Is marriage long term? (The visa, I'd hope the marriage is!)

@Todd ********

a couple entries ago I had a lady on a bad day. She chewed me up one side and down the other. She was preparing to turn me around when the supervisor came over to see what was wrong. She spoke a bunch of Thai- smacked me passport a couple times along with some point... The guy told her there was no problem and to let me through. After she stamped me, as I walked away, she yelled "don't stay so long next time!" It was absolutely bonkers. I am just afraid if I get some post office massacre waiting to happen officer again and I've got the black stamp it will push them over the edge. Shrug. Worst case I swim the river. :)

Anecdotal comment: I had a similar situation at the end of my last trip a couple of days would've made things much more convenient for my travel but it felt like such a hassle to get an extension for three days. I posted to get a sense of how big a deal a short overstay would be. The answers were super aggressive - you would think I asked about child trafficking. I decided to just leave early. Anyway I am a effing idiot and had miscounted the days and so I thought I was leaving my last day but had actually overstayed 3 days even though I picked that date to avoid the overstay. Getting old and losing cognitive function sucks. I was horrified, but the IO insisted it would not be an issue when I returned and paying my fine was all the punishment there would be and not to worry and everything was going to be fine.

Now I haven't gotten back yet - one more week... And he wouldn't be the first Thai public servant to give me false information and I could get turned away at the desk... But he was super calm and very reassuring so... We will see what happens.

@Mekidem *********

As a culture honesty is valued less than face and so people will say and do things that are dishonest pretty regularly and it drives me nuts. Their relationship to truth is... Compromised. I don't understand it because when they say they can do something that they can't maybe is feels better in that moment but then when it comes time to really do it and they can't it's more way worse.

I still choose to be here, but your observations will change with more exposure.

This sounds like you spent time in a tourist centre marveling at how far your money goes. Pattaya and Phuket might as well be a different country.

Another vote for Skype. I'm sure there are other ways. I recently made a couple international calls with my phone and it wound up adding 600 baht to my bill.

I came without one time. Airline asked and I said I was leaving by land border.

@Josh ********

bigger, less flavour

@Brandon ***********

arguments for both sides- we were given conflicting information from multiple amphoe. Told it had to be done in other locations. Told explicitly they could not do it at this office. After travelling halfway around the north they now SAY they will do it, but the appointment is next month and my confidence is low. All of that feeds the agent theory- but when we were in Chiang Khong they had a big stack of applications that were being ignored and the kid said many of them had come from agents. So those people paid a chunk of money and were still getting blocked.

@Brandon ***********

right, that is the part I am curious about.