jspill

1 hour ago, muzmurray said:

No issues until a crackdown or they get reported by an angry/jealous competitor/Thai.

I said consult for overseas clients, not Thais, or the customers of Thais. No one need know where you are in the world, if you consult on Upwork / Freelancer.com or such sites. 

Is it something you could do online over Skype, or has to be in person? For western clients overseas? Plenty of digital nomad expats here work online with no work permit issues. 

I can't really see Thai companies here hiring you anyway as a freelancer, over a Thai, given the language barrier. And the pay would be low. So I'd pursue something online based on freelancing websites if possible. 

If you're sure about living in Thailand and buy the 5 year Thai Elite visa (500k baht) they include getting you a work permit in the cost. Could end up recouping the costs by not having to work for a company at low pay. Or people with your skills background are eligible to apply for the Iglu program, that comes with a work permit and sets you up to pay taxes. Only drawback is you pay quite high taxes to Iglu on top. 

16 minutes ago, maewang99 said:

and it was the OP that mentioned whether we need a work permit on the internet or not.... not just my posting.

Yeah we don't need one for online work. I work remotely for an overseas company, I've explained that to immigration before and it's never been an issue.

I just mentioned it because it tends to be online workers that use tourist visas / exemptions.

Yes I entered it on the departure card, still missed it though.

There was half a blank page, followed by the one page Vietnam visa sticker, so he only saw that I guess.

9 hours ago, muzmurray said:

And you got that wrong !! You said " The official law is actually a 10k - 60k baht fine", that is incorrect - the law says a fine of up to 20k.

I'm happy to be corrected if it's even cheaper.

1 hour ago, muzmurray said:

 

Sorry Jspill, but you said "the official law" and now you are back peddling saying "in reality".

I said the fine amount specified in the official law, I left out the 'and/or' because I know it never happens. Please show me any prison inmates there for possession of weed. We even have a Thaivisa member who posted in this thread he was caught with a huge, huge amount (90 grams) and spent 45 days on remand (not prison) because he couldn't afford bail (a fine) before the court hearing. 

17 minutes ago, muzmurray said:

 

Incorrect - " imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine of up to twenty thousand baht if you test positive for a Category V drug, like marijuana "

I know but in practice it never happens. All laws are written in full form with that 'and/or' caveat. Just like no one was imprisoned for visa overstay, the full law has always actually "a fine of up to 20,000 baht, and/or imprisonment of up to 2 years" but no one gets imprisoned (IDC isn't prison). Work permit laws too, are written with prison sentences in the full form, in reality people pay a fine.

On 07/12/2016 at 6:51 AM, F4UCorsair said:

I do contend that if anybody arrives in SE Asia, any country, with traces of THC in his/her system, or uses weed whilst there, that they fall in the lowest half , or perhaps the lowest point one percent of the intellectual spectrum.  That's a nice way of saying they're nuts, or perhaps they just enjoy paying ridiculously for their habit, or may even want to explore the inside of a gaol cell??  Their choice.

 

Some may view the laws of SE Asian countries as draconian, retarded, or similar adjectives, but they are the laws.   You violate them at your peril, and I have to say that whenever consular assistance is given to people who have violated, I resent that the taxes I've paid go to supporting such stupid people.

I smoke it here all the time. Did you read the thread, it was posted like 5 times that you don't get jailed for simple possession or testing positive in a test. Just a fine of $300-$2000, or $60 to walk away from a test. That's not 'paying ridiculously', in the very unlikely event one has to pay that. It's not a habit, it's a hobby, weed isn't physically addictive.

Pretty cheap hobby really, at 100 baht a gram. Way more cost effective than alcohol, which also comes with risks of large hospital bills, health complications, etc. So all the money saved from less drinking (in my case, zero drinking) is put towards the tiny chance of having to pay a bribe somewhere down the line because weed isn't legalized everywhere yet. 

That Thonglor police pamphlet says you're allowed to film police

It's a bit nerve wracking in the moment but you could start filming yourself, say the date, what's happening, then turn the camera on them

Can't find the link but that Turk / Arab guy has been working with police a few years now, it's a bit weird

Not a foreign police officer, some kind of expat interpreter who doesn't wear a uniform like the volunteers in Pattaya / Phuket 

I remember reading about the civilian guy on a StickmanBangkok post, I'll see if I can find the link 

1 hour ago, ricku said:

But even in the states with outdated laws, they won't lock you up for years because of minor possession.

Like they do in Thailand..

Throwing non violent offenders (smokers) in jail, while allowing unlimited consumption of alcohol.. That's what I referred to as 'retarded'

Yeah as said several times in this very thread, you won't be locked up for years. 

If you can't afford the on the spot payoff (10k - 100k baht, probably more like 60k) you'll be detained at which point you can arrange for people to bring you the bail money to be released (up to 100k, can be negotiated to ~50k) and then you'll appear in court at a later date to pay a much smaller fine (3 - 10k). 

Or worst comes to worst you can't afford either and don't know anyone to lend you money, at which point you might be detained up to a month or so until your court hearing finally happens. 

For example this forum poster was caught with 3oz of weed, or 90 grams, a huge amount. Did 1 month in prison because he had no money. 3k baht fine at his court hearing.

Also weed can be out of your system in 10 days if you only smoke occasionally. The 90 days figure is a very generous estimate, for a frequent smoker. 

Also it's Thailand, it's not unheard of for people to bribe their way out of a urine test, or for urine tests to not work, or to not detect weed only more serious drugs, etc. etc. 

Just don't smoke a couple weeks before coming, and don't hang out in afterhours nightclubs (99% of an already tiny risk is removed simply by not going to discos that stay open after 2am). Don't hang out in bars that have shisha pipes either (lately they're getting raided as it's illegal).

The streetside urine tests aren't happening anymore, even when the big stop and searches scandal was going on a year or so ago they only involved urine tests like 10% of the time, the rest of it was passport checks.

Save this pic to your phone, which says urine tests can only be done at the station, not street side. This pamphlet was released by police as part of their apology for the streetside stop and searches last year.

Possession, or testing positive in a test, isn't actually as big of a deal in Thailand as it would be in other Asian countries. Indonesia / Macau / Philippines are way more retarded. 

The official law is actually a 10k - 60k baht fine, in the Narcotics act, for testing positive for marijuana in a test. 

Thanks guys.

I use an agent in Sukhumvit for all my visa exemption extensions, pretty sure he'll be able to get it sorted so I can extend the exempt and use the visa next time. 

2 minutes ago, sanemax said:

 

You should have written your Visa number on the arrival card, then the IO would have noticed your Visa

I did yeah. 

Pics 

On 16/11/2016 at 9:32 AM, sfokevin said:

It will be interesting to hear what the border immigration officials do when you actually re-enter the country?...

On 17/11/2016 at 4:14 AM, hawker9000 said:

Yeap.  Getting the visa doesn't mean you're home free.

Just re-entered today, not a word spoken to me by the IO. 

Actually I think he gave me another visa exemption and didn't notice the tourist visa because it was on a later page after a half empty page before the vietnam visa sticker.

Can I use the tourist visa next time since it's valid til Feb 13th?  I'll start another thread about that maybe it can help somebody else, I did a search and couldn't find anything

I did 210 days on visa exemptions this year, had no issues, my 7th one was at DMK too. 

Also I used flyonward to get a $10 onward flight ticket out of Thailand that expires after 24 hours, and included that with the application

7 minutes ago, seancbk said:

 

Saying "it is just not possible to live in Thailand anymore on tourist visas"  is nonsense.    

Thai immigration law places no restriction on how many tourist visas you can have or how long you can stay in Thailand with tourist visas.   All you have to be able to do is show you are not working here.

Yeah seriously there are thousands of people staying here on tourist visas who've never even heard of Thaivisa and wouldn't know what all the fuss is about. 

If you get a warning at a given consulate just go to Laos / Penang and use an agent, pretty easy. Have an onward ticket ready to show at airports, it's cheaper booking flights in advance anyway. 

I've had 7 visa exemptions in a row and just got a tourist visa, and before all that had 2 year overstay, the stamp still in my passport. 

Maybe I've been getting lucky 

On 07/11/2016 at 10:25 AM, blackcab said:

The company I work for manages rented condos in the 10 million baht plus range. Some of the units are very nice indeed. The unit owners absolutely do not want someone renting a unit and then sub letting the unit on airbnb.

An owner renting it out is understandable though.

Imagine buying a 10 million Baht condo and realising you can make the same profits or more by renting it out daily on AirBnb, live in it yourself whenever you want (just restrict certain dates flexibly on Airbnb), and still recoup your investment way faster. Anyone would be tempted. Especially if the building is half empty as many condo complexes are, a few extra tourists isn't going to annoy any residents. 

Plus you can only approve Airbnb guests with 100% positive reviews, if you want. There's zero reason to have drug couriers, paedophiles, and prostitution rings etc. as tenants (@Canceraid that's how to spell those words). Airbnb is actually similar to couchsurfing, it's like a self-governing community where guests and hosts leave each other feedback and ratings, the hosts ask for sent scans of tenants' passport, and so on.

Personally I only approve hot chicks :)  

On 08/11/2016 at 8:43 AM, newnative said:

What rot using 'duty' to justify breaking the law.  Hmm. Nobody's looking so it's my duty to do some shoplifting.  Laws prohibiting short-term rentals in condos have been in place long before Airbnb and there's nothing stupid about them.  You'd like to blame the laws on hotels but that's not true.  Hotels may be fighting Airbnb and the like but the laws they are using have been put into place long ago to protect the residents of condominiums.  I think you will find that the condo residents are applying the most pressure--not the hotels.  The condo residents are the reason that my condo now has large signs posted prohibiting short-term rentals. The condo residents of my condo are the ones that are making sure that management sends letters to violators.  There are many reasons for the laws that have been already stated in earlier forums on this subject so I won't repeat them here but it basically comes down to hotels are hotels and condos are condos, two completely different things that need different rules and regulations.  Of course, you don't care about any of this because you are thinking only of yourself and your duty is ME, ME, ME.

The condo residents are thinking Me, Me, Me too, they want peace and quiet and the pool/gym all to themselves. When they go on holiday / visa runs they probably log straight onto AirBnb to find a quiet peaceful bargain away from the tourists who stay in hotels