KevinB

Come on guys half of you aren't answering his question. Arrive on a NZ opassport = NO PROBLEM. 30 days automatic. If you overstay there is a charge but it doesn't seem to influnence future visas or entry. And if you want you can get a 7 day extension at immigaration.

New Thai Visa in Laos - have heard they have not been as friendly in Laos of late so may only get a 90 days. Enjoy - the weather back home is so s....y at the moment is you stay behind you might get foot rot.

By the way one comment did strike me as something worth getting some more information on - from those that know!

Where does Bangkok's rubbish go?

In response to the other queries -

1) yes the service in open 24 hrs but if it was the middle of the night - I was told staff might be short as shifts are based on aircraft arrivals and departures so might take time but it would be available as it was an Immigartion service.

2) Only available if you are in the process of leaving - once to get the final nod from the staff at the booths - your passport gets an exit stamp. Also the lady at the desk checks your boarding pass.and won't deal with you unless you have one. She turned away a guy who was trying to get his done then but was only leaving on a short trip in two days time.

By the way I don't expect a Gold classification for getting this done and reporting it - I'm not one of the farangs who is so negative about this country that I can't appreciate that this is a new service that works for me. Ever tried to get a EU immigration officer to alter your visa conditions at a Airport? Don't try it in Germany or Austria - rules are rules.

Yes they are - used it myself a week ago last Thursday - But it takes time. Desk is inside the Immigration queue area - small desk on the far left near the enterance wall. - you have to fill in form and it has to be typed into computer - cost Thb 200 and she can take your photo for you with her desk top camera. Then get a official to take you though to booths behing the desks - no need to queue (I wasted 15 minutes originally because didn't spot the desk on the left and had been told to see the immigartion official). BUT now additional proceedure more stuff has to be entered on the computer and a receipt HAS TO BE ISSUED and cost Thb 1000. I tried to rush it because my depature time was approachoing - they were not happy when I told them I didn't need a receipt.

Whole process took almost an hour so get there early. Was promised once a new connection is installed it will be quicker and more efficient as the two data entry exercises will be linked . Sure beats a trip to Immigartaion department. to get another Visa extension. The very nice ladty told me next time get your 90 Non- Imm O visa and just in case you have to travel get a re-entry visa at he same time - Good advice if like me I suddenly have to make unplanned trips while on a so called break from work. .

Before this discussion degenerates into a slanging match about retirees livings on pensions and visitor Joe coming on a holiday. Let me ask the following.

America, in an attempt to re-start growth launches Quantatative Easing - by releasing Billions of US$ into the Banking Sector. The plan being that these Banks will lend money to small business and this will generate jobs. BUT what happens the BanKs start lending this money to folk who can afford to borrow (the Rich already) . And they move the money to areas like Thai land where interest rates are higher or stock values are growing because there is still real economic growth - in order to make a profit (interest they receive - interest they pay on dirty cheap US$). So maybe we should be complaining about the Banks - for the leakage of cheap money from the US into developing economies - Of course the Thai Government has to protect this economy from negative effects. This country doesn't need speculative investment - folk buying condos - not to live in them but to sell at a profit as prices rise because price inflation caused by their own speculative investments. Think about it - this is just another problem caused by the Big Banks - whose belef in money for nothing is what got us into the mess in the first place.

Fascinating - something cross-cultural and interesting.

Where did you get that figure from? - seems a bit high for a small number of folks not that rich (and certainly holding most assets off-shore). Can't count all the tourists as part of us - remembering that the M-16 gang was targeting local residents.

Would love to know the source of that figure - I'm sure there aren't that many of us and I'm certain we are not that rich - 6% of an economy as big as Thailand's - where exports represent a significant contribution to factor production and internal / local consumption is driven largely by locals is not just "a large amount" it is unbeleivable. We're are just ordinary folk and there are not many of us. I hope you aren't counting all the farang tourists as part of us local residents - by the way it was the resident farangs who have been targetted by the so called M-16 gang.

Whats wrong with these people.

If it was not for the expats a lot of business would be lost in Thailand

If it was not for expats a lot of business would be lost in Thailand What a load of crap Do you really think that expats add a lot to Thailands economy Maybe the beer bars in Pattaya or Bangkok but not to Thailand in general Not even 1% so dont think Thailand would be worse of without its expats.

Actually it is 6% of GDP which is a large amount!!!!

So much more elightening these recent discussions now that we are only argung about where we live rather than the colour of other citizens shirts. By the way Bangkok is so big that it matters what Soi or suburb or condo you live in - before you provincials try and trash the whole city.

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This set of postings has been a fascinating read - great stuff guys and girls. I can't help but wonder how the blogs would have read if (by some trick of time travel) we could have gone back to the barricades in Paris when the Rabble stormed the Bastille - or to the radical changes (at times quiet violent) when Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads took over. The times are a changing in Thailand folks - maybe the end of an era - I don't know. But at times of momentous change all sorts of things happen. As they say it's hard to make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. By the way in both the historic examples (and there are a pile more) the elite was smug and complacent (believing they could keep a lid on it) and the other side maybe lied and cheated the common folk into participating (some even claim the mob was paid) and in the process they ended up in power. What started as a populous movement driven by poverty ended up getting a bit out of hand - a process by which even those involved at the start got consumed by their own violence and the high ideals of the change became somewhat spoiled and at times sordid.

So folk sit back and absorb the process of history - allow others to have their own views and observations - no one is right and no one is wrong. Maybe we will never know whether these reporters were real or bought - if the MoBs were this side or that - History is a very complex thing - try and read about the French Revolution - gets real confusing at times as does the power struggle inside the Roundheads (friends became enemies and rivals eventually joined together). But the outcome was the same France and Great Britain were never the same again. There was change - real change.

Come on - you didn't need to be a phophet to know what was going to happen. It could have been avoided if the government had moved at the very beginning - they DIDN'T - it would have been avoided if the Police and army acted earlier and decisively - THEY DIDN'T. I wonder why - maybe they feel a bit guilty about how they came to power (banning a polititian for apearing on a cooking programme, removing Members of Parliament because of a Court ruling which was rather one sided) - maybe they couldn't act quickly because they had totally failed to do anything about the Yellow folk occupying the airports and doing damage equivalent, in economic terms, to 10 Central Worlds. The Government and the cabinest and the officials have handled this badly - they should resign and call fresh elections - OOPPs maybe that is what they should have done at the beginning to make them legitimate - maybe having the guy who ran the Yellow protest movement in charge of Security wasn't a very good idea. Maybe assasinating a rebel general with a sniper shot in the head was something that made folk just a little p'ed off.

If the current Government stays on after this it will have no authority - if the current military planners and commanders stay on after this they will have no respect - If there is not a major change in how Thailand is run after this - the country it will have no regional respect and if these required changes aren't public and universally acceptable to all the population - Thailand ain't going to recover from the damage this has done to the country's image. 24 - 7 on BBC and CNN. People are asking why is there so much anger in the Land of Smiles. Ask yourself

Sorry if this is irrelevant because it's been discussed already - but it was so boring - the members fighting and bickering - that I jumped to the end. This is not a compromise because the PM decides if everyone has played by his rules and plain and simple he's not trusted. So many of you think the Reds have blown it - they haven't their supporters still support them. They have never been "popular" in Bangkok which is what this is all about. They have made this Government look stupid and the PM ineffective and weak. And damaged the country like the Yellows did (and didn't get punished)

Now if I remember correctly the DP and the PM got in when the last red PM stepped down after a court rulling chucked them out of Parliament. Am I missing something - or is that what is about to happen to the DP now they have got caught with money they can't explain - So how come the PM is convinced he is still going to be here in November - to monitor HIS plan and IF everyone sticks to it.

Well some of the recent comments on hard working Isaan girls - many of whom work in establishments owned by leading lights in the Yellow movement (who else owns Bangkok) and do actually look after their poor parents and younger siblings have answered my earlier questions - some of you guys are just blatant racists. In a some Western countries where there is a degree of civility and respect for others your comments would get you a well deserved fine.

Help me out Guys I wasn't around on this site when a) the army took control in Sept 2006 and then realised they couldn't pull it off for too long because of regional and international pressure or when the yellows occupied the airport and really gave Thailand a good old kick in the crouch - what did all you say at the time? - I'd like to know if you were fair and balanced in your objection to stupidity or if you are all just retired red-necks and ultra-conservatives.

Spare us the discussion - someone shot him in the head and he was clearly un-armed at a peaceful demonstration (despite the "oh he's got a knife" bs) - I don't recall the Yellows getting hassled at the airport blockage even by police with plastic shields (and they looked armed with knives and clubs at times). Or have we all forgotten that bit and the economic damage that it caused and continues to cause. By the way taking over an airport in the current world security situtaion is surely a bit more serious than demostrating at a down-town intersection. I note the Reds have asked for observers to be stationed with the army and SWAT units occupying high buildings - fully support them because it is clear that one possible explaination of this video is a shot in the head from an elevated position (sniper) - remember the video of the Kennedy killing (unless you all believe it was a Mafia guy on the grassy knoll). Amazing how it's an accepted fact in all Government statements that there were "terrorists" dressed in black - and that these were doing the deadly shotting. Amazing how not a single Red jumped them when (according to Government) it was them pumping bullets into their fellow Red shirts.

Thai monks and Catholic priests - what is wrong with these guys? "Suffer little children to come unto me" says the Gospels and I'm sure there is a Thai quote giving a similar entreatment to care for the innocence of children. So how come? - having been scared SH**less by the Jesuits priests in their black cassocks when I was a kid (I might add fueled by horror stories from other boys who told what happened if they caight you alone in the changing rooms after gym or PT as it was called in my day) - I'm starting to wonder if it has got something to do with - men in dresses. All due respect to the guys in our forum who like cross dressing.

Hey just some guys having fun. I think the victim must have owed them the money - they look a decent enough bunch of guys. This is what happens when you deal with folk like that. - Use a reputable dealer who has more normal skin cover than tatoo. Also knowing the Thai justice system, the complaint had better get his sorry backside out of town before they get out - if the are not out already.

A good sauna can and does improve general heath - you not only lose water but all that sweat also drags out some toxins. Most people also find that the heat makes them feel better - it clears the head, loosens up the sinuses, gives the lungs a good dose of hot moist air (helps loosen them especially if it is thai style sauna with aromatic oils). So generally good feeling and excellent after exercise especially if you are launching into a New decade resolution - I'm gonna get rid of some fat and firm up - an our muscles ache. (Important to cool down from the exercise before entering the steam). So as weight lose is about feeling better about your self and realising that you are out of shape and FAT - Saunas are Great. No-one answered the question where can you get one cheap - from my experience most good spas have one - but they are not cheap because they are part of a package / beauty treatment.

I'm new so would like to ask a question.

If all your assets are seized - do people (very important people) who have borrowed money from you still have to pay it back? - to the Government? or are they forgiven their debts because they borrowed from a rich "criminal"?

Well if the answer is NO - you keep the money, no questions asked and then maybe the rumours I've heard about who owes who, will be very happy and that could be the reason why this process seems to have worked much quicker than dealing with other so called "acts of corruption" in this country.

As a newie I'm amazed at most respondents lack of understanding of the class struggle in this country (and I don't mean it in a Marxian sense) - the red movement has discovered that the poor in Thailand have a vote and they know how to use it to their advantage - they, who ever their leader is, what ever colour they use, are simply not going to go away - they are here to stay - they grow everyday as the rich get richer and the poor stay marginalised and there is only one person who has ever demonstrated to them that something can be done and it doesn't matter what name he goes by. Nor does it matter what the elite class does to him or about him - even if they produce evidence none of those at the bottom of the pyramid are gonna believe IT. Even if us at the top of the pyramid know it to be true and know their hero to be full of holes. Remember he is their hero not ours - wait for the next election and see who the people choose.

In case you haven't noticed not just here in Thailand but all over Asia people are voting for change - change in a economic system that benefits a few and ignores the majority - it is not about patriotism - its not about a system of government - its a universal movement - people want better Government - people want leaders who care about them - and hey eventually, as history has shown in Europe and the Americas. the people are gonna get what they want and us elites are just gonna have to lump it and adapt.

Lets be more positive team - A job Well Done especially if you are the family of the person murdered - Justice seen to be done (with photos) - is Justice done. Everyone sees the guy that did it and this helps the sorrow and the healing process. Knowing he isn't gonna have a good time in a Thai jail also helps and knowing that all his relatives and friends know he did it and where he is going to end up also adds to the closure that is so important in getting on with your life after a tragedy.

I am amazed at how anti-Taksin most of the members of the forum are - and how pro-Taksin so many of the normal ordinary Thais are - Could the reason be that as PM he did lots for the poor and disenfrancised and very little for the elite (of which the expats and other members are part). Well then, as there are a lot more of the have-nots or have-very-little - than the have-enoughs, and have-a-lots in Thailand - we should see his political return at the next free and fair election - what ever we think.