loumaripol

A letter in the Post today described police hanging around the Eastern Bus Terminal stopping tourists and searching their bags. The claimed to find porn on one person's phone, The writter also claimed that a friend was stopped exiting the Lotus on Rama IV and had his camera bag searched. The police claimed to find porn images on his memory card - he paid out of fear of worse accusations. Today my hair dresser said he saw the same sort of activity on Thong Lor. He is frightened to caryr his prescription medicine as a result.

Two questions:

1. Can anyone offer factual information on the authority of the police to search the property of random individuals (Farang from what has bee told to me)?

2. Are there anyother members aware of this?

Thanks and regards,

Lou

Hello,

As a retired airline manager I am astounded by the web site. It is really disfunctional. Slow, prone to time out and unreliable.

We just returned from a trip to Sapporo on TG. Check in took 35 minutes due to the low number of staffed positions. Outbound the 777-300ER cabin was worn and tired looking. The cabin crew seemed pleasant enough but it is a short, overnight, trip so there isn't much interaction with passengers. The return flight had a newer aircraft but the crew was barely civil. Passive agressive behavior. The food was poor and the cost quite high. I am finished with flying on paid tickets on Thai. It is my (purely subjective) impression that the CEO coup has damaged Thai.

I flew their non-stops to LAX. I knew that they were doomed due to the lousy economics of the A340-500. singapore has stopped their non-stops for the same reason. Seems a shame when the B777-200LR can fly the route with a full playload 75% of the year.

Mario, thank you!

That is what I wanted to know. You confirmed what a friend told me.

Lou

Hi - I f you recently obtained a multiple re-entry permit at the airport please post your experience.

Many thanks!!

FYI - I recieved a 12 month extension January 9th for Non-Retirement. I am a 67 year old American citizen. This was my 7th. extension. My submission of the affidavit from the the US ACS was all I needed to prove income. As usual they wanted this year what they didn't last - my title deed for my condo. I suggest you bring a copy of all pages in your passport. I didn't and had to go get them. Otherwise no problems. I am greatful to Thaiand for their hospitality.

Cheers,

Lou

Mel,

A bit of an attack on an actual pilot. Only a small number of airports world-wide have had infrastructure changes to accomodate A380 flights. Taxi way width, gate seperation, baggage handling sytems were the areas of concern. Actual weight loading per wheel did not require re-building runways. Don Muang was served by 747 flights for a long time. Still is, Orient Thai. The vast number of new flights will still be narrow bodied aircraft. Nok operates B737 models and Air Asia A320 and A319.

The Air Force golf course between the runways bothers me a little bit.

Thai's fleet up to now has had a 34" seat pitch. 32" is bad news for most travelers.

Sam, Red, sorry to say, but even the 787-900 lacks the range for a NYC and LAX non-stops. Other than the A340-500 only the Boeing 777-200LR can operate over these routes. The 777-200LR can do it with a profitable load. I miss the non-stops too!

On the subject of TG:

They have suffered from their politically motivated revolving door for senior officers forever. With each management change a new fleet policy is made public. Thai has an aging fleet form both major manufacturers.

Some of their fleet choices have casued costly failed routes. Bangkok - Los Angeles (non-stop) was flown using A340-500 aircraft. The route was popular, but there were a lot of upgrades to business class. The cost of operating a 4 engine aircraft made the route fail. The Boeing 777-200LR would have made profits possible. That would have been conditioned on high Business Class paid loads. The product was not up to industry standard. Connections were hampered by the lousy airport - BKK.

Regarding widebody flights on short routes: high economy class demand and limited runway capacity might justify this routing decsion. Often these internal flight are added because they offer the airline better aircraft utilization. Seats flying with customers are the goal.

It is a mystery to me how Thai benefits from 49% ownership of NOK Air. Nok is an excellent low cost carrier but they are based at Don Muang. Connection times are very long and a hassle. Adding Smiles makes all this noise more confusing.

The terminated CEO lead Thai to be named 4th best in economy class. Not bad. Staff seemed to respect him. Important. Previous management made some good calls - economy seat pitch is better than almost any other long haul airline except, of course, Qatar.

The worst part of government ownership is the bureacratic structure that stops all initiative. That is sadly, very Thai, of course.

Good Afternoon All,

There seems to be a fair amount of myth and confusion regarding airline travel privileges. I am a retired United Airlines mid level manager. Having worked for a number of US and other airlines my pass travel has been subject to each carriers own rules. The industry offers this valuable perk for economic reasons:

Personal travel is standby for the vast majority of employees. Only a handful of corporate officers travel with confirmed seats.

For this reason free tickets are a cost effective substitute for cash compensation.

The number of passes vary by airline. The six flights a year offered by TG to the employee mentioned is really stingy. I can promise you they are standby.

United Continental holdings have a generous policy of unlimited coach travel on a standby basis. As a retiree I pay only airport service fees and security fees. Strictly standby for a seat after the flight has closed for check-in. The large, network airlines, referred to as legacy airlines have created a Zone based industry discount for other airline employees. Naturally these passengers are cleared after all other standby travelers. Standby upgrades are free only to very long-term staff and are very hard to get due to the upgrading of customers. For people like me there are moderate fees.

All personal passes have service charges. The tax thing was a myth up to recently. The US IRS now imposes taxes on an arbitrary value imposed by the IRS for what are commonly known as buddy passes.

Department stores give discounts to their employees. Same reasons apply.

You wll see me seated, quietly reading, when you board, waiting for a seat. Have good flight my friends!

Many thanks for your assistance!

My wife may retire in October which would cause her work permnit to be cancelled. I have my 7th year extension Non-O "Retirement" visa which I will renew in January. Is it possible for my wife to be added as a dependent when her work perit ends? Mant thanks for any guidance you might offer!

I am an American citizen and received my 7th. 12 month extension on my non-O visa for purpose of retirement today January 10, 2012. The officer accepted my notarized affidavit and did not request back up documentation (which I did have). The multiple re-entry permit was more of a hassle in terms of time and process for some reason.

This is our first crawling step to do a YouTube channel.

Please post your ideas of what you want to see on Thaivisa YouTube channel in the future.

Thanks

Greg & The Thaivisa Youtube Channel Team

email: tv [at] thaivisa.com

-- thaivisa.com 2010-05-20

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Excellent and well presented. Thank you very much. Greg good job!

Does anyone have a list of these provinces under curfew?

According to the US State Dept.:

Bangkok metropolitan area

· Chiang Mai

· Chiang Rai

· Lampang

· Nan

· Nakhon Sawan

· Samut Prakan

· Chon Buri

· Nonthaburi

· Pathum Thani

· Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya

· Khon Kaen

· Udon Thani

· Chaiyaphum

· Nakhon Ratchasima

· Si Sa Ket

· Kalasin

· Mukdaharn