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khunPer

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Posts posted by khunPer

  1. 5 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

    Strange. HM practiced and got his licence on B747. Those cannot land at Samui airport due to length of the runway... HM used to practice landings at Utapao airport.

     

    As for TG flying to Samui, I already mentioned in another reply that this was a condition set by the government in order to approve the extension of the runway to accommodate PG's (not BA) small jets (they started with B717 back then, but the runway could only accommodate their propellor airplanes).

     

    As for building a 2nd airport - makes no sense at all. Someone mentioned JFK and EWR and the 2 airports in SFO as an example for nearby airports. While that is true, the actual point is that those airports serve a much bigger area and a much bigger load of passengers whereas Samui airport serves mainly Samui Island and maybe a little bit of Koh Tao and panghgan

    Well, His Majesty is flying B737 – which can land on Samui Airpoort  – and he was captain on a commercial THAI-promotion B737 flight when he met Her Majesty queen Suthida of Thailand, who was a cabin attendant on that flight. He got a B737 with same registration placed in his private park in Bangkok, the former Dusit Zoo. He also owns private B737s that he has been flying in Germany and around in Europe, probably with a valid license.

     

    Based on these facts, it's quite likely that HM Vajiralongkorn is licensed to fly a B737, and that he did flew one of those to Samui. As crown prince HM was often guest on the island and arrived in a B737, which was parked at the airport during his visits.

     

    The airport could accommodate B717-200s and Bangkok Airways did use them on their Samui route. Bangkok Airways operated B717 from 2000 to 2009 and I've personally flown in them to Samui back in 2001. The B717 was based on DC9. The manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, merged with Boeing and the DC9 was renamed, since number 717 was never used. B717 has a take off run of 1, 905 meters and landing 1,402 meters respectively. The runway on Samui was by that time expanded to 2,100 meters. The ATR72 could operate on a shorter runway of 1,400 meters, while the airfield was originally built for Dash-8-200 aircrafts that only needed 1,200 meters. I think to remember, that the original runway was 1,500 or 1,600 meters. A B737-200 has a take off run on 1,859 meters and a B737-700 of 1,878 meters. Some B737 variants have take off run around 2,300 meters. When not fully loaded to max take off weight, an aircraft's take off run can be shorter. When THAI was flying themselves to USM they used B737s.

     

    The distance to the once suggested second airport in the southern part of the island is only 14 kilometers from USM, which might cause safety problems.

    • Thumbs Up 1
  2. A major difference between Samui Airport and most other airports in Thailand is that it's funded by private money and the users pay for it – i.e. building the airport, maintenance and running service costs – instead of government money.

     

    The possibility of establishing another airport on the island is like zero, as there need to be a certain safety distance between two airports. There are some news articles about it, which you can find if you Google for them.

     

    Furthermore – my point of view – is that numerous budget tourists, who can still arrive via Surat Thani and using the boats or ferries like in good old time as @Tropicalevo said, might still not choose Samui due to higher accommodation rates that many other parts of the country. So, a second airport and/or budget airfares might not be enough to satisfy the budget tourists' demand. The island is already balancing on the limit of what it's infrastructure can supply. It's unlikely – especially with the present land-prices – that some will invest in numerous low-price budget hotels.

    • Agree 1
  3. On 2/21/2024 at 3:32 AM, topt said:

    Can anybody suggest what type of pump and what power would be good to replace it with? 

    (I am interested but not going to spend over 20k for a Grundfoss......)

    Just buy same model Mitsubishi pump again – easy to replace – 15 years in an excellent life time for a water pump in Thailand.

    • Agree 1
  4. On 2/18/2024 at 12:59 PM, SGD said:

    My daughter is 16 and there is a condo which is held in a Thai name which she would like to buy. She has dual Thai and UK citizenship and her mother is Thai.

     

    I would prefer that her mother does not have anything to do with the property or even knows about it but I do not know whether this can be done ?

     

    My presumption is that there must be a way because what if the mother was dead and there was no Thai relative ?

     

    We are not interested in any other form of ownership, such as a company or foreign quota etc.

    I also read that various land offices have "different interpretations" so for the record, this one would be a property in Jomtien, Pattaya.

    Minors can own property, but there need to be a guardian. Be aware of that it's extremely difficult to sell or otherwise dispose of the property, while the owner is minor.

  5. On 2/16/2024 at 7:25 AM, NoshowJones said:

    I want to open a second  bank account, this time in my village. No cards, no apps, just a bankbook, there are 3 banks, one is the Government bank which my wife recommends. I hate the Thai government. My wife has lived in the village all her life and would know best. If you lived in a village with 3 banks would you choose the government bank? What are the plusses and negatives of it?

    Thais choose Government Savings Bank as the government guarantee their savings and they might get a slightly higher interest. I've been using the bank for some child savings, kind staff, but seemed little old-fashioned in banking procedures. The interest was in the high end, but not higher than many private banks.

  6. On 2/16/2024 at 5:27 AM, eboy said:

    I am in the process of applying for a Non-O retirement visa. In order to document my residence, Immigration requires a map, for some strange reason (like Thailand is terra incognita and they don't know where things are). So I submitted a printout from Google Maps.

     

    NO! It must be a hand-drawn map. I told the agent: "I think Google can do a better job drawing a map than I can." She glared at me like I was Public Enemy Number 1. "No! It must be hand-drawn."

     

    This is just a way to annoy and harass visa applicants, isn't it? Or is there a reason that I'm missing? What if they don't like my drawing??? Has anyone else experienced this nonsense?

    A "hand drawn map" is a map drawn by hand – the old-fashioned Thai-way of showing way to your house number.

     

    No matter what you might think is better, if the immigration office asks for a "hand drawn map", then it has to be that. My local immigration office asks for both a Google Earth print with marked home position and co-ordinates, and the simple old-fashioned hand drawn map.

     

    It's not that difficult – I had to draw my first map on the floor in the immigration office after being handed an A4 paper, a ruler and a pen...:whistling: Today I've scanned my excellent later map-drawing and use the same print every year – as I don't move – which has been accepted. I've removed my address in gray rectangle and the cross with my house, to make my drawing anonymizes to share it as example...

    Hand-drawn-map_sample.jpg.bafea5ae0798dc775a8192d8746445f0.jpg

  7. 23 hours ago, up2you2 said:

    To renew my retirement visa annually, the minimum amount that has to held in my account cannot fall below 400,000 Baht for seven months of the year, and not fall below 800,000 Baht for the remaining five months of the year.

    Today I was told by a senior Thai Immigration Officer, that even if funds were required for a hospital expense, if my funds in my account fell below the above limits, then I would no longer be able to renew my Thai retirement visa automatically.

    When this law and requirement was brought into force, I do remember hearing something about the fact that these funds were to be put aside in the event of health issues.
    To pay hospitals bills, but seeming that is not the case, in fact from what I was lead to believe today, they simple cannot be touched if one wishes to renew their retirement visa.

    In the event that what I have stated here is incorrect, can anyone point to an English translation of the Thai law, that states categorically that these funds can be used for hospital bills, without denying one's annual visa renewal?
     

    You cannot extend your stay if your fund deposit falls below the required amounts.

     

    Yes, you can use money for hospitalization, but then you can not extend your stay and need to return to your home country or make a visa run for a new non-immigrant O-visa, fulfilling the financial requirements.

     

    The rules changed about a decade ago, before that you only needed to show the deposit with three month maturing before application for extension of stay, and longer back just show that you had the money.

    • Haha 1
  8. Yes, you always need ID when flying. A nine year old is old enough for an ID-card (7 years); otherwise a birth certificate (perhaps even a photocopy) might do it as identification – my girlfriend and I used the latter, before our daughter was old enough for a Thai ID-card. You should ask the airline, what they require of proof of identity for a nine year old child.

  9. On 2/15/2024 at 4:18 AM, FritsSikkink said:

    They have dogs who can smell money too.

    – especially dirty money, even if they have been washed...😀

     

    However, even money from Vietnam and similar countries comes in a big pile of notes, it's relative small money in value; not a problem.

  10. On 2/13/2024 at 2:02 AM, mirage said:

    A question for foreigners who have the car registered in your own name.  Do you have to get a letter from immigration every year when you re-tax the car ?. 

    Not where I live – Samui – I have my insurance agent to do the renewal job for free, it's including in the insurance renewal.

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