Tourist Visa Extensions Obtained Today

[Mentors]

JR Texas,

you say it, good comment!

[Gaudente]

Sorry, but this is THAILAND and they are entitled to use their own language on their own documents. If you can't read then that is YOUR problem, not theirs.

What I complain is that even my name on the chanot is not written with latin alphabet but in THEIRS ! This country is in strong need of an equivalent of Mustafa' Kemal Ataturk, and mandatory salt consumption in food.

[Gaudente]

It will be hard for me to forgive them for what they are doing to foreigners. This is NOT A GAME. But to them, it is: "Tell them that they must get a real visa to live in Thailand. Then make it next to impossible to get a real visa at the most logical and convenient location, Cambodia. Then tell them they can go get the required visa in Malaysia but only allow them to get it in one city (that will piss them off.......ha ha, he he). Then force many of them to return to their country of origin to get a simple visa when they could easily get it in Bangkok (ha ha ha ha....stupid farangs...ha ha ha ha, they must really enjoy getting <deleted>*%$#d in the a%$. How about this. Why not tell them they have to put 800k in a Thai bank and then make it difficult for them to open a bank account...maybe say they must first have a work permit to open an account, and then pass a law making it illegal to pay them interest on the money deposited......ho ho ho....that is a good one Khun Idiot...this is so much fun and, as you know, it is the only way we can get back at them for dating/loving our Thai women." And the game goes on.............

That's exactly what I mean when I say Thai authorities are TREACHEROUS.

Do not forget that we have power to correct this situation. We could, for example, do the smart thing and STOP INVESTING IN THAILAND--NO CONDO PURCHASES, NO HOUSE PURCHASES, NO BUSINESS START UPS--AND REDUCE OUR DAILY EXPENDITURES TO A BARE MINIMUM. Maybe that would get their attention.

and that's what I mean when I say they deserve a SEVERE lesson.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Gaudente

[JR Texas]

I have invested something like 9 MILLION BAHT in this country (700,000 to buy a condo and over 8,000,000 in thai stocks) yet being under 50 years I DO NOT QUALIFY for ANY VISA.

And I am not willing to use "tea money" in a country where I cannot read my own name on any official document being it written with their criptic "alphabet", and where just 1day of overstay can lead you to monkey house.

The truth is thai authorities are plain TREACHEROUS and deserve a SEVERE lesson.

I am moving to Philippines and you can bet my thai stocks will become philippine treasury bonds in a very short time.

I STRONGLY invite all farangs in my same situation to do the same.

Best you sod off then.

I am sure your attitude and contribution to Thailand will be sorely missed...

JR Texas (51, USA, already sodded off and not sure if I am missed):

I can sympathise with you. My guess is that I have invested about 4 million baht in Thailand over the past 5 years and do not qualify for any type of visa that I am aware of. I do have a house worth 1 million baht, but that does not help me. I also have a "commonlaw Thai wife" who needs my assistance, but that also does not seem to help me with my visa. I told some Chinese friends this and they thought it was totally crazy that the Thai government does not factor house ownership in when determining whether you qualify for a retirement visa (only condo ownership, if I am not mistaken and then only if you have multiples of millions invested). So, it is not just "farangs" that think the Thai immigration/visa rules and regulations are nuts. Over the past 5 years, the rules and regulations have prevented me from starting a business in Thailand with a Thai partner (that simple act also prevented us from hiring Thais) and getting a work permit to work for a major NGO (they would not allow the NGO to issue more work permits to farangs). I hope things cool down soon and we can all relax again.

BEST WISHES (sorry about the capital letters, I am not being rude, just want to emphasize this),

JR

[Pattaya46]

I'll answer your question:

English is used more universally than any other language.

Hi Trop,

To write such an answer I do suppose that you are an english native speaker, not ?

I am sorry but you are totaly *wrong*

Depends of sources, but the "Top5 languages" looks about like that :

1 Mandarin Chinese (836 million)
2 Hindi			(333 million)
3 Spanish		  (332 million)
4 English		  (322 million)
5 Bengali		  (189 million)

See Google :

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_1.htm

etc.

I think that if Thaïland must use a second language on its forms, or for tourists,

it will be Mandarin, not English...

Pattaya46

[Pattaya46]

... they thought it was totally crazy that the Thai government does not factor house ownership in when determining whether you qualify for a retirement visa (only condo ownership, if I am not mistaken and then only if you have multiples of millions invested).

Hi,

Why is it crazy ???

If I remember the law, a falang can own a Condo, but not a House.

So no problem

Pattaya46

[JR Texas]

... they thought it was totally crazy that the Thai government does not factor house ownership in when determining whether you qualify for a retirement visa (only condo ownership, if I am not mistaken and then only if you have multiples of millions invested).

Hi,

Why is it crazy ???

If I remember the law, a falang can own a Condo, but not a House.

So no problem

Pattaya46

JR Texas (51, blah blah, USA):

Maybe "crazy" was a poor choice of words (actually that is what the Chinese said about it). A house is a physical investment that is visible and normally expensive. In most cases it is your most expensive and important investment. If I put down 1 million baht on a house in Thailand, it is real....it does not run away via rapid bank transfers in and out of Thailand. So, why can't I use that instead of 800K in the bank to get a retirement visa? They want you to invest in Thailand? Right? Well.......I did. I also hired a lot of unemployed Thais to build the house. It was good for the community. It is worth something....right? It has value. Right? If I had built it in the USA I could probably use it to get a loan. Why is it of no value in Thailand? It is simply an asset....it can be exchanged for real currency, more than 800K. Tired....maybe I am not making my point clear. I think your point relates to farang ownership of houses. I understand that point. I am simply trying to say that rule sucks..........I paid for the house........every person in my community will attest to that. So will my commonlaw wife. But, it does me no good.

Best wishes,

JR

[WilliamIV]

JR Texas

Are you certain that you "Own" that Property?

Whose name is on the Land Lease? - Yours?

Maybe you could have considered a "Marriage Visa"

instead of Emmigrating to China ...

[JR Texas]

JR Texas

Are you certain that you "Own" that Property?

Whose name is on the Land Lease? - Yours?

Maybe you could have considered a "Marriage Visa"

instead of Emmigrating to China ...

JR Texas (51, USA, Don't shoot, I hate the bad Bush, love Kung Pao Chicken and the good Bush),

A foreigner can't own a house in Thailand, to the best of my knowledge. (Maybe some person out there can explain why you can own a condo but not a house. But that might force you to get inside the head of a Thai person........oh the horror.)

Yes, I know you can form a "company" and "lease" the house (for 30-50 years?). That aside, I paid for the house for my common-law Thai wife and can show all of the money going out of my Thai bank account for that purpose along with receipts for items purchased. My point is simple: The house is a tangible/physical asset worth at least 1 million baht (very nice Western style house in the country). It is the result of money that I brought into Thailand. I think I should be able to use it in lieu of putting 800K in the bank in order to get a retirement visa. I know I can't because of Thai law. I just think the law is misguided on this point. I would much rather use 800K on other investments and not have to put it in any Thai bank (If I am not mistaken, the Three Stooges just gained majority control over all of the Thai banks).

About marriage to a Thai woman. All I can say is that life is complex and things are not always as simple as they seem to be. I have certainly thought about it. Now I am seriously thinking about it. That would, no doubt, help me with my particular visa situation. I am not looking for a short term solution (I can easily get a single or double entry visa and then do three border runs). I want a long term solution. I want to see the uncertainty removed so that some form of normalcy can return to the situation. I am a professor. I did not simply leave Thailand. I leave Thailand often in order to work at universities overseas, then I return. I hope to return sometime in January. And hopefully things will be sorted out by then for the vast majority of expats who are struggling with the new rules and regulations. But if they keep pushing me...I will leave for a better place or at least a more stable place (stable in terms of immigration/visa rules)...Panama and the Philippines are high on my list of alternatives...Cambodia would be easy, the people are incredibly nice, but it can be boring...too bad Myanmar/Burma can't get its act together as there is so much potential there).

As always, GOOD LUCK!

JR

[Nam Kao]

Nam Kao, Late night Soi Suk TG Hunter, Daytime mall troller, USA, loves Bush and that

american president also and B-52's over countries suffering from too much oil

Sorry for that, anyways i think being married to a TG is fairly easy, its her family that'll

be the thorn in your side, they'll try to milk you dry if you let them. The family will have their

claws in your wife also, and WILL sway her. My wifes family has 3 vultures that i personally

told to #### off. (other 2 are OK, and 2 have hearts of gold). I told me wife if one of the

bad 3 and a cobra enter the house, fear the one on 2 legs more.

take care

nam

[aznyron]

I'd just like to report some good news.

My Filipino girlfriend and I had no problems getting 30 day extensions on our tourist visas today at the Jomtien Immigration Office.

I was a little worried that my girl would not get her extension. She's a young looking 18 year old Filipina and we've both got 6 x 30 day stamps and one 60 day stamp in our passports, having been here for most of the last 8 months.

We sat down at the desk together so that it was obvious that she was not alone. I was worried they might be very curious as to why such a young girl was staying in Thailand so long. It might have been different if she went in alone.

Next step, a Cambodian border run next month hoping for another 60 day stamp followed by another 30 day extension application in January. We have 2 (my girl) and 3-entry (me) tourist visas. In February we'll be heading back to the Philippines for about 3 weeks, and hoping to get another tourist visa in March to return...in Penang.

That's when we'll be testing out the back-to-back tourist visa theory...hopefully they'll be enough information around before then to know if it's going to be feasible.

If we can't do that, it'll be time to find a new location. Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia...it's a big world. Mexico offers an 180 day tourist card, Brazil, Costa Rica and Malaysia 90 days free. Thailand's not the only game in town!

You got that right Thailand is not the only game in town just a suggestion if your going to s/america check out cost rica I heard a lot of good reports also Malaysia gives 90 days with out a visa just get off the plane and bang 90 days for american any way if I did not buy a new truck I woud be in the philipinnes I know some ladies there that would surely help me get some snag they might even give me some of theres LOL just short note I just got my ret/visa it was very easy if you have all your papers in order I get a pension from usa exceeds 65k which is required

[tropo]

I'll answer your question:

English is used more universally than any other language.

Hi Trop,

To write such an answer I do suppose that you are an english native speaker, not ?

I am sorry but you are totaly *wrong*

Depends of sources, but the "Top5 languages" looks about like that :

1 Mandarin Chinese (836 million)
2 Hindi			(333 million)
3 Spanish		  (332 million)
4 English		  (322 million)
5 Bengali		  (189 million)

See Google :

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_1.htm

etc.

I think that if Thaïland must use a second language on its forms, or for tourists,

it will be Mandarin, not English...

Pattaya46

Hi Pattaya,

When I wrote my line on how English is the most universally spoken language, I just knew someone would come along with what you provided to debate the issue. At the time I didn't think it necessary to offer any explanation, but you've compelled me to provide it and I will show that you are mistaken.

I mentioned that English is the most 'UNIVERSALLY SPOKEN' language of the world, not the most spoken.

The figures you provided fail to take into consideration how many people speak English as a second, or even third language.

Here are some figures that include those who speak the various languages as a second language.

Note:

All these figures and included quotes are from: George Weber’s article “Top Languages: The World’s 10 Most Influential Languages” in Language Today (Vol. 2, Dec 1997). (I've provided the direct link below).

This data is a little old, but should be sufficient to make my point.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

"Thus, if you add the secondary speaker populations to the primary speaker populations, you get the following (and I believe more accurate) list:

(number of speakers in parentheses)

Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion)

English (480 million)

Spanish (320 million)

Russian (285 million)

French (265 million)

Hindi/Urdu (250 million)

Arabic (221 million)

Portuguese (188 million)

Bengali (185 million)

Japanese (133 million)

German (109 million) "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This next list will indicate how widespread (universal) English useage is in the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

"The following is a list of these languages in terms of the number of countries where each is spoken. The number that follows is the total number of countries that use that language (from Weber, 1997):

English (115)

French (35)

Arabic (24)

Spanish (20)

Russian (16)

German (9)

Mandarin (5)

Portuguese (5)

Hindi/Urdu (2)

Bengali (1)

Japanese (1) "

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, Chinese holds a distant 5 to English's 115.

Lastly, let's see how influencial the English language rates along side the others.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

"After weighing six factors (number of primary speakers, number of secondary speakers, number and population of countries where used, number of major fields using the language internationally, economic power of countries using the languages, and socio-literary prestige), Weber compiled the following list of the world's ten most influential languages:

(number of points given in parentheses)

English (37)

French (23)

Spanish (20)

Russian (16)

Arabic (14)

Chinese (13)

German (12)

Japanese (10)

Portuguese (10)

Hindi/Urdu (9) "

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's absurd to suggest that Chinese (Mandarin) should be used ahead of English on documents in Thailand.

Some other points to consider:

1. Chinese tourists are a small percentage of total tourists to the region.

2. 80% of web content is in English.

3. English is more widely spoken in educated, wealthy and technologically advanced countries of the world.

4. In just about every nation (except Thailand it would seem) English would be the prefered second language to learn at school, college or university.

Here is the link to the above figures:

Language Statistics

Here is another interesting link:

English Statistics

Edited October 28, 2006 by tropo

[tropo]

A foreigner can't own a house in Thailand, to the best of my knowledge. (Maybe some person out there can explain why you can own a condo but not a house. But that might force you to get inside the head of a Thai person........oh the horror.)

I'm no expert on the laws of condo ownership, but I would think the reasoning is that when you buy a condo, you're buying air space (assuming you mean low, or high rise condos) rather than land.

[lopburi3]

When you buy a condo you are not buying land. That (land) is what can not be bought.

Panama - my cousin lived there all his working life - home was seized by government because he was foreigner and he now lives back in USA. Not a real option for security. I lived in Philippines 4 years and never slept without one eye open. Not safe at any speed IMHO. Sure, they can be options for some, but the fact is they are not viable for most people. Cambodia - welcome to the wild west if that is your wish.

English speaking is very important as it is the unofficial language different speakers use to communicate with each other (as it was French in earlier times). With the growth of China as an international power am sure Mandarin will become very important in the future but in the China I have seen English is given a very high priority for international use. I recall prime time TV airing English language training back in 1979 (when the Mao jacket was still the standard attire).

[tropo]

I lived in Philippines 4 years and never slept without one eye open. Not safe at any speed IMHO.

I've always slept very well in the Philippines, in many provinces. Everyone I've ever met there has slept well...with both eyes tightly closed.

You must be a very nervous individual to be saying that...or maybe you've had friends murdered?

Where did you live in the Philippines?

[lopburi3]

Angeles/Manila and yes I have had friends murdered. I also found the corruption to be much greater than Thailand (where even when bad here it only involved a longer wait) - to the extent that a drivers license required payoffs for anyone wanting one. I like the country and the people but it is not a safe place to travel unless you are obviously poor. When the local supermarket has to have sawed off shotguns to greet you and middle and upper class villages have to have armed malitias I say no thanks.

[tropo]

Angeles/Manila and yes I have had friends murdered. I also found the corruption to be much greater than Thailand (where even when bad here it only involved a longer wait) - to the extent that a drivers license required payoffs for anyone wanting one. I like the country and the people but it is not a safe place to travel unless you are obviously poor. When the local supermarket has to have sawed off shotguns to greet you and middle and upper class villages have to have armed malitias I say no thanks.

I'll have to disagree with you once again, and I'll keep repeating this as long as people like you make assertions that can't be backed up.

It is a very safe place to travel. In my years of travelling around PI (and I've travelled all over) there has never been even a hint of a bad incident. I'm sorry to hear you've had friends murdered, but unless you give more details, I'll wager you're trolling with that.

There are areas that will be dangerous, granted, but only heavily populated squatter/slums areas in Metro Manila eg. Tondo

A lot of people on here harp on about security guards all over the place wearing guns. Those guns are never used...it's all show. It's just a tradition for Security guards in the PI. You'll probably find that most don't even work. I've never seen a shooting incident involving a security guard anywhere and likely never will.

Occasionally, like in most populated countries someone will attempt to rob a bank, or a store...but it's rare.

Here in Pattaya I see corpses on the local news every day. They show police straightening out bloodied corpes, hanged people, shot people, people that have jumped off buildings, knifed people, drowned people, dismembered and mangled corpses from motorcycle accidents, headless corpses. They wait until the news team arrives before they take the bodies away. If the news crew don't catch them in time, they'll show the corpse on a slab at the hospital/mortuary. They focus on the corpses for what seems like minutes.

The Thais love to see blood and gore....they thrive on it.

Let's get to movies. Thais watch more TV than any other nation in the world. The Thai movies shown at the Festival Center at Big-C (Pattaya) are almost exclusively Horror, ghost or slaughter/suspense movies. The last 2 months some of the few English movies shown on 2 particular weeks were: "Land of the living dead" parts 4 and 5....from last year.

They had a gang down the road here in April that were robbing passers by. If they refused, they just shot them. Didn't have to because they had a gang...but they did. Shootings are so frequent and common in Pattaya, I always watch my back.

There was a group of teenagers recently putting tacks on the road on side-streets to cause passing motorcyclists to have blowouts so that they could rob them after they had crashed. This is ruthless crime. Criminals without a heart.

Thais have a blood lust I've never seen before in my travels. They don't fear death due to a belief in reincarnation. I'd feel safer in the hands of a Filipino criminal anyday. I'd have a much better chance of talking my way out.

Edited October 28, 2006 by tropo

[BlackJack]

I'll answer your question:

English is used more universally than any other language.

Hi Trop,

To write such an answer I do suppose that you are an english native speaker, not ?

I am sorry but you are totaly *wrong*

Depends of sources, but the "Top5 languages" looks about like that :

1 Mandarin Chinese (836 million)
2 Hindi			(333 million)
3 Spanish		  (332 million)
4 English		  (322 million)
5 Bengali		  (189 million)

See Google :

http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_1.htm

etc.

I think that if Thaïland must use a second language on its forms, or for tourists,

it will be Mandarin, not English...

Pattaya46

Hi Pattaya,

When I wrote my line on how English is the most universally spoken language, I just knew someone would come along with what you provided to debate the issue. At the time I didn't think it necessary to offer any explanation, but you've compelled me to provide it and I will show that you are mistaken.

I mentioned that English is the most 'UNIVERSALLY SPOKEN' language of the world, not the most spoken.

The figures you provided fail to take into consideration how many people speak English as a second, or even third language.

Here are some figures that include those who speak the various languages as a second language.

Note:

All these figures and included quotes are from: George Weber’s article “Top Languages: The World’s 10 Most Influential Languages” in Language Today (Vol. 2, Dec 1997). (I've provided the direct link below).

This data is a little old, but should be sufficient to make my point.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

"Thus, if you add the secondary speaker populations to the primary speaker populations, you get the following (and I believe more accurate) list:

(number of speakers in parentheses)

Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion)

English (480 million)

Spanish (320 million)

Russian (285 million)

French (265 million)

Hindi/Urdu (250 million)

Arabic (221 million)

Portuguese (188 million)

Bengali (185 million)

Japanese (133 million)

German (109 million) "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This next list will indicate how widespread (universal) English useage is in the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

"The following is a list of these languages in terms of the number of countries where each is spoken. The number that follows is the total number of countries that use that language (from Weber, 1997):

English (115)

French (35)

Arabic (24)

Spanish (20)

Russian (16)

German (9)

Mandarin (5)

Portuguese (5)

Hindi/Urdu (2)

Bengali (1)

Japanese (1) "

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, Chinese holds a distant 5 to English's 115.

Lastly, let's see how influencial the English language rates along side the others.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:

"After weighing six factors (number of primary speakers, number of secondary speakers, number and population of countries where used, number of major fields using the language internationally, economic power of countries using the languages, and socio-literary prestige), Weber compiled the following list of the world's ten most influential languages:

(number of points given in parentheses)

English (37)

French (23)

Spanish (20)

Russian (16)

Arabic (14)

Chinese (13)

German (12)

Japanese (10)

Portuguese (10)

Hindi/Urdu (9) "

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's absurd to suggest that Chinese (Mandarin) should be used ahead of English on documents in Thailand.

Some other points to consider:

1. Chinese tourists are a small percentage of total tourists to the region.

2. 80% of web content is in English.

3. English is more widely spoken in educated, wealthy and technologically advanced countries of the world.

4. In just about every nation (except Thailand it would seem) English would be the prefered second language to learn at school, college or university.

Here is the link to the above figures:

Language Statistics

Here is another interesting link:

English Statistics

guys your on the wrong track

[lopburi3]

I'm sorry to hear you've had friends murdered, but unless you give more details, I'll wager you're trolling with that.

I do not answer to you and I do not troll.

[tropo]

I'm sorry to hear you've had friends murdered, but unless you give more details, I'll wager you're trolling with that.

I do not answer to you and I do not troll.

Sorry, dramatizing would have been a better word. I did just notice that you are a moderator on here, so I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.

[tropo]

guys your on the wrong track

Why is that? A digression started about the English language not being used on official documents in Thailand, and then the universal use of English was called into question.

This is the nature of Internet forum threads. I started this thread and it was almost immediately pushed off topic. I'm not complaining, so why should you?

Edited October 28, 2006 by tropo

[Lost in LOS]

[

Quote:

"The following is a list of these languages in terms of the number of countries where each is spoken. The number that follows is the total number of countries that use that language (from Weber, 1997):

English (115)

French (35)

Arabic (24)

Spanish (20)

Russian (16)

German (9)

Mandarin (5)

Portuguese (5)

Hindi/Urdu (2)

Bengali (1)

Japanese (1) "

you might also think about the fact that all airline pilots are required to speak in english. they had to pick one universal language and english was it.

[JR Texas]

When you buy a condo you are not buying land. That (land) is what can not be bought.

Panama - my cousin lived there all his working life - home was seized by government because he was foreigner and he now lives back in USA. Not a real option for security. I lived in Philippines 4 years and never slept without one eye open. Not safe at any speed IMHO. Sure, they can be options for some, but the fact is they are not viable for most people. Cambodia - welcome to the wild west if that is your wish.

English speaking is very important as it is the unofficial language different speakers use to communicate with each other (as it was French in earlier times). With the growth of China as an international power am sure Mandarin will become very important in the future but in the China I have seen English is given a very high priority for international use. I recall prime time TV airing English language training back in 1979 (when the Mao jacket was still the standard attire).

JR Texas (51, USA): With regard to your statement above about home seizure in Panama, I have never heard of anything like that happening in the country. The real estate market is booming in Panama. For clarity purposes and to put things in perspective, when did that happen to your cousin? 1 year ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? It makes a difference in terms of decision making. Thanks.

[lopburi3]

Believe it was early 90's that he lost home; and his wife is Panamanian. It was at a time when they were upset with the US.

[JR Texas]

Believe it was early 90's that he lost home; and his wife is Panamanian. It was at a time when they were upset with the US.

JR Texas (51, USA, tired),

Thanks for the info. I looked it up: Operation Just Cause (or was it Just Because?), 1989, to get Noriega out. Yes, they were a bit pissed off at us then. I am sorry your cousing lost his home. People do stupid things when they are angry....at least I do. I wonder if the Thai government will ever seize farang property in the future. They are definitely embracing what appears to be a global change in the way immigrants are treated. We should see more of this as population levels continue to rise worldwide and as resources become increasingly scarce. Thais already see "land" as a scarce commodity. They see most of their resources as "limited." And they strongly believe that all of it--everything in Thailand--belongs to them and to them alone. That mindset is probably somehow related to the fact the WE can't buy land here.

GOOD LUCK!

JR

[tropo]

Thanks for the info. I looked it up: Operation Just Cause (or was it Just Because?), 1989, to get Noriega out. Yes, they were a bit pissed off at us then. I am sorry your cousing lost his home. People do stupid things when they are angry....at least I do. I wonder if the Thai government will ever seize farang property in the future. They are definitely embracing what appears to be a global change in the way immigrants are treated. We should see more of this as population levels continue to rise worldwide and as resources become increasingly scarce. Thais already see "land" as a scarce commodity. They see most of their resources as "limited." And they strongly believe that all of it--everything in Thailand--belongs to them and to them alone. That mindset is probably somehow related to the fact the WE can't buy land here.

GOOD LUCK!

JR

So what's the verdict on Panama. Is it worth a look or not? Is there a malaria problem there? I know a lot of people died from that and other diseases when they built the canal. It has always stuck in my mind as an unsafe destination.

[tim77]

I'd just like to report some good news.

My Filipino girlfriend and I had no problems getting 30 day extensions on our tourist visas today at the Jomtien Immigration Office.

Apparently you were very lucky with regard to the Tourist Visa for your Philippine girlfriend. I was in Manila in March this year with my Philippina girlfriend (I am living on Phuket) and we went to the Thai Embassy in Makati to enquire about a tourist visa for her. We received a little note with the requested papers. Until July we had ALL the papers together and she again went to the Embassy to apply for the Tourist Visa. And she was flatly denied this visa. As reason for the denial it was mentioned that she might "work"in Thailand.

We were quite upset. I absolutely can understand that the Thai Embassy does not want to issue Tourist Visas to Philippine girls. Buth then they should name it in the first place and not let the applicant run around and get all necessary papers and then make one look like an idiot.

It is the embassy in Makati that is the problem, not the fact that your girlfriend is a Filipina. The embassy in Makati may have the worst reputation in Asia as the place to get a tourist visa to Thailand. I am a U.S. citizen and I applied for a tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Makati. I was denied a visa because (i) I did not have a return ticket to Manila, even though I had a valid ticket to leave Thailand; and (ii) I did not have a seat booked on a flight from Manila to Bangkok, even though I had a valid ticket to travel from Manila to Bangkok.

A Filipina will get a 30 date visa waiver at the airport in Thailand. She can get a tourist visa in Malaysia.

Edited October 30, 2006 by tim77

[gavstah]

A foreigner can't own a house in Thailand, to the best of my knowledge. (Maybe some person out there can explain why you can own a condo but not a house. But that might force you to get inside the head of a Thai person........oh the horror.)

Actually, my understanding is that you can own the house - you just cannot own the land it sits on.

As a foreigner, you are allowed to own buildings - but not land.

[tropo]

A foreigner can't own a house in Thailand, to the best of my knowledge. (Maybe some person out there can explain why you can own a condo but not a house. But that might force you to get inside the head of a Thai person........oh the horror.)

Actually, my understanding is that you can own the house - you just cannot own the land it sits on.

As a foreigner, you are allowed to own buildings - but not land.

Why are so many foreigners obsessed with owning property/condos in a country where uncertainty reigns supreme?

It's easy and cheap to rent, and much easier to pack up and leave when the political environment deteriorates. There's been dozens of coups already over the past decades, it's not news that this country tends to be unstable.

There's better, safer investments without the headaches.

[BlackJack]

guys your on the wrong track

Why is that? A digression started about the English language not being used on official documents in Thailand, and then the universal use of English was called into question.

This is the nature of Internet forum threads. I started this thread and it was almost immediately pushed off topic. I'm not complaining, so why should you?

funny that

i saw a farang screaming in English at a street dog and the dog just looked at him

I had to explain that the dog only understood Thai

the farang didnt believe me!

now back to the topic

there was an interesting topic / thread on the Canadian woman who shot her estranged husband in Chang Mai. The subject was hijacked and was pushed off topic by some touchy feely group and then closed by the moderator.

I didnt want this subject to get off track and so said something - after all "this isthe nature of ............."