modafinil

I'm sure everybody on this forum is well aware that buying a car in Thailand is much more expensive than in the US or the UK.

What would happen if I bought a car completely legally in Laos (all log books etc) and drove it over the friendship bridge to Thailand?

Is there a "grace period" where you can drive about on Laos numberplates? If I was allowed to do this for (say) 12 months, it might actually be worthwhile buying a car in Laos, driving it to Thailand and then returning to Laos again to sell the vehicle.

Or is it simply illegal to drive a foreign vehicle into Thailand without registering it with Thai numberplates? Could I do the same thing from Malaysia, Cambodia or Myanmar? My questions are probably naive - no doubt there is a reason why I don't see many/any foreign registered cars in Thailand, but I'd be interested to know why.

thank u, i have a brand new passport, they dont check anything else,only your passport so i can

do 2 or 3 times,nor sure whats ok at the moment.yes thats a good ide to fly and bus.I get back to u asap.Maby i do one now from pattay before I go Phuket.thanks

If you plan on going to Phnom Penh Cambodia from Pattaya, several people on thaivisa have had a good experience with Mr Keo:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/464257-in-phnom-penh-now/

With a brand new passport, you should have no difficulty getting a 2X tourist visa in Laos. I forgot to mention, the bus from Udon to Laos takes about 45 minutes, so not a long journey.

You can do Laos yourself pretty easily.A promo flight from Phuket to Udon Thani on Airasia can be as little as 1000 baht each way if you book a month or so ahead of your trip. There are several minibuses outside Udon Thani that will take you to the Laos border (or Nong Khai) for 200 baht, or you can stay the night in Nong Khai (5 minutes from the border by tuk tuk) - the Pantawee hotel is cheap and clean with lots of rooms.

Vientiane and the Thai consulate in Laos is 15-20 minutes taxi ride away from the Laos border. Get there reasonably early in the morning, your 2X tourist visa will be ready for you after 1PM the next day.

Laos is a bit risky if you already have lots of tourist visas in your passport - sometimes they can turn people down. Phenom Phen Cambodia gives out 2X tourist visas more easily, but it's a more expensive journey.

Having a tout with you can help ensure that you get your visa in Laos. I have a couple of useful contact numbers if you want to do this.

Every death is tragic, but making out that Thailand is some kind of "murder capital of the world" is ridiculous.

Thailand has 5.9 murders per 100,000 people per year

The USA has 5.0 murders per 100,000 people per year

A tourist getting grazed by a stray bullet wouldn't even make the news in the US - but when it happens in Thailand, somehow it is proof that Thailand is a murderous hellhole.

At any given time, there are millions of farang expats/holidaymakers in the country - going by the statistics, 100 farangs would be murdered every year (assuming an average farang population of 2 million).

Is a farang really murdered every 3 days? I don't think so. Which means that expats and tourists are less at risk than Thai people themselves. Maybe Thai people are usually too polite to shoot at farangs?

From my personal experience, pharmacies in many areas of Bangkok have a very limited selection of products.

I tried these 2 in Sukhumvit, both had excellent prices and a very good selection.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/366218-good-pharmacy-in-bangkok/

Wrong location, but Mom's in Kamala (from Patong turn right at the second set of traffic lights, 400 metres on your left) do an excellent home-made cheeseburger and chips (not fries) for an affordable 130 baht, generous portions.

Yes, the Tsunami WP outcry was justified - although I never saw a news report confirming that anybody was arrested while volunteering to help with the tsunami aftermath.

The risk of volunteering without a work permit appears to be an extremely small risk - I would speculate that over the period of (say) 1 month, you are more likely to die in a motorbike accident than get arrested for volunteering. Like everything in life, it's a calculated risk.

You give a good example of a way in which volunteering could lead to disasterous consequences - many NGOs and schools are well enough connected to ensure that you could walk away from such an incident, but perhaps not all.

I'm not trolling, just curious.

Are there any documented examples of somebody who ended up in Thai jail for volunteering without a work permit? A link would be helpful - I've never actually seen this reported by a reliable media source.

I ask because many people must be put off doing voluntary work in Thailand because of the work permit issue - which is bad for everybody, especially disadvantaged Thais.

(I realise that thaivisa.com cannot be seen to be promoting "illegal" activities, however crazy the law)

My and my GF just came back from lao. I had 2 TR visa in my passport and my GF 4. They gave me a single TR but would not give any to my GF, so you only got the 2 weeks at the border. They told my this was the last time.

So i was thinking what would be the best way to get a visa.

1. Pay the fee to attent a school to learn thai. I dont know the cost of this. do anyone have any ideer ?

2. Get my ex. GF to set up a thai company ( if thai owner dont need the 2.000.000) and this way get a B visa. But this will give me a monthly cost on Social security for 4 thai staff same as 2.400 bath + 7 % tax of 50.000 baht total 5.900 baht + visa + workpermid.

3. make a new visa.

is there anyone with other ideers ?

1) Go to Cambodia where they are still giving out 2X tourist visas (use a tout to ensure success)

2) Go back to Laos and try again (use a tout to ensure success)

The experience wasn't as bad as I expected. I got a tuk-tuk from Nong Khai to the friendship bridge, got stamped out of Thailand and realised I didn't have any idea of how to get across. After faffing about for 10 minutes trying to work it out (there is a public bus service that costs 15 baht), I was approached by a friendly driver/visa tout who spoke good English. If you see a 5"4 Laos guy wearing shades near the bridge, that's probably him.

400 baht for a taxi ride to the embassy might seem overpriced, but his presence certainly didn't hurt my chances of getting my visa, and saved me a lot of time - he stuck around and gave me a lift to my hotel afterwards, all part of the 400 baht. I booked him for the ride back, and he similarly saved me time and effort in getting my passport back from the embassy the following day.

Now I had only had an ED visa, a multiple non-O visa and a bunch of visa-on-arrival stamps in my passport, so I would probably have got the double-entry Tourist Visa anyway. Still, I'll be using the same guy if I need to go back to Laos for another 2xTV - I have his name and mobile number.

So in summary - yes, it's still possible to get a 2X Tourist Visa from Laos - and doing business with the locals may well pay dividends, although I suspect I got lucky with my well-connected Laos taxi driver.

OK, I'll give it a try. I would be happy to use the touts if it increased my chances of getting a tourist visa - any opinions on the matter would be helpful, I'm going to the Laos embassy tomorrow.

Hello,

I'm pretty concerned about all the reports of people struggling to get tourist visas in Laos. I may or may not "have too many visas in my passport" - I have an expired ED visa, an expired non-immigrant multiple O from Hull and 4 "visa on arrival" stamps. I haven't yet applied for a tourist visa of any kind, but I don't know if this will help me or not.

I arrive in Laos early tomorrow morning. Will using the touts outside the embassy improve my chances of getting the double-entry tourist visa that I want? How much would I have to pay?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I was denied a SINGLE entry tourist visa in Vientianne yesterday. The lady said I had too many visas in my passport. They were spread out over 5 years from several consolates in the region and were NOT consecutive. She wasn't interested in hearing any kind of story from me.

If you got a lot of visas in your passport, I wouldn't recommend trying your luck!

This is worrying news. I've got non-refundable flights booked to Udon Thani and back in 3 days time, and was planning on getting a double entry tourist Visa in Vientiene.

My passport had a multiple O for "visiting friends" that has now expired - since then, I've flown to KL twice for 30 day extensions and bussed it to Ranong twice for 15 day extensions.

If anybody could give me some advice on how to maximise my chances of getting granted "any" kind of 3-month visa your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I have a UK passport, am under 50 and don't have a Thai wife. I've been in Thailand for 18 months now.

Excellent, thank you for the clarification - I'll get my flights booked for Udon Thani and see if I can get a 2X TR

Sorry if I'm coming across as a bit uninformed, but what is the procedure for the 2X Tourist Visa assuming you get one?

You stay in Thailand for 60 days, visit your local immigration office for a 30 day extension costing 1900 baht, and then what?

Would I have to enter and leave in Laos again in order for the 2X portion of the visa to become active, or could I go to any country (say Myanmar) to get my 2X visa stamped for another 60/90 days?

And I assume you have to check into immigration again after 60 days again in order to extend to the full 90 days?

Thanks!

Where a very basic room to rent costs 70-90% of your wages?

Where many commodities are now at and above western prices?

You go reduce your income to 6-7000baht monthly and come back and tell us that you can live here a lot cheaper than other countries.

You are living a life of comparitive luxery on the backs of the local workers who are paid a pittance in comparison.

Not really true.

Rooms can still be had for 2000 Bt a month or less. Sometimes the room is shared, bringing down the monthly cost even further.

The absolute lowest wage I have heard of is 4000 Bt a month. Average wage is 6000 to 7000 Bt per month.

It's a free market. If Thai workers couldn't save money to send back home, they wouldn't be here, yet, Phuket is a magnet for unskilled labour that can make more in Phuket than their home provinces.

I concur. My Thai ex is paying 2000 Bt a month for a nice room in Kamala, hardly the cheapest place in Phuket. Sob stories about 5000 Bt being the minimum price for a room are nonsense.

Thanks, that's just what I needed to know

My 1 month "Visa on arrival" will run out shortly. I am a UK citizen.

If I get a bus to Ranong and back, I'm assuming I only get a 15 day stamp?

Thanks!

The Consulate will not accept a rental agreement anymore.

I am curious to know how up-to-date this information is. I emailed the Hull Thai Consulate 3 weeks ago and asked if my year-long rental agreement would be sufficient to be granted a Multiple O and they told me it would be fine. Has something changed in the last 3 weeks that I need to know about - I was planning on returning to the UK shortly.

The dong had been rising against the poon for too long in my opinion, is it any wonder that the Vietnamese want to use their dong overseas to penetrate new markets?

Hi Sophon,

As luck would have it, Hull consulate have already e-mailed me a response - replying to a weekend email on Monday morning is pretty good if you ask me! Possibly they are focussing on their emails a little more now.

The news is good for those who want a multiple O Visa - apparently they will take a rental/lease agreement for a house as proof that I reside in Thailand. So my plan to go back home and get another multiple O is back on track.

Hope this info helps you, although I would obviously recommend that you e-mail Hull yourselves before you spend $1000 on a return flight to the UK

...I'll email the Hull Thai Consulate to find out how much leeway they give with regards to the "Residing in Thailand: Evidence required: Copy of house deeds". If that were true they wouldn't issue any Visas at all, what with farangs not being able to own a house here...

You don't have to own the place where you stay. A confirmation from the owner that your are renting it will also do, or if you stay in a hotel, a reservation confirmation. Email Hull to ask for confirmation.

I've emailed Hull, I'm not expecting a response until Monday though since most places close on a Sunday back in the UK. I'll let you know what they have to say.

Hull was by far the easiest way to get a multiple O Visa in the UK, so I'm naturally fed up that I have to find some alternative means to stay in Thailand.

I had a Edu Visa for my TEFL course, but the Edu Visa was only for 3 or 6 months, so it has long expired, and would have been superceded by the multiple O anyway I suspect.

Getting a teaching job complete with work permit is a viable option for me, but would put a serious hole in my drinking schedule My Thai gf has suggested a way for me to stay in Thailand permanently, but I think that it would cause a lot more problems than it would solve

I'll email the Hull Thai Consulate to find out how much leeway they give with regards to the "Residing in Thailand: Evidence required: Copy of house deeds". If that were true they wouldn't issue any Visas at all, what with farangs not being able to own a house here.

Regarding "lazy but expensive" options, if I flew to Singapore and back would I get an automatic 30-day Visa stamp? Could I keep doing this?

It was only a matter of time before Hull was brought more into line with other, more local, consulates.

According to this post http://www.thaivisa....ost__p__4179110 a rental agreement should do the trick, at least for now

Give them a call or an email to make sure.

Otherwise a Tourist Visa (60 days plus a 30 day extension) is your only choice, free until the end of March. Vientiane are apparently issuing double entries for free at present.

Thanks for the advice, Crossy. My rental agreement is not exactly what you would call a "legal document", possibly I could ask my landlord to write something a bit more professional looking.

The Vientiane option would be a good temporary solution, would mean I could get back to the UK for the summer when the "land of frowns" briefly becomes tolerable

If I was going to Laos, I might as well just get a flight from Phuket to Udon Thani, Nong Khai is only a 45 minute bus ride away then. I don't suppose anybody would care to talk me through what I need to do to get a double entry tourist visa? I've only had 2 Thai visas so far, an edu visa when I did a TEFL course and my non-immigrant O. Am I pretty much guaranteed to get issued a tourist Visa? - don't want to get stuck in Laos forever

I had intended to go back to the UK for a few weeks in March and get a non-immigrant O visa while I was there. Well, it seems that Hull consulate have messed up my plans entirely. Other than to say hello to friends and family, I don't have any pressing need to return to the UK.

So when my 12/15 month multiple O visa for the purpose of visiting friends runs out, what is my best way to stay in Thailand? Another few months here would be very nice, how can I do this easily and of course legally? I don't have a Thai wife, I've got a year-long rental agreement on my house & I live in Phuket. Another 3 months beyond March would be very useful to me.

All ideas welcome.