ajarnmarc
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Posts posted by ajarnmarc
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On 6/30/2021 at 3:24 PM, TheFishman1 said:
How many U-turns does this government make first they said they’re going to open up vaccine places to walk and it’s in Chiang Mai then the next day they did a U-turn and said no they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to control all the people amazing Thailand TIT
I went to get vaccinated at a location I would have never even known about had my neighbor not told me they went two days ago. Get there and the official says, I'm not from the province so I need to go back to where I came from. I state, I moved here from Phuket, and now I stay here. The official states, then you need to move your work permit here as well. I said, I'm in the process of doing just that, but that will certainly take time. The official states come back when it's been done or go back to Phuket to get the vaccine...
They already wanted a copy of the house book and copy of the owners ID, and yet their last hold up was the work permit matching the address I'm at now...?
They are beginning a long road to get to 70% immunity at this rate. So much paper work just to get a vaccination.
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5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:
Laws are only for lo-so's, don't you know who I am.....
I've heard this statement countless times over the past 20 years here "don't you know who I am.....or do you know who I am?"
It's a very popular statement made by the Thai's and I'm guessing since you used it, you've also heard it coming from the population as well. Gives me a good laugh everytime; as if I'm supposed to care, who they are? I get it's their country, though when they come to ours we still treat them as human beings, and respect their space. I've never felt a need nor known anyone who tried to express that an other should know who they are, other than perhaps "do you know me" or "where have I seen you before?"
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I guess the tourism authority missed the memo, where for years several posts (I'll be conservative here) were made that Phuket was the island to avoid at all cost. I lived there for two years, and though the island had many places to visit and explore, the local were not as great as in other location within Thailand. The pandemic hasn't improve the hospitality found there in the least, in fact some could consider if the local are even ready or interested in entertaining tourist again. They seem to have gotten used to their island all to themselves. Sure they could use the extra revenue, though not if it requires them to do anything for it. Same motto as before, where service was very low on the priority of the businesses found around the island. The moral of this post is, the island itself may behold outdoor adventures, not much to be found indoors that is of interest, and the people are not inclined to make anyone feel comfortable about their stay. It's a retail money grab situation, and the people are not in the least bit shy to show it. Local motto there is "up to you" which basically translates to- pay and move along, if you like what we offer great and if not we don't care much....
I would never return there, two years was enough time wasted there for me.
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I'm still enjoy the read about how they think tourist who arrive in Phuket, that are fully vaccinated, tested 72 hrs prior to flight, tested again upon arrival, they will be allowed to test yet again on the 6th day, and then they can transfer over to Samui for their remaining 8 days, and just for good measure get tested again on the 13th day, and if this fully vaccinated individual passes that last test, then they can then travel anywhere within Thailand freely, yes? I hope I got this all correct, as there are so many loops to jump through just to get through the process. Of course even though the individual is fully vaccinated he or she will also have to enjoy the new dress code or pay 1,000 bht upon first violation, and the price of the new dress code i.e. face mask, will increase quickly afterwards.
Side note, person was recently tested on their 13th day stay here, after being tested before arrival and completing all the other noted tests, while staying at an approved facility on Phuket, only to find the test results on the 13th day, came back positive. I'm almost sure this is yet another trap to keep those happy tourist, who before arriving were informed the warm Phuket stay would only be required for 7 days, yet was extended to 14 days after arrival. Now it can be extended for another 14 days to cure the covid infection which they received during their holiday in the ultra safe environment created just for these lucky tourist.
Not sure how at this point it's still considered a tourist holiday, or simply a warm fleecing of foreigners bring their hard earned saving into the friendly country for other to decide how to enjoy after the foreigners have departed to their home country.
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I do not understand why more Embassies do not follow suit, and vaccinate or arrange vaccinations for it's citizens. We might actually feel like they care, and are looking out for us while abroad.
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On 12/3/2020 at 10:30 PM, herwin1234 said:
Why not? China is practically covid free. It doesnt make sense to keep the borders closed with countries that manage and control the pandemic.
i would say, Thailand should focus and expand on China, the biggest country in the world, a mass market, AND, bonus point, they know how to manage a crisis in an adult way.
It would have been great had they known how to keep H7N9 Flu, SARS, H5N1 Bird Flu, Hong Kong Flu (1968) or N1H1 and now Covid 19 within their boarder to begin with, no? As early as in November 2017, the Smithsonian Mag published a detailed report on the H7N9 epidemic where it asked its readers the question, “Is China Ground Zero for a Future Pandemic?” Three years later, the question appears to have been answered. President Trump’s trade czar, Peter Navarro, described China as a “disease incubator,” and that was before the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Dr. Jennifer Huang Bouey, an epidemiologist and senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, said, “There is quite a fair amount of epidemics originating in China or passing through China.”
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On 12/3/2020 at 8:57 AM, ezzra said:
As Thailand has lost its spot as the most popular cross-border destination for tourists from mainland China, according to a survey by HSBC Holdings Plc, as neighboring Japan and South Korea moved up the list.
so Thailand will have to really grovel and beg and offer freebees to the Chinese tourist to come here.. free seafood buffet and free massages comes to minds...
Both South Korea and Japan have recently posted increase in infections have they not? For South Korea since November 9th they have seen huge increases, when before they were within control. Japan ticked up after October 22nd. I would bet they are regretting their decision to bounce to quickly on encouraging the travel industry back. At the end of the day, the local population can in itself support the region which it resides. Tourism is not the only means or even the major means of income to a solid society. For Thailand, it just means finally they will have to be creative on what they with so offer the population that supports the revenue within the boarders, instead of sleeping, while they simply waited for a tourist to wake them up to obtain even the smallest amount of service, as was the case in most situations throughout the country. When the local say they will starve if the boarders are not open, is in itself an overstatement. Thailand is at least able to move about freely, and hasn't been subject to any severe lockdowns which would prevent a solid business from operations. This can't be said in the developed countries, which have forced business to close the doors or only service as take away, or outside service. Thailand has opportunity, they just have to do what they don't like to do...work for it, and be creative about what they do provide, instead of simply coping another in an effort to take the others business or worse still, take the competition out of business completely. Thailand knows how poorly the hospitals are staffed, and the fact that they don't even have enough nurses to support full care during normal times. Just imagine all the families that would be living out of the hospitals supporting their family or loved ones that did get infected, as that is the norm when you stay in the hospitals here, family or friends must come to help take care of the patients, the nurse don't see it as their jobs or duties. The amount of infections would be quickly beyond control. It's not about being brave to open up to tourism, especially not to the Chinese or their tour groups, lol. Really? Give me a break! When these so called money making tour groups were in full force before the virus they gifted the world with, the locals were complaining about how organized the Chinese were in not flashing their funds out, over packing the boats, buses and yes hotel rooms, with more than the occupancy would allow, all in the effort to save some money, even at the cost of lives in some cases, where buses crashed or boats overturned and sank, remember?
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59 minutes ago, KeeTua said:
I did not see any mention in the article of this being directed specifically at farangs.
If you read the article you should have noticed the following:
'Residency program aims for profit in 2 years on surge of Chinese applicants'last time I checked over my 21 years here...foreigners; which is the thai word for farang, are anyone not Thai. So defend the statement as you may. Yet it was directed at foreigners, and yes those adorable Chinese fall unfortunately into that category as well.
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I've been finding great enjoyment when the hospitality industry posts these packages claiming huge savings to stay or take part in what they have to promote, only to discover some clever consumer post a screen shot of the same Resort or package offered only a year ago, at half the price presented currently.
No saving at all, in fact just more price gouging, which is fine, just don't post that the boarder need to be opened or the locals will starve. They remind us endlessly that they not need us here, and to simply go back home. The problems is some of us mistakenly bought into the kindness trap, and sold everything to come here, only to discover the huge mistake we made in doing so. Then some clever lady pretended to love and care about us long enough to have children, only to take everything from us. Our mistake, yes I know. Now they want to disguise their motivation once again, in pretending they need tourism, when at least they have the ability to open their schools and businesses, while other parts of the world, which also have their boarder closed, are in lockdown or virtually locked down, and have very little way to make a living within these conditions. Thailand meanwhile thinks that when they do open their boarders, who are the first they want to invite back? The same society which gave us the gift that just keeps giving us more pain. If Thailand really wanted to open their boarders to a safe, secure population, why not consider South Korea, who actually did the best in controlling this pandemic. No, because they look for who they believe to have the deepest pockets, when basically even if they opened the boarder wide and proud, who would really want to travel here or travel much of anywhere for that matter, at this time. There was not much in the way of bargains left to be enjoyed here before the pandemic, you had to look hard to find them and you certainly had to be willing to sacrifice comforts or service to receive those so called savings. If anything went sideways, give it up that you would be protected in anyway, it would just be your loss, and asked to move along quietly now. Now with the appearance which they have worked so very hard to present as being the Pandemic safe heaven, it's time to give the foreigners here the hardest time possible in processing the visas or for that matter renewing them, and if you're willing to pay, then pay you shall; as much as they can get. If you not like, well we all know the words to their favorite song...Go back home!
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5 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:
Cha-am/Hua Hin the same - but they all drive home come Sunday night..
Good that they do as well, clears up the clutter.
That was the norm back in 2004.
Packed on the weekends, civil during the week.
Perfect balance for Hua Hin.
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On 10/22/2020 at 3:05 PM, TheFreqFlyer said:
Well, the stuff arrived. They even sent me pictures of the goods after inspection. The issue here is simply the bizarre lengthy customs procedure, something that didn't apply 2 or 3 months ago. I mean, even with covid, right now there should be more flights than there were a couple of months back and thus if anything, things should be a little faster now. I've looked on their website and they are speaking of only minor delays...perhaps 1 or 2-3 days, not 10 days.
From my experience with the major carriers, the problems come into play when you up the weight of the package, i.e. quantity. If I keep the weight low, like under 1kg then I'm golden for the most part. I also found more success with Customs if I use Thai Postal service, being that they actually use Government Custom officials. The major carriers use their own in house Customs, which is resigned Government Custom officials, who know how to take advantage of the overseas packages coming in. I discovered this when I went to my local Customs office and registered my address and name for receiving imported items on a regular basis. Yes they have this procedure. The Customs official took a copy of my Passport, and I filled out a document, concerning my general type of shipment i plan to receive, with my local address. I explained to them about my history dealing with the Customs officers at the Major Airport, and difficult it has been with no standards to what is required. They are the ones that informed me to use Thai post or sea shipment, which are both processed through Government Customs Officials.
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On 10/23/2020 at 2:02 PM, IamNoone88 said:
There is no hope of a recovery if all do is invite the Chinese as if they are the only important market.
One would think Thailand would opening the red carpet to South Korea. They were the first country to control the virus and they haven't been building viruses out of their country either. Therefore they certainly should be rewarded with open travel around the world.
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1 hour ago, RotBenz8888 said:
Looks the same as my Non-O visa application...how did you know?
As most would claim on this site, it's easy, you just have to follow the rules, it is not that hard. Truly the paperwork can be ran through, as in life; anything worth doing can be done. The issue here is, there is always something either not good enough i.e. photo quality, or lacking the figure pointing to the address, or placement of where the address to the house is placed, the map, not being hand drawn well or every road labeled near your home, because they not want to except a screen shot of google map, quality of photos not be done perfectly, or the placement of the items they want copied multiple time, not being placed vertically one year, or horizontally the next year, background of the id photo not be white, or blue; this too can change year to year or officer to officer, not having your landlord come with you in some cases, or not show adequately that they register your stay on their property, even though you provide a screen shot showing they did register online with the Government site. You name it, they will find something to default back on, and when they do, best to duck, for they will likely throw the passport back upon you, like you're a child who should not make mistakes and who should know better. Especially if you've been here for any period of time, it gets even worse, on how they might react. Expats are not what they truly want, unless you come bearing gifts and a nice padded envelope, then you're treated like the fish they want you to be...follow the rules as they develop them, and pay as you go, then pay some more, would be greatly appreciated, with a Thai Wai.
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Well at least when they decide to belittle you for some issue they only recently came up with, in which you wasn't aware of or overlooked, they can't scream at you on 2nd floor of Central Festival Samui. They should be professional in this setting, as to not lose face. So certainly a great location to sort out any issues, while leaving with some sort of dignity in tack.
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6 hours ago, SVC Porter said:They don't get it....no one is coming lol.
This is something TAT will have to see, before they will believe or understand just how bad it really is outside of Thailand? It would appear, they think that economically; Thailand is the only country that has been hit...?
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19 hours ago, 2530Ubon said:
An embassy letter will probably be granted based on another forum post. Have a look at this, especially from user 'Darrenpk.' He also has no address in the UK, lived here for 15 years and successfully recieved a letter. Hope this helps ????
Here's what I consider an outstanding response. Constructive and offer advice / support to solve the situation. Cheers is certainly in order...
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1 hour ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:
If public holidays stimulated the economy, then I suggest cancelling work-days indefinitely.
For the Citizens it often appears they have noted this suggestion. When I ask personnel working, they always seem to come from a neighboring country. Often seems hard to find Thai Citizens working in common labor positions. I think this has contributed to the down slide of hospitality within the country. Not saying the neighboring countries labor is poor, it's just doesn't carry the same soul that was once present within the nation; in 2000. We often assume they are Thai citizens, yet when asked they are not in most cases. Turns out Thai Citizens opt for the paid application positions, in the upper management or government slots. 100-200k and they get an application to apply, along with their University docs, they are set with a position for their remaining working years.
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3 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:
Indeed, I did my retirement extension 2 days ago and that was the case, a 12 month statement was requested as well as passbook.
Even though the 12 month statement showed every transaction it didn’t stop them photocopying every page of my passbook and attaching it to the pile of papers sent around the IO.
In total 5 people had a good rummage through my passbook and even with their “ poker faces “ I could still sense their disappointment in not finding any infractions !!
( Ayutthaya IO )
After submitting my annual extension and having to have my landlord come to the office to verify I stayed @ his villa and that he did indeed register my stay online. My landlord spoke with me yesterday to see if all went well with receiving the extension. I informed him that I was given until the 4th of September for the approval process, and yet that date has come and gone while Immigration states simply, not come back yet! Provided me with a number which I must call each day, and provide them with a code they have hand written on the temporary stamp. When I ask them about my expired date as of the 4th, they simply reply, the approval hasn't come in yet; call back in a tomorrow. My landlord informed me that when he came into the office to verify my living on his property, that they made him feel like he had done something wrong, or that I had done something wrong, when they couldn't find anything he had done wrong. They made him go back to his home take a screen shot of the online registration he had done, and copy that onto an A4 vertically and submit that document, which he did. The the nice lady still seemed none convinced, and asked for his username and password so she could then look it up on her computer to personally verify it all for herself. My landlord stated that he didn't know why Immigration could not work more closely with Foreigners and property owners, as it's in their best interest to present the best image possible on behalf of Thailand so the expats staying here would not only want to stay longer, but would or might also recommend the country to their family, friends in their home country. I was amazed he has such insight, when compared to most of the negative posts I view on this site, who simply fail to see how the system appears to be designed, and though there's nothing we personally can do about it or change it, we don't need to go on the attack against each other as some try to make themselves feel more powerful or self indulged by standing up for the mistreatment which comes from a majority of the immigration officers around the country.
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20 hours ago, Onrai said:As I said-We (thai girlfriend and me) spent a lot of time with the immigration officer, taking notes and making sure we understood the renewal guidelines. Unfortunately, they didn’t include the 3 months after in their written guidelines. As for not knowing because it was posted so many times thai visa forum-I generally get some snarky, unhelpful comment, like your comment, which makes me want to steer clear of asking any questions or reading tv.
I completely agree with you. This community could be so much better if people would remember in the end we are all in this together, even if it isn't affecting you at this time, I might come around to you later, at which time you will want to have some place to look to that might offer a solution to a negative situation which you may find yourself in. When you posted this, you asked if anyone knew any other options or solutions basically. Not seeking peoples negative, unproductive feedback. Not sure why they bother to post if they clearly have no solution to the matter at hand...? I read the posting myself looking for agent recommendations, in the event I was to get tripped up sometime in the future, or perhaps any other remedy to such point. I not see anyone recommending any agents, so it is discouraging to see posts which are truly slamming down the matter before you and I'm sure others who may find themselves in a similar situation at some point during their stay.
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The scenery and the various path ways (roads) to get around the island is great. It's the people that bring the island down in more way than one person can count. I lived there for two years, and it was always a nightmare to find any sort of parking, as the tuk tuk / taxi would take over all available parking slots, that they could. When you could find a parking slot, the same tuk tuk / taxi would follow you from any location which you needed to walk from to get to your actual location, which was usually a considerable distance, since the parking would almost always be taken, and not by citizens transportation either. The public sector were wise enough to do so, to discourage others from taking their own transportation. Then there was the dual pricing, and locals attitude towards tourist or expats alike, which would somehow always have a way in bring down the good vibes you left your home with. I found myself only being able to logically manage to get one thing done per day, reasonably within the public sector, if I tried to do more errands in a single day, then traffic, police, or the tuk tuk / taxi would have a way of slowing down my goals. The island is getting a taste of what it deserves and internally asked for through their personality, and approach toward visitors. Some locals might claim differently, but that is most likely because they have an invested interest in not seeing posts that are negatively placed with regards to the island. The truth is, enjoy it while you have it all to yourself, and are not trying to reside there, for if either of those factor change, you shall see, what you view now as appealing will soon change to something far different, leaving you wondering where the magic of the island went? Safe travels...
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On 9/1/2020 at 4:18 PM, apetryxx said:
Expats living here can get a pink card, that should be all one needs for Thai like discounts and promotions. Easily done at Tessabahn if you take a little time to do it. All we need to be treated with the same courtesies extended to Thais is for the government to say okay.
In some provinces the charge for that fancy paper pink card is a whopping....wait for it!
35,000 bht
Several of my friends were quoted this price @ the Tessabahn on Koh Samui,
and I've had other random friends quoted similar prices way out of line with the supposed 35 bht charge it's reported to cost, but to no avail are we granted that, regardless of how patient we are willing to be, or how much time we are willing to give.
The people in charge simply figure if you want whatever this Pink card is supposed to provide you,
you will certainly pay out the wallet and then some, if your wallet is extra large and can carry the entire surcharge within it.
Nothing is exactly how it seems within this country, it all seems so innocent on the surface, but when you get into the depth of getting what is out there to make life perhaps a bit more uncomplicated, we soon find out that there certainly is an unknown charge, that puts things into a category of simply making it not worth it, and that is just how the authorities want it, or so it so often seems.
Sad, yet certainly true.
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3 hours ago, Bluetongue said:Golf's pretty expensive, even at my up country 4 star place it runs to several thousand by the time you tip the caddy etc. I told them I would pay the 25000 annual fee but they said no, farang can not.
Took my Girlfriend to the dentist, to clean her teeth.
They did a good job, so I asked her to ask them if they could do mine as well?
They said they had time, so I received the cleaning.
Then proceeded to charge me 1,000 bht more than the receptionist collected from my friend.
I asked her to ask them why the difference in rate?
I have no cavities and I have my teeth cleaned every six months,
normally at the government hospital, where they have dentist as well.
The receptionist calls out the dentist, and she tells me Farang teeth not the same as Thai,
so have to charge more...
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6 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:
Great idea - kick out the current long-stay tourists and replace them with others. Does that mean as I'm in Thailand now I could do a visa run to London and fly back to Thailand straight into quarantine?
We are expected to support the Hotel Industry, so most likely yes, if the government can figure out a way to justify all inbound passengers to quarantine, it's in their best interest to do so.
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20 minutes ago, john69 said:I've seen some callous comments on TV over the years, but these are more callous than most. Amazing how TV readers, many of them pot-bellied guests in this country, make light of millions of Thais being pushed into poverty by this crisis.
How does a persons weight or appearance "many of them pot-bellied guests in this country" relate to expressions or experiences which people have had within the country, and are describing here? Thai honestly pushed themselves to where ever they are in life. I opened a company here in Thailand 15 years ago, and it was always harder to find labor than to find customers. The locals would come to work for about two weeks, before they started coming up with issues to take 3 or 4 day weekends every two months, in addition to their days off. They continued to come up with issue to go back home for a month or two each year, hoping we would save their job, for when they sorted out the ill buffalo or worse still; family member, that no one else in the family could dare look after. At times they seemed to work harder to come up with excuses to not work reliably, than they ever would have just doing their jobs, per scheduled and agreed to at time of hire.
Always looking for advances, even when we decided to pay them weekly. If they worked longer then two years they would be looking for severance pay at time of dismissal; sometimes to the tune of three months pay, if they so desired. Most businesses had three times more people working than needed to run the business, so the labor would be seeking handouts, tips for performing their basic duties, either from the boss or from the customers. Claiming their salary was so low, yet the truth was they worked so slow, or little, or so inconsistent the owner of a company would have to hire more to cover day to day operations, due to how little effort the employees would put into the pride of their positions which they had.
Overall they pushed themselves on the verge of poverty, if that is truly where you think they are...? by only working as much as they wished at any given time.
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U-turn! Plans for five day July holiday are OFF as Thai government DON'T want you to travel after all
in Thailand News
Posted
True, if I wasn't here already I would bother to come either. Support the locals they state.
Yeah the locals are ready to grab a premium off every person that shows up in the country.
People say they need to the help. Don't we all need some help during these times?
This situation effected us all the same, did it not?
Yet the Thai's think they should charge on average 20% to make up for the loss time.
Before the situation, they claimed non stop they didn't need tourism, go back where we came from the liked to state.