Immigration trip & Physical Pain

Today I successfully completed my dreaded annual ordeal at the Immigration Office, applying for an Extension of Stay in the kingdom for another year on a Retirement visa.  I have the routine down quite well, preparing the financial documentation and providing numerous copies of passport info, etc. 

But they always throw a surprise at you, every single year.  They told me right off that I needed a copy of a “house registration”, something they’ve never asked me for before and which I’d never heard about in the online forums where foreigners share info on Thai visa issues. 

Do they do this just to screw with farangs?  It throws an instant panic into the applicant, who wonders if their extension of stay will be denied or what will they have to do to get over this new hurdle. 

I got to see an immigration officer anyway, and she was very professional and decent.  It seemed to be going well, as I was photographed and processed as normal.  But I had to sit and wait for three hours before they returned my bankbook and my passport with an OK stamp for the next year.  I’m good through March 2023, but I’m dazed and in pain from the long wait. 

These last weeks, my hip pain has become alarming.  I can barely walk, and climbing stairs is brutal.  The scariest aspect of it is that I cannot exercise in any way, and I know that routine lack of exercise is a downward path that I do not want to accept. 

This was a stressful day.  After long agony at Immigration, I limped home the last few meters like an old cripple.  Physical pain wears you down. 

I will watch a comedy film this evening, and then I will meditate myself to sleep.  Dukkha – accepting it and then releasing the negativity – letting it go. 

-Zenwind. 

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Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was born one century ago.  (12 March 1922 – 21 October 1969).  He was a great influence on my early life.  In a rare post to my main Zenwind blog, HERE is my tribute to him.  

-Zenwind. 

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Hot Season Begins

 

Sweat City normality is back.  I saw it coming from my close monitoring of weather forecasts.  We lucked out this year, with a February that was not too bad, with dew points only in the “somewhat uncomfortable” range.  Tonight, the dew points will be in the “very humid, quite uncomfortable” range, and tomorrow in the “extremely uncomfortable, oppressive” range. 

This means, for the long foreseeable future, getting dressed to go out while under a fan and a/c, and then when moving through the house to the door becoming wet with sweat already – before ever getting out into the sun.  Returning from a 100-meter walk to the store, I am soaked through, clothes wringing wet.  Without a bandana sweatband, I would be blinded. 

So, “Summer” is back, and April will be the most intense.  The Rainy Season, starting in maybe June or July, will still have high, uncomfortable dew points, but at least the clouds will sometimes shield us from the sun. 

I regret that I have squandered my opportunities to explore new neighborhoods on foot while the weather was more comfortable, although my recent hip pain has hindered my marches.  The new MRT train route would allow me to check out new areas on the far side of the river.  Maybe next winter.  

-Zenwind. 

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