not how many would attend the party. I'm sure several hundred will show up.

As of last year it was estimated that 18,000 Americans lived in Chiang Mai Province. I got this from Thai immigration last year.

I agree that the issue is not about her race but about being untruthful on various official applications for positions. Untruthfulness is grounds for termination form most government and corporate entities.

She could have been a member and even be in a leadership role without being or having any trace of being black, she had no valid reason to lie other than ego.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909-1910 in New York City by a group of white and black intellectuals. United in their opposition to the gradualism preached by Booker T. Washington, the NAACP leaders sought, first, to make whites aware of the need for racial equality. To do this, the organization launched a program of speech making, lobbying, and publicizing the issue. The NAACP attacked segregation and racial inequality through the courts. It won a Supreme Court decision in 1915 against the grandfather clause (used by many southern states to prevent blacks from voting) and another in 1927 against the all-white primary.

My last vehicle was a Triton with the GPS in the dash and I had the same problem at first. Later I found that by going into settings that there were options on type of routes I preferred such as highways only, shortest route in distance and fastest or quickest route or something like that. Once I set it to the fastest route I had no problems.

A little more information might be helpful to those who are trying to help you.

You said house so the eliminates everything else.

How many bedrooms and bathrooms would you like it to have?

How far from the City would you consider living, 20 minute drive, more or less?

Do you have any requirements such as only wanting a single story or only a two story home?

Do you require a carport for just one car or more?

Are you ok with living in an area or moobaan that does not have a swimming pool?

There is a nice two bedroom two bath home with a nice yard and carport in Doi Saket for 1,999,999 baht.

There are also some three bedroom two bath homes in the same area for 2,300,000 baht.

The Treaty of Amity was signed in 1966 by Thailand and the U.S. The treaty also gives special rights to Thai businessmen in America. Also keep in mind that at the time it was signed, Thailand had a communist insurgency problem and the U.S. sent military advisers with special forces units, as well as Air Force interceptor squadrons to assist Thailand. There was also a lot of infrastructure built here such as major highways and such by the U.S. and of course a very large amount of military aid in the form of aircraft, tanks and other equipment.

Things like that sometimes results in favorable business relations between two countries such as the Treaty of Amity.

Sounds like someone got paid off.

I would by pass the real estate agent and find a good lawyer to handle the purchase. Then he can research the land documents to make sure there are no leans or other problems on the property. You could also discus with the lawyer if there are other options to secure your right to live on the property. One thought would be to inquire about purchasing it in your girlfriends name and then obtaining a 30 year lease from her for use of the property. You can further insure your security by registering a personal loan to her to purchase the property (Note you can not hold a mortgage on real estate here but can hold her to a personal loan, just no collateral). So if you should split up you have the lease giving you the right to continue to live there plus you can hold the personal loan over her head if she tries to make any attempts to disavow the lease. Again I stress, hire a lawyer to get the best advice and to write up any contracts involved in the purchase.

I attempted to do the on-line 90 report but it failed giving me the same message so many others have reported "contact your immigration office". So yesterday I went to Chiang Mai Immigration and did my 90 day report in person. I told the lady at the desk about how the on-line system failed me and she smiled as she said we hear that a lot.

I also asked her about the move to the Promenada Mall and she confirmed that as of next month 90 day reports could be done there.

It is unlikely that any country would allow him to be extradited on a lese majeste offense because it is not considered a criminal offense in most countries. Therefore any request for extradition would be denied.

Each state in America has their own traffic laws, most of them require the bicycle riders ride with the traffic in the same direction and not against or head on to the traffic. In Thailand this is not how it works. The best way to survive here is to do like the Thais do but with a lot of caution. I always look for eye contact with other drivers and if I don't get it then I take the cautious route past them.

You could create a Skype account on-line " http://www.skype.com/en/ " open a Skype account and then sign up to have a stateside phone number assigned you for $13.99 a month. You can also sign up to be able to use your Skype account to make free phone calls from your computer to most anywhere in the World for an additional fee. They also have a call forwarding option that can be used. I send and receive sms and phone calls in the States and to anyone I do so with sees my number as a Stateside number. You can pick the Stateside area code you would like to use.

Thanks for the added input, I will give the Vision Center a go.

Immigration will be located directly below Tom n Toms. Directly next to it will be an office. And next to that a copy shop. The Burmese building across the street will remain.

The current immigration will have it's last day on the 12th of June. On the 15th they will be at Promenada.

There is direct access to the parking garage from that location, so immigration can open at anytime they see fit.

I know the gm at Promenada, so this is accurate.

A trip yesterday to CM gave me a chance to take a look see.

It looks to provide a great deal more parking and access to diversions while waiting one's turn.

Still, the location was not one I would have found easily on a hectic day of making it there early to extend my visa, and to help others visualize the location - here is a Ground Floor diagram extracted from http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=926368&page=7

GroundFloor-1.jpg

For those unfamiliar with where the Promenade Mall is located, The mall website links to

Google Maps at https://www.google.com/maps/place/Promenada+Resort+Mall+Chiang+Mai/@18.7667723,99.0368014,14z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x6bf2838de804a854?hl=en

So looking at the map, it looks like it will be located a floor below the Dukes, is that correct?

Thanks to all of you who have replied so far. Here is more information:

Yes, I would like to purchase the eyeglasses in the Chiang Mai area so I can try them on, make sure they fit and make sure the lenses are correct before I except them.

I also don't mind spending 5,000 baht or more if I can get a good pair that fit me and that are the correct prescription.

With that in mind, anyone know of a good place, even if it is off the beaten path or someplace just outside the City?

You won't find anything below 8,000bht.

That's the price of those lens in Thailand.

Well 8.000 or even 10,000 baht is a lot better the the 20,000 baht one I found. Where can I find them for 8.000 or even 10,000 baht?

Thanks to all of you who have replied so far. Here is more information:

Yes, I would like to purchase the eyeglasses in the Chiang Mai area so I can try them on, make sure they fit and make sure the lenses are correct before I except them.

I also don't mind spending 5,000 baht or more if I can get a good pair that fit me and that are the correct prescription.

With that in mind, anyone know of a good place, even if it is off the beaten path or someplace just outside the City?

My eyeglasses are starting to fill up with small scratches which is sometime very annoying when I'm trying to see things. My prescription is good and up to date, all I really need is to order a new pair of glasses. I checked the eye glass place at Big C extra on highway 11 and they wanted 20,000 baht. I would like to find something less expensive, does anyone know where I can find a good deal? PS, I have Varilux lenses now and would like for my new lenses to be of the same type.

You could apply for a tourist visa for you step son so he would have a chance to see what life is like in America, he may not like it. Then if he did not like it he could be sent back to Thailand. If he did like it then while in America he could apply for residency.

We went through the same thing with our Thai daughter, she was living in the U.S, and came back to Thailand to visit us. While here she changed her first name because she was told it would bring her good luck. So the name change was done at the amphur, then new drivers license, new Thai passport, translation of name change notarized at the U.S, Consulate and she took all of that to show U.S. immigration upon her arrival in the States. No problems getting back in once she showed them all the paperwork.

PS, she is not a U.S. citizen but has a green card.

To the OP, if you are a military veteran, there are also monthly VFW meetings held at the River Market on the first Saturday of every month starting at 10:30 am but come a little early so you can chat a bit before the meeting.

Here is our website: http://vfw-chiangmai.org/

My first concern is the Thai government's reason to want to build temporary camps on islands for these people. They are not suggesting this out of empathy but out of fear of loosing face in the international community. Wrong reason!

Where is the empathy of the Thai people in this, there appears to be none. The nine camps the Thai government set up for Burmese refugees were also suppose to have been temporary and look how many decades they have been in existence.

Any plan that any government makes for these people needs to include a place for a final settlement of these people.

With that in mind; we know almost all of the refugees are Muslim who would most likely prefer to settle in a Muslim country. The vast majority of them are Rohingya from Burma, who have been strongly discriminated against by the Buddhist majority to the point of whole villages being attacked and hundreds being murdered at a time. They seek to resettle in Malaysia or Indonesia because those countries have Muslim majority populations.

Perhaps calling on economically strong Muslim nations such as Saudi Arabia to step up to the plate to fund resettlement would be the better solution to this issue.

Nice of Thailand to let the US use the airport that the US built, along with the fuel farm, etc. Come to think of it, how many Thai cities would not have the nice big airports they have if the US hadn't built the airports??

I think the U.S. built some nice runways in the southern portion of Vietnam a while back, also.

The U.S. also built a nice airbase in Long Tieng Laos, of course it was a big secret at the time. It is still there and currently a Lao air base.

The North Korean refugees trying to escape the North are all for the most part are just trying to get to South Korea. Because the DMZ between the North and South is so militarized, attempting a crossing directly into the South from the North is certain to fail. Those attempting to escape using that route are shot and killed in the attempt or in some cases capture and then sent to long prison terms or executed. Thus the only other way to escape is crossing into China. If caught in China, escaping North Koreans will be sent back to face prison or execution. So they try to work there way through China to Laos. Once in Laos they face the same government policy that the Chinese have if caught, they get sent back and end up in prison or get executed. The same can be said for Vietnam should they choose that route. Remember like North Korea; China, Laos and Vietnam are all fellow Communist countries. and they all support to one degree or another the North Korean government.

Thailand is the first non-communist country the North Korean escapees reach. If the refugees can't make it to the South Korean embassy, there are repetitiveness from various South Korean groups here in Thailand that will assist the escaping North Koreans to get to South Korea. As Thailand is the only country in the area that will not send North Koreans back to North Korea if they are caught here.

Unlike the Burmese or other groups of people who enter Thailand to live, these people only come through Thailand as a transit point on their way to South Korea. There is very little social or economic impact on Thailand from these escaping North Koreans.

Below is a link to a National Geographic story about escaping from North Korea:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/02/north-korea/oneill-text

The rate you pay a maid varies upon what benefits come with the job. In some cases where the maid lives in your home and gets free food, the pay should be less than the norm because she in effect is getting 1,500 to 3,000 baht a month in room and board. You also need to add in the competence of the maid, does she work hard or lay around, does she do her work without damaging things around the house, does she leave burns on your clothing when she irons and how well does she speak English or how well can you communicate with her.

I would think if you have a live in maid the bottom lowest salary would be 5,500 baht a month plus room and board. This would be for one that rates low in competence. On the other hand I know people who pay as much as 12,000 baht a month plus room and board but those people have very competent maids and they can afford to pay more.

I give my live in maid one day off a week plus Buddhist holidays and she is happy with that. I also allow her to save days off (work them) so she can have a long weekend once in a while.

I just visited the grand opening of the new rimping in San Sai today. Nice store not as big as some of the other rimpings but seems to have a bit of everything. It located inside the new Home Pro building on the 121 highway about a kilometer north of the 118/121 intersection.

I've never been to LP so now I'm starting to plan a trip to there. So far my plan which is flexible depending on feedback here, is to drive to Chiang Khong, cross the river to Housy Xay, take a slow boat down river to LP. We will spend a few days there seeing the sights then take a bus back to Housy Xay and cross back to Thailand.

Anyone have any input to this plan or a better way to do it?