caughtintheact2

Snark,

What you are dealing with here is probably corruption. What was said at the time the directive was handed down does not necessarily reflect what might have been said between subordinate and superior before that. As an example, a few years ago, despite the rules calling for a retirement pension of B65,000 as the minimum requirement, and despite the fact that at the time I was grandfathered under the B20,000 per month requirement, I was told that I must do a wire transfer of B72,000 per month. Since the rules were not adhered to, there was no doubt in my mind that someone was looking for a payoff. I managed to get this sorted out with some outside help and without paying any bribes and when I returned to get my stamp, it was for the rest of the one year and I was told that B20,000 per month was enough. I have been here continually since 1982, first as a "dependent of a Thai citizen" and almost ten years now as a retiree. I never paid a bribe during my "dependency" years, and since retirement have had only the one hassle noted above. The Immigration people are bureaucrats. They follow directions from above, so when they do not seem to be following the written rules, they are most likely looking for income enhancement. Thai bureaucracy is composed of client-sponsor relationships, in which people pay to work under a certain high(er) ranking official (sponsor) because that official will take care of the client (the lower ranking official). It is similar in concept to Thai politics in which people join a political party not because they believe in its ideals or because they can do more for the people who voted for them, but because they are promised more for themselves by the party. And one of the ways in which a lower ranking Immigration official can get benefits is when his sponsor is on the take, which puts the client on the take as well. Other officials nearby will not say anything because it is not their affair. When such a situation is encountered about all you can do is try some other officials (tell the official you are ill and come back the next day), enlistin g some outside help (if you know anyone who has a connection).

thought it was 800,000 baht OR 60,000 baht per month income, but then I saw another description of the rules which seemed to indicate that I needed to show an additional 800,000 baht in the bank (or 800,000 baht of income) each year. Can anyone clarify the retirement income rules for me?

The current rule for retirement is one of the following options:

1. B800,000 in a bank account in a bank in Thailand or....

2. A pension of B65,000 per month (This must be supported by a letter or affidavit from your embassy in Thailand so you would need some documentary evidence of the pension, which, if from a private company or fund, should state that the pension is good for life (if that is the case - t6his is not a rule, but I have read elsewhere that the pension route to proof of income might not be allowed if the pension could run out - if you have a government pension or military retirement pay, then this is not a problem - you will just need the letter (affidavit) the first year you apply for retirement here) or....

3. A combination of the two, which works as follows:

If you have a pension of B30,000 per month multiply it by 12 (months), which is B360,000 per year. Subtract the B360,000 from the B800,000 requirement, which comes to B440,000. Thus you would need to show B440,000 in the bank when you go to renew your visa each year.

You can probably find a place to order the stickers on the web. Here's one list of resources (scroll down about 1/3 of the way http://www.world-language-resources.com/th...e_keyboard.html. Here's just a few:

Purchase Thai Keyboards

Find keyboards and keyboard stickers for Thai at WorldLanguage.com.

http://goto.worldlanguage.com

The Keyboard Layouts and Input Method of the Thai Language

State transition diagram for Thai input method of an independent cell. (a.) Basic Checking. [ Back ].

http://www.nectec.or.th/it-standards/keybo...yout/Pic5-1.htm

Thai keyboard layout - Thaifont - Thai language

Thai keyboard layout, This can be used to type in Thai without having a Thai keyboard, providing you have a Thai font and the necessary

http://www.into-asia.com/thai_language/thaifont/keyboard.php

How to type in Thai - Thaifont - Thai language

A Thai keyboard (ie a keyboard with both the English letters and Thai characters on it) is not technically necessary, but it's very useful as without one you

http://www.into-asia.com/thai_language/thaifont/typing.php

Thai Keyboards

keyboard to a bilingual Thai keyboard. Thai Keyboard Overlays. Click here for information on the Thai language keyboard overlays.

http://www.datacal.com/dce/thai-keyboards.htm

Thai Keyboard Overlays

Thai keyboard overlay in blue Click here for enlarged view. Thai language overlay Thai White Overlay (white ink on clear overlay for laptops and black keyboards

http://www.datacal.com/dce/thai-overlays.htm

Add Thai Language To Your PC - Business - http://maxpages.com/ ...

http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/thai.html Obviously if you wish to write Thai you must purchase a Thai and English dual language keyboard which are very

http://www.maxpages.com/orchidofsiam/Add_Thai_To_Your_PC

Help for Thai Language Support

in use. If the keyboard is in Thai language mode, the indicator TH appears in the operator information area. No indicator appears

http://tn3270.umsystem.edu/en/help/thai.html

In your system tray do you have an icon that says EN? If you left click it do you see an option for Thai? If you can change to Thai, then try this and you will not need pictures or a new keyboard for Thai because you may already have one

Start | Run | type in "osk" without the quotes.

Click OK

You should get the on screen keyboard. . When you want to type in Thai, just change the EN in the system tray to Th. The On screen keyboard will automatically adjust. And when you need the upper case just press the shift key. เดียวนี้พิมพ์ภาษาไทยได้ครับ