Post 550

Today's song is: Photograph .. Nickleback

Tomorrow, Sunday, we fly off to Phuket, Thavorn, Jaidan, and I, plus the 2 urchins from the village, Tai and Dun.  It should be a fun time as the 2 urchins have never flown, seen the ocean, or stayed in a 5+ star resort.  Our unit has a washer and drier so all I want to take is one carry on per person. No problem for me  :-)

I am starting to look at flights back to Canada and it looks like we will take a one way to Vancouver, stay for a week (buy some winter clothes) and then take 3 return Aeroplan flights to Ottawa, returning to Vancouver about September 1 and flying one way from Vancouver to Bangkok.

Usually I stay away from one way flights but the cost of a one way from Bangkok to Vancouver is less than one half of a return trip. I think this is due to the proliferation of flights by Chinese airlines.

I am happy with the above as Vancouver airport is more worldly than the rinky dink Ottawa airport and I don't want Thavorn to think that Canada is backward country.  If you have ever flown into KL or Suvarnhibumi Airport you will understand.  It also gives Thavorn and Jaidan a bit of time to get used to 2 or 3 degrees before subjecting them to -20 in Ottawa.

I will use resort points and stay at the Sheraton in downtown Vancouver.

and, of course Vancouver is always listed as one of the top 3 cities to live in the world.

I also lived in Vancouver for 2 years and know it quite well. Perhaps we will rent a car and head off to Whistler for a weekend before heading off to Ottawa.  Lots to think about!

TTYL

Two Countries

Today's song is: Hurt  .. Christina

If this does not make you smile  .. there is something wrong with you

I just finished the 3 day odyssey to get my 90 day reporting done and the renewal of my retirement visa in Thailand.  The next time should go more smoothly now that I am familiar with Samut Prakan Immigration Center, especially knowing I live in Samut Prakan Province, not Bangkok Province.  My residence now knows how to properly register aliens staying in their building.

Canada makes it very difficult for most countries to visit Canada. However, if you are granted a TRV (visitor's visa), it is very easy to overstay and if you are caught, Canada will even give you free legal representation to fight your deportment. Canada does not track where you stay and even does not track when you leave.

Thailand makes it very easy to visit with its visa on arrival system. However, once you are in, they try to track when you leave and where you stay. However, when you let in over 30 million people a year, that is a lot of people to track! Hotels, guest houses, apartments and condos must inform the government when a non Thai person checks in.  Anyone with a OA visa or work permit must report in to the government every 90 days or they will be fined 2,000 baht, if even a day late.

The government is cracking down when institutions or people fail to report.

However, once you are in, if you stay at friends then you can overstay a long time if you avoid getting into trouble or get caught by a random search. However, once caught, you are barred from entering Thailand again from 1 to 10 years dependent on how long you over stayed.

I keep telling Thavorn that she will like Canada's system  of trusting you once you are in. No 90 day reporting, or showing your passport to hotels.  All she has to do is spend 2 years of the next 5 years in Canada to maintain her Permanent Residence. After 3 years she can apply to become a Canadian citizen.

You can never become a Thai citizen. Once a farang, always a farang. My translation for farang is 'non Thai', not foreigner!

TTYL

Visa Renewal and 90 Day Reporting

Today's song is: Alice's Restaurant  .. Arlo Guthrie  .. sums up my feelings today

Duh, you think I would put 2 and 2 together?  I mentioned in a previous post that I no longer live in the province of Bangkok. I now live in the province of Samut Prakan, although for all purposes if it smells like a duck and walks like a duck  .. it looks like Bangkok and the BTS spans both.

So on Tuesday I traveled to the Immigration Government Complex to try to do my 90 day reporting and my Retirement Visa renewal at the same time. Despite killing about 6 hours I accomplished neither. I was told that I lived in Samut Prakat now and needed to go to the Samut Prakan Immigration office to do all my immigration stuff from here on in.  So back home I went and considered it a wasted day.

The Bangkok Immigration office lineup at lunch hour

My coffee #1 while waiting

My coffee #2 while waiting

Where I now go for my immigration needs  .. no lattes here  ..

This morning I headed off with Thavorn and Jaidan in tow for the 45 minute taxi ride to the SamutPrakan Immigration office in, you got it, the City of Samut Prakan. The good news is that it beats the 90 minute commute to the Bangkok office.  The bad news is that I was still registered in my Bangkok apartment because the administration of my new building did not file a form 30 stating I now lived in Samut Prakan. Good thing I took Thavorn along with me because the officials working at Samut Prakan did not have a good grasp of the English language.

Another wasted trip and $400 baht in taxis fees. At least it was better than the 600 baht in taxi fees yesterday. I arrived back at our apartment building and immediately inquired if they had submitted a form 30 for me and lo and behold they had not but could do so online now and present me with a copy to take to the Samut Prakan office the next morning at 8:30 am.  No so sorries  .. you can't expect them to admit neglecting to do something as they lose face. The law required them to submit the form 30 within 24 hours of accepting a tenant.

I am hoping to get my immigration needs fulfilled tomorrow as I am now running into the time limits of my 90 day and 365 day visa and will get blacklisted if I go over the 365 days.

I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

TTYL

Back

Today's song is: Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie  .. You Gotta Walk that Lonesome Valley

It has been a very long time time between posts. I will chalk it up to being busy coaching basketball. We have outscored the opposition 275 to 145 and are 5 wins and 1 loss and are in second place.  We played a stinker to the number 1 team and lost by 7 although we were up by 2 halfway through the 4th.  That might have something to do with the fact I have only 7 players and they had 14.

We are off now until about October 30th when we resume playing because the school has a 10 day October holiday.

Thavorn and Jaidan return from the village today accompanied by her two oldest children, Tai and Dun.  They will be staying with us for about 4 weeks, including flying to Phuket on the 14th and returning on the 21st. That will be exciting for them as they have never flown or seen the ocean.

I am quite looking forward to some company other than the 4 walls in my apartment.  However, I do enjoy staying at Big Tree and living in a smaller community. Bangkok is just a taxi ride away.

Our new apartment is a studio so it will be tight accommodating everyone but the Marriott resort is a 2 bedroom with lots of room.

My boy Mowgli is gone replaced by some new kid.

Two of my favorite friends: Mimmo from Italy and Jimmy from Singapore. Jimmy speaks 7 languages. Mimmo claims to be a CFO but I suspect he launders money for the mafia  :-)

I managed to find a 4 liter pack of Peter Vella red wine. My plan is to get Thavorn drunk when she arrives this afternoon and take advantage of her  :-)

The lovely Thavorn ...

TTYL

Rain

Today's song is: Bus Stop  .. Hollies, 1966

Bangkok has seen a lot of rain lately and it is supposed to get lots of rain this week.  We are approaching the dry season so the rain should let up after this week.  Back home, Ottawa became Tornado alley as 2 tornadoes hit Ottawa on the same day and the stronger of the two knocked out one of the main Hydro Ontario sub stations so much of Ottawa was, and is, out of electricity.

Thavorn and Jaidan remain in the village and see to be enjoying themselves. The only person not enjoying herself is Thavorn's older daughter (12) who is spending lots of time sitting in the corner contemplating how 2 walls make a join. That is something she has learned from me and being time-outed seems to be working quite nicely. Definitely better than a whipping by a trimmed tree branch.

My birthday has come and gone. Last Saturday I had a dentist appointment and spent some time downtown. On Sunday, it was my birthday and I was downtown partying form 11 am to 11 pm. My lady friend Phai joined me from 3 pm onwards and we had fun bar hopping and chatting with the bar girls.  I will miss that when we are in Canada for 6 months.

The number of Chinese visitors seems to be decreasing but I expect that to change in October as there is a major Chinese holiday. The number of Indians traveling does not seem to be decreasing. Thai girls do not Indians too much and some bars refuse them entry. Not sure how they get away with that.

My lady friend Phai

My friends John and his wife Fon

I was out for dinner with my good friend John and his wife Fon. He lives close by at Central Plaza. We visited a Thai restaurant which is quite popular with Thais. As usual, once you are out of the tourist area, we were the only farangs in the place.  We enjoy that  :-)

My coaching is going well, although we did lose to the top team by 7 points.

TTYL

Alone

Today's song is: The Theme Song from Cheers

There is a common scenario among international teachers. The first time you travel overseas to a different country you will experience a strong yearning to return home to your birth country, friends and family. This commonly happens at 3 months into your posting.  It passes with time but some people can't handle it and return home.

The concept of 'home' is indeed, a strange one for expats. What is home?  For me, it is where you find your friends and loved ones.  It is not much of a problem for me when Thavorn and Jaidan are with me, but when they are in the village I find I need more contact with my expat friends to keep the feeling of 'home' going in Thailand.

Yesterday I needed to get to the dentist because I lost a filling and needed a crown installed. My appointment was for 1 pm and I ended up finished about 2:30, much worse for the dental session. Shaun had joined me for the trip downtown  and we eventually kooked up with Arther and Phai and bar hopped, seeing some of my bar favorites.  Kind of reminds me of the old TV show 'Cheers'.

I arrived back home at 00:30 am, a wee bit inebriated and woke up this morning with a hangover.  Today is a quiet day, soup for lunch and supper, as my jaw is sore from the dental work. I need to go back next Saturday for the crown to be cemented in place.

Thavorn and Jaidan are gone for a month so I may be bar hopping again next Saturday.

Basketball is going well as we have won our first 2 games.

Some pics:

My soup  .. Campbell's Tomato, my favorite

Arthur, Phai and me at Country Road last night

Jaidan working on his letters

Dun, helping out and learning some English

Dental office is more like a spa

Awesome place

TTYL

Sick

Today's song is: We are the Champions  .. a bit premature  :-)

I came down with a bad head and throat cold, complete with cough and fever. Not fun so this is a short post.

We played our first U15 game on Thursday and looked good winning 76 to 18. I am sure the season will get tougher but it is always good to win the first and even better to win your last.

Pre-game, they were smiling much more after the game  :-)

TTYL