smotherb

Actually there are no income requirements for any kind of visa - for some extensions of stay yes (and for work is one of them - as the reference post points out).

Lopburi3, let me congratulate you on your 37,631 posts since February 2003. Wow, that's 12 posts per day for about eight and a half years.

I have had to show 'income requirements' for each of the two (2) Non-Imm type O visas I have gotten in Penang--the last in December 2010.

In fact, I was denied a Non-Imm O visa in Penang when I had no proof of income.

I have also had to show 'income requirements' for each of the five (5) Extensions of Stay stamps I have received.

In fact, my Immigration officer allowed my second Extension of Stay without a current income statement, but admonished me to provide a new income statement the next year.

WRONG - A 'Retirement Visa' has an income requirement - OR - a frozen savings account. Every year, for 8 years I have gotten an embassy document describing my income, plus, I have always had to show copies of my bank statements and have a letter from the bank. Definitely an income requirement...

I suspect that you have an Extension of Stay and not a Visa.

Are we arguing semantics, ignorance, or both?

I am also here on what is termed a 'Retirement Visa.' True, each year, I get an 'Extension of Stay,' but it is based on--pay attention now--the Non-Imm O VISA; hence, the word, 'Extension'.

As you mentioned, the Retirement part is based upon financial evidence provided to Thai Immigration. However, I am on my fifth extension of my Non-Imm O VISA, and I have never been required to have or show any bank documentation.

Neither have I seen the term 'Retirement Visa' written in English anywhere in my passport, or in any documentation I have signed.

However, Thai Immigration has stamped the word 'Retirement' on the 'Extension of Stay' pages in my passport and written the word on some of the documentation I signed.

Could this mean the 'Extension of Stay' is for the 'Retirement Visa' instead of the Non-Imm O VISA? I think 'Retirement' is one way to extend a Non-Imm O VISA.

"Renowned, Prestigious,Condo Nast Magazine"

Never heard of it! is this a Thai Travel Magazine?

Its a rather high end travel mag, started with Diners Club

what's wrong with Swedish ? 2 killed a third one in phuket and now this case ?

Yeah, it's usually the Brits, isn't it?

An incompetent article by an incompetent writer. All expats are sex deviates and here for only one thing.....insipid beyond belief. Go back to where you left Dan and dig a hole.....and do your research rather than putting all your apples in one barrel.

How competent and respectful are you after making a comment like that about the expts??? follow the suggestion and go back to where you came from.

I think the poor boy --'ricardofel' --was trying to negate the statement, 'All expats are sex deviates and here for only one thing.' It appears 'Chinwa' did not see that.

However, take a look at the Google ads offered on Thaivisa, like the ones at the top of this reply page. Let's see, several icoms appear, they say, 'Bangkok Gilrs, Phuket Girls, Thailand Girls Prices and Girls Pattaya. It would seem the many Thaivisa members who object to being labeled sexpats would demand more ads on Thai food, scuba diving and temples. Hmm, maybe Thaisvisa is a cover for, not sex tourists, but sex residents. Let us have a moment of truth. Perhaps I was just offended by the name ol' Danny boy gave the sexpat--'Bob Sexer' indeed, how about Danny Dunkhole instead?.

it was a lot tamer than another main songran playing soi i was in.....where there was this REALLY drunk girl dancing in the middle of the soi and a farang comes down in his car, stops and buys her bra and shorts and then takes off leaving her totally naked lol

pray tell rogerman, what did you do with the bra and shorts?

So he wasn't robbed then? Thus the motive for murder was something else? Who carries around 22k baht (unless you are going to buy something expensive but then you can get a bank cheque or use a credit/debit card).

No wallet. Who goes ANYWHERE without a wallet? So chances are he WAS robbed since the wallet was gone, but they didn't think to check his shorts. However, robbery may or may not have been the motive.

I go everywhere whithout wallet and I have done since I started to go anywhere with money and I know many people that do, so what is wrong with that??

This is addressed to all commenters.

Well, again I find myself dumbfounded at the total lack of common sense many of my fellow ThaiVisa forum members demonstrate and must comment myself; thus, plunging me into your densely populated doldrum of nothing better to do in Thailand. I realize many of you will not, or simply cannot, read a comment this long, so have someone help you, if you even care.

Without the proper due shame, here goes: the Gazette article says in part,

“Thalang police found three 11mm bullet casings and three unspent 11mm bullets at the scene. The man had been shot four times: once in the left of his chest, once in his right collarbone, once in his left abdomen and once in his left wrist. Police found 22,100 baht cash in the man’s shorts, but not in a wallet.”

If we take these statements as fact, what do we know?

1) 11mm bullets, both spent and unspent were at the scene. If we conclude an 11mm gun was the weapon which was used to shoot the victim, we must advance to think of the type of weapon used. Was it a rifle or a pistol?

European—French, German, Belgian, Italian, etc.—and Japanese militaries produced 11mm rifles during the last half of the 19^th century, many were based on the German Mauser, French Gras, or Italian Albini rifles.

Was the Italian shot with a rifle? Let’s go back to the Gazette article, since that is all we have. Does that spent shell pictured look like a rifle shell, or is it more likely a pistol shell?

Well, European militaries—Austrian, French, Danish, German, Italian, Swiss, Norwegian, etc.—also produced 11mm revolvers during the last half of the 19^th century.

So, the Italian was plainly shot by an antique European military weapons enthusiast? What a perfectly logical conclusion and none of you head-spacers even mentioned it.

Hold on. It may be interesting to note that 11mm is similar in size to .44 and .45 caliber—anyone ever heard of a Colt model 1911 .45? Oh, yeah, duh, that’s the service pistol of the Thai military—and, no doubt, many Thai police departments issue them too—which means many 1911 .45’s are readily available here.

So, why does the Gazette article say 11mm? Well, maybe because Thais use the decimal system—only the US and Myanmar use SAE. Let’s look at the pictures. The spent shell looks like a .45 casing to me—it may be a little long, so it could be a .44 magnum; dam_n, maybe Dirty Harry is here and killed the Italian. No, my unintelligible bull translates better if they are .45 shells.

Since the police found .45 shells at the scene and many Thai police are issued .45s, it means the Italian was shot by police for, uh, speeding on his Click. See, another ‘ThaiVisa forum logical’ conclusion no one else mentioned. Shame-shame.

Hey, back-off, I am just using the same unsubstantiated bull the rest of you are using to draw my conclusions—only I add my convoluted logic and rationale, which is derived in part through research and in part through sheer amazement at what I read—and poke fun.

2) Only three spent 11mm shells were found, but there were three live rounds left. That means the Italian luckily escaped being shot three more times. Another obvious scenario you all failed to mention.

The Italian had four wounds, but only three spent shells were found. Well, we all know how thorough Thai police investigations are. That has to mean that the Italian was shot four times with only three bullets.

Hmmm! I wonder if a .45 caliber round may have entered, say, his left wrist, and penetrated all the way through into his left abdomen. dam_n, another perfectly logical, for this forum at least, conclusion. Hey, just pissing on your shoes and telling you it’s rainy season.

3) “Police found 22,100 baht cash in the man’s shorts, but not in his wallet.” To how many morons does that statement translate into: there was no wallet?

Not to let the other cretins pass unscathed, how many thick-heads think you have to carry money in your wallet or can’t go anywhere without a wallet? Apparently there are several. What cave do you inhabit?

Let us not forget the accuser who said, ‘Everyone is assuming the Italian is an innocent man that did nothing wrong.’ Yeah, let’s forget about all that bull about being innocent until proven guilty, he is dead, we can say anything about him—and there are other non-composmenti out there who defend his right to deny others their rights.

One said, ‘He is not accusing anyone of anything........ is he?’ No, he is just jumping to uncorroborated assumptions which cast aspersions at the innocence of a dead man. Slander and denial of basic rights, yeah, that’s what its all about. Stand by your man.

So, yes the Italian was obviously not innocent. He was most likely the head of the Italian mafia and was taken out by the Russian mafia, who used Japanese Yakuza 11mm Murata rifles flown in by the CIA—let’s not let the Americans off so lightly.

Wait a minute, did I say ‘rifles’ as in plural? What an astonishing example of brilliance. Of course, the 11mm Japanese Murata is a single shot bolt action rifle. So, there were at least three Russian mafia snipers—or were they CIA-trained Thai snipers moonlighting with the Russians? Or, were they the katoey trio appearing nightly at the Man Club?

Do you see how we don’t even need an investigation to solve this crime?

Finally, the real clincher here, who is so naïve that they think B22k is a lot of money to carry—especially for a Western falang in Phuket? One good night on Soi Bangla could easily cost that. Then again, the Chang and Soi Disease street-massage mob would not know that.

So, my fellow ThaiVisa forum readers and commenters, aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? A man was killed. It most likely was not suicide or by accident—unless as one commenter offered, that he was hit by incidental ‘11mm’ rounds passing at the same time and place. We know very little—only what was said in the Gazette article—but we still conjecture and cajole. Any idiot can guess at what happened—haven’t I just showed you. The newspapers initiate the stories; then, fail to follow-up on them. Or, is it the police who fail to follow-up? Or, is it the system which has no follow-up? Or, is it we, who do not really matter?

I will try to withhold future comments. I attempted to simply not read the forums, but, like many of you, just can’t find anything else to do in Thailand. Perhaps we should start a quilting circle, you know, each one adding a new patch of unsupported excretion until we develop a real cesspool in which to wallow.

Love and kisses, y’all.

To the routine annoyance of people within ear-shot, I can normally talk for England,

but this report, assuming it is totally accurate, makes me speechless with gloom and

sorrow.

Anyone else having second/third/fourth....thoughts about living in this cruel land ?

(given the endless stream of bad-news....perhaps just stop reading TV altogether.)

And before anyone jumps up with the usual: Bad things happen everywhere, even

in cuddly England...absolutely right....but I bet you cannot come up with any story of

a gang descending on and beating a lone woman for trying to sell a few items of fruit ?

Behind all the gold decor, posing in pastel shirts, and quaint mannerisms, Cruel LOS ?

It is sad for the lady, and I hope that she recovers soon. But.....................................

You are right - there will not be a case of people beating up others over selling fruit, on a beach in England.

1 they cannot afford the fruit

2 the local council would not let them sell it on the beach

3 the health and safety people would demand that they wear protective clothing 'in case it was tainted'

4 it's too cold on the beach

In all of my time of living in Thailand, this is the first time that I have heard of this. What does an isolated incident have to do with 'cruel LOS'?

In the UK yesterday there was a case of 'sexual grooming by two Asians on white girls'. (Not the first case.) Cruel LOS ?- I almost choked on my BBQ sweetcorn.

I don't usually reply to these forums, just reading them amazes me.

I do not claim to be an expert on any country, but I have a brain, some knowledge and experience, and have been resident in several countries throughout the world--including Thailand, where I now live, but have frequently visited for more than forty years.

One of the things I have learned is that all facts need to be known before an intelligent discussion or correct decision can be made. We are told of no witnesses except the victim and what her father has reportedly said. So, what if there were not six thugs? What if the victim simply got into an argument with a worker in the restaurant? Or, worse yet, what if the charges are simply trumped-up and she only fell off her bike and cracked her head? Her face appears remarkably unscathed for receiving a beating by six thugs, don't you agree?

What if the restaurant also sells fruit, pays a pretty hefty sum to occupy the beach, has warned the vendor previously against selling inside their restaurant, but the vendor still walked right into the restaurant to sell fruit . What if the restaurant owner, an elderly matron, simply threw the vendor out on her ear. What if the charges are only claimed by the vendor as some sort of retribution?

So, let's get the rest of the story before Thai bashing and ascribing guilt..

Do you think the UK, US or any other Western nation's laws allow a vendor to sell similar products in another business without permission. In fact, the Western police would assist the restaurant owner in evicting the vendor.

I realize vendors selling competing products in restaurants is a common practice in Thailand. Would the Thai Police make vendors leave, or would the restaurant have to take measures into its own hands to rid themselves of the vendors?

I believe Vice Governor Weerawat did the right thing, he ordered an investigation.

So, back away from your armchair judiciary, unless you can find nothing better to do in Thailand. I that case, I will settle back into my sheer amazement and ignore these missives as best I can.

just read the full report, and this has to be the BIGGEST <deleted> of the day

At present, Col. Teerapol was reluctant to reveal what charges the two men were facing. However, investigations into the whereabouts of Mr. Alexandrov and any other suspects involved in the murder were ongoing.

Editor's Note: PDN have obtained information from a reputable source within the local police that the two men, Mr. Gasanov and Mr. Aramsis, have not yet been charged with any offence and have been released from custody.

Due to the length of the discussion mentioned in the police report, I feel it is very likely that the pair have struck a deal with police or are taking part in a further operation to arrest Mr. Alexandrov and any other people involved.

so they admit more or less to the murder, show where the body is, have the full ' assin ' kit in there car, and then RELEASED !!!

Sure, because they had recently received US10K and B300K, plus leaving the B125K for, um, evidence

What a cr*p publication . . . reminds me of the 'great' reporting done in the Sun paper in the UK . . . if I was ThaiVisa I'd want nothing to do with this rubbish, but I guess there is money to be made in advertising etc etc

You are right and their grammar really s++ks. If they were in my English class they would fail for sure.

I guess many members of Thaivisa would fail too.

Sorry,didn't realise you had to be English and perfect in written English to be a member of TV.

I believe the English teacher was referring to Pattaya One rather than ThaiVisa and what made you think you had to be English? Good English skills include reading comprehension as well as grammatically correct writing and speaking. Perhaps better English skills from both transmitter and receiver could improve any English language venue.

Gladly for MAKRO the cash was delivered INTO banks premises

and must be considered DELIVERED by MAKRO...... OR??????

If robbed outside bank, no delivery was done. So in this case, bank is at fault here, gladly......

Glegolo

So the bank is at fault, gladly? Does it make any difference? What I want to know is what happened to the other 12 Million?

Since the lone robber only picked up two bags, it's a good bet the other B12M is in the other bags.

Dear Swerver,

I appreciate your suggestion of a Long Term Residents status, but see two flaws in your approach.

First, why limit the special Foreign Resident status to simply time-served? Simply living here uninterrupted for ten years does not necessarly benefit Thailand, its economy, or its residents. Other inportant issues would better serve the Thai people and perhaps more closely reflect beneficial human additions to Thailand.

I would suggest a Preferred Foreign Resident status which requires, but is not limited to: 1) does the falang spend sufficient money (say B65,000/mo) in Thailand? 2) does the falang speak Thai and know something of Thai current events, history and culture; 3) does the falang's family (Thai or falang) live with them in Thailand; 4) has the falang spent suffcient time (perhaps 3-5 years) in Thailand without record of illegal or unethical actions; 5) is the falang a legitimate retiree or tax paying Thai business investor; and 6) does the falang respect and defer to the sovereignty of the King. Of course, some verifiable form of proof would be required or all the issues--ATM withdrawals or bank transfers, Thai test, family visas, falang retiree or investor visa history, and oath of deference to the King.

Second, automating the whole Foreign Resident status thing may be problematic considering the current state of the Thai bureacracy. Let me make that, 'the current state almost all bureacracies.' How many of our falang embassies require more than our old passport to issue a new one? Don't you have to fill out another form that states essentially the same information already on your passport? Ah, but I digress. Simply allow the Preferred Foreign Resident Status recipient to go to the nearest Thai Immigration Office (no having to go to the original place of issue) every so often (180 days?) to register and every year to pay some appropriate fee (B1900 or less).

What think you?

There are some honorary Consulates that would likely be better than Washington. Have him check around or you can do with email advising he will be visiting you and you are here on retirement extensions of stay - copy of your stamp/passport might get him a multi entry non immigrant O visa but there really is no Hull anywhere but Hull.

Thanks again, Lopburi3. I have already faxed our son copies of our visas and a financial support document translated into Thai.

I have also heard from Walen University in Bangkok, they have an online Thai course which offers the ED visa, so our Southern Thailand locale presents no problem.

Do you, or anyone else know anything about Walen? Walen is advertised on the Thaivisas website.

He would have to register first with a language school and then with the paperwork he can apply fro an ED-visa. Normaly you can stay on an ED-visa for 3 tot 5 years, and afetr that you can change your study.

The requirement is to study at least 4 hours a week, the cost are around 30,000 baht for the study. Click on one of the banners from language schools above the page, their site should give you some general information.

Thank you Mario2008, I appreciate your response. I will definitely check it out.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or visa options?

Does anyone know if there is a more tolerant Thai consulate for visas in the US. I understand the Thai embassy in DC is a stickler for details--similarly, in the UK, I understand Hull is a better consulate for getting visas than using London's thai embassy.

Perhaps a better option, if located in an area with language school, would be to enroll in Thai course and obtain a non immigrant ED visa for that. He would then not have to leave country and be learning the language. He would still have plenty of time for internet course study.

Thank you Lopburi3, that is a good idea. There are Thai language schools here in Songkla. How long a stay is associated with the non-imm ED, what is the cost, is there additional documentation other than the Thai school, and is there a better place than the Thai embassy in DC to apply?

My wife and I are both Americans and are living in Thailand on retiree visas. Our son has about a year and a half of college remaining and can do it online through a US university. We would like to have him join us here in Thailand and finish his degree.

He is currently in the US and could join us in late January or early February, if he can obtain the right visa. I assume applying in the US for the type O one year non-imm visa would be most beneficial to him.

Can anyone shed any information on the best way and place to apply, which visa would be best, and what documentation may be needed?

smotherb