Jump to content

bamboozled

Advanced Member
  • Posts

    1386
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by bamboozled

  1. Yes, Savannakhet can be dull and not as easy to get to as Saigon. But if you lean into it, that can be part of the charm. Nice to drop out for a little while and slow things down. Like things used to be around CM not that long ago, too. So nobody has an answer to this question, I guess. That's what I thought. Only time will tell.

     

    Probably getting it at Immigration here is not so bad now with less crowds but I'm always worried something won't be right, bank statement, witness, photos, etc.... My monthly transfers have been with Wise and who knows whether they will be accepted or not. If not.....that's a problem I don't want to confront. The witness thing is a PITA. And the home visit, which I was lucky not to get my first and only time going this route, just kind of freaks me out.

     

    Might I add a question to this question? I got a new Non-O based on marriage while I was in the US (on advice of Ubon Joe and some others) and I just arrived back to Thailand. It was very easy and all done by email to the NY consulate (if I remember correctly). It is valid for 90 days after which I am again without a visa. Or can this visa  be extended at the 90 day mark just like the ones acquired at Immigration? Or do I have to go through the aforementioned new visa process? Thank you!

  2. Forgive me if this has been mentioned recently... Any crystal ball vision out there about doing visa runs to the cities mentioned in the title like days of old? More precisely, I used to go and get a new Non-O visa based on marriage at these two places. I found it a good excuse for a trip and fairly easy re-paperwork was less onerous. All in all, I liked this method. With Covid restrictions hopefully lessening, do we know if travel to these two places will be open again and the visa offices offering the same services? Probably a known unknown but thought I'd ask and add a bit more "edu-tainment" to the mix.... Thanks!

  3. 3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

    There is really not much difference between the first application and then the ones after that other than a home visit and/or witnesses.

    If you have been on extensions before they might not do the home visit or want witnesses.

    I see, thank you. I guess I thought I was getting a year visa and getting to avoid immigration, similar to getting a new visa in Laos or Vietnam. Oh well!

  4. 1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

    You can apply for the one year extension of stay based upon marriage during the last 30 days of the 90 day stay you non-o visa allows. If using the 400k baht option it will have to be in the bank for 2 months on the day you apply.

    Thank you. So am I starting from scratch at that point...meaning I have to do the whole application procedure again?

  5. I am now in the US and following the advice on here, I applied for an O visa via the website on Dec. 26. I got the approval sent to me the next morning: Non-imm O visa based on marriage with a 90 day stay. There was no option for a year, multiple entry visa. So once in country, I can apply for an extension toward the end of the 90 days? Or do I have to do the whole visa dance again?

     

    Thank you, Bamboozled

  6. If we change "Thai drivers" to "drivers here"....it comes off as much nicer and is indeed more to the point. If a Thai grew up in the US, they would drive US style. Likewise, if I grew up here, I'm sure all of you would be cursing me as I pulled in front of you and then immediately slowed down. I'd be cursing myself, too. Some things that drive me crazy: the motorbikes that swarm your car at stoplights/intersections and upon the green light almost appear to challenge you not to hit them. Zero consideration or awareness of the car or the fact that they are a hairs breadth away from being taken down. It's as if they are not even aware the car is there and assume that you will brake/turn/stop/slow down/accelerate do everything to avoid hitting them. Which you do but it's ucked up. What sums it up well, I think, is drivers here are as if in a bubble. They are the only ones on the road. They generally just go on autopilot and point the car in the general direction. I don't think it's malicious but I take it personally, anyway (my bad).

    • Like 1
  7. 5 minutes ago, Badrabbit said:

    I could do yes but I'm reluctant as cost could spiral out of control, international Hospital said "can not find anything" I'll get the MRI when I can afford it.

    I don't know your financial situation and I certainly understand being worried about money. I was struck by how bad you described your pain and I assume it's very worrisome. And then you mention you will wait to save money before getting a 2nd opinion. Unless you really don't have the money at all perhaps reconsider your reluctance and go and get that second opinion. Here in CM at Rajavej you can get a whole physical for 7k I think. If you limit the testing to be about your pain, I would assume it would be less. Except if there are some expensive specific tests but you are in control and can determine if you want them or not. If your pain is so bad and reoccurring, do you really want to wait and down the road find out some bad news that could have been avoided? Again, I'm like you and would be apt to kick the can down the road. No one likes a doctor. But reading your story from afar, go get the second opinion. Good luck.

    • Like 1
  8. 1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

    We've not heard back from the OP yet, so maybe a post and run ..... but my initial advice, as someone who has set up two businesses here, would be to choose another country.

     

    Laws here are antiquated, bureaucratic and anti-foreigner.

     

    First business I set up was as a 100% foreign owned business under the BOI scheme.  The BOI are helpful, but the process is complex, costs are high, and you need 10 million THB capital investment, but at least you get a Work Permit, tax breaks (and airport fast track ????).  

     

    But for a smaller business you need to go the PLC route, (assuming you are not operating in one of the reserved sectors) - which means 2 Million THB capital and 4 Thai employees before you can get a Work Permit.  So if you are self-employed, a freelance consultant or teacher, a 'digital nomad', an entrepreneur just setting up a small start-up, then forget about getting a Work Permit, so you can't even work in your own company.

     

    I've set up businesses on behalf of US and UK companies in 7 countries, and only Saudi Arabia was more bureaucratic and frustrating than Thailand.

     

    Foreigners here are just supposed to spend money.  Creating employment opportunities and generating profits and so paying local tax is reserved for Thais (and Chinese).

    ...Ain't that the truth. You can understand the riff-raff that they need to weed out. But under the current procedures, I think a lot of the wheat goes in the bin with the chaff, often enough. I set up a business years ago but didn't need a work permit and didn't need employees. I didn't need to show the 1,000,000 baht capital required at the time, either. It was just on paper which was fine enough at the time. Now I'm married and have looked into working for a company my wife would set up but still the bar is too high, the cash you have to layout to start (and continue) is too much, and it makes everything too risky. I don't have a lot of money. Starting the company would take most of it...and then I would be stretched too thin. On the other hand, I have enough to pay for some employees, and taxes, and fees, etc...and would happily do so. But you just can't start small... A couple months ago I read about some changes being considered but haven't heard any new news on that.

    • Like 1
  9. Swimming pool and tennis courts? Hmm, come to think of it, I do recall seeing some tennis courts. A bit decrepit if I remember correctly. Sort of looked like Angkor Wat. Guess it's the Kad Suan Kaew of the south side. Most of you probably don't know, but there is a Formula 1 race track on the back side of KSK. Right next to the ski slope.

     

    Chiang Mai Land has the feel of entering a Moo Baan but then it's mostly shops and restaurants...and company headquarters/warehouses. An industrial complex of sorts...but then there were all the (are all the?) karaoke places and nightclubs/bars, too. An eclectic mix, for sure.

  10. Does anyone know when this area was developed and by whom? What was the reasoning/goal? When I first started frequenting CM mid 2000s, my understanding was that it was sort of a Korean/Japanese hang out place. That is, a lot of business catering to those folks and a lot of that nighttime activities. I never had a reason to go but it seemed somewhat busy though how/why I thought that I can't really say. I guess it popped up in daily convo in CM now and again. Anecdotally, I think it's been on the decline since and my feeling is it's kind of a failure of a venture. I was just driving through the other day and thought what an ugly collection of cheaply constructed buildings laid out with little attention to beauty. But maybe that's just me. And so I started to wonder how it came to be. I'm not even sure of the size of the place or where "Chiang Mai Land" ends/begins.

×
×
  • Create New...